Chapter Text
Percy’s plan to get through the seventh year stood on three very simple pillars:
- win the Quidditch Cup for the second year in a row as Slytherin captain;
- study to get decent grades on his NEWTS to secure a job after graduating;
- stay out of trouble.
One pillar fell on the very first day of school. The headmaster announced that the inter-house Quidditch cup would not be happening this year due to the comeback of the Triwizard Tournament after centuries of hiatus.
Another one imploded a month later, when the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived at Hogwarts. While most of the time they camped in their means of transportation — a carriage and a ship, respectively — they were also offered places to stay in Hogwarts, distributed between the four houses. They declined the offer to sleep, but that didn’t mean they didn’t partake in the festivities and clandestine parties that happened in the common rooms.
Ever since he was allowed to visit Hogsmeade in third year, Percy had been running a contraband operation. He had discovered the secret passage to Honeydukes and often used it to smuggle stuff into the castle in exchange for money. It was mostly butterbeer and sweets from Honeydukes, but sometimes he also got things from Zonko’s.
It started small. A few sweets for first and second years. Some butterbeer for stressed OWL and NEWT students. Last minute gifts for people who didn't remember their friends or partner birthdays early enough to order by post.
Percy charged the full price of the items, as well as a fee for transportation, the time it took him to go to Hogsmeade and back and how complicated it was to get it. He also charged more from people who were assholes to him in the past or that he knew were rich.
The operation was a success and grew over time. Soon, Percy had to learn a few complicated expansion charms so he could fit the contraband on one backpack, and some others to make everything weigh less.
The little money his mom could spare to trade for wizarding money on Gringotts went to his uniform, books and the other stuff he needed for school. So Percy came up with this little operation on the side so he could buy things for himself and his friends. Somehow the castle staff hadn't caught him yet, but a lot of students knew about it. So whenever they wanted to throw a party, they asked for Percy's services. They could get the food from the kitchens, but drinks were harder to get. That's where Percy came in.
This time was no different. After the Goblet of Fire selected the three Champions, the students decided to throw parties basically every weekend despite school rivalries and language barriers. The latest one was in the dungeons. Percy had absolutely no idea how Slytherin Common Room fit so many people, but once he arrived — backpack heavy, glass bottles clicking against each other inside — the place was packed with older students from the four houses, plus the other schools.
Percy won a lot of money that night. He also lost some, because a girl from Durmstrang challenged him to a drinking game and not only did he lose — the foreigners brought their own drinks — he also got a massive hangover. Whatever the fuck people up north put on their drink, it was strong. Not even firewhisky burned that much on the way down.
Now was Sunday morning, most of the castle was asleep after last night's events, and the library was mostly empty while Percy tried to focus on his essay. Excited about the tournament and going to Hogsmeade so many times to get contraband, he neglected most of his homework for the past weeks. This one was due tomorrow and he had barely even started it.
He was hungry, but the only thing he was able to force down without worsening his nausea was a bowl of porridge and a few salt biscuits. His eyes were sore and his head was pounding. Percy made a mental note to never drink with the Durmstrang students again as he grabbed his quill and willed the words on the book to stop moving around so he could read.
Percy heard steps and ignored them. It was probably another unlucky bastard behind on homework. Whoever it was circled his table, grabbed a chair, dragged it on the floor in a way that nearly made his skull split open, and sat heavily in front of him. Percy closed his eyes to manage the pain behind them. If it was another person wanting something from Hogsmeade, Percy would tell them to fuck off.
“Jackson, I need your help.’’
At the sound of her voice, Percy’s head snapped up so quickly his meager breakfast almost made a trip back up. He squinted to block the offending sunlight, but there was no mistake. In front of him sat none other than Hogwarts' Champion Annabeth Chase.
Since there was no class today, she had abandoned her uniform. Instead, she wore a light blue knitted jumper over a white shirt and dark trousers, curly hair up in her usual ponytail and her sharp gray eyes looking at him expectantly.
Percy wondered if he had fallen asleep while doing his essay and this was a dream. Because other than brief interactions during classes, barbed teasing on quidditch matches or when their respective friend groups overlapped, Percy could count on one hand the number of conversations he had with her.
He sighed. "Look, I can see if there's any leftovers from the party last night but I really don't have time to go to Hogsmeade again until I finish this."
"That's not why I'm here," she countered before Percy could get back to his essay. Then what could she possibly want from him? The last time Annabeth had bothered to talk to him was to order some trinkets from Zunko's for her brothers' birthday last year. He almost turned her down, wary she was gathering proof to shut down his little operation. She was a prefect, after all, and not particularly fond of him.
"Then what is it?"
Annabeth took a deep breath. Despite the fact she had sought him out, she seemed reluctant to say whatever it was. Annabeth looked around to see if anybody was eavesdropping and cast a muffliato for good measure before leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table.
"I've been trying to prepare for the Fist Task and I'm pretty sure it involves some kind of creature."
Her posture was casual. Her voice was not. Interest piqued, headache momentarily forgotten, Percy mirrored Annabeth's position.
"How do you know that?"
"Magnus mentioned that aunt Natalie is coming to Britain sometime in the next few weeks. She works at the Beast Division in the Department of Magical Creatures, so she's usually abroad. The only reason I can think of for her to come here right now is the tournament."
"What does any of that have to do with me?"
"If they're bringing a creature to Hogwarts, Hagrid is probably involved. As irresponsible as he is, he's our resident expert. They'll ask for his input on how to best accommodate it in the castle grounds. If not, at the very least he'll know what it is. I want you to ask him for me."
Percy blinked. "Me? Why?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes, as if impatient with his slowness to catch up.
"Everybody knows you're his favorite student since you mounted that Pegasus in third year. What was his name? Buckbeak?"
"Blackjack." Buckbeak was the name of another dangerous flying creature Hagrid brought to class. And it was true. Every teacher had their favorite students, but Hagrid was pretty bad at hiding his favoritism. He sent Christmas and birthday gifts to Percy and his mom, invited him over for tea and whenever he brought a new creature he looked expectantly at him. Most of the students grew up hearing about how annoying, boring or dangerous a creature could be, but for Percy everything was new. The kind of stuff he only ever saw in movies before coming to Hogwarts, he couldn't help but share Hagrid's fascination with each of them. "Why don't you ask your aunt?"
"She would never risk her job. Also, she would think it's cheating."
"It is cheating."
Annabeth shook her head. "It would be if the other champions didn't know about it. But seeing how they acted in the interviews, I'm pretty sure they at least have an idea. Makes sense, the other headmasters would not want to travel so far just to lose. They're gonna give their students every advantage they can. Except for Dumbledore. The only thing he said to me since the choosing ceremony was 'good luck'."
"It's very unfortunate that our headmaster doesn't like cheating, but I'm not manipulating Hagrid to get information. Ask him yourself."
"Professors can't help the Champions, it's against the rules and he knows that. But if you asked him, however…"
Percy drummed his fingers on the table, tilting his head slightly to look at Annabeth. That was a very Slytherin way of thinking.
"My, my, Chase. Maybe all this time you should've been wearing green instead of blue."
The corner of her mouth lifted in an almost smirk. "The Hat considered. I thought my sorting took long, but yours certainly broke the record."
"You remember that?" Percy asked, surprised.
"Of course. We were all starving but the Sorting Ceremony never ended because the Hat spent half a century muttering to itself about where to put you."
"What can I say, I have many qualities to choose from." Despite his quip, at the time Percy had been terrified. He spent so many minutes sitting on that stool — feeling the Hat inside his mind, watching McGonagall's worried face before him and the muttering of the students echoing across the great hall — that he thought somebody would say that this was all a mistake and he would take the train back to London.
"So you'll do it?" Annabeth asked, bringing the conversation back on track. "Please?"
Percy exhaled, rubbing his eyes. He supposed there was no harm in talking to Hagrid. He wanted her to win, of course. And she had a good chance, too. Annabeth was the best witch of their year, of all the Hogwarts students that put their names on the Goblet of Fire, Percy agreed she was by far the best candidate.
But his head was still pounding. And his essay, still unfinished.
"I will, but it'll have to wait. I need to finish my essays first. I've been busy, you know?" He said in a pained voice. "And I woke up with this terrible headache."
"I wonder why," she deadpanned and Percy blinked innocently at her. She sighed and exhaled through her teeth as she dragged her chair closer to his. He caught a whiff of her shampoo, and cursed the Durmstrang students again. He was probably still perspiring alcohol even after his shower this morning. "Fine. I'll help you. But you have to promise to talk to Hagrid as soon as we're done."
"Scout's honour."
"What?"
"Nevermind."
Percy didn't know at the time, but that was the exact moment the third pillar of his plan crumbled to dust.
🪄 🪄 🪄
It was early evening when Percy crossed the school grounds to Hagrid’s hut. After a whole day at the library, and still nursing a mild pain behind his eyes, he wanted nothing more than to go to his dorm and crawl into bed. But he’d promised Annabeth, and Percy was a man of his word. So he grabbed the two butterbeers that survived the party last night and left the castle.
As usual, he was greeted by Fang trying to lick his face and by the burnt smell of Hagrid’s failed baking attempts. Over the years, Sally and Hagrid exchanged letters and she tried to give him a few tips, but most of what he made was only edible if there was a beverage at hand to wash it down. They talked for a bit about the tournament, classes, and what they thought about the foreign students. Percy, testing the resilience of his teeth, was halfway through a piece of cake hard as a brick when he casually brought up the reason for his visit.
‘’There are some bets among the students. Who’s gonna win, what the tasks are going to be. Some people think they'll bring some sort of creature for the first one.”
Hagrid choked on a piece of cake. His large hand went clumsily towards the table, searching for his mug, but only managed to knock it down. Percy slid his own drink to him and watched as Hagrid drank it all in one gulp.
“How do you know that?” he asked when his windpipes were free of obstruction.
So Annabeth was right. All this secrecy, and that mad girl managed to sniff the right answer from a passing comment her cousin made like a hunting dog.
Percy shrugged, remaining casual. “There was a party in the dungeons last night, some students were speculating about it. So it’s true then? Have you seen the creatures?”
Hagrid got up, mumbling to himself that he should not have said anything.
“Come on! I know you must be dying to talk about this. I mean, it’s the Triwizard Tournament, it’s gotta be something epic.” The man’s expression got pained, like he was, in fact, dying to talk about it.
“You’re gonna see them on the day of the first task like everybody else.”
Percy turned his excitement down a notch, knowing he was almost there. “Plus, I still haven’t decided what I’m gonna do after finishing school. I spent most of my summers in muggle London, I didn’t get the chance to see much of what jobs are like in the wizarding world. Maybe if I see how professionals handle magical creatures that’ll help me decide. Have a peek behind the curtains, you know?”
It wasn’t a lie. Percy was confused about his career prospects, and he had seriously considered Hagrid’s suggestion to work with magical creatures, since it was something he was interested in and good at. The fact that Percy brought this up now to get the information he wanted didn’t make it any less true.
“Fine! I can’t say what it is, it’s supposed to be a secret. But I can’t stop you from coming here and following me into the forbidden forest around midnight next saturday. And if by any chance you see a team of wizards bringing the creatures… well.”
Percy grinned, grateful. He spent some more time with Hagrid, helped to clean the mess and scratched behind Fang’s ears before heading back to the castle. He intended to eat his dinner as fast as he could and get some much needed sleep before the classes kicked his ass tomorrow, but again, his plan was interrupted by Annabeth Chase, who cornered him as he was leaving the great hall.
“I think you spoke more to me today than in the seven years we’ve known each other,’’ Percy muttered.
“So? What did he say?”
"Always cut to the chase, hm?"
"Very clever. What did he say?"
Percy told her that she was right about the creatures, and that Hagrid would welcome the team handling them next Saturday in the Forbidden Forest.
“I’ll follow Hagrid and find out what they are. Then I’ll tell you.”
“That leaves me with two days to prepare,” Annabeth muttered more to herself than to Percy. He could almost hear the gears turning in her head. Her eyes turned glassy, she was clearly lost in thought.
"Alright," Percy said, turning to leave. "Good talk."
She caught his sleeve. He looked at her over his shoulder, and her eyes were once again sharp and focused, boring into his like she could make him do whatever she wanted by sheer force of will. "I don't have to warn you not to tell anyone else about this, do I?"
Percy had been wondering when Annabeth would use the fact that he regularly left the castle without permission to try and blackmail him. But even without that, he was no snitch.
"No you don't. Now, If you'll excuse me..."
She let go of his arm and didn't stop him when he tried to go away this time, and he was finally able to get his much needed sleep.
They didn't talk again during the week. His routine went mostly back to normal, as much as it could be with the amount of students wearing light blue or crimson red among the black Hogwarts uniform wandering the hallways or attending classes. There were translators beside the teachers in sixth and seventh year classes, and they talked much slower so the foreigners could catch up.
A group from Beauxbatons was furiously talking in french when they saw Percy. Clearly frustrated, they tried to ask for directions. Their english was broken, and Percy's french was nonexisting, but eventually they managed to communicate.
Although it wasn't mandatory, Percy and some others signed up to attend the few lessons the other schools had on the carriage and the ship.
Saturday finally came, and Percy spent the entire day feeling restless. He stole a glance to the Ravenclaw table at dinner and found that Annabeth was already looking at him. He nodded once to let her know he hadn't forgotten about tonight and went back to his dessert.
At this point, sneaking out of his common room was second nature to Percy. He became well acquainted with secret passages, proficient at disillusionment charms and an expert in avoiding Filch, patrolling prefects and Peeves the Poltergeist. It took some time, because the castle was more crowded and alert than usual this year, but he finally managed to get out of the castle.
"What took you so long?"
"Fuck!" Percy yelped, one hand over his heart and another drawing his wand. He couldn't see anyone but he was sure someone hissed those words in his ear.
Finally, the air warped in front of him and Annabeth's head appeared out of nowhere, fluctuating without a body.
"What the hell, Chase? You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Your heart is young, it can take a tiny scare."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm the one who's gonna face the creature, remember? I wanna see what it is."
“What? No. Hagrid can get in trouble if—’’
“Relax, Jackson, as you can see — or not see —, I came prepared."
Now that his heart was slowing, Percy looked at Annabeth again, paying more attention. It wasn't a disillusionment charm, it was way too strong for that. He couldn't see anything even if he knew where her body was supposed to be.
"Is that an invisibility cloak?"
Annabeth nodded, which was really weird when he could only see her head. "Not the invisibility cloak, but this one is pretty good. My mother gave it to me on my 12th birthday and only now the magic is starting to wear off."
Percy stared for a few more seconds. Even if not permanent or fully resistant to revelio spells as the original one, they were extremely expensive. He had looked up because having one would certainly make his smuggling activies easier, but gave up after seeing the price.
"What do you use it for? Getting books from the Restrict Section without permission?"
"Among other things. You’re not the only one who can break the rules without getting caught.”
Percy’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Who are you?"
For the first time it occurred to him that the image he had of Annabeth Chase — strict prefect, arrogant know-it-all, who strutted around the school like she was blessed by Rowena Ravenclaw herself — might not be accurate at all.
"Let's go," she said and started to walk. "We're gonna be late."
"Can you remove the cloak? I don't like talking with a floating head, it's unsettling." Instead of taking it off, Annabeth covered her head again, disappearing completely.
Percy sighed. It was probably for the best, anyway. They crossed the castle grounds towards Hagrid's hut, the only sign Annabeth was still around was the ground flattening softly beneath her shoes. When they got closer, there was some moviment inside the hut. Hagrid usually talked to Fang, but this time he apparently had other company. Percy walked to the pile of pumpkins that survived the Halloween's carving carnage and signaled for Annabeth to follow and had to hope she did.
After a few seconds, her head was visible again. "Madame Maxime is inside with Hagrid. I told you the other schools would cheat!"
Percy rolled his eyes. "So you were right, congratulations." He checked his watch. "They're gonna leave any minute now, let's wait."
"Here?" It wasn't ideal. The wind was cold, the ground was wet and the pumpkins were so overly ripe that the air had a sickly sweet smell. But it wasn't like they could knock and ask Hagrid to wait inside.
"I'm sorry the accomodations are not up to your standads, princess, but I promise you'll survive."
Annabeth's jaw clenched at the nickname, but before she could say anything, the door opened. Percy ducked behind a large pumpkin and she covered herself again with the cloak.
Hagrid exited the hut and offered his arm to Madame Maxime. She took it and they both walked away, just at the edge of the forbidden forest. Annabeth removed her cloak and they shared an incredulous look.
"At least they'll be easy to follow," Percy commented, not knowing what else to say. "C'mon."
"Wait," Annabeth grabbed his elbow. She unfurled the invisibility cloak and threw over them.
"It's not big enough for both of us," Percy said, seeing that the fabric barely reached his knees.
"Only our legs will be out. And it's dark, no one will notice."
He decided not to argue. Silently, walking so close together it was a miracle they didn't trip each other, they followed the giant, moonlit silhouettes of Hagrid and madame Maxime.
They walked for several minutes, so far around the perimeter of the forest that they couldn't see the castle anymore. Finally, they started hearing roars and shouting, and didn't take long until they saw what seemed to be a giant bonfire burn high on the dark sky and suddenly disappear.
Then Percy understood what he was seeing. In an open clearing, there was a round fence. Inside, there were three large cages with the gates still open. About twenty wizards were running around, yelling at each other to be heard over the roaring beasts. One of them threw it's massive reptilian head back and spit a large column of fire.
Dragons. The Champions would be facing dragons.
Percy watched, mesmerized, as the witches and wizards tried to manage the beasts, getting them out of the cages and putting iron collars around their necks. One of them seemed sluggish, confused, but the other two seemed to be angry, straining against the chains.
Someone tried to close the collar on the neck of the larger one and the dragon reared back, knocking the wizard down. Another one shook its elongated body, struggling against the wizards trying to put a muzzle on it.
"Bloody hell, why are they awake? I thought they drugged them with sleeping draught," somebody complained.
"They probably underestimated the dose," answered a woman with dark blond hair in a curly pixie cut and a mean scar that crossed her cheek and the bridge of her nose. Percy could barely make out a ministry badge pinned on her robes. "Everyone, stunning spells on three! One, two…."
The crack of a dozen simultaneous spells swallowed the last number and the night was painted red. The dragon fell slowly with a loud thud. Half a dozen wizards hurried to put the chains and collar on the fallen dragon. The others were still strapping the muzzle on the long one.
A few meters ahead, Hagrid gestured to Madame Maxime to stay behind a tree and got closer to the fence.
"Hey, Hagrid!" Greeted the scarred witch from before. "Please tell me this is the right spot, it would be a nightmare to move them again."
"It's here," the giant answered a bit distantly, still looking at the dragons in awe. "What are they gonna do with them? The Champions aren't supposed to kill them are they?"
"Merlin, no. I can't tell you exactly what it is, but you can't expect those kids to be able to kill a grown dragon. And these are protected creatures, if one of them get seriously injured I'm gonna get buried alive in paperwork."
"Is that your aunt?" Percy asked. When no answer came, he turned to look at Annabeth. She looked like she was about to be sick, watching the scene before her like she was staring Death in the face. Which she might as well be, considering how dangerous and ferocious dragons were.
Percy, for his part, was more fascinated than afraid. But again, he wasn't the one who was going to face them in front of hundreds of people.
Annabeth's eyes were darting around the clearing, looking at each dragon and growing more pale by the second. Before Percy could say anything she started to walk backwards, and once she was far enough to leave without being noticed, started to run, pulling the cloak along.
Percy looked at the clearing for one more second before following her, but he was not able to forget the fury in the dragons' eyes even as their roars and growls were mere distant sounds in the night.