Against All Odds
Chapter 4
Percy stood with the eleven-year-olds before the doors to the Great Hall. He hadn't seen anyone else other than the large man who guided the boats, and his miniature army of first years. He could hear them whispering and glancing at him, it reminded him of walking through Camp Half-blood with a minotaur horn in one hand.
A girl with medium length straight caramel hair, carrying a cat like a James Bond villain, approached him and opened her mouth to say something, but the cat let out a hiss that sent a chill up his spine. When the girl started to speak up again, the cat hissed and bit at Percy. The girl let out an exclamation of, "Muffin, no! Biting is rude!"
It was then a diminutive man with a slight combover approached wearing a jovial grin, "Good evening, First Years! I am Professor Flitwick, and due to some unforeseen circumstances, I will be leading you into the Great Hall for your sorting. The Sorting is absolutely a crucial part of your Hogwarts education, it will place you in a House, which will be your family for seven years here. Your House determines where you sleep, what your class schedule is, and each House has a Common Room where you spend your downtime." Professor Flitwick brushed out a crinkle in his robes, "There are four houses total: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Each house is named after one of the founders of this school and castle! Once I call you in, there will be a small… performance? And then the sorting will begin. After you're sorted, you will get to meet your new family and sit with your House. I, myself, am- oh my."
The older man's voice trailed off after one of the first years let out a scream, a hoard of ghosts had emerged from the walls of the castle. Several showed terrible wounds on their body, an older transparent woman in fine robes had placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of a young girl ghost who was wailing, "B-b-but if he'd been kissed, he wouldn't have been able to join meeeeee!" Her whine pierced through, and even some other ghosts held their ears.
"Myrtle, it sounded like he was fine, why don't you head back to your stall, I'm sure he will come by to visit soon." A portly ghost with a kind face said.
Another ghost chimed up, "Look alive," his face took an awkward scrunch, "first years are here!"
The younger ghost had looked up, seen all the children, seemed to process that they saw her, and she let out another wail, and sank into the floor. The other ghosts began to move with gusto as they sailed past the children and through the walls of the Great Hall. When one with silver bloody chains around his body passed close to Percy, he'd instinctively pulled out Riptide. But the ghost ignored him, and with a blank face, pressed through the crowd of children.
Percy chanced a glance at the girl with the cat, Muffin. The girl was transfixed by all the ghosts, but Muffin was still glaring something fierce at Percy with a light growl in the back of her throat.
Muffin's owner ignored her murderous feline, and, glanced at Percy holding his pen like a weapon, "I don't think the pen is actually mightier than the sword."
Percy blushed, "I just… Er… wrong pocket..." He patted around and eventually found the pocket he'd stowed his wand in. As he pulled it out, the cat hissed louder and tried to jump out of the girl's arms.
"Muffin, NO!" she managed to hold the cat back, and Percy gave a weak smile. "I'll just step over here, alright?" The girl took her cat to the other end of the line.
With a light chuckle, Professor Flitwick spoke up again, "As you can see, we have a sizeable ghost population, they are most friendly, though beware of Peeves, our resident poltergeist, he is quite the prankster!" Percy had a flash of a memory of a cloaked figure with razor-sharp claws, and he felt a phantom pain over his chest.
The professor took Percy in an aside, "Mr. Jackson, We will sort you before the first years, and then the nurse wants to make sure you're unharmed after your run-in with the dementors." Percy gave a small nod, fully aware of the other student's eyes. He turned towards the rest of the new students and raised his voice, "If you'll follow me into the Great Hall, we will commence the Sorting!"
Animated images of ivy vines and four different large animals wandered over the wooden grain of the double doors before them. A lion lazed off the top vine on the left, an eagle precariously soared between different vines, a giant raccoon or something was seemingly trying to push the door open from the bottom, and Percy realized one of the vines was a snake when it tried to surprise the lion from below.
The professor tapped the double doors with his wand, and they swung inward into a… well… great hall with a night sky twinkling from above. The moon had been a full moon the night before and still shone brightly over the candlelit proceedings within.
At the front of the room was a raised platform where the High Table sat. Before that platform was a simple barstool, and behind the barstool were four massive tables where students wearing red, blue, green, and yellow ties were seated; behind each table were giant banners on the walls with a crest corresponding to the color scheme. As he followed the first years towards the front, he saw Neville and Ginny waving from the table of red ties.
From seemingly out of nowhere, Professor Flitwick pulled a dingy patched wizard's hat out of his robes and placed it on the stool before them. With sudden dread, Percy realized that he'd left his hat in his trunk. They'd assured the first years the trunks would arrive in their dorms, but he hadn't thought he'd need it for this ceremony. Also, for a professor, he really should take better care of his hat.
Professor Flitwick took a step back, and to Percy's amazement, the Hat began to move as a mouth of sorts formed within the wrinkles, and then it began to sing:
Come all ye pupils of arts most arcane
and let us find a House where you belong.
I'll look through your mind, oh, you'll feel no pain
Your House will secure you a place in this throng.
Hearts of gold, in brave and bold Gryffindor;
The lion will hunt and stand for its pride.
Ravenclaw can't help learn, soar, and explore
No secret's too small for the eagle's eye.
Slytherin's students secure their success,
With cunning and care, these serpents charm you.
Hufflepuff works hard, no matter the quest,
The badger stands for its den through and through.
Once you're sorted feel free to start braggin'!
But, never tickle a sleeping dragon!
The last line roared out of the hat's mouth-fold, and the hall erupted in applause as the magical garment settled back into its resting pose. Percy was still staring, mouth agape, at the talking hat. A brief life goal flashed in his eyes, of having a sarcastic hat he could converse with while dodging monsters.
"Beginning with our new third year; Jackson, Perseus." Professor Flitwick's voice carried throughout the hall. As Percy walked from the line of children, Muffin hissed again.
The cat's eyes reminded him of Sonny, the Chimuahua (half Chihauhua and half Chimera, but all evil); he started trying to figure out if the name Muffin meant anything. Maybe a secret monster code? Muffins are made of sugar and flour... Demeter? No, why would his aunt try to hunt him via cat? Then again, his uncles hadn't liked him before or after meeting him. Maybe his dad pissed off his aunt, and now he's in the middle of it all... again. The only cat he could think of was the Nemean Lion, and that seemed a little ridiculous to bring into a school...
As Percy's brain sought to figure out the puzzle that was Muffin, the-maybe-secretly-a-Nemean-Lion-in-disguise, he approached the talking hat on a stool.
Professor Flitwick waved his wand and the hat plopped upon his head. He heard the voice mutter a slow drawl behind his right ear, "Hmmm, older than my usual clientele… Let's see, let's see… Fearless, be it dementors, gargoyles, giant ravens… interesting, or hags. Hmmm, your magic is strange, why is that? Oh? Oh my. Yes. You lot are engineered to be valiant and heroic and all that… Indeed, Godric would've opened a tab on your behalf for saving Mr. Longbottom, but he still wouldn't have gotten you. After all, you don't seek out trouble, not the least… It is your relationships that push you into a fight… Yes… Better be…" The hat trailed off, leaving Percy confusedly glancing over his right shoulder at Professor Flitwick in the pause.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" was sent out loud across the Great Hall, and he jumped with a start causing laughter alongside the applause from the yellow-black tied table.
Flitwick levitated the hat off Percy's head, and as he stood, Percy felt a tingle on his chest as his own uniform had altered accordingly. He muttered a soft, "Whoa." And began walking over to his new House.
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Susan Bones had spent her second year without any semblance of control over what was going on around her. After the loss of another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and the petrification of Justin Finch-Fletchley, currently seated four spots down the table from her, she felt like everything was just spiraling away.
So, at the brilliant age of thirteen years,she took the reins of her life into her own hands, and decided she would dye her hair.
It turned out there were three barriers to overcome.
The first was a problem that the second-to-last daughter of the Bones family shouldn't have ever had to worry about: money.
She'd explained to her aunt how this was her life and she deserved to make her own choices. Amelia Bones, Susan's aunt, and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had asked Susan what she wanted to do, and when Susan told her about how much she admired one Nymphadora Tonks and how this led her to this life-changing decision, Amelia had smiled and only the twitch in her eyebrow gave away any issue with Susan's choices.
Aunt Amelia, ever the practical and professional witch, told Susan that she should earn her "fun-money", and learn valuable Ministry skills in the meantime. So, at the rate of a galleon per filing cabinet, she Sorted her aunt's case files at the office.
Three months and seven filing cabinets later, a wanted mass-murderer slowed the whole process down, Susan had obtained a small sachet of hard-earned money to spend on this project.
The second issue was temporal in nature.
With a Mass-Murderer on the loose, Aunt Amelia had held Susan's shopping trip until later into the Summer when the Auror force had a guarding presence established within Diagon. This only got delayed later when Sirius Black's terrorist strike successfully flooded the shopping district, including her planned destination, a boutique shoppe east of Ollivander's by the name of Citron's Cosmetique Boutique.
Prior to The Great Flood of '93, this was the premiere beauty shop of elixirs and cosmetic accoutrements in Magical Great Britain, according to Witch Weekly Magazine. By the time Susan got there she'd learned that her pre-ordered magically enflamed hair dye had been a victim in the flood.
After they'd refunded her money, she'd wandered the aisles aimlessly. Her visions of being looked at as a powerful witch with literal flaming hair, forever distinguishing her away from her natural strawberry blonde shade of red, had quite literally washed away.
It was at the height of this despair, that a new hope blossomed. There, on the top shelf, far away from the water damage within the shop, stood a solitary bottle of Sleakeasy's: Spice to Taste line of Hair Colouring Elixir. It would require some brewing of her own, but she would get her flaming hair. Reading the back of the bottle, all she needed was a pinch of cinnamon.
Contrary to the first two problems she experienced, which largely could be blamed on either her aunt or Sirius Black, the final problem was her own fault. And though she'd like to blame the sorting system of her aunt's… lazy susan, in the end it was a problem with misreading the label.
As she prepared the cauldron with the Sleakeasy's hair cream, she grabbed the cinnamon spice that she'd taken from the kitchen. It was only as she downed the potion that she realized the spice didn't taste like cinnamon. Not. At. All.
At first, she assumed it was a classic case of 'All-Potions-Taste-Awful', but, as she watched her strawberry blonde locks change and begin to turn glossy black, she stared in complete horror at the spice label. She hadn't grabbed cinnamon. No. The spice jar rolled in her hand until the salt of her tears burned her wounded pride.
She'd used cumin.
Fast forward one week, now seated at the Hufflepuff table, with hair colored as volcanic rock. As in, glossy black, with occasional fractures of molten orange that looked like overheated bits of lava flowing through her tresses. In her personal opinion, not matching her complexion properly whatsoever.
She'd taken a seat at the far end of the table, as far from Cedric Diggory's view as she could. Hannah Abbot, Susan's best friend, currently seated next to her, had reassured her (through much laughter) that it couldn't get worse, the potion would wear off after a month and then she'd be back to normal.
How did it get worse for Susan? A combination of Hufflepuff Kindness and The New Kid.
The new kid, who's presence easily just knocked Anthony Goldstein out of the top five most attractive boys of her year. Who, at thirteen, already had the growing signs of a strong set of cheekbones, a chiseled chin, a lean muscular build, a tan, a crooked smile with straight teeth, irises of dark green like twin pools of the Black Lake, and a mess of jet-black hair that reminded her of a certain other member of the top three most attractive boys in her year.
The rumors of this Perseus Jackson were most intriguing while he was sorted. She overheard the Gryffindor table behind her claiming he was an American who fought off one of the Dementors on the train. As if that wasn't enough, the Slytherin table, in front of her, was explaining that he was an Australian who was wicked with a wand, if Crabbe and Goyle could be believed. Then again, Draco Malfoy seemed to be keeping a close eye on the wizard.
When his minute long sorting resulted in Hufflepuff, she'd applauded excitedly at a new face in her year. She hadn't even considered what the combination of her hair color, seating position, and house would result in as the wizard strolled towards the table.
It was Ernie Macmillan, who moved over towards her end of the table to, in an act of Hufflepuff comradery, wave the transfer student to sit next to him. Ernie had grown a couple inches over summer, and his haircut was a gelled into a middle part, leaving his mousy brown hair with a straw like texture.
"Welcome to Hufflepuff!" Ernie called out, hand outstretched, "I'm Ernie Macmillan I'm a third year like yourself." He spoke directly and shook the newest 'Puff's hand with vigor.
"I'm Percy Jackson, it's nice to meet you." He shook his hand back, and then greeted some of the nearby younger years, though his eyes kept traveling back to Susan… no, they were focusing on her hair.
Hannah spoke up, "I'm Hannah Abbot, and this is Susan Bones." Internally, Susan sent Hannah her thanks since she was flustered in embarrassment over her hair.
Though Percy's eyes kept wandering over to her bun of obsidian black with red fractures, he just gave a "It's nice to meet you."
Ernie, direct as ever, spoke up, "So, Percy, what brings an American to Hogwarts?"
Percy's face grimaced, and he explained that he had some enrollment issues with several of the American schools, but he has family here in Britain.
The sorting continued, and Professor Flitwick proceeded with the first-year students. Around four or five names in, Professor Sinistra had made her way over to the Hufflepuff table, and asked Percy to follow her to handle some transfer business.
The Astronomy professor told the other Hufflepuffs, "He'll be back for the feast, just needs to speak with the Deputy Headmistress." And he had missed the whole remainder of the sorting ceremony.
Ernie saved him a seat, by slipping over to where Percy had been seated. Susan alternated between being horribly embarrassed and somewhat proud as the first years kept staring at her magically altered hair. A first year Hufflepuff named Melinda or Madeline, or something sat next to her and asked if she could touch it.
The only highlight of the Sorting was when a "Kane, Sadie" was sorted, and her cat hissed at the hat viciously, sniffed it, then nodded in approval when it finally lowered onto her head. Alas, she ended up in Gryffindor in the end (they always get the interesting ones).
Percy came back shortly after the feast had started, along with, much to Hannah's curiosity, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.
"But what if Harry needed Percy's help with the spawn of Slytherin's monster?" Hannah's eyes were bulging as her mind raced, something in Susan's expression must've tipped her off, "Hear me out, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley did something last year to stop the monster. 400 points, Sue. They earned 400 points, and all we know is the rumors from the portraits that Harry appeared bloody and grimy with Ginny Weasley in his arms, the Sorting Hat on his head, and the Sword of Gryffindor in his hand. I overheard the Gryffindor table saying that he fought a dementor on the train. What if Slytherin's monster had a baby with a dementor, Harry Potter fainted and he needed help?"
Ernie huffed a breath, "That is entirely unrealistic, Hannah. If Granger was there, then clearly it must be about extra tutoring. I hear they teach the magical subjects all wompyjog across the Pond. Potter probably broke a rule already. Didn't he and Weasley fly a car to Hogwarts last year?"
Susan chanced a glance at the first years sitting nearby, they were still wide-eyed and confused from having a magical hat tell them they were honest and hard-working. Unfortunately, a few looked upset at being sorted into Hufflepuff. With a jerk of her head, Ernie and Hannah noticed the gloomy expressions.
Ernie taking lead, with enough volume to carry to the first years called out to Hannah, "Ah the Sorting, you know, I'd always fancied myself a Ravenclaw or Slytherin. I was studious and I've held some ambition to achieve my goals." The first years had glued their attention towards him, "But I got placed here as a 'Puff."
Hannah played her part and rolled her eyes, "Oh here we go again."
"I'm serious, Hannah. I've been thinking about this for a couple years now, and I don't think the Sorting means you aren't any of those other traits, it just means that you truly belong with a certain group."
Susan spoke up, "Well, we are a pretty good group."
"Right? We have an amazing Head of House, we've got each other's backs, and we can have snacks whenever we want." Hannah chimed in. A lot of the first years had started looking up, and she gave Susan a preemptive apologetic glance before turning to the First Years, "Let me introduce you to the new Prefects." Then called out down the table, "Oi, Cedric, Maggie, can you come meet the first years?"
Where several of the Quidditch members were chatting, a brown-haired fifth year wizard poked his head up, excused himself from his friends, and began walking over to the other end of the table. A little closer by, a witch with long curly black hair and icy blue eyes gathered herself up and strode over as well.
"Hey everyone, congratulations on the Sorting!" Cedric beamed at them, "Welcome to the Badgers! When the feast is over, us Prefects will be making sure everyone gets settled in."
Maggie spoke up too, Prefect badge shining from her robes, "I'm Maggie Byrne and he's Cedric Diggory, we're both Fifth Years. The two Sixth Year prefects are Amber Barrows and Noah Canis." She gestured down at two older students who were mid conversation with a group of people their age. "We handle any disputes, and help you get accustomed to life at Hogwarts."
Percy had just stepped back into his seat at the table, giving his right shoulder a rotate as if it was stiff, "So you're like camp counselors?" He asked, through a forced focus, Susan saw his eyes looked a little dull.
Cedric laughed awkwardly, "I don't know what that is. But we can counsel you if that's what you need!"
Maggie rolled her eyes, "Quite like camp counselors. We keep you out of trouble, make sure nobody is exploring broom closets, and help if you are having any troubles adjusting to roommates or magic or anything."
One of the First Years spoke up, "What are people looking for in broom closets?" A lot of the other kids looked interested in that answer, and Maggie turned crimson while Susan choked on the piece of bread she was eating.
Maggie's blue eyes flickered over to Cedric for help, but he had awkwardly looked around and said, "…brooms. But we keep them down in the quidditch shed by the pitch instead. Anybody here like Quidditch? Apparently, First Years can play now." He nervously tapped his new Quidditch Captain badge as well.
Maggie let out a scandalized, "Cedric!" At his roundabout comment regarding the famous Gryffindor Seeker.
Luckily this did divert the younger kids from broom closets to talks of flying and cannonballs that you aim at one another. Susan turned back to her year mates in time to hear Percy ask Ernie, "What else would be in a broom closet other than brooms? Is it like how Water Closet doesn't actually have the things with tons of water like a bath or shower?"
As Ernie now sported an awkward expression of his own, Susan offered a new direction of conversation, "So Percy, do you fly at all?"
Percy shuddered involuntarily, "I went in an airplane for the first time this Summer and I never want to be in the air again."
"Is Quidditch not popular in America?" Hannah interjected.
"Uhhhh, I don't know? I don't… follow it?" He said with confusion.
"I think they play Quodpot," Ernie chimed in, looking expectantly at Percy.
"…Riiiiiigggggghhhht, Kwopdaut. That's the thing." Percy mispronounced, "Honestly we played Capture the Flag more often than anything."
Cedric looked intrigued, "So you what? Storm a castle to take a flag." This lead most of the other students nearby to lean in out of curiosity.
"Ah well, kinda. It's a… war game? Anyway, you battle the other side to steal their flag. We played in the woods, there aren't really castles to storm in New York." He explained.
"War games?" Susan echoed back, "Is it dangerous?" Her mind flashed to the Ministry's Hall of Remembrance, which showed the portraits and news photos of those who fought against Grindelwald's uprising. Her great-great aunt Tabitha perished in one of the battles in France.
"Well… no worse than flying in the air." Percy answered, slightly defensive, "Maiming is against the rules." His hand absently scratched at his chest.
"That's the spirit, maybe we can try and set one up here!" Cedric announced. Susan had a dreadful feeling about where her loyalty would take her. It was fine to root for a team from the stands, she did not like the idea of going to war against another house.
After a few more pleasantries were exchanged, the feast began to wind down and Dumbledore spoke his closing remarks. The new Defense instructor looked absolutely ragged but managed a wan smile and wave, and Hagrid looked to be on the verge of tears regarding his new post.
As the table stood to head back to the dorms, Percy asked Ernie, "So is it just witches who get cool hair, or can we do it too?"
Hannah's laughter followed a blushing Susan all the way back.
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September 2nd rolled over, and Percy's dreams were different. He experienced a full aerial tour of the castle grounds. Only it was in complete greyscale. He started near a big field with towering stands above. Then he sailed through the skies to the lake he'd crossed the day before. The moon itself was a silvery hue, and the castle stood like a grey monolith.
He soared off towards the edge of the grounds, past a small charcoal colored hut and towards the towering grey trees with hues of white ash reflecting in the moonlight.
It was in a small clearing within the forest that he saw them, a herd of centaurs, like Chiron, who had bows at the ready. As he began to descend towards them, an arrow whistled past through the evening air.
A voice called out from the front of the assembled archers, "Halt, fiend, trespassers are not permitted on our land."
Percy floated in a stasis, and as he moved his hand towards them, he saw a long obsidian claw reflecting the moonlight.
Another arrow whizzed by.
With a final moment of this staring contest, the sky spun around Percy, and he woke up to Ernie patting him on the shoulder.
"Percy, you need to get ready if we're going to breakfast together." Percy's vision flickered slightly between the grey of his dream and finally back into the earthy tones of the Hufflepuff 3rd year boy's dorm. His trunk sat at the foot of his four-poster bed. He'd taken out a picture from when he was eight of his mom and him at Montauk. Her hair was blowing in the wind, and he had a couple of missing teeth in his smile. Next to it was one of him and Grover from right before the field trip to the museum.
In his dorm were Ernie, Justin, Zacharias, and Wayne. It was a cool room before Percy was aware of the magic that had happened. When they'd walked in together, after Professor Sprout had done a small meet and greet and she'd put a sign-up sheet for advising on the notice board, Justin and Ernie's jaws had dropped. Apparently, in years past, their room had always been rectangular, and with Percy's admittance into Hufflepuff, it sported a brand-new pentagonal floor plan.
Percy had settled in and unpacked his usual cache of dorm room memorabilia, downed a glass of water, and had passed out into his grayscale dreams.
Once Ernie'd woken him up and he'd pulled his tired body out of bed, he donned his robes, and uncorked the bottle of "Smitherdeen's Smile Solution" that Circe had assured him would give him a divine smile. She said the instructions were easy, "Simply gargle a capful and exhale." To Percy's surprise and delight, after gargling the potion, he'd exhaled an icy mint breath that left frost on the bathroom mirror.
As he entered the common room, he could already smell breakfast cooking in the kitchens next door.
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Percy sat down with the other 3rd year Hufflepuffs, as the British breakfast dishes appeared before him. Between the excitement of a new term and the early-start of their first class, the teenagers had settled into a drowsy buzz. He was cutting into a sausage patty when he noticed a movement in the corner of his eye. An owl flew into the Great Hall with a package in its talons. The owl immediately made eye contact with him, and the golden eyes of the raptor shone with malevolence.
Percy's knuckles turned white, and he held onto his fork tightly. The owl stared, almost making a direct dive at him, before it seemed to remember it had a package, and it veered towards the Slytherin table. To Percy's great horror, more started flying through.
"Percy, you look pale, is everything okay?" Hannah asked, her question bringing more attention to it from the rest of the table.
"...Yeah, just... Do the owls do this daily?" He spoke nervously, as more owls started glaring at him as they entered.
"Of course," Ernie chimed in, "there's Morticia now." A black barn owl with eyes like tar pools screeched when it saw what its owner was sitting next to. To the table's surprise, it started a nosedive like a hawk, with a package clutched tightly. As Percy put up his arms, to block the beak, he missed the package in the talons, and a Monday edition of The Daily Prophet smacked him across the face, knocking his head into the table.
Annabeth's voice rang within his ears, Athena's always got a plan.
As Percy pulled his face out of the porridge, he wiped his eyes with the tablecloth, and looked up into the shocked expressions of Ernie and Hannah across from him. "Heh," he tried to laugh it off even as he was aware his cheek was already swelling red from the impact, "They've just… never liked me."
Ernie, now holding the newspaper, vaguely nodded, "Are you… alright?" He eventually settled on.
"Yeah," Percy muttered still wiping his face away, "I'll just have to get better at dodging, like my tutor used to say." Turning towards Hannah while gesturing at his face, "Anything I missed?"
Morticia, the barn owl, screeched at Percy from overhead again, as it flew back off towards the owlery. Susan came to sit at the table, she'd been visiting a friend from Ravenclaw, and had put her hair up into a ponytail. Rather than looking like lava cracking through volcanic rock, it now had a full eruption effect from the hair tie to the end of the ponytail.
Hannah gestured a little bit to the left of her cheek, for Percy, then provided the table with a new conversational topic, asking Ernie about the news. Percy only felt a little awkward as they talked of Sirius Black's attack on Diagon Alley. Bri had assured him that since the man was a murderous psychopath, there was no need to worry about the whole accidental framing that happened.
Professor Sprout came by to greet everyone and passed out their schedules. "Remember, 3rd years, if you find yourself not liking your elective, feel free to swing by my office and we can see about altering your timetable." Percy smiled at the kind Herbologist.
Everyone started exchanging schedules to see who was taking what. Circe had signed him up for three electives: Divination, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. Staring at the sheet it took him several long moments to read through his schedule to figure out that he had Divination and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Percy decided the only thing worse than English was Cursive-English.
It looked like Hannah, Susan, and Justin were all in Divination with him first thing that morning. Percy spotted Neville receiving his schedule at the Gryffindor table and headed over to chat.
As he approached, Neville noticed and greeted him, "Hey Percy, what's your timetable look like?"
Percy happily handed the schedule over, and Nevile started comparing the two. "Oh! We have Divination and Care of Magical Creatures together. And then doubles for Charms and Herbology!"
They both had talked excitedly about having a friend in four classes, after a while Percy kept noticing people leaving the Great Hall, he glanced at the sky-enchanted ceiling and saw that the sun was rising. He glanced around for any kind of clock or time telling device. "Should we head to class, or do we wait for a bell?"
Neville stared at him in confusion, then looked around the now sparsely populated tables, "Oh no! We need to find somebody that knows where we are going!"
As Neville started packing up his stuff, Percy asked, "…Do you not know where we are going?"
Nervously, Neville said, "I know it is in a tower, one of the girls mentioned it in the common room yesterday."
Luckily, when they got stranded on a stairwell that took them away from any of the towers, Hermione, the cackling girl from the train ride, had appeared from out of the fourth-floor corridor that the landing deposited them at. "Neville, Percy! Why are you heading to Muggle Studies, I thought you were taking Divination?"
"W-w-we are." Neville stammered out, "But I got lost, and Percy doesn't know his way around yet."
Percy was still marveling at the moving stairwells and the sheer chaos of it all. Hermione nodded sympathetically and muttered, "This is harder than I thought."
Then she spoke up, "The divination tower is down those stairs, go through the corridor and let the next stairwell take you back up to a dead-end hallway on the 7th floor." Her eyes flickered over to Percy, "…And Percy?"
His gaze snapped to hers, "Yeah?"
Her eyes briefly shone with an emotion he couldn't place, followed by a frustrated crinkle of her brow "…Welcome to Hogwarts. I'll see you both in class, but I must… use the loo." She finished weakly with a slight flush on her cheeks.
They thanked her as they followed her directions and went their separate ways. When they reached their destination, they found, as described, a dead-end with a growing group of third years standing around. A couple minutes after they arrived, Hermione showed up with Ron and Harry.
Percy waved and said, "Thanks again! I guess you chose to hold it?"
An awkward pause happened as she gave him a look of bewilderment. Ron and Harry seemed especially confused, and, after a moment of cluelessness, Percy realized he'd said something 'impolite' to a girl. The kind of pigheadedness that would've warranted Cotilion lessons from Hylla, Circe's Personal Assistant. His knuckles ached remembering how quickly that ruler struck.
He coughed nervously while blushing in newfound embarrassment, "Sorry. Uh. See you in class."
As he and Neville retreated from the confused trio, they greeted some of Percy's dormmates who had left separately to get to class. When the last person arrived, a rope ladder fell from above and slapped the ground with an impact.
Climbing upwards towards the smell of incense and a glimpse into their future, the group of students began their first class of the semester.
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Neville had befriended Percy a few weeks ago in Diagon, and, sure, he'd noticed there were some weird things about him. Clearly, his family had angered a lot of people if the number of blood curses he had were any indication. And when he said that monsters were out to get him, he'd assumed dangerous things like hags or dementors, not messenger owls! Neville was pretty sure those didn't qualify.
Still, Neville had been called a Squib for most his life, so the idea of somebody, cursed or not, willing to hang out with him, rather than just seeing him as an add-on, was a novel experience. Upon entering the divination classroom, he'd still expected Percy to go sit with one of the Hufflepuffs, but he'd looked at Neville and asked, "Where do you want to sit?"
Neville was so happy he didn't register that he was sitting cross-legged on a pillow next to Percy with a tea stand between them until Professor Trelawney started talking about meditation and reading omens through tea leaves, or Tasseomancy. She instructed them to pull out their books, while she explained the exercises.
To Neville's great embarrassment, he had brought his Potions textbook on accident. Percy snickered quietly, and pulled out his Divination textbook, "We can share, Hecate knows I can use all the help I can get with reading anything."
While they were talking in the back, Professor Trelawney spoke ominously, "Let the tea soothe your senses, then examine the leaves, and open your sight to The Weave." Thunder rolled along the tower, and the class felt a chill go down their spine.
Neville felt awkward about sitting and sipping tea in meditative silence, but Percy seemed to be giving it his all. They drank their tea, and Percy kept shifting his weight left to right, his fingers were drumming on the table until Lavender hissed at him, "Can you stop?!" He'd seemed to not even be aware that it was happening, but, nevertheless, he'd stopped and apologized.
When all the tea was consumed, just the grindings lay in clumps at the bottom. Percy looked at Neville's cup and said, "I'm pretty sure that's a donut." Neville... wasn't positive what to make of that, and when he glanced in the cup, it did in fact look like a ring of some kind. While Percy was flipping through the book with a furrowed brow, muttering, "donut", Neville was staring with confusion at Percy's cup, there was a... well he wasn't sure what it was, but if he had to guess it was a tortoise or a turtle.
Before he could ask to look through the book, chaos broke out from where Harry and Ron were seated. Neville had missed what Professor Trelawney had said, but he saw Harry's expression. It was the classic Harry Potter original, 'Why Does this Happen to Me?' #7. Meanwhile other students were whispering about the grim.
To be fair, Neville instinctively did a small warding gesture when they spoke about it, but if Harry had seen the grim, that would definitely be bad. Looking around the room, he noticed all the eyes gravitate towards his friend and dormmate, and even Ron looked pale.
Oblivious to the classroom drama, Percy looked up and announced, "I think I got it! Took me a bit to remember how to spell it. Looks like you are stuck in a cycle and need to break free."
All the eyes in the room had turned towards Percy, and Neville thought it was a good time to capitalize on it and help keep Harry out of the limelight that he hates, "P-P-professor Trelawney, I'm having trouble with Percy's tea, I'm not sure if it is a turtle or a tortoise."
As Professor Trelawney examined the cup, a little putout at her grandstanding death prediction being diverted, she declared it was, in fact, a tortoise.
"S-so what would Percy's prediction be?" Neville asked.
She glanced into the teacup and then up at Percy, and her eyes clouded over. Her voice resonated with an eerie quality as she spoke:
"Solstice born at the brightest light,
Beware your Shadow's stolen might.
Inverse the curse within the flood
Go prove yourself beyond your blood.
Monster's hunger one must transcend
Else soul be lost to anguished end
Arcadia left to ages past
Tortured prisoner, saved at last."
There was a grand silence over the whole classroom, as Trelawney came back around from her… vision? She glanced at Percy, who was wide-eyed, and pale faced, and the rest of the class who wore similar expressions.
"Yes, well, I do believe it is about time for you to head to your next class." She took a moment, still holding everyone's attention, "May your third eye open you up to all the possibilities in the future. Good day!"
Neville tried to grab at Percy, but he was down that ladder and elsewhere before anybody else had a chance.
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Sally Jackson woke up at five in the morning, to her son nervously saying, "Mom? Are you awake?"
Forgetting, for a moment, that he was half a world away, she said, "Don't worry sweetie, I'll get some blue waffles going after I shower."
"Mom, please wake up." Percy's voice strained against her ears, taut and urgent. That caused her blood pressure to skyrocket, and she woke up to a floating mist projection of her son in some kind of stone room.
"Percy?" She asked, "What happened?" She could see he was in a miserable state, to the point that he'd even splashed his face with water and forgotten to dry it with his powers.
"My divination professor gave me a prophecy in front of the whole class!" He explained, "Do I even have to treat it as a quest? It didn't come from the Oracle of Delphi spirit, after all." He seemed to be trying to convince himself more than her.
"Percy, what did the prophecy say?" Sally asked calmly. She thought especially calmly considering his track record with prophecies.
As he regurgitated the prophecy to her, she wrote it down for study. As she stared at the words, she took a deep breath and set the pen that was shaking in her hand onto the note pad.
After three seconds of tumultuous emotion, she pushed everything else aside, "Okay, let's try to work through this, you received your powers on the Summer Solstice, which would be the bright part." She paused, "Any idea on your shadow, stolen might?"
A dark look crossed Percy's face for a moment, and his expression scrunched up, "Well... There was something that happened yesterday on the train ride..."
Sally cursed under her breath. Getting details out of her son was like pulling teeth. "Percy." She forced herself to inhale for a second, "What happened on the train?"
He looked really shifty, and he said, "I ran into these uh... prison guards... from uh... Abracabana..? They were searching for an escaped criminal."
She knew there was something he wasn't telling her, but... "Do you think that could be the prisoner the prophecy is talking about?"
Percy went through an array of emotions, "I don't know, he seems like a bad guy, why would fate or whatever want me to save him?"
Sally bit her lip as she contemplated her options. Obviously, the Fates have it in for her child. She's known this since she was captured by the Minotaur. But she can't greenlight him looking for a dangerous criminal, that's just bad parenting.
She looked into his agitated green eyes and said, "Percy, I think you need to do what you think is right. Remember those books we read over the summer? Don't control it, and don't ignore it." She and Circe had hammered into his head to learn from previous mistakes, or prior dumb pigs, as Circe put it. "Prophecy is meant to guide you."
"Okay. Okay. Thanks, Mom." Percy said, "I need to figure out where my next class is."
"Alright, Sweetheart, I love you, let me know if you need anything, or if anything changes."
"Love you too Mom, thanks again." He stopped whatever rainbow he'd made.
Sally was left in the darkness of her apartment. Her head hit the pillow, and she stared at the ceiling, before muttering to herself, "Dammit. There's no way I'm getting back to sleep." With that she got up, she had prisons and floods to research.
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Percy wasn't positive what he'd done to the Fates. They must've taken offense to him not praising their oversized sock knitting skills, gods are annoying like that. He didn't remember saying or doing anything particularly worse to cause him to have such a terrible first day of school.
For starters, every time he remembered a bad memory, he'd feel a pang in his scratch on his chest. The nurse had given him a potion to handle any lingering pain and he'd intended to eat one of his ambrosia and nectar squares before bed, but he'd been fine while meeting the other 3rd year Hufflepuff's.
Then he goes to his first class, and bam! A new freaking prophecy. Talk about bad memory central there. He'd almost itched a tear into his robes the wound was so aggravated. After talking to his mom, he'd finally started feeling better and wham! His second class covered boggarts, a literal fear-channeling monster.
Professor Lupin had made it seem so simple. He'd called on the loud kid, Zacharias Smith, and asked him what he was most afraid of. The answer: a Dullahan. When the boggart turned into one with a CRACK!, it was quickly hit by Zacharias' Riddikulus spell, the Dullahan's head became a ball in its arms and his horse wore some kind of bright orange sport jersey. Some of the students doubled over, and the line progressed.
CRACK! Hannah faced down a vampire (who would eventually get riddikulused into being tied up in garlic knots), and meanwhile, Percy tried to think of his greatest fear. He knew Annabeth was afraid of spiders, Grover was afraid of most monsters, but himself? He had been scared in front of the Olympian council. The plane had been scary, but… CRACK!
Ernie saw a woman who started shouting "You are a disgrace to the Macmillan family! I refuse to let you live in my house or use my name if you keep up this ridiculous façade. My son can't be g—" In a moment of true friendship, Justin had stepped up in front of Ernie, who Susan pulled back towards the line, and CRACK!
Before anybody could address the elephant in the room, a snake bigger than four elephants put together erupted out of the boggart. Percy stared in horror at the sheer size of the monster. It's lime green skin encircled the whole room, and its head stretched up against the ceiling of the class. A strange fog covered its eyes. Percy's heart skipped a beat for just a second as he stared at its open maw, the blurry yellow eyes seemed to pull the air right out of his lungs.
Professor Lupin let out an exclamation of surprise, but Justin was able to get a riddikulus at it, transforming the beast into a giant stuffed animal snake. This got a nervous chuckle from the group, and unfortunately, the boggart's body still encircled the perimeter of the classroom.
This, as it turned out, was an unfortunate positioning for Susan's claustrophobia to manifest. CRACK! The boggart formed around the class as unyielding steel walls. Now, everybody was cramped, and more and more people were starting to get scared about the situation. Susan called out, "Professor, I-I- can't, I can't breathe!" Her complexion drained of all color, "No no no no no no, they're closing in!" Sure enough, the walls started pushing the whole class inward.
In an attempt to help, Percy obviously only made things worse. He rushed the walls with his eyes squeezed tight, and he tried to push them back. Making direct contact with the boggart wasn't ideal, as it quickly decided that Percy had a deep-seated fear that would be scarier than even the walls closing in around you.
When the resistance vanished with a CRACK!, Percy opened his eyes to a dark cavern. Professor Lupin and all the other students stood with him. An unfortunately familiar smell was the first thing he sensed. The smell of evil incarnate. Like innocent blood splashed on a sacrificial altar, or the warm breath of a murderer holding a knife to your throat.
Before the class was a chasm, the walls of the classroom weren't there any longer, and the Pit stretched ominously before them, easily the width of a city block. He felt his heart pounding, trying to break free of the chest cavity that kept it close to this terror.
A chant began to whisper from the depths beneath. Percy, wide-eyed, screamed at his classmates to "RUN!" and everybody began scrambling as fast as they could. Susan was still curled up on the ground, now blankly staring into the darkness beneath.
Hannah cried out, "Sue! HELP!"
Percy turned around, once more coming up short as he faced the Pit. His chest wound burned as he stared into the abyss. Hannah called out again, "Percy!" and he shook it off and scrambled to help Hannah lift Susan up. With no more than three steps, a a gust tugged towards the crevice like a deep inhale and Percy struggled to pull his foot forward.
Working together they made their way to the other students, where Professor Lupin was standing at the front with a protego shield before them.
The Professor turned towards the students, and gave them all a shaky smile and said, "Well, this lesson got out of hand, allow me to show you a spell intended for NEWT students. Everyone, gather up."
The students huddled up together and he spoke two words, softly but with a power Percy hadn't seen from the ragged and gaunt man, "Protego Maxima."
A white shield bubble spread out around the huddled third-years, and when it finally stopped growing, Professor Lupin let out a long exhale. Percy panted nearby and tried to focus on getting his hand to stop shaking. To Percy's surprise, he'd reached for his wand instead of his pen. He felt the calming crest of waves, and a soothing blue light emanated from its tip.
Susan's panic attack eventually slowed, though it would take her the longest to rise off her knees, and all the other students almost let the tension release from their shoulders.
"Class, you have my apologies, I wasn't expecting… No, I've never seen a boggart grow so large." Professor Lupin nodded his head slightly, "5 points to everyone who did the exercise, and an extra 5 to Hannah and Percy for an admirable display of loyalty in the face of terror." Small grins broke out amongst the class, but behind those smiles was a shaken core.
They sat there within the protection of the spell for another twenty minutes discussing different ways they could've approached their boggart differently, and Professor Lupin explained the variety of shield charms along with how the Protego Maxima prevents the boggart from hearing or seeing you thus protecting you from the shape changer.
Percy stared helplessly through the barrier at the lip of the Pit before him. He'd run through all the scenarios in his head, would there have been a way for him to fight back boggart-Tartarus?
After thirty minutes had passed, the headmaster himself entered the room, let out an astonished, "Extraordinary!" then he waved his wand and spoke, "Ridikkulus." And a balled-up sock the size of a city block appeared and crashed into the pit like a meteor, emitting a comedic gargle that caused the group of school children to laugh. Even Professor Lupin let out a wry grin as he abolished the spell. As the boggarts façade cracked against the edge of children's laughter, Professor Dumbledore approached it, and there was a CRACK! of a man cackling with red eyes while holding a wand out, "Do you see Dumbledore, now I have the Eld—"
Dumbledore paused at this development, held his wand at eye level and incanted once more with a flick, "Ridikkulus."
The man's voice rose into the Alvin and the Chipmunks range and he was now holding onto a candy cane, "Noooo how could you have beaten me!"
Dumbledore smiled at the children's laughter once more and with a silent banishing charm, he sent the Boggart into a nearby cupboard, and he quickly transfigured a set of chains and a lock around it.
"Ah, Remus. I do see you had an interesting lesson today." The headmaster called out cheerfully, "I must apologize for barging in partway through, but your students do need to eat lunch."
Percy was sure his brain had misfired at some point during the past three minutes.
"Did you just… put a sock in it?!" Percy blurted out as the group began filing out of the classroom. Ernie gave an unwilling snort and blushed furiously, but Dumbledore looked down at the group of Hufflepuffs and his lips curled into a pleased smirk.
"I've always found wordplay to be one of the most delightful methods of drawing a laugh, Mr. Jackson." The aged wizard tilted his head in pleased acknowledgement.
Professor Lupin picked up the line of thinking, "In a group, boggarts are easier to handle, especially if you can get everybody to laugh. They typically have trouble picking out a single fear this way."
Susan let out a shaky breath, "Why are they like that, professor?" Her eyes were puffed up, and her skin a stark pale against her black hair. The enchantment had turned her hair to a shiny obsidian glass without any red in the wake of that lesson.
Professor Lupin gave her a sympathetic glance, but then deferred to the headmaster. Dumbledore nodded ever-so-slightly and spoke carefully, "A boggart is a being of great discourse. On one level they are immensely powerful under the right circumstances, as you all experienced. On another, they are weak to a magic that is accessible to even a muggle… Laughter." He gave his beard a stroke and mused, "I seem to recall a headmaster who suggested that we get rid of the Sorting Hat and use a boggart instead. Whichever way the students responded to their worst fear would determine their House. If they stood against it, they'd go to Gryffindor. If they tried to rationalize the fear, they'd go to Ravenclaw. And if they fled, they'd go to Slytherin. Despite what the house of eagles might say, there's wisdom in all three options."
Hannah softly asked, "What about Hufflepuff, Professor?" Percy looked around at his housemates, each one wearing their heart on their sleeve. Justin looked like he expected this to be the 'blonde joke' equivalent for Hufflepuffs. Ernie was staring in horror at the whole concept. And Susan looked like she knew the answer, and she nudged Hannah's shoulder softly.
Professor Dumbledore's eyes crinkled behind his half-moon glasses, and he said, "The Hufflepuff… Well, the Hufflepuff wouldn't let the others face their fear alone. Unity…" the wizened headmaster chuckled softly, "Is a lesson I wish everyone would revise for." Once they reached the kitchens, the headmaster left a group of proud yet pensive third years, and a Defense professor who seemed to be mulling over changes to future lesson plans.
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With their Common Room being hidden by barrels within the kitchens that they were dining in, Professor Lupin left them after having a sandwich himself, once again offering praise for how they handled an out of control situation.
For the first time, Percy didn't have to worry about using up hot water in the communal shower that night. Magic, as it turned out, was the best water heater outside of some Hephaestus-designed divine contraption. Head up against the wall, he let the emotions from the day wash away. The wound on his chest, three long black lines with small vein-like fractals, seemed to fade and retract as the water restored him.
That night, his Dreams took him back to the shadowy realm where the servant of Kronos spoke with the Titan Lord.
"—the project has hit a couple problems my lord, but I think we've finally located the vessel." The servant spoke into the abyss in a kneeling bow." An awkward pause followed, as no response returned.
"My lord?" The servant tried once more.
Kronos' voice murmured back, "Good, good. My attentions were grabbed by a disturbance in Scotland…" The Lord of Time seemed to be mulling over what occurred.
"Do you think it was… Jackson?" The servant replied, Percy's surname was spoken very carefully.
The voice returned, "Quite possibly, still, do we have any connections in that area?"
"…Our forces are expanding steadily, monsters are beginning to stir all across the West." The shadowed shape remained bowed, though its head had tilted upward. "Jackson is just a child, if you had let me, I would've ended him once—"
The voice was cut off by an angry bellow from Kronos, "SILENCE!" In the void of this realm, a pair of golden irises opened in the sky and Percy watched the servant freeze under their gaze. "The boy has his purpose, let my children play their games, he will see the gods for what they truly are. They will fall and the Second Titanomachy will begin."
As the golden eyes faded away, Percy found himself almost sighing in relief. Until his dreams entered grayscale once more.
It was one of those nights.
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Author's Note:
Wow, this chapter took way longer than I intended. I went back and forth on how much to include but decided that we'd get to some of the other classes next time. You all will be pleased to note that I have, much to my surprise, started planning out plot points rather than writing by the seat of my pants, so hopefully some of the foreshadowing will play out correctly.
Let's see, I really struggled to figure out what the Sorting Hat song should be, I ask for forgiveness to anyone who dislikes the Shakespearean Sonnet form. While Apollo would want a quality Haiku or Limerick, I just couldn't fit everything in. In the books, Harry and Hermione miss the sorting this year, so I couldn't even grab something from canon. As you've seen with this chapter, I'm pretty sure we are beginning to diverge from the canon plot more and more. The only real driving force to maintain canonical events is that a school year is setup a certain way, and moves through the year in a temporal manner, so unless the changes really start to butterfly out, things like the Quidditch World Cup being held before fourth year, or a professor starting the year with a certain curriculum, will stay on track.
I added Susan as a limited perspective in this chapter, and tried my best to channel the memory of how awful being thirteen (when you aren't a main character hero) could be. You just want to have cool hair, good skin, and adoration of the masses, and instead it absolutely doesn't go your way. I've long maintained that if Percy is the literal son of a Greek god, then he and all the rest of camp half-blood are just naturally beautiful. I also tried to build a little more character into the Hufflepuffs as a whole. All we really get in canon is that Cedric was a stand-up guy, and there were others.
The divination situation was one of those scenes that had pretty much inspired this story. Basically, at its core, can you imagine being a demigod in divination with a Seer Professor? It'd be awful. That rhyme scheme was just AA/BB/CC… and so on, because prophecy is hard.
Fun fact, the initial idea had Percy not receiving his owl for two years because well… Athena v. Poseidon… Another rendition was that he learned he was magical first, but true to Percy's form, he got kicked out of both magical schools in the US, and had to look in other countries. I'm quite happy with the summer solstice magic bit because it keeps with a lot of fandom for HP as well as Percy's canonical bad luck in PJO.
One of the biggest holdups on this chapter was me trying to figure out what Percy was afraid of, and then also what happens when you have an environmental fear like claustrophobia or hydrophobia, does the Boggart start to kill you? Would Ron's Acromantula-Boggart have eaten him? Harry's Dementor-Boggart could emulate a dementor's depression memory thing. Worldbuilding is weird, and even weirder in crossovers.
Anyway, thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews, I'm so glad that people are enjoying reading what I'm writing. If you have any questions or comments or just want to say Hi, let me know. I have no idea what formal fanfiction etiquette is regarding comments, I've been trying to PM those who ask questions, but sometimes they're rhetorical or I don't know what to say.
Anyway it is great to hear from y'all, hope everyone is getting out of the seasonal depression portion of winter!
