The Switch (pjo/hp)

Charpter 2: Percy Finally Understands What the Hell is Going on

She continued. "This school, the school we go to, is called Hogwarts." Percy nodded. "In a few days, other magical schools are coming to ours, to participate in a tournament, the Triwizard Tournament. Basically, they pick a champion from each school, and those champions have to go through a series of dangerous challenges and obstacles. The winner's school is granted the Triwizard Cup, and said person gets a thousand Galleons and wins eternal glory."

"That all sounds epic, but what are Galleons?" Percy asked.

"Golden Galleons are the highest wizarding currency, the lower being silver sickles, and the least being bronze Knuts. There are 29 Knuts to a Sickle, and 17 Sickles make up a Galleon." She explained.

"Ah, you lost me halfway," Percy groaned. "Too much information."

"To put it simply, Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts are the wizarding currencies in that order, going down," She said patiently. She guessed he was probably ADHD or something like that.

"Okay, thanks. Anything else I need to know?" Percy asked.

"Well, I'll be giving you some lessons after classes to help you catch up," Hermione said, as she stopped in front of a peculiarly large painting of a fat lady. She went up to it. "Caput Draconis."

For some reason, Percy understood what she was saying. It was Latin for 'Dragon's Head'.

"Why did you randomly just say 'Dragon's Head'?" He looked at her curiously.

"I didn't know it meant Dragon's Head, but our passwords are mostly in Latin," She sighed at Percy's confused expression. "To get into any of the common rooms, you need to know a specific password that changes now and then to enter."

Percy nodded, signalling that he understood. The painting swung open (the fat lady started complaining about 'ungrateful children'), and Hermione led him in.

The room was spectacular. It housed many cosy couches and armchairs, around multiple fireplaces. Numerous moving paintings were hanging on the wall, and Percy figured it was normal for the paintings to move. The room's theme was obviously red and gold, as the furniture was all in said colours. Different people, all dressed in similar robes, with red ties, were scattered across the room, doing homework, engaging in conversations, or doing magic. Two staircases were leading up, and Percy wondered where those led. He asked Hermione about them.

"Oh, those take you to the dormitories. The stairs on the right lead to the boy's dormitories, and the left are the girls." She pointed in those directions.

"Where does Harry sleep?" Percy asked, but Hermione shushed him.

"You can't ask questions like that!" She whisper-shouted. "No one can know you're not Harry, understood?"

"Yeah, sorry," Percy smiled apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ron'll take you to your dormitory, don't worry," She said. "I'll go get him, you can sit down until then if you want." Then she turned, and walked away, looking for Ron.

Percy nodded, doing just that. The seat he took was red, like the rest of the room. The cushioning was very soft, and the warmth from the fire filled Percy, as he melted into the chair. His chest still ached dully, but his arm was feeling pretty normal.