Hello, I'll start off with saying a big thank you to all those who reviewed and read my story till now. I really appreciate it :) Your comments really keep me going.
To ro781727: Yeah, well, thats just Harry. Hahaha :D
To UltimoFear: Yes I'll have Draco Malfoy coming in somewhere in the story, thats for sure. But not so soon. Maybe in the middle somewhere? Dont worry, I wont leave him out. Thanks for the review :)
To Kuronique Misaki: Soon, but not yet. Good guess though.
To Littleheartache: Thank you so much, it means alot to me. Hope you like it.
To Danii29: Guess it's just you thinking that then. I had 1,800 words last chapter :D And thank you for the compliment.
To kecaswell2001: Really? Well, glad I could do that :P
To Riptide: Thank you :) But I'm sorry I cant update any faster. This is as much as I can keep up.
To LunaEtSidera: The golden trio are gonna find out pretty soon :) Maybe the next few chaps. I appreciate your enthusiasm in my story :)
Percy
The words of the prophecy were ringing in his head. It sounded like how prophecies always do- bad. The last line particularly bothered him. Child of Neptune's last stand. It had to refer to him since he was the only demigod child of Poseidon. Last stand? The phrase made it seem like he was going to die.
Percy had thought that after the Titan war, he could get some peace, and date Annabeth. But no, the gods apparently wanted to see him suffer. Then after the Prophecy of Seven, he had thought it was all over, and was looking forward to spending time with Annabeth back in New Rome, and lead a normal life. But now, there was another prophecy in the way. This time, it sounded ten times worse. He shouldn't have agreed to go on this quest. He should have just told Chiron 'no'.
But it was too late now. The prophecy had started, and he was the subject of it, he couldn't run away.
Thalia and Nico had tried to comfort him, telling him that prophecies usually had other meanings. But he knew they were just trying to cheer him up. This time, his death was inevitable. This time, his luck had finally run out. But Percy was determined. He was sent to Hogwarts to protect Harry and his friends, and he was determined to fulfil it, even if it leads to his death. It was his job. After all, if he was going to die anyway, he might as well make the most out of it, to save the lives of others.
They followed Harry, Ron and Hermione down to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Have you entered your names into the Goblet of Fire?" Harry asked.
"Yep. We did it last night." Thalia said.
"We'll know who is chosen to compete in the Tournament by tonight." Hermione said excitedly.
Applause suddenly filled the Hall, some students were clapping as the two red-headed twins walked down the aisle, towards the goblet.
"Freshly cooked ageing potion!" The twin on the left shouted. "Just had a swig earlier."
The two of them stopped outside the age line. Students crowded around to have a closer look.
Then, the twins jumped over the line. They lifted slips of paper bearing their name and school, ready to drop it into the fire. But before they could do so, an invisible force pushed them out of the age line, sending them toppling over the floor in a heap. As they tried to get up, Percy could see a long white beard starting to grow out of their faces. The students howled with laughter, and Percy could not help but join in. They were shepherded out of the Hall.
Percy returned back to his food.
"So what lesson do we have next?" Percy asked.
Harry pulled out his timetable.
"Charms." He said.
"Is this lesson boring too?"
"Nope. Most of the stuff is practical. So you guys should like it." Harry smiled. "Just do a bit of wand work."
Percy cursed inwardly. He'd left his wand in his backpack.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"Nothing. Just left my wand back in the dormitory." Percy replied.
"What? You don't carry your wand everywhere with you?" Ron shouted.
"I- I just forgot." Percy said, turning to Thalia and Nico, "you brought yours along?"
"Of course!" Thalia smirked. "You didn't think you'll need it then, Kelp Head?"
"We brought it along, Percy. We feel so much more secure with it." Nico said sarcastically, pulling out his black wand.
Percy sighed. "I'll have to go back to the common room to get my wand then. Just tell me where the Charms classroom is and I will meet you all there."
The wizards exchanged looks. Then Hermione spoke up. "I'll follow you. Just in case you get lost around the castle."
"But you'll be late if you come with me." Percy warned.
"It's okay. You are a visitor of this school, and therefore it's our duty to make sure you have a pleasant experience here." Hermione said sweetly.
"Okay, if you don't mind then." Percy agreed. After all, this castle was huge, and he could get lost.
Hermione turned back to Harry and Ron. "We'll go now, see you at Charms."
"See you guys later then." Percy said, standing up and waving to Thalia and Nico.
Hermione walked at a brisk pace up many flights of staircase, past numerous corridors, and turned at several corners.
"What's your wand made of, Percy?" Hermione asked.
"Uh." Percy said stupidly. He had no idea what Hermione was talking about. Wasn't all wands made of wood?
"I keep it a secret. I never tell anyone what my wand is made of." Percy said, trying to cover his lack of knowledge on the wizarding world.
Hermione peered suspiciously at him, but she decided to drop the subject.
She said, "Fanged Frisbees" to the portrait of the fat lady, and it swung forward, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
Percy sprinted up the staircase to the boys' dormitory. He dug his hand into his backpack, feeling around for his wand. In his haste, a golden drachma fell out of his bag, and rolled over to the open door. It hit the door frame and bounced off down the staircase.
Percy swore under his breath. He pulled out the wand and stuffed it into his pocket, along with Riptide.
He dashed back down the staircase, hoping to find the drachma. But when he reached the bottom of the staircase, his heart nearly stopped.
Hermione was standing there waiting for him. In her hand, she held the golden drachma, and was examining it closely.
"Is this yours? I saw it rolling down the staircase." Hermione said, showing him the drachma on her palm.
Percy took a quick look at it, and said hurriedly, "Nope. Never seen a coin like that before."
"Then I'll keep it and find out what it is." Hermione said, shoving it into her pocket.
The pair of them ran all the way to the Charms classroom, which luckily, wasn't very far away. They spotted their friends and went over to sit with them, just as a tiny teacher walked into the classroom.
The short teacher looked in Percy's direction and smiled warmly. "Welcome, students from Chiron's Elite School. My name is Professor Flitwick, and I am the Charms teacher." He squeaked.
Professor Flitwick spoke to the class. "Today, you will learn to cast the Summoning Charm. Everyone, please form pairs, and take turns to summon a cushion to yourself." Cushions appeared from thin air in front of them.
"Please choose your partner now." The professor instructed.
Thalia paired with Nico since they were sitting at adjoining tables. Ron paired with Harry. This left Percy to partner Hermione. Hermione fetched a cushion from the nearby table and placed it in the centre between them.
"After you have chosen your partner, you may start practising. The incantation is 'Accio'. Carry on." Flitwick said.
Percy turned towards Hermione. "You first." He said.
Hermione was about to request if she could go first. So she nodded, pointing her wand at the cushion in front of her.
"Accio!" She said.
On her first try, the cushion obeyed, zooming towards her, and hovered in the air just in front of her, waiting for her to reach it.
Hermione grabbed it and placed it at her feet. "Your turn." She said.
Percy prayed to Hecate that she would help him make this spell work. Then he pointed his wand at the cushion, about five meters away from him.
"Accio!" He said, imitating the way Hermione had said it.
The cushion jerked reluctantly, scooted about a meter towards him, and stayed there.
Percy looked around to see how Thalia and Nico were doing. Nico was doing the spell first. Nothing much happened, except that a cushion sized shadow enveloped it. Thalia laughed, even Nico had to snigger at this.
"Percy? You haven't tried the spell before?" Hermione asked with concern. "Try again."
Percy took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.
Raising his wand, he said "Accio!"
Maybe Hecate, the goddess of magic, was too busy to keep watching over his quest, or maybe she just wanted to have a good laugh. The cushion Percy was trying to summon suddenly bloated up with water, weighing it down.
In the end, Percy gave up, despite Hermione telling him he needed to practise. He simply was not a wizard. He just wasn't meant to do all these stuff.
By the end of the lesson, the majority of the class was able to perform the Summoning Charm. Even Harry and Ron had mustered it perfectly. Some students had even got to pranking other students by making the cushion hit the back of their heads when they were not looking.
Finally, when the teacher allowed them to be dismissed Harry suggested that they go back to the common room since there was a free period until dinner, where the chosen competitors for the Triwizard Tournament will be announced.
Yay! Another chapter completed! Pls note that next update on monday is not possible. I'll be too busy on that day. So I'll update on tuesday instead. So sorry!
And one last thing... comments on this chapter is appreciated. Thank you.
