I am now looking for a beta. If you want to help, just PM me and give me instructions on how this thing will work, because I have no idea...
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. This disclaimer will apply to all the following chapters, because I'll probably just forget to put one on again...
Also, I am so very sorry about not updating. I am really busy (like really really busy) and I spend my free time doing homework or reading, so it is almost impossible to update.
I had no idea how to conclude this chapter, so I just left it there. It's a bad ending and the chapter is extremely short, but it was difficult to write.
Harry was walking back to the common room from lunch, alone. He felt like he needed some privacy after a long day of hanging out with the guests. He turned to a secret passage way on the fifth floor and sat on a bench there. He didn't even realise he had brought his hand to his forehead, until he felt it there. It didn't feel very different. The lightning scar was still there, but, of course, it didn't hurt now that Voldemort was killed. Harry winced, but not out of pain. Why did every one of his thoughts trace back to the war? But maybe, just maybe, it was good to think about it. To reflect on it. Not think about what could have gone better. Not even about what could have been worse. Just about what happened, and why. Harry sat there for some time, thinking.
When he finally stood up to leave, he realised that he felt a lot better than before. He didn't feel good about the war, but better. Harry smiled. He then ran all the way up to the Gryffindor common room. The others were waiting for him there. Ron and Leo were playing chess, and the others were watching. Harry sat down beside them. While the others' attention was on the game, he grabbed a mirror and examined the place where the bronze was. Nothing. Absolutely nothing was different, although Harry felt like it should have been. Questions flooded his head. Why was the bronze there? How long had it been in there? Why did they leave the bronze in there? Harry felt helpless like this, not knowing anything.
It was like during the past years, when he was fighting Voldemort. He didn't know anything that he wanted and needed to know and he had a ton of questions, some of which would probably never be answered. Percy noticed Harry looking at himself in the mirror.
"Does it hurt?" he asked.
"Huh?" Harry snapped out of his thoughts.
"Your forehead. Does it hurt?" Percy repeated.
"Oh, right. No, it doesn't."
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
Percy turned back to the chess game. Harry felt like he needed more answers. More information. He tapped Percy's shoulder.
"Do you know anything about it? The bronze, I mean." he asked.
"No. All I know is that it is celestial bronze, which is a rare metal used to kill monsters."
"Monsters?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. Like, giants and empousai and stuff," Percy answered.
"Cool. But do you know anything else?" Harry tried again.
"No. I think McGonagall does though," Percy replied.
"When can we talk to her?"
"Chiron, our mentor, told us we could discuss the bronze when you are ready. Like, when you start asking questions and stuff, like now. He says that we shouldn't make you think about things before you want to know about them."
"He's a smart guy."
"Yeah, he is."
Both boys just sat in silence after that. They didn't care much about the chess game anymore. The others hadn't even noticed they had lost them. They just kept cheering for either of the players, or admiring the beautiful chess pieces, or laughing when a chess piece got smashed.
After some time, Harry spoke again.
"Do you think I'm ready?" he asked Percy.
"That depends on you." Percy said. A long silence followed. After some time, Harry spoke again.
"I think I am," He said.
"Then you are."
"Can we go after the chess game?"
"I guess."
The boys watched as Ron's Queen destroyed another one of Leo's pawns. The game was nearing its end already. They waited until the game finished, then announced that they would go to McGonagall's office to discuss the bronze.
They went to the headmaster's office first, but she wasn't there. Neither was she in the staff room, or the Great Hall. Finally Drew remembered the little room behind the Transfiguration classroom. They went down there and pushed back the curtain to reveal the door. Annabeth pushed it open and peeked in. McGonagall was sitting there, knitting a scarf. She looked up, like she had been expecting them.
"Have a seat," she said, not kindly, but not strictly either. The children shuffled to the table and sat down. There was a long silence. Finally, Harry cleared his throat.
"So... um... I wondered about that bronze, and, uh, I thought you would know something about it."
"We don't. We were sent here to figure this out together," Annabeth said.
"Okay. So, were do we start?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. Ask any questions you have, and we'll try to figure out the answer," Katie answered.
"Sure. Um... Why didn't they take the bronze out of my forehead?" Harry wondered. Professor McGonagall spoke up.
"I asked them to leave it in there, because we don't know what purpose it served. I thought we should figure things out before we take it out."
"Why would a piece of bronze in Harry's forehead serve a purpose?" Annabeth wondered.
"Who knows? Maybe it does serve a purpose, maybe it doesn't, which is why we shouldn't take it out before we know for sure."
There was a long silence.
"So... um, should we figure out the purpose?" Ron asked, breaking the silence.
I still didn't recieve MoA! I think it was lost or something! It's been a month!