A/N:
Just wanted to clarify that any misspelled words during the texting conversations are intentional, as Percy and juniper both have dyslexia (no hate intended to anyone with dyslexia <3)
The Slytherin common room was a large, rectangular room, with a high, vaulted ceiling. The walls were dark green, with white pillars spaced out at intervals along them. Along the far wall, there were huge, arched, floor-to-ceiling windows between the pillars. The roof was slightly curved, crossed with the pillars which met at the centre of the ceiling.
The floor was a dark, warm hardwood, dotted with couches and armchairs which were positioned in small clusters around coffee tables and fireplaces.
The entire colour scheme was dark green, black and silver, broken up by the white pillars.
The space was lit by large, almost chandelier-like light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.
The strangest part was that outside the windows on the far wall, was water, with a greenish colour to it, hinting that out was fairly deep. I could see a couple fish swimming past, along with something that looked suspiciously like a shark.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Astoria asked beside me, bouncing slightly on the heels of her feet.
"Yeah, it definitely is." I agreed, as I surveyed the room, taking in the dozens of students milling around, some standing, some sitting, most of them engaged in conversation with one another.
"I have a friend back home-" I continued. "She's really into architecture and historic-style buildings, she would be completely amazed by this."
I'll have to send Annabeth some photos later tonight, once there aren't as many people in the common room. I thought to myself. Oh- I should probably ask about that.
"And, um, I was just wondering..." I added, turning towards Astoria. "Uhh... are phones allowed here?"
"Oh." Astoria paused for a moment. "There aren't really specific rules, since not many of us have phones, due to them being muggle technology and all that. Even if people have a phone, they don't bring it." She glanced over at me. "I assume you're asking because you have one?"
"Yeah, I brought it with me." I answered, subconsciously brushing my hands against the pocket in my robes where I'd put my phone.
Although phones could attract monsters, I still took mine with me most places I went. When I was at camp it didn't really matter, since monsters couldn't get past the camp boundary, and when I wasn't, it didn't actually make much of a difference. Since I was a child of Demeter, and pretty much classified as a 'weaker demigod', I had a less strong presence than other demigods.
Plus, I was pretty sure I would be safe using it at Hogwarts, since this place completely radiated power, despite it being mortal power.
Astoria nodded. "I guess just don't use it in front of the teachers and you'll be fine. At least I think."
I smiled. "Alright, thanks." I pulled it out and quickly checked the time —it was eight thirty— before slipping it back in the pocket.
"I should introduce you to some of the others in our year, then." Astoria said brightly. "Come on!"
She led me over to a cluster of armchairs and couches positioned around a table, where Pansy was already seated with some other girls.
We sat down with them and Astoria and Pansy introduced all of them, although most of the names went right over my head.
I was more focusing on keeping an eye on those transfer students, as I'd been instructed to. They'd entered the common room a couple movies after us, and were sitting a little way away with some guys from our year.
Fortunately, Astoria had her back to them, meaning I could watch them out of the corner of my eye while I faced her, as she was doing most of the talking.
Yeah.
Not creepy of me at all.
We sat around, chatting casually for around an hour. Over that time, some of the younger students started heading to bed, with a bit of encouragement from the older kids in some cases.
"We should probably head to our dorms, and unpack a bit before we head to sleep." Pansy suggested, and most of us nodded in agreement.
Pansy, Astoria, me and three other girls in our year all headed over to the door that led to the girls dorms. There was one doorway on each side of the room, the left doorway connecting to a hallway that contained the girls rooms, and the right one connecting to them boys rooms.
I stepped through the door and into the hallway, and followed Pansy to a door on the right around halfway down the corridor.
As we entered the dorm room, I glanced around, taking in the space. It was a medium sized room, longer than it was wide, with three double beds lined up down each wall, all with luxurious green and white sheets and blankets. There was a thick green rug covering the floor, and a large window at the end of the room, showing the depths of the lake outside. There was a wardrobe and a dresser on either side of reach of the beds, and what looked like a trunk or a chest of some sort sat at the end of the beds.
We all claimed a bed, I had one right down the end of the room on the right, with Astoria in the bed next to mine, and Pansy in the one directly across the room.
In the chest at the end of my bed, I found my backpack full of stuff that I'd packed, along with several sets of uniform.
Most of us unpacked our clothes, while a couple others went into the bathroom connected to the dorm to get changed. After I'd put all my stuff in the wardrobe and dresser, I went into the large bathroom connected to the dorm, and changed into some pyjamas.
Even though summer had technically ended yesterday, it was still way too hot at night, even for England, so i just chucked on some black shorts and a plain green tank top.
I went back into the dorm room, and could see most of the others already getting into bed. I headed over to the trunk at the end of my bed, and rifled through my backpack to try and find my phone charger.
I felt my fingers connect with something smooth and wood-like, and pulled my hand out of my bag to see what it was.
The object was roughly ten inches long, and made of warm-coloured yew wood. I picked it up, turning it over slowly in my hand. One end was pointed, and the other was broader, and looked almost like a handle.
It's a wand. I realised, staring down at the object. Hecate had explained she would give me one so that I would blend in with the other wizards. Thanks to my demigod blood, I would be able to use it, but I just had absolutely no idea how to.
I placed the wand on my bedside table, along with my phone, which I plugged into the wall to charge overnight, then slipped into bed.
"Good nighttt!" Astoria called out loudly, as Pansy pointed her wand at the light switch and said some kind of spell, causing the lights to go out.
"'night!" I called back, along work several of the others.
I pulled the covers up around me, and laid back, trying to get to sleep, but after a few minutes, I still found myself wide awake.
It's probably the time differences. I thought with a quiet sigh. Back at camp, it would probably only be six or seven pm, and apparently my body was still operating on that time zone.
After a few more minutes, I leaned over and grabbed my phone off the bedside table. Tapping the screen to turn it on, I could see a notification on my Lock Screen- a message from Annabeth.
Quickly I unlocked my phone and opened the message.
Annabeth 🦉
Heyy! What time is it for you?
I smiled at the simple text, and quickly sent a reply.
Annabeth 🦉
9.30, wby??
Seven, I'm at the dining
pavilion, we jst finished dinner
stop ur making me miss
camp already 😔
have u told percy?
Yea
He was going to msg u but
I think he had to go bc of his
school
aww 😔
i'll talk to him later ig.
How's it going watching those
students??
Are they scary??
no
they're really hot tho
Seriously? Aren't their
parents criminals or smth?
yea but still
besides our parents
are assholes so we can't
really talk lmao
True lol.
Oh I have to go srry.
Will wants to talk to me.
And you need sleep.
Msg me before your classes
tmrw.
I sighed a little at Annabeth having to go. I wish I could keep talking to her, but she was probably right, I did need some sleep for tomorrow, as much as I hated to admit it.
I exited out of my chat with Annabeth, and instead sent a message to Percy. Since he was the child of a powerful demigod, phones could cause monsters to be alerted of his presence, so some of the Hephaestus campers had started working on monster-proof phones, which Percy was trialing.
Water boi 🌊
haii
annabeth said she told
u about the quest I'm doing
For a couple minutes there was no response, then finally Percy sent a reply.
Water boi 🌊
ye
I can't beileve the gods r
making u go to a boarding
school
That must suck
yea it does
i'm thinking abt getting
myself expelled so i can
come back to camp
any ideas??
blow smth up
...
thats a terrible idea.
i love it.
okay but seriosly
what do i do.
I already had a cunfruntation
with the students im suposed
to be spying on
realy
what happened
my brother
he was being an asshole
so i sort of yelled at him in
front of a group of students
Then one of the transfer
students started being an
asshole too
so i kind of yelled at him too
Oh damn.
good job 👏
thx 🥰
Ok
I'm going to go
I have to find my dorm
bye
byee
I smiled as I exited out of the conversation. What Percy had said reminded me that I was going to send Annabeth some photos of the common room, once it was late enough that no one would be around.
I checked the time on my phone, and saw that it was just past ten pm. Considering it was the first day of classes tomorrow, I was pretty sure everyone would be in their dorms by now.
I pushed back the covers and slipped out of my bed, grabbing my phone before I started creeping silently across the dorm, trying not to wake any of the others.
When I'd gotten changed into my pyjamas, I'd removed the knives I had on me, since it was pretty difficult to sleep with stuff strapped to my body, so I wasn't armed.
After all, I was just going to the common room for like two minutes to take some photos, what would I possibly need a dagger for?
I opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, dropping the coldness of the polished stone floor seeping up through my socks and into the soles of my feet, making me shiver.
Closing the door behind me, I hurried down the hallway, out through the door at the end and into the common room. Fortunately, the room was empty and still lit up, although the lights had been dimmed considerably.
I opened up the camera on my phone and took a few photos, showing the roof, the layout of the room and the water outside the windows.
I was standing in the middle of the room beside a couple couches, checking that the photos were high enough quality to send to Annabeth in the morning, when suddenly the sound of footsteps made me flinch.
The sound of approaching voices came from the direction of the corridor leading to the boys dorms, paired with the echo of several sets of footsteps.
I wasn't too worried about being seen, after all, I was pretty sure no one would care what I was doing. I was going to stay where I was, even I suddenly recognised the voices as those of the three transfer students.
Why the hell are all three of them awake together? They're clearly up to something...
Just as I heard the door to the boys corridor open, I made a very rash, split-second decision, and dove to the ground behind the couch, where I could listen without being seen.
As the handle of the door clicked open, I held my breath, praying to Demeter that I wouldn't be caught.
A/N:
Sorry it took me longer than usual to upload, I've been super busy lately and haven't had much time to work on this, since I do most of my writing in the middle of the night lmao.
Love you all, and as always, votes and comments make my day!
- Jade 💚