DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognize belongs to either Rick Riordan or J. K. Rowling. I own almost nothing, and seek no profit from this story.
Author's note: The last chapter was a little dull, so I included humor and a small amount of excitement in this one. Yay! You know Lockhart's in this chapter ;)
I HAVE BEEN working on this one-shot (it's only, like, ten-thirteenths of the way done, and it's 8,000 words already) so that I can post it on Percy's birthday. It's a Paul-and-the-Jacksons thing (since I'm in love with the relationship between Paul and Percy). So, when the time comes, check it out!
Also, not having a beta sucks. Half of the time it takes me to update is procrastinating on the editing part. I can edit anyone else's (I actually have a job doing that), but I can't edit mine, for some reason.
0o0o0o0o0
^Percy
Everyone seemed to be in a weirdly happy mood—Percy along with them. Well, everyone except Harry. The fifth-year had shadows under his eyes, like he hadn't slept when everyone else had, and he was sort of being gloomy, even though he tried to pretend that he was as happy as everyone else.
Percy wasn't fooled. So, as they were all handed "Muggle clothes" to change into, Percy approached Harry before they all left the room to get changed.
"Are you okay?" Percy asked him.
Harry looked up at him in surprise. The boy had a mixture of emotions showing on his face for a few seconds—a few that Percy recognized, a few that he didn't. Disappointment, and fear, and combination of resentment and worry. But, there was something else, under the surface...something that Percy couldn't place. This was only for a moment, though—immediately, Harry masked his face and said, "I'm fine. Why?"
Percy sighed. "You're not...you're not fine." He was astonished that he could detect so much just from Harry's face in the first place, but he continued, "I know that trick. I do it way too much."
Harry huffed and looked back down at the clothes still in his hands. "I don't know what you're..." He trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging, and then he walked out of the room to go and change.
Percy decided to ignore it for the time being—but, maybe, this was a way to get Harry to trust him. Relate. He would have to talk to Harry later if he didn't get any better.
Other than that, there was someone who caught Percy's eye—well, she caught everyone's eyes. The woman called Tonks. Percy found her amusing, in the sense that she kind of reminded him of himself. She was talkative, and funny, she had a huge sense of humor, and she had that clumsiness that Percy definitely had before he found out he was a demigod (and, admittedly, a couple of years after).
After everyone was changed into normal clothes (to the demigods), they all set out onto some giant, violently purple bus with more than one level to it.
"What...?" Percy asked, trailing off.
"That is one interesting bus," Will admitted, appraising it.
"It's so...purple," Nico said.
"How does it even stay upright with three levels?" Annabeth asked, sounding incredulous.
"This," Tonks said, ignoring everything the four demigods had just inquired, "is The Night Bus."
Percy tore his eyes away from the triple-decker and said, "But, it's morning."
"No, no, I mean knight with a K at the front."
The four demigods still just stood, staring at the bus.
"Well," Tonks interrupted their ogling, "let's get on."
She continued to usher all of the kids up the steps of the bus and into the seats that were in rows stretching across the bus.
Riding on The Knight Bus was probably one of the most interesting experiences Percy had ever had. It was rattly, the people on it (especially the guide, Stan Shunpike) were loud, and at every single stop, there was a really loud BANG! and half of the chairs would topple over. The passengers would spend time, as some of them got off, straightening the chairs and sitting back down in them, only to repeat the experience when the bus took off again. It was an endless circle. Thankfully, they only had to go through this for three stops until they got off at the entrance to St. Mungo's...or so Percy thought.
There didn't seem to be anything of importance at all where they had gotten off. Just a bunch of Christmas-shopping mortals (er, Muggles?) milling around the sidewalks and in the stores. Right in front of them was a very old looking store with the title of "Purge and Dowse Ltd." Worn-out mannequins stood in the window, wearing outfits that were...awful. Seriously. The signs on the doors—which obviously hadn't been touched in years, judging by the dust coating them—all had the sign CLOSED FOR REFURBISHMENT on them (and, Percy thought, you should all be impressed that I could figure out what that sign even said).
"I don't think it ever got refurbished," Percy stated, staring at the dummy with a false eyelash hanging on its cheek.
"I would have to agree with that observation," Annabeth said.
Tonks moved and stood in front of the mannequin Percy had been staring at. "Right. Everybody ready?"
Nobody answered, and Percy was too busy wondering what in the world they were doing in front of Purge and Dowse Ltd. Was it going to spontaneously erupt into magical fire and transform into the hospital called St. Mungo's? Somehow, Percy doubted this, but he'd learned to expect pretty much anything when it came to the Wizarding world.
"Wotcher...We're here to see Arthur Weasley," Tonks told the dummy.
When it didn't immediately respond, Will said, "Tonks? Er...that's a mannequin."
She laughed a little, and suddenly everyone's jaws dropped as the mannequin nodded its head and beckoned a single finger in response.
"What's the entrance to the hospital in America like, then?" Tonks asked as Ginny and Mrs. Weasley stepped up to her.
"Doors," the four demigods answered at once, in this-should-be-obvious voices.
Fred, George, and Ron went next. Then Moody and Harry. Then Percy and Annabeth. Then Will and Nico.
Right when he stepped in, Percy could not help bursting out into hysterical laughter.
At first, he'd tried to contain it—it was a hospital, after all, and these people really did need help in some way—but it was just way too hard. The "ailments" in a magical hospital...
"Hush, Percy, you're getting weird looks," Annabeth said.
And then Nico and Will came in after them, and they both burst into hysterical laughter, also.
There was, halfway across the room, man (looking something like nineteen or twenty) who could seem to stop tapdancing all over the place. A woman in the back corner had grown a beak. A woman to his left his overlarge teeth—and by overlarge, Percy meant they were literally down to her bellybutton. One guy in another corner seemed to clang every time he moved, and then he would have to hold his head to keep it steady afterward. Another woman seemed to be imitating a teapot; she kept making whistling noises, and steam poured out of her mouth like crazy.
After a minute or so, the laughter died down. Almost all the way. None of them could help the now-and-again (very manly) giggle that would escape their lips as they walked up to the front desk.
There were people in lurid lime-green robes walking up and down the rows, asking questions and making notes on clipboards. The robes had emblems on them—a wand and a bone, crossed.
"Are they doctors?" Percy and Harry asked at the same time.
"Doctors?" Ron repeated, looking startled. "Those Muggle nutters that cut people up? Nah, they're Healers."
"Hey, those 'Muggle nutters' are good at their jobs, where Muggles are concerned," Will protested.
"Yeah, well—"
"Over here!" Mrs. Weasley called, interrupting Ron. They approached a different desk, and Percy immediately recognized the woman in the portrait hanging on the wall behind the blonde witch seated at it—it was Dilys, from Dumbledore's office.
Percy had to turn away to keep himself together as the same young wizard he'd noticed before, that couldn't stop tapdancing, tried to explain his predicament in between yelps of pain (and exasperation, Percy could tell).
"It's these—ouch—shoes my brother gave me—ow—they're eating my—OUCH—feet—look at them, there must be some kind of—AARGH—jinx on them and I can't—AAAAARGH—get them off—"
"The shoes don't prevent you reading, do they?" the blonde witch asked rudely. "You want Spell Damage, fourth floor. Just like it says on the floor guide. Next!"
The wizard struggled to move out of the way, and the large group of demigods and wizards moved forward. Harry was studying a sign that Percy didn't bother trying to read (it was long, and he didn't feel like exhausting himself with words at the moment).
Percy moved closer to Annabeth as they waited in line. "How are you not entertained by any of this?"
"It's a hospital," Annabeth reasoned. "These people are obviously in some sort of pain."
Percy gave her a look, and then jabbed his thumb to a place across the room where a man who had somehow configured his head into a lion's was roaring repeatedly for the entertainment of the others around him. And then to another place, where a man and a woman were strumming an instrument that looked like a guitar (but didn't), and the people around them were singing a song about a...hippogriff?
Annabeth stared at them. "What's a hippogriff?"
Hermione had heard. "You don't know what a hippogriff is?"
Percy shrugged. "I guess we don't have them in America."
"It's a magical creature—it has the front legs, wings, and head of a giant eagle, and the body, hind legs, and tail of a horse."
Percy raised his eyebrows. "Wow."
Hermione laughed a little. "Yes. Wow. They're really beautiful creatures."
"I bet they are," Annabeth agreed.
By that time, the Weasleys had gotten to the front of the line.
"Hello. My husband, Arthur Weasley, was supposed to be moved to a different ward this morning, could you tell us—?"
"Arthur Weasley?" the witch interrupted, running her finger down a three-foot list in front of her. "Yes, first floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn ward."
"Thank you."
They all moved off, through a pair of double doors and into a narrow hallway, which was lined with even more portraits of doctors—er, Healers. There were crystal bubbles full of candles floating up at the ceilings, lighting the hallway and looking like a bunch of giant soapsuds. They climbed a flight of stairs and entered another hallway, where they then stopped outside of the second door on the right.
"We'll wait outside, Molly," Tonks said. "Arthur won't want too many visitors at once...It ought to be just the family first."
Mad-Eye—who seemed to be just a little deranged, in Percy's opinion—growled in approval of the idea. All of the Weasleys moved forward, but when Harry drew back, Mrs. Weasley reached out a hand and pushed him through the door, saying, "Don't be silly, Harry, Arthur wants to thank you..."
Obviously, the four demigods stayed outside with Tonks and Mad-Eye.
"So..." Percy tried, and Annabeth snorted as his meek attempt to start a conversation.
"I don't know what you four are doing here," Moody said suddenly, both his magical eye and real one on Percy, "but it Dumbledore sent you, it's for a good reason. All he said to me was that you needed to know what was going on."
"Yeah," Tonks put in. "What are you doing here?"
Percy didn't like the fact that, suddenly, everyone seemed to want to ask questions. If Dumbledore hadn't told them about their "demigodliness," then...what were they supposed to do?
Maybe's he waiting for us to tell everyone ourselves, Percy thought, but he didn't know if that was a good idea. He didn't know what would happen if the wizards were to know about their existence. Clashing this kind of magic and the Greek world could probably result in some pretty nasty enemies.
Playing dumb seemed to be the best option to Percy, and, somehow, Annabeth seemed to agree.
"We don't know," she said. "We were in the Gryffindor common room when Professor McGonagall came and got us. It seemed urgent, so we complied, and...here we are."
"What're your names?"
"I'm Annabeth, and these are Percy, Nico, and Will."
Moody only raised his eyebrows.
"Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, and Will Solace. Better?"
"Don't give me attitude, girl. Yes, better. Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo...you're the foreign students here for the year, yes?"
They both nodded.
And then...awkward silence.
"I can't believe I didn't ask this sooner," Percy said, turning to Annabeth and Will, "but how are things back home?"
"Oh, things are going well," Annabeth said. "Thalia and the...her friends...have come to visit a few times, and Jason is still there. Reconstruction is going pretty fast, since everyone is still pitching in. We're almost done with pretty much everything."
"How're Hazel and Frank and Reyna?" Nico asked.
"I hear that Frank is doing pretty good with his new role," Will said subtly. "And Hazel is doing great. People respect her more, is what Piper's saying. And Reyna is gettting used to working alongside Frank."
Percy waited, but nobody said anything else, so he plunged, "Any news on Leo?"
"Oh my gods!" Annabeth burst. "Have I not told you? I'm such a terrible...Leo showed up to Camp on Festus with Calypso!"
"He did what?" Percy and Nico exclaimed at the same time.
"Yep," Will said. "He waltzed right in, flaming, with the girl at his side and Festus right behind him."
Percy took his time to process this—Leo was alive!—but the mention of Calypso made Percy feel a mixture of things—relief, regret, and then anger. Anger, because Calypso had cursed Annabeth for something that Percy did. And Annabeth hadn't deserved that.
"I knew there was something weird," Nico said.
"How did Leo find her again?" Percy finally asked.
"Technology," Annabeth answered, her eyes flickering toward the two Aurors standing with them in the hallway. "And medicine."
Percy had no idea what this meant, but Annabeth only gave her a look that said: I'll tell you later.
"How is Calypso?" he asked.
"She's good," Will answered. "She seems kind of confused, all the time, but...she's good."
"That's...good," Percy said lamely. He needed to know one more thing. "How are Mom and Paul?"
"Great!" Annabeth immediately answered, latching onto the subject change. "They're kind of sad about you going...to Hogwarts...after, you know..."
"Yeah, I know," Percy said.
"But they're doing pretty good. Sally's book is selling great."
Percy couldn't help but grin. His mom had her emotions from Percy's time away to do a bunch of writing, and once he was back, she sent it out, and it was published by the second company the she showed it to. Which, for the first book (from what Paul told him), was really good.
"Awesome! I need to talk to her soon...I haven't contacted her in a few weeks, actually..."
"When this is all over—with Mr. Weasley, I mean—we'll talk to her."
"We will."
...and they fell into silence again.
It only lasted for a minute or so, because suddenly, the door opened and all of the Weasley children and Harry trooped back into the hallway. Moody and Tonks took the cue and entered.
"Fine," Fred said coolly, and Percy knew that this was a continuation of some sort of argument that had went on inside the ward, "be like that. Don't tell us anything." He was rummaging in his pockets.
"Looking for these?" his twin said, pulling out of his pockets...string. Flesh-colored string.
"You read my mind," Fred said, grinning—and somehow, Percy wouldn't have doubted this was actually true. "Let's see if St. Mungo's puts Imperturbable Charms on its ward doors, shall we?"
They separated nine of the strings from each other and handed them out. The demigods took them, but were completely baffled.
"Extendable Ears," George explained, seeing the looks on their faces. "Put them in your ear and slide them under the door, and you can hear what's going on the ward."
Percy raised his eyebrows. "Cool."
Annabeth stuck it in her ear, watching as Fred whispered to them, "Okay, go!" They wriggled like long, skinny worms under the door. And when it worked, she drew her eyebrows together and started inspecting the string, like she wanted to figure out how it worked.
"...they searched the whole area but they couldn't find the snake anywhere, it just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur...But You-Know-Who can't have expected a snake to get in, can he?"
"I reckon he sent it as a lookout," growled the voice of Mad-Eye Moody, "'cause he's not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he's trying to get a clearer picture of what he's facing and if Arthur hadn't been there the beast would've had much more time to look around. So Potter says he saw it all happen?"
"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said. "You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Harry to see something like this..."
"Yeah, well, there's something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that."
Harry had wrinkled his nose at this, like he was vaguely insulted, but was also used to it.
"Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning."
"'Course he's worried," Moody responded. "The boy's seeing things from inside You-Know-Who's snake...Obviously, Potter doesn't realize what that means, but if You-Know-Who's possessing him—"
Percy, Annabeth, Will, Nico, and Harry all yanked the strings out of their ears at once. Percy didn't want to hear anything about possession, after what had happened with Luke, and then the eidolons, and he was pretty sure it was the same for the other three demigods.
Harry looked around at them, and Percy cursed the Weasleys for having the audacity to look somewhat afraid of Harry. He was breathing harshly, and his face was burning.
Of course Harry wasn't being possessed, if it would be anything like the eidolons or Luke. But he wasn't sure if anyone would be able to convince Harry of this.
0o0o0o0o0
^Harry
Harry tried not to think about everything that had just happened. He felt dirty, and contaminated, and the Weasleys weren't making eye-contact with him. He couldn't help but wonder if this was what Dumbledore had been worried about. What this why Dumbledore could no longer bear look into his eyes?
And he thought about it. The mention of a weapon...could Harry be the weapon? Would Voldemort use him? After all, he had attacked Mr. Weasley the night before.
They were on their way back to Grimmauld Place. Harry hadn't said a word since they were outside the Dai Llewellyn ward.
"Are you all right, Harry, dear?" whispered Mrs. Weasley, leaning across Ginny to speak to him. "You don't look very well. Are you feeling sick?"
They were all watching him—well, everyone except Percy and Annabeth, who seemed to be otherwise occupied (Harry had gathered that they were a couple). He shook his head quickly and stared up at a home insurance advertisement.
Even as they were around the unkempt patch of grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place, she asked again, "Harry, dear, are you sure you're all right? You look ever so pale...Are you sure you slept this morning? You go upstairs to bed right now, and you can have a couple of hours' sleep before dinner, all right?"
Harry seized the opportunity to escape the company of the others and nodded. When she opened the door, he passed the troll's leg umbrella stand and up the stairs and hurried into his and Ron's bedroom.
He started to pace, thinking hard, but he was only in there for a few minutes before someone knocked on the door. Harry quickly got on the bed and pretended to be asleep.
He didn't look to see who opened it a few seconds later, until a voice said, "I know you're not asleep, so...can we talk?"
It was Percy. Harry cringed a little, his irritation flaring, but he suppressed it and turned his head to look at the older teen. He was standing, alone, in the doorway, looking as freaking pretty and muscly as ever. Harry cursed his thoughts...his temper was making him irritable. He had noticed that his temper seemed to always be boiling just under the surface these days.
The answer to his question was no, they couldn't talk. Harry didn't want to talk. But Percy walked in anyway, closed the door, and sat down on Ron's bed, which was to Harry's left.
Harry didn't know how to phrase his question nicely. "What do you want?"
Percy only grinned at him. "Just to talk. Look, I don't think you're being possessed."
Despite Harry's determination to be moody, Harry felt his hopes lift just a small fraction.
"Why not?"
He let out a sigh. "I've been possessed before. And I've known a person who was possessed before."
Harry sat up at this. "You've been possessed before?"
"Uh...yeah. It was pretty bad. I actually almost...sort of...killed one of my friends while I was under the influence."
They both laughed at the reference to drugs or alcohol. Possession could do that to you—make you do things you wouldn't while you were in your right mind.
"That would have been bad...You didn't, did you?"
"Almost," Percy repeated. He was grinning a little, like there was a story behind it, and Harry could not help but let the curiosity overwhelm him.
"You say it like you're proud of it," Harry stated, his eyebrows furrowed.
Percy laughed. "It's a long story."
Harry wanted to say, We have lots of time, but he didn't. Either way, though, Percy seemed to detect this.
"His name is Jason. I guess you could say that we're both...talented. We're good at what we do. But that makes us competitive, sometimes...well, most of the time. So, we were possessed, and then we were forced to fight. And...he says differently, but I'm pretty sure I was about to win before his girlfriend, Piper, stopped both of us."
Harry shook his head, laughing. "Do you argue about that a lot?"
"Er, yes," Percy said, like it should have been obvious. "All the time. It's more of a joke, now, and less serious, but still..."
Percy's eyes were distant, as if he was remembering something. Harry studied him...He knew that there was something different about Percy and Nico, but he couldn't figure out what. And whatever it was, he could tell that Neville probably knew something about it, judging by how much time he spent around them.
"Why are you here?" Harry asked.
"To talk to you," Percy answered.
"No, I mean, why are you here?...Why were you told everything about Mr. Weasley? You're not close to the Weasleys, as far as I know..."
Percy huffed. "You're the third person to ask me that today."
"Sorry," Harry said.
"No, it's okay." Percy paused for approximately eight seconds, before continuing, "We're here to help. We came to Hogwarts to help. I don't want to lie to you, Harry. I don't like lying to...anyone, really. But I can't tell you anything without Nico, at least, with me. It's really my decision to make. You can trust us."
Harry didn't trust anyone that easily.
"So," Percy said, obviously changing the subject, "let's get down to this possession thing."
Mentally cringing, Harry said slowly, "Alright..."
"Do you remember everything you've done? Everything?"
Harry thought. Did he? He couldn't remember any blank spots...
"Yes," Harry said.
"Well, you aren't being possessed," Percy said. "That's the biggest thing. I can only remember flashes of being possessed...vague, blurry colors in some places...I guess that settles it."
Harry let out a breath and leaned back against the wall at the head of his bed. Percy was approachable enough for him to ask, "Who were you being possessed by?"
"Not who," Percy said. "What. They were creatures..." He seemed to think for a second. "I don't remember their names. It was a pretty creepy experience. It feels like forever ago, but it was just this past summer."
Harry nodded, but his mind was reeling...What kind of creature can possess a human?
"Well, I think I'll go back down. Dinner will be ready soon. Do you want to sit here and keep brooding, or...?"
Harry scowled. "I was thinking. There's a difference."
"Apparently, not with you," Percy quipped. Then he grinned, turned, and walked out the door. Harry followed with barely any hesitation.
0o0o0o0o0
Annabeth and Will had to leave about a day after that. Percy and Annabeth kissed, Will and Nico awkwardly said their goodbyes and hugged a little, and then they took a Portkey back to America. Before then, Harry had had no idea that Portkeys could travel across oceans, but...you learn something new every day.
Hermione had arrived just after that.
"Damn!" Percy cursed. "Hermione and Annabeth would've liked each other. Well, maybe some other time."
And, Harry had to admit, Percy was right. Hermione and Annabeth were very alike.
On Christmas day, they returned to St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley for the holiday. The whole place was pleasantly festive—the crystal orbs that illuminated St. Mungo's had been turned to red and gold so that they became gigantic, glowing Christmas baubles; holly hung around every doorway, and shining white Christmas trees covered in magical snow and icicles glittered in every corner, each topped with a gleaming gold star. It was much less crowded than the last time they had been there, although halfway across the room Harry found himself shunted aside by a witch with a walnut jammed up her left nostril.
"Family argument, eh?" smirked the same blonde witch behind the desk. "You're the third I've seen today...Spell Damage, fourth floor..."
All of them—even the two Americans—entered the Dai Llewellyn ward, and found Mr. Weasley propped up in bed with the remains of his turkey dinner on a tray in his lap and a rather sheepish expression on his face.
They all greeted him and handed over their presents.
"I don't believe I've ever met the two of you," Mr. Weasley said, still smiling.
Mrs. Weasley looked puzzled for a second, and then said, "Oh! Arthur, these are the students that are attending Hogwarts for the year." She pointed to Percy and Nico. "Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo."
"Hey," Percy said, as Nico said, "Hi."
"Everything all right, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Fine, fine," said Mr. Weasley, a little too heartily. "You—er—haven't seen Healer Smethwyck, have you?"
"No," Mrs. Weasley said suspiciously, "why?"
"Nothing, nothing," Mr. Weasley evaded, starting to unwrap his pile of gifts. "Well, everyone had a good day? What did you all get for Christmas? Oh, Harry—this is absolutely wonderful—"
Harry had gotten Mr. Weasley fuse-wire and screwdrivers.
For a little bit after that, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley argued about Mr. Weasley's bandages (which had been changed earlier than scheduled), and then it was discovered that Mr. Weasley had gotten stitches, and then Mrs. Weasley said, "Do you mean to tell me that you have been messing about with Muggle remedies?"
"Not messing about, Molly, dear," Mr. Weasley tried to placate. "It was just—just something Pye and I thought we'd try—only, most unfortunately—well, with these particular kinds of wounds—it doesn't seem to work as well as we'd hoped—"
"Meaning?" Molly urged threateningly.
"Well...well, I don't know whether you know what—what stitches are?"
"It sounds as though you've been trying to sew your skin back together," said Mrs. Weasley, laughing a little as though she thought it absurd, "but even you, Arthur, wouldn't be that stupid—"
"I fancy a cup of tea too," Harry said, as Bill had said the same thing earlier, and Fred and George had followed.
Hermoine, Ron, Ginny, Percy, and Nico all followed him quickly out the door. As it swung shut behind them, they heard Mrs. Weasley shriek, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?"
Percy snorted, and Ginny said, "Typical Dad. Stitches...I ask you..."
"Well, you know, they do work well on non-magical wounds," Hermione reasoned. "i suppose something in that snake's venom dissolves them or something...I wonder where the tearoom is?"
Percy's eyebrows were furrowed. "Why do you all like tea so much?"
They all stopped.
Percy looked at them. "I don't mean to sound offensive or anything—"
"And yet it always happens anyway, Kelp Head—"
"Shut it, Death Breath. I was just wondering."
They all started walking again.
Hermione tilted her head. "We'll answer that if you can tell me why Americans like coffee so much."
Percy and Nico both laughed, and Percy said, "Well, that's easy. Caffeine! It keeps us going in the morning after we wake up and we can't seem to keep our eyes open. We run off of caffeine. So...tea?"
Harry had no idea why he hadn't thought of this before. It made so much sense.
Hermione looked like she was thinking along the same lines. "I can't believe I never thought of that. And...I don't really know why we like tea so much. People from this side of the world have been drinking it for so long that it seems to have just...stuck. Tea is an important part of history for us."
"Huh. Us, too," Percy said. "I remember learning about the Boston Tea Party in eighth grade..."
Hermione wrinkled her nose. "That was rude of you."
"Rude of us?" Percy repeated incredulously. "You took away our right to...something...and made us drink terrible tea!"
"Great argument, dude," Nico said. "Very eloquent."
"Shut up."
"You snuck onto the ships and threw all of the tea overboard. What a waste!"
"Nuh-uh," Percy said, shaking his head. He seemed to think for a minute, before blurting, "Taxation without representation!"
Hermoine huffed, and gave a very smart answer. "Whatever."
Harry had no idea what on earth they were talking about, and neither did Ron, or Ginny, or even Nico, it seemed.
"I guess our countries have biased versions of the events that happened between the two of us," Percy said, laughing.
"I guess so."
They were silent for a little bit after, and then they passed a picture of a medieval wizard, who declared, "You, my boy with the red hair, clearly have a bad case of spattergroit!"
Ron looked affronted. "And what's that supposed to be?"
They healer followed them through other portraits as they kept walking toward the tearoom. "'Tis a most grievous affliction of the skin, young master, that will leave you pockmarked and more gruesome even than you are now—"
"Watch who you're calling gruesome!" said Ron, his ears turning red. He was starting to walk faster, but the wizard only followed.
"The only remedy is to take the liver of a toad, bind it tight about your throat, stand naked by the full moon in a barrel of eels' eyes—"
Percy and Harry burst out laughing at this supposed "cure," while Ron said indignantly, "I have not got spattergroit!"
"But the unsightly blemishes upon your visage, young master—"
"They're freckles!" Ron burst furiously. "Now get back in your own picture and leave me alone!"
Then he rounded on the others. "What floor's this?"
"I think it's the fifth," said Hermione.
"Nah," said Harry, recovering from his laughter, though Percy still hadn't, "it's the fourth, one more—"
But as he stepped onto the landing he came to an abrupt halt, staring at the small widow set into the double doors that marked the start of a corridor signposted SPELL DAMAGE. A man was peering out at them with his nose pressed against the glass. He had wavy blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a broad vacant smile that revealed dazzlingly white teeth.
"What is it?" Percy asked, stepping onto the landing.
"Blimey!" said Ron.
"What?" Nico asked.
And then both of the Americans' jaws dropped. "Lockhart?"
0o0o0o0o0
Author's note: Yes, I changed the method of transportation on purpose. It's not really clear on how they got to the entrance (it mentions a train, in passing..?), so I just changed it. Besides, the Knight Bus is fun!
If you find any mistakes, tell me so that I can fix them. Review, if you would like, and thank you!