CHAPTER 4

Daphne was still slack-jawed. She knew for a fact that no one has ever called the dark lord names on his face and lived to tell the tale. It was so unreal.

Roxanne met her daughter's gaze and giggled.

"Alright Daffy, shoot"

"Who's he?"

"He is Percy Jackson. He is a friend of your father and my apprenticeship master"

"But he's barely 30"

"He looks like that but he's well over 30"

"You did your runes apprenticeship under him?"

"Yes. Lily and I did our runes apprenticeship under him"

"Lily?"

"Lily Potter nee Evans"

Daphne was dumbstruck. Her mother was friends with Harry Potter's mother. She never imagined her parents to be friends with the parents of the Boy-Who-Lived. But she can think about them later. She wanted to know about this mysterious Percy Jackson.

"How is he still alive if he insulted the dark lord? What did dad mean by calling him 'Prince of Slytherin'?"

"Not many know this and it'd be wise of you to not disclose this to anyone. Percy Jackson was the closest friend of the dark lord. They shared the same room together for all seven years of their stay in Hogwarts. He was a prodigy in Runes, Transfiguration, Potions and Arithmancy. Always secured the top place in exams. Had a record number of OWLs and NEWTs. The record is still unbeaten. The dark lord was proclaimed to be the 'Heir of Slytherin' for his ability to speak parseltongue. Due to his intelligence, cunning and his ability to speak parseltongue like a second nature, he was proclaimed as the 'Prince of Slytherin'. He was also a brilliant quidditch player" Roxanne replied, while taking a deep breath.

Daphne was awestruck. No wonder he got away from insulting the dark lord to his face. Anyone else, and they would have been begging for their deaths the next day.

She slowly trudged to her room, with several thoughts and questions swirling around her head.

Out of thin air, Percy materialized. He managed to perfect the art of apparition and could now apparate without a sound or wand. To his enemies, it appears that he dissolved in thin air or simply materialize out of nowhere. He used it to great effect during his duels to confound or demoralize his opponents.

Percy's eyes darted everywhere. He was in Hogsmead, the wizarding village. As usual, he took in his surroundings, including all points of tactical interest. It was simply his second nature. He slowly started walking towards Hogwarts.

As he climbed the stairs to the Headmaster's office, he came across the Gargoyle. He let out a deep sigh.

"Acid Pops" he muttered.

The gargoyle sprang to life and moved aside, granting him entrance. He climbed another flight of stairs before reaching the office. He knocked twice before opening the door and stepping inside.

"Ah Percy, I was waiting for you. Fancy a Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore asked in his grandfatherly voice.

"Perhaps some other time Albus. Tell me, why did you summon me to your office?" asked Percy, his eyebrows twitching. He was on the verge of a breakthrough in his project for the past five years before he received an urgent summon from the headmaster.

"I wanted to inform you that Harry will be res….er…escorted from Private Drive to Grimauld Place. I wanted you to be a part of the team" Dumbledore replied while hastily covering up his slip of tongue. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think that I'd even imagine myself to be a part of such team? I have much more important work to do other than escorting a teenager" Percy replied shortly.

"Pity, I'm sure the rest of the Order could have used your expertise in flying and duelling. Well, I can't force you to do something that you do not wish to. However, I have a request. While you do not have to escort Harry, I urge you to be a part of the rear-guard unit. I'm sure its unlikely, however, should the escort party be ambushed, the rear-guard unit rushes to take care of the Death Eaters. As much busy as you are, I'm sure you would not pass up an opportunity to show up a few wannabe dark wizards" Dumbledore replied with the characteristic twinkling of his eyes.

Percy massaged his forehead. He was getting a migraine. All he wanted to do was work on his synchronous rune clusters with a glass of firewhiskey at his side. Is that too much to ask? First Voldemort, now the Order.

"If the escort party is not ambushed?"

"Then I suppose you see no action. You simply have to stay in Grimauld Place until they arrive, doing whatever you fancy" replied Dumbledore.

"Fair enough. It's a win-win for me. Is that everything you wanted to say?" asked Percy, his eyes closed.

Dumbledore let out a heavy sigh. Only Percy would consider this kind of situation, win-win.

"There's another request. The current gamekeeper of Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid, is currently unavailable due to some Order business. As the post is currently empty, I'd like you to take it up" Dumbledore replied.

"Here's a deal for you. I take up Hagrid's post and you pay me whatever you paid Hagrid, in return, I get to teach Harry some extra stuff" Percy stated, his eyes closed the entire time.

"What kind of stuff are we talking about? I'm not too sure how the teachers here would feel if they come to know that you are doing their job" Dumbledore replied warily.

"I won't be teaching him the school stuff. I'm not his tutor. I'll be teaching him some stuff which is not taught at school. Like Occlumency and its applications, some advanced duelling techniques like using transfiguration and so on. Nothing dark or strictly illegal" replied Percy, his eyes still closed.

Dumbledore gave a deep sigh.

"Very well Percy, we'll have it your way. I only ask you to inform me when you are about to teach him something and what it is. We have a deal. Would you like to use Hagrid's hut or perhaps, you'd like to construct your own?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be using Hagrid's hut, but only after I clean the place thoroughly. I'll report to you in the last week of August" replied Percy with a smirk while opening his eyes. His eyes had an ethereal glow. He stood up and walked towards the door, his eyes darting everywhere. Just as he was about to exit, he spoke up.

"I'm sure you know this but still, Harry must not know what he is until he masters the art of Occlumency" he said in a bored tone while shutting the door behind him, leaving a slack-jawed Dumbledore in darkness.

Bill Weasley was waiting for Percy for the better part of the hour. Yesterday, Dumbledore messaged him, using one of the portraits of Phineas Nigellus Black, to expect Percy's arrival this morning. He was to be a part of the rear-guard unit, along with himself, his father, his brother, his sister and Hermione. Sirius was with Buckbeak, sulking by himself. He was barred from exiting the house.

He suddenly saw Percy, materialising from thin air. His sea-green eyes were darting around everywhere. Bill always found his behaviour fascinating. While Moody was overtly paranoid and made sure others knew it as well, which often resulted in him being the butt of their jokes, Percy made sure that no one, who didn't know him, knows about his paranoia.

Its like taking paranoia to whole new level, Bill mused.

Percy's eyes caught Bill's gaze. His lips curled upwards into a smile. Bill shifted nervously on his feet. Truth be told, he was intimidated by Percy and his smiles were always disturbing. Everyone at the Order turns their faces away whenever he grins. It was as if he found his prey and wishes to play with it. Bill gave an involuntary shudder as Percy approached him.

"Ah Bill, I expected you to be a part of the extraction team, not the rear-guard" Percy said with the same disturbing smile adorning his face as his eyes were darting around everywhere furiously.

"They wanted to take only those whom Harry knew personally, except for Tonks, Hestia and Shacklebolt" Bill replied uneasily.

"Bloody good decision if you ask me, mate" Percy mused.

"Come now, mother must be worrying about us. I'll show you your room. You should love it" replied Bill while gazing at a person who caught Percy's eye.

"Lead the way" replied Percy while narrowing his eyes at a particularly shifty looking individual.

Just as Bill was about to take the turn which would have had them in front of Grimauld Place, Percy grabbed his arm and vanished into thin air.

They appeared in a dark alley a few blocks away from Grimauld Place.

"What the he…mmpphh" just as Bill was about to start, Percy placed his hand on his mouth and gestured with his finger. When Bill looked where he was pointing, he saw the same shifty person.

"Wand out Bill and follow me. Watch my back. That guy is a Death Eater and I'm not sure if he is alone. Either case, he's not going back alive" Percy whispered to Bill before stealthily stalking his prey.

After 5 minutes of stalking, they managed to corner him in a particularly dark and pungent smelling alleyway. Percy had a feral grin adorning his face. He turned to Bill and whispered one last command which made him shudder.

"Watch the alley entrance. If anyone enters, drop them. I don't care if its an old man or a child, just drop them. If you can't obliviate, then kill them"

Bill pointed his wand towards the alley entrance and took cover behind a dumpster. He heard a bang followed by a pained moan behind him. He didn't dare turn his head back, lest he lose his breakfast.

"Tell me, scum, are you alone? Did the dark lord send you?" Percy asked the man while stepping on his broken arm. The man howled in pain.

"Pathetic" Percy spat on him before taking out his wand and muttered "Crucio".

The man felt his very core explode in pain and agony. He writhing and twitching continuously and involuntarily. He wanted to bang his head, to cut off his arms, to do anything that will make this pain stop. It was excruciatingly agonizing. His screams went silent, his voice box ruptured long ago.

After what felt like hours, he felt the pain stop. His breathing was laboured and he was shivering involuntarily.

"Are you ready to talk?" Percy asked in distaste. The man was mumbling something incoherently. Percy turned him on his side and saw that he was drooling and mumbling. He rolled his eyes, scrunching his face in disgust.

Bill put up a notice-me-not charm at the alley entrance and turned his face towards Percy. He saw Percy staring at the man, while he was in the ground mumbling incoherently and drooling. He watched as Percy narrowed his eyes in concentration and the man began to writhe about uncontrollably. His face contorted in agony as he was trying to bash his head on the ground. Bill looked away. He couldn't imagine the kind of torture which makes a man want to bash his head on the ground.

"Ah man, that was a nasty piece of business. Good thing we caught him when we did. Grimauld Place would have been compromised" Percy replied while shaking his head. Bill looked at him uneasily and then looked at the man who was lying on the ground like yesterday's trash. Percy caught his gaze and looked at the man.

"He is useless now, both to us and to the dark lord. They won't find him for a long time. It might be even a few months before he is recovered. The dark lord will take one glance before killing him. So tell me Bill, do we kill him or make him suffer more for indefinite amount?" Percy asked casually, as if asking for the result of quidditch match.

Bill has never encountered this kind of situation before. He couldn't decide whether to kill the man or to leave him to his fate. He didn't want to be a killer but he couldn't leave the man to his fate as well, it was inhuman. He looked at Percy in desperation.

"If we were the death eaters, this man might have been someone important to us. We would have kept him hostage and tortured him till he became a vegetable, like we did just now. Then, we would have sent a message to the order, stating that we have someone important to them in our custody. Let go of the death eaters in prison before he dies. The order would have been desperate and they would release the prisoners. By the time the order recovered him, he's already a vegetable" Percy replied slowly. He wanted Bill to see that the world is not a nice place. It was a harsh and unforgiving place where your slightest errors in judgement can land you in a life or death situation.

Bill was pale. He never even imagined in his wildest dreams that the death eaters could do something horrible. He felt stupid and weak. What would he have done if it was his parents, or one of his brothers or worst case, his sister. He felt unprepared and disgustingly weak.

Percy let out a sigh. He walked towards the man, pointed his wand towards him and muttered, "Avada Kedavra". A flash of green light struck the man and he was dead before he even knew it. Bill was staring at the dead man with a hollow expression.

"We are not death eaters. We make sure our victims are dead when they are no longer useful. We don't keep them as trophies to antagonize our enemies" Percy replied as grabbed Bill's arm and vanished from the spot.

Hi guys! Deathstalker11 here. I have tried to shed some more light on Percy's dark personality. I really don't like how Molly babies her children. Ron, Harry and Ginny I can understand. But Bill, Charlie and the twins are old enough to make their own decisions. Therefore, Bill is the first one whom Percy 'converts', much to Molly's dismay. Anyway, keep reading and reviewing to find out more. Since my native language is not English, I urge you to point out any mistakes that might happen due to this fact. Deathstalker11 out. Toodles!