Sea and Serpent (PJO/HP)

Chapter 4. Magic? Or coincidence?

It let up when her anger subsided, replaced by shock at what had happened.

Amaryllis took a step back, running into her brother who held steady her.

The snake slid by Dudley and out of the habitat. It stopped at Harry’s feet and looked up at him, slithering past after it hissed something at him. Harry’s response to the snake was just as surprising as the events that took place less than a minute ago. She didn’t even get a chance to ask him what the snake had said before their Uncle Vernon was in their face, pointing a finger in their face.

“This is the last straw you two. Look at what you did.”

“But, we didn’t—”

Uncle Vernon grabbed both of them by their arms, stopping Harry from speaking, and began to drag them out as they saw Aunt Petunia rub a shaking Dudley in her arms. Amaryllis wanted to say she doubted the water was that cold for him to feel chilly, but anything she had to say would only make matters worse for them.

“Don’t think you can speak your way out of this. We saw you break that glass, and you,” Uncle Vernon turned his glare onto her, gripping her arm tighter so that she winced. “You push him into that water with the snake. You both are grounded and confined to your room for the next week.”

Amaryllis turned her wide eyes to her brother who mirrored her own concern.

The letter.

Tomorrow was their day to send that letter back out, even if they didn’t know who to send it back to.

She wanted answers to everything. And even if there was a slim chance that the letter she and Harry received was a dud, she clung to the possibility that it held the answers to everything, even what had just happened.

The ride back to the dreadful house was mostly quiet, except for Uncle Vernon’s harsh words that were mumbled under his breath of how little they would eat for the next week and her books would be taken away. And as much as Amaryllis wanted to speak out against that, she knew it would prolong their grounding longer, and it would be even longer before she saw her books again, so she kept her mouth shut. But it did nothing to quell the anger at the treatment they kept receiving for something they didn’t do.

How could they have possibly seen Harry break the glass when there was none on the floor? And they were nowhere near the glass since Dudley’s round figure hogged the whole thing.

Uncle Vernon swiftly brought—more like dragged, them to their room, shutting the door and locked it. He left with another threat of keeping their tempers in check and to think about their attitudes toward Dudley with the promise of ending their grounding early.

Lies. No matter what they did; beg, apologize, and promise to be a spec under their shoes. It changed nothing. It never ended early. It never changed the way they were treated.

So, Amaryllis and Harry knew nothing would happen and that they wouldn’t stoop so low anymore to get something they knew their Aunt and Uncle didn’t have.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

“What are you doing?”

Harry only held his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet as he put his ear to their door.

Amaryllis slid down from her bed, hitting the floor rougher than she planned, wincing when Harry glared back at her. She gave him a shrug with a lopsided smile. Her footsteps were light as she made her way to her brother, leaning against the door to hear whatever he heard.

“Why them? Why couldn’t they have just been normal?”

“We’ll deal with this, Petunia. They won’t be going to that school. Not if I have any say.”