Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Twenty Five

Harry was late.

Annabeth stood next to the other champions, wearing leggings and a sports bra (thank you Hecate for not giving her a bathing suit). Since no one had mentioned any rules and therefore it was allowed, Annabeth had her dagger strapped to her arm next to her wand. She got some looks for that, but no one said anything. Unlike Fleur, who's hair was down and loose, Annabeth had tied hers back to keep it out of her face in the water.

Fleur and Viktor were both in bathing suits, Viktor with his wand in his hand and Fleur with her arms crossed, looking around.

Raised stands had been set up near the lake's edge, filled with talking students waiting for the task to start. The judges sat at a table slightly underneath the stands, all of them looking around for the missing champion. But there was a new person at the table.

Crouch was supposed to be one of the judges. Instead, a young man with vivid red hair and freckles sat in his place. Annabeth noticed a lot of similarities between him, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George (who she had met in Hogsmeade), and Mrs. Weasley. How many of them were there?

This Weasley was wearing horn rimmed glasses and professional looking robes. He held himself with an air of extreme self-importance and pride, looking around like he thought he was better than everyone around him.

Annabeth swallowed back her frustration. The task was supposed to start in five minutes. Where was Harry?

As if her thought had summoned him, Annabeth saw Harry, running at full speed with his fist clenched tightly around something. He skidded to a stop right beside Annabeth, bending over his knees to catch his breath.

"Where were you?" Annabeth hissed.

"I'm... here..." Harry gasped, seemingly not hearing her.

"Where have you been?" Weasley number six said disapprovingly. "The task's about to start!"

"Now, now, Percy!" Bagman said, though he looked insanely relieved, too. "Let him catch his breath!"

So this was Percy Weasley. Annabeth didn't know why she was surprised. She still remembered that day in Diagon Alley with Mrs. Weasely.

Harry nodded, lowering his head while he breathed. Bagman then busied himself spacing the four champions at ten feet intervals. Annabeth's feet were bare against the rocky shore, but she barely felt it as she walked to her designated spot.

When Bagman placed Harry, he not very subtly asked Harry a question. They exchanged a few words, which Harry seemed uncomfortable with, then Bagman went to stand in front of the crowd, pointing his wand at his throat.

Annabeth braced herself, setting one foot in the cold water. To her immense relief, three bubbles broke the surface, the water lifting an inch higher than it normally would have. Annabeth took a deep breath. She wouldn't have to use the backup plan. Or the other backup plan.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then... one... two... three!"

At the sound of the whistle, Annabeth ran confidently into the water. When the water was up to her hips, she dived, and a thin bubble of water coated her face, like one of those full face swim masks.

Was this cheating? Technically. But so was getting outside help, which Annabeth was willing to bet had been done by every Triwizard Champion in the history of the Triwizard Tournament, so she wasn't too worried about it.

All sound was drowned out as Annabeth went farther under, leaving mostly silence except for the swish and burble of the water as she moved.

The water was murky and cold, though the latter didn't get to her, thanks to her daily dives. The former was another problem. It limited Annabeth's sight to a ten foot radius. The water got darker the deeper Annabeth went, fading from blue to navy to almost black.