{Are these updates going through?}
I forgot this chapter was ready from a while ago...whoops...
But here I just want to say some stuff before you read the chapter...
{1} What do you think of the potential cover above? I made it a while ago so I thought I'd attach it.
{2} Dedications to @tikachi and SmartWiseBlonde who have left lovely messages a while back and made me smile.
{4} k that's it happy reading young grasshoppers. (bet you're wondering what happened to 3, huh?)
previously:
Harry and friends went into the Forbidden Forest and found out some pretty chill stuff from their centaur pal/teacher/buddy. Certain someone who's name rhymes with....Trayco Palfoy followed them. Some time passed and then it's Halloween and everything is going normal which is weird and then BAM something happened. Ah, the good old cliffhanger. okay now time for tears have fun.
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T W E N T Y - S I X
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Percy's eyes shot open so fast it was...fast. He was met with darkness. Hazy shadows and stumbling shapes were all he could make out. He felt for the bedpost to steady himself as he shot out of bed in a turmoil of tangled sheets with his eyes having not yet fully adjusted.
"What's going on?" he slurred, as his vision finally cleared. What had happened to his demigod senses? He should have been wide awake by now. His time at Hogwarts had meant that his reflexes had been dormant for quite a while. It was taking him way too long to recuperate.
Out of habit, Percy reached for Anaklusmos. His hand rested against the cap of the pen in his pocket, ready to be drawn (Yes he slept with a pen, get over it.) At the last second, he snatched his wand from the dresser instead. "Lumos," he murmured. It took him a few tries until the wand's tip lit up with a blue light. Granted, it wasn't his sword, but at least the wand had other benefits. He could see much better now.
Using, the light from his wand, he followed Ron to the window. The ginger peered through the glass, his orange eyebrows furrowed, and eyes staring straight down. "Get a look at this," he whispered. Percy, and the rest of his dorm-buddies crowded around the ledge to see what was going on. "What is it–oh."
Handfuls of students in their nightwear, some with hastily thrown on robes or uniforms, poured out on to the grass in a flurry of screams and shrieks. Blurry shadowed shapes sprinted towards them in a fray from all directions, seizing stray articles of clothing, and diving for anything that moved. Arrays of coloured beams of light bounced back and forth earning either screams or monstrous roars.
"What's going on?" Seamus whimpered. "What are those things?"
Harry drew a sharp intake of breath. "We're under attack."
"Attack?" Neville repeated nervously.
Harry moved quickly to his bed and tossed on a set of robes over his striped pajamas. "We have to help." Before anyone could protest, he'd turned on his heel and was gone, dashing down the stairs. Why did everyone always dash down the stairs? Gods, this was like one of those crappy fanfictions the Aphrodite cabin were always talking about.
Meanwhile, Seamus' second question hung in the air, unanswered. Except Percy knew exactly how to answer it.
Hellhounds.
The word was on the tip of his tongue, but he kept quiet, fingers twitching by his side, yearning for the feel of a blade grasped between them. Would magic work on Greek monsters? Or would the witches and wizards' attempts be effortless?
"He's right," Neville realised, his voice taking on a more confident tone which surprised Percy for some reason. He sounded like a leader. "What are we just sitting around for? It'll be like old times, come on."
Percy watched transfixed, as everyone else in the room mimicked Harry's actions. What was going on? Hogwarts was supposed to be safe. There weren't supposed to be any monsters infiltrating the boundaries.
Then it hit him.
Hellhounds could shadow travel. So could Nico, after all that was how he'd snuck into the castle that one time. Hogwarts didn't have any boundaries for shadow travel. He needed to tell the Headmistress.
Somewhere close by in the castle, someone let out a loud, sharp screech and that was enough to snap him back to his senses.
His hand automatically flew back to his pocket where he felt the bulge of the pen. Like he'd expected, it hadn't moved. Satisfied, he sprinted from the room, the last to leave.
When he arrived in the common room, it was an absolute mess. Tables and chairs were upturned. A set of curtains had been knocked into the fireplace, now shriveled up and sending off smoke. A fourth year was blindly sending sparks flying from her wand, all of which missed her target. Three large beasts darted back and forth in a hot rage, dodging curses and charms alike from the Gryffindor wizards.
"Yay." Hellhounds, he confirmed. As if sensing his presence, the largest of the monstrosities turned towards him, fiery eyes ablaze. It was almost as large as Mrs O'Leary but this one didn't look as friendly. Somehow, he saw a faint resemblance to his deceased (whoops) stepfather Smelly Gabe. With flaming red eyes, steaming nostrils and a thunderous growl, the monster lunged.
Yep, he could definitely see it.
Percy ducked swiftly as its claws made a grab for him, and rolled quickly under a table. Without so much as a warning, the hound jumped on top of the table. He flipped out from underneath, just as the wood snapped under the brute's weight. Talk about a wake-up call.
He couldn't hold his own much longer with just a flimsy stick, no matter how powerful it might be (that is, if he could work it properly.) He needed his sword. Riptide was still in his pocket but there was no way he could use it without blowing his cover.
"Stupefy!" someone shouted. Alright, was now really the time to be calling him stupid? A column of light propelled forwards towards the hound. Smelly Gabe in greek monster form bellowed in pain and lost its footing. Unfortunately, on the way down, it's teeth sunk straight into Percy's leg.
Instinctively, he wrenched his foot out of its mouth, tearing a good amount of flesh from his body in the process. His scream of pain was drowned out by the rest of the ruckus that had swallowed the castle. Red spots bounced across his vision. Okay, enough pain for one night. I want to go back to bed please, he thought, but the hellhound wasn't finished yet. The spell had only briefly stunned it and it had already regained its bearings. Gabe lurched straight at him again and this time he couldn't move fast enough. Sharp claws raked against his shoulder blade. Percy could feel blood dripping down his arm as he bit back another shout of agony. He staggered to his feet, sluggishly moving to behind an armchair to regain his bearings. Behind him, more spells were being fired at his stepfather's reincarnation, maybe buying him some time. He quickly rolled up what was left of the bottom of his pant leg to assess the damage. He almost threw up on the spot.
The sofa was knocked to the side as Smelly Gabe's celebrity look-alike slammed it's body against the piece of furniture. Abort mission! Abort mission!
Percy's only option was Riptide unless he wanted to become doggy food. He was ready to pull the cap off the ballpoint pen as the hellhound gained on him for the third time in like five minutes when his savior arrived, no not a god- wasn't it already established they're annoyingly useless? It was Harry Potter's girlfriend. It dawned on him that she must have blasted that first spell as well.
"Conjunctivitis!" she bellowed. A burst of light collided with Smelly Gabe's celebrity look-alike (SGCLA for short?) giving him just enough time to break away and land out of sight behind another armchair. He didn't know the Gryffindor tower had so many of those.
Another angry snarl ripped through the air as Percy scrambled back to his feet, doing his best to ignore the searing pain when he tried to stand. SGCLA, who had severely damaged him and his self esteem- what was left of it anyway, lumbered about blindly, the red of its eyes flickering back and forth from lava to the colour of Nico's soul–Now is not the time for Nico's soul jokes, Percy!
Percy hefted himself up, pretending for the moment that the excruciating agony he was feeling wasn't there, and watched the beast falter, looking past him as if it couldn't see anything. "Conjunctivitis," he echoed, realising what had happened, "Nice." The spell had damaged the monster's eyesight, temporarily blinding it. It was funny. He would have laughed but it kind of hurt.
SGCLA tossed it's head around in annoyance and several large drops of saliva slipped from its enormous decaying mouth, splashing against the carpet like water against a sidewalk, as if to say, "Hey, not fair. I was going to kill you!"
It was almost comical how fast a lightbulb went off in Percy's head. He'd been unable to use his powers for so long, he forgot he had them. The whole time, he could have just used water to save himself. There were at least two bathrooms connected to the Gryffindor common room. He could have just used the water! It was no wonder Annabeth was the brains out of the two of them. She would have thought of the idea in an instant. He, on the other hand was an idiot.
He looked around the room. The half-asleep Gryffindors had managed to gain control of the situation. Two more hellhounds had joined the battle, but a pile of dust was all that remained of one. Magic seemed to be working on them. It wasn't as effective as celestial bronze or imperial gold but it was doing the trick. Some spells worked better than others. Percy felt relieved.
That was until Smelly Gabe's celebrity look-alike let out an irritated snarl. He whipped his head around in time to watch its eyes return to red again. The spell had worn off and SGCLA was angry. It locked eyes with Percy and careened in his direction. Ginny fired a spell. It missed and hit the wall instead.
Percy closed his eyes, feeling for the water desperately. It took him a few seconds to pinpoint the location of it. He sidestepped as the monster careened past him. Then he felt it; the tug in his gut as he focused his powers.
The ground beneath him exploded like sprinklers.
Smelly Gabe's celebrity look-alike let out an inhumane sound as the water thrust it backwards into the air, sending it crashing into the opposite wall with so much force it's neck snapped. The water kept spraying, flooding the room from the pipes. He created a heavy jet torrent to toss one of Smelly Gabe's other ugly family members, through a window. Hopefully, the fall would kill it. As for the other hellhounds within the tower, they had already been dealt with and all that remained were three separate piles of dust until they too disintegrated.
A cheer spread throughout the Gryffindors as SGCLA's crumpled form exploded into dust. "We got them all! For Gryffindor!" Apparently, they were all 'motivated' by the achievement as such, because soon the crowd had exited the tower in angry rampage, wands at the ready, with enough adrenaline to take on an army.
Percy felt strength course through his veins. His injuries hurt a little less. The water had soothed the wounds so they no longer felt life-threatening.
"You need to go to the Hospital Wing. You're injured-" Ginny started, taking a few steps closer. She stopped suddenly. "You did that, didn't you?" It wasn't a question. She looked down at his feet, half sunken in a puddle. "And your leg...it was worse before...what..." she trailed off uncertainly before her eyes cleared. "You're dry," she stated. She, herself was soaking wet.
He stayed silent. Somehow, he knew that whatever lie he tried to spin, Ginny would see right through it.
"Look, I can explain. Just not right now."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Percy Jackson," he said stupidly. Ginny crossed her arms, unconvinced.
"Fine!" He threw his hands up in the air, lowering them almost immediately at a stab of pain from his shoulder. "It's Perseus. But don't call me that. Ever. Just Percy. Now please, can you just trust me. I promise I'll explain everything after but first I have to find Professor McGonagall. I think I know how the hellhounds got into the castle," he gushed out.
"Hellhounds?"
"Those things. They're called hellhounds. Now can you stop interrogating me, please? We're wasting time." He snatched her arm, and dragged her through the portrait hole. He clenched his teeth together as a fresh bout of pain erupted as his foot hit the ground.
"You're still hurt," Ginny noted. Well obviously he was still hurt! A hellhound literally just feasted on his leg!
"I'm fine," he muttered, as she helped him through the hole. The Fat Lady wasn't present in her picture. Looking around, Percy could see why. Hellhounds were everywhere. He never knew there were that many. Could you breed hellhounds?
"This way," she said, draping his arm across her shoulder as she attempted to help him down the stairs. "Merlin's beard, you're heavy," she grumbled.
"I can do it myself," he insisted. She unwillingly let go, hesitating beside him in case he might fall.
"Watch out that's a trick step." Her words flew in one ear and out the other and Percy successfully managed to get his good leg stuck.
"I'm stuck."
"You don't say."
"Jackson, you uncultured swine. What do we do?" someone shouted angrily above the noise. It was Clarisse, frantically waving her arms around from a staircase below. The set of stairs she stood on began to move. "Hey! How do I get it to stop?" she demanded, and then as if just noticing his condition she remarked, "Woah. Did you get stuck in an incinerator?"
"Clarisse!" he yelled. "The hellhounds! They're getting in through shadow travel!"
"Well what are we supposed to do? I can't use my spear to kill any of these suckers."
"Use your wand. Doesn't it have like autopilot or something?" he shouted back, not caring if anyone heard him. They probably weren't listening.
"Yeah but- Look out!"
A hellhound came streaking out of nowhere. He pulled his pen from his pocket just as Ginny jumped in front of him with her wand. "Obliter-" The wand was knocked from her hands as the beast barreled into both of them. Percy barely managed to uncap Riptide before everything was swallowed in darkness in front of him. The shadows bent around the pair of them and he recognised the familiar yet horrible sensation of shadow travelling. The rest happened in the blink of an eye. He felt the brunt of his sword collide with flesh, and everything slowed down until they altogether ceased. Percy collided harshly with soft ground.
He lay on the itchy grass, winded and taken by surprise for a few seconds as the world righted itself back on its axis. Breathing heavily, he pulled himself to his knees. As far as he could tell, he was outside in the pitch black grounds, a fair way away from where the majority of the battle was occurring. His head was spinning. More pain. He managed to stand, empty hands spread wide. Riptide had been yanked from them seconds ago. He spotted the gleam of his sword a few feet away. He staggered across the ground, snatching it up from the hilt. Everything hurt.
"Percy!" He whirled around at the frantic shout. The ends of Ginny's robes were clenched tightly between the hellhound's teeth. It pulled her closer, so she was almost sitting in it's mouth like a rag doll before beginning to limp away into the Forbidden Forest, dripping blood from a wound in it's side.
The hound must have tried to teleport them. When Percy had stabbed it, it had lost it's concentration and they'd ended up here.
He heaved himself up, gathering any strength he had left, and took off after the monster. He staggered through the forest, using tree trunks as handholds. It dawned on him that the hellhound was tired out. It was slowing down. Percy summoned a burst of energy and ran forwards, plunging his sword straight through it's middle. It's startled eyes met his own as it disintegrated into nothing. Ginny fell through air and crumpled on the floor. Percy sank forwards, and welcomed unconsciousness.
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A few hours later, Percy came to, cocooned in moss and uncomfortable tree branches. His head thumped loudly as he sat up. Where in Hades was he? Oh, right.
He rubbed his forehead and winced a little as he looked over his shoulder to where beside him, Ginny lay in a similar state. He shifted the branches off of her to reveal a few wounds which had already begun the healing process. As for him, both his leg and shoulder had been wrapped in bandages, and a strip of fabric had been fastened around his head. A bottle of purple liquid and a few extra bandages were nestled in the knothole of a tree a few paces away. Someone had clearly helped them.The question was who? Why? And where were they?
Percy decided the best thing to do was wake Ginny. He shook her awake gently and after a few tries, she opened her eyes, sitting up groggily. As soon as she made eye contact with Percy, she was up in an instant, brushing herself off and creating a large gap between them. Her wince of pain didn't go unnoticed by him but still she gathered enough strength to glare daggers at him. "Explain. Now." It was blunt, straightforward and it wasn't a question.
Tentatively, he pushed up his sleeve to assess his shoulder wound, acting like he was far too occupied to speak. The water had healed it a little bit the last time he'd checked, but now the majority of it was just a red blotchy scar.
"I can do a mean Bat-Bogey Hex," Ginny threatened, once she realised he wasn't making any move to answer her.
"You don't have a wand," Percy reminded, choosing to pretend he knew what a Bat-Booger Hex was. "I'll explain. But you have to promise you won't tell anyone. Especially not Harry."
She regarded him uneasily, weighing her options. "Fine. Only if you promise you won't...kill me or anything."
He snorted. "I'm not going to kill you." Ginny still didn't look satisfied. "I promise," he added. Her anger simmered a little.
"You can tell me everything as we try to find our way out of here," she said firmly, looking up and pointing to the right. "I think it's that way." She waited for him to get up and take the lead before walking a few paces besides him. This also surprisingly didn't go unnoticed by him. Seeing no other choice, Percy took a deep breath and came right out with it. "I'm a demigod."
And then he spilled everything that she needed to know.
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They picked their way through the forest carefully, treading across the hard rock ground. Ginny stayed silent, pondering the new revelation. After a long period of silence, she finally spoke up. "What now?"
He stopped short. "You can't tell anyone," he pleaded. "Not yet."
"I know," she huffed. "You've said that at least three times. I still don't trust you, though."
Percy could see where she was coming from. If a sword-wielding maniac, claiming to be a descendant of the gods had just spilled his life story, he would be cautious too.
"But," she added, "Now that I know, you can't just expect me to go on living my life like normal can you?"
You're a freaking wizard. How normal could your life have been in the first place?
"What are you saying?"
"Here's what I propose. I'll keep my mouth shut, if you let me help. And in return you better not pull anything stupid."
"That's two things in exchange for one," he pointed out.
"Do you want my help or not?"
He thought about it. Ginny was a wizard; meaning she had connections. Loads of them. She'd be a valuable asset until he could figure out how to break the news to Harry, gain his trust and yada yada. "Yes," he conceded. "But why would you want to help me? Hello, suspicious demigod here!"
The question stunned her into silence. "I don't know. But you've conjured up a very detailed story and some of that's likely to be true. You can't just make up that stuff on the spot."
"So now you do trust me?" Percy was confused. Very.
"No! Look, I don't know-"
"I swear it," he broke in. " I swear it on the River Styx. I won't harm you or Harry. I won't betray your trust." Thunder shook the sky in response. "That's the big guy Zeus, up there. In the Greek world, you swear an oath on the River Styx, it's binding. If I break my oath, I will be a very dead Percy."
"So kind of like an Unbreakable Vow?"
"A what now?"
She ignored him. "Fine, I'll help you, but we've just got to give it time."
By the time they reached the castle, (it took a while because they got lost a few times) the sun had begun to climb the sky. The grey landscape above them made Hogwarts look like a haunted castle. Things were dreary and dead. As they emerged from the gnarled trees, blood soaked grass greeted them. A sliver of ice ran it's way down Percy's back. Ginny folded her arms across her chest and shivered. "Those things- the hellhounds," she corrected, "How did they get in? You said shadow travel. What is that? Hogwarts is supposed to be safe. The magical boundaries-" Her voice cracked.
"They use the shadows to teleport, I guess."
"Why didn't you say anything to McGonagall when you got here? She could have increased the castle's protection! If you weren't here, this wouldn't have happened!" she snapped, suddenly.
He flinched. "I- I didn't realise until last night. I'm sorry."
The flaming redhead's anger cooled down a little bit. "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped. Come on. Let's go find everyone."
They crossed the grass briskly, avoiding the blood until they made it to the wooden doors. They were already open as the two of them limped forwards. "The bandages," Ginny realised abruptly. "Someone helped us-"
"Ginny!" someone practically screeched with happiness. It was Harry. "You're alive! I thought they'd taken you too!" He pulled her tightly to his chest as he ran forwards. She stood still, stunned. "What do you mean? Taken me too?" Harry let go of her and saw Percy, just noticing he was there. "Did you hurt her–"
"No!" Ginny exclaimed as Percy opened his mouth. "I think they tried to take us but we escaped."
"How?"
She glanced at Percy. "Uh, Percy accidentally stabbed it in the eye with his wand when it tried to take me and then I managed to hit it with a hex."
Harry nodded at Percy. "Thanks for that."
"Oh, um sure anytime. Now what were you saying before?"
He grimaced. "None dead yet as far as we know. Just gone. They've taken at least twenty of us. Maybe more." His expression was pained. "Ginny...Neville's gone."
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{3} (there it is, see?)
Right now, as you can see I'm only updating when I feel like it...so updates will not happen very often. I have no idea when the next chapter will be. I'm trying to speed this story up and finish up. Is it obvious?
I'd kind of like to write something else...idk
okay bye for now