When Myths Meet Magic || 4

11|| Hazel

"Two Gryffindor representatives! And they're both underage!" Justin shook his head in disgust.

"How did they even get their name in?" Cedric Diggory asked, sounding miffed. Hazel knew he had put his name in the Goblet, and to have two people be chosen-- both from Gryffindor, both underage-- really grated on him.

"It's just not fair!" Hannah complained. "How can they have us be okay with that?"

There were murmurs of agreement, and several glares at the fire.

Hazel shook her head worriedly. They were so jealous of the Gryffindors that they didn't stop to think about how dangerous that the tournament would be. She stared into the fire, her mind finding more and more unlikely scenarios for the tournament. Nico being forced to fight a Hydra. Nico being forced to do a parkour over lava. Nico being forced to go to space to retrieve the moon.

"He'll be fine," Frank said encouragingly. "The kid's been through Tartarus. I'm pretty sure a little competition won't kill him."

>>>•O•<<<

"I hope it kills them," Draco seethed.

Piper rolled her eyes at the fire, the only other moving thing in the room that wasn't complaining about the results of the triwizard tournament.

"How did they even get their name in?" He continued. "They're our age!"

"Maybe they used an aging potion," Crabbe suggested, his slow mind struggling to answer Draco's question. Draco turned on Crabbe with exasperation.

"They can't've used an aging potion, or all the other people that did would've made it too, instead of growing beards!"

Piper turned away to hide her laugh at the memory of Fred and George and their magnificent beards.

"It's just not fair," Pansy agreed from where she was cleaning her wizards chess set. "Gryffindor has been in the spotlight ever since we arrived. First there was that whole Wizard Rock thing--"

"The sorcerer's stone," Piper corrected her, even though she hadn't been there that year.

"--then there was that Chamber of Secrets business, when Potter just had to kill the Basilisk," Pansy continued. "I mean it probably wasn't even that hard."

"It wasn't even Potter," Draco sneered. "It was probably Lockhart. Potter obliviated him afterwards-- only guilty people hide."

"Then there was last year," Pansy added. "The mess with Black... I don't even know how Potter turned the attention to himself from that--"

"By his pathetic dementor reaction." Draco's hand curled into a fist, as if remembering the patronus that was sent speeding at him. Piper turned away at the second part of the memory-- when she gave Draco the long deserved punch to the jaw. Evidently Draco remembered it too, because he shot her a scowl. She grinned back cheekily.

"And now this!" Pansy seemed to have finished her rant because she leaned back in the green armchair, her arms crossed.

"I hope Krum destroys them," Draco said with relish. "What a pathetic attempt at fame."

Piper chose her next words carefully. "Well, maybe Harry isn't trying to do this for attention. Maybe he didn't choose to enter."

"What, are you saying that someone did the imperius charm on him?" Pansy asked.

Piper shook her head. "I don't know what I think. But I know Harry wouldn't risk his life for fame. He isn't like that."

Draco gave a forced laugh. "Oh, and I suppose you know what he is like, then?"

Piper crossed her arms. "I didn't say anything of the sort," she defended. "I just said maybe it wasn't Harry's choice to be in the tournament."

"I doubt it," Pansy said. "This is a chance almost anyone would die for."

>>>•O•<<<

"We're gonna die for this," Harry groaned to Nico. Nico was sitting on his bed, sharpening his sword. Harry watched the slow, mesmerizing movement in the gap between his face and his pillow. "How are you so calm?"

"Hm?" Shink went the sword.

"How're you so calm? You heard Dumbledore, there's been a death toll in previous years."

"There's been a 100% death toll in life, and yet you continue to live on. Why not give up if you're going to die anyways?"

Harry paused and regarded Nico. "I think that's the deepest sentence I've ever heard anyone say," he said slowly. Nico grunted.

"I know. I've been spending too much time around Hermione. She's so philosophical."

"And Annabeth isn't?"

"Annabeth is more of a fun smart. She's a risk taker. An analyzer. Hermione's just fact after fact after fact."

"Hermione punched Draco last year," Harry reminded Nico. He cracked a grin and set his sword to the side.

"Fair point. But so did Annabeth, in our first year."

Harry shrugged. "But it's easier to imagine Annabeth punching Draco rather than Hermione. And besides, I'm sure Annabeth's been punching boys for years."

Nico winced, thinking of the one time Annabeth went rage monster on the Stolls when they hid her blueprints. "That's very true."

"Here you are." Jason opened the door to he boys dormitory. "What're you doing in here?"

"We're hosting an iguana rodeo," Nico said sarcastically. "What do you think?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "No need for sass. We were just looking for you."

"Where'd you look? The library? The dungeons? Or maybe we're stress eating in the kitchens," said Harry.

"Seriously, it's not like we were hiding," Nico added.

"No one saw you come in," Jason defended. Nico grinned.

"Ever heard of shadow travel?"

"Most people haven't." Jason sighed. "Just come down, we have food."

The magic words were spoken. Harry jumped up eagerly, always one ready for food. Nico sheathed his sword slowly.

"Come on, Nico." Harry was waiting for him at the door. "Why're you taking so long?"

"I'm waiting for my appetite," Nico said as he stood up with the pace of a snail.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm going, but don't expect me to save you a butterbeer."

Nico waited until Harry turned around, then shadowtravelled right in front of him.

"Gah!" Harry took a step back on impulse. Unfortunately, they were on the stairs and he fell on his backside. "Ow! Nico!"

Nico grinned and helped Harry up before taking off down the stairs. "Don't expect me to save a butterbeer for you!" He called back to Harry's playful glare.

That was kind of a filler, like everyone's reactions to the champions. Also just a reminder, I update this book every Wednesday and Saturday