Leo awoke unaware of where he was. He lay there with his eyes closed, trying to remember what had happened. He knew it was bad, but he couldn't remember anything. As he lay thinking, when he realized there were people around him talking, and someone was crying.
"Will he be alright?" It was Calypso.
"He should be just fine, Ms. Sanchez," said another voice. "He just needs some rest. He'll stay here for the night."
Leo heard Harry and Ron's voices whispering off to his right, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He opened his eyes to see Calypso bending over him, with Dumbledore and Moody at the end of the bed. He attempted to sit up, but immediately felt dizzy, and laid back down.
"Took a right bad blow, you did," Moody said. "I'd say you're a lucky one, eh?"
"Wha—what happened?" Leo said groggily.
"You got bit by that spider in the forest, remember?" Calypso said, concerned. "You got bit and then Festus woke up when you yelled. I tried to tell you to move, but then I realized you're fireproof." Calypso laughed. "Festus scorched the spider, and I ran over to make sure you were okay, and you blacked out. I'm just glad the clothes I made you are still holding up. Maybe it's a good thing you didn't change clothes." She laughed again. "I'm just so glad you're okay."
Leo smiled and took Calypso's hand. He looked over at Dumbledore. "Just out of curiosity, why are there giant spiders in the forest?"
Dumbledore chuckled. "Those technically are not supposed to be there, but I'd appreciate it if we kept that between this little circle." Dumbledore looked over at Harry and Ron who were still whispering off to the side. "Although I suspect you two already know something about this?" He raised an eyebrow.
Harry and Ron looked up. "Uh . . . yeah . . . see . . . uh . . ." Harry stuttered.
Ron piped up. "Look, when Hagrid's spider escaped fifty years ago, it ran off into the forest and lots of little baby spiders that run around and try to eat people." He said quickly and looked down. "I don't like spiders."
Dumbledore didn't look surprised. "I know Hagrid has been keeping Aragog. He's a very sweet man, but I'm afraid he doesn't understand the difference between cute and dangerous."
Moody scowled. "If you ask me, that spider and all his kids should be caught and taken somewhere else or killed or something."
Dumbledore, Moody, Harry, and Ron left a few minutes later to let Leo and Calypso have some alone time, and give Leo some rest. Calypso stayed for a bit longer.
"Leo, why didn't you use your fire powers?" Calypso asked after a few minutes.
Leo frowned. "I guess I was just so caught up in keeping you safe that I forgot I had them." He chuckled. "So much for being a big hero huh?"
Calypso got up to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot! I went upstairs to get Harry and Ron and Hermione, and Hermione sends her regards, but she has a BIG essay due tomorrow. She was really sad she couldn't come see you."
Leo smiled. "Tell her it's okay. I know how important her studies are to her." Calypso waved and left.
Leo spent the rest of the night and the next morning in the infirmary, and then headed back to the Gryffindor common room. He rested there for the rest of the day, but went to classes every day after that despite Calypso's nagging.
"You were poisoned, Leo," she reasoned. "You need more rest!"
Leo would just roll his eyes, and laughed. "Calypso, I'm half-god, fire-proof, and amazing. I think I'll be fine." Calypso would roll her eyes and walk away.
A couple of days later, Leo and Calypso decided to head to back into the forest to check out Festus. The tools were down in the crater with Festus where Calypso had dropped them. They made sure to go in the daytime so they weren't in as much danger as at night. Dumbledore, for precautions, had Hagrid come with them. Hagrid was a really big guy. And he had this really big bushy beard and mustache and bushy hair. He was quite a sight. His dog, Fang was just like Hagrid, big and hairy.
"So, yeh've got a dragon ye have, eh?" Hagrid asked as they walked.
"Oh, yeah. His name is Festus. He's not a real dragon; he's mechanical." Leo explained.
"I had a dragon once," Hagrid said. "His name was Norbort." Leo could have sworn he saw tear run down Hagrid's cheek as he said this.
Calypso must have sensed Hagrid's misery. "Aw, that's an adorable name!" she said kindly. "What was he like?"
Hagrid smiled at Calypso. "He was the sweetest 'lil dragon yeh could ever meet, he was, not like those big mean ones in Romania. I hatched meself, I did," he added. "'Arry, 'Ermione, an' Ron were here when 'e hatched, too."
"Why did you have to get rid of him?" Leo asked. Calypso elbowed him in the ribs and glared at him.
Hagrid sniffed. "Dragons are illegal in the wizarding world," he said. "I won 'im off somun in Hogsmeade, I did. I kept 'im in me hut and hatched 'im there. He grew too fast, he did. I couldn't take care of 'im no more, so I had to ship 'im off to Romania."
"Oh, Hagrid, I'm sorry. I'm sure he's perfectly happy in Romania."
Hagrid sniffed and shrugged. "Bloody 'ell, is that yeh dragon?" he pointed to Festus in his crater.
Leo smiled. "Yeah. You like him?" Hagrid nodded and started walking a bit faster.
Leo and Calypso jumped into the crater. "Hey, buddy, I brought you another friend!" Festus lifted his head to look at Hagrid.
Hagrid grinned and waved. "Yeh're a right beauty, yeh is." Festus snorted happily. "Festus, righ'?" Festus snorted again. "Well, Leo and Calypso are 'ere to fix yeh righ' up."
Leo began unscrewing parts to get to Festus's engine. As he pulled off the cover to Festus's engine, a big puff of smoke hit Leo and Calypso in the face.
"Well, that doesn't look too good, does it buddy?" Leo grimaced. "This could take a while to fix."
Calypso looked confused. "What's wrong Leo?" she asked.
"Yea, what's wrong with the little feller, Leo?" Hagrid asked, concerned.
"Well, his whole engine is messed up. It'll take ages to fix." Festus grunted, unhappily. "I know, buddy. I might have to take you apart, and put you back." He patted Festus, reassuringly.
Leo, Calypso, and Hagrid worked on Festus for the next several hours. Hagrid wasn't much help, but Leo and Calypso didn't have the heart to tell him he could go back to his work. The poor guy was just so worried about Festus and found him so interesting, they didn't want to make him sad.
Leo and Calypso kept following Hermione, Harry, and Ron's classes when they weren't working on Festus. They usually worked in the mornings and a little after lunch, and rested and followed their three new friends for the rest of the day Harry and Ron still didn't believe they thought Professor Binn's class was interesting. Leo had to admit that it was getting a bit old, but he wouldn't dare give Harry and Ron the satisfaction.
Leo and Calypso's favorite class was Defense Against the Dark Arts even if Moody was a creepy lunatic. They loved to learn about the duels and defensive spells that wizards got to use. Moody was such a weird guy that it made the class even more fun.
- - - - -
Soon, it was October 30th; one day before Halloween and one day before the Durmstrang and Beaxbatons students came to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone was excited, even Leo and Calypso. They didn't work on Festus much that day so they could be with everyone when the schools came. The two had been taking Festus apart, piece by piece, only to find more and more things wrong with him. Leo was going to have to get new parts for Festus. He was waiting to tell Dumbledore until he knew everything they needed, which was a lot. All the students had gotten out of classes a bit earlier that day to greet Durmstrang and Beaxbatons.
Leo and Calypso met up with Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the Gryffindor common room. After the three dropped off their books, they headed down to the school grounds to watch for the visiting schools.
"How long are they going to make us wait out here?!" Ron complained. "C'mon, maybe we should just head inside. It's getting dar . . ." Ron didn't finish his sentence. Off is the distance, the five could see a giant carriage being pulled by giant winged horses.
"Whoa," Leo said. "Wish Festus and the gang at Camp Half-Blood could see this," he muttered. Calypso smiled.
"They're so beautiful," Calypso said to Hermione.
"Yeah," Hermione said. "That's Beaxbatons Academy."
The carriage landed in front of the school. The door opened, and a giant woman stepped out, followed by about a dozen boys and girls in silky uniforms. They looked like they were freezing. The giant lady walked over to Dumbledore, who kissed her hand.
"Madame Maxine, it's so good to see you." He smiled.
"Professor Dumblydore, it is good to see you as well," she said with a heavy accent. "I hope you won't mind if we don't wait for Kakaroff. We are simply freezing." She didn't wait for Dumbledore's response. "Come, Fleur." She motioned toward an older looking girl at the front of the group. Leo, Harry, and Ron's mouths fell open.
"Why couldn't we have crashed there," Leo muttered as he gawked at Fleur. Calypso glared at him.
"What are you gawking at?" she asked, incredulously. "You're acting like you've never seen a pretty girl in your whole life!" Hermione was glaring at Harry and Ron as well.
"I haven't," Leo said, to which Calypso gave him a well-aimed kick to his shin. "OW! Oh, uh, sorry," Leo blushed.
A sound came from the lake, like a drain. Leo, Harry, and Ron tore their eyes off of Fleur to look toward the lake. A whirlpool was forming, and a giant wooden pole was slowly coming up. As they watched, it turned out the pole was actually a mast. Soon, an entire ship had come up out of the water. Everyone gawked once again as another group of students got off, following their leader, Kakaroff, according to Madame Maxine. They immediately headed inside.
Leo and Calypso looked at each other excitedly, and the five headed inside once again for dinner with the new schools.