On Saturday morning, Percy wasn't exactly sure what the day would look like. Due to him trying to blend in the shadows, he didn't exactly have any friends to hangout with, and he already finished his weekend homework. Therefore, he found himself wandering the halls, exploring the castle. He still wasn't exactly comfortable with navigating, and as a supposed seventh year, he definitely needed to fix that.
He was waiting for Dumbledore's invitation to the Order's headquarters, which he figured would be relatively soon, as Dumbledore had been forced to flee a week ago. While praying to his father last night, he had asked for some guidance. He definitely didn't want to upset the Gods while he acted on his own discretion. However, nothing was left for him, no sign, no dream, nothing. So for now, he was flying solo, making choices on what he thought was best. Although, he was never the best strategist. That was Annabeth.
Percy's heart panged. He tried not to think too much about her, or Camp for that matter. After Tartarus, they kept their distance from each other, until they ultimately agreed it would be best to seperate. He thought they would only grow stronger because of the horrors they faced together, but they ended up just growing apart. Annabeth kept having nightmares of him controlling poison, which eventually led to her dreaming of him turning his back on the Gods with his new bloodbending power. She was too afraid of him for them to have a healthy relationship.
The rest of camp agreed. Although they didn't know what happened down there, as neither of them talked about it, they mutually agreed there was a change in Percy. A shift. They whispered about how joyless Percy seemed these days, how frightening he looked. Oh, he knew all about the whispers. The only ones who seemed to like him before he left were Nico and Jason, although they were busy with their own things. Hazel and Frank could be added to that list, but they had their duties at Camp Jupiter.
He had become alienated at camp, and it felt all too much like the time when he was recently claimed. He absolutely hated it. He knew that he would never have a normal life, and he could admit that his life was a mess after him and Annabeth separated. He didn't really have a purpose, as he couldn't really graduate high school. The Mist could only manipulate his records so much before someone got suspicious. College in New Rome seemed like a waste, and he wasn't even sure what he would pick as a career. The only thing that seemed to matter was his demigod life.
He would go on quest after quest, and soon they started feeling like missions. Hunt down this monster. Hunt down that monster. Help escort this kid to camp. He did anything he could do to take his mind off his own pain and suffering.
And then this quest came up. An unknown amount of time for completion, although they told him they knew it would be at least a couple years. Help fight this war, and protect this Prophecy kid. Guide him in his mission. He could relate to that.
It wasn't an instant or easy decision, but ultimately, he agreed. He needed something different, and he was still lost as a person. At least, by taking this quest, he would have a purpose, and would be doing the one thing he was good at. Fighting.
Tartarus ruined him. It shattered his soul, his motivation, his idea of a purpose. But as he stayed longer in the Wizarding World, he sometimes saw a future. At the very least, a place to escape to. Even though it was plagued with war and horror, he was used to it. Weirdly enough, he sort of felt at home, in a place filled with chaos and disjoint.
Yes, Tartarus ruined him. But, the Wizarding World might be able to mend it.
Percy pulled his mind out of his thoughts as he heard angry voices in the distance. Curious, he quickened his pace, keeping his hand near his wand and Riptide.
"Detention, Mr. Potter!" A shrill voice rang out. Protests immediately followed. Percy rounded the corner and saw Harry standing in front of Umbridge. She held up a hand, smiling cruelly. "If you do not quiet down, your punishment will be extended longer."
Harry quieted at that, but Percy could see the scowl on his face from here. Percy approached them, intent on intervening.
"Is there a problem here, Professor Umbridge?" He said, loudly.
"Headmistress," Umbridge snapped, turning. Once she saw who it was, she narrowed her eyes, but seemed reluctant to say anything more.
"My apologies, Headmistress Umbridge." He drawled, trying to keep the mocking tone out of his voice as much as he could. "I was just interested in seeing if there was anything I could assist with," he said, as neutral as he could be.
"No, nothing." She sniffed, turning her nose up to the ceiling. "I was just disciplining Mr. Potter over here," she turned her head to glare at him, before looking back at Percy. "Hopefully, there will be no more behavior issues." She said. "Isn't that right, Mr. Potter?" She asked, her voice a tone of sickly sweet that made Percy's skin crawl.
"Yes." Harry gritted his teeth, looking at the ground.
"Yes, what, Mr. Potter?" She smirked.
"Yes... Headmistress." He practically choked out, looking up at her with fury in his eyes.
"Much better." Umbridge sighed, happy. She seemed to revel in the title. She took one last look at Percy, staring at him. Percy lifted an eyebrow, and remained unmoving. He straightened his back, subtly drawing up to his full height. Umbridge stiffened, before walking away, her heels clacking on the floor.
Percy waited for Umbridge to turn the corner before he sighed. "Bitch," he muttered under his breath.
Harry looked at him, curious. "You don't like her?" He asked, wanting to talk to Percy, despite his jealousy and Hermione's suspicion about the Slytherin.
"Of course not," Percy scoffed. "She's a power hungry toad, hellbent on showing her rank. Practically no one likes her."
Harry seemed surprised. "I thought all Slytherin's liked her. She favors you guys, after all."
Percy tilted his head. "I wouldn't make such generalizations about us. Sure, there are those in the 'Inquisitorial Squad.'" Percy made air quotes around the name, "that practically worship her, but many of us dislike her. She's awful."
Harry nodded slightly, but didn't say much more than that. "Uh… well, thanks." He began awkwardly. "I don't think she would've left me alone if you hadn't come by."
"No problem, Harry." Percy smiled. He gave him a nod before walking away, leaving Harry standing there.
As he continued making his way down the hall, and outside to the courtyard, an owl flew up to him. It landed on his shoulder, an envelope securely in its beak. Percy carefully took the letter out, conscious to avoid nearing its mouth with his fingers. Owls tended not to like him.
He looked down at the nondescript white envelope, with fancy cursive on the front. He looked around, before tucking the envelope into his robes. A letter from Dumbledore would need to be read somewhere private.
Percy stood in the doorway. The house seemed… old. Dusty, too. Very dusty. There was little light filtering through the windows, and it seemed very quiet. A little too quiet.
After a falsified family emergency, and a trek to Hogsmeade, Percy had met up with someone. He was quite tall, with scars littering his face. He seemed young, but looked old and exhausted. His shoulders sagged, and his robes looked tattered.
Despite all of that, he had given Percy a smile, and reached out for a handshake.
"Perseus Jackson?" The man asked.
Percy flinched almost unnoticeably, but the man frowned. "Please, just Percy." He smiled back.
The man introduced himself as Remus Lupin before they made their way to what was referred to as "Headquarters."
Now, he stood in the doorway at what looked like the conference room, which looked like it was mainly a dinner room. In front of him, Dumbledore sat at the head of the table. Two professors, ones that Dumbledore had already pointed out to him, sat near him. Another man, who he didn't know, sat in another seat. He looked quite ragged, with long shaggy black hair, and an aged look to him. Remus took a seat next to him.
"Percy." Dumbledore stood up from his seat, smiling, although he looked a little stressed. "Please, take a seat." He mentioned, gesturing to the seat across from him, the other one at the end. Percy gave a curt nod, feeling a little on edge, even though he knew they were all on the same side.
He had the feeling that demigods and wizards weren't really supposed to mix. Just like the Greeks and the Romans, although this was entirely different. He felt uneasy being surrounded by so many competent wizards. He supposed the unease came from the fact that he didn't really know how to fight them. Sure, he could take them out with hand-to-hand combat, but he couldn't do anything against their spells. He could duck and dodge to his heart's content, but the fact remained that it was hard to dodge flying projectiles that supposedly traveled at the speed of light.
"He's the one protecting Harry?" The man asked, surprise clear in his tone.
"Sirius," Remus said sharply, snapping his head to look at him. He didn't say anything else, although Percy could tell he silently agreed from the lack on his face as he turned back to look at Percy.
Dumbledore and Percy locked eyes, as the ex-Headmaster started to take lead in the explanation. "Percy is not a wizard. Capable of magic, yes, however he has a separate skill set." Dumbledore said, trying to dance around Percy's heritage.
"A separate skill set? And what's that?" Sirius, now identified, demanded. "I'm just looking after Harry's safety here, and it's a little hard to believe that a teenager is capable of fighting off You-Know-Who. A non wizard, too. Yet he can do magic? It just doesn't make any sense." He stated, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms.
"Settle down, Sirius. During times like his, we need to have trust in Albus's decisions." Professor McGonagall spoke firmly.
"I, too, want to know how a child thinks he can battle against the Dark Lord." Professor Snape drawled, an eyebrow raised.
McGonagall furrowed her eyebrows, appearing quite conflicted. She remained silent, offering no further argument against the others in the room. Seemingly, her own concerns swayed her to agree with them.
Percy closed his fingers around the cold metal in his hand. It had appeared on his nightstand before he had left for Headquarters. A coin with Poseidon's image. An answer to his questions in his prayers. Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, but Percy held up a hand to cut him off before he spoke.
"Have you ever heard of the Greek gods?" Percy asked, tilting his head.
"Of course." Sirius said. He raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you are actually the mighty Zeus, here to use your powers and save us."
As thunder crackled in the distance, Percy gave a short laugh, amused. "Close, I'll give you that. But, I'm not a god."
"Then what do the Greek gods have to do with this?" Sirius asked, clearly an impatient man.
"I'm half-god." Percy said simply, and gave a small smile at the shock on his face, as well as the rest of the room. "My father is Poseidon, god of the sea. My mother is Sally Jackson, a mortal, or a muggle. That makes me a demigod." He said.
"You're telling me that all those mythology lessons I had to sit through as a child are all true?" Sirius made a face, disbelief still clearly written on his features.
"Of course." Percy said, a little bored. "What's so hard to believe about the gods? You all are wizards and witches. Clearly, your magic came from somewhere. Specifically, it came from Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft."
"Can all demigods do magic?" Remus asked. "You say you're the son of Poseidon, but Dumbledore said you can perform magic."
"No, the only ones who can do magic are Hecate's children. Even their magic takes a different form to yours." Percy explained.
"Then why can you?" Remus questioned. He seemed to be the type who loved to know how things worked.
"Hecate gifted me the power to do your type of magic when I was selected for this quest." Percy answered smoothly. He didn't enjoy this barrage of questions, but he knew that the wizards would feel better if they understood a little more.
"So the gods sent you. A teenager, not even a legal adult." Sirius frowned, displeased. "Did they not take our war seriously?" Sirius demanded, looking around at the other wizards. "Don't you think they could've sent someone more experienced, more seasoned?" More powerful.
Percy heard the words that were left unsaid. They were heavily implied. He was a seventeen year old boy, clearly unfit to fight in the war they had been struggling with for so many years. He understood why they thought that. But they ought to learn not to judge appearances.
A silence settled across the room. Using what Lupa described as a "wolf stare," Percy locked eyes with Sirius. To his credit, he barely flinched.
"I'm a child of a god." He stressed. "Is that not good enough for you?" He laughed darkly. "The gods have powers unimaginative to the mortal mind. You cannot even begin to grasp the concept of their strength. Your eyes cannot see their true form, lest it destroys you at the very spot you stood. Your mind clouds at just a hint of their power. Even if I had just a quarter of that power, you should be scared. You should be terrified. The fear should consume you that a powerful being like that walks among you, and shows you mercy."
He let another silence envelope the room, satisfied that he had quite clearly scared them with his words. By the gods, has he changed.
"Luckily for you, I tend not to flaunt my power. However, to ease your doubt, I'll tell you exactly what the gods gave you. They gave you a child of the Big Three. The most powerful gods to walk the Earth. Gods don't meddle in mortal affairs so they gave you the next best thing. Yes, I'm a teenager, but I know how to fight, and I know how war works." Percy kept his face emotionless, not letting through what he was thinking. "I've been in two."
The room stilled. The gloomy aura of the room was enhanced by the quietness. There was not even a creak of a chair, as the wizards Percy faced remained silent. Dumbledore looked thoughtful, as even he was not exposed to the secrets of the demigod world. The rest had a mixture of surprise, unbelieving, and fear.
"Demigods are nothing like mortals. We're not even anything like wizards. We've been forced to do some terrible things, see awful sights, and live through painful hell." Percy started off, trying to make his tone a little lighter than before, but his voice quietened. "So, instead of questioning my ability, you should be appreciative of the help you gained."
After a pause, Dumbledore cleared his throat gently. "Thank you, Percy, for the help you bring us. We are honored that the gods sent aid." He said, leaning forward on the table, lacing his fingers together. "With this set aside, I believe it is important we start discussing strategy."