Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
The Unrelenting Frozen Seas: The Journey
Year One: I Become Supreme Lady of the Bathroom
Beta: Siegfried01
"There, look."
"Where?"
"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."
"Wearing the hat?"
"Did you see her face?"
"Did you see her scar?"
"The hat's in the way!"
Whispers followed Rhode from the moment she left her dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at her, or doubled back to pass her in the corridors again, staring. Rhode would just glare at them, couldn't they tell she was trying to figure her way around this maze of a castle? So annoying.
There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Rhode was sure the coats of armor could walk. All these were so not cool. In particular the moving suits of armor reminded her of the automatons that she had fought in the past and that put her on edge. The massive morningstars with heads larger than her torso and claymores longer than she was tall that were held with utter nonchalance didn't really help with that.
The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!" Rhode wanted to stab him…repeatedly. She'd have to test that out some time.
Even worse than Peeves was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Rhode and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning which made his already annoying presence all the more unbearable. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing. That was lucky for Filch because Rhode was about to kick his butt for threatening her.
Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick. Rhode had stepped on its tail once or twice for annoying her, something she was only able to get away with doing because she was able to dodge the creepy caretaker after the deed.
And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Rhode quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. Gods, Latin was a pain in the butt. No wonder it was a dead language. Still, that E.G.L. dictionary Chiron gave her was helping. She spent mornings using highlighters and making doggie ears in it just to keep up with everyone else. She remembered what she liked most while living on the streets, no school.
They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Rhode found it rather easy since the stars were just the ending of many a Greek history story. She was actually one of the best in class, much to Hermione Granger's ire. Plus, as per Lee's suggestion, she had borrowed one of the camp's telescopes, which were far better and clearer and compact than the old clunky wizard ones.
Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Rhode knew a little about plants, but she couldn't really hold a candle in comparison to one of her green thumbed cousins from Cabin Four.
Easily the most boring class was History of Magic (or nap time), which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. Rhode idly wondered if her uncle was trying to kill her via boredom. If so, it was strangely effective.
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Rhode's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight, the clatter of thick hardcover books making loud thumping noises as they came crashing down. None of the class could conceal a wince when he reappeared, a suspicious bruise shining on his forehead.
Professor McGonagall was again, different. Rhode had been right to think she was one of those kind of teachers. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of annoyingly complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile. Teacher's pet much?
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a joke for the demigod. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but not many believed him. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went. But for some reason, she felt on edge in the class, like a monster was going to attack her or something.
In general, Rhode found herself in the middle of the pack of her peers academically speaking, still trying to learn a few things along with the struggles of her dyslexia. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like her, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. Being a half-blood, the demigod kind, really didn't prep you for doing magic. Monster fighting? Sure. The next Merlin? Not so much. There was a lot to learn, even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.
The one thing that irked Rhode the most about Hogwarts so far? Well, everyone would call her Potter. She'd said her name was Evans so many times it was ridiculous! Were people deaf or dumb? She honestly wasn't sure. Either way if they didn't wise up soon she'd open up a few ears, or knock some sense into them.
Rhode was supposed to polish some trophies or something for detention for giving Malfoy his dues back on the train. But she skipped it, finding it stupid just because she got into a fight before school even started. Best part, they thought she served it! They didn't even bother checking up on her. Man, what a joke. Exploiting the system, how fun.
Friday was an important day for Rhode and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. Seriously, this place should come with a directory.
"What have we got today?" Rhode asked Ron as she took a rough bite out of her bacon. In her other hand was a pen as she wrote on some loose-leaf from her binder. She refused to use something as archaic as quells. Hello, twenty-first century people! She was currently writing to Annabeth about her first few days, making a little doodle here and there to give a visual. She'd write to Luke later, Annabeth would throw a hissy fit if she didn't get the first letter.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true."
"Wish McGonagall favored us." said Rhode. McGonagall had just given them a large pile of homework the day before. Rhode just hoped it wasn't a recurring theme because homework sucked.
Worst of all, Rhode hadn't gotten even a chance to train at all here. She was feeling restless and needed a sparring dummy. Hopefully Lee would oblige. She'd been so busy Rhode hadn't gotten a chance at all to talk to her fellow demigods either. Well, she could with Lee since they were in the same house, but he was too busy chatting up older girls and hanging out with the Weasley Twins.
Just then, the mail arrived. Rhode had gotten used to this by now, but it had given her a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. She swore some of them were giving her looks, blinking those big eyes with menacing hoots. Rhode just hoped it didn't end up like that freaky movie, The Birds.
Hedwig hadn't brought Rhode anything so far. She sometimes flew in though to nibble her ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning was no different, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and pecked at her bacon.
"Fine, steal my bacon," Rhode mumbled. She stuffed the letter into a paper envelope and handed it to the owl, "Give that to Bethy, okay, Hedwig?" the owl bobbed her head and after quickly finishing off her stolen meal took off with the letter.
"Meffy?" Ron asked with his mouth full.
"My, well, you could say she's my little sister." Rhode told him with a grimace, "And Ron, swallow. You're grossing me out." Seriously, she had seen hobos with more manners.
Ron blinked and swallowed, "I thought you were, you know, a single child." He said knowing about the Potter family like everyone else. Rhode hadn't told him about her life in the states. That was no one's business but her own.
"She's like a little sister to me. We live in the same place." Rhode vaguely answered.
"I've a little sister. She's kind of annoying." Ron commented and looked at her, "Wanna trade? Maybe yours is more bearable. Plus, she read all those stories about you, she thinks you're amazing."
Rhode scowled about the made up stories about her, well, she did slay monsters but her being some warrior princess was just…dumb and eerily accurate. Minus the princess part of course. "I wouldn't trade her for the world. Sorry, you're stuck with yours."
"Aw man," Ron slumped his shoulders.
Potions as it turned out was the worst class that she's had so far. In fact, ever to be more precise.
At the start-of-term banquet, Rhode had gotten the idea that this Snape guy disliked her. By the end of the first Potions lesson, she knew she'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Rhode - he hated her.
And it was honestly mutual.
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder there than up in the main castle, and would have been creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Rhode's name.
"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Rhode Potter. Our new - celebrity."
"It's Evans." Rhode said on reflex.
Snape's cold and empty black eyes looked into her own, "We speak when spoken to here, Potter." He said the name with acid, "A point from Gryffindor."
Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
More silence followed this little speech. Rhode and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
For a brief moment she considered ignoring the guy entirely since he wasn't using her proper name, but thought better of it. But his question itself? Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? She thought on it, but was stumped. Hermione's hand had shot into the air.
"I don't know," Rhode frowned, "And like I said, it's Ev-"
Snape's lips curled into a sneer and cut her off, "Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."
He ignored Hermione's hand.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Rhode didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. It sounded like a wine cooler. She ignored Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter like hyenas.
"I don't know." Rhode's frown deepened, wondering what the heck this guy's deal was.
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Rhode's brow knitted into a glare. No, she hadn't. She wanted to spend as much time with Luke and Annabeth as she could before leaving.
Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.
Wolfsbane? All she knew about that was that Medea tried to poison her half-brother, Theseus, with it, but his step-father, Aegeus, saved him. "I don't know. This is why I'm in school, for you to teach me this stuff right? If you want a know-it-all, why not try Granger, her arm's looking tired." Rhode answered with attitude. This guy was really ticking her off now. Granger's overeagerness to show off her knowledge when she was being publicly embarrassed for lack of such was not helping matters either.
A few people laughed; Rhode caught Seamus' eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.
"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Or pen and paper for Rhode. Over the noise, Snape said, "And another point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter." Her pen creaked, the plastic groaning in protest as she clenched it and glared at the man.
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus' cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Rhode and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. "You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."
Before Ron could stop her, Rhode spoke her mind. She tended to do that a lot. "Maybe because I was paying attention to my own work!?" She snapped, "If you weren't busy stroking Malfoy's ego and neglecting everyone else, you might've spotted Neville's mistake. Ever think of that?"
The entire class gasped.
Snape's focus turned solely on her, eyes boring into her green eyes that challenged him with her own glare, "What did you say, Potter?" he hissed in a whisper.
"It's. Evans." She hissed right back, refusing to back down from this guy. "Or does that carrot on your face block your hearing somehow?"
Silence fell in the classroom as Snape's loathsome look doubled, no, tripled in intensity. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter." The man sneered, "Now get back to work!" he barked at the class.
"Screw that, I'm out of here." Rhode said, packing her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and marched out, leaping over the potion on the ground. She ignored Snape's shouts at her about losing another fifteen points. Her housemates were gaping at her actions.
"What a dick." she surmised the teacher in three simple words as she finally got some distance from the classroom.
As Rhode carried her backpack down a hallway, she heard the collapsing of books. Peering around a corner, she saw Su picking up her books, but she wasn't alone. Two older girls were with her, or rather bothering her from what Rhode could hear.
Rhode advanced towards them, she could see Su's shoulders were tensed, her lips in a small frown, her chestnut colored eyes were narrowed. But Su made no move against the girls bullying her, not even speaking to them. She opted to walk away, ignoring the older girls, but one pushed her back to where the daughter of Demeter had been.
"Come on, Li, speak up. Or are you mute?" one of the older Ravenclaws gave a shrill laugh that reminded Rhode of one of the cleaning Harpies at camp.
"Yeah," the other parroted with a sneer.
Su just kept her lips sealed, trying to get past them once more. Only she was roughly pushed down this time, her books scattering all around her.
"There a problem?" Rhode cut in harshly, getting the girls to look at her. Su blinked in surprise at seeing her.
The harpy girl muttered a curse, "What do you want, Potter?"
"It's Evans," Rhode glared sternly, still pissed about the Snape debacle, "My question is what you're doing with Su here?"
"What do you care about some Mute, Evans?"
Su had gotten to her knees, ignoring the taunt with a calming breath.
Rhode's grip on her shoulder strap tightened, "Because I hate bullies." She glared intensely.
The mean girl raised a brow, "And I should care what you think why?" she mocked, reaching for her wand, but Rhode was far quicker. Before the other girl had so much as gripped her wand, Rhode had dropped her bag, caught the girl's threatening wrist before proceeding to twist it so the bully dropped the loosely held wand, and as a final coup de grâce slammed the girl face first into the wall. She couldn't withhold the satisfied smirk as she heard bone crunch.
The bully's friend, a pasty skinned brunette, reached for her wand, firing off a spell Rhode had never heard of, but with her demigod reflexes, the daughter of Poseidon had already ducked out of the way of the spell, and in the same motion kicked the girl's hand. The brunette yelped, dropping her wand. Capitalizing on her opponent's distraction, Rhode shoulder rammed her, making her fall to the ground.
By this point, the first girl had recovered her wand and had managed to get off a spell, but Rhode side stepped the magical beam that spat from the wand and rushing forward grabbed the girl by her long straw colored hair and flipped the Ravenclaw over her body, tearing out a good clump of hair in the process. This left the mean girl wailing in pain interspersed with shouts for her friend to help her only to discover that she had already scampered away. Finding herself alone and outclassed she soon raced down the hallway too, cussing Rhode nastily.
"That's right! You better run!" Rhode shouted, "Mess with her again and I'll shave you bald!"
Well, that was certainly cathartic, beating up bullies always was. Rhode felt better now.
She turned around to see Su collecting her books for a second time, Rhode bent down to help her, "You okay, Su?" she asked in concern. Su was a fellow demigod, and if it was one rule Rhode followed, it was that demigods stick together.
"I'm fine," Su said in her soft voice. It was just above a whisper, but it was very pretty. Her lips curled upward in a smile, "Thank you, Rhode."
"No problem," Rhode said and stood up, handing the books back to Su, "So what was that all about?"
Su frowned, her eyes finding the floor oddly interesting, "It was just some repugnant hazing from what I could gather."
Rhode's mouth formed into a scowl, "What? That's stupid!"
Su just nodded, a tiny frown on her face.
"Why didn't you fight back?" the daughter of Poseidon asked. Su could have taken those girls.
Su flustered, "I was just going to ignore them. They'd leave me alone eventually."
Rhode shook her head, "Su, that's a good way to end up as a doormat…trust me." She said in a bitter tone, remembering her 'childhood'. "Backing down makes them think it's okay. You have to fight back."
The daughter of Demeter frowned, "I believe in only fighting when the situation demands it. Sticks and stones, Rhode."
"I'd rather use the sticks and stones." Rhode grunted. "More efficient."
Su gave her fellow half-blood a worried look, "You do know you're going to get in trouble, yes?"
Rhode gave a look that just said: Your point is?
"I see," Su muttered under her breath.
"So, where were you heading?" Rhode asked, picking up her bag by the straps.
"The library." Su gave a cute little smile, excitement gleaming in her chestnut eyes, "I was going to get a head start on that homework Chiron gave us."
Rhode faltered, "You…you actually have time for that?"
Su cocked her head, "You don't?" she ask innocently.
Rhode snorted and pulled out her current Bible, the E.G.L. dictionary, "Still trying learning from this. Latin is such a pain. I'm barely scraping by."
"I could help you." Su said quickly, "I owe you one-"
Rhodes stopped her right there, "I didn't help you because I wanted something in return, Su. I did it because it was the right thing to do." she said as if it was obvious and to her it was. She hated bullies. They reminded her of her cousin Dudley. "I don't need you to help me because you want to pay me back. Not that I wouldn't mind the help, you know? Gods know I need it. But only if you want to help me." She shrugged, "If you don't want to, don't. Simple as that."
Su just looked stunned for a moment, her small voice mustering out, "I want to." She said, standing a little straighter.
Rhode smirked, "Okay then. Now, fair warning. I might start out a bit stupid, so forgive me." She laughed with a sheepish look, "Haven't been to school in ages." She shouldered her bag as they started walking to the library.
"It's easy once you get a handle on it. It also helps if you make mental shortcuts." Su informed.
"You're the Ravenclaw here, I'll take your word for it."
They ended up working in the library until dinner. Even with Su's help, Rhode still struggled, but was getting the hang of it bit by bit. Or at least that's what Su said. Rhode honestly couldn't tell, not with only a day's worth of work to go on. At dinner, Rhode sat at the Ravenclaw table, getting plenty of odd looks. But Rhode didn't care, she was having fun chatting with her newest friend, Su.
Later, McGonagall cornered Rhode in the Gryffindor tower, over her standing up to Snape. An event that was the talk of the school. Rhode flat-out told the professor she wasn't going to take Snape's harassing attitude, plain and simple. In return, she got a lengthy lecture, which she tuned out, about respecting her teachers and another detention.
Rhode still didn't go.
A few days into the term, Rhode got a letter back from Annabeth. It was all written in rushed little excited script as she talked about how cool Rhode's classes sounded. Rhode had yet to write about potions. After gushing over Rhode's classes Annabeth went into how she was doing at camp, talking about Luke, how she was learning to use her dagger and saying she'd beat Rhode once she got back. She just rambled on about the little things and asking more questions about the school.
There was even a little drawing from the blonde, stick figures, aww. It looked like Annabeth…fighting a killer badger? Or was that a wombat? Maybe it was a guinea pig, it was really hard to tell.
The last part of the letter was that Annabeth wanted more letters, eager to hear about what Rhode was doing and studying. The daughter of the sea was happy to oblige. She wrote about how things were going here currently. She included a smaller letter addressed to Luke, to see how he was doing.
She also got a letter from Chiron. The preliminary proceedings for her custody case were going well. Apparently they had to go to Ministry of Magic to give her testimony at the formal hearing set during the winter holiday. That was fine with Rhode, she just wanted to get this stupid thing over with. Her custody battle actually made the newspapers, which was really annoying when people would come up to ask her something about it.
The next week zoomed by quickly, and before she knew it Thursday had arrived. The biggest thing that was going on was the broom flying lessons. Everyone was either happy or nervous as heck. In the run-up to the big day, kids from wizarding families were boasting, telling tales of dodging helicopters or hand gliders. The exception being Neville who was freaking out. A feeling shared by the muggle-raised kids who were all pretty nervous about the whole thing, the worse being Hermione Granger who was reading on all she could learn.
Rhode? Well, she was just going to skip it. She valued her life after all. See, Zeus didn't like his brothers' kids in the sky. Kind of like going over to someone's house for dinner without a pie. But instead of getting an annoyed look, you got a bolt to the face…even if you offered a pie.
Neville had gotten a gift from his Gran, a Remembrall. A little clear glass tennis ball that started to change red inside if you forgot something. It wouldn't tell you what though. It was in Rhode's frank opinion a stupid little thing and another sign of the Wizards' madness. But Neville seemed happy about it. So when Malfoy slinked by, trying to take it from Neville, Rhode decided to stand up for her housemate and caught the blonde brat's wrist in a vice grip as he reached for the ball, glaring at him. His bodyguards loomed behind him, trying to look tough and scary, but Rhode ignored them. Luckily (for them) McGonagall was there in a flash, stopping anything from happening.
Teachers were annoying like that.
Whilst she skipped the life threatening (to her) flying lesson, Rhode managed to run into Lee, who told her that they'd be training in the coming week. Rhode of course asked why they hadn't so far, but Lee said he wanted them to adjust first. A likely story in Rhode's opinion, More likely the son of Hermes had gotten too distracted with catching up with his friends and life at Hogwarts and forgotten all about training until now. But whatever the case, she was eager to get some training in so she rolled with the boy's silly excuse.
After catching up with Ron after his flying lesson, he told her that Malfoy took Neville's Remembrall after the poor boy crashed. Seemed that moron hasn't learned yet. She's need to give yet another remedial lesson it seemed. Putting thought to action, Rhode stormed around the castle until she found the kiddie Ken doll's bodyguards. They were standing outside a boy's bathroom.
The two stooges tried their best to look menacing, scowling and cracking their knuckles, but one frightening glare and a low toned, "Move." Seemed to have them remember how bad she kicked their butts. They parted like the red sea and Rhode marched into the bathroom.
Malfoy was in a stall. So, she kicked it open.
He screamed like a little girl as he covered himself. Rhode caught him with his pants down, literally.
She held him at wand point and told him to hand over the Remembrall. She didn't know any threatening spells yet, so it was just a bluff. Not that the idiot knew it.
He looked like he wanted to refuse, but Rhode used her mastery of toilets to make his start to shake from water pressure. Visibly terrified by the display he assumed was magic, he handed it over in a second. Rhode smiled and told him to keep being stupid, walking out of the bathroom whistling happily as she returned the Remembrall to Neville at dinner, who thanked her greatly.
Malfoy, trying to save face, attempted to challenge her to a duel, but Rhode brushed him off. The kid was nowhere near her level, that much she could tell from a mere glance. She had plenty of experience with duels after all, having fought a good number of them with Thalia and Luke. She'd lost her fair share, she wasn't afraid to admit that. Plus, Thalia so cheated with her static zaps. Like, all the time!
Malfoy tried calling Rhode a coward, but she just pointed out how he screamed like a banshee and that made him storm away with his goons, face red.
Loser.
Lee smiled at the cousins, "Well, girls, time to get some training in."
"About damn time," Rhode rolled her eyes.
Su and Rhode were following Lee up to the seventh floor. Rhode was in a pair of grey sweatpants, a black tanktop, her sneakers, and Thalia's jacket. The promised training area was finally going to be shown to them. After today they could go there whenever they fancied or at least had free time.
They ended up near a tapestry of a guy trying to teach trolls ballet as Lee was looking at a blank wall.
"You know you could take a picture, right?" Rhode told him.
"Ye of little faith," the son of Hermes held his chest in mock woe is me way, "Look at the wall, Aquagirl."
"Don't call me that you-what?" Rhode had blinked and suddenly there was a door in front of them, "…A secret room?"
"The most secretest," Lee chirped with a smirk as he opened it, showing an empty room, "Welcome, ladies, to the Room of Requirement!" he fanned out his arms wide all dramatic like.
Su gave a small clap of awe while Rhode whistled, "Okay, this is cool."
"Hey, I always deliver," Lee smirked, "So, what do you want to train with?"
Rhode looked Lee up and down, "A punching bag."
A moment later, a punching bag appeared, making Rhode look surprised.
"Your punching bag, Milady." Lee bowed dramatically.
"Oh," Rhode made a small noise of disappointment. She wanted to use Lee as her punching bag.
Lee seemed to have caught that as he quickly turned to Su, "And you, Li?"
"A practice dummy, please." She asked politely. Another moment later, a straw dummy appeared, "Thank you."
"No problem," Lee smiled at her and turned to Rhode, "At least someone has manners."
"I have manners," Rhode pointed out, "I just choose not to use them." She smirked at him.
"…Luke's right, I am going to have my hands full with you."
"He said what now?"
"Nothing!" Lee laughed nervously and changed topics, quickly, "So, here's the deal here. You have to think about what you want, like so." he said, pointing to the target circle that appeared, "Best place to train in all of Scotland."
Rhode took off Thalia's jacket and hung it on a coat hanger that appeared. "I guess. Hey, Su, want to do hand to hand training?" she asked.
"What?" Su blinked, "Um, no, I'm not that good at it." She wearily admitted. Plus, she didn't want to fight Rhode in hand to hand combat. She saw what the daughter of Poseidon did to those bullies.
"Come on, Li, bust out the Kung-Fu!" Lee grinned impishly, doing some mock Kung-Fu moves with sound effects.
Su frowned, her little fists on her hips, "Just because I am Chinese, does not mean I know Kung-Fu. That's stereotyping." She huffed.
"What?" Lee whined, "Seriously?"
"I mean, I learned a little fighting at camp." Su admitted, "But it's very limited."
"So, come on, let's go." Rhode said, holding up her fists like a boxer. Lee stepped back, playing the role of referee. Su looked at their excited smiles and sighed.
"Fine."
Not even a minute later, Su was face first on the ground, "Owie."
"Y-You okay, Su?" Rhode asked with concern, kneeling down next to the downed girl. Did she go too hard?
Su looked up, rubbing her little nose, "I don't like close quarter combat." She pouted. Fighting like that hurt.
"Don't you use a sword?" Lee asked, coming over with his hands in his pockets.
Su sat up and crossed her legs. She pulled out an oriental fan made of wood and opened it. It had a green paper background with a long branch that had little pink flowers blooming. A second later, it morphed into a two foot xiphos, "I'm decent with it, but I'm much better with controlling my powers." The daughter of Demeter admitted with a tiny smile.
"I like doing it both ways." Rhode told Su. Lee snickered juvenilely, getting a confused look from the daughters of Poseidon and Demeter.
"Nothing, nothing," Lee waved off with one more laugh, "So, you two check out the third floor corridor?" he asked them eagerly.
"No/Nope." The cousins answered, getting a stunned look from Lee.
"What?!" he gaped at them, "Why not?"
"Didn't headmaster Dumbledore say something about certain death?" Su asked him.
"Please, that was a clear invitation! Where's your sense of demigod adventure?"
Rhode snorted, "I got my adventure before coming to camp. I could use a little relaxation." Even though she really wouldn't call school relaxing.
"Well I went," Lee crossed his arms with a smug smile, "You'd never guess what's in there."
Su and Rhode exchanged looks, "What?" the daughter of Poseidon asked.
Lee's smile broadened, "A Cerberus!" he exclaimed with a laugh.
The girls paused, "What?" Rhode's voice cracked like a whip, eyes narrowed, "You're sure?"
"Yep." Lee nodded.
"…This place is nuts!" the daughter of Poseidon shouted, arms in the air, "Who's the soft headed idiot who brought a Cerberus to a school full of kids?" She demanded.
"Hagrid." Lee casually answered. To the looks he got, the boy elaborated, "See, Hagrid, the Grounds Keeper, is a big animal softy. If a Cerberus got into the school, oh, he'd know for sure." That twinkle of mischief that children of Hermes were known for was burning like a star, "So I went down to his hut and leaned on him a bit."
"I doubt you could." Rhode said due to the sheer size of the man.
"I meant figuratively. You know the saying 'Loose lips sink ships'?" Lee asked, getting nods as he laughed, "Well, let's just say that good old Hagrid is a bloody Dreadnaught!" he slapped his knee, "One of my best sources of information here next to the portraits." He stated and leaned forward with a grin, "He dropped the dog's name, it's Fluffy by the way. Real messed up name for a hellhound. But guess what else he slipped?"
Su and Rhode exchanged looks and turned back to Lee, "What?" the daughter of Poseidon asked.
"It's guarding something by Nicolas Flamel! Saw the thing hovering over a trapdoor." Lee exclaimed, "Him and Dumbledore are thick as thieves I hear. So whatever's down there, it's got to be cool…and worth something good." He commented with a rub of his chin, probably thinking of what the object was and how much money he could make off it.
Rhode shook her head, "I don't want to know." She groaned as she waved Lee off. Making a mental note to stay far away from the third corridor.
Lee raised a brow, "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Rhode shrugged, "Whatever, it's probably something stupid. Anyway, I'm going to work out while I can." She said, walking over to the punching bag where a pair of cestus, leather gloves, appeared. "This room rocks." She grinned and slipping them on started training.
Seeing that the conversation had come to an end, Su moved over to her practice dummy to practice a few sword strokes. Pouting at the lack of enthusiasm towards his scheme, Lee stalked off to his makeshift range and began throwing his knives at the target circle, doing trick shots for a challenge.
During their break, Su commented about Gringotts getting robbed a little while ago and maybe it had something to do with what was hidden in the third floor corridor. After all, she reasoned, after Gringotts, Hogwarts was reputed to be the safest place in Britain so if the former was robbed it only made sense to hide whatever was the target in the school. Lee waved it off saying it was a ridiculously farfetched idea.
Besides, he noted nothing was taken. He did however compliment whoever had the guts to do it, but still insulted them for not taking anything after having pulled off Wizarding Britain's break-in of the century. This led to Rhode asking about her own banking stuff and Lee replying the market was looking good from what he read in the paper that morning.
Rhode honestly had no idea what on earth that meant but before she could say so, he went on to say that he had got an owl from his mum saying she had found someone good to work on Rhode's finances. That was good news in Poseidon's daughter's opinion since it was one less nuisance to worry about.
It had been already two months since Rhode had come to Hogwarts. Her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics. She still had her struggles, but with Su's help, it was getting easier as time went by. She had sent almost constant letters to Annabeth and Luke, she missed them and hoped the Christmas holiday would hurry up.
On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Rhode's partner was Seamus Finnigan. Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger, something the neither of them seemed too pleased about. Rhode felt sorry for him.
Rhode and Hermione had a…tense relationship. If Hermione was the goody-two shoes point scorer of Gryffindor. Then Rhode was the bad girl who broke the rules and lost those points. She had already lost a lot of points for their house (mostly because of Snape). As a result, not many were thrilled with her, none more so than the Granger girl.
Like hell Rhode would bow to some peer pressure system! If they wanted some dinky cup, good for them. The child of the sea honestly didn't care.
Beyond the issues about the points and the worthless cup, the bushy haired girl just grinded on her nerves in just about every possible way. A feeling she suspected was mutual. Rhode often kept her area of the dorm messy, which would lead to Hermione nagging her, annoying Rhode. Rhode would often give her a look that said she didn't care and to shut up, which in turn peeved Hermione.
One time when Rhode was oversleeping due to a rather tiring training session, Hermione had tried to stir Rhode awake. Now, here's an important fun fact: Never trying to stir awake someone who's lived on the streets. Rhode had literally grabbed her hand before it could touch her on reflex, rolled off her bed and pinned Hermione down, painfully. Rhode got off of the girl and told her to never try and wake her up again. Hermione tattled on Rhode, getting her another detention.
Once more, Rhode did not attend it.
Back in the present, Flitwick was giving his instructions on how to carry out the levitation charm they were to be attempting in class that day. "Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Rhode went first in her pair and got the feather to float four inch off the desk for a moment, making her smile. Seamus tried but got so impatient when it did nothing, he prodded it with his wand, setting it on fire - Rhode snuffed it out with her hand. See, since her dad was Poseidon, she had some kind of heat resistance due to his oceanic nature. So a little fire like that didn't really hurt her. It made for a cool party trick too.
Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much luck either.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong," Rhode heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Rhode as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."
Someone knocked into Rhode as they hurried past her. It was Granger. Rhode caught a glimpse of her face - and was surprised to see that she was in tears. Rhode thought the girl had thicker skin than that.
"I think she heard you." Rhode idly commented.
"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
Granger didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Rhode and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Granger was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, and the Halloween decorations put the bookworm out of their minds.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
Rhode was just helping herself to a baked sweet potato (which she loved) when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face, "Troll – in the dungeons! Troll in the dungeons!" Everyone stared at him as he stood in the middle lane of the tables, "Thought you ought to know."
He then sank to the floor in a dead faint, face first.
Gods, that was just pathetic! And he called himself a DADA professor?
There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
In the background she heard Snape rush over to Dumbledore and whisper into his ear quietly but furiously, even as he gave what were clearly a series of hand signals that caused the Prefects in his house to stop what they were doing. Obviously, he at least had enough brains to realize that sending his snakes to their dorm in the dungeons, where the troll was supposed to be, was monumentally stupid. Rhode, for all her hatred for him, had to give the potion master credit for not being a complete idiot like his colleagues appeared to be.
She was curious to hear where the snakes would end up for the night, but Percy was in his element and quickly rushed her and her housemates out of the Great Hall before she could catch even the slightest hint. Bah! Overeager, pretentious BOY! She didn't miss how in the midst of showing off his 'leadership skills' he was sending glances over to some girl his year at the Ravenclaw table. He was obviously grandstanding to get her attention. Honestly, she didn't know why guys seemed so intent on impressing girls but they can do some frankly silly things to do so.
"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"
"How could a troll get in?" Rhode asked as they climbed the stairs. She thought this place was supposed to be safe.
"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke?"
They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Rhode suddenly paused and cursed under breath.
"What?" Ron asked her.
We forgot about Granger. Rhode thought and looked at Ron, eyes narrowed, "I'll be right back." She said but Ron stopped her.
"Y-You want me to come too?" he asked with a nervous look, trying (and failing) to sound brave. It only took one glance and Rhode could tell he was hoping she'd say no.
The daughter of Poseidon shook her head, "No. Just cover for me if anyone asks, okay?"
"Got it." The ginger nodded, his relief at missing out on putting himself into life threatening danger obvious. Coward, Rhode idly noted. Though he's not a demigod, so maybe I'm being unfair. Whatever! Now's not the time to worry about stuff like that!
Ducking down, Rhode joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom that she had heard Granger was sulking in. She had just turned the corner when she heard quick footsteps behind her.
Moving fast, she got behind a large stone griffin. Peering around it, the half-blood saw Snape. He looked deeply frazzled, which she could understand what with having to find someplace safe for his house and whatever else had him running around the school at a time like this (hunting the troll maybe?), as he crossed the corridor and disappeared from view. Rhode frowned, wondering why Snape wasn't down in the dungeons.
He looked like he was heading for the third floor corridor. Eyes narrowed, Rhode came up with three guesses. One, Snape was possibly going after whatever was on the third floor while the other teachers were looking for the troll. Or two, he was possibly going to protect it as having a troll run about would make for a good distraction for the teachers thus leaving it vulnerable. Or lastly, he was just coincidentally going that way whilst hunting for the troll. Yeah… If it was the last option, she'd tank a lightning bolt. Shaking her head, Rhode, quietly as possible, crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps. She didn't have time to worry about that now.
Suddenly as she was about halfway to her destination, Rhode paused and sniffed. A foul stench reached her nostrils, a mixture of hobo and that sewer in Chicago she and Thalia had to duck into that one time. At least she could will water off. Thalia? Not so lucky.
She heard a low grunt and thudding of huge feet. It came from the end of a passage to the left and it was moving towards her. Rhode stuck to the shadows so she could have a better look at what she was facing. In the moonlight, she could see it was twelve foot, with skin as grey a gravel, a large lumpy body with a cue ball head. It had thick short legs with flat large toe nailed feet. It was holding a huge wooden club, which it dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
Rhode thought of her chances and knew she could take that thing down. It looked dumber than a cyclops. And that was saying something.
The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.
Rhode noticed the key in the door, but she doubted that the door could hold the troll. Next, she realized that it wasn't just any room…it was the girls bathroom she had been heading towards!
She cursed and right on cue, a high-pitched scream filled the air. The demigod hurried in and saw Hermione Granger shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went, spraying water everywhere.
"This is going to suck," Rhode said under her breath and drew her dagger. Cocking her arm back, she threw it.
Right into its butt.
The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione and howled in pain, bouncing around or as best as a twelve foot monster could at least. It turned around, seeing Rhode glaring right at him. Snarling, it lifted its club, lumbering towards her.
Bending her knees, the daughter of Poseidon's eyes narrowed and she leapt forward like a spring as she dodged the swing of lumber. Coming out of a roll, the half-blood ran at Hermione, "Granger." She said, shaking her, "Come on, you have to run." Rhode said urgently as the troll hobbled around to face them.
But the mortal couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror, screaming. Something that was really annoying Rhode. So, she did the only thing she could do.
She slapped the hysterical mortal across the face.
"Gods, shut up!" Rhode yelled, getting the mortal to blink stupidly for a moment, holding her cheek as some tears flowed down her cheeks. Ugh, it wasn't even that hard of a hit! "Okay, listen to me, you need to run."
Hermione whimpered, "I can't." she said, clearly scared out of her mind.
A growl leapt from Rhode's throat and she grabbed the useless girl by her cloak, tearing her off the wall. The daughter of Poseidon threw her across the ground that had become a good approximation of a Slip N' Slide from all the water.
"Ah!" the bookworm screamed as she slid across the floor from Rhode's throw. Idiot! Can you do anything besides scream? Rhode thought uncharitably. Like something useful? Drawn by the witch's scream the troll tried to grab the girl with its clumsy hand, but Hermione slid right past it, sprawling at the door. The troll advanced towards the girl's prone form, but blinked when a broken faucet banged its head, making it realize there was another tiny human it could crush.
"Come on, big boy." The demigod challenged the monster. Angered that she didn't gain the troll's attention right away, Rhode willed the streaming water from a destroyed sink to redirect at the beast. The water morphed into half a dozen ice shards and pierced into the creature's right shoulder, getting it to wail in pain. "Run!" she ordered the stunned mortal.
"But-!" Hermione started, but Rhode's glare stopped her words.
"Do as I say." She ordered and shed her cloak, feeling a strange fit of Deja vu. "Hey! Over here you stupid moron, come on ugly!" she shouted, getting its raging attention. She untied Thalia's jacket and put it on, "Think you can swing that twig? Might be a bit big for you." Rhode looked at the stunned Granger girl, "GO!" she snapped at Granger's gawking. A toilet exploded from her anger, making it rain water.
Finally jolted out of her stupor, the teachers' pet scampered out the room, rushing to find a teacher.
Rhode grunted, "Finally. Can't fight right with mortals around." She said and glared at the monster as he stalked towards her, slowly and clumsily, "Well, prepared to be flushed, troll." The daughter of Poseidon grinned, "For I am the Lady of the Toilets!" She shouted as she took steps to the side, letting herself get drenched with the toilet water that was still raining all over the bathroom.
As Rhode's senses and strength surged, she bent her knees as the troll roared and swung its club downward. She jumped back on a toilet and commanded the toilet she just broke to spray the troll. She tried to make ice again, to nail it in the face, but only delivered some toilet flavored mouthwash.
She really needed to practice that more.
As the troll gargled the toilet water, an improvement in Rhode's opinion, she ran and slide between its legs, grabbing her dagger out of its butt as she did so. Stopping with her knee, she swung her dagger, slashing the back of its leg. The troll wailed and she dodged around its flailing and slashed the back of its right knee next, making it wobble in pain. Then she rolled under a swing and stabbed its left heel.
Rhode jumped out of another poor swing of the club and climbed up a stall, jumping off it to land on top of the troll's head. She wrapped her legs around the coconut shaped skull and started to stab it. Repeatedly.
The troll was flailing around in pain, roaring. In one last desperate attempt to live, it charged head first into the wall of the bathroom, slamming Rhode into it. Hard.
"Oof!" she grunted as she fell off from the blow, landing on her back, "Ow, you bastard," she groaned and rolled onto her knees. Rhode saw its shadow loom over her, "Oh hell no!" She lunged just in time as the troll fell to the ground in a wet thud.
Rhode got up with a wince, "I think I broke something," she muttered and brushed her left ribs and released a sharp hiss of pain, "A rib, definitely broke a rib." She glared at the unmoving troll. She walked up to it and kicked its abused head, "That was for my rib." The daughter of Poseidon spat and went to pick up her dagger. Gross, now she was going to have to dip it in boiling water. Sheathing her blade, she noticed the ice in the troll's shoulder had already melted into water. I really need to figure out the ins and outs of that bit of my powers, the young demigoddess thought to herself as she admired her brutal handiwork.
A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made her turn around. "Aw man." Rhode groaned, that fight no doubt got someone's attention downstairs, plus Granger probably found a teacher too. A moment later, Professor McGonagall came bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape (who was walking a little funny), with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the dead troll, gagged, and puked in a still working toilet as the blood began to pool.
Wimp.
Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking right at Rhode. The Professor's face was looking a rather interesting purple and her lips were white.
Rhode idly thought she wasn't going to get any house points for troll slaying tonight, "So, how's it going?" she casually asked. A mirror fell off the wall, shattering. Oops.
"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"
Snape gave Rhode a swift, piercing look. One she ignored. Rhode said, "What's it matter? It's dead. Problem solved." She shrugged, withholding a wince. She didn't want them knowing she was hurt.
"The problem is not solved, young lady," The head of Gryffindor house said sharply, "What were you doing here?"
"Granger was in the bathroom all day." Rhode started as the girl in question ran into the bathroom.
"Ms. Granger, I told you to head back to the tower." McGonagall said in a chiding tone, making Hermione wince.
"I-I wanted to see if Rhode was okay." The young witch said. Though she looked a little queasy at the dead troll.
"I'm fine," Rhode answered with finality, "So like I said, Granger was in here and I went to get her." she said.
"S-She's right, Professor McGonagall. I, um, wasn't f-feeling well and didn't know about the troll." Granger said in a shaken voice.
"Why didn't you get a professor?" the deputy headmistress asked Rhode.
"I'm an impulsive Gryffindor." Rhode rolled her eyes, "So I went to get her. Ran into the troll, I distracted it so Granger could get away. I killed it. The end."
"How?" Snape's cold voice drawled, "How did you kill it, Potter?" His hand waving over the troll's corpse, "Clearly you used no magic. So pray tell how you managed a feat that grown wizards find difficult?"
"Well, it's bleeding from various holes in its head. Two plus two equals?" Rhode asked mockingly with her usual attitude for the man, getting a curling frown from Snape.
"Enough," Professor McGonagall cut between them, she looked at Rhode. "Well, I still say you were lucky," the demigod bristled at that, "but not many first years could have killed a full-grown mountain troll. You've earned Gryffindor twenty points for your bravery. But I'll take five for the foolishness you displayed in fighting it in the first place, Ms. Evans. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this." Rhode just rolled her eyes, "If you're not hurt at all, you and your friend better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."
The two girls hurried out of the chamber at that dismissal and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. Thankfully it didn't smell that bad anymore, actually scratch that, Rhode smelled like a toilet. At least she wasn't dripping wet. Thank you Poseidon.
"A-Are you okay?" Granger asked, breaking the silence with a sniffle. Still shaken over the event.
"I'll live." Rhode said with a pained smile, "I'm very durable."
Granger swallowed, rubbing her puffy eyes with her drenched sleeves, "Thank you. You saved me." Her voice was very tiny, mousey almost.
Rhode shrugged, "You're bossy and annoying." She bluntly told the girl, getting a bristled look in return, "But I wasn't going to just let you die because I don't like you." She said as they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Pig snout," they both said and entered. The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up.
Lee had walked over to her, asking if she was okay. But Rhode waved it off, saying she handled it. She excused herself early from the festivities and the budding rumors of her troll slaying prowess.
Placing down her clothes to be cleaned, Rhode dipped into a warm late night bath. She winced and soon sighed as she entered the water. She went full submergence and felt her rib knitting together as the water reacted with her powers to heal. Her healing was always a weird sensation. The bruises on her stomach and back went from a blooming purple and blue to her normal tanned skin in moments as she enjoyed the foamy bubbles. She liked bubbles…even if it cemented Thalia's nickname for her.
As she rose her head out of the tub, letting it rest on the tub's headrest, she closed her eyes in thought.
Something was going on here, and it wasn't the magic. Or more accurately something was going on that was above and beyond the typical magical stuff. Rhode's demigod trouble senses were tingling.
And that was never good.
Like brother like sister, the children of Poseidon rule the bathroom. Fear the flush, fear it!
Yes, Ron was not there to help because Rhode wouldn't trust some mortal kid to help her in a fight, plain and simple. I mean, she's faced worst and would definitely not want to have to watch over two people in a fight for her life.
Yes, Rhode did not fly on the broom nor did she join the quidditch team very simply because she's a child of Poseidon. So Wood will most likely be crying until he graduates, never winning the cup.
As you can tell, unlike Harry who couldn't raise his feather during charms class, Rhode can because first off, her wand is different. Dragonheart string wands learn far quicker than pheonix feather ones.
But I have been told that this is one of the rare occasions where Hermione Granger was slapped in the face...to save her life! Rhode's awesome like that.
Sieg: Y'know...I really hate legalities. Considering Rhode's position if Dumb-as-a-door were to...disappear, the problem would be solved. Snape too. I have a recurring image of water freezing into a flower of spikes, with them inside it. I'm sure Rhode could pull it off, if not then there's daddy for that. Probably why I'm not involved in politics.
Indeed, that is why you are not in politics, Sieg. And thanks once more for the beta my friend. Snape is a jerk in general, but let's leave Dumbles alone for now, at least, until next chapter. Next time on Death Battl-oh, wait, wrong show. Well, best get your Phoenix's in Order people, because we are going to Wright a wrong!
Now, please review, no flames, and peace off!
