Chapter Nine
Everything belongs to two of the greatest authors ever: J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan.
Professor Jackson had become a lot more civil since Harry's rushed apology and was helping them improve by leaps and bounds. This didn't lessen their suspicions however. Quirrell and Moody had both seemed kind or harmless enough, look what happened to them.
When half-term rolled by and they had just over a week off school, Harry had assumed that he would be staying at Hogwarts. But oh, no. Mrs Weasley had insisted that he come and stay at The Burrow.
Apparently Professor Jackson was staying there too, America being too far to travel for just a week. Even Hermione had decided to stay as well.
Harry, Ron and Hermione got swept up in the crowd of people going from Hogwarts heading to the Hogsmeade and passing by the Hogshead Inn to get to the Hogwarts Express.
Really, it only just occurred to Harry, but by Professor Jackson's bewildered expression as he looked from school to inn, around the village and at the train, it was quite obvious to him that these wizards had something for pigs.
Harry pulled his two friends into the train and sprinted down the corridor, trying to find an empty compartment. He found one near the back and sat down with a sigh. Ron pulled out a game of exploding snap and set it up while Hermione hauled out of her bag a huge book that had tiny writing and was so complicated that Ron was lost on the first page.
"This is such an enlightening book," she was babbling, "considering it was written in Victorian times. It is fascinating how humans have evolved over millions of years and- Ron! Are you even listening?!"
Ron, who was engrossed in his game, just nodded distractedly. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. SNAP! I got it! What was that Hermione?"
"I said that this was an enlightening book that shows the path of human evolution," she huffed.
"Sure, sure...what was it called again?"
"Honestly Ron. It's called On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. He was a great man. He was the first one to publish ideas about evolution and how humans change over time."
"Ah. Of course he did. SNAP! Damn it Harry, you win. Rematch?"
Hermione turned away from Ron as he obviously wasn't listening and continued to read. The train started with a jolt and started to puff away from Hogsmeade, wheels clicking on the tracks.
Harry and Ron were disturbed from their (not so quiet) game of snap, as the door to the compartment opened. Hermione didn't even glance up at the newcomer, assuming it was another noisy boy or an admirer trying to get a glimpse of The Boy Who Lived.
"Not much of a welcome here, is it?" said the newcomer, amusement in his voice.
"Professor Jackson!" exclaimed Harry, "what are you doing here?"
"Well," he replied, "for starters Severus turned me out of his compartment and Neville was showing Luna and Draco a mysterious plant that I do not want to know the properties of, so they were out of the question. Second, do all first-years have ADHD? They are running up and down the corridors like...like Leo on caffeine. And that's a dangerous mix." He shuddered at the thought. "Plus, I'm gonna be staying at the Burrow for a while and I might as well get to know you."
He plopped down opposite Hermione and looked at the book she was reading. "On the Origin of Species. Annabeth made me read that. Back then I literally could not understand a word of it."
"Oh it is great," Hermione replied. "It is simply amazing how-"
She leapt into the middle of a long-winded explanation about the book and what it was about, much to the dismay of Ron, who put his hands over his ears and mimed choking. Harry laughed at his expression and slapped his hand down on the last snap pile, setting off explosions and fireworks.
Professor Jackson laughed at the twisting pattern of colour and continued to start an incredibly interesting conversation about America.
By the time the Hogwarts Express chugged in at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at Kings Cross, Professor Jackson had won five games of exploding snap and had a huge conversation with Hermione about the comparisons between Britain and America. So far they had come up with:
- Bigger population of magical folk in England
- America does not have proper magic schools
- Different types of magic practiced in different states
- America has a wider range of elemental wizards
- No, Ron, they are not mutants and most certainly do not know Professor X
- American wizards are mainly half-bloods
Percy hadn't actually meant to bring up the topic of half-bloods, but it had slipped out after Ron's ridiculous comment about mutants. How did a wizard even get ahold of X-Men? Weren't wizards literally living in the eighteenth century?
It was safe to say that they were exhausted by the time they gathered themselves, climbed into the magically extended car that Mr Weasley provided, and drove all the way back to the Burrow.
Mrs Weasley met them outside the house, fussing over them and saying they needed to eat more. Nerida flew up onto Mrs Weasley's magical clock on which all the arrows where pointing to home (Bill, Charlie and Percy W. had gotten time off) and hooted loudly.
"I'll get you tuna in the morning Nerida," Percy grumbled, reaching up and trying to swat her down. Nerida gave what could only be described as a squawky laugh at her owner jumping up and down trying to reach her.
Percy looked up and waggled his finger at her sassily. "Now don't you get smart with me, feathers. I'll give you rotten tuna after you take my letters. You don't want that, do you?"
She gave a short hoot and flew down from the clock, deliberately landing on Percy's head and twisting her claws into his hair. She looked way too pleased with herself.
Hermione tilted her head thoughtfully at the exchange. "Professor, how does Nerida get to America so quickly?" she asked.
"I don't actually know," he replied, attempting of pull her off his head. "Probably gets there quicker since she's a Water Phoenix and America is right across the pond."
"The pond?" asked Mr Weasley, dragging Ginny's trunk inside and dumping it on top of the steadily growing pile.
"The Atlantic Ocean," Hermione supplied. "But Professor, how does it work? I know she's a Water Phoenix but that doesn't explain it. Does she have some sort of magic?"
"Like I said, I don't know," the Professor said. "But I could ask her if she gets her claws out my hair!"
"You won't get an answer though," Harry laughed. "She's only a bird."
Nerida straightened up and ruffled her feathers, sticking her beak up in the air snootily. She stepped daintily off Percy's head, much to his relief, and settled herself on his shoulder, hooting the whole time
"I don't mean her as in Nerida...she probably doesn't know herself," Percy corrected hastily. "I could ask my half-sister however. She likes violent sea storms."
"She does?"
"Yeah, tried to drown me once."
"She can't be the nicest half-sister."
"Well...she is older than me," the Professor said. "By a few thousand years," he added under his breath. Harry shook his head, thinking he had misheard.
"What's her name?" Hermione asked.
"Kymopoleia, but I just call her Kym. It's easier."
"You don't say," Ron murmured.
At that moment Mrs Weasley came clattering up to the group, carrying a steaming pot of stew and wearing oven gloves.
"Everyone, I've made a stew for dinner, come and sit down."
Ron's mouth was watering as he looked at the pot and with no hesitation trotted after his mother. Hermione shook her head and went too, followed by the rest.
They trooped into the kitchen to see Bill, Charlie and Percy Weasley sitting there. Ron was already reaching for the ladle to serve himself a helping. Mrs Weasley slapped his hand.
"Ronald, what have I taught you about manners? Your brothers have time off to visit and we have guests. Let them have the first serving."
"Yes mum," he murmured grumpily, rubbing his hand and pouting.
"Who kicked your puppy?" Percy laughed, sitting down opposite him.
"I don't have a puppy and if I did I would not let anyone kick it."
"It's not actually-" Hermione started. "Actually, don't worry about it."
Dinner was quiet and pleasant. The stew was absolutely delicious and everyone found themselves having seconds or, in Ron's case, thirds. They were ridiculously happy and full by the time the pot had been emptied and Mrs Weasley went back to fussing over them.
"That's enough, I'm sure you're all tired, time to go to bed," she admonished, shooing them upstairs where she had magically added a whole new wing of rooms.
"Goodnight Professor Jackson," Hermione said.
"Goodnight Professor," Ron and Harry chorused.
"Ah, don't worry about all that stuff and nonsense," Percy replied. "Call me Percy while we're not at Hogwarts. Besides, I'm only a few years older than you."
Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at each other. Hermione smiled.
"Okay...Percy," she said. "Goodnight."
~ ~ ~ Page Break ~ ~ ~
The next day Harry trooped down to breakfast to see Percy guzzling down a pizza covered in cheese and pepperoni. Hermione and Ron came in behind Harry, holding hands. Mrs Weasley looked up at them from laying the table.
"Now I hope you two haven't been up to any funny business," she said, putting one hand on her hip and waving her other hand at them.
Ron completely missed the chair he was about to sit on and blushed a deep red from the floor. "Mum!" he exclaimed.
Percy laughed at his expression. "Don't worry," he said, "my mum and my camp director both would always say that when my girlfriend stayed with me. And don't even get me started on Mr D."
He took another bite out of his pizza. Mrs Weasley and Hermione looked on with identical expressions.
"You will ruin your teeth and your health by eating pizza at breakfast," Hermione chided.
"You sound like my fiancé," he said, taking another bite.
"Fiancé!" Harry exclaimed. "You have a fiancé and you still took the DADA job?"
"Well...yeah. It's not like I'm gonna refuse and be killed in a nasty, painful way."
"Killed, dear? Why would you be killed? Who would kill you?" Mrs Weasley fretted.
"Oh, it's nothing," Percy assured, "I just have a scary, super powered, short-tempered family. And I always manage to make them angry, so much so that most of them do want to kill me. Or, in Mr D's case, turn me into a dolphin."
"Why do you go back then?" Mrs Weasley was aghast.
"All my friends are there," he pointed out. "Plus, they are my family. My dad is actually quite cool, compared to the rest of my family. Had a huge row with him and my fiancé's mum about dating and marrying Annabeth."
"Who's Annabeth?" Fred asked, walking down the stairs with George, having not heard the first part of the conversation. "Did I-"
"-hear you-"
"-are marrying-"
"-her?"
Percy smiled dreamily. "Yes, I am."
"But aren't you worried about the curse?" Harry asked, "the one on the Defence Against The Dark Arts job?"
"Yeah, all the teachers so far have had stuff happen to them," Ron agreed.
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's only a curse," Percy dismissed with a wave of his hand, "besides, I'm getting married at the end of this year anyway."
Harry dropped the topic, not wanting to break it to him that the majority of the teachers had lost their minds, memory and in some cases, their life.
~ ~ ~ Page Break ~ ~ ~
"So, what do you do for fun around here?"
"We could read."
"I'm dyslexic."
"What's that."
"It means he has trouble reading."
"We could-"
"-always-"
"-have a-"
"-prank-"
"-war!"
"No. No prank war."
"Awwwww! But Professor!"
Harry sighed. They were sitting in the garden after being turned out by Mrs Weasley. Apparently they were not allowed to practice disarming charms inside the house and especially not in close proximity to Mrs Weasley's favourite china set.
He flicked his wand at a gnome that was poking out the tall grass, sending it flying back onto its bottom. The gnome waved a small fist and shouted something incomprehensible before scurrying back into his burrow.
"-do you think Harry?" Hermione was asking. Harry looked up in surprise at being addressed.
"What?"
"I said, we need something to do. What do you think?"
"Why don't we have a mini game of Quidditch?" Harry suggested. "I can get my broom and we can get the others to join in too."
There was a chorus of agreement among the people gathered. Percy tilted his head slightly.
"What's Quidditch?"
"How do you not know what Quidditch is?" Fred asked, mouth agape.
"We don't have it in America," Percy shrugged. "Can you explain the game?"
"Basically, there are seven players on a team: three chasers, two beaters, a seeker and a keeper," Harry explained. "There are four balls, each used for different things. The Quaffle is the big one, used by the three chasers to score points in the three hoops. Each time they score the team is awarded ten points. The Bludgers are the two identical balls. They fly around the pitch trying to knock as many players as possible off their brooms. It's the jobs of the beaters to hit them away from their team towards the opposing team with a bat. The last ball is called the Golden Snitch. It is very small and has to be caught by the seeker. Once the Golden Snitch is caught, the game is over and the team that caught it is awarded one-hundred-and-fifty points."
Percy nodded, eyes slightly glazed. "Cool. I think I got that. Anything else I need to know? Like, why you wanted to get a broom?"
"The whole game is played on broomsticks."
"Broomsticks? Really? Must be incredibly uncomfortable."
"They have a cushioning charm so that it is less uncomfortable."
Percy nodded slowly. "I think I can play that."
"Good. I'll grab the brooms and we can get flying!"
"Sorry...did you just say flying?"
"Well...yeah. Ya know...flying broomsticks...what else?"
"On second thought, I'll just watch," Percy decided. "I don't fly."
"You flew on an aeroplane to get to England," Hermione pointed out.
"That was different!"
"Different, how?"
"Miss Mystical would have turned me into a farting weasel if I didn't! Or a labrador! And if she didn't do that, she would probably curse me to Hades instead!" Percy exclaimed. "I'll just watch."
"I thought you didn't mind curses," Hermione said.
"It's different coming from Her," Percy argued. "That lady has some serious magic."
George shrugged. "Sure. Whatever. I'll get Bill and Charlie to play. D'ya think Percy will play if I ask him?"
"I just said I wouldn't!"
"Not you. My brother, Prefect Percy."
"You know he's not even a prefect any more," Hermione said. George shrugged again.
"Percy went on about it so much that he'll always be a Pinhead- I mean, Prefect. Pinhead Percy."
Fred and George giggled and took off in the direction of the house, returning a few minutes later dragging Charlie, Bill and a very disgruntled Percy Weasley.
"Great!" Harry exclaimed, "let's get into teams."
"Fred and I can be a beater for each team," George decided.
"Good idea," Harry agreed, "Charlie can be the seeker for Fred's team and I'll be the seeker for George's team."
"I'll be chaser for Fred's team," Ginny said, "and Ron will be chaser too."
"That leaves Hermione and Bill to be chasers for George's team," Harry finished.
Charlie shrugged. "Why not? I used to play seeker for Gryffindor when I was at Hogwarts."
"Yeah! You hear that? We're gonna win!" cheered Fred, giving Ginny a high five.
"I want to be a keeper," Ron grumbled under his breath. "Why can't there be a keeper?"
"We don't have enough people Ron," Hermione told him, exasperated, "we could, but the two Percy's don't fly."
"No I don't!" both of the Percy's exclaimed in unison. They looked at each other for a second before bursting into sharp peals of laughter.
"That's weird," Fred whispered loudly to George.
"I can see," George replied.
"Did you ever think..."
"I thought it was impossible-"
"Never thought I would see the day."
"You said it my brother."
"Couldn't agree more Georg-y boy."
"What? What is it?" Percy W. interrupted. The twins looked at each other.
"You laughed!" cried George in mock horror.
"I laugh all the time!"
Fred and George just cackled and held out their arms, broomsticks flying into their hands. They flew up and got into position in the air, one on each side. Bill put two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle. The game began.
Ginny grabbed the Quaffle and set off towards the opposing goal posts, but dropped it as the single Bludger they were playing with zoomed straight towards her and knocked her upside-down. It then descended into a mad scrabble for the ball, Hermione, Bill and Ron fighting over it.
It was rather fun, actually. Percy W. cheered for Fred's team and Percy J. cheered for Harry's team, each shouting encouragement and support to the players.
In the end, it turned out to be a longer match than expected, Fred's team winning out of the sheer number of well-trained players and a certain clump of mud thrown by Fred that was definitely not aimed for Harry's glasses. Harry did however catch the snitch, the score ending at 210 for Harry's team and 220 for Fred's.
The whole group tromped into the house at twilight, as the sun was setting, to join Mr and Mrs Weasley for dinner, looking forward to the rest of the holidays.
I am back. I promise I am not dead. 98% sure I am not dead.
So this was a whopper of a chapter, you have no idea how long it took to write. Except you do know because I haven't updated. *Winces* Sorry about that.
ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT NOTE...I have just ordered Rick Riordan's new book Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle and I am waiting in agony for it to arrive. I am in a similar situation for J.K. Rowling's book Harry Potter: The Cursed Child. I cannot believe they are both coming out with their own books at almost the same time! It's gonna be heaven!
Anyway...onto reviews for this chapter.
Aviendhaphiragon: You are so lucky that your family all like the same thing. I'll talk about books, my sister will talk about toys, my mum will talk about marshal-arts and my dad will talk about climbing. Throw in my best friend listening to music and we have one crazy car trip. I love Neville too!
Slytherin of the Sea: Thanks!
Guest: I'm so sorry to keep you waiting! I hope you like this chapter!
gsunny6: Me too. So annoying. But, if you can't remember what you reviewed at least you can go back and check.
What About Yesterday: Thank you!
throughthelookingglass27: Yes...very suspicious...
Guest: I will try and get the Stolls to meet Fred and George, no promises though.
Siyuan Feng: I know what it's like to be addicted. It is so very annoying.
EricTheEvilDolphin: Whoah! So many ideas! Thanks! I'll look up some pranks and see whether I can fit Camp Half'Blood in somewhere.
Lara Molina: Thanks!
KittyCat and KittyMeow: I will definitely continue this story. Wouldn't give it up for the world. Well maybe not that far...
EricTheEvilDolphin: More ideas! I'll try and fit them in. I like the idea that the Stolls could play a prank on the Weasley twins. Thanks for reviewing!
Guest girl: Oh. My. Gosh. If Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling actually did write a crossover I would soooooo read it. Sooooo read it. It would be amazing.
Youdontseethis: I will update!
Also, Matt has turned up again. He says 'Hey moron, Snape died in the war.' Unfortunately for Matt, I spent the first part of the first chapter of this story explaining that Snape did not in fact die. He got help from his half-brother Nico and survived. Please, Matt, don't insult me. I try my best.
Toodles!