Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Thirty Four

"Are you here for Harry?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling. "Would you get him? I don't want to ruin the surprise."

Annabeth nodded and walked over to the door. When she opened it, she saw Harry was sitting nearby, within shouting distance.

"Harry!" she yelled. Harry's head jerked up. "Come on!"

She didn't wait for him before she went back inside. She wanted to spend all the time she could with Percy, Sally, and Paul. Then Harry came in and gave the Weasleys a very surprised and relieved greeting. After that, it didn't take long for Mrs. Weasley and Sally to start up a conversation.

"Seven kids," Sally said in amazement. "Wow. You must have a lot of patience. It took all of mine and more to stay sane with Percy running around when he was younger. He blew up a school bus once." Sally smiled fondly.

"It was an accident!" Percy protested.

"I know, dear," Sally said, patting Percy's arm.

"Yes, I remember Annabeth telling me he got into a lot of trouble, when she helped me out in Diagon Alley," Mrs. Weasley said. "You're a lot like my Fred and George, though everything they do is on purpose."

"Mum still hasn't gotten over that," Bill said. "She brings it up at least once a week."

"It was a very kind thing to do!"

"Mum," Bill said. "It's been months."

Molly waved the statement off. "So this is your first time at Hogwarts Castle," she said, changing the subject. "I only wish I could see this place for the first time again."

"It's magical," Paul said. "Well, I guess that's the point."

They spent the day walking around the castle and grounds, really just catching up. Percy already knew a lot about the wizarding world through Annabeth's letters, so she taught Sally and Paul about the most interesting things. She also filled everyone in on what was going on, and by lunchtime Annabeth was ready to start sparring with Percy.

Annabeth sat with Percy, Sally, and Paul at the Slytherin table at lunch, where they were joined a few minutes later by Vera and Freddie, the former of which dropped her head on the table and groaned like she was dying.

"I'm ready to run away now," Vera said dramatically into the table. She turned her head to look at Annabeth, which was when she noticed Percy and his parents. "Oh, he's back."

"Back and ready to kick your butt in a fight," Percy said, grinning.

Sometime during winter break, Percy and Vera had gotten into a sword fight for unknown reasons, which went as well as you'd expect. Vera had been waiting for the day to get her revenge since.

"Fortunately for me, Annabeth had been teaching me the art of the dagger," Vera said, smirking. "I can totally kick your butt."

"You're on," Percy said. "This afternoon. On the grounds."

"Done."

"Percy," Sally said. "It's only been a few hours. Please at least try to stay out of trouble?"

"It's not against the rules! Right?"

"The rules say you're not supposed to fight with wands outside of classes," Annabeth said. "They don't say anything about swords."

"See?" Percy said. "It's allowed."

"All right," Sally said, shaking her head. "But if you get yourself in trouble, don't come to me and say it wasn't your fault."