Percy Jackson: Grandson of Voldemort

Chapter Twenty Six

Percy's POV

It was February 4th, meaning the next challenge was only a day away. Bowtruckles seemed like nasty little creatures, but hey, they can't be any worse than Karpoi, am I right?

I didn't really have a plan. Dumbledore had already gone over the rules with the champions, but was going to remind us again right before the challenge. Here's the gist of it. No summoning or locating spells, no interfering with the other competitors, and we only had an hour to collect our assignments into little bottomless pouches. On the bright side, I only need seven living twigs and seven Bugs to feed the seven twigs. Great.

We were going to be completing our challenges in the Forbidden Forest, where there were so many trees it would be hard for me to locate which trees had bowtruckles in them. It certainly didn't make it any easier that they could camouflage with the many other branches.

After many minutes of extensive research in the library, I desperately needed a break. I really had no other choice. My brain could have exploded. My resources were limited to only books. But then, in a brief moment of pure genius, I remembered I could speak telepathically to my nature enthusiast of a best friend, even when he was all the way in New York.

"Grover," I thought, "I kind of need you to answer me, buddy." It took a while for him to respond, but when he finally did, he sounded just a bit sleepy. "Percy. I'm trying to sleep. Go away." I felt him start to drift off and instantly sent him pictures of enchiladas. A bit comically, I felt a rush of energy as he snapped awake. "Alright, alright," he sniffed, "I'm up. But you owe me some enchiladas, dude." I smiled. It's nice to know some things never change.

"So how do you know which trees are good quality trees?" I asked him innocently. Too innocently. "What'd you get yourself into this time, Percy?" Grover demanded, "Life or death this time? Or just death?" I rolled my eyes. "Why can't it just be life, huh? Why's it always have to be death?" Grover bleated, "Because it's you, Percy? Now seriously, what's going on?" I sighed out loud. Looking around the empty Common Room, I realized that Grover was right. I really had to stop getting myself into these kinds of messes. Just another thing to add to my 'Avoid at all costs list'. Right under making Annabeth angry and continuously jumping off of Blackjack.

"The wizards have some kind of weird tournament thingy, where some magic cup chooses champions to complete challenges," I told him, "And in the second challenge, I need to find a bowtruckle. They have a knack for finding good quality trees to live in. Now, I can't search the whole forest in an hour, so I need you to answer me." I could feel Grover's exasperation, and I couldn't really blame him, either. No matter where I was, trouble just seemed to follow me around.

"Fine, this part will be easy for you. They're usually the ones with the most fertile soil. So nutrients, water, stuff like that. Also, if you really wanted to catch a bowtruckle, why don't you just look for sticks that look the slightest bit out of place." I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me. "Thanks, G-Man. You're the best," I said. Annabeth walked into the room and I smiled at her.

"Hm," Grover mused, "Dazed, barely listening to me, total infatuation. Annabeth's here, isn't she?" The satyr chuckled and I could feel his amusement in waves. "Go catch some bowtruckles, dude, and while you're at it, a certain daughter of Athena." I blushed and snapped back to attention. "Thanks for the help," I said, ignoring his last statement, "You'd better get back to Juniper before she thinks you're cheating on her with a blueberry bush again." Grover's presence faded from my mind.

Annabeth sat down next to me. "Was that Grover?" I looked at her, dumbfounded. "How could you possibly know that." Annabeth grinned. "Simple reasoning, actually, Seaweed Brain. You smiled at me, then after a moment, started blushing like crazy. That's not normal behavior so I could only assume that you were speaking to someone. Who else can talk to you without being in the same room and still sense your emotions?" I slung an arm around her. "Simple? Remind me to never try to keep a secret from you."