The Golden Wand [Harry Potter/Percy Jackson]

Chapter 36: Zero to Hero

Harry POV:

I hated admitting to Hermione that she was right, but it was becoming very hard to deny that I was jealous.

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase reached a whole new level of fame that even Gilderoy Lockhart would have struggled to comprehend, and it practically happened overnight. The two of them, along with the rest of the students from Goode, went from zero to hero quicker than Disney's Hercules. Not that I had ever enjoyed the fame, but I had to admit it was irritating to watch from an outside point of view... like how Ron must have felt a few years ago. 

After Annabeth and Hermione's interrogation against Sarah and Ines - the one where it was revealed that Goode had been behind practically every success against evil since Percy was just the small age of eleven - the world had exploded into action. 

When the competitors and I had walked into the Great Hall from the Quidditch Pitch, there had been yells of protest. Kick Goode Out! The students had chanted again, unaware to what had just happened. But stories spread quickly in Hogwarts, and by breakfast the next morning there had been cheers. Percy, Annabeth, sit next to me! Leo, I saved you a seat! I love you Jason! The noise had been so loud that we had all had to leave the hall and eat our breakfast awkwardly in the Golden Suite. 

The next morning, the crowd had come closer. I woke up early for my Quidditch practice, head hazy from sleep and completely unaware of distant rumble of cheers that shook through the castle walls. I got dressed, grabbed my broom, trudged across the Golden Common Room towards the Golden Door. I didn't even see Leo sitting on one of the sofas until he yelled:

"Wait, no, Harry don't open that!" He stood up quickly, but it was too late. I had already opened the door, and in front of me were a thousand beaming faces. Then came the yelling, the cheering, the chaos as reporter fought reporter to ask the loudest question, the sea of elbows and epileptic flashes of a camera. I flinched away from the door, hands reaching up to my tired face to cover my eyes and ears. 

"There he is! There he is!" I heard the crowd yell. What did they want from me now? I thought, but it wasn't me they wanted. 

"Leo! Leo Valdez, Mr Valdez, Sir!" Yelled the crowd, and Leo was by my side in a second. 

"I go by Lord Valdez, if you don't mind!" Leo announced, and what followed was the ear-splitting sound of a thousand scratches of quick-quills writing down Leo's every word. He waved and flashed a grin at the nearest cameraman. I realized I was completely unseen. 

"Leo, Leo, Lord Leo," the reporters fought. "Tell us how you defeated Gaia, the evil witch who was said to be immortal!"

Leo flashed another grin.

"Well, it was quite easy, if you ask me-"

"Leo!" Yelled someone from behind us, but it wasn't an admiring supporter this time. Annabeth stormed across the room from the kitchen, looking furious. I gulped - angry Annabeth was scarier than any Boggart I had ever faced... I wondered how Leo stayed so calm. "We told you not to open that door!"

But as Annabeth reached us and grabbed Leo's arm, she came into view of the reporters in the hallway... and it sounded like the world was splitting into two.

"ANNABETH! ANNABETH CHASE! PLEASE, MISS CHASE, ANSWER MY QUESTIONS! PLEASE, ANNABETH, SIGN THIS PHOTO PLEASE!" 

I flinched again, backing away from the door as the crowd pushed forwards, trying to reach out for Annabeth. She scowled, grabbed Leo, pulled him away from the door and with a flick of her hand the door slammed shut behind us. There was no pleasant silence or calm - the door muffled the sound of the yelling but it did not drown it out. Annabeth groaned and pulled out her wand, muttered a spell and finally... silence.