Secrets of Hogwarts: The Prince of Slytherin
Chapter Sixteen - The Prince of Slytherin
After their less than safe visit to the tunnels, Annabeth refused to speak to Percy, and he didn’t blame her. Even through exams, she only addressed him as ‘Jackson’, and only during classes where they had to work together. Although, Percy was so anxious about whatever Quirrel was planning that he didn’t care all too much how Annabeth felt about him.
It was a miracle he made it through most of his exams at all. On top of his mountping dread, the written exams were dreadful. Sitting in a hot classroom, struggling to remember everything they’d been taught, and hoping the anti-cheating quills wouldn’t mistake something they did as a mistake as an intentional attempt at cheating. It was nerve wracking.
They also had practical exams, but Percy greatly preferred those. Professor McGonogall watched as they tried to turn mice into snuffboxes, something Percy did not do a good job of. His snuffbox, though it looked like it was carved from sea glass and was quite pretty, still had a tail.
Then came Potions. This was the exam he was partnered with Annabeth for, and the exam where she refused to call him by his first name. It was stiff, and awkward, but they got through with a passing Forgetfulness potion.
The night before their last exam, Percy watched Piper desperately try to cram as much information about the History of Magic into her brain as she could, alongside a plate stacked high with glazed buns. Percy was impressed by her dedication, even if she wouldn’t let him snag any of the aforementioned buns.
Of course, when Professor Binns told them to set their quills down and roll up their parchment, Piper was hyperventilating with fear. Meanwhile, everyone else cheered in relief. Percy was among them, as was Annabeth.
As they walked down to the lake, Piper was practically in tears. “I totally screwed myself! Why didn’t you just tell me to study? I mean- How could you do this to me?”
“I did!” Percy said, “You wouldn’t listen! You kept falling asleep!”
“You could have woken me up!”
“I did!” Percy laughed as they neared the water’s edge. “I tried so many times. You kept hitting me!”
“Y’know, what…” Percy nodded, “You’re right. Next year, I’ll just hit you until you wake up.”
“That’s not what I mean!” She whined, stomping her foot. “I might not even make it into next year!”
“Oh, come off it.” Annabeth puffed, “You can’t have done that badly.”
“Yes, I could have!” Piper whined, “You were no help either, Miss Chase!”
“Why you-” Annabeth growled playfully, before jumping forward and pushing Piper into the lake. She gasped, sitting up right from the water.
“You-” Piper began, hauling herself from the water. “I’m gonna kill you!”
“You better-” Percy started, but Annabeth had already taken off, giggling like a maniac with Piper at her heels. He smiled and sat down at the water’s edge, facing the lake. He crossed his ankles and laid back, eyes closed as the sun warmed his face.
They had a whole week of rest and relaxation before their results were released, and Percy planned to enjoy it. No stress, no worry, no pressure to excel in classes each and every day. He didn’t even care if he had to worry about Quirrel. 7 days of peace and quiet…
“Where’s your girlfriend?”
The peace and quiet lasted exactly 7 minutes, unfortunately, but that was just Percy’s luck.
“Off with her other girlfriend.” Percy said smoothly, covering up his laugh with a long yawn.
“Oh, you didn’t hear?” Percy tilted his head back to see Draco turning even paler than he was before. “I figured you of all people would’ve figured it out first.”
“That’s- What’s wrong with you three?” He scowled and stomped off. Percy sighed in relief and dozed off.
He woke up some time later to something landing on his stomach. He opened one eye to see the sun setting in the distance, faintly illuminating the owl that had landed on him. He groaned and sat up slightly, finding Annabeth on his right, curled into a ball under his arm, and Piper on his left, splayed out like a cat. He reached for the owl and pulled the letter from its claws. It nipped at his finger gently, not hard enough to draw blood, before fluttering off into the sunset.
He laid back down, careful not to bump Annabeth as he tore open the letter.
It was from Muriel. He hadn’t heard from her since Christmas, but, in his defence, he also hadn’t written to her. As he scanned over the letter, he felt a warm feeling bloom in his chest.
Gabe was gone. Muriel, Nico and Bianca were home, and he could come home to a safe house for the summer. He was nearly in tears when he finished it, tucking it into his robes and staring up at the gradually darkening sky.
They didn’t sleep for much longer. Percy carefully woke Piper and Annabeth and led them up to the castle for dinner, and then they trudged off to the common room. Piper took a detour on the way, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone again.
He sighed as they reached the door, “I’m sorry. About the last time we went in the passages. I didn’t… I didn’t expect an army of-”
“Please don’t say it.” She’d turned ashen, her deep brown skin seeming to lose some color at the idea of what had happened. “I- I can’t. I have a very… Bad history with… You know.”
“Okay.” Percy nodded, glancing around to make sure nobody could hear. “I get it. I just wanted to apologize for making you come with me when you didn’t want to.” She shrugged.
“It’s okay. I… I looked into some of the history of Hogwarts, the book Piper mentioned. It says there’s hundreds of tunnels throughout Hogwarts, but it doesn’t mention anything about magic walls, or apparitions that aren’t ghosts, or murals suddenly appearing. Just that they lead in and out of the school, and are hard to find.”
“So there’s nothing about the ones we found?” Percy leaned against the wall, “That doesn’t make any sense. How could no one have found them? It’s not like it was hard. All you had to do was push me into a wall.”
“Finding the right walls is the hard part.” Annabeth shrugged. “We got lucky… Lucky isn’t the word I’d use, actually.”
“Me either.” Percy said. He tried to say more, but Piper appeared on his right with 2 baskets full of sweets. A glazed bun was in her mouth, and she held up the baskets with a grin. Annabeth laughed and took one, letting Piper take the bun from her mouth.
“Curtesy of the cute boy from Hufflepuff… Turns out I didn’t need to borrow that mind-reading necklace of yours to find out if he likes me.” Piper giggled, “Who would’ve thought?”
“I could have told you the answer to that!” Annabeth swatted Piper’s shoulder, “Considering he steals sweets and snacks for you nearly every night, I’d hope he likes you.”
“Wait, that’s how you get food from the kitchens!?” Percy jogged after them as they finished the walk to the common room door. “That’s not fair! I thought you were getting them yourself!”
“It’s called charm,” Piper grinned at him and batted her eyes, “You wouldn’t understand, Perseus.”
“No, it’s called cheatin’.”
“How have I never noticed that you sound distinctly more Scottish when you’re angry?” Piper leaned in, scrunching her face at him.
“What the hell’s that s’posed to mean?” Annabeth snorted.
“I’m sorry, but she’s right.”
“No, I don’t!” Percy said, then snapped his mouth shut. He sounded like Muriel. “Shut up. It’s from my mum.”
They both cackled and turned to open the common room door, leading him inside. He sighed and shook his head, stomping over to the couch and dropping into an open seat beside Gemma. She gave the three of them curious looks.
“What’s got all of you in such a mood?”
“Percy’s Scottish!” Piper squealed.
“No, I’m not! My mum just-”
“Oh, I hear it.” Gemma grinned.
“I’m not!” Percy tried to defend himself, but the three of them just laughed at him. He folded his arms and glared at Piper as she stuffed her face with another sweet roll. Gemma reached over and snagged a handful.
“Prefect tax.” She said when Piper tried to argue, “Unless you’d rather I tell Snape on you.” Piper pouted. “And don’t feel bad about sounding Scottish, Percy. I guarantee you, the rest of us Scots are proud to be.”
Percy sighed. He hadn’t noticed the lilt to Gemma’s voice before, but she did sound a lot like Muriel. Maybe that was why he was so quick to like her. She reminded him of his mother, of home.
“Thanks.” He sighed, “But really, I don’t think I’m Scottish. I know Muriel was born in the countryside, but I dunno about my other mum.”
“Other mum?” Gemma asked, turning towards him. “You have two mums?”
“Muriel adopted him,” Annabeth said quickly. “She raised him. His other mum, Sally, she… Well… Everyone’s pretty sure she died.”
“Oh…” Gemma whispered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”
Percy shrugged, grabbing a couple of cookies from one of Piper’s baskets. “It’s fine. I never knew her, so there’s not much to miss…”
“I’m still sorry.” Gemma rested a hand on his shoulder, “If you need it, next year, you can talk to me. If you need an excuse to avoid detention, I’m sure I could find a way to help… For a price… But I’m happy to be there for you. All three of you.”
“Thank you.” Percy smiled at her, before taking a bite of his cookie.
“Hey, Gemma! Can you help me with this?”
“Yeah, coming!” She said, patting Percy on the shoulder as she stood, her sweet buns in hand.
Percy stared at his hands as he finished the cookie, nibbling slowly. He kept track of his progress in time with the fire as it slowly died. Eventually, the cookie was gone, and the fire was nothing but embers. Piper and Annabeth had fallen asleep in the arm chairs, and the other Slytherins had headed off for an early night so they could enjoy the next day. Even Gemma had gone.
For the first time since he arrived at Hogwarts, Percy felt entirely and hopelessly alone. Even with his best friends sitting so near, he felt hollow. It was wrong.
Percy got to his feet, dusting the crumbs of his trousers and headed to the door of the passageway. He knew he shouldn’t, not after last time, and not when he knew Quirrel would be coming for him soon… But he wanted to go back to the Quidditch room. He had the picture of his mother, but he wanted to go back. See her smile again, alone, where he was safely squared away and no one could sneak up on him and take a peak.
So he went in. With his wand lit, he walked the tunnels until he found the trophy room, opened up the door and turned to look at his mother’s trophy. Her photograph was still there, smiling and waving, looking as happy as any one person could.
He’d told Gemma that there wasn’t much to miss about a dead woman, but… That was a lie.
There was a lot to miss. Knowing her voice, knowing his heritage, his history, knowing what her laugh sounded like, what food and games she liked. Hearing her tell stories or tease him for little things. All the things Muriel had done. It wasn’t that he lacked the warmth, love, or comfort of a mother. He just wanted to know what he came from. Who he got all his quirks from.
The ADHD, the dyslexia, the favorite foods and favorite songs. The color of his hair, color of his eyes. His smile, the dimples at the corner of his mouth, the freckles that only came out when he was in the sun for too long. It felt wrong that he didn’t know. Like some injustice had been committed, but… He would never get rid of that feeling. That need to know, and the questions he had would never get answered.
Yes, Muriel could answer a few of them, but not all. Not the personal ones. Not the secrets.
The door to the trophy room swung open and Percy jumped, spinning around to see Annabeth and Piper coming in.
“What are you doing?” Piper hissed, “It’s so late, and Quirrel could be anywhere.”
“What- I thought you weren’t going to use the passages anymore?” He asked, and Annabeth frowned.
“We didn’t. We came through the hall.”
“That door leads to the-” he cut off when he got a look at the door. It was different from the one he’d come through. He turned around to see a blank wall to his right. That was where he’d entered from. “I’m getting really sick of this.”
“Come on, we have to get back to the common room.” Piper whispered, “Now.”
Something outside the room made them all go silent. They all faced the door, backing up to the wall. Percy reached for his necklace, listening.
‘Where is that little twerp?’
“Will you hush! If he knows we’re coming, he’ll run away, and then we’ll never catch him.”
‘God, she’s such a bitch.’
“I didn’t mean to. Now, shut up. The professor said he liked to hang out in the trophy room, so-”
The door swung open. Except, it wasn’t the one they were facing. Percy barely had a chance to turn before something hit him over the back of the head, knocking him out.
Percy woke up on the floor, head spinning and throbbing. His hands had been bound and tied and he was pushed into the side of one of the trophy cases. As he looked around, he saw Piper across from him, a dark bruise on her cheek, and Annabeth on her feet, tussling with a large girl who must’ve been a 7th year.
“Annabeth-” Percy groaned, trying to sit. A hard shoe found its way onto his side, digging into his ribs.
“Shut it, Jackson.” A hard voice hit his ears and he flinched, looking up to see the Slytherin Seeker glaring down at him. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
“Get off of him!” Annabeth screamed, before the bigger girl hit her in the face. She whimpered and crumpled to the ground, holding her face. Percy squirmed, managing to knock the boy off balance. He grabbed at his shoe and pulled, making him fall onto the ground.
“Can’t you do one thing right!?” The girl snapped, “Get up, you oaf! We need to get him to the top of the Astronomy tower before midnight, or we’ll lose our chance to get him out!”
“What about them?” The Seeker snarled, pointing at Piper as the girl tied up Annabeth’s hands.
“We’ll…” The girl started, then huffed out a breath. “How should I know?”
“They’re no use to the Dark Lord, he’ll just… Kill them. Let’s just leave them here.”
“And risk them telling a professor?” She smacked the Seeker upside the head, “Are you truly such an idiot that you can’t see them doing that? Grab the girls, I’ll deal with Jackson.”
The Seeker’s lip curled and he pulled Annabeth and Piper to their feet by the ropes around their hands. Percy pushed himself up into a sitting position.
“Wait, wait-” He said as the girl reached for his ropes, “Leave them here. Leave them here, and I won’t fight.”
“Percy, no!” Piper struggled against the Seeker, but he swatted at her head and she nearly dropped to the ground from the hit.
“Please!” Percy yelled, “Just leave them, don’t hurt them! I’ll do whatever you say, just- Don’t hurt them!”
“The Dark Lord will be furious if his little prince is hurt.” The Seeker said.
The girl looked back at the Seeker, and their eyes met for a moment. She sighed and shook her head, “Fine, your highness. But no funny business, ya hear me? If you try anything, I will come back here and torture these girls until they pass out from the pain. Understood?”
Percy gritted his teeth, but nodded.
“Tie them up better,” She said as she dragged him to his feet, “Then hurry up and meet me at the tower.”
“Got it.” The Seeker said, pushing Annabeth and Piper back down, even as they tried to fight him. Percy followed the girl out into the corridor, doing his best to keep up with her. She was all but jogging, clearly in a hurry. Every once in a while, she’d pull him behind a statue or a suit of armor to hide from a passerby. Percy was tempted to call out, ask for help, but he was worried about Annabeth and Piper. If he got saved, but this girl got away…
He couldn’t let her torture them. He’d rather die than live on knowing he’d let it happen.
They were at the base of the astronomy tower before they heard footsteps running up to them. The girl turned around and they spotted the Seeker sprinting to them, he was breathing hard, with a bright red sore on top of his head.
“They- That black girl- She-”
“Did you let them go!?” The girl shrieked. “I swear, I’m gonna kill you-”
“They knocked me out! One second, they were tied, the next she was on my back!”
“Oh, you miserable little-”
“STUPEFY!” Annabeth’s voice shouted from Percy’s left. He turned his head, but she wasn’t there. When he looked back, the girl had dropped his ropes and was on the ground, unconscious. “Catch!”
Percy threw his hands up and felt his wand slip between his fingers. The Seeker roared as Percy blindly pointed his wand at him and repeated what Annabeth said. “Stupefy!?”
The Seeker looked dumbfounded, stumbling for a few seconds before crashing to the floor and twitching. Badly.
“Come on.” Annabeth appeared in front of him rapidly pulling at his ropes, “We have to get a Professor, or a prefect- Hell, even Filch would do!”
“Where’s Piper?” Percy asked.
“She went to find Snape, but I don’t know if she’s had any luck!” She pulled the ropes off, and began tying up the girl. “I’m glad I did that right, I’ve never done it before- I don’t think you did, though.”
“I don’t even know what I did,” Percy said as she finished tying the girl and the Seeker’s hands together.
“It’s a stunning spell. Come on, we need to go. Now.”
Percy stopped asking questions. The two of them began sprinting back down to the first floor, glancing in every open door or hallway for a teacher or Filch. Somehow, they made it all the way to the Potions classroom without finding anyone.
Thankfully, as they pushed open the Potions room door, they heard Piper in the back office, desperately trying to convince Snape that she didn’t need Madam Pomphrey, she needed his help. Annabeth ran forward and threw open the door, “Professor! I found Percy-”
Snape pushed her aside and appeared in the classroom, sweeping over to Percy and looking him over. His wrists were red and sore, and there was a lump on the back of his head. His ribs ached, too, but that wasn’t visible.
“Miss Chase, get Prefect Farley. Now.” Annabeth nodded and darted out of the classroom. “Jackson, tell me exactly what happened.”
So he did. He was only halfway through when Annabeth returned with Gemma, who caught the tail end of the story, and looked positively horrified at what she heard.
“Miss Farley, escort them back to the Common Room. Do not leave their side until I return.”
“Yes, sir.” She nodded. Piper limped over to Gemma, whimpering as she stepped.
“Jackson, you said they were taking you to the Astronomy tower?”
“Yes, Professor.” Percy said, “We were at the bottom of the stairs when Annabeth showed up.”
Snape nodded and disappeared from the classroom door.
“Come on.” Gemma said, “Let’s get you all in front of the fire. I’m not letting the three of you out of my sight until Professor Snape returns.”
Percy was not going to complain about that, following Gemma to the common room. As soon as the door was sealed shut behind them, Annabeth flung her arms around his neck in a hug. He froze, stumbling backward a little.
“That was stupid!” She said, pulling back and hitting him. “So, so stupid! You don’t know what they wanted you for! What if they killed you!?”
“I don’t think they would have.” He said, “But they said that you would be. I wasn’t going to let you two-”
“She’s right.” Piper said, “That was incredibly stupid… But Annabeth, if he hadn’t done it, we wouldn’t have been able to get free and help.”
“I-” Annabeth tried, then groaned. “I want to be mad at you! Let me be mad at you!”
“Come over here, you three.” Gemma said from the fire. Annabeth shook her head at him and marched over, sitting down on the couch. Percy sat down opposite her, looking over at her as she glared at the fire. There were tears on her cheeks, tears she wiped at each time they fell. Tears she didn’t want him to see.
He felt bad, but at the same time, he wasn’t upset that he’d done it. He’d do it again, in fact, if it meant they wouldn’t get hurt. It was hours before anyone else entered the common room. In those hours, Annabeth cried herself to sleep, Piper dozed off in a ball on a chair, and Gemma covered them both with thick blankets. Percy didn’t want a blanket. He stared into the fire, bolt upright, anxiously awaiting Professor Snape’s return.
