Percy Jackson and the Triwizard Tournament (Goblet of Fire)

Chapter 37: Percy meets Percy

Just as Percy held out the cups, offering the butterbeers towards the two gloomy friends, his hand slipped and it clattered to the floor.

"Dam it!"

"That's dam right, Percy!" Thalia jumped back in her chair as she began brushing the liquid off her parka jacket. A tiny shard of glass was stuck in her hair.

"Excuse me?"

The three demigods turned to find the boy Annabeth had spotted in Mr. Crouch's place up at the table.

He was roughly all three of the American's age, with striking red hair and freckles. There was definitely a resemblance between him and Ron, except the boy seemed to strut and carry himself in a pompous manner.

"Who are you?" Thalia raised an eyebrow, as she finally flicked the chink of glass away which was still in her hair.

He held his head up high, offering his hand to shake as he spoke, "I'm Percy Weasley, Mr. Crouch's personal assistant. You are one of the students from Olympian's Institution of Magic, yes?"

Thalia nodded, begrudgingly shaking his hand, "Yeah, that's us."

"Us?"

Percy and Annabeth both stepped forward as Percy Weasley continued to speak, "Ah, it's always nice to see two champions from different schools getting along..." he looked between Harry, then Percy, who was currently looking sheepishly down at the broken glass on the floor, "That's the whole point, you know - international magical cooperation!"

He was simply beaming while looking at the two, not noticing his little brother roll his eyes as he continued, "I have to say, it's quite a pity we've only got to meet three students... If Jackson could defeat the dragon with that skill, it would be such a reward to see other students with the same curriculum."

The three looked at each other awkwardly, the conversation obviously leading down to them explaining details of their "backstory."

"You know, I haven't heard much about the professors at your school... but obviously they must be very skilled in magic for the Ministry to invite another tiny school all the way from America... So, what sort of teaching methods are you used to?" He looked towards the three, as both Percy and Thalia turned towards Annabeth.

"Well, to be quite honest we mainly focus on combat magic..."

"Combat magic?"

Annabeth nodded, "Yes... Though not all students are accurately represented by Percy. But I'm not saying that they aren't talented either... Our school gives students an opportunity to..." she paused, solidifying her explanation the best she could, "... branch out. Each student concentrates on their own... Element?... Interests, let's say..."

He nodded, "Intriguing... Have- Oh, again?" Percy was cut off, turning around to find Fred and George hovering around Ludo Bagman. 

Bagman seemed to have shaken them off quite quickly, and when Percy waved, joined the conversation at the table. Harry, Ron, and Thalia remained sitting, forming an awkward circle.

"Have my brothers been bothering you, Mr. Bagman?"

"Oh, not at all! They were just showing me some new products... fake wands... Canary creams..." he chuckled lightly, "Quite interesting!"

As Bagman continued to ramble on, holding onto Percy Weasley's attention, Annabeth turned around to notice Harry and Ron leaving the Great Hall.

Now, it was probably some innocent reason, but because it was their main quest to protect them, Annabeth didn't take leaving them alone so lightly.