Hi guys. Before I do anything, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the favorites, follows, and most especially the reviews. They really make me feel good. I never ever expected that anyone would actually read anything I wrote, much less like it. Feel free to point out anything in the reviews, whether it be a mistake, an inconsistency, or a glaring plothole (please try to be kind about it though). Anyways, enjoy chapter three!
Chapter Three: Never A Dull Moment
Harry POV:
When the boy ran into the Great Hall looking like he was being chased by something with teeth and claws, Harry didn't know what to think. Dumbledore had been in the middle of his speech; don't go into the Forbidden Forest, no magic in the corridors, and all that stuff. He was just getting to the part about Filch's new list of rules when the black-haired boy dashed through the doors. He looked frantic as he glanced around the room, which had gone silent. Hushed whispers began and started to grow louder until Dumbledore shouted, "SILENCE!"
His voice was so commanding, everyone was quiet almost immediately. Dumbledore didn't ever yell like this. Harry frowned as he considered the possibilities. Something had to be seriously wrong. He turned his attention back to the boy, who was wearing muggle clothing and looked nervous. His hair was jet black and unruly, much like Harry's. Even far away from him, Harry could see that his eyes were bright green, but not like his own eyes. They were different somehow. He seemed older, maybe seventeen or eighteen. His orange shirt was wrinkled like he'd been sleeping in it, and his hand kept coming to his pocket. There was no place to store a wand that Harry could see, but you never know with wizards.
The boy's face shifted expressions as he swept his gaze around the room. His eyes settled on Dumbledore, and he started walking up the aisle between tables. Harry's chest seized a little in anticipation, but when the boy reached the raised dais, he and Dumbledore had a quick, quiet conversation. The boy said something and Dumbledore raised a hand for him to wait.
"Students! What a lovely feast. Now that our stomachs are nice and full, I believe we will all need a long night's rest in preparation for the start of the school year. You are all dismissed to your dormitories, first years, follow your house prefects. Good evening, everyone!"
He and the boy walked through a small door next to the teacher's table, and everyone in the room had the same stunned expression. Gradually, noise filled the hall again as students slowly got up, talking about the mysterious stranger and why he was at Hogwarts.
"Blimey, that was intense!" Ron exclaimed to Harry as they made their way to the dormitories. Crowds of students shoved their way through the corridors, most of them talking animatedly.
"Poor bloke-"
"-see his eyes?"
"-the shirt-"
"Muggle-?"
"He's so hot!"
Harry nodded at Ron's observation as they neared the portrait of the Fat Lady. Realizing that they didn't know the password, they decided to wait for another Gryffindor. They didn't have to wait long before Seamus ambled up to them and said, "Egregious."
The trio stepped through the portrait hole and into the common room, met with the peaceful sight of armchairs and a blazing fireplace. Ron and Harry sighed with relief, glad to be out of the crowded hallway. Seamus said goodnight and headed up to the dormitory, and the two boys plopped down in their favorite chairs.
"So who do you think that guy was?" said Harry, turning a little to face Ron.
"I dunno, mate. He looked like a muggle, but… there's something off about him."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Hey, where's Hermione? I reckon she picked up on a lot more."
Ron shrugged. "Maybe she already went to bed?"
Just then, Hermione herself stepped through the portrait hole, her long hair in a loose French braid that hung over her shoulder. Her robes swished around her feet as she spotted the boys and made her way over to them. She sat down in a chair with a troubled sigh.
Harry sat up and put his elbows on his knees. "Alright, what is it?"
Hermione looked scandalized. "Honestly, Harry, that was rather rude." She turned away with a scoff, and Ron glanced at Harry worriedly. Harry just smiled a little and waited.
Hermione turned back to face them again and said, "Okay, there is something."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
Hermione continued. "There's something wrong with that boy. I don't know what, but something's off, and I'm going to find out why he's here. If he's a muggle, he shouldn't have been able to even get in, so he has to be a wizard. I didn't see a wand, but maybe he stores it in some kind of- no, that wouldn't work. Wandless magic? But that's way too advanced, I've never seen anyone do it successfully. Tomorrow I'll check the library, and if he's still here-"
"Hermione," said Ron, slightly amused by her rant. "There's probably a perfectly good explanation for him being here." He glanced over at Harry again. "But to tell you the truth, Harry and I both got the same feeling you did."
Hermione blinked. "Why does this always happen? Every year, something major finds us."
Harry nodded his head in agreement. Their lives were certainly never boring.
Percy's POV:
Hogwarts.
That was an odd name for a school.
Actually, it was an odd name for anything.
Walking through the silent hallways was eerie, but nothing really scared him as much as Tartarus had. Just the fact that he wasn't there anymore put an extra spring in his step. But now he was on another quest, for another needy god who just couldn't handle their own problems. After what Dumbledore had told him, it was probably Hecate. He'd never done a quest specifically for her, so this could be interesting.
Dumbledore had explained how the school worked for the most part, but not the backstory behind the crazy name. The system was a lot like the one at camp, where people with the same traits and personalities are put in the same "house." Not parentage, but close enough.
Also, everyone had a magic wand? Weird, but he couldn't really judge. He fought with a pen.
Since they hadn't figured out the specifics of his mission to protect Harry yet, Dumbledore wanted him to just befriend him and make sure he didn't get hurt. They'd discuss the more serious stuff later, like how the powerful dark magician man who killed his parents wants to kill him too.
Percy felt bad for him, but he of all people knew that you couldn't avoid these things when they were meant to find you.
Dumbledore placed him in Gryffindor so he could shadow Harry and keep an eye out. He didn't know any magic and he didn't have a wand, but they were working on that part. For now, he just had to keep Harry out of trouble. How hard could it be?
Percy chuckled lightly as he recalled the stories Dumbledore told him about Harry. Apparently, he got into almost as much trouble as the average demigod did at that age. It was almost scary, the similarities between them, and Percy hadn't even seen what he looked like yet.
He was relieved to find himself in front of the picture of the "fat lady," as Dumbledore described her, and not completely lost. Oh, yeah. All the pictures could move.
"Egregious," He said to her, watching in awe as she nodded her head, and the frame swung outward to reveal a cozy room with cushy chairs and a warm fire. Just looking in made him feel sleepy. Cautiously, he stepped into the room and looked around, not seeing anyone. It was like two A.M., so he wasn't surprised.
He didn't have a bed yet, so he just crashed on one of the soft chairs. As he slowly fell asleep, he thought about Annabeth. He hadn't really let himself think about her since he woke up, because he knew it would only make this whole thing worse. But now, her laughter filled his head, and he could almost feel her arms around him again. He thought about her smile and her soft blonde hair, and the way her face looked when she got annoyed at him. He wondered if she was thinking about him, or if she even missed him.
He mentally slapped himself. You idiot, he imagined her saying. Of course, I miss you. You're my Seaweed Brain. He smiled to himself softly before slipping into a light sleep, ready to wake up and be Harry Potter's bodyguard.
The next morning dawned light and gray, with rays of light peeking through the clouds and hinting at a nice day. Percy woke up before anybody else did and admired the view through the window. About twenty minutes later, he heard footsteps coming down the boy's stairs and braced himself to answer a bunch of questions. But when the person did get to the bottom of the stairs, they didn't even notice him. It was a younger boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen, and kind of heavyset. Not fat, but built in a stockier way than Percy was. He had brown hair and freckles, and he seemed to be looking for something.
Deciding not to be a creepy stalker, he cleared his throat. The boy whipped around with a startled look on his face, and Percy noticed that he was still wearing his pajamas.
"Hey," he said, deciding to stay casual.
"How'd you get through the portrait hole?" The boy asked with a slight tremor in his voice, and a scared expression. Whoops.
Percy didn't want to scare him, so he just said, "I'm a transfer student from America. I didn't have a bed, so I slept down here." It was a simple cover story that he Dumbledore had agreed on. If anyone asked for details, he would just give a generic answer and probably end up saying something stupid that threw them off.
The boy seemed to calm himself down a little and took a shaky breath. "Sorry, we've just had people break into our dormitories before."
"Oh. Sorry. Hey, what's your name?"
"I'm Neville." His eyes widened as if he was remembering something. "Oh! Have you seen my toad?"
Percy grinned and shook his head, thinking of Mrs. O' Leary and how different she was from Neville's toad.
Neville sighed and walked to another section of the room, presumably to look for it.
"I'll help you," he said, and got down on his hands and knees to look under the armchairs. He tried not to think of the toad wandering around the room while he'd been sleeping.
"Thanks," he said gratefully, and they searched in silence for a while before Neville gleefully exclaimed, "Trevor!" and held up a large, warty brown toad. He nodded appreciatively at Percy and scrambled up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. He sat down in one of the chairs by the fireplace and waited for someone else to come down. After ten minutes, he started to hear noises from the upper floors as students woke up and dressed for school.
Neville came down again with another boy, who did a double-take when he looked at Percy and whispered something to Neville. Neville said something back and the other boy relaxed a bit. They both walked over and he learned that the other boy's name was Dean, and that he liked soccer. A boy who turned out to be named Seamus came down too, as well as a couple of girls who just stood in a corner and whispered, looking over at them every so often. Several other students came down and went through the picture-frame door, most of them talking about him. They seemed to think he was deaf.
After what seemed like an eternity, a red-headed boy tromped down the stairs, followed by a black-haired boy with glasses. He had an exasperated look on his face and was shoving the other one forward.
"Come on, Ron. You like food, remember?"
The boy named Ron groaned. "Not as much as sleep."
Neville smiled at the pair and said, "Morning, Harry, Ron."
So this was Harry Potter?
Percy smiled, which seemed to put him more at ease. He'd see how this went. Dumbledore had told him about all the weird magical stuff that happened around here, so if he wasn't covered in polka-dots or something by the end of the day, he'd consider it a success.
Ugh guys, it's like midnight here. I'm sooooooo tired cause I woke up early this morning, but I had an inspiration moment at like 11 and I just couldn't stop.
Well, until next time. Don't forget to leave a review!
LadyHW
Shoutouts:
BluePancakes7: Again, sorry. Let me know if you find anything else.
James Birdsong: Glad you think so!
Jinglebells852: Glad you like it, and thanks for checking out my other story!
purplebag: Yay! Super glad you like it.
chasticles69: Again, I apologize. I was kind of having a brain fart when I wrote that.
zejaykay: Thanks.
Notthehotdogman: Thanks for reading my other story, I'm glad you like this one so far!
InsertRandomUncreativeUsernameHere: Maybe... :) You'll have to read on!
