Percy Jackson makes a fool of me
ANNABETH: I was going to kill Percy Jackson.
I had been informed today that I was supposed to tutor both Jason and Percy after classes. Of course, neither of them bothered to show up. Any moment now, Snape would be poking his greasy head into the potions room to see how the tutoring was going and I would be forced to throw them under the bus and tell him they had bailed.
After ten minutes of waiting, the door opened. Snape walked in, dragging Percy Jackson by the sleeve.
"I found Jackson in the halls. Care to explain?" Snape glared at Percy, waiting for an explanation.
Percy glanced at me for help. He had a desperate look in his eyes that said he had to tell me something. I didn't know what it was, but he seemed anxious.
"He was here," I lied.
Snape glared at me.
"What?"
"He had to go to the bathroom." I said.
"Then why do you not have any potions out?" Snape sneered.
"I was seeing what Percy knew from memory. We were going over terms."
Snape studied me for a moment then faced Percy with a look of annoyance.
"Where is Grace? I told both of you to come here after classes and get tutored!"
"He wasn't feeling well, professor. Surely, you understand that." Percy said. Him and Snape seemed to have some sort of understanding. Snape rolled his eyes.
"Get. To. Work!" He lectured. Snape left the room, the door slamming shut behind him.
"I'm so sorry!" Percy held up his hands in defense. "Jason said we shouldn't bother going since there isn't much time left for this tutoring session. I needed to talk to you about something--about what happened in defense against the dark arts today. Our boggarts, Annabeth. We need to talk about that!" Percy pleaded.
"Follow me, please. I need to show you something. It won't give us many answers, but it gave me a couple."
My stomach dropped. God, no. Percy Jackson couldn't be a part of this too. I had been denying it since the boggart incident. Still, I followed him. We did our best to dodge professors in the hallways. I hoped more than anything that Snape wouldn't check back in on the classroom to see how things were going. He would be irate to see that we had left!
"Percy, whatever it is we can talk about it in the classroom!" I protested. Still, I followed him.
"You've been having visions," he said. "You woke up this week with some power, I bet! I'm telling you this because you aren't the only one, Annabeth!"
He stopped in an empty hall. He paced back and forth a few times. The door to the room of requirement appeared before us. He glanced at me to see my reaction.
"You don't seem surprised?" He said.
I nodded.
"That's because I've been here today, Jackson." I opened the door. Percy followed me inside and we stared at the door as it vanished behind us.
"And I'm well aware that I'm not the only one who's been having visions." I sat on the floor in the center of the room. A comfortable mat appeared beneath me.
Percy leaned against the wall and crossed his arm.
"Ahead of me as always, Chase," he said. He ran his hand through his hair and messed it all up. Why did boys do that?
"What's your power?" Percy asked. "It's a common theme. The people who've been having strange visions have also woken up with strange powers."
"I don't have one," I shrugged. Percy shrugged as well.
"You're strong enough without one. People like me need an ability to make up for the fact that we lack much skill."
I stifled a laugh. Percy smirked.
"The only thing I woke up with this week was a sudden diagnosis of ADHD and Dyslexia, as well as a grey streak in my hair. A friend covered it up for me." I summarized. Percy gasped.
"You too? No way!" He pushed back his hair. Underneath was a long grey streak, much like mine. Percy's hair was just messy enough to conceal it.
"What other surprises have you discovered?" I asked.
"Let's see. I've got a grey streak, a tattoo, oh! I can also control water."
I didn't do as well at containing this laugh.
"You can control water? I'd like to see how you reacted to that." I laughed.
"Mostly denial, along with a bit of an existential crisis. Besides that, I was relatively accepting of the ability." Percy explained.
"What about you? What surprises have greeted you this week?" He asked. He seemed genuinely interested. That was strange to me since I'd always seen Percy as being rather self-centered.
"Grey hair, strange visions, apparently I've been stabbed in the back with a dagger before, and I have broken my ankle before." I summarized. I guess my week hadn't been as interesting as Percy's.
"You know, there's actually a reason I brought you here. When I was brought here earlier today, we looked at our boggarts and peered into the mirror of erised. The others and I discovered that our fears and desires weren't our own." He explained.
"Let me stop you right there, I'm not looking at my boggart again." I thought back to defense against the dark arts today. The little girl, Thalia, who had told me that whatever happened to her was my fault. The spider-woman with whom I'd had a not-so-pleasant encounter. Lastly, the boy who Percy had seen in his boggart as well, Luke. Just the thought of his golden eyes made me shudder.
"Have you looked into the mirror, though?" Percy asked.
"No," I admitted. "My group hadn't thought of doing something like that."
Percy pointed to the corner of the room. As he did so, the mirror appeared. He smiled, pleased with himself.
"This room makes me feel magical." He said.
"Percy," I reminded him. "You're a wizard."
He laughed at the wand in his hand, like he had forgotten it was there.
"True."
We walked over to the mirror cautiously. I don't know why Percy seemed so hesitant to approach it. I was only following his lead.
"What did you see in the mirror?" I asked. His face reddened.
"Something that would only happen in a different life." He said.
"That's a rather vague answer for you." I pointed out. He narrowed his eyes.
"Just look into the mirror. Your answer might just surprise you!"
"Fine," I sighed. I sat in front of the mirror and looked into its reflection. At first, all I could see was Percy and I staring back into it. Percy looked nervous. At second glance, the reflection changed.
I was sat under a large tree. Something about the tree felt powerful. There were a number of people surrounding me.
"Bah! This place is the same as when I left. I wonder, did the tree miss me as much as I missed it?" A boy said. He had a strange hat on, and he was sat in a wheelchair. "The best thing about getting within camp barriers is getting to take off my hat, stretch off my legs, and smell dinner cooking from the dining hall!" He rubbed his stomach as he threw off his hat and stood up. He had a strange posture. Wait--he had hooves, along with horns! That was more concerning than a wonky posture.
"I'm sure the plants missed you even more, Grover." I replied. Grover smiled brightly. He hugged the pine.
A girl approached him and glared.
"Don't hug my tree, Underwood. I take great offense to that." Thalia, it was the girl from my boggart. "You should be hugging me instead! Long time no see, kid." She punched him playfully in the arm.
I wasn't afraid of Thalia, I realized. I was afraid of her resenting me. I was afraid of us losing whatever friendship it was that we'd once had. One of my greatest desires was to have that friendship back with her, and with Grover...whoever he was.
"The gang's all here!" Luke entered the scene. I wasn't scared of him, I was happy to see him. His eyes were glowing with happiness and youth, rather than glowing a scary gold. He looked peaceful, almost.
"Thalia! Miss me?" Like smirked and leaned against the pine tree. Thalia rolled her eyes.
"I've sworn off men," she reminded herself. "I've sworn off men, I've sworn off men." Her and Grover walked away, approaching the camp. Luke ran after them, happy to be home.
One last person approached me under the tree.
"Ready, wise girl?" He asked. He gave me his hand and I took it.
"Of course."
We walked into camp together as the sun set. Grover was right about the smell of food from the dining hall, it was calling to me. The sweet scent of snickerdoodles filled the air, my favorite.
As we walked through the camp, I was greeted with many kind faces. They were all strangers, yet I felt more déjà vu coming on every time I saw a smiling face.
"TRAVIS, CONNOR! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" A tough looking girl ran out of some place I assumed was the bathroom. Her hair was dripping wet like she had just showered. Her hair was a bright, bubbly pink. It didn't seem to fit her personality.
"Best prank ever!" One of the boys shouted.
"Sorry, Clarisse! We thought pink would be your color!" They high-fived and ran off as the angry, pink-haired girl chased after them.
The boy who held my hand snickered to himself. That made me smile. We continued walking.
A group of people sat in a circle of chairs beckoned us over.
"I exclaimed the Romans weren't visiting until next week!" I exclaimed. A girl stood up and shook Percy's hand with a smile. She turned to me and hugged me.
"Good to see you, Annabeth!" She greeted.
"Good to see you too, Reyna. Gods, I've missed you guys." I exclaimed. Three other people wearing matching purple shirts hugged me as well. I couldn't see their faces. I only knew that two of them were boys, one having dark hair and the other a blonde. The third one was a girl, slightly shorter than me. As our hug released, I realized who she was. Her face became clearer.
"How have things been at camp?" Hazel asked. I could recognize her anywhere! She had been in my visions before, I knew it! Why did it take this long for her face to become un-blurred?
"Great, now that you're all here!" I answered. A girl ran up to the blonde boy and tackled him with a hug. She had on the same orange shirt as I did. The only thing clear about her appearance was the feather in her hair.
"Come on, we're going to miss camp fire." The boy who held my hand spoke. The scene changed. We were sat at what seemed to be a basic summer camp fire. Then again, nothing seemed particularly basic about this camp.
Everybody was singing along to a song. I didn't quite pay attention to the lyrics. It was some sort of summer camp song about a red wagon. What I did pay attention to was the group of people leading the camp in song, the oldest boy in particular. I locked eyes with Will Solace as he sang. He smiled at me, then glanced away at the boy sitting beside him. The boy was pretending to mouth along to the words. Will nudged him, encouraging him to sing. He mouthed along more enthusiastically, now. The boy's face was blurred like the others.
Why were only Hazel and Will's faces clear, I wondered. It was probably because I recognized them. I knew they were a part of this! That had to be it. Once I figured out who all of these people are, their faces would be clear in my visions and in the mirror!
My stomach dropped as I heard a voice. The boy who held my hand was singing beside me, purposely trying to be dramatically off pitch as to make me laugh. I didn't laugh as I realized who this boy was.
Percy Jackson was holding my hand.
As I realized it, his face became clear, and my suspicions were confirmed. Percy Jackson was a part of my greatest dream. My greatest desire appeared to be happiness with these people who appeared to be my friends in a place that I assumed was some sort of summer camp. Percy Jackson was a part of that dream.
"No!" I heard myself say. I pulled myself out of the mirror's spell, away from the trance it had put me in.
"What did you see?" Percy asked. Again, he looked nervous. I wondered if he had seen the same thing...
"You're ridiculous!" I spat.
"W-What?" Percy asked.
"You!" I pointed my wand at his chest. "You have been annoying me for years now! You've teased me, challenged me, and have endlessly annoyed me since the second I stepped foot into this school since my first year!"
"Annabeth, I don't know what you--" he held up his hands in surrender as I pushed my wand deeper into his chest.
"The room of requirement can give a person whatever they want! You summoned up this fake mirror just so you could mess with me. You wanted me to see the things I saw in that mirror just so I could see you as a decent person and forget about all of your endless flaws! You're such a Gryffindor, ugh! You know, I thought you asked Luna Lovegood to the ball to be a decent guy. Now I realize you're just dragging her along, just so you can humiliate her in some way like you're trying to humiliate me!"
He was trying to make me fall for him! How could I be so stupid? God, he was Percy freaking Jackson. His favorite game was playing with people's emotions.
"Annabeth, calm down! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what you saw in he mirror, okay? Can't we just talk this out--"
"No," I said. I put my wand back in my pocket. "I'm don't talking to you."
"Annabeth, wait!"
But, I didn't. I stormed out of the room, back to the Ravenclaw house. I needed a place to think. Though, it didn't take me long to come to a conclusion.
It made sense, didn't it? Percy must have overheard Will, Hazel, and I's discussions about the situation we're in. He only told me things I already knew. He had been the only other person paying attention when my boggart appeared in DADA, it had to have been him! He performed some sort of spell or something to make the boggart appear to be whatever he wanted. He had shown Luke in his boggart too, just so we could have some sort of similarity that could connect us.
He knew that Will, Hazel, and I were a part of whatever this was, so that's why their faces were clear in the mirror. He made up everything about having power over water and the stupid grey streak in his hair. I was stupid for falling for all of it!
I explained this all to Will and Hazel that night. Tonight, we were due to meet in the Ravenclaw common room since we had met in Hufflepuff all week. They stared at me as I finished my summary of what had happened, and I had finished my ranting on about the theories I had.
I only stopped talking because they both stared at me like I was speaking some foreign language.
"While your opinion is valid in this situation, and you have very right to be suspicious of Percy, I think there is a large flaw in your reasoning here." Will spoke first. Hazel nodded in agreement.
"Oh, really? And what might that be?" I asked.
"Do you really think Percy is smart enough to do all of that? This is the same guy who said he once thought hippogriffs were part hippo. I don't think he's much of a threat." Will said. Hazel laughed to herself but stopped when she realized I saw no humor in the situation.
"Oh, lighten up Annabeth!" Hazel encouraged. "You witnessed that boggart turn into something for Cho." I shuddered, thinking about seeing Cedric's body all over again.
"Obviously, the boggart was real," Hazel continued. "Additionally, you mentioned that Percy tossed you his wand and took out a sword pen when his boggart appeared!"
I remembered now. When Luke had appeared at Percy's boggart, they had a sword duel. Percy had uncapped a pen that had transformed into a sword.
"Since he threw you his wand, do you really think he could have performed any sort of magic in that time?" Hazel rationalized.
Wand-less magic was a possibility. I suppose Percy wasn't powerful enough to manage something like wand-less magic. Even somebody like Harry Potter couldn't do that.
"You're really in denial here." Will mumbled.
"In denial, what am I in denial about?" I spat.
Hazel and Will exchanged knowing looks, then laughed to themselves.
"You fancy Jackson. You're falling for him!"
"Oh, and are we just not going to talk about your relationship struggles? I suppose you would know when somebody is crushing on a guy." I teased. Will glared at me.
"Not cool, Annabeth." He started to pack his things. Hazel rolled her eyes at me.
"Will, Annabeth was only joking. What she meant was that we are worried about you, Will! Everybody has heard what people are saying about you. Whether it's true or not, we don't care. We just want to know that you're okay! I wouldn't be okay if people we're talking about me behind my back. Actually, people are talking about me behind my back thanks to Trelawney...I know how you feel! And I know you need to talk about it." Hazel said. Will sat back down and sighed heavily.
"Sorry, Will. I wasn't meaning to upset you." I said, realizing how rude I had been. "We only want to know what's happened."
Will scoffed.
"Typical. A guy lets it slip that he likes guys, and suddenly everybody is theorizing that he has a crush on a boy! If I let it slip that I fancied girls nobody would think twice about it."
"That's not what we're concerned about," Hazel explained. "We just want to know who you told so we know who to hex. It was your secret to tell, not theirs."
Will crossed his arms.
"Look, I told somebody who I thought was a friend that I just so happened to like boys. I thought I could trust that person! Suddenly, the next day, everybody in the house it talking about me behind my back.
It was obvious I shouldn't have trusted him. Suddenly, everybody is starting this rumor that I have a crush on a boy." Will complained.
"Well, do you?"
Hazel and I waited for an answer.
"Ugh! You people are impossible." His face reddened.
Hazel smiled.
"You do like somebody!" Hazel said.
"Irrelevant!" He spat.
"Who did you tell?" I repeated. "Hazel and I can take care of it."
"Frank Zhang, okay?"
I was expecting somebody more annoying in the Hufflepuff house like Ernie or Justin.
Frank Zhang would have been my last guess. I'd always thought he was a nice guy, somebody who wouldn't want to spread rumors about another soul. It was obvious that first impressions weren't always correct.
"What?" Hazel mumbled. "I thought Frank was...sweet." She said. She looked more furious than Will. Honestly, Will didn't look too upset. He only looked annoyed.
"I'm going to talk to him now, okay? Just don't worry about it. I don't need you two 'taking care' of anything. Hogwarts has enough dead bodies as it is." Will stormed out, not bothering to take his stuff with him. He probably assumed Hazel would take it for him.
Hazel glanced at me.
"He didn't really just say that, did he?" Hazel asked.
I nodded.
"I don't know what's more surprising. The fact that Will thinks we're capable of murder, or that fact that he may have just made a joke at Cedric Diggory's expense...and Myrtle's."
Hazel snickered to herself.
"Hazel! That's awful to laugh at." I said, trying to fight back a smile myself.
"No! It's just that the more surprising thing has to be the joke. The fact that you and I are capable of murder doesn't come as much of a surprise to me, to be honest."
I thought about it for a moment.
"Hazel, at the point in the conversation when you talk about being capable of murder, that's the point when I think it's safe to say it's time to go to bed."
Hazel smiled.
"Yeah, good idea. Goodnight, Annabeth!" She took her and Will's things and left in a less angry manner than Will.
I thought for a moment about what Will had said. I had been a bit rude to him, hadn't I? He was right. It wasn't fair that if I mentioned I fancied somebody, nobody would spend a moment pondering who it was. But in Will's situation, people would stop at nothing to find out the guy he fancied.
I thought about this for awhile, hoping to distract myself from thinking of Percy. Just thinking about his name would give me a worse headache than I already had from this whole mess.
***
AUTHOR'S POV
Natalie Pierce paced the ground of her dormitory. Susan Bones sat, worried about what she would make her do next. Ever since Natalie had found out that Susan fancied Hannah, she had been blackmailing her.
"You already made me spill Will's secret. Everybody knows he fancies boys now!" Susan pleaded. "I feel awful, okay? Hannah hates me now since she knows I told, and Will hates Frank now since he thinks it was Frank who let it slip! You're ruining friendships, Natalie."
"Correction, you're ruining friendships. I'm just watching from the sidelines!" Natalie exclaimed. "You mentioned that Will hates Frank now...have you heard of anybody else who despises him?"
"Will is friends with Annabeth Chase and Hazel Levesque. I'm assuming Will has told them. I believe they are in the common room right now. They went to visit Annabeth, they have just gotten back."
Natalie had forced Susan to keep tabs on Will and Frank all week. She didn't know why.
Natalie brought out her extendable ear and listened in on the conversations downstairs.
"Hey Hazel, Will." Frank's voice came through the speaker. "How are you both?"
"Cut the crap, Zhang." Hazel shot. Susan could practically hear Frank's face fall.
"What?" Frank asked.
"You told everybody in the house my secret." Will complained. "Look man, it isn't a big deal. Just own up to it and this can be over with."
"I didn't--what are you talking about?" Frank asked.
"Whatever. Hazel, I told you to let it go. Like somebody would really fess up to that." The sounds of Will's footsteps as he exited the room faded from the ear.
"What's he talking about?" Frank asked. There was a moment of silence. "Hazel?"
"You know...I thought you were a good guy. You were so kind to me, I though we were growing closer. Then you do something like that to my friend!" Hazel said.
"What? Hazel, we are growing closer! I thought we were good friends--what does Will think I did to him?" Frank asked.
"Don't act like it's just a coincidence that he told you his secret and suddenly everybody in the house knows!" Hazel said.
"Hazel, I didn't-"
"But you did," Hazel interrupted. "Will may be able to forget about it, but I don't think I can forgive you for doing that to him. Goodnight, Frank."
After the ear was silence once more, signaling that Hazel had left the room, Natalie made her move. She left Susan in the dorm and rushed downstairs to see Frank sat on the couch with his head in his hands.
"Frank! I thought I heard voices downstairs, what a pleasant surprise. Is everything okay?" She asked. Natalie took seat beside Frank.
"A lot is going on, that's all. I'm just...confused, is all." Frank said. Natalie rested her hand on top of his.
"Well, you're probably not in the mood for what I wanted to ask you. It's funny I ran into you, actually." Natalie said sweetly.
"Go ahead, my day can't possibly get worse."
"Well," Natalie smiled. "Depending on your response, it may get better." She interlocked her fingers with his.
"Would you like to go the ball with me?" She asked.
Frank was caught off guard.
"Oh, Natalie. I'm sorry...I mean--"
"Stop." She spoke.
Frank's eyes glazed over. He glanced at her and stopped speaking, as she had commanded.
"Let me rephrase: you will go to the ball with me." She commanded, putting a little more emphasis behind her tone.
"I will go to the ball with you." He repeated back to her.
"Excellent!"
Frank blinked, confused.
"Oh." He spoke.
"Excellent!" She exclaimed. Natalie pecked Frank on the cheek. "I'll be wearing a yellow dress, if you wish to match."
Natalie returned to her dorm. Susan threw down the extendable ear in horror as Natalie entered the room.
"What did you do?" Susan asked. "Are you desperate enough to use a love potion on him?"
"Oh, not a love potion," Natalie smirked. "You'll find I can be very convincing. Go back to your dorm now, Susan. I'm done with you for today."
Susan obeyed, not that she had a choice.
Natalie lay on her bed, smiling to herself. She said a silent prayer to her mother, thanking her for the assistance.