Wizarding Royalty

Chapter 30: Balls

I realized how bad that chapter title sounded after I wrote it. Oh gods. Anyway. 

The following months were filled with classes of varying difficulties. Some teachers pushed their students hard to make sure they knew every possible thing for their OWLs, while others were a little more laid back or just outright ignored in favor of a nap (That specific title went to Professor Binns, the ghostly History of Magic professor). The two who seemed to push the hardest were Professors Snape and McGonagall. 

Professor McGonagall clearly wanted the best from her students. Still, she was not as harsh as Snape, instead giving stern nods that were filled with encouragement whenever her students succeeded at a transfiguration. 

Professor Snape was not the same way. He pushed and pushed them as he reinforced the sentiment that he would only accept those who got Os on their OWLs into his class next year. He was harsher with the students not of Slytherin but begrudgingly had to give Percy Os on most of his schoolwork. The same couldn't be said for his essays but what could a boy do? It had been hard enough to write cohesive essays for mortal schools with the help of Annabeth, Paul, and his mother. A magic school with only his mom to help most of the time made writing the long essays that Snape assigned seem impossible to not end up with multiple spelling mistakes; of course, Snape marked points off for those mistakes. 

As the school year continued Quidditch season rolled around, sending excited whispers through the school as people rooted for their houses. Ron had taken a place on the Quidditch team with Harry and the twins, playing the role of Keeper that had been vacated at the end of the previous year by Oliver Wood, the former Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. 

November eventually rolled around, and Hogwarts began setting up for the Christmas season. No more dreams had been received by any of the demigods and so far, they were counting it as a win but made sure to keep an ear out for anything weird. Blackjack had stuck around within the Forbidden Forest just at the edge of the border, but Porkpie had gone back home. Percy made sure to visit his pegasus regularly and let him stretch his wings. The demigod had run into Luna a couple of other times in his excursions to the forest, but neither pried on what the other was doing simply letting each other be. 

Some people had moved on from the rumors about the demigods, but there were still those who were not willing to move on or were all too happy to stir the pot and proposed increasingly preposterous theories. 

However, with the Christmas season came more homework as OWLs got closer and winter break approached. There was also snow that coated the ground beautifully in a picture-esque way. Younger kids played in the snow in their free time even as the older ones studied. Hogsmeade weekends were a great way to get a break though and let loose. 

The first time they went Percy, Thalia, and Nico had a blast trying the candy at Honeydukes, looking at all the prank stuff in Zonko's, and trying Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks. During the upcoming one they decided to explore a little more, so, bundled up, they headed towards the outskirts of the town. 

"Ooh, look at that," Percy exclaimed pointing to the Shrieking Shack. 

"Looks creepy but cool," Nico agreed. "Kind of makes you want to explore it." 

"That's a stupid idea," Thalia protested. "Who knows what could be hiding in there?" 

"Oh, that's the Shrieking Shack," a voice said from behind the three demigods. They turned around to look at who had spoken it was Hermione. "It's one of the most haunted buildings in Britain." 

"Why is it haunted?" Thalia asked curiously. 

"Well, it's been silent for a couple of years but before every month on the full moon, screams could be heard from inside. Blood-curdling screams that sent townsfolk running in terror."