Chapter 28: Leo
8. Name all of Jupiter's Moons.
Uhhhhh… ADHD! It was great in battle, but 99% of the time was infringing on my totally important education. I inhaled deeply, before slightly exhaling. My hand was shaking, quivering under pressure. I gently bent over and began scribbling onto the piece of paper. What was the name of Jupiter's moons…
I had read those notes yesterday. I racked my brain, scratching my head slightly. I knew Callisto was one. Oh, it sounded a lot like Calypso. I hated leaving her at Camp Half-Blood. If only this damn quest would finish. My mind wandered, fixating on the multiple details that I had come to love about Calypso, how her eyelids flickered whenever she was annoyed. The awkward twiddling of fingers in prolonged moments of silence. How she adjusted her caramel hair whenever she was nervous. A prime example when we were on Ogygia, days on days of silence between us, simply the clanking of metal.
"Holy Hera," I cursed, chiding myself for getting distracted again. What were the other names. There was Io and Ganymede. I acknowledged my thoughts and my hand twitched before moving across the page. Thebe? Was that one? Amalthea? Anake? Eventually, my mind blurred, my hands sporadically being possessed with illogical surges of urgency. I went through the other questions.
14. What about Venus, dictates its abnormally hot conditions.
A. The Surface
B. The Atmosphere
C. The Organisms
D. Its Orbit.
I rushed and circled A, before hurriedly whizzing through the remainder of the paper, confident in my ability to fail and be berated by Annabeth for my poor results.
Do you want to know how it went overall? Terrible. No other words could describe it. My body felt inflamed and was overcome with momentary spasms and feelings of increased body temperature and other times of no feeling in my extremities. I was worried about what was happening to me. I dismissed these momentary conditions, despite it impeding my ability to write with a quill. In my opinion, pens were much more effective.
If I thought things would become less stressful after the exam, I was most definitely wrong. Immediately, I was besieged with inquiries into my answers, which I shrugged off and Annabeth and Hermione went to bother Jason, who was strutting with an annoying smug expression of superiority. He began to recite his questions, which irritated me to no end. After checking behind my back to make sure that no one was trailing us, I summoned a flame determined to scare Jason with a little heat.
I thrust my hand out and summoned a tiny crackling spark, which ignited to form a tiny speck of flame in the centre of my palm. After this, I felt a chill emanate from behind me and I spun around. I peered into the empty hallway behind me. Empty. I turned back around, to face the rest of the demigods and wizards, who were all merrily chatting except for the academics, who were talking in hushed tones. I ran behind Jason, my feet making tiny sounds, though, they echoed throughout the corridor. Just before I was about to plunge my tiny embers into Jason's bag, I felt another sensation in my body. It filled me up and my breathing turned shallow. Panicking, as if the flames were snuffing out my supply of oxygen, I extinguished my flame and looked down at my hand. My hands were shaking, and I turned my view onto the rest of my skin. My knees where experiencing seemingly small convulsions. These horrible senses were overwhelmed when I felt a surge of heat overtake my body and power began to course through my veins. This surge of strength was immediately juxtaposed with a chill feeling coalescing in my fingertips. After a few more seconds of panic, I managed to get my emotions and control my flight response, rooting my feet firmly into the floor. I realised that during my panic-attack, I had slipped behind the group of my friends. Shaking off my discomfort, I put on a fake grin and ran up behind them. I wrapped my hands around Hazel and Ron, engaging in fast conversation, steering the topic as far away from exams as possible.
Our Astronomy Practical would have to wait and this afternoon's revision would be devoted to Divination.
Frank:
"What is all this garbage! It doesn't make any sense!" I almost screamed, sitting in the courtyard, surrounded my friends. My outburst had caught the attention of many passers-by , but I turned and glared at them, at which they gasped at and averted their eyes.
"C'mon Frank. It's difficult for all of us, but we'll be fine," Hazel soothed. I was sorely tempted to lash out in anger, but it diffused once I peered into the startling gold that was present in Hazel's eyes. In addition to the soothing arm that was placed on my shoulder, I calmed down and hung my head.
"Sorry for the outburst," I apologized.
"It's alright Frank," Percy sympathized, "I don't get anything either, but you don't see it weighing me down!" Percy exclaimed. This was returned by a sharp blow to the head delivered by Annabeth of course,
"You don't get anything do you Seaweed Brain," she breathed out in exasperation.
"But you still love me anyway?" Percy spoke, his tone lathered with surprise. Despite this, I could clearly tell that he was joking. Annabeth turned a faint pink before punching his arm and whispering something in his ear that was lost in the wind. Percy also turned a faint pink before the two kissed. I looked at the wizards, who looked clearly bewildered and kept opening and closing their mouth at odd intervals, clearly struggling to comprehend and provide input on the conversation.
Piper and Jason looked sympathetic as if they knew all about their intimate moments. Hazel grinned, while Leo had thrown his head back and was shaking with laughter. He put on his signature grin, yet I couldn't help but notice slight changes in his face. His eyebrows looked scrunched up and he had dark circles under his eyes, that exaggerated his appearance and made him look exceptionally tired. Leo saw me staring at him and ceased his laughing before sticking his tongue out at me. The Latino then went on to pick up a rock before slightly scraping the rock onto the cobbles and within seconds, he appeared to have carved a small object. He threw it, and with lightning quick speed, Percy snatched it out of the air.
He tilted his head downwards and presumably read what was written on the stone, before giving to Annabeth who looked and snickered, before slipping it into her pocket. I looked curiously at Leo, who shrugged and sidled up to Hermione and began to ask a few questions.
Despite his flirtatious interactions with Hermione being nothing more than usual and Ron's crimson face in response being perfectly normal, I couldn't help but notice that his arms kept twitching, shaking and his face struggled to stay the same, as if he were being antagonized by an invisible force. I dismissed this as his ADHD, but I was determined to inquire what was happening, and if anything was wrong.
I began pouring over my Divination Notes again, trying to remember what was the proper interaction and the consequences if Venus was in the 6th House. The rest was a blur, constantly interacting with Hazel, as she seemed to have a decent grasp on the subject and confirming with the others about what would happen under different circumstances.
After a decent amount of time passed, Ron swore and began to exclaim,
"Guys! Divination's in 10 minutes and we need to get to the North Tower! At these words, everyone sprung up, completely discarding the need to drop off our bags in our respective common rooms and began to just book it up staircases, determined not to be late to the North Tower. We charged past Sir Cadogan, who attempted to charge towards us on his fat gray pony and challenged Percy to a duel. He snorted and talked down to him, ('If you knew what I'd done, you'd be scared to challenge me,') before continuing to run, leaving the knight with a blank expression displayed on his visage. We all laughed haughtily, agreeing whole-heartedly with his statement: Percy was scary when he got angry.
My knees began to burn after continual sprinting, and the inflammation began to spread which was clearly affecting everyone else, with Ron and Hermione lagging behind, and Percy and Annabeth wheezing dangerously. Leo it seemed, was sprinting far ahead of everyone, either his ADHD had managed to overclock or he was really anxious for Divination. Anyways, after a painful ordeal, and several minutes of gathering our breath once we arrived at our destination we were called. Annabeth was called first out of all of us and grasped the ladder, hoisting herself upwards, her face clammy. Percy blew her a kiss, a favour which she returned, and I felt that it was a very cute gesture. One by one, each of my friends disappeared up the trapdoor. Soon, it was just me left and I was called up.
I was greeted by Professor Marchbanks. In my opinion, she wasn't that bad. She seemed nice and sympathetic when we conducted our Potions OWL, which I thought went well. She greeted me pleasantly, and gestured for me to sit down. I saw Professor Trelawny in the background, gazing into a crystal ball of her own, before staring at me and averting her eyes as they filled with tears and turned glassy upon seeing any of the Seven and Harry.
Professor Marchbanks cleared her throat and began assailing me with questions and assignments. I was meant to predict an all matter of things in a crystal ball, which I rapid-fired responses. I didn't see anything until right at the end, where I saw the silhouette of a tall figure standing under the cover of trees and beckoning to a tiny figure. My vision began to dull, and I saw flashes in the crystal ball. A girl in Slytherin robes. A dark figure shrouded in shadows. And a hideous donkey horse thing. I don't know what about it creeped me out, yet I knew it was a monster. I felt like I had learnt about them in monster class at Camp Jupiter. However, this scene creeped me out and I felt goosebumps erupt on my skin.
"Oh my, Zhang? Are you alright." Professor Marchbanks responded worriedly. These worlds anchored me and I fought down the sense of vertigo and regained my bearings. My throat was parched and I recognized this and looked towards her and nodded half-heartedly.
"Did you see anything my dear, you look disturbed," she responded. I imagined my face, a white sheet. Blank and disturbed by the scene that I had just witnessed. I shook my head and began to make up a random scenario that I had made up. The following test was horrible as I was far too stressed. I lost my head completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to me as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and head lines on her palm and informing her that she ought to have died the previous Tuesday.
Since I was the last person, she looked at me grimly before giving a half-hearted wave and descending down the trapdoor. I scoured my surroundings and saw Trelawney in her same position, yet again, however, I felt a strange sense beckoning me to follow her and go near her.
I shuffled awkwardly towards the professor, but she didn't acknowledge me. I was wondering what had made me enter this situation. I just decided to get her attention and I decided the best way to accomplish this was to lightly cough. I apparently startled her as the effects were her jumping out of the chair and staring at me, clearly disgruntled that I had interrupted her situation. I didn't know what to do, but I felt like someone was prodding my subconscious with a long stick and was forcing me to talk to her. Feeling obliged, I decided to ask a question.
"What were you doing?" I mentally facepalmed, that was such a horrible question, it was so open-ended and it didn't ask for a specific response.
"Well, I was just practicing and honing my inner eye child," she proclaimed. "What else would I be doi-" She cut herself off, as if she was revealing crucial information. I looked curiously towards her, with my eyebrow slightly raised in confusion. I couldn't help but realise that her posture was slightly off. Her face had gone gaunt, and her eyebrows were raised in an expression of constant surprise. Her back had gone rigid and he eyes were wide open. This was highly irregular and I noted that all of her mistiness and her regular attitude was gone. She drew a raspy breath, and continued on in a very different and croaky voice. I had only heard it once from her, it was when she recited all of the prophecies that were associated with us. I pondered whether Rachel would sound similar, Trelawney sounded more frog-like and croaky while apparently Rachel's was more snake-like. She began to speak, and it sent a chill down my spine.
The School of Magic the quest shall reign
Shall purge a battle of mystery and strain
The wizard of three's path will turn
The God's plan the Seven learn
With only the Piercer's skill
Death and the secrets must spill
With Ram and Light imminent fail
And defeat the Pit to prevail
My face went white, and I stared in disbelief at the Prophecy. I repeated it in my mind. I realised how odd I looked, staring at Trelawney in this manner, but I couldn't help it. She recited a prophecy I hadn't heard before and I knew it had something to do with the quest. So, I snapped myself out the trance with great effort and bolted for the trapdoor. Trelawny spluttered and came out of her real trance and spoke in a misty tone, chiding me about something that I didn't have the time to listen to. I sprang down the ladder and I flew across the floor. I ran past Sir Cadogan's portrait at which point I promptly collided into my group of friends who were talking enthusiastically.
"Ouch Frank! Watch where you're going next ti-!" Percy bellowed, before promptly looking upon my face, something that everyone else had picked up on. My face was white as a sheet and I was trembling from head to toe. "You're so pale Frank. What happened? The test can't have been that bad," Percy reasoned. I nodded my head frantically and managed to choke out a few words in spite of my chattering teeth.
"Trelawney – said – prophecy," I gasped out. Promptly, everyone else's face paled except for the wizards, who looked in confusion.
"What is so bad about a prophecy?" Ron asked. Annabeth turned around and gave him a steely glare.
"Well Ron, usually when a prophecy is recited. Especially When It ConCERNS US IT USUALLY IS BAD!" She screamed shrilly. The wizards also paled, whether it was from fear of Annabeth's rage or whether it was genuine fear about what the prophecy could hold I couldn't tell. Hazel, who was still scared, managed to pipe up and put her hand on my arm. It was warm, and I appreciated the concern and comfort.
"Guys. Let's tell McGonagall, she'll be able to tell us what to do," I said, knowing that the Transfiguration professor probably knew what to do in a scenario similar to this. Upon this pronouncement, Hermione strung together a sentence
"You guys don't know her. She scoffs at anything remotely related to Divination, she won't take Trelawney seriously!" she exclaimed.
"It's our best bet Hermione," Leo said, with complete seriousness, "If she knows, Dumbledore will eventually find out and that'll help. Besides, she knows we're demigods, we can convince her," Leo said. After a general murmur of assent and some walking, we managed to get into McGonagall's office.
"So tell me what happened again?" She inquired, her face obviously displaying doubt across every inch. I took in a deep breath and recited my story for what felt like the thousandth time.
"So, after I finished my Divination examination, I saw Trelawney doing something and I felt like I should find out. After going near her, we began talking and then she froze up. She recited a prophecy in a croaky tone. According to Harry, when she's also recited a prophecy, a similar process occurred two years ago, which adds credibility," I explained.
McGonagall's face drew taut as if she were trying to find a flaw in the statement. Finally, she exhaled deeply through her nose, clearly impatient.
"Well Zhang, what was this prophecy that she delivered," she asked. I cast my mind back and I grasped onto a few words that were clouding my head and began to deliver the prophecy again.
The School of Magic the quest shall reign
Shall purge a battle of mystery and strain
The wizard of three's path will turn
The God's plan the Seven learn
With only the Piercer's skill
Death's secrets shall spill
With Ram and Light imminent fail
And defeat the Pit to prevail
After saying this, I could immediately see Annabeth's brain working overtime to try and decipher its meaning, while McGonagall waved her hand dismissively.
"I know that all of you guys are demigods, and that makes me inclined to believe you, so I will try to inform Professor Dumbledore about this. The Order has ways of transporting messages. But now, I'm tired and it will be time for your Astronomy exam in a couple hours and I suggest you revise. I'll contact Dumbledore in the morning,"
"But Professor, don't you—" Jason began,
"Yes I do understand Grace. Right now, I want you out of my office and to begin revising. I told you that I'll communicate with Dumbledore in the morning and he'll send members of the Order here. Now, get out of my office. Revise!" She said. Her voice was laced with frustration and I knew things could turn ugly if we continued to argue, so I grabbed Jason's hand, ignoring his protests and dragged him out, with the rest following. The Golden Trio were waiting outside, their expressions anxious. After the door was slammed behind us, Harry asked us,
"How did it go?"
"Poorly," Annabeth responded. "She took a lot of convincing, but she just told us that she'd talk to Dumbledore and we'd better hurry with our revising for the Astronomy Exam," Annabeth sighed out. Hermione tutted, while Ron acted surprised. We stood there in an awkward silence, which Hazel promptly puctured.
"Let's go up to the Hufflepuff Common Room, I bet that we'll have an empty common room. There may be a few, but we'll be fine, so we can discuss and decipher the prophecy," she reasoned. Percy and Annabeth shrugged, Jason and Piper looked at each other and nodded. The rest of us muttered a faint "Yes," except Leo, who's body stiffened up and his eyes rolled up into the back of his head before he regained his composure before responding with a loud
'YUP!'
We began to descend down to the Hufflepuff Common Room and I caught up to Leo, who was determined to stay far behind everyone else. I found this especially odd as Leo usually liked to be the centre of attention.
"Leo—" I said, but Leo's eyes snapped up and he looked startled, before calming down and letting me continue. "Leo, what's wrong with you. You've been acting very weird." I responded. Upon these words, Leo turned around and put on a strained smile,
"What are you talking about Frank? I'm perfectly fine," Leo said, with a nervous laugh.
"You can't fool me Leo. I know that something's off. You look really tired, and I noticed that you've been having those weird spasms at different points. Talk to me, I know something is wrong," I said, putting compassion and understanding in my voice. Leo sighed deeply before reciting his anecdote.
"It started a couple days ago, with maybe a slightly twitching hand or shaking knees. I just put it down to my ADHD, but in the last 24 hours, it has become so much worse. In the Astronomy exam, I was day-dreaming and my body was overcome by a convulsion. It felt like my body felt inflamed and was overcome with momentary spasms and feelings of increased body temperature and other times of no feeling in my extremities. I felt illogical senses of urgency. Also, these were juxtaposed with surges of power and when I tried to summon a flame these were increased 10-fold. I felt like my fire was snuffing out my oxygen, and I kept feeling horrible. I just don't know what's happening. I feel like I'm going insane!" Leo laughed. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Also, we have an epic death battle soon and I won't be able to do anything. I'm just so messed up right now Frank. I can't even do anything about it!" Leo shouted. I was about to respond before I walked headfirst into a wall. Percy and Piper began laughing and Annabeth looked like she was about to burst out. However, Leo began to laugh uncontrollably. His boyish grin shone through and I felt like he was completely back to normal. He looked so lively, it was almost impossible to believe that he was so moody a minute ago. I rubbed my head in pain before Hazel patted my head and walked into the Common Room. It was completely empty and we all plopped our bags down that we had been carrying for a long time. We sat in an awkward circle of ten and we sat down in silence before I slowly recited the prophecy.
"The School of Magic the quest shall reign
Shall purge a battle of mystery and strain
The wizard of three's path will turn
The God's plan the Seven learn
With only the Piercer's skill
Death's secrets shall spill
With Ram and Light imminent fail
And defeat the Pit to prevail"
"So what does it mean?" Percy questioned, scratching his head.
"Well 'The school of magic' is probably Hogwarts, what other magic school could it be?" Jason asked.
"Unless Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter is considered Magical its definitely Hogwarts," Piper replied.
"So it basically says that we'll go to Hogwarts in that line," Leo confirmed.
"'Shall purge a battle of mystery and strain' does that mean that we'll just have a stressful battle?" Annabeth asked.
"Probably," Piper replied, unless there's some hidden meaning.
"Battle could mean anything though," Percy said, with a frown on his face.
"It could mean just a struggle, or something that happens at Hogwarts other than this big battle that's happening tomorrow," Jason theorized.
"'The wizard of three's path will turn', what does that mean? Three wizards could refer to anyone," Hermione said, with Ron nodding beside her.
"I think it might refer to you three," Percy said, "But it might also refer to anyone else."
"Hey, it could be Dumbledore?" Leo input.
"Dumbledore's three wizards, isn't he?" Piper responded, smirking slightly. Leo scratched his head in embarrassment before replying,
"Yeah, I guess so."
"'The God's plan the Seven shall learn'," I recited, "What does that mean?"
"It's kind of obvious isn't it?" Hermione asked, drawing odd looks from everyone around. After sighing heavily, she elaborated, "You guys are the seven demigods right, it just means you have to find out… whatever the gods' plan is," She finished awkwardly. There was a few nods going about and a general consensus that she was right. However, I wondered what this plan was, whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
"'With only the Piercer's skill'" Jason asked, "Who's the piercer?"
When no one responded, Jason shrugged before continuing to read the next line, "'Death's secret's shall spill,' he said. Annabeth voiced the question we were wondering,
"Who is Death?" "It could be Thanatos or maybe Hades?" she asked, before answering her own question. Ron replied, almost shaking.
"Or it could b- be t-thh… the grim." This was followed by a resounding shout in protest, delivered by Hermione.
"Oh shut up Ron, this Grim stuff is nonsense, we've already shown that the Grim isn't an omen of death, simply a cause demonstrated by the fact that Harry hasn't decided to kick the bucket yet."
"It'll happen any day now," Harry muttered jokingly. Percy snorted loudly at this, before directing our conversation back towards the prophecy.
"'Any clue what Ram and Light mean?" he asked.
"No clue Perce," Jason said, "Why would they randomly reference an animal and light in a prophecy. Seems a bit odd right?" he reasoned.
"No clue Jason," Percy replied. My eyes were diverted by a noise that had erupted from Ron's back. It was clearly a slap from Hermione as she was currently glaring daggers at the former, who was glaring equally back. Piper squawked and cupped her hand near her heart, and feigned falling down. Putting on a falsetto,
"Oh I'm so in lo— mmmmm" Piper squeaked. Her sentence was cut off my Jason cutting off her sentence by cutting across and placing her hand on her mouth, muffling her voice. Piper sat up and looking mildly annoyed at Jason. Who tried to defend himself,
"Pipes, I was simply saving you from doing something a little out of character for you." Piper seemed miffed and shrugged before staring back towards the centre of the circle. Ron and Hermione's feuding had ceased after Piper's half-sentence had been formed and Ron had turned a faint crimson while Hermione seemed indifferent. Determined to keep the conversation from straying again, cracked my knuckles before clearing my throat. Yet, I couldn't feel guilty about trying to decipher the prophecy, but not tell them about my previous vision during the exam. I would tell them sometime soon.
"So what does 'defeat the Pit to prevail mean'?" Annabeth looked like she had a thought but didn't want to share and I could almost see her brain working on different options than the one that she was thinking about.
"A pit. How hard can a pit be to beat?" Hazel snorted. She pulled out her wand and flicked it a little enthusiastically in frustration due to being unable to decipher this prediction. Instead of her intent, it clearly created something different as a huge plume of fire erupted from her wand's tip. She wasn't aiming it in any particular direction and the fire cascaded across the room, punctured by our shrill screams. Leo, being Leo and having Leo's luck had got the fire stream all to himself, as Hazel's wand managed to turn on him. The flames consumed him, the heat not harming him, despite Leo's eyes flickering between pain and his regular expression. I was wondering how a fire could harm him.
Leo's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he thrust his hands outward, dispelling the fire before collapsing to the ground, covered in a black layer of soot. Almost as soon as he hit the ground, a resounding
"Ouch!" erupted through the room. I breathed a sigh of relief and the same was given for everyone else and Hazel, being clearly sorry for the fiasco had rushed to Leo's aid and pulled him up.
Leo got up coughing and spluttering, before grinning widely and saying,
"That was awesome."
Jason:
Why does this always happen? We end up charging through the castle, sprinting towards a set of stairs, determined not to be late for a specific deadline. This time, it was almost midnight and we were meant to be up in the Astronomy Tower. The exam starts in five minutes and my limbs were on fire. Sprinting seemed to be the theme of today. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of sprinting we arrived, and rushed inside the classroom, only to see that the exam had appeared to begin, with people already noting on their star charts. Cursing, I dropped my bag and rushed to the nearest telescope and peered into the depths, recognizing stars and constellations dotted across the night sky.
We were expected to spend a really long time on our star charts, but I rushed through it. Some thing of being a son of Jupiter, I just knew about the stars and the skies. It was really cool. I jotted down words that came to my head and I somehow knew they were right. I just kept scribbling down shapes and labelling different stars that were shown across the night sky.
Soon, I had managed to finish, it was a good deal ahead of everyone else and I used my telescope to peer into the forest. I thought I saw a flicker of silver, but dismissed it and just lay down. I took a minute to gather my thoughts and it hadn't been till now that I had realised how worried I had been these past few days. We were really high up, I decided that a prayer to my dad would be great here.
So, uh hey dad. I know you know this but there's supposed to be this huge invasion thing of this school tomorrow. So uh, could you like send us help or atleast tell us what to do? That'd be great. Thanks.
I saw lightning flash across the sky and I smiled in appreciation, I guess my dad had heard my prayer. I gazed into the sky, before another flash of lightning was present, followed swift by the boom of thunder.
I heard the small pattering of footsteps. I peered down and saw there were lights on in Hagrid's windows and the people I had observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted against them. The door opened and I distinctly saw six sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door closed again and there was silence.
I felt very uneasy. I glanced around to see whether Percy, Piper, Annabeth or anyone for that matter had noticed what he had, but Professor Marchbanks came walking behind me at that moment and, not wanting to look as though I was sneaking looks at anyone else's work, I hastily bent over my star-chart and pretended to be adding notes to it while really peering over the top of the parapet towards Hagrid's cabin. Figures were now moving across the cabin windows, temporarily blocking the light.
I could feel Professor Marchbanks's eyes on the back of my neck and pressed my eye again to my telescope, staring up at the moon, but as Professor Marchbanks moved on, I heard a roar from the distant cabin that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Several of the people around Harry ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered instead in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.
Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough.
'Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls,' he said softly.
Most people returned to their telescopes. I looked slightly to my left. However, none of the demigods and Harry and Hermione had listened and were now staring intently at Hagrid's Cabin.
'Ahem-twenty minutes to go,' said Professor Tofty.
Hermione jumped and returned at once to her star-chart; Harry looked down at his own and noticed something that I couldn't see. He bent to correct it. The rest of the demigods, Annabeth included continued to stay resolutely at the half-giant's cabin.
There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several people cried 'Ouch!' when they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes as they hastened to see what was going on below.
Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.
Annabeth audibly gasped before muttering under her breath and everyone else seemed to have a scandalized expression on their face, directed at the scene unfolding directly below them. Tofty included, yet his disdain was directed at Annabeth who was still currently pressing her eye deeply against her telescope and muttered under her breath, presumably in disbelief.
"This is an examination my dear," Tofty voiced, expressing his exasperation.
Another bang was heard from below them and at this point, nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star-charts any more. Jets of red light were still flying about beside Hagrid's cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him; he was still upright and still, as far as I could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, 'Be reasonable, Hagrid!'
Hagrid however, didn't seem to be responding in a positive manner, roaring in response.
'Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!'
I could see the tiny outline of Fang, the dog's silhouette tiny in comparison with Hagrid's wide frame and even small compared to the wiry wizards attempting to defeat Hagrid, while the former was attempting to defendHagrid, leaping repeatedly at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit bodily from the ground and threw him; the man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up again. Hermione gasped, both hands over her mouth; I looked round at Ron and saw that he, too, was looking scared. Piper and Hazel looked worried, but the rest of us looked slightly nonchalant as if Hagrid would be find, he was atleast thrice the size of any of the wizards, and he'd been able to help a real giant. He'd be fine right?
None of us had ever seen Hagrid in a real temper before and usually he seemed to be slightly intimidating despite his calm and usually amicable demeanor. Now he was in a temper, he would definitely be scary and these wizards would definitely feel his waves of anger washing over them.
'Look!' squealed Parvati, who was leaning over the parapet and pointing to the foot of the castle where the front doors had opened again; more light was spilling out on to the dark lawn and a single long black shadow was now rippling across the lawn.
'Now, really!' said Professor Tofty anxiously. 'Only sixteen minutes left, you know!'
But nobody paid him the slightest attention: we were watching the person now sprinting towards the battle beside Hagrid's cabin.
'How dare you!' the figure shouted as she ran. 'How dare you!'
'It's McGonagall!' whispered Piper.
'Leave him alone! Alone,I say!' said Professor McGonagall's voice through the darkness. 'On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such-'
All the girls screamed. Shrill screams and I was tempted to shout is surprise as well. The figures around the cabin had shot no fewer than four Stunners at Professor McGonagall. Halfway between cabin and castle the red beams collided with her; for a moment she looked luminous and glowed an eerie red, then she lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more, spread eagled on the soft grass.
'Galloping gargoyles!' shouted Professor Tofty, who also seemed to have forgotten the exam completely. 'Not so much as a warning! Outrageous behaviour!'
'COWARDS!' bellowed Hagrid; his voice carried clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights flickered back on inside the castle. 'RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT- AN' THAT-'
Hagrid took huge steps towards two of the assailants and shifted his stance and as a result, his fist came crashing down, colliding with both their skulls and they promptly dropped. Just like McGonagall mere moments ago.
'Get him, get him!' screamed a high-pitched female voice. It was the voice that belonged to that… hag Umbridge. However, her remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to go within reach of Hagrid's fists; indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over, presumably out cold from head trauma. Hagrid bent over, and picked up a dark object and from its shape and size I assumed it was Fang. After lifting his trusty hound onto his shoulder, Hagrid had turned and begun to run with Fang still hung around his neck. Umbridge sent one last Stunning Spell after him but it missed by a great range; and Hagrid, running full-pelt towards the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.
There was a long minute's quivering silence as everybody gazed open-mouthed into the grounds. Then Professor Tofty's voice said feebly, 'Um ... five minutes to go, everybody.'
This seemed quite a bad response, as no one seemed even close to be able complete anything. I and everyone else seemed to just be desperate for the exam to end so that we could discuss the scene that had just unfolded.
'That evil woman!' gasped Hermione, who seemed to be having difficulty talking due to rage. 'Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!'
'She clearly wanted to avoid another scene like Trelawney's,' said Piper, with Leo nodding sagely behind her.
'Hagrid did well, didn't he?' said Percy, who looked more alarmed than impressed. 'How come all the spells bounced off him?'
'It'll be his giant blood,' said Hermione shakily. 'Its very hard to Stun a giant, they're like trolls, really tough ... but poor Professor McGonagall ... four Stunners straight in the chest and she's not exactly young, is she?'
'Dreadful, dreadful,' said Leo, shaking his head pompously. Hazel smacked him on the arm due to his lack of tact.
Frank looked extremely frightened, I approached him to confront, but he stuck a hand out in front and the message was clear, stop, I'll tell you later.
We crossed slowly, before splitting up the groups into houses and the six of us walked away. During the time, Percy tried to make small talk yet Frank still seemed slightly rattled, but was returning to being more social.
People around us were drifting away, still talking excitedly about what they had just seen.
'At least they didn't get to take Hagrid off to Azkaban,' said Percy. 'I expect he's gone to join Dumbledore, hasn't he?'
'I suppose so,' said Frank, who looked much better. 'Dumbledore's gone, but now Hagrid too? It's starting to look a lot worse."
"C'mon we'd better be getting up to bed," Ron explained.
Annabeth:
I tossed and turned in by bed. My hand was scrunched up into a tight ball from stress. We had the weight of a prophecy on our heads. We had the weight of a battle on our heads. Worst of all, we had our final exams! Uh! This was not going to be a good day.
I threw on some robes and stretched. I locked my hands behind my head and paced around the room. My feet making a slight tapping sound on the creaking floorboards. I reached out to my bedside table and picked up my wand. I knew we would be fighting greek monsters and that magic might not be the best and the most useful ability against them, but it would be good to try and practice just in case. I aimed at one of the books that was resting on my table. It was a thick leather cased book and I knew it weighed a lot. I was quite enjoying the plot of the story, but I wouldn't need it for a while.
"Stupefy!" I shouted, a jet of green light exploded out of my wand tip and my book was lifted up and slammed into the window. Behind me, I heard the unmistakable sound of clapping. I turned around and grabbed for the bead attached to my necklace that would summon my knife. I turned and saw the dark skin of Padma Patil standing in the doorway. She was already in full robes and sauntered up to me.
"Nice spell Annabeth!" She exclaimed. "Exam nerves? I find that just smacking an object with hexes and jinxes over and over again is a good way to relieve stress," she simpered. I nodded wearily and wiped my brow, relieving it of the condensation. I brandished my wand.
"Diffindo!" I shouted. The book exploded in a flurry of pages, thrown out wildly in a wide field and slowly falling down towards the ground. The pages were scattered across the room, yet I clearly didn't care enough to pick them up. I felt my tensions ease, what Padma had said was really good. It helped. I smiled gratefully at Padma, who smiled back and we walked down to breakfast together, after scouring the common room for Leo, who appeared to have vanished. We had a quick breakfast and I ate at lightning speed, not seeing any of the seven in the breakfast room. I felt a knot of worry form in my chest and I cupped a fist to my heart. I ran up to the Gryffindor Common Room.
I saw that it was exceptionally quiet. Everyone was lying on the floor deep in revision for our History of Magic exam. I saw that Leo was twitching slightly on the ground, but I ignored it and walked on and plopped down next to Percy, and immediately gave him a quick kiss. He returned it and I sat down and entered the doom and gloom. I wondered momentarily why everyone was so melancholy, but this was quickly solved as Frank had an extremely distressed look on his face. However, smiled faintly in recognition once I sat down. While I sat down, after looking over some notes, Frank stood up and locked eyes with each of us. He send a wordless message that I interpreted just fine, I need to talk about something.
We all abandoned our notes and followed Frank out and we emptied out into an empty classroom.
"Well, what did you want to talk to us about Frank?" I inquired.
"You know how we got the prophecy from Trelawney after my examination, right?" He asked and there was a unanimous response of 'Yes!' "Well, while gazing in the crystal ball I saw a vision. But when I went to bed last night, I got the full vision of what it was. It was well… creepy," he gulped after delivering this sentence.
"Tell us Frank. It might be important," Hazel soothed. Frank nodded and took in a deep breath before he started to recite the story.
Frank:
I felt as if I was transported and was witnessing the scene unfold. In the Forest, I saw a stunningly pretty girl wade through armies of trees. I wasn't surprised when I saw her adorned in Slytherin Robes but was more surprised to encounter a figure wrapped in the shadows projected by the canopy of trees.
"Hey, I've got some information for you!" She cackled. The figure turned slightly to the right and nodded, as if encouraging her to continue.
"I've done my recon and intelligence work. I know that the Seven are there, and I feel like I can manipulate one of their friends!" She shouted. At this, the figure completely rotated as if giving her the full and undivided attention that she craved. I was also surprised how she knew this, I made a mental note to tell the rest, and track her down and make sure she didn't take anyone.
"The demigods don't suspect that I'm there, and I am going to tell that hag Umbridge. That should make things more complicated!" She cackled. She began pacing round in circles and kept talking, "Once the wizards get wind of the demigods, we will walk unopposed and feast on wizards and we'll kill the demigods. Just leave Percy Jackson to me… she said, before turning her back on the dark object.
At this, he began to talk, his screeching voice responded,
"Good Work Kelli. Tell this mortal Umbridge tomorrow morning. That way, when we strike they'll have no defence." He screeched.
This Kelli smirked inwardly before cupping a hand to her dainty ear, as if listening for estranged bird calls. However, she turned directly to where my figure was positioned.
"Oooooooooh," she taunted, "We have a little visitor. Enjoy this." At this, the beautiful figure of the Slytherin girl faded, and was replaced with a hideous image. The previously pretty woman was now covered completely white skin. The disturbing image was concluded with flaming hair of the purest red, striking terror into my heart, small fangs, that were clearly visible from her vicious smile one bronze leg and one donkey leg, and red eyes that stared deep into my soul, shattering my confidence. My nose picked up the distinct odour of decaying flesh and I fought down the urgency to gag as bile began to rise.
She smiled and lashed towards me, her claws tearing through my fragile skin like paper and my vision shut out.
Annabeth:
"So, that's what happened," Frank concluded, awkwardly. At this point I expected that I was trembling from head to toe. I looked at Percy, and his expression was mingled with fear and anger. Yet, he was also trembling. Our last encounter with Kelli in Tartarus was anything but pleasant. We would've died if Bob hadn't come to our aid. This time we didn't have a titan walking about.
Jason looked at us, and his brow creased.
"Annabeth, Percy, what's wrong you look like you've seen a ghost." That much was true, we both looked pale. Since I probably looked horrible and as if I wasn't going to ever go into the story, Percy explained.
"So basically, Kelli is an empousa, she is basically the Greek equivalent of a vampire," he explained, gaining odd glances from Hermione and Harry. "A couple years ago, she was disguised as a cheerleader at my highschool. She almost killed me, but I was saved by my friend Rachel. She also tracked us across the labyrinth, and tried to kill me again but Annabeth killed her," he said, shooting me an approving glance.
"Also, on our last quest, when we were in well… you know. Anyway, she tried to kill me again, but this time we were only saved by the Titan Bob. Oh, she's also obsessed with killing me and Annabeth, so we need to find her and stop her," he informed, his voice increasing in volume from his passion.
This was universal. All nine of us shouted in response. Nine? Wait Nine? I turned around and realised the absence of a certain red-headed boy. I voiced my concerns.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione turned around and looked angry, "Where are you Ronald Weasley!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, but I knew it was useless. We went back to the Gryffindor Common Room, and Hermione was constantly fiddling with her robes and was acting self-conscious in Ron's absence. Once entering the Common Room, we went straight to Dean Thomas, who was seen as like a good starting point.
"Where's Ron, Dean?" Jason asked, his startling blue eyes staring deep into Dean's own dark brown eyes. He responded quickly,
"Dunno Jason. We thought he was off with you lot." After questioning more around the room, we heard the portrait hole open and Harry's fourth year admirer Colin Creevy crawl into the room. Harry had entertained us with stories of Colin's obsession with him over the years. Percy was fond of those and struggled to keep a straight face when Colin was in the room. A problem that had risen during multiple revision sessions. He brushed a slight amount of dust off of his precious camera and off his shoulders, yet the rest of his robes were still caked in a thin layer of grime. He made eye-contact with Harry and approached him.
Before Colin could even begin to form a sentence, Harry, almost aggressively asked him,
"Colin, have you seen my friend Ronald Weasley?" Colin breathlessly responded,
"Your tall friend? The one with the read hair yeah?" Colin's hyperactive voice pierced the untouched silence in the Common Room.
"Yes, him."
"Oh, I saw him walking off with some Slytherin girl. I think they said something about Umbridge," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "Oh yeah, I got a picture here," he concluded. He wiped off the dust of the camera and smacked the camera twice and a small piece of film emerged. It was a picture of Ron and a Slytherin girl on his arm, with the same blond hair that was clearly described by Frank. However, what caught me were the piercing and bright blue eyes. When I saw Kelli she was disguised as an African American girl, before revealing her true form. Despite her hair style, colour and eye colour may have changed, her eyes were still as cold and merciless as I remember. That's when it hit me that Ron was in danger and Kelli was involved. She was going to tell Umbridge now. As a team, we seamlessly, began scouring the castle. We had several hours until our History of Magic test and we realised this took priority, as if she informed Umbridge and if Ron backed it all up and snitched on us, this would heavily impede our ability to defend the school.
For hours and hours we looked.
Nothing. We found nothing. We even checked Umbridge's office. We got Frank to turn into tiny animals and sneak into the Slytherin Common Room to see if she brought him in there. Nothing. Ron wasn't anywhere. Hermione, who probably would've found a solution in 10 seconds and told us to use the MARAUDER'S MAP! Her judgement was flawed and she was worried sick about Ron. Only about five minutes before the exam did Harry think about the Marauder's Map. He cursed, and ran, but I stopped him. Informing it was five minutes until the exam and it would be best if we looked for him there.
So it was time and we wandered into forum of the Entrance Hall and we were searched aimlessly for Ronald Weasley.
Finally, after about five minutes of searching we found Ron, sitting in a corner his eyes blank and staring into a corner.
"Ron! Ron! Ron!" We all shouted, but it had no effect on him. Finally, Hermione unable to take it anymore, wound her hand backwards and unleashed her full might on his cheek. This clearly got his attention and he sprung up with a loud scream due to the pain he felt. I couldn't blame him, if I got hit that hard, it would hurt like anything.
"Woah, calm down Hermione. What you hit me for?" He questioned. Hermione was glaring daggers and before a repeat could occur, Harry so cleverly stepped in.
"Chill Hermione, let Ron talk." Hermione didn't look happy, but crossed her arms and let Ron monologue. At least we thought.
"What did I do wrong guys?" He so eloquently asked. This, Hermione had a tough time not smacking him again.
"What did you do wrong? You went and did… god knows what with a goddamn vampire Ronald!" Hermione shrilly screamed.
"Hermione, what are you on about, I didn't do anything, I certainly wasn't doing anything with a vampire of all things."
"Yes you were Ron! Even Colin saw you with the girl that Frank described as a vampire on your ARM!"
"What? I don't remember anything? Show me proof. You're just making stuff up arent'cha!" Ron accused. Hermione puffed up and then brandished the picture that Colin had given her, and it clearly showed Ron walking, with Kelli on his arm.
"What Hermione? I swear that never happened," Ron defended, putting his hands upwards his palms thrust forwards in an expression of innocence.
"Well Ron the ph-" she began. I was just watching this battle of words wage between these two, before I decided that I should intervene before things got ugly.
"Hermione, you should know that empousae have the ability to charmspeak. That means they're able to manipulate people, the same way Piper can, but doesn't do," I explained. Hermione still looked suspicious but seemed to let it slide with a loud,
"Humph," and refused to talk to Ron, even as we walked into the Entrance Hall for our OWL.
Harry:
I felt exhausted. After this exam, there was supposed to be some invasion of the school, and I was meant to defend it. Whatever, I had faced Voldemort before, it can't be much worse than that. I was more worried about Ron, and what he'd told Kelli that she would then pass on to Umbridge and make it exceptionally hard to protect this school that we all loved. Deep in thought, I was snapped out when I made out Professor Marchbanks' voice echoeing from the front.
I turned over my page and began to read. I stared fixedly at the beginning question and I stared at it for a few moments. I read it multiple times, but soon realised that it was not being taken in at all. There was light refracting through the great windows and the light buzzing of afternoon weather omnipresent, making it difficult to concentrate whatsoever. I sluggishly began to inscribe an answer.
History of Magic was so tedious, remembering all the dates required was difficult and annoying. For example, I simply skipped over number 4 (In your opinion, did wand legislation contribute to, or lead to better control of, goblin riots of the eighteenth century?), thinking that I would go back to it if I had time at the end. I had a stab at question five (How was the Statute of Secrecy breached in 1749 and what measures were introduced to prevent a recurrence?) but I had a nagging suspicion that I had missed several important points; I had a feeling that vampires, had come into the story somewhere. Oh vampires. That just got me all worried about Ron all over again.
I looked ahead for a question I could definitely answer and my eyes alighted upon number ten: Describe the circumstances that led to the formation of the International Confederation of Wizards and explain why the warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join.
I know this, I thought, though my brain felt torpid and slack. I could visualise a heading, in Hermione's handwriting: The formation of the International Confederation of Wizards ... I had read those notes only this morning.
I began to write, looking up now and again to check the large hour-glass on the desk beside Professor Marchbanks. I was sitting right behind Piper, whose choppy brown hair was awfully distracting. She, just like him seemed to be completely blanking over this test. Once or twice I felt myself staring at the tiny golden lights that glistened in it when she moved her head slightly, and I gave my own head a little shake to clear it.
... the first Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards was Pierre Bonaccord, but his appointment was contested by the wizarding community of Liechtenstein, because-
All around myself, quills were scratching on parchment like scurrying, burrowing rats. The sun was very hot on the back of my head. What was it that Bonaccord had done to offend the wizards of Liechtenstein? I had a nagging sensation it had something to do with trolls ... I gazed blankly at the back of Piper head again. If I could only perform Legilimency and open a window in the back of her head and see what it was about trolls that had caused the breach between Pierre Bonaccord and Liechtenstein. But then I remembered, she looked as clueless as I did, that wouldn't be much help. Stupid...
I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands, so that the glowing red of my eyelids grew dark and cool. Bonaccord had wanted to stop troll-hunting and give the trolls rights ... but Liechtenstein was having problems with a tribe of particularly vicious mountain trolls ... that was it.
I opened my eyes; they stung and watered at the sight of the blazing white parchment. Slowly, I wrote two lines about the trolls, then read through what I had done so far. It did not seem very informative or detailed, yet I was sure Hermione's notes on the Confederation had gone on for pages and pages.
I closed my eyes again, trying to see them, trying to remember ... the Confederation had met for the first time in France, yes, I had written that already ...
Goblins had tried to attend and been ousted ... I had written that, too ...
And nobody from Liechtenstein had wanted to come ...
Think, he told himself, his face in his hands, while all around him quills scratched out never-ending answers and the sand trickled through the hour-glass at the front ...
(This is word for word from the books. I need to progress the plot. Thanks J.K.)
He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries again, walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, determined to reach his destination at last ... the black door swung open for him as usual, and here he was in the circular room with its many doors ...
Straight across the stone floor and through the second door ... patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no time to explore, he must hurry ...
He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open just like the others ...
Once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres ... his heart was beating very fast now ... he was going to get there this time ... when he reached number ninety-seven he turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows ...
But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving on the floor like a wounded animal ... Harry's stomach contracted with fear ... with excitement ...
A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness ...
'Take it for me ... lift it down, now ... I cannot touch it ... but you can ...'
The black shape on the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long-fingered white hand clutching a wand rise at the end of his own arm ... heard the high, cold voice say 'Crucio!'
The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted and the figure groaned and became motionless.
'Lord Voldemort is waiting ...'
Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance ...
'You'll have to kill me,' whispered Sirius.
'Undoubtedly I shall in the end,' said the cold voice. 'But you will fetch it for me first, Black ... you think you have felt pain thus far? Think again ... we have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream ...'
But somebody screamed as Voldemort lowered his wand again; somebody yelled and fell sideways off a hot desk on to the cold stone floor; Harry awoke as he hit the ground, still yelling, his scar on fire, as the Great Hall erupted all around him.
Finally. I do realise how long it took for me to push this chapter out. However, its super long, by far the longest I've written. Hope you enjoy it, I pushed forward many plotlines that I had begun and added a few and progressed it. Things are finally accelerating. I mean to finish the story in the next few chapters. Hope you enjoy it. Leave a review for your predictions and what improvements you think I can make. This story can do with a lot of those. Heh.
Thanks,
~RedGods