Secrets of Hogwarts: The Prince of Slytherin
Chapter Fourteen - Dark Thoughts
Thankfully, whatever Quirrel’s plans were, they seemed to be reserved for the end of the school year. Either that, or he was having particular difficulty getting past this beast Harry had told Annabeth about. Percy didn’t care which, so long as he didn’t have to deal with Quirrel one on one. Though, he did still have to attend Defence Against the Dark Arts, and through those, he couldn’t help but notice that Quirrel was growing thinner and paler by the day.
Percy secretly hoped he was ill, so ill, in fact, that he’d have to leave school early and never return. Gemma had said that the Defence Against the Dark Arts position was cursed, after all.
But, that would’ve been far too easy for his luck.
As it was, Quirrel was not bedridden, and not being shipped off to a hospital off the grounds. Percy did take classes as an advantage to listen in on Quirrel’s thoughts, and learned what Annabeth meant.
Behind the lengthy lectures about vampires and other dark creatures, there was a second voice in Quirrel’s mind. It was high pitched, like nails on a chalkboard, but somehow slimy and slithering like a snake all at once. It made Percy’s skin crawl. The first time he touched his necklace in Quirrel’s class and heard that voice, he nearly screamed and fell out of his chair. He barely held it back, it was a miracle, to be honest.
It was talking about him and Harry, but never at the same time, and only when Quirrel’s back was turned to him. It was like there was something in the back of Quirrel’s turban, watching him through the fabric. Percy wanted to warn Harry, but how could he explain it? On top of trying to figure that out, he had no time. As soon as Potions ended, Harry was running off after Hermione and Ron, and since they shared so few classes, Percy had no idea where Harry was for most of the week.
Then, when they weren’t busy with classes or making sure Percy was never alone with Professor Quirrel, they had to study.
10 weeks until exams, and Percy felt stupidly unprepared for everything. Even with Annabeth’s help, he was certain he wouldn’t make it into the second year with all the stress of Quirrel and that creepy voice on his mind. He was glad, though, that he didn’t have to do any of it alone. He had Piper and Annabeth at his back, for school stuff, for Quirrel-related stuff, for nightmare stuff.
Yeah, his nightmares were worse. There was a pattern though, the more anxious he was before bed, the worse the nightmare. One night he dreamt that he was dangling from a cliff, hanging over an abyss, desperately trying to pull someone up with him. It ended as his hand slipped, and he fell onto the floor of his room. Annabeth walked him to the Hospital Wing to make sure the lump on his head was nothing more than a swollen bruise.
They were on their way to potions when Draco ran up to them and started making fun of Annabeth’s braids, which had been freshly done over winter break.
“Oh, shut it, Draco.” Percy said.
“I don’t have to listen to you, just cus you’re the… Prince of Slytherin or whatever Quirrel wants to call you!” Draco crossed his arms triumphantly.
“Just leave us alone!” Annabeth said.
“You shouldn’t even be in Slytherin, either of you. You’re both so horribly untalented, I’m shocked you’re not both in lousy old Hufflepuff.” It infuriated Percy so much that he was about to tackle Draco down the stairs and take out all of his frustrations on the twerp. Unfortunately, Draco’s verbal abuse wasn’t the only thing he had planned.
The moment Percy took a step forward, Draco whipped out his wand and hexed Annabeth. He sprinted off down the stairs with a short cackle as Annabeth began whimpering. Blisters were breaking out across her cheeks and hands, tears welling in her eyes.
Thankfully, Professor Sprout happened to appear at the top of the stairs.
“What on Earth happened to you, girl?”
“Draco hexed her!” Percy said, “He ran off towards Potions-”
“Head on to class, Mr Jackson.” Professor Sprout said, “I’ll escort her to Madam Pomphrey and have a discussion with Snape once she’s all fixed up. Go on, now.” Percy hesitated. He wanted to go with Annabeth… He also wanted to turn Draco into a pile of tenderized beef. He nodded and turned to go down the stairs, “Now, now, child. Try not to cry, it’ll only hurt worse. Madam Pomphrey will make it all better.”
When he reached the Potions classroom, Draco was snickering in the corner. Percy stormed over to him, ignoring Crabbe and Goyle and grabbed him by the collar.
“MR. JACKSON!” Snape yelled, “LET HIM GO! NOW!”
“He hexed Annabeth!” Percy said, not taking his eyes off of Draco, who was trembling.
“Release him! Now!” Snape was yanking Percy off of Draco, putting himself between them. “I will deal with it. Get in your seat. NOW.”
Percy nearly snarled as he stormed around the table to sit in his usual spot. Anita was in Annabeth’s spot. One steely glare was enough to make her back off and go back to her seat beside Piper. Piper abandoned her though, switching into the spot beside Percy.
“Is she okay?” She whispered.
“Professor Sprout took her to the Hospital Wing.” Percy said quietly. “She’ll be fine.”
“I thought you were going to kill him, if I’m honest.” Piper whispered.
Percy didn’t say it, but he’d been about to do just that. As class continued, the desire to strangle someone moved from Draco to Anita. She was busy mouthing off about how Percy was doing everything wrong, or how Annabeth couldn’t handle a simple hex and was a cry baby. It took every ounce of strength, and some of Piper’s will power, to keep Percy from dumping the contents of his cauldron down Anita’s robes.
When class ended, he ran straight to the Hospital Wing instead of going to lunch. Piper was too hungry for that, and promised to steal him something later if he missed all of lunch. He didn’t plan on that happening, but he was too focused on getting to Annabeth.
She was still midway through Madam Pomphrey’s treatment, and she was very sour about it. Not that Percy blamed her at all. He promised to see her after dinner and went off to lunch. The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful, even if Percy maintained the desire to throttle Anita or Draco. Or both. Both would be nice.
Percy went back after dinner, as promised, and found Annabeth back to her usual self. Minus the smile, anyway. She looked tired, mostly, but she did crack a small grin for him when he showed up.
“Ready to go to bed?”
“Very.” She yawned, “It really does not feel like I’ve been sitting here since breakfast. It feels like I've run a marathon.”
“I nearly killed Draco.”
“WHAT!?” Annabeth shrieked as they left the Hospital Wing. “You didn’t!”
“Yeah, I did.” He smiled bashfully, “Snape had to pull me off him before I hit him.”
“Oh, gods…” Annabeth sighed, “You’re going to get yourself expelled.”
“I wasn’t thinking. Really. Though, we should definitely be thinking about what he said before he hexed you.”
“Right.” Annabeth winced, before freezing in her tracks. “Is that-”
Percy nodded. He’d heard it too. A voice. They shuffled off towards the corner of a hall, peering around the edge. Quirrel was pacing nervously outside his classroom door. Annabeth shook her head.
“We shouldn’t. He’ll see us.”
“But-”
“No. We can’t.” She whispered. “If he catches us, you’re screwed.”
“I have to.” Percy grabbed his necklace, and felt a shiver down his spine.
‘Get the boy. Now.’
“B-But master, I have no way to get him away. And I still have to fetch the Sorcerer's Stone. You won’t be strong enough without it.”
‘The prince is more important! We cannot lose him!’
“I understand, master. But we must be discreet. If we’re not, our plans will fail. I do not want to fail you again.”
Percy was so focused on Quirrel’s conversation with the voice in his head that he didn’t hear the footsteps coming up behind them, or feel Annabeth tugging on his sleeve. Not until Professor McGonagall’s smooth, cold voice broke past Quirrel’s voice.
“What are you two doing out of bed?” Percy turned slowly around to face her. She looked furious. “And spying on a teacher? What on earth were you two thinking?”
“Professor Quirrel wants to steal the Sorcerer's Stone.” Percy blurted out without thinking. Maybe it would save him… probably not.
McGonagall blinked at him. “I’m sorry, what? How do you even know about that?”
“He was just talking about it.” Percy said, “He also- He-”
“I think he only applied for the teaching position after learning Percy would be coming to Hogwarts this year, Professor.” Annabeth cut in, “In May, there was an article about his mother, and it said he would be attending Hogwarts this year. Professor Quirrel has been acting very strange and creepy around Percy, and I’m worried he-”
“I do not want to hear it.” Professor McGonagall waved a hand. Percy was almost too bewildered by what Annabeth said to hear McGonagall’s next words: “Detention for both of you. This is completely unacceptable! First, out after curfew, then spying on a teacher, and now accusing that same teacher of wrongdoing? 20 house points each. Off to bed with you. Now!”
Percy and Annabeth didn’t stick around to try and plead their case further. There was no point. They were screwed. They didn’t speak to one another, slipping off to their respective beds and hoping they’d never have to hear of it again.
