The Golden Wand [Harry Potter/Percy Jackson]

Chapter 16: Tensions Rising

Percy POV:

"Au, it was horrible," Fleur sighed. "They had my little sister! They were torturing her. I could not bare it... au, but then I realized that the man torturing my sister was my father. He left the family long ago, abandoned us. He does not know who I am now or where I am, so I knew it could not be real because it was not him."

Adele reached out to Fleur and took her shaking hand. 

"I know exactly how you feel, Fleur. Mine was also horrible." A tear fell down her cheek. "I walked out onto a stage, and the whole audience laughed at me."

"You have stage fright?" Hazel asked, concern laced into her voice. 

"Me? No, of course not," he voice fluttered as she laughed. "The audience were laughing because I came last in the beauty competition. It was awful! They said I was ugly and my outfit was horrible. And then Madame Maxime took me off the stage and said I was a disgrace. Au, how horrible! The only reason I knew it wasn't real was because I noticed that Madame Maxime was wearing the pink jersey gown from Gucci's 2015 collection... she would never wear Gucci!"

"That sounds... awful," Draco tried to hold back his laughter. I made sure not to look at him, knowing I would break if I did. 

"We are so strong, girls," Ines smiled proudly. "To get through a trial like that... what a miracle. It makes you realize that some people from other schools just aren't as strong as us."

Ines pointed her gaze at Michail Franz, the third year student from Durmstrang that couldn't make it passed the first trial. He had fainted from what he saw and was still scarred to this second. 

Viktor Krum stood up suddenly, crossing the room in three long strides to face Ines. 

"Shut up, pathetic girl," he spat, his accent thick with hatred. "Michail did not face beauty pageants and bad fashion - those fears are not fears. Michail has faced true terror in this vorld, and that is more than can be said about you. Michail faced the voman that killed his entire family, so do not sit there and make petty remarks about his veakness. Michail is strong. Enough said."

Viktor spun away from the girls, grabbed Michail's shoulder and hauled him out of the room. The other three Durmstrang boys followed in their footsteps. 

Ines, face already turning pink with embarrassment, rolled her eyes. "How patheti-"

"Don't say another word," Nico interrupted. He had been sitting by the window with his eyes closed, so quiet that I thought he was asleep. But now his face was flushed with anger and his eyes wide. "Show some respect."

Ines left the room after that, her friends joining her soon after. Fleur left awkwardly, apologizing for Ines and looking like she didn't want to be associated with her group in the slightest. 

"Beauty pageant," Draco scoffed and shook his head. "I wish I faced a beauty pageant."

"What did you face?" Jason asked politely. Although Cedric had planned for all of us to spectate each trial after we finished our own, none of us had. We had all stayed in the tent, or in Hermione's case we had stormed off without a word. 

"Among other things... my father," Draco's voice was hollow and his eyes distant. "He was a, um, a shit Dad. He hated me but tried to convince himself that he didn't. He abused me and my mother, he abused just about everyone he knew. But he was so weak - he was such a coward. With him around I was an awful person. I felt like I had to be a bad person to appease him, and the worse my behavior was the happier he was. The ruder I was to someone the less he beat me. He made me do awful things... I don't mean to sound like a bad person, but there are moments in a day where I realize how grateful I am that, well, that Hermione killed him."