Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Twenty Nine

There were a lot of people with the same scent as you in Azkaban, most of them insisting they didn't do anything wrong.

Half bloods. There were half-bloods in Azkaban. The thought kept Annabeth up all night. Were they in there because of their heritage? Were they innocent, like they claimed? Did they do something actually bad? There was a prejudice in the Wizarding World against half-breeds, Annabeth knew that, but she hadn't thought demigods were known to this world.

And if they were, why the prejudice? They were half god. Was it just against anything half-human in general? And for wizarding demigods, if they actually existed, what was life like for them? The gods were known for traveling around a lot, even if they were centered in America now.

But why had she never heard of this before? Annabeth had done so much research on so many different topics. Surely it would have come up somewhere. But maybe they were demigods by coincidence? Annabeth shook her head. No. She didn't believe in coincidences. Sirius said there were a lot of people with the same scent. What were the chances even a few demigods would be in Azkaban at the same time? They weren't exactly common, especially not in Britain.

Annabeth rolled over in her bed, then sat up, restless. She couldn't lay there any longer. She needed to move.

A few minutes later, with her slippers on and her invisibility cap secure on her head, Annabeth slipped out of the dark dorm room and quietly went down the spiral stairs. The common room was empty too, so Annabeth pushed aside the false wall and entered the chilly dungeon hallway, where she set off on her undetermined path.

Maybe the demigods had all known each other, and they'd orchestrated a crime that landed them all in Azkaban. But what if they hadn't? What if they didn't know each other, and they had been targeted by a corrupt system?

Annabeth didn't know how long she walked, but the next minute, dawn was rising over the castle, illuminating the grounds... And the groundskeeper.

Hagrid was outside his cabin, pulling weeds in his garden. If anyone would know anything about this, it would be him. They hadn't really had a chance to talk about their conversation after the Rita Skeeter Incident. What if Hagrid was going to tell her about this before Dumbledore had arrived?

Annabeth ran for the front doors, pulling off her cap in an empty hallway. She wasn't going to be able to rest until she knew what was going on.

When she reached the front doors, Annabeth only opened them a little before running out. The sun was hanging low over the Durmstrang ship. Normally Annabeth would be out running laps around the lake at this time. Had she been up all night?

She skidded to a stop right at the perimeter of Hagrid's garden. He looked up, surprised.

"Annabeth," he said, swatting a beetle out of his face, which just buzzed over to the fence. "What're yeh doin' out so early?"

"Other people," Annabeth breathed, looking around for early risers. "People like me, what is it like for them here?"

"Blimey, Annabeth, I thought yeh knew," Hagrid said, clearly bewildered.

"I know what it's like in America. But here..." Annabeth shook her head. "I need to know everything I can."

"Well, it'd be pretty similar, I reckon," Hagrid said sadly. "People like us, we're not treated the same. Hard ter get jobs, homes, anything really. Yeh're lucky Dumbledore is headmaster here. If it were someone else, and they knew, yeh wouldn't be allowed to come. Great man, Dumbledore. Then of course, there's how we're treated, yeh know. Prejudice, bias, stereotypes, things like that."