(S1, EP:9) Wizards and Demigods

Night Three

Snape was slowly beginning to question his sanity. The dreams and visions he'd been having over the course of several sleepless nights were beginning to take its toll on him. There was no way anything he saw was real, but something about it felt so familiar.

As Reyna was walking back towards her home base, she heard a strange thudding noise. When she went to investigate, she found Dobby bashing his head against a tree while yelling about how he was a bad elf. She immediately ran over to stop him from seriously injuring himself.

After a small interrogation, Dobby confessed that he had accidentally killed three of the tributes. Reyna very calmly said that he shouldn't be hurting himself because of something that he didn't mean to do. It was likely that they were going to die anyway, so his actions weren't all that severe. She then took him back to her camp, and they took turns sleeping in shifts.

Coach Hedge failed to start a fire.

Ginny found Hermione sleeping beneath a tree. A small amount of blood was trickling down her leg. Ginny silently used magic to heal the wound. She spent the rest of the night watching over her friend.

Malfoy went on a midnight stroll through the Arena. As he made his way towards the lake, he heard the snapping of a branch from behind him. He whirled around, brandishing his wand at... nothing. There was nothing there.

Thalia smiled. Her decoy worked perfectly. She aimed an arrow directly at Draco's head. He didn't even have time to turn around. The last thing he felt was a metal arrowhead penetrating the back of his neck.

The cold night air nipped at Octavian's arms and legs as he lied down for the night. He reluctantly agreed to let Luna follow him on the condition that she stayed a considerable distance away from him at all times.

It seemed like a good idea at first, but now, as he shivered against the frigid wind, he began to regret his decision. Right as he started to lose consciousness, Octavian felt a pair of warm arms wrap around his body. Maybe letting her stick around wasn't the worst thing after all.

Peter Pettigrew found a nice hole in the ground to sleep in.

Voldemort and Bellatrix were walking idly through the forest when they were approached by Annabeth and Ron.

"This is the guy I was telling you about," the ginger boy said while pointing a finger at the Dark Lord.

"Tsk tsk. Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to point?" Bellatrix asked, a sadistic smile spreading across her face.

She fired a spell that sent Ron flying through the air. His body hit a tree with a loud THUD.

Annabeth readied her sword. Her grey eyes glared daggers at the witch.

Before another move could be made, the sound of chains rattling stopped them all dead in their tracks. It took a few moments for them to realize that the sound was coming from the top of a nearby tree.

A creature was hanging from its branches, staring down at all of them with hungry eyes. Moonlight gleamed off the tip of its horns, giving the monster an almost demonic appearance. Blackened chains dangled from the manacles that it wore on both wrists.

Its fang-filled jaw unhinged as the beast let out a bloodcurdling scream into the night.

Dumbledore and Percy threw a few extra pieces of wood into the fire. They had spent the entire day searching for tributes that would join their cause. Finding them was no easy task, but they had managed to form a small group out of the remaining warriors.

Amidst their entourage was Chiron, Leo, Fred, and Rachel. They were the ones who were paying the most attention. Tyson was busy trying to help Piper with her wounds, and Jason and Nico kept staring off into space.

Dumbledore audibly cleared his throat. Everybody turned to face him.

"Thank you all for attending this meeting here tonight. I believe that most of you already know why we are gathered, but I feel that it is necessary that we are all on the same page."

He turned to Percy and nodded. The son of Poseidon pulled a blood-covered wand out of his pocket.

Dumbledore let out a quiet sigh as he continued. "Last night, a young wizard by the name of Harry Potter was murdered. This may not seem very important to some of you, but there is more here than meets the eye."

Percy turned the wand over in his hand, showing off deep claw marks. Several members of the audience leaned in for a better look.

Dumbledore continued, "If I am not mistaken, we were all awoken last night due to a loud screeching sound. It is my solemn belief that there is something out here in these woods with us. Alone, we may not stand much of a chance against this ferocious beast, but together, I think we may stand a-"

His speech was interrupted by the sound of screaming coming from the woods. Everyone turned to see what was going on.

Without thinking, Percy began sprinting towards the noise. He could recognize Annabeth's voice anywhere. He prayed to the gods that she was safe.

When he got there, his blood ran cold.

It was too late.