Percy
These two weeks back home were fun. Mione and I stayed at camp for a week and then with my mom, Paul, and Emma. I never realized I was that homesick until we boarded this plane to go back. I'm glad that Hermione really enjoyed everything, despite what had happened when we first got to camp. I can tell she loved New York. We went to all the places that were must sees in the city. We went to Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and Coney Island just to name a few places. I also brought her to the Empire State Building, but I knew I couldn't bring her up to Olympus. However, I did tell her all about it.
I looked to my left to see Hermione staring out the window of the plane. The plane started for the runway and before I knew it we took off. I watched in amusement as she stared out into the city lights since it was a clear night.
"So, what did you think?" I asked.
"I really enjoyed it. I'd love to come back sometime, but maybe with everyone else. I think they'd enjoy it." she replied.
"What? Don't like spending time with me alone?" I asked.
"Bloody hell, it been a nightmare. Every aching second!"
"Haha very funny. How do you think their break went?"
"I hope a safe and relaxing one. I was worried the whole time. We were so far from them and if something happened, I'd feel terrible."
"I hope they were ok too." I said remembering Chiron's warning of Voldemort gaining allies.
"What's wrong Percy?"
"Nothing. I'm just worried about them too." I didn't want to tell her now. It wasn't the right time.
"If there's something bothering you, please tell me."
"Mione, I promise." I said with an appreciative smile.
"If you say so. I'm going to try to get some rest; you should too." Hermione closed her eyes as the lights of New York became a blur in the distance.
I closed my eyes and let Morpheustake me.
~~~Line Break~~~
"Sir, ma'am, we have landed. Please wake up." said a masculine voice while tapping on my shoulder.
My eyes opened to see a man standing next to me waiting patiently.
"Sorry? What?" I asked.
"We have arrived in London." he replied.
"Oh, thank you. Sorry for not waking up." I said apologizing noting we were the only ones in here.
"Not a problem. You two must've been really tired." he said before walking away to go check on something.
"Mione wake up." I whispered into her ear.
"Hmm?" she mumbled with her eyes still closed.
"We are back in London."
"Already?" she said finally opening her eyes.
"Oh." she said after she noticed we were the only ones still here besides the crew.
"I see we woke up on time." she joked.
"I'd like to say early. C'mon let's go." I said getting up. She followed suit and walked towards the exit. We apologized to the crew on our way out. We walked to baggage claim and picked up our suitcases. We left the airport and hailed a taxi for King's Cross station.
Once we arrived at King's Cross, we paid the driver and walked into the station.
Looking at the clock we passed, "We're early. We still have some time before the Hogwart's Expressarrives."
"Yea but let's go wait at the platform. I don't want to have to deal with other people right now."
We walked to platform 9 ¾. Hermione ran in first and I followed shortly after. It was completely empty, the train wasn't here yet either.
"Let's sit down and rest. I'm still kind of tired from the plane ride." I said.
"Yea good idea, so am I."
We sat down on a bench and Hermione leaned her head onto my shoulder and I leaned my head on top of hers. Before I knew it slept crept upon me again.
"Hermione! Percy! Wake up!" screamed an all too familiar feminine voice of a certain red haired girl.
"Shut up Ginny." I said before opening my eyes.
"Hey!" she whined.
I opened my eyes and the Hogwart's Express was sitting in the station and there were more people boarding the train and what not.
"How was your holiday break?" asked Hermione.
Harry looked grim and seemed to be mad as soon as she said this.
Noticing this as well, "What's wrong Harry?" asked Hermione.
"We got attacked by Bellatrix and some Death Eaters. They tried to kidnap me. We outnumbered them, so they fled, but not before setting the Burrow ablaze." he explained.
"That's terrible! Is everyone ok?" asked Hermione.
"Oh gods. I should've been there." I said.
"Yea everything is fine. No one was seriously hurt and Harry stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault." said Lavender.
"I put you all in danger." was his only reply.
"We are here for you, mate." said Ron.
"Harry we are your friends and friends stick together. Don't carry this burden on your on. I tried doing that a couple of times before, but then I realized I couldn't do everything on my own." I said.
"Thanks."
"Enough of the gloominess Harry. Cheer up and why don't we board the train?" asked Ginny.
We walked to the usual compartment they use and sat down. A couple minutes later, Luna and Neville came.
"How was your holiday break?" Lavender asked Luna and Neville.
"It was great! Neville and I helped my father search for some more creatures. I think they got along well." said Luna.
"Yea it was fun." said Neville.
"How about you four?" he asked.
"Everything was great until the Burrow got attacked. Thankfully no one was badly injured." said Ginny.
"Oh my. I hope everything is ok now." said Neville.
"Yea we are all good." said Harry.
"And you two? How was America? How was New York, Hermione?" asked Luna.
"New York was wonderful. It was pretty there, especially during the night with all the lights. I really enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun. I hope next time we could all go together." replied Hermione.
"You guys even got matching bracelets?" asked Lavender noticing the bracelets on each of our arms. Both our right arms were the kukri and the left was the vambrace. All we had to do was will it to activate. I had decided to keep the one I took from the armory since I was good with them and no one used them. Luckily we were able to get Lady Hecate to make Hermione's vambrace and kukri into bracelets.
"Yea, pretty neat." said Hermione showing Lavender.
"Do they mean anything?" asked Harry.
"No." I said.
I saw Ginny wink in the corner of my eye. She probably knew they were something.
"Anyways, I think it would be awesome if we all went next time." said Hermione.
"Yea I think that would be nice." said Neville.
~~~Line Break~~~
The Hogwart's Expresspulled into the station and came to a stop. Everyone gathered themselves and proceeded to walk off the train. We waited patiently for the carriages to bring us to the castle. We split into two groups and boarded the carriages. As the carriage pulled into the front of the castle I saw Hagrid standing there greeting everyone.
"O Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lavender, Luna, Neville, Ginny, and Percy welcome back. How was all of your holiday break?" he asked.
He received a mix of response. As everyone walked in I waited behind.
"Hagrid, where is Dumbledore?" I asked.
"He should be in his office."
"Ok, thank you. Bye."
He nodded at me and went to attend other students.
I walked into the castle and saw everyone was waiting for me.
"What were you asking Hagrid?" asked Harry.
"Nothing important. I just wanted to know where Dumbledore was because I needed to talk to him." I replied.
"Oh ok." he said.
"Let's head to our dorms." said Ron.
"I'll drop off Luna. I'll catch up with you guys after." said Neville.
We said our goodbyes to the couple and then headed towards the Gryffindor Tower. When we arrived, Harry said the password to the painting and it let us in. There were some people already here talking about their break. They greeted us and went back to their conversations.
"I guess we'll see you three in a bit?" I asked the girls.
"Yep." said Lavender while Mione and Ginny nodded in agreement.
Harry and I followed Ron to our room to see it was the same except for any baggage we brought to school sitting in front of each of our beds. I walked over to my bed and went through it to find the sack I was looking for. I took it out.
"I'll be back. I'm going to go talk to Dumbledore. I'll see you two later." I announced.
"Mmk." said Ron looking at the bag I was holding.
"See you." answered Harry, noticing the bag as well.
I walked back downstairs saying hi to the people I walked by. I exited the Gryffindor Tower and headed towards Dumbledore's office. When I arrived in front of the statue I said the password and a spiral staircase appeared behind it. I walked up the stairs and knocked on his door.
"Come in." came from inside.
"Hello Dumbledore."
"Percy, it's good to see you. How was your visit back home? I hope you and Ms. Granger enjoyed it."
"It was good. I didn't realize I missed my family and friends so much until we had to leave. Hermione enjoyed camp and the city as well."
"It's good to hear that you two enjoyed yourselves, but I don't think you came here just to tell me that."
"Yes, I have some good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"Tell me the good first."
"The good news is that I was able to obtain extra weapons for the students." I said showing him the bag. "The bad news is that Chiron has informed me that Voldemort has allied himself with powerful allies. Lady Hecate was unable to tell who it was, but she is currently trying to find out."
"Hmmm this is troubling news. Please keep this information to yourself, don't tell anyone including Ms. Granger."
"I understand. What am I to do with this?" asked Percy placing the small bag onto Dumbledore's desk.
Dumbledore untied the bag and reached in. He pulled out a simple yet elegant celestial bronze spear.
"It's been a long time since I've held one of these." said Dumbledore reminiscing his time with Chiron.
"The other professors have already been informed about you teaching class with these." the headmaster said gesturing toward the bag.
"They didn't question why?"
"I explained to them that it would be good for the students to not be completely defenseless should they lose their wand."
"When will I begin?"
"I'll announce it tonight at dinner. Students will be handed out a new schedule and you will start tomorrow. I will be there for the first couple of classes in case some of the students give you trouble."
"Will I be teaching the first and second years as well?"
"You will be teaching them the basics. I only want them to be able to know what to do in case of an emergency. I rather they don't fight if it is not needed."
"I wouldn't want them either. Hell I rather none of them having to fight at all."
"As do I Percy. I will keep you informed if I hear anything about the Dark Lord's allies. I will inform Severus about this and see if he knows anything that could be useful."
"Also, Lady Hecate is also working on a spell that will let the other students see monsters in case there any that manage to break in."
"Thank you, hopefully she can get it done as soon as possible. I want everyone to be prepared."
"Me too and if that is all I will be leaving." I said while getting up.
"Before you leave please inform Mr. Potter that I would like to speak to him when he has the chance." said Dumbledore.
"Sure."
~~~Line Break~~~
Harry
The door to our dormitory opened and Percy walked in. He didn't have the bag he left with either, I wonder what was in it. Would it be rude to ask him?
Before I could Percy said, "Harry, Dumbledore wants to talk to you when you have the chance."
"Do you know what he wants?"
"He didn't say, he just said to tell you that he wants you to speak to him."
"Ok, thanks. I'll head over there now I guess."
"Mmk." Percy said lying down on his bed.
I got up from my bed and headed to Professor Dumbledore's office. I said hi to the people I knew. When I got to the statue that led to the stairs, I said the password and it opened up revealing the staircase. I walked up to Professor Dumbledore's office and knocked on the door before walking inside.
"Ah Harry, come we have much to discuss and it's very important." said Dumbledore putting what looked like the bag Percy had away.
"Yes professor, what is it exactly you wish to discuss?"
"Come here I must show you something" he said getting up and leading me to a something I never seen before.
"What is this?"
"This is the pensieve. It holds memories that are stored in here. I want you to watch this memory about Professor Slughorn and Tom Riddle when he was a student here."
I walked over to the pensieve and looked into it. I watched as a young Voldemort ask Professor Slughorn about a Dark Art he read about in the forbidden part of the library. He asks Professor Slughorn to explain to him what a Horcrux was and how it works. Then Professor Slughorn yells at him that he shouldn't be messing with such Dark Arts. The memory ends after that.
"That is a fake memory from Professor Slughorn. I need you to befriend him, he already has an interest in you. Maybe even ask Percy to help you as it seems he even likes Percy too. Getting the real memory is very crucial. We need to know exactly what Professor Slughorn told Tom."
"If it can lead to a way to stop Voldemort then I will do my best professor."
"Thank you my child. You may return back to your tower now."
~~~Line Break~~~
Its been about two weeks since Professor Dumbledore asked me try and get the real memory from Professor Slughorn. All of my attempts have failed and it has done nothing but make him get angry with me whenever I try to bring it up. I couldn't do anything except think of how to get Professor Slughorn to give me the real memory. Maybe I could-
"Harry! Hello Harry are you there?" said a voice with a hand waving in front of my face.
"Huh." I looked around and see everyone staring at me with Percy standing in front of me.
"Geez Harry what are you daydreaming about. I need you to focus, this could help in a life or death situation." said the sea green eyed boy.
"Sorry." I muttered. We were currently sitting in Percy's unusual class that Professor Dumbledore has let him teach to get out of some classes which annoyed Hermione that he was technically skipping classes. At first there was a split amongst the students for the class. Some thought that the class was pointless and useless while others thought Percy's reasons were valid and that he was good enough to teach considering what they've seen. Some people also thought it was weird to be learning to fight with swords, shield, spears, knives, and bows and arrows. Eventually after attending the first couple of classes everyone started liking it and there was no problem. It may also have been that Professor Dumbledore was watching the first couple of days.
"SInce you busy daydreaming, tell me who are the Big Three Gods, their names in Greek and Roman form, and what domain they control?" said Percy.
Percy has also been teaching us about Greek and Roman mythology and today was one of those days instead of a training day. He has been teaching us about the gods, monsters, etc. I guess it was interesting and something different.
"Um... uh there's Poseidon/Neptune who is the god of the sky...?" I said clearly not knowing the answer to his question.
Percy let out a sigh, "Please pay attention next time Harry. Who here can tell me the correct answers?"
I've never seen Percy so strict before. When he is teaching his class he doesn't joe around and takes it seriously, it's as if he is a completely different person.
Hermione was the only one who raised her hand and when he called on her she answered all his questions correctly. Meanwhile, I was just thankful for this being the last class of the day. When class finally finished Hermione, Ron, Neville, Lavender, and I waited behind for Percy to put away whatever he need to put away.
"Sorry about that Harry." Percy said walking over to us.
"Eh its no big deal mate." I said.
"What were you thinking about?" he asked as we walked behind everyone else back to the Gryffindor Tower.
"I was thinking of all the failed attempts I had with getting the real memory from Professor Slughorn and how I can actually get it." I said. I had told Percy about what Dumbledore requested of me and told him because he thought Percy would be able to help. Except when i told Percy about it he didn't seem to surprised, but more like he already knew.
"Oh! You know what you could do, use the Luck potion you won from his earlier this year." Percy said.
I face palmed, "Why didn't think of that. I'm such a git."
"Yea that you are."
"Hey!"
"I was joking. Anyways do you need me to come with you or do you got this?"
"I think this is something I need to do something on my own. I'll be fine, thanks for your help though."
When we got back to the Gryffindor Tower I went to go look for the Luck potion in my chest. I had to look for it for a couple of minutes because I hid it just in case someone decided to come in here and try to steal it and I had forgot where I put it.
"Here we go." I said taking it out from my chest under all my stuff.
I went down back to the common room and told the other that I would be back and that I was going to talk to Professor Slughorn. Percy gave me a thumbs up and went back to talking to the others. I left the common room and drank the potion. I instantly felt...lucky....?
I decided to go and walk to the greenhouse because I had a feeling Professor SLughorn would be there. I saw him cutting tiny arts off of the plants that are used for herbology.
"Hi professor." I said.
"Oh my.. Hello Harry." said a startled Professor Slughorn
"What are you doing here? And uh don't tell anyone about this. I just need these for potions.." he said.
"I just came to see what you were doing and of course sir."
"Well I'm finished here. Let's head back to inside now, I can't have a student wandering around by themselves outside school grounds at this time."
"I think I'm going to go see Hagrid." I said walking towards Hagrid's hut.
"Percy wait! Percy come back." said Professor Slughorn coming after me.
When I arrived at Hagrid's he was standing there with a giant dead spider.
"Hi Hagrid. What are you doing?" I asked.
"Oh hey Harry. I'm just thinking off all the good memories I had with him. He just passed" said Hagrid tearfully. (AN: I couldn't remember if the spider had a name or what kind of spider it was or if a gender was specified)
"Harry there you...oh my." said Professor Slughorn.
"Hi there Professor Slughorn." said a sad Hagrid.
"Hagrid did you kill this?" asked Professor Slughorn
"Oh no! Of course not, he was my friend. I'm just saying my last goodbyes before I bury him." responded Hagrid.
"I'm sorry for your loss....but by any chance may I take a vial of its venom? It is very rare and expensive." asked Professor Slughorn.
"Yes of course. I'm glad he could still be of use even after his death." said Hagrid.
"Good thing I carry a couple of these around with me all the time." said Professor Slughorn taking out a vial and going towards the spider and getting some of its venom.
"Thank you Hagrid...would you like me to say some words?" asked Professor Slughorn.
"That would be great."
"Although I didn't know you, I'm sure you and Hagrid were great friends. I would also like to thank you for the venom. You will not be forgotten."
"Thank you. Would the two of you like to come in?" Hagrid asked.
"Sure." I said following Hagrid into his hut.
~~~Line Break~~~
A few hours later
We spent the next couple of hours talking while Hagrid and Professor Slughorn drank. Hagrid had just fallen asleep so it was just Professor Slughorn and I.
"Professor, what was Tom Riddle like when he was a student." I asked.
"Tom, he was something else... He was one of my best students but I messed up horribly."
"Does this have to do with the horcruxes...what did you tell him?"
Sighing, he took out a vial and his wand. He extracted a memory and put it in the vial. "Here, this has everything. I still regret it." he said teary eyed.
"Thank you professor."
An hour later
I was walking back to Hogwarts because shortly after giving me the memory Slughorn fell asleep as well. I took it as it was my time to leave as both were intoxicated and fell asleep.
I walked to Professor Dumbledore's office. When I got to the statue i said the password and the stairs were revealed and I walked to his office. I knocked on the door and walked inside to see Professor Dumbledore writing something.
"Ah yes Harry?"
"I got it." I said showing him the vial.
"Come my boy." he said getting up and walking over to the Pensieve.
I opened the vial and poured the memory into the Pensieve. We looked into the Pensieve and saw what happened that night.
We watched as a young Tom Riddle ask Professor Slughorn about a Dark Art he read about in the forbidden part of the library. He asks Professor Slughorn to explain to him what a Horcrux was and how it works. Professor Slughorn asked why he was asking about said Dark Art. Tom said he was just curious and Professor Slughorn explained that it splits someone's soul and the person puts it in something they want. For them to be killed the horcrux needs to be destroyed first, he explained. Tom then asked if theoretically, if someone could split their soul seven times with six horcruxes. Professor Slughorn told him yes it could be done but anyone who would, would be crazy. Then the memory ended.
"This is as I suspected...very troubling."
"Did he split his soul that many times professor?"
"I'm afraid he may have."
"What are we going to do now then?"
"I am going to do my best to track down the rest of the horcruxes and destroy them so we can defeat Voldemort."
"Yes, Tom's diary that you stabbed with the basilisk fang was a horcrux. He also made his mother's ring a horcrux. I have destroyed it curse of being a horcrux."
"Once we destroy all the horcruxes, we will be able to kill him?"
"Yes my boy, he will become a mortal man again."
"Then we must find the remaining four horcruxes."
"I will let you know if I find anything. For now go get some rest Harry."
I did exactly what he told me to do. It's been a long day and I was tired. I got back to the dormitory and everyone was sleeping already. I didn't realize it was this late. I went to the bathroom and changed. As soon as my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.