Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows and also your patience. I'm so sorry you had to wait over a whole year for an update. I don't know where all the time went, but I did manage to write and defend a dissertation and get a job. So without further ado . . .

Chapter 12 – The Bird and the Snake

The rest of November passed in a blur of worry and suspicion. Colin's attack had rattled everyone, even the teachers, and most of the students traveled in tight-knit groups, afraid they would be next. At least the Polyjuice Potion was coming along nicely after Hermione had collected the fluxweed. Now that they all knew Dobby was the Malfoys' house-elf, they were more determined than ever to get a confession from Draco. However, there was still one rather large problem.

"I think you should do it," Harry suggested to Percy one Saturday in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The out-of-order bathroom had become their unofficial meeting spot. "Snape hates Gryffindors and me in particular. You would have better luck."

Percy shook his head, "I don't think I could get away with it. Snape watches me way too closely these days. Ever since he started assigning me different potions than the rest of the class, I can't crush a caterpillar without him seeing it, much less sneak into his private storeroom."

"So, you get to brew more difficult potions in class now?" Hermione asked eagerly, making it sound like he was getting some special treat.

Percy rolled his eyes at what he considered very misplaced enthusiasm. Seriously, if Hermione ever met Annabeth, he wanted to be far away. They probably would study for fun. "Just potions that are usually covered in third year so far," he answered. "They aren't particularly difficult, but Snape is making me record every time I do something different than the directions in the textbook, and if I miss something, he makes me repeat the whole potion." Percy's head throbbed at the memory, and he rubbed his temples. "Having to constantly go back and forth from my 'potion zone' like that gives me a headache, especially since it seems like the textbook picks the longest possible way to make the potion." Percy had the suspicion that was why Snape usually wrote his own instructions for the class but was giving him the textbook as a test, or maybe it was just extra torture. With Snape you never could tell.

"Well, it is important," Hermione argued. "I mean your ability could help wizards make better potions, but only if you are aware of what you are doing and are able to communicate it. Professor Snape is clearly trying to help you with that. You should probably start figuring out why the adjustments you make to the recipes are more effective."

Percy grimaced. Annabeth had said a similar thing and reminded him to not explode any more potions on Snape no matter how annoyed he got. Although, she had mentioned that he would make a cute Tasmanian Devil if Hecate made good on her threat. Percy hadn't been sure if that was a compliment. Plus, deep down Percy secretly enjoyed it. For the first time in his life, he was good in a subject, better than good in fact. Instead of getting remedial help, he was doing advanced work, even if it was annoying. "Please, don't give Snape any more ideas. He's enjoying making my life miserable as it is. I wish I could get away with turning his hair blue. But he'll know it was me, and I don't think Snape uses any hair products for Peeves to sneak the potion into."

Harry and Ron burst out laughing, and even Hermione's mouth twitched, like she thought it was funny but didn't want to laugh at a teacher's expense. Once the laughter died, Hermione said, "Fine, I'll do the actual stealing since I've got a clean record." She looked pointedly at Ron and Harry, "And you two will be expelled if you get into any more serious trouble. But I will need you to cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so."

That wiped the smiles from the boys' faces. Percy gave Harry a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Good luck with that. I'll say something nice at your funerals." Because he knew that purposely disrupting Snape's class would be almost as bad as waving a red jacket in front of the Minitour.

When Percy made it to the Hufflepuff table for lunch, his other friends were not happy. "Please don't tell us you were with Potter all this time." Ernie said. "I know you seem determined to prove his innocence, but it's just not worth the risk." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Percy groaned. He really did like his Hufflepuff friends, but they were getting ridiculous with their suspicion. "For the last time, it isn't Harry."

"You have proof?" Zacharias asked skeptically.

"Well, for starters he's trying to find the real Heir of Slytherin," Percy stated.

Zacharias snorted, "That's exactly what the real Heir of Slytherin would do. He would want everyone to think he was finding the Heir when really, he's trying to find a scape goat, someone else to blame it all on."

Percy hadn't wanted to tell his friends about his recent illegal activities, but if it would finally get them to realize that Harry was innocent, he figured the Gryffindors wouldn't mind. He double checked that no one else was near before motioning for his friends to lean closer as he lowered his voice, "But would the real Heir risk expulsion just to shift suspicion?"

"What do you mean?" Ernie asked, looking shocked that anyone would ever risk expulsion.

"Harry and his friends are brewing Polyjuice Potion, so they can turn into Slytherins and get a confession from Draco Malfoy who probably is the real Heir of Slytherin." Based on the surprise look on his friends' faces, they hadn't expected that.

"Malfoy, of course!" Justin muttered. "We all know how he feels about Muggle-borns."

"And he's actually in Slytherin," Hannah added. "It makes sense." Percy thought about telling them about Dobby since the fact that the Malfoys' house-elf knew about the Chamber of Secrets was pretty damning, but then he'd have to explain all the crazy things Dobby had done. He wasn't sure his friends would believe that when they were finally just warming to the idea that Harry might be innocent.

Susan frowned. "But they must be breaking over fifty school rules. Even getting the instructions for that potion is forbidden."

"And they have to steal from Snape's private storeroom to get some of the ingredients," Percy whispered. "But I've been doing what I can to help them with their potion."

"But what about Halloween?" Ernie asked. "Potter and his friends were standing right there. They were practically caught in the act."

To Percy's surprise, Zacharias was the one to respond, "Malfoy could have tried to frame them. It's something a Slytherin would do. Frame his enemy for the crime he committed."

"That does actually make a lot of sense," Ernie finally admitted.

Percy sighed, "I'm glad you guys finally believe Harry is innocent."

"But if it really is Malfoy, you need to be extra careful," Justin advised with a worried glance at Percy. "After what you did to him in the bathroom, he'll want revenge. Maybe, that's why he went after Colin."

Percy glared at Malfoy. He hadn't considered that Colin might have been targeted because of him. "If that's the case then we all need to be careful. The potion should be ready before Christmas. Malfoy's staying, so Hermione, Ron, and Harry are planning on questioning him then. Hopefully, we can stop Malfoy before he attacks anyone else."

"Reckon, we just have to stay safe for two more weeks then since most of us are going home for Christmas anyways," Justin stated. Percy's friends all nodded but he saw their questioning glances. "What about you, Percy?"

Percy shrugged, "I don't know. I'm still waiting to hear from my family." He tried to act like he didn't care, but he really wanted to go home and see his mom. Even when Gabe was around and he went to military boarding schools, he still spent Christmas with his mom. He was tempted to go back with or without Zeus's permission. He was getting tired of the gods telling him what to do, but he had a feeling that if Zeus decided to blast him with lightning, he wouldn't be the only one in the strike zone. While he had no problem risking his own life by angering his uncle, he didn't want to endanger his mother. If staying away would keep her safe, then he would.

Justin patted his shoulder, "Well, if you end up not being able to go home because of family stuff, you are more than welcome to spend the holidays with me and my folks though I get it if you would rather stay at Hogwarts and help with the Malfoy situation."

The kindness of his friend surprised Percy though at this point it really shouldn't have. "Wow, thanks Justin. That really means a lot to me."

Justin smiled, "No worries, mate. I'm here for you."

"We're all here for you," Susan corrected.

Hannah nodded in agreement and added, "Justin just has the best house and is an only child."

"Don't forget, I'm also the only one with a television and a phone, so Percy can actually talk to his mother and non-magic friends." Justin pointed out with a grin.

However, Percy did not have to wait much longer to hear if he could return home for Christmas. Usually, Percy ignored the daily mail unless he was expecting a return letter from his mom, but the next morning, the gasps from the students in the hall made him look up. A huge bird that was definitely not an owl swooped in. Its wingspan was at least two feet longer than even the largest owls around it.

"Wow!" Justin said in amazement while Susan asked, "What kind of bird do you think it is?"

All Percy could see was a white belly and wings edged in black. Wayne, who usually hung out with Megan or the Ravenclaws and spouted random facts, said, "It's a grey-headed albatross! They are one of the fastest birds in the world and usually only found in the Southern Hemisphere. Back in the day, sailors considered them good luck." After hearing that, Percy had a sinking suspicion who exactly the bird was there for as it flew closer and closer. "And the family name for albatrosses, Diomedeidae, is actually named after the Greek Trojan War hero Diomedes. In a myth, his men were turned to birds by the goddess Venus after the hero's death, so they could stand guard over the grave of their king." Percy winced at another reminder of his family's presence (Of course there was another Greek connection. Couldn't a bird ever just be a bird?) "I never thought I would see one."

"Well, you're about to get a close look," Percy warned as he quickly started shoving plates away.

"Hey, Jackson, watch it!" Zacharias complained from across the table, clearly not realizing what was happening until he practically fell off the bench as the albatross landed right in front of him with a loud thud that rattled the plates on the table.

Intelligent brown eyes gazed down at Percy above a long and sharp looking black beak edged in yellow. The color of its gray head was the exact same shade as Annabeth's eyes. Percy blushed, where had that comparison come from? Perched on the table, the bird was taller than he was sitting down. Percy felt the eyes of everyone in the hall and the excited whispers of his housemates, plus some less-friendly comments. "It's not like bigger means it's better," Malfoy drawled loudly from the Slytherin table. "That stupid bird takes up half the table!"

The albatross swung its head toward Malfoy and let out an ear-piercing scream. Malfoy's face lost the little bit of color it had, and his eyes widened in fear. "Smart bird," Percy said with a grin. He gently extended his fingers towards the bird's neck, and when it didn't try to bite him, he stroked the soft feathers. The albatross made a cooing noise and waddled closer to him.

"Wow, incredible!" Justin exclaimed, next to him. "Who do you think sent it?"

Percy didn't need to see the sea-blue envelop tied to the albatross' leg to answer the question. "My father," he answered. As Percy untied the letter and saw his name on the envelop in the now familiar handwriting, his gut clenched. Part of him was glad that his dad had written to him, but he dreaded what the letter might say since the last one sent him across an ocean. However, this one was written in English, so Percy had to use his glasses. Maybe, Poseidon was concerned that a letter written completely in ancient Greek would be too big of an indicator regarding his heritage if anyone noticed. Then again, if his father had wanted to avoid attention, he should have used a bird that didn't stick out so much.

Dear Perseus,

Your uncle has been in an exceptional mood since the Eagles made it to the playoffs. He has agreed that you may return to Camp in the summer and even spend your winter holidays in New York with your mother. Consider the albatross an early winter solstice gift. She should allow for much speedier correspondence between you and your mother than those pesky owls. Besides wizard or not, no son of mine should rely on that particular lady's favorite bird.

Your Father,

P

"Well, Percy, don't keep us waiting. What does it say?" Hannah asked eagerly.

Percy grinned as he folded up the letter. "I get to go home! And keep the bird. I guess I'll need to name her." The albatross cocked her head and looked at him expectantly. "You look like a . . . Molly." He had a vague memory of a Muppet albatross named Molly from a TV show a long time ago. It just seemed like a good name for her. "Molly the albatross!" Molly cooed and rubbed her head against Percy's cheek.

"Well, she seems to like the name," Susan said as she and Hannah giggled.

When Professor Sprout came around a few minutes later to ask who was staying for Christmas, Percy had a huge grin on his face as he told her that he would be going back home.

With the promise of a trip home, the last two weeks of the term seemed to drag on forever for Percy. It didn't help that Snape had him brewing fourth year potions now. While still relatively simple compared to the Polyjuice Potion, Percy found it difficult to remember to record the number of stirs he used when he was too busy thinking about seeing his mom again and having a good New York pizza. At least he had finished the Polyjuice Potion, or as finished as it could be without bits of Slytherins in it. He only wished he could have seen Malfoy with a swelled-up nose when Harry had sprayed his class with the Swelling Solution, so Hermione could steal the ingredients from Snape's office. Percy had offered to risk another fight to get hairs from Crabbe and Goyle, but Hermione insisted she had a much better plan during the holiday break.

A week later, Percy was distracted from his daydreams of blue chocolate chip cookies and the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center by a group of excited students gathered around a pinned-up parchment in the Entrance Hall. Percy tried to read the sign, but without his glasses the letters were too jumbled to decipher. Instead, he just waited for his friends to start talking.

"Wow! An actual wizard's Dueling Club!" Justin exclaimed.

"Should be useful," Ernie reasoned. "It will be good practice for those Defense Against the Dark Arts practical exams later on."

Hannah rolled her eyes, "What he means to say is, 'It should be fun!' First meeting tonight. So, we're in?" They all agreed. Percy for the first time in days found himself looking forward to something besides going home. In a way, wizard dueling was like a much cooler version of dodgeball.

"Who do you think will teach it?" Susan asked

"I heard a rumor that Flitwick was a dueling champion back in the day, so maybe it will be him," Hannah said as they walked toward the Great Hall for breakfast.

Zacharias scoffed, "I imagine it's easy to be a dueling champion when you're barely a meter tall. Your opponent wouldn't have much of a target to hit."

"Don't be so rude," Hannah snapped. Sometimes Percy wondered if Zacharias just slunk around listening to conversations just so he could make a snide comment before slinking away. Percy hadn't even realized that Zacharias was with the group since he hung out with his Ravenclaw friends so much.

"What about Dumbledore?" Percy suggested. "Didn't he have that famous duel against that Grindy guy?"

"It's Grindelwald, Percy," Ernie corrected with a dramatic sigh. Percy had to admire his persistence. Most people whose names weren't Annabeth Chase would have given up trying to get Percy to remember names correctly but not Ernie. He was still convinced he could help Percy pass History of Magic. "And yes, Professor Dumbledore is probably one of the greatest duelists alive, but I'm sure he has far more important things to do than start a dueling club."

Percy wanted to say that Dumbledore had taken the time to teach him over the summer, but instead of arguing, he just shrugged and said, "Should be fun no matter who's teaching it."

Later that day, Percy wished he could take back his words as he watched Lockhart strut across a golden stage like a peacock and introduce his other least favorite teacher. As Lockhart and Snape lined up for a demonstration, Zacharias muttered, "Maybe, they'll just off each other."

Percy snorted, "Not with my luck." With his track record, he'd be lucky if one of those professors didn't try to off him by the end of the year.

Lockhart counted, "One – two – three –"

They both swung their wands up, but Snape was faster. "Expelliarmus!"

The red light from Snape's wand blasted Lockhart off the stage, and he smashed into the wall. While Percy couldn't stomach cheering for Snape like the Slytherins, he didn't bother to hide his laughter which earned him a glare from Susan, Hannah, Justin, and Lockhart himself. While Lockhart claimed he only let Snape hit him with the disarming spell, Percy wondered why Snape's spell seemed so much more powerful than the disarming spell Percy had used on Malfoy. Maybe, he could put more on his spell too. After all, intent seemed to be a very important component in magic. Percy was so distracted by his own thoughts that he missed Lockhart's instructions to find a partner. By the time he realized what was going on his friends had already paired up with each other Hannah with Susan and Ernie with Justin.

He turned to Zacharias, but the boy shook his head, "Sorry Jackson, I'm not having you show me up in front of the school. Oi Boot!" and he hurried over to one of his Ravenclaw friends.

Justin said, "Maybe, we can do a group of three," He sounded embarrassed.

"It's all right. I'll pair with one of the Gryffindors." Percy figured one of his Gryffindor friends would need a partner since there were three of them. However, Snape had gotten there first and already paired Harry with Malfoy, Hermione with a Slytherin girl that looked like she would fit in with the kids in Cabin 5 at Camp, and Ron with another Gryffindor.

Percy quickly turned toward another boy, Neville if he remembered Justin's introductions, hoping to partner with him before – "Jackson," Snape's voice cut through the crowd, "even a first year could beat Longbottom without raising a wand. How about someone a bit more of a challenge? Mr. Zabini over here." Neville flushed, stumbled over his feet, and dropped his wand at that comment making Percy grit his teeth and glare at Snape while a lanky Slytherin approached. Zabini looked to be about Percy's age with dark skin and a fluidity to his movements that told Percy this boy would have good reflexes. As he eyed Percy, his lips curled into a sneer before his expression quickly shifted to one of disinterest.

"Face your partners," Lockhart instructed, "and bow." Percy and Zabini both lowered their heads, not quite a bow but more polite than a nod. "Wands at the ready. When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents – only to disarm them – we don't want any accidents – one . . . two . . . three –"

"Expelliarmus," Zabini yelled. Percy waited a fraction of a second letting his intent build like a wave before he fired off his own spell aiming a little lower than Zabini's approaching jet of red light. Percy dodged to the side, and Zabini's spell passed harmlessly over his shoulder. Zabini had not expected a retaliation before his spell had even reached Percy and was not prepared to move. Percy's spell struck him, and he was thrown back, hitting his head on the floor as his wand flew towards Percy. Percy winced in sympathy. He had wanted a bit more on his spell, but he had not meant to hurt the other boy.

As Zabini pushed himself to a sitting position rubbing his head, Percy rushed over. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," he apologized.

Zabinin gave Percy an appraising look before saying, "You shouldn't apologize for excellence. It looks weak."

Percy snorted, "I wouldn't have said sorry if you were Malfoy, and I had actually meant to slam your head on the ground for being a jerk, but fine, I'll take back the apology then."

A brief smile flashed on Zabini's face before that cool, collected expression returned. However, that quick smile gave Percy hope that maybe this boy had a real personality behind his mask. Taking a chance, Percy extended his hand to help the other boy up. Zabini hesitated for a second before grasping it. As Percy returned the Slytherin's wand, Zabini said, "You're not too bad for a Hufflepuff, Jackson."

"Funny, here I was thinking you aren't too bad for a Slytherin, Zabini," Percy said with a smirk. "I half-expected you to cheat." He looked in Malfoy's direction. It seemed he was on the floor suffering from a tickling curse. Go Harry!

Zabini actually chuckled, "You know we all aren't like Malfoy. Even he can have his moments, but his father puts a lot of pressure on him."

"Daddy issues," Percy scoffed, "he can join the club." He doubted that Malfoy's father had asked him to go on a death-defying quest to save the world. Now that was pressure. Though, it bugged him that he might actually have something in common with Malfoy. They both wanted to impress their fathers if Percy was being honest with himself. "That's not a reason to go around bullying people three on one."

Zabini opened his mouth to say something else but had to dodge a rouge spell instead. The hall had digressed into complete chaos with students suffering from various curses. Finally, Snape yelled, "Finite Incantatem!"

Greenish smoke slowly rose to the ceiling as students returned to normal, picking themselves up off the floor, and straitening robes. All except Hermione and her partner who had Hermione in a head lock.

Percy was about to go help, but Harry beat him to it. With a raised eyebrow, Percy turned back to Zabini, "Not helping your case for Slytherins there."

Zabini just shrugged and said, "You're not the only one trying to change House stereotypes. I'm just not foolish enough to do it so openly."

Percy saw Lockhart meandering his way towards them. Not wanting to take the chance that Lockhart might try to make him do something embarrassing because he had laughed at the professor earlier, Percy quickly dodged behind students until he made it back to his fellow Hufflepuffs. Once a degree of order had been returned, Lockhart said, "I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells." After one look at a glowering Snape and the pain his dark eyes promised, Lockhart must have decided not to demonstrate himself. "Let's have a volunteer pair – Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you –"

Justin vibrated with excitement, "I never get to do anything this cool," he whispered.

Ernie clapped him on the back while Percy muttered, "You've got this!"

But before Justin could step forward, Snape said, "A bad idea, Professor Lockhart. Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville looked down, and his face turned pink again.

Percy had heard enough of Snape's bullying comments, not to mention that they seemed contradictory, and raised his voice. "Maybe if you were a better teacher and stopped criticizing him and actually offered some encouragement and advice, Longbottom might be amazing at spells."

Several students gasped in shock, and Snape's beady eyes swung to Percy. "Twenty-five points from Hufflepuff and detention Mr. Jackson, my office tomorrow evening, seven o'clock, for interrupting and insulting a faculty member."

Percy opened his mind to point out how stupid it was that faculty members could insult students, but students got punished for insulting faculty back. Before he could say anything though, Zacharias elbowed him hard in the stomach taking him by surprise and causing him to gasp instead of speaking. Zacharias hissed, "No point in making it worse, Jackson. Let it go!"

Snape seemed satisfied with Percy's apparent silence and shifted his attention back to Lockhart, as if Percy's interruption had never happened. "How about Malfoy and Potter?"

Lockhart beamed, "Excellent suggestion, Professor Snape!" Harry and Malfoy stepped forward as the rest of the crowd moved to give them space. Lockhart said something that Percy couldn't hear, raised his wand, wiggled it around, and then dropped it. Meanwhile, Snape was whispering something to Malfoy. Percy had a feeling that Snape's coaching would be a lot more helpful than what Lockhart had showed Harry. By the nervous look on Harry's face, he knew it too. Lockhart shouted, "Three – two – one – go!"

Malfoy raised his wand first and yelled "Serpensortia!" Percy's built in Latin translator made him realize what was going to happen right as a long, black snake shot out of Malfoy's wand and landed on the floor with a thud. The snake stared down Harry and raised itself up, hood flaring out, ready to strike. Students screamed and backed up even more while Harry just stood there frozen. Percy glanced at Snape hoping he would step in, but that jerk had a smile on his face, like he enjoyed Harry's fear. Percy moved forward next to Justin getting ready to take matters into his own hands, but finally, Snape said, "Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it . . ."

Before Snape did anything, Lockhart exclaimed, "Allow me!" and he waved his wand at the snake. Bang! The snake flew high up into the air and fell back to the floor. Not only had Lockhart failed to get rid of the snake, now it was an extremely angry snake, ready to attack the first person it saw which happened to be Justin. Percy tensed as the snake slithered straight towards his friend. As the snake raised itself up, fangs gleaming, Percy grabbed Riptide from his pocket and shoved Justin out of the way. At the same time, Harry shouted, "Leave him alone!"

Shockingly, the snake immediately slumped to the floor, no longer a threat. "I can't believe that worked," Harry mumbled to Percy.

"Me either," Percy replied, since when did snakes obey commands like dogs?

Harry grinned at Percy looking at the uncapped pen still in his hand, "What were you planning on doing if it hadn't – stabbing it with a pen?"

"Something like that," Percy replied. He was extremely relieved that he hadn't needed Riptide and had avoided exposing himself to a room full of wizards. However, it seemed like most of the crowd did not share his relief of a disaster avoided.

From behind Percy's shoulder, Justin shouted, "What do you think you're playing at?" Percy turned, surprised to see Justin looking at Harry, clearly angry and scared. Percy glanced back at Harry who seemed just as confused by Justin's reaction as he was.

Someone tugged Percy's robe to get his attention. "Come on," Ernie muttered as he glared at Harry and pulled Percy away towards the door. Clearly, Percy was missing something since the rest of the students had expressions of shock and horror plastered on their faces while they whispered to each other. Once in the Entrance Hall, Ernie dragged Percy behind him as he sprinted to catch up to Justin. Hannah and Susan looked like they were trying to reassure Justin as they made their way back to the common room. Percy thought they would stop in their normal nook, but Justin headed straight for the boys' dormitory door leaving Susan and Hannah behind. "I'll handle it," Ernie told the girls as he and Percy followed Justin to their dorm room.

They found Justin sitting on his bed, head in his hands, and literally shaking. "It's okay Justin," Ernie said in a reassuring tone. "He can't get you down here."

Now, Percy was beginning to think everyone was really overreacting. Sure, almost getting attacked by a snake was a little nerve wracking, but it was over, and no one was hurt. Then again, Percy was probably a lot more desensitized to dangerous situations than his fellow students. With a quavering voice, Justin said, "I wanted to believe you, Percy, that Harry was good . . ."

Zacharias slipped into the room with a smug look on his face and declared, "I told you all along it was Potter, but no, Percy was so convinced he was innocent. What do you say now that he outed himself in front of the whole school?"

Ernie whirled on Percy. "Did you know?"

"Know what?" Percy asked, confusion starting to shift to annoyance at the accusation in Ernie's tone.

Ernie's eyes narrowed. "That Potter is a Parselmouth?"

"What's a Parselmouth?" Justin and Percy asked at the same time.

Ernie sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "I forget how much you both don't know. A Parselmouth is someone who speaks Parseltongue, the language of snakes."

"So that's how he made that hissing noise and set the snake on me," Justin stated as he slumped against the wall. "Luckily Percy pushed me away."

Ernie nodded his head gravely, but Percy was still confused, "What hissing noise? And he didn't set the snake on you, Justin, he told it to leave you alone."

The other boys looked at him like he was the crazy one. "So, you didn't hear Potter making strange snake noises?" Ernie questioned.

"No, he just shouted at the snake to leave Justin alone," Percy explained. "And I was about to uh . . . stab the snake with my pen, when it slumped back and didn't attack. I thought it was pretty weird that the snake listened to Harry like that."

Ernie's face lost all its color as he said, "For now we're going to ignore the part where you thought stabbing a snake with a pen would be a good idea and focus on the bigger issue. Percy, are you a Parselmouth too?"

"No," Percy stated and then thought back to the fact that everyone else had apparently heard Harry making weird noises, but Percy had heard words. "I mean I don't think I am? How could I know another language without realizing it?" He thought about the events of the summer. "Actually, never mind, randomly finding out I can do something that I had no idea I could seems to be this year's theme."

"So, you never talked to or listened to or interacted with snakes?" Ernie questioned.

Percy shrugged, "Not really." He scoured his memories trying to see if there were ever hints of this ability. "I mean, I strangled a snake during naptime when I was a toddler. And then I thought this group of snakes was laughing at me, but the whole situation was weird, so I didn't really think much of it."

"You didn't think hearing snakes laughing was a reason to be concerned?" Zacharias asked clearly skeptical.

Well, it had been when Medusa was trying to kill him, so no. Percy thought it had either just been his imagination, or Medusa's snakes were special or something since they were hair-snakes. Of course, he couldn't tell his friends that so instead he responded like any New Yorker would, "It was in Jersey. There's a lot of weird stuff in Jersey."

Ernie groaned, "This is really bad."

"What's the big deal?" Percy asked still not understanding. "I mean Professor McGonagall turns into a cat compared to that talking to animals seems like a cheap party trick."

"It's a big deal because speaking Parseltounge is a very rare ability, and it's the mark of Dark wizards. They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue because he could speak to snakes and rumor is You-Know-Who could as well," Ernie explained.

"Oh," was all Percy managed to say as he sunk down onto his own bed. Everyone's reactions made a lot more sense, and now, there was something else to make Percy different. He thought he had finally found a place where he fit in as long as he kept his sword hidden and didn't explode toilets, but now he was a freak here too, apparently an evil freak. "You guys don't think I'm a Dark wizard, do you?"

Justin looked like he was in shock while Ernie looked down and couldn't meet Percy's eyes. Percy felt his gut clench, but then Zacharias chuckled, breaking the tense silence. "Jackson a Dark wizard? Please!" he scoffed. "He just got a detention for telling Snape off for bullying Longbottom of all people. In my book, that's about as far from a Dark wizard as someone can get."

Ernie cracked a smile. "Of course, you're right. Sorry Percy, it's just hard to take in that you're a Parselmouth. Of course, you're not evil."

Color had finally started returning to Justin's face, and he declared, "You're still our friend even if you can talk to snakes." Percy smiled grateful that his friends who'd only known him for a few months were still accepting him even if he was a freak. Though he figured, now was not the time to tell them he could also talk to horses.

"I am curious though," Zacharias mused. "Parselmouth is supposed to be hereditary. That's why everyone is thinking that Potter is Slytherin's Heir. Can your father talk to snakes?"

"Umm, maybe?" Percy actually wasn't sure. He knew gods could do a lot of different things, but as far as he knew snakes were not a Poseidon thing. Horses and sea creatures sure, but not snakes. "I mean he probably communicates with sea serpents, so maybe that translates to this snake talk?"

"Wow, your father not only has seen a sea serpent, but can talk to them!" Justin exclaimed while Zacharias just shook his head, "Merlin's beard Jackson, your family is weird."

"You have no idea, Smith," Percy replied.

Ernie cleared his throat. "Needless to say, we should keep this to ourselves. I trust the girls, but Hannah is a bit of a gossip. For Percy's sake we can't have this getting out or people might think he's Slytherin's Heir and responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets."

"Anyone who saw how he interacted with that Creevey boy would know that he'd never harm a hair on that boy's head," Zacharias stated. "But I agree, especially since it's likely still Potter."

"Not this again," Percy said as he rolled his eyes.

Zacharias shrugged, "Face facts, Jackson. Even if Harry actually did stop the snake from attacking, like you say, he's still a Parselmouth. The Heir of Slytherin is likely a Parselmouth. The odds of there being a third Parselmouth in this school are ridiculously low. Maybe, Potter wants to get Justin with his monster instead, or maybe he realized the snake was going to bite you instead of Justin and called it off because he likes you for some strange reason"

Percy shook his head. He was glad that his friends backed him, but Zacharias in particular seemed determined to think the worst of Harry, probably because Harry got to play Quidditch as a first year. Something like that would likely bug Zacharias. Once again, he tried to reason with his friends on Harry's behalf. "Don't forget it was actually Malfoy who conjured the snake, Lockhart who set it off, and Snape who waited to vanish it and probably told Malfoy to use that spell to begin with. Anyone of those people is more responsible for the snake incident and seem a lot more likely to be the ones attacking students."

"Lockhart wouldn't!" Justin defended his favorite teacher.

"More like he's too incompetent," Zacharias muttered making Percy laugh and Justin protest.

"Whether or not it's Harry or Malfoy," Ernie said loud enough to return order to the room, "I think Justin needs to be extra careful. He should probably stay in the common room except for meals and classes and at least one of us should be with him at all times."

"Of course," Percy agreed while Zacharias just huffed and reluctantly nodded.

"Thanks guys," Justin said, "It's nice to know that you are here for me."

The next day, Herbology was cancelled due to a blizzard. While his classmates planned to use the time to catch up on some work in the library, Percy intended to talk to Annabeth. Between his worried friends, the Gryffindors loitering in Myrtle's bathroom because of the Polyjuice Potion, and more watchful teachers, it had become difficult to sneak away and IM his friend. Justin had taken Ernie's advice and would be doing his work in the common room. Since Zacharias had already completed all of his assignments, thanks to hanging out with his Ravenclaw friends, he begrudgingly would stay with Justin and help him with his work. Personally, Percy thought that was a little overkill and that Justin would be safest in a large group, but after seeing how jumpy Justin was walking to breakfast, he knew his friend would feel better in the common room.

Percy waited for the Great Hall to empty before making his way up to Myrtle's bathroom. Only a few stragglers were left hurrying to get to class on time and the hallway in front of Myrtle's bathroom was empty except for a small, red-headed girl. He was pretty sure she was Ron's sister, so he smiled and gave her a friendly wave, but she just walked right past him with a glazed look in her eye. Percy shrugged it off figuring she might have had a difficult night or was worried about her upcoming class.

Thankfully, Myrtle seemed to be elsewhere. Percy had noticed that Myrtle usually wasn't around in the mornings or evenings, so he usually did his Iris messages then for the extra privacy. He tried not to think about where a ghost, who loved to hangout in bathrooms, might be during prime bathroom time. Ever since he met Myrtle, he'd been extra careful to check for any spying ghosts before using a toilet or shower.

After Percy created a rainbow with water from one of the working sinks and the weak candlelight, he said, "O goddess, accept my offering. Show me Annabeth Chase, Richmond, Virginia," and tossed a drachma into the rainbow.

The mist shimmered, and then Percy saw Annabeth sleeping in her bedroom since with the time difference it was still super early. He felt bad about waking her up, but he wasn't sure when he'd get another chance to talk to her. "Annabeth!" he called out.

She jolted awake and leveled her dagger at him until she realized who and what it was. "Oh, it's just you." She sounded annoyed but still lowered her dagger. "I was beginning to think you'd been petrified or worse when I hadn't heard from you."

Percy winced at the accusation in her tone. "Sorry, it's just getting difficult to keep up with weekly IMing with the Gryffindors hanging out in here now and the teachers watching everyone extra carefully. But I have lots to tell you." As quickly as he could, Percy told her what had happened in the weeks since he'd talk to her last. It felt nice to finally tell someone everything since he had to keep things secret from both of his groups of friends. "So, this ability to talk to snakes, it has to have come from Poseidon somehow, right?"

Annabeth sighed and rubbed her temples. It had been a lot to take in. "I'm not sure Percy. I mean if you were a child of Asclepius then sure." At his confused look, she rolled her eyes before explaining, "The god of medicine, Apollo's son. Apollo and Hermes are also associated with snakes. While snakes may be feared in this wizarding culture, Greeks believed they were sacred beings of wisdom, healing, and resurrection. Actually, now that I think of it, Hecate's also depicted with snakes sometimes as well. Maybe, the ability came from her, or I guess your magic could have mixed with your power to talk to sea serpents sort of like that potion making ability you have. And I suppose it could be . . . never mind the odds of that are so low it's not even worth mentioning. However, you shouldn't be focusing on why you can talk to snakes."

"Oh, really, I shouldn't be worried that I can hold conversations with fanged creepy crawlies?" Percy couldn't help the sarcasm that came out of his mouth.

But Annabeth just gave him that annoying look that made him feel like an idiot. "No, you should be more concerned that Harry can talk to snakes too."

Percy groaned, "Don't tell me you think he's the Heir of Slytherin as well?"

Annabeth shrugged, "He very well may be. He had to get the ability from somewhere since he doesn't have godly relatives that we know of. And given what this means, it certainly narrows the suspect pool. Although I admit that if he is responsible, his motives don't make sense with the information he's given you so far which means he's either very foolish or extremely clever."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, feeling frustrated that another friend was accusing Harry.

"Both you and Harry can understand snakes, and both you and Harry hear voices through the walls," she said with an annoying smirk like she was explaining how two plus two equals four.

Percy knew that. . . and then it hit him, the connection Annabeth had made. Really it seemed so obvious now, but he had been too distracted by the whole he could talk to snakes bit and everyone thinking he was evil. "You think this monster is some kind of snake!"

"Exactly! It also makes sense that Slytherin's monster would be a snake since that's his symbol," Annabeth reasoned. Percy groaned. "What?" she asked.

"I'm going to have to spend more time reading in the library, again," Percy complained.

Annabeth shook her head, as if she couldn't believe that someone wouldn't want to spend time in the library. However, she did try to comfort him. "It can't be that bad. I mean how many monstrous snakes that petrify people can these wizards have?"

Percy supposed she was right, but it still was more work. "I just hope there's a book with helpful tips on how to find it and kill it, and hopefully, Harry, Ron, and Hermione can get a confession out of Malfoy over Christmas." Thinking about Hermione gave him an idea. "Maybe, I could just tell Hemione and let her do all the researching. She's super smart, and I'm sure she'd be happy to spend more time in the library!" Percy grinned. Annabeth wasn't the only one that could come up with good ideas.

Something flashed in Annabeth's eyes that Percy couldn't quite decipher before she asked pointedly, "How much do you really trust this Hermione and the others?"

Percy rolled his eyes. Seriously, Annabeth was starting to sound like his Hufflepuff friends, and he'd have enough of that. "Gods, Annabeth, they're my friends! Of course, I trust them."

"Fine!" she snapped. "Just don't come crying to me if they don't hold you in the same regard."

"What do you mean?" Percy questioned eyes narrowing.

"Well, if Harry isn't lying through his teeth and cleverly manipulating you, then how quickly do you think they will suspect you once you tell them you can talk to snakes too. Somehow, I have a feeling they won't be as accepting as your Hufflepuff pals."

Percy opened his mouth to tell her that she was wrong, but then he remembered how the Gryffindors had treated him with scorn and suspicion when he first found them in Myrtle's bathroom. They hadn't let him in their little group until they realized he was useful to them. If it turned out that it wasn't Malfoy and if Percy was right that it wasn't Harry, then he was the next most likely suspect. Not only could he talk to snakes, but he was new and came from a shady family. If they knew that he could understand this snake language, would Harry, Ron, and Hermione believe he was innocent? They could tell the whole school just to shift everyone's suspicion away from Harry.

Annabeth must have seen the uncertainty in his face, and instead of gloating, her eyes actually softened a little. "Just be careful, Percy. You can't afford any extra suspicion. For all our sakes, you don't want the wizards looking closer at your family." With that warning, Annabeth waved her hand and broke the connection leaving Percy feeling very alone and a world away and being in a dirty bathroom definitely didn't help his pity party.

There wasn't enough time left before his next class for Percy to bother going down to join his friends in the library. He also wasn't in the mood to talk with Myrtle after that rather depressing conversation with Annabeth, so Percy figured he might as well head to his next class before the ghost came back to her bathroom. Percy trudged up the stairs and headed down a corridor that was darker and draftier than normal. Because of the bad lighting, Percy had initially thought the corridor was empty, but in the middle of the hallway someone jumped up as if they had been crouched over something on the floor. Whoever it was had his back to Percy, but it looked like he was going to bolt. Percy rushed forward to see what was going on and the person whirled towards him. "Harry?"

The other boy's eyes were wide behind his glasses, and he said, "It's not what it looks like."

Percy didn't know what Harry meant until he finally made out what was on the floor. It was Justin lying there as still as stone, his face frozen in an expression of shock. Beside him, Nick appeared to by lying down except he was 6 inches off the floor, his head dangling from his neck with the same expression of shock on his face.

Percy clenched his fist as he felt the anger building up in him. He couldn't believe after all the precautions that Justin had still been attacked. Zacharias was going to be in big trouble. Percy glared at Harry and asked, "What happened?"

"It wasn't me," Harry claimed. Percy had wanted to think that, but after his conversation with Annabeth and finding him once again at the scene of the crime, it was getting more difficult to believe that Harry had nothing to do with the attacks. He'd been wrong before. Maybe, it was Luke all over again. Harry's eyes narrowed. "Besides, what are you doing here? Why weren't you in the library with the other Hufflepuffs."

"I was ah . . ." Percy tried to think of something, "checking on the Polyjuice Potion."

"It's been done for days. There's no reason to check on it. And you never did tell us why you were in Myrtle's bathroom that day," Harry said, his voice laced with suspicion. "You're hiding something."

Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You think I did this? That I would attack my best friend?" He was so angry at Harry's accusation that he'd forgotten to keep his voice low and had shouted. His voice wasn't the only thing he'd lost control of. There was a loud rumbling behind the walls, and before Percy realized what was happing, water rushed into the hallway from a nearby bathroom.

"What the – ?" Harry's mouth fell open.

Percy scrunched up his face as he willed the water to stop. The tug in his gut that he hadn't felt initially lessened, and he sighed in relief. "Why is it always toilets?" he muttered as he glared at the large puddle now on the floor.

Harry looked like he wanted to ask something but then – crash – crash – crash. The doors along the corridor flew open and students and teachers rushed out to see the source of the disturbance. In all the confusion, Percy had to stand over Justin to make sure he was not trampled.

Finally, Professor McGonagall arrived and set off a loud bang from her wand to get everyone's attention. "Student's back to your classes, now!" she ordered.

As the area cleared and several students complained about water in their shoes, Ernie, Hannah, and Susan rushed over. Despite running up the stairs, the three of them looked extremely pale. "You caught him in the act, didn't you Percy!" Ernie managed to yell in between pants.

"That will do, Macmillan!" said Professor McGonagall as she studied first Percy than Harry like she was trying to put together a puzzle. "You two explain yourselves."

"It wasn't me," both Percy and Harry said at the exact same time though Harry added a polite "Professor" to the end of his statement. In any other circumstances, Percy would have probably laughed, but his best friend had been petrified, and with his luck, he'd probably be blamed for it.

"It couldn't have been Percy," Ernie stated. "Justin was his friend and so was Nick. Plus, Potter is always there first and was annoyed with the victim. First Mrs. Norris after he had that run-in with Filch and then Creevey after he annoyed Potter at the Quidditch match. . ."

Harry shook with anger, "I didn't petrify any of those people. Besides Colin was showing everyone an embarrassing picture of Jackson and owed him money. Maybe Jackson got tired of waiting to collect and wanted to get Colin back for taking that picture."

Percy had enough. He didn't care if Ernie's accusations were equally weak. Harry had no right to try and blame him. "Colin was like the little brother I never had. Besides, if you saw my bank vault, you'd know I could care less about money."

Before he could say anything else though, Professor McGonagall snapped, "That's enough! Both of you come with me."

After giving Harry one more glare and reassuring his friends that he'd be fine even though he didn't feel like he would be, Percy and Harry followed Professor McGonagall to a very ugly, large, and familiar stone gargoyle.

My life is still very crazy right now, but I will continue to make time to write these fanfictions when I can. It will probably be another long wait before the next update. The next chapter will cover Christmas, so maybe I can get it out around then. Most of my focus will be shifting to my other story until I can update it. Just know, that no matter how long it takes I won't give up on these stories. They are great stress relief, and y'all are way more supportive than Reviewer #2.

Just to preemptively explain (because I know someone will likely comment on it), I spent way too long considering and looking up theories regarding the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and how the monster moves through the school. Rowling was a little vague on this in the books, but I always assumed the entrance Harry discovers wasn't the only one though maybe it is the main one for people and that the snake used the pipes to travel around the castle and exit into hallways at different locations. I'm very aware this is not the only interpretation, but it is the one I'm using for this story.