Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Thirty One

The next few weeks were less than enjoyable. The attitude of the students stayed the same for the most part, but a lot of them had gone from muttering behind hands to downright hostility. A fun example was a few days earlier, when a Ravenclaw girl had whispered very loudly, 'I heard she sneaks out to go fight trolls'. Annabeth was this close to telling that girl that she had a troll to fight which she would have followed with a swift punch, but Daisy dragged her away before she could do anything. Daisy was probably the only reason Annabeth hadn't been expelled yet. Her, and the gym.

It didn't hide itself again, and Annabeth had taken to going there with Vera every day after classes. She would get to fight a few times, and then she would teach Vera with one of her daggers. Vera was getting better and better by the day, and Annabeth was excited for the moment to come where she could spar with an actual human.

One day when Annabeth was walking to Transfiguration with Vera and Freddie, they passed a boy who had called Annabeth a 'filthy half-breed' the day before. Freddie muttered something under her breath, what sounded like a countdown.

The boy's hair turned bright shades of pink and purple. His friend turned to him and said something between laughs, pointing at the boy's hair. The boy's face turned red and he ran off, shoving laughing kids out of his way.

"Did you do that?" Annabeth said, turning to Freddie.

"Oh, that was just the start," Freddie said darkly. "He's going to have a real shock next time he goes to the bathroom."

"Nice," Vera said.

Other than that, Transfiguration was boring. Annabeth already knew everything they were reviewing, so she spent most of the class spaced out, which made it go a lot faster.

"Potter, Chase," Mcgonnagall said when the bell rang. "A word."

Annabeth sighed. She was due in the gym right about now. Still, she gathered her things and went up to Mcgonnagall's desk while Vera and Freddie left, though Annabeth knew her friends well enough to know they were listening in.

"You are both to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock," McGonnagall said. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the Champions about the third task."

So, after the gym and a shower, Annabeth left the Slytherin dorm and headed for the front doors. She ran into Harry a few halls down from the Entrance. She steeled herself. She hadn't really talked to Harry after the article. They walked in silence for a minute.

"What's it like?" Harry suddenly blurted out. "Being a demigod?"

"What's it like being famous?" Annabeth countered as they pushed open the huge oak doors. She was so tired of people.

Harry was quiet for a second. "Good point. Though it's kind of the same, if you think about it. Whispers follow me everywhere. They follow you too, now."

"I guess it is. Except people admire you, and they call me names." Annabeth took a deep breath. She did not want to get angry right now. "Whatever. It's not like their opinions mean anything to me."

"I saw you try to fight someone yesterday."

"That was unrelated." kind of.

Harry smiled. Then it faded. "What do you think the task is going to be?"

"Something to top the last two," Annabeth said. She had given this a lot of thought. "Something including monsters, but that can't be the entire thing. Maybe an obstacle course, or a race of some kind."

They continued walking until they reached the quidditch pitch.

"What've they done to it?" Harry said, bewildered.