Again sorry for it being shorter than the first few but it seems my chapters are getting smaller. Again I'm saying sorry in advance for any bad spelling, grammar or writing in general.
Chapter 5: There are some random magic lessons.
Percy's POV
Toda we had double potions. I was slightly more confident with this subject than the other ones. I was pretty sure that potion making didn't require that I use magic. As usual I was with Annabeth. Then Slughorn came in and started talking about the different potions he had at the front of the class. One was a lucky potion-which I was sure Nemesis would object to- another was a very powerful love potion. I admit that I might have groaned a bit at that one because I really didn't need something else messing with my love life. Then there was another one, something to do with a really long sleep.
As he had finished talking about these random potions he told us to 'pick your favourite mixture and make it.' I was all for just getting some water from the lake but Annabeth said that I couldn't do that as A it wasn't a potion and B I couldn't get kicked out of this school 'cause it was a quest. She might have said something more but I got distracted by the colourful smoke coming from one boy's pot. I managed to sway her by saying that I'd get some water but still make the potion.
I ran down and summoned some into a cup and set it down on the edge of the desk. We then set about making a potion we had chosen by closing our eyes and poking a random part of the page. It took us ages to decipher the book, mostly asking the couple next to us they gave us strange looks and we shrugged. The potion did work, I'm not sure what it did but it looked like it worked. It seemed that the demigods were the only people any good at it, apart from Harry who looked like he had decided to rewrite his textbook.
When Slughorn came round to test our potions he – after heavily praising Annabeth – noticed the cup of water and asked me what it was. "I wanted to use water 'cause it's my favourite thing but Annabeth said that it wasn't a potion." At this he laughed and told us we had done very well. After potions we had Defence Against the Dark Arts. Apparently the teacher, snake or something, was a git. I couldn't help laughing when I heard what we were learning to defend ourselves against. These were all Nico did!
We were waiting in the classroom when someone who looked like an overgrown bat with greasy hair walked in. He started talking about dead bodies and how to tell if they were ghosts or not. In my head I kept going 'that's easy bring Nico.' Then he started telling us to try and jinx each other in our heads. We quickly skimmed through our books and tried to find an appropriate spell. That was no mean feat for four dyslexic kids trying to find a word you've never heard of before.
Once we'd all found a jinx and a shield charm we paired up, this time I was with Thalia. We were saying them in Greek in our minds and it didn't seem like anything to us but everyone else looked as if they were trying not to breathe. Snape was looking at us as if we were something strange and slightly disgusting that he was trying to understand. After we had done this he brought some people up to the front who failed miserably. Then he told us to spend the rest of the lesson reading the chapter on non-verbal spells in books. We immediately put up our hands. Snape raised his eyebrows and motioned for us to speak. With Annabeth as our spokesperson we explained that we couldn't read our books as they were all in English. His lip curled as Annabeth said this. "You are the transfer students from America, correct?" we nodded. "Well I suppose I will have to put up with your ignorance, what language can you read?" We hesitated, knowing we really shouldn't say it. But me being me I blurted it out. Fortunately it was too quick for anyone to understand. Thalia huffed and marched to Snape's desk and said it to him quietly. From then on Snape – who had done some weird spell that had translated our books into Greek – gave us looks bordering on disbelief and amazement as we read our books as easily as those reading in English.
History of magic was … interesting to say the least. When we realised that the teacher was a ghost we gave up all pretence of paying attention and talked openly. Professor Binns did nothing but shoot Nico nervous glances now and then and bow at him when we came in.
Herbology was alright, I muttered a quick prayer to Demeter as we started telling her that she owed me. The plants withered away as they came near Nico much to the dismay of Professor Sprout.
A Note: I think I will just give my reasons to stop any of the questions raised by this chapter as well as extra information to explain future chapters. Firstly, Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, and Nico all chose exceptionally hard potions by accident which was why Slughorn looked so delighted. Secondly Snape has mixed feelings for Percy and the others. They aren't really Gryffindors; although they are brave I personally see it as a place for them to sleep. They don't care about the house points and don't even know Quidditch exists much less the house teams so Snape doesn't see them like that. I think he regards them as he would a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. He is, however, astounded by these mysterious transfers with their strange ways. And finally Prof Binns' reaction is like that because death didn't stop him from teaching so a son of Hades would just command fear and respect.
