Percy
Ch. 6
The minute Percy's feet him the ground again, he stumbled forward and fell to his knees. Harry, Hermione and Ron all jumped back as he looked ready to unload the contents of his stomach. He managed to hold his last meal down, though his face was a ghostly white that would have rivaled Malfoy's.
"That..." Percy swallowed hard. "Was intense."
"Sorry dear," Mrs. Weasley frowned. "It can be a bit overwhelming your first time."
Percy slowly stood back up, wobbling a little as he got his bearings. When he looked up, his eyes widened a little as the redheads seemed to have multiplied. He figured he'd slammed his head at some point because he was seeing two of the same person standing behind an older looking man.
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable under all their questioning looks, he made an awkward wave.
"Uh, hi. I'm, uh, Percy."
"Percy?" One of the shorter redheads asked, looking equally intrigued and offended by his name.
"Hush, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley chided. "Give the boy a minute, he just travelled by floo network for the first time in his life."
She pulled out her wand and waved it in the direction of the kitchen. The faucet turned on and a glass floated underneath, filling itself then floating over to him. He took it gingerly but then gulped down the whole glass, the nausea and dizziness disappearing as soon as the water touched his lips.
Harry cleared his throat, albeit it a little awkwardly with so many people all waiting for some kind of explanation for this new arrival.
"This is my cousin, Percy Jackson." He introduced. "He's from the states and he's just found out he's a wizard."
"And he'll be staying with us until he's goes off to school." Mrs. Weasley added.
"He's a little old to just learn he's a wizard," one of the adult redheads said, not rudely, more curiously.
"Dumbledore himself came to visit Percy," Harry explained. "I guess he went unnoticed being in the states."
The older redheaded man stepped forward. He was tall, close to six feet, with thinning red hair and bright blue eyes, just like Ron and Ginny had. He wore loose fitting robes and had smile lines under his eyes, making Percy think he smiled often. He extended his hand to Percy.
"Arthur Weasley, it's a pleasure to meet you, Percy Jackson." Percy shook his hand then turned as two older looking redheads stepped forward. "And these are my two oldest boys, Charlie and Bill."
Percy shook hands with the two adult Weasley boys, pleased to find they seemed as friendly as their parents.
Next up came a shorter redhead, his hair was curly and he stood with perfect posture. Too perfect actually, it seemed he was trying to make himself look tall, which just kind of looked weird. His face looked like it was going for a regal expression, though it came off more annoying than anything.
"And this is my son, Percy."
"Another Percy?" Percy grinned at the Weasley boy, "never met a Percy I didn't like." He extended his hand and the Weasley Percy took it, though it made Percy want to pull away when his hand felt like a wet noodle in his.
"Yes, very nice to meet you, Mr. Jackson." Percy Weasley said politely.
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Weasley." Percy said awkwardly but the redheaded Percy seemed to be quite pleased by the proper name.
If was a relief when he was pushed aside by the two boys who Percy had originally thought were one that he was seeing double of.
"And the twins, Fred and George." Mr. Weasley introduced. Percy shook their hands and didn't miss the mischievous look they exchanged as they approached him.
"Harry's cousin, eh?" One asked. "Good to meet ya." They both said in perfect sync with each other, which was oddly humorous.
"Care for a toffee?" The first one smiled, holding out a piece of candy in a gold and silver wrapper.
"They're pretty good," his twin added, nodded his head encouragingly.
Percy took the candy, though he had no plans to eat it. He'd seen that look enough from the Stoll brothers to recognize a prank being pulled. He just smiled appreciatively, "Thanks," he tucked it into his pocket.
"And you've met my daughter, Ginny." Mr. Weasley gestured to the twelve or thirteen year old redheaded girl standing beside her mother. "And of course, that leaves Ronald."
"Gee, thanks Dad." Ron rolled his eyes.
"Well," Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands now that Percy had been introduced to the whole Weasley clan. "Why don't you, Harry and Hermione show Percy the house while I make dinner? He'll be sleeping with you and Harry tonight. After his tour, come back down, you can help us set up the table outside. It's a perfect evening to eat outside." She nodded to Ron who gestured for Percy to follow him, Harry and Hermione towards the stairs.
"And don't take all day, Ronald Weasley." Mrs. Weasley warned. "It's a tour, not a free pass for you to lounge around until the food's ready!"
Ron gave him mom a silent thumbs up as he started up the steps with Percy behind him and Harry and Hermione trailing up the rear.
Percy followed Ron up the oddly designed stairs. Rather than go right up, they sort of circled their way up with different rooms laid haphazardly off the staircase as they ascended. He couldn't be sure, but Percy thought they must have been on the fifth floor when Ron pushed open the door and announced they'd reached his room.
"Dude," Percy shook his head. "Your house is big. Are we on the fifth floor?"
Ron laughed, "Yeah, well mum and dad have had to add rooms as they had more kids. Ginny's on the first floor since she's a girl and I'm all the way up here, being the youngest boy."
Percy just shook his head. He had tried to imagine what this house looked like. They were on the fifth floor but other than the first floor, the rest of the floors were maybe a third as big, making him wish he'd seen the house from the outside. It must have just had a big skinny tower protruding from the first floor.
Ron led them inside and plopped down on a couch in the side of the small room. Percy looked around then froze and stared amazed at all the strange posters adorning the walls. They were of people riding broomsticks, which was a little surprising itself, though not nearly as surprising as the fact that they were moving!
Percy approached one of the posters and slowly touched it with his finger, jumping back when he was positive the guy riding the broomstick turned and gave him a dirty look.
"They're enchanted," Harry was trying not to laugh at him. "And those are quidditch players."
Percy turned and noticed that all three were trying not to laugh at his amazement. He gave them a steely glare that actually wiped the smiles off their faces, something that made him smirk triumphantly.
Percy sat down at the edge of Ron's bed, feeling relaxed for the first time all day. The Weasley house was cluttered and very oddly built but it had a very comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. Though he'd just met them, he felt oddly accepted by them already, something that he was really grateful for. The whole family seemed really friendly and despite all the magical stuff, they had the kind of down to earth personality that reminded him of his mom.
At the thought of his mom, he frowned. Everything had happened so quickly, he'd just agreed to join some weird magic school without even thinking that his mom expected him back in a few months. He looked around for a fountain, thinking of sending her an Iris Message but then remembered that no one here knew he was a demigod.
That was going to complicate things.
He wasn't really sure he wanted to tell them about that part of his life though. Things were already weird enough and bringing the whole world of Greek Mythology into it would just make it crazier. He was tempted to tell Harry, though he decided to wait until the time was right. Plus, he needed to have some words with that Dumbledore guy. He had a lot more questions now that the shock of the whole wizards and magic was wearing off.
He was broken from his thoughts when he felt something hard in his pocket, much bigger than Riptide. He looked down and realized with a start that it was his wand. He pulled it out and held it in front of him, that odd feeling of connection to it returning again.
"How's it feel?" Harry asked, watching the way he stared at his wand.
"I dunno. It's weird."
"Weird?" Ron asked.
"Yeah," Percy kept his eyes on the wand. "I dunno, just like a connection. It's hard to explain."
Harry chuckled, "That's how you know it's your wand. It's not odd."
"What's it made of?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Palm and pegasus tail hair." Harry answered for him.
"What?" Ron asked giving him an odd look. "I've never heard of a wand made of either of those."
"Yeah, Ollivander said it was a really rare wand." Harry commented, still eyeing it with curiosity.
"Does it even work?" Ron asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Percy narrowed his eyes, finding himself surprisingly offended by his comment, "I dunno. You're the magic experts. This is new to me; it just started to glow when I picked it up. I don't know how to work this thing."
"Well, you're not allowed to perform magic outside of school until you're seventeen but there are a few small spells that don't count." Hermione offered. "Try the spell, Lumos." She pulled out her own wand and gave it a flick and muttered the incantation, the tip of her wand glowing brightly.
Percy stared at her wand for a long minute, the logical part of his mind was looking for the source of the light, though he found none. He looked down at his wand skeptically and then flicked it like Hermione had, "Lumos," he muttered.
Nothing happened.
"Looks like rubbish to me." Ron laughed, making Percy scowl at him.
"Shut up Ron," Hermione said annoyed. "You have to focus, Percy. When you speak the spell, just imagine you're channeling your words through the wand."
"I still think that Dumbledore guy made a mistake, I feel like I'd know if I was a wizard." Percy said shaking his head.
"Professor Dumbledore doesn't make mistakes," Harry said quickly, sounding very protective of the old wizard. "If he says you're a wizard, you're a wizard. Besides, if you weren't, you wouldn't have found a wand or been able to claim your vault at Gringotts."
"Right," Percy said tiredly. "Or, I'm hallucinating from the poison Petunia claimed was meatloaf."
Harry grimaced at the thought of that meatloaf then pushed the bad memory from his mind, "Try again. Listen to Hermione and focus when you speak."
Percy looked down at his wand again and focused on the word in his mind. He flicked it again, "Lumos!" He said more firmly.
The tip of his wand lit up, albeit not as brightly as Hermione's, making his eyes go wide.
"See," Hermione said shooting Ron a look. "If I remember right, Ron, you weren't exactly a natural your first year."
Percy stared mesmerized by the glowing tip of his wand. He felt a strange sensation run through him when he spoke the spell, like he could almost feel the magic being produced.
"This is kinda awesome." He grinned.
"To put it out, just use the spell, Nox." Hermione explained as the light at the end of her wand vanished. Percy did the same but failed the first time. He had to focus hard before he succeeded in turning the light off.
"Like anything, the more you practice, the easier it will become." Hermione added.
Percy smiled at her, "Thank you."
Hermione's face became a little red, something that made Harry want to laugh, though Ron noticed as well and didn't seem nearly as amused, even if it was obvious Percy had just been being polite.
"RONNNNNNNNALDDDD!" The voice of Mrs. Weasley seemed to echo through the house, reverberating through Ron's small room and making them all turn a little pale. The Weasley matriarch seemed to have a strange ability to be both terrifying and a sweetheart at the same time.
"Okay, tour's over. Let's go help mum before she sends Ginny or even worse, Percy, up to get us." Ron said getting up with a groan.
Despite having just met Percy Weasley, Percy could tell he wasn't really the kind of guy you wanted coming to give you any kind of order. He wasn't scary by any means, but he had that do gooder aspect to him that made you want to punch him in his know-it-all face.
Not that Percy Jackson would ever do something like that...
After helping the rest of the Weasley's set up a couple tables in the yard and then helping Mrs. Weasley set the table with all the food and utensils, Percy found himself sitting between Harry and Hermione, The table was set up in the back yard under the comfortable late afternoon sun. Percy almost laughed at the ridiculousness of his life as he watched objects flying back and forth between the elder Weasley brothers.
This had not been the escape from the supernatural aspect of his life that his mom had had in mind.
Seeing the Weasley home from the outside just boggled his mind further. The place looked like a chicken coop that had had several homemade additions added on over the years. Percy counted five different chimneys and the place had to be have been held together with magic, otherwise the slightly slanted additions would surely have collapsed. But despite it's odd appearance, Percy could only smile at how strangely at ease he felt there.
Then there was the food.
Percy hadn't had any ambrosia and nectar in the past few weeks, though he had packed some just in case, but Mrs. Weasley's cooking had to have used some in the ingredients. It was incredible. He wouldn't put it above his own mom's, but it was right up there. And after Aunt Petunia's meatloaf, well, this was a little slice of Elysium. Percy stuffed himself full of chicken-and-ham pie, boiled potatoes and salad. Then there were the pies and cakes. A month of this cooking and Percy was sure he'd be shopping for a new, plus sized, wardrobe.
As the meal winded down and people jostled for the last of the cakes, Percy looked down at the one on his plate, debating whether one more would pop the button on his jeans.
"You gonna eat that, mate?" One of the twins, Fred, he thought, asked with a mouth full of cake but envy in his eyes.
"Fred!" Mrs. Weasley scolded. "You've had plenty! Let the poor boy eat his cake!"
Percy fidgeted in his seat then smiled and cut the cake in half. He scooped up half under his fork, using his hand to steady it and offered it to Fred.
"Percy," Mrs. Weasley apologized. "You don't have to give it to him."
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." He said politely, "but honestly, if I eat one more of your amazing cakes, then Harry's going to need a wheelbarrow to get me to school."
She smiled, looking pleased by the compliment on her cooking prowess. Then she frowned as she watched Fred inhale the piece of cake in one large bite, barely seeming to chew before he swallowed it down.
She opened her mouth to chide him for it then her eyes widened a little. Fred mirrored her expression as he suddenly stood up from the table, knocking over his chair in the process. He clawed at his mouth looking panicked as his mouth opened and his tongue, already twice its normal size, forced its way out of his mouth.
"Uhahh! Ummhhahhhh!" He babbled, his words lost behind his oversized and growing tongue. He reached for his pocket but George grabbed his wand from him before he could use it, jumping away and howling with laughter. The entire table, minus Percy and Mrs. Weasley were laughing at Fred who was stumbling around, trying to find his twin and his wand and also trying to speak through his enormous and still growing tongue.
"What are you doing, Fred?!" Mrs. Weasley demanded. Even Mr. Weasley was laughing, though he was trying not to show it in front of his wife.
Finally Mr. Weasley got up and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at Fred and spoke a quiet incantation. A white light shot from his wand and hit Fred right in his engorged tongue. In a matter of seconds, his tongue shrunk back down to its normal size, his face now covered with a healthy amount of his own saliva.
As soon as he got his bearings, he pointed at Percy accusingly and all eyes turned to him.
"You sneaky little git!" Fred accused
Percy, who was staring wide eyed, completely baffled by what had just happened, "What? I didn't..." He didn't even know what to say.
"You slipped me a toffee!" Fred scowled.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowed but not at Percy, instead sending an icy glare at Fred and then at George.
"What? I told you both to destroy those silly creations!"
"We did!" George protested but abandoned his attempt at denial when his mother's glare intensified. "Okay, maybe we gave one to Percy earlier." Then he turned to Percy with a slightly impressed look, "How did you know?"
Percy glanced at Mrs. Weasley, still confused before he felt embarrassed, "I'm so sorry. I just saw them laughing when they gave it to me earlier." He was nervous, not noticing the huge smiles the rest of the table had. "I thought it was just a joke candy, like dirt flavored or something."
Mrs. Weasley turned to the twins, George was grinning at Percy while Fred looked both annoyed and impressed at the same time.
"Serves you right! I told you two that I would have no more of your foolish candies or pranks in my house! Since you didn't listen before, then you can work of your listening skills when you clean up everything from dinner, by yourselves! With no magic!"
Fred and Geroge's mouths opened but they closed them after the look their mom gave them, resigning themselves to their punishment. Fred shot Percy a look, "It's on, now!"
Percy was too confused and embarrassed to even respond.
"Get to work. This mess will take awhile!" Mrs. Weasley snapped and the twins both scowled and started clearing the plates from the table. "And Percy, nothing to apologize for, my dear. I'm sorry my foolish sons tried to do that to you. They should know better!"
Percy frowned, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean mess up your dinner."
"Mess it up?" Charlie laughed. "Please mate, that was brilliant!"
The rest of the table, sans Fred and George, all quickly agreed.
"Mum," Ron asked after a minute. "What's Percy gonna do tomorrow? I mean," he looked at Percy apologetically, "during the World Cup?"
Percy raised an eyebrow, not sure what he was talking about.
"Actually," Mr. Weasley cut in. "I was about to mention that. I managed to get another ticket, thanks to Percy himself, actually."
"What?" Percy asked confused.
"Well," Mr. Weasley smiled. "Using some of the money you snuck Ginny, Ludo Bagman was able to procure an extra seat for you with the rest of us. So Percy, tomorrow morning, you'll be joining us for the Quidditch World Cup."
Percy was still confused but he smiled at the thought of going to the World Cup of anything, even a sport he didn't know anything about.
Mr. Weasley pulled the pouch from his pocket and tossed it to Percy, "Ginny here was so pleased with your nice gesture, she asked if I could use the money to find you a ticket as well."
Percy caught it and then smiled at the small girl who's freckled face turned a deep shade of red.
"Alright," Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands. "Why don't we let Fred and George get to work? Ron and Harry can help Percy get settled in and ready for tomorrow. And early to bed for all of you, you're leaving in the middle of the night."
A.N: It's a little short, I had planned on writing more but I've been battling the stomach flu since Friday and haven't had the energy to write anything, though I'm feeling better now. This seems like an okay place to end it anyway, although not much happened. Let me know what you thought, I'm trying to portray Percy as best I can but it's hard throwing him into this new world. I'll find it soon enough and of course, he won't be RR Percy, he'll be the Percy I write.. Which is same as RR's, minus the sand in his vagina and PG rating.