Frank Zhang amazes me, as usual
LEO: Want to know what it feels to be out of place? Try being me, a scrawny Slytherin boy, sitting in a room surrounded by Gryffindor folks who look like they lift boats on their free time. Seriously, how did Gryffindor not always win the Quidditch cup? All of the students in the house had more muscles than me, including the first years. That was just sad.
"I don't understand how you didn't get in trouble too." Percy complained, tossing a quill at me. "You were in our potions group as well, and only Jason and I got in trouble!"
Somehow, our free period on our schedules was at the same time on Mondays. We all went back to the Gryffindor common room after potions. Surprisingly, nobody else was in here.
I tossed the quill back at him. It missed him and hit Jason instead.
"Ouch, not nice!" Jason threw the quill back at me. It narrowly avoided impaling my eye.
"It's because I'm a Slytherin. A Slytherin could literally stab a Gryffindor right in front of him and Snape would punish the Gryffindor for making a mess by bleeding on the floor, and he'd make the Gryffindor clean up the mess."
"That's stupid." Jason complained.
Percy and Jason both glared at me.
"Hey, I never said it was fair! I feel bad for the other houses. I can't stand Snape, or most of the Slytherins. But I'm not about to speak up and say, "hey, Snape! These are my friends! Punish me too!" I'd be mad to do that." I pointed out.
Percy shook his head.
"I disagree. If my friends were being punished for something I was involved in I would claim full responsibility so they wouldn't get in trouble." Percy said
Jason snorted.
"I'd say screw it. I'm with Leo on this one." We both smirked.
"You two are awful friends." Percy said, disgusted.
"Oh, look at me! I'm Percy Jackson, I'm a good friend! Listen kiddos, as I explain the importance of friendship! Let's all join hands and sing!" I mocked
Jason laughed, Percy on the other hand didn't appreciate my spot-on impersonation.
"Look at me, I'm Leo Valdez," Percy fired back. "I have one good joke out of every fifty that I make! And when I laugh, I look like a constipated dwarf!"
"Not nice!" I threw the quill back at Percy.
Percy caught it and but it back down on the table.
"This isn't fair. We're mocking each other, but we haven't mocked Jason." Percy complained. Percy and I glanced at Jason. He sighed.
"Do it, if you must." He sighed.
"Hi, I'm Jason Grace! I try to push people away because I have a dark past!" Percy offered.
Jason blinked. "That wasn't funny, that was just sad."
"Ah, Leo's better at this than I am. Have anything?" Percy asked.
"I think the fact that Jason is a blonde is enough of a joke on its own. We're covered here." Percy and I snorted while Jason fought back a smile.
"You two are annoying." Jason complained. Suddenly, Jason sat up.
"Percy. Maybe you can explain the whole fire water thing you two were talking about in class? I'm at a loss." Jason suggested.
Percy and I exchanged glances. I trusted these two. Not that I had a choice to trust Percy, since he knew about my fire thing. Still, I actually sort of liked these guys. I realize they hadn't completely warmed up to me yet, but I understood.
"If you want to tell him, I'm fine with it." I shrugged. What else did I have to lose?
Percy and Jason then exchanged glances.
"Telling you Leo and I's secret would involve telling Leo our secret, Jason. Are you okay with that?"
Jason hesitated a moment before nodding.
"Not telling Leo would result in him blackmailing me since he knows the--well..." Jason stuttered.
"You mean the Mozart thing? Relax, wolfie. I'm not going to tell anybody. Like I said before, I'm not one to blackmail. You can can tell me anything. I'll make the unbreakable vow if that's what it takes to give you my trust."
I stuck out my wand. Jason and Percy winced.
"Unbreakable vows won't be necessary. I guess I kind of trust you." Jason said, that was enough for me.
Jason and Percy went first with their explanation. They explained to me how somehow strange tattoos had appeared on their arms at the start of the week. Ever since, they had been having strange dreams and odd moments of déjà vu. Percy told me about how he could see the thestrals. He wanted to take me later tonight to see if I could see them as well. Yep, I could definitely trust them. That was like my story, besides the tattoo part.
"I've been having the dreams as well. They're weird, I guess. I don't know what else to describe them as. Um...Percy, want me to tell our half of the story?" I asked.
Percy shrugged.
"Sure."
"To make a long story short, I saw Percy out by the lake. He was acting strangely, so I sort of followed him to the shack. He then proceeded to lift the water with his hands, like he was some sort of aqua-man. Following that, Percy gave me a bit of a fright. This fright caused me to unveil my secret, which caught the shack on fire for a little bit." I summarized. Jason stared at me with a blank expression.
"I'm not the best story teller. In other words, as of last week, Percy woke up one day with the ability to control water and I can suddenly make fire with my hands."
That took awhile to sink in. It was a lot for Jason, and all of us. Saying it aloud made me realize the intensity of this situation. Even I couldn't turn this into a joke.
"For the record, I'm a lot cooler than aqua-man." Percy mumbled.
Jason stared at him for a moment, then started to laugh. After a few seconds of this, Percy joined in. Then I did. Don't mind us, just three boys rolling around on the floor in laughter hoping it will drown out their thoughts.
The door to the common room opened, and we laughed even harder. Hermione Granger and Annabeth Chase walked in. They paused their conversation when they saw us.
"What in Merlin---what happened?" Annabeth asked, annoyed. Hermione and Annabeth had very similar expressions of annoyance.
"Percy's aqua-man!" I blurted out. Percy and Jason continued to roar with laughter.
"Jason's Mozart!" Percy added.
"Leo's an arsonist!" Jason shouted. We continued to laugh.
"I apologize for those two. The boys are so immature in Gryffindor house." Hermione complained.
"Since you can't apologize for me, I'll just apologize for myself!" I added. Jason, Percy, and I continued to laugh until tears were building up.
"Mental, they are." Annabeth complained. "Let's study somewhere else." The door shut as they left.
After we finally regained our ability to speak full sentences, I spoke.
"There are only two types of people who study in this school. You're either a Ravenclaw, or you're Hermione Granger."
Jason and Percy nodded in agreement.
"Did you see the look on her Annabeth's when she saw you Percy?" Jason said. "She was blushing. She likes you, that's quite obvious."
Percy gagged.
"Annabeth Chase does not like me. You think someone like me has a chance with her? You're mental, Jason." Percy shuddered, thinking about something. "Um, you know that boggart thing that happened?"
Jason nodded.
"I don't know what that was. I felt like I was in one of my visions. I knew what to say, but I didn't really know what was happening. That wasn't my fear, though. I don't know...I don't know who those people were."
I was lost. Jason and Percy took a moment to fill me in. They explained to me what had happened in Moody's when I wasn't there.
"Oh. Wow, that's...something."
"That's exactly what Annabeth and I had said!" Percy thought for a moment then turned to Jason.
"God, no. What if she's part of this to? You don't think she's also having the dreams, do you? Gosh, no. Not her!" Percy panicked.
Jason smirked.
"I told you, you like her."
"I DO NOT! It's perfectly understandable that I'm worried for her! Also, given the fact that we can't get along for anything longer than a five minute interval, we won't accomplish much if she was added to this group."
"Can I give my input on this?" I asked. Jason and Percy nodded, surprised for a second, like they had forgotten I was in the room.
"Don't tell her. Wait until she gives some other signs. We can't just approach her and overwhelm her with all of this, we can wait. That's my vote."
Jason nodded in agreement.
"That's two votes. Percy?"
Percy shook his head, disagreeing.
"No offense, Valdez, but I think Chase had a stronger head than you. Than all of us, for that matter. She's probably at the same stage as we are, confused and frustrated. Do you really want to let her go through that alone?" Percy advised.
"I still say we wait. Sorry Percy, but that's two votes to one." Jason argued.
Percy crossed his arms in defeat.
"Fine, we'll wait."
Jason, in attempt to change the subject, spoke up.
"Just so you know, you two aren't the only ones that woke up with powers recently."
"Huh, what power you got?" Percy asked, interested.
Jason stared at the quill on the table.
"Give me a moment."
Suddenly, the quill rose from the table, aiming straight at me. If I wouldn't have moved, the quill would have left a mark right between my eyes.
"Woah." Percy said.
"Woah," I agreed. "You can control quills?"
I said it to lighten the mood. It worked, both Jason and Percy laughed.
"I can control the wind. Don't ask me how or why, but I can." Jason explained. Percy and I nodded in interest.
"No fair! Jason is Mozart and super-man! I'm assuming you can fly?" I asked.
"YOU HAVE TO JOIN THE QUIDDITCH TEAM! No wonder you're such a good flyer."
Jason glared at Percy.
"I swear. If you make another comment about me joining that sport I will run down the the great hall during lunch with a microphone and announce to everybody that you have a crush on--"
"I do not have a crush on Annabeth!" Percy blushed and covered his ears with a pillow. "La la la! I can't hear you!"
Jason turned to me.
"He totally has a crush."
I nodded in agreement.
"Okay, guys. As much as I've enjoyed this oh-so-productive 'study' session, I should get back to my own house. I have at least one friend there who might be wondering where I'm at."
Jason continued to mock Percy while I left. I don't even know if they had heard what I said.
"Seeya!" Jason shouted.
"Come back later so we can know if you can see the thestrals!" Percy said.
"Okie dokie."
And I was gone. Not back to my house, but to the Hufflepuff common room. I needed to talk to Frank Zhang.
***
As I entered the common room, I ran into somebody who was leaving. Frank! Lovely, just who I wanted to see.
"Frank! I need to borrow you for a second." I locked my arm around his and forced him down the corridor with me.
"Leo, no offense, but now isn't he time!"
I let go of his arm and glared at him. He may have been a head and a half taller than me, but I didn't care.
"You stood me up the other night!" I shouted. Some girls walking nearby stopped to observe.
"Shoo! This doesn't include you." The girls scattered like bugs.
"That could have been worded better, but still! You stood me up. You told me you would meet me at the quidditch shack so we could test our powers out some more, and you left me in the dust!" Frank looked like he was about to interrupt me, but I continued. "Then again, maybe it was a good thing you didn't show up! Because you didn't show up, I sort of accidentally discovered somebody else in the same strange situation as us. Two people actually, and a possible third girl whom we hadn't officially proven is in the same situation but she is a suspect."
"What situation specifically?" Frank asked.
"What do you mean what situation? The situation! The waking up last week with miraculous superpowers situation! The having strange vision-like-dreams situation! Come on, Frank! Get with the program. Have you simply forgotten you can turn into hundreds of different animals?" I lectured.
He rolled his eyes.
"I haven't forgotten, Valdez. I've just had other things to worry about. I have prefect duties, I need to stay on top of my classes, and I have a ball to manage! I'm in charge of sorting out the music. I have to choose a mix of muggle music and wizarding music that everybody would enjoy. I've been so busy preparing everything that I haven't even gotten the chance to get myself a date, which is what I was actually on my way to do before you interrupted me."
"You don't think I'm busy too?" I put my hands on my hips. "I have a reputation to maintain as the funniest guy in the school, I can't do that when I'm stressed! You're making my job more difficult. And woah, you're asking somebody to the ball?" I asked. He scoffed.
"Yes, I am, for your information. Is it that much of a shock to you?"
I shrugged.
"Depends on who you asked whether or not I'll consider it a shock. Is she out of your league, is what I'm curious about. Your league, no offense Zhang, is a lot more limited than say, my league for example."
"Natalie Pierce." Frank answered.
"Pierce, you're asking Pierce? Really?" I asked. "Isn't she a bit too...well-known?"
"She isn't too popular for me, if that's what you're asking. She's nice! We have prefect duty together, and rumor has it she sort of fancies me."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at that. "Isn't she a bit...preppy? Preppy and peppy. Preppy isn't your type. Your type includes the shy, insecure girls who sit in the corner of the common rooms. Your type is the girl version of Jason Grace."
Frank scowled at that.
"You're so rude, honestly. Is it that surprising that someone would find me the least bit attractive?"
I laughed.
"Frankie, man! Take a joke. You're a real ladies man. You're a great dude, alright? Are you happy?"
Frank nodded.
"Alright, let's back up for a second. You mentioned that you've discovered two, possibly three people who are in our situation." Frank put air quotes around the word. "How exactly did you discover them? Wait--you didn't tell them about me, did you? You don't know if we can trust them yet at all. Leo Valdez, I swear. If you so much as mentioned my name to them I will---ugh!"
Classic Frank Zhang, too nice to even finish a simple threat.
"Relax, macho-man. I didn't tell them. And since you don't want them knowing your identity, they may not want you knowing theirs. At least, not until I'm sure we can all completely trust each other."
Frank nodded, reluctantly.
I threw my arms up in the air, frustrated.
"What's wrong now, drama queen?" Frank sighed.
"Look at me! I'm awesome, I've been doing all of this work trying to solve this stupid thing. I've found other people who could possibly help as well, other people with freaking super powers! What have you been doing in the mean time? You've been sat up in your common room thinking up ways to ask a girl to the ball. No offense Frank, but waking up with mysterious abilities is a BIT more important than some girl who's bound to forget your name in a few years time. You're just going to be one of the failed date stories she tells to her friends and husband over tea."
"Ouch," Frank mirrored me, throwing his hands up in the air. "I think you've made your point."
I crossed my arms, satisfied.
Frank's eyes lit up only a moment later.
"Actually, I do have something that may help us out. That thing, being a place that could possibly benefit us..." he thought for a moment, then locked his arm around mine and drug me down the corridor, just as I had done to him.
I let him pull me along for about five minutes before I finally decided questioned it
"What are you taking me to exactly?" I asked. Usually I was the sort of guy who went along with these sort of things. It was easier to just float down the stream of life without questions or protest. However, the wild look in Frank's eyes made life at the moment feel less like a stream, and more like some sort of dangerous rapid.
He didn't answer me. We only continued walking for another seven minutes before he finally stopped. He looked around. Once he was sure nobody was listening in, he finally faced me.
"This is the corridor, I'm sure of it."
He stared pacing, mumbling to himself.
"What exactly is happening here?"
"The stick." He said, as if that simple phrase answered all of my questions. "Remember our first encounter?"
How could I forget it? I knew what he meant now by, 'the stick.' He meant that stick that had fallen to the ground the shack. It seemed important to him. I'd given him a small, fireproof sack for it.
"Yeah, you still have it in that bag right?" I asked. I didn't know why, but it seemed like the thing needed to be protected.
"I was in this corridor when I found it." He explained. "After I discovered my, um, animal thing, I started questioning myself. I paced the halls, asking: why me? I wasn't that special. What was I worth? As I wondered that, and I paced by this wall, a door appeared. I found the stick sat on the table."
He continued mumbling to himself and walking. As he did, the wall started to rumble, ever so slightly...
"That door--that wasn't there before. Tell me I'm not the only one who sees the door." I gasped.
Frank turned towards me smugly.
"You discovered the room of requirement." I uttered. "Frank Zhang discovered the room of requirement."
"Yes, I suppose that I did."
***
Walking into the room of requirement was something I can't explain. It was opportunity, that's the only way to describe it. It was the opportunity to have any tool I wanted appear right in my hand! Man, would that be awesome?
"Woah." I mumbled.
I looked around the room with curiosity.
"I was thinking maybe this room could help us. We could think of wanting answers about ourselves, and see what the room can provide. What do you think?" Frank proposed.
I grinned.
"What do I think? Whelp, I think we should start thinking. The room is listening, after all. Let's get some answers!"