Quests of Valdez: The School of Magic (Harry Potter x Percy Jackson fic)

13 • Leo Becomes a Mediator [Part 02]

"Leo! What are you doing here?" he hears a familiar voice in one corner.

"Oh, Hermione! Thank the gods I see a familiar face. Where's the bros?" Leo asks, looking around the now chillier room from the icy glares of the Gryffindors.

"Harry's off brooding somewhere. But Ron is in the boys' dormitory. How did you get in here?" she asks, worried.

"I have my ways," he says with a shrug, not tattling on the twins. "Anyway, I better go talk to Ron."

As he moves towards where she pointed at before, Hermione places a hand on his arm to stop him. "What are you planning on doing?"

"Look, Harry's having a horrible time and Ron's having his jealousy outbreak, and neither of them want to lower their pride to help each other. I'm making the move. If they're gonna be idiots about it, I'm meddling in it because nothing really," he says with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Because you think it's right?" Hermione asks with a gleam in her eye Leo can't understand.

Leo shakes his head. "No, because they're acting crazy and I don't want to hang out with two different people in two different places. I'm bringing them back together so we can all hang out without a screaming match."

"Oh... Well, good luck getting through to Ron. He's a stubborn one," Hermione says.

Leo looks over at what Hermione is doing. "What are you reading?" he asks.

Hermione looks at him with a hint of surprise. "Oh! I'm helping Harry..." She leans closer to him to whisper. "For the first task. He told me what you found out, and even if you can help calm the dragon down, we need to be more prepared. So I'm finding a spell that could be of help to us. But I have a plan."

He tilts his head. "Which is?"

"A way to get his broom."

"For... what?"

Hermione looks at him skeptically. "To fly, of course."

Leo laughs hard, but Hermione only looks at him so he tries his best to stop it. "Sorry, it's been a while since I've been in the wizard community. I always forget flying on brooms is a real thing," he lies. "It's like something out of a fairytale."

Hermione smiles. "I get what you mean. I grew up in the muggle world."

"Oh, so your parents were muggles or what?" Leo asks.

Hermione nods. "Yup, I'm muggleborn."

Leo nods back. "I see. My mom was a muggle, too. But anyway, I better head to Ron's place. Good luck helping Harry!"

With that, he goes up to the boys' dorms.

It was awkward to keep opening doors to see younger students look at him with surprise since he doesn't know which room leads to the fourth year dorms.

After a few failed attempts, he finally sees Ron lying in one of the beds which he assumes is the fourth year room.

"Ron!" Leo greets.

Ron jumps in surprise at the sight of him and sits up by the headboard of his bed. "Leo! How did you get in the Gryffindor's Common Room?" he asks.

Leo looks around and sees two more students in the room.

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" one of them asks icily.

"Aren't you a snake? Get your bloody arse out of here!" the other replies.

Leo raises his hands in surrender again. "I'm chill. I come in peace."

"Dean, Seamus, it's fine... but seriously, Leo, how did you get in here?" Ron asks.

"The twins," Leo whispers at him.

"Ah, makes sense," Ron replies.

"Go away or we're calling a prefect," one of them says.

"Seamus, it's fine. Really," Ron replies.

"Come on, Dean," Seamus says. "I can't stand being in the same room as a snake, and a traitor. Remember, Ron, you shouldn't be cuddling with the snakes." And so they left.

"Man, I feel like a hypocrite," Ron laughs.

Leo laughs as well. "It's fine. You warmed up to me anyway. I'm just charming."

"So, why are you here? Looking for Harry?" he asks the last part rather bitterly.

"Actually, I'm here for you."

"What?"

Leo sits on Ron's bed by his feet. "You're still not talking, huh?" he asks.

Ron looks away. "If you're here to tell me that I should talk to him, save it. I'm not."

"Did you ask your brother if he was here?" Leo asks. He sees Ron's face flicker with an emotion. "Oh, so you did! What did he say?"

Ron huffs. "He said he's not here. You really were taking the piss out of me."

Leo's brows furrow. "How can that be? I went to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary and the dudes there said that he would be here handling the dragons for the tournament."

Ron gives him a look. "How could you have been there? Charlie said the sanctuary is hard to find."

Leo shrugs. "I'm just good at getting into trouble. I met a dude named Alexander and he's like the head of the sanctuary. I was actually there to ask about dragons because I love dragons. They're awesome and they're the best, and I want to learn how they actually have fire in their bodies that they can throw at you, and—"

"Merlin, you sound like Charlie," Ron laughs.

Leo laughs. "That's what the dudes in the sanctuary said, too. They said even though they were in the sanctuary longer, the best person to ask about everything I want to know is Charlie Weasley. I thought Weasley is a common surname here in Europe so I didn't know he was your brother."

Ron hums. "So, he's really here? Why would he say he's not then?" Ron raises a brow skeptically at him.

Leo shrugs. "I mean, Harry told me that the champions weren't supposed to know what the first task is. I accidentally let it slip out so Hermione is working on a way so he can survive fighting a dragon. But between you and me, I hope he doesn't fight it because dragons are actually such gentle creatures, and I hate that a creature of fire gets hurt for no reason other than for entertainment. It's not like drakons which are just aggressive schists. I met a dragon when I was in the sanctuary and they were attacking her with spells, but I found out she was just angry that one of her eggs was taken. Ah, sorry, I'm rambling. I just love dragons so much."