'Sup?
Holy hell I'm not dead! It's a miracle! :D
But I am seriously sorry that I haven't updated in months! What happened, you might be asking? Well, I don't want to dwell this beginning of this chapter any more than I have, so I'll tell you at the bottom.
Disclaimer: Oh, how I do so wish that I could possess the rights to these books, but alas, no soap!
3rd Person POV (Hogwarts)Snape stalked through the halls of Hogwarts, which were once filled with joy and laughter, but now only fear and tension coursed through such. It was late in the evening, and most of the students had already filed away to their dorms or were in detention, as it seemed that was where a large majority of the students spent their days now.
Snape gingerly slipped into his own office, not wanting to be spotted by the Carrows. He had enough to worry about, and the last thing he wanted was for his plan to be found out by one of those two nitwits.
By request of Dumbledore -or rather, Dumbledore's portrait- Snape was to create a replica of the Sword of Gryffindor and give it over to Bellatrix's vault when the time came.
Moonlight was the only source of light in the office. The portraits of the past head-masters all appeared to be snoozing, but Snape knew better. He knew them to be watching, waiting for something interesting to happen (and nowadays, something interesting seemed to happen every second.)
Snape crossed the room and gently opened the case containing the sword. He lifted it from its stand, and could not help but marvel for a second at the sword's beauty. True, he was a Slytherin- he had great pride in that- but even he had to admit that it was a sign of true power, even though it belong to Gryffindor. It was going to be a tough task to duplicate the sword, one that would require immense skill and time, but Snape knew he could do it, even with those nosy Carrows snooping about.
Snape took the sword over to his desk and gently set it down. He placed a short pole next to the sword, and then removed his wand from his pocket. Although Dark Magic and potions were more of his forte, he could do Transfiguration just as well.
He began to slowly move his wand over the sword and pole, chanting the spell while doing so.
Snape let his mind wander to when Dumbledore had asked him to produce a replica of the Sword of Gryffindor. He remembered asking why he had to.
"Harry will need it." The portrait had said. "For what?" Snape had asked, hoping that it would not put Lily's son into even more danger (if that was possible.) "He will know, Severus." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them. "Severus? Is something else bothering you?" That was one thing Snape always marveled at- how Dumbledore could tell that something was bothering Snape even though Snape had become a master at hiding his emotions. "Yes." Snape replied, looking up at the portrait. "That Jackson boy…" Snape had received word that the potion that he had given the Dark Lord had been tested on Percy, with strange effects. Not only had it just barely worked, but it had also blinded the poor lad (which only last for about six hours.) Snape knew the potion would not work to the degree that Voldemort wanted it to, but rather that it would have a stronger effect, much, much, later, one that he knew Voldemort would not be pleased about if found out. "Ah, yes, the demigod. How is he?" Dumbledore asked casually.
"Odd." Snape replied. His usual frown deepened. "He has been with the Malfoy's for 2 months now, and doesn't seem to know the exact plans of the Dark Lo- He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He even spent Christmas with them, seeming only the slightest of upset that he was not with his own kin. He's powerful, but childish. I fear that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will figure out how to manipulate him." "Yes, that would be horrible." Dumbledore said, his eyes still twinkling, a small smile one his lips. "But that won't happen."
Snape wanted to ask Dumbledore how he knew, but kept his mouth shut. He knew Dumbledore well enough to know that he would explain after a moment or so. "In my time, I have come across a demigod or two, and I know by all means how they are. Don't let their ADHD fool you, Severus. I'm certain that Perseus knows more than you think. Tom will try to use Perseus, that I have no doubt about. But from what you've told me about him, I don't think you have to worry too much. He is a son of Poseidon, correct?" After Severus confirmed such, Dumbledore smiled again. "Then you have no need to worry. Poseidon is a great man; I've even had the pleasure to meet him. However, he can be quite stubborn, he can't really be controlled, and, as the saying goes, like father like son."
Snape let the words soak in for a moment. As long as Voldemort didn't twist Percy's mind too much, he would be fine.
"Where should I put the real sword?" Snape asked as his thoughts mulled around.
"That, Severus, is for you to decide." Dumbledore's portrait said, "I can trust you know the best spot for it." Snape nodded thoughtfully, swiftly turned from the portrait, and exited the room.
Snape picked up the object that had once been a pole, and gently carried it over to the case. Setting the new sword inside, he let out a breathe. Just as he'd done almost a million times over the course of the past 17 or so years, he muttered "For Lily," as he quietly exited the office, beginning his pursuit of finding Harry and giving him the actual sword.
Percy's POV"Ew, what is this?" I asked, picking up a vial of slimly green liquid and swirling it. At least, it looked like a liquid, though with the chunks in it, it was hard to tell.
Draco glanced at what I was doing, and scowled at me. "Stop that! You could set off an explosion if you're not careful!"
I shrugged my shoulders, and set the vial back down. I continued to look around the room. Multitudes of vials and jars of different things were strewn about. Eyeballs peered at me from different coloured liquids. Slugs, spiders, and other sorts of animals were locked away in different sized jars- some living, others not so much. Different shades of slime decorated one wall. Draco had called this room the potion vault. I called it odd, even for my standards.
"You know, they're still trying to figure out how to punish you for freeing the goblin. Obviously the Cruciatus Curse isn't going to work, and locking you away won't do us any good either- what with your friends popping in every now and then." Draco grunted as he continued to rifle through different vials.
A light frown brushed my face. "It made no sense why he was a prisoner. I can understand why Luna is- printing lies about you guys with her father is pretty bad. And the wand maker supplying stronger wands to the other side makes sense for him being down there. But the goblin? He was innocent. It seemed as though you guys just picked him up for being different. Anyways, after four months of being here and hearing no threats from him that he was going to eat my flesh, I figured he would be fine to go." I explained, watching Draco curse to himself.
"…Right. A monster… which you set free... That makes sense."
"When you find a monster that really means no humans any harm, you probably should let them go. Imprisoning them has no purpose."
Draco let out an annoyed sigh, "You can be really stupid, you know that?"
"Yeah, I've been told that once or twice." I replied, inspecting a jar of crickets. One jumped. "But I wasn't the idiot who got himself turned into a ferret."
I gave a half glance out of the corner of my eye to see his reaction. His face was bright red.
"Y-you got yourself turned into a guinea pig, you tosser!" He sputtered angrily.
"Yeah, that kind of sucked." I said with a laugh.
Draco was quiet for a few more moments. I had forgotten (again) that Draco was not really used to light teasing. I understood why, heck, his school could have given the Furies shivers with how cruel it was. (Though, Draco had insisted that it hadn't always been so tough.)
"This is impossible!" Draco finally groaned out, throwing his hands up in the air exasperated. "There is no way that I could find the vial when only knowing its bottle shape."
Just as I was about to ask if I could help, Draco's father entered the room, looking panicked. He worriedly addressed Draco. "They think they found Potter. Not another look-a-like." Lucius said, giving a quick glance in my direction.
Without a word, Draco followed his father out of the room. I followed closely behind them, figuring that if this guy really was as powerful as they said, I might need to step in and help them.
We reached the drawing room, and Lucius and Draco both automatically sat down in the chairs in front of the marble fireplace. I awkwardly stood behind Draco's chair, not really sure of what to do.
I looked down at Draco. His skin was as pale as the marble fireplace beside him, and he looked sick to his stomach. His hands gripped the arms of the chair tight enough to rip the fabric off.
As several figure entered the room, Lucius stood from his chair. I recognised the group of Snatchers that had brought in the new prisoners and frowned. This group annoyed me just as much as the Ares' cabin, and that was saying something.
I looked over at the group of prisoners they had brought in. There were five of them in total- three boys, a girl, and Griphook. I was disdained to see Griphook had gotten himself captured again.
The first boy had bright red hair, a long nose, and freckles covering his face. He was very tall and gawky. His clothes were cleaner looking that the others, though, which suggested he had been in a home recently. I could not say the same for the others.
The second boy looked as though he had been slammed by a metal chair in the face several hundred times. His dark hair just barely covered his swollen eyes, and came down to his shoulders. He had a pair of glasses on crookedly. The girl was tied to his back.
The third boy looked as though he was a run-away, with slightly tattered clothes, but that was the most I could see of him. He was tied back-to-back with the red head.
"What is this?" Lucius drawled, putting on his fake façade of acting calm.
"They say they've got Potter," Draco's mother said, "Draco, come here."
Draco stood from his chair, turning paler if that was possible, and shuffled over to the group of prisoners. If I said I had been surprised that the guy who looked like he'd been tied to the back of a truck and driven around for miles on-end was the big threat that Draco was supposed to confirm, I'd be lying.
"Well, Draco?" His father asked, "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"
"I can't – I can't be sure," Draco said, his voice only hinting his true fear. I suppressed a smile. Even though Draco was involved with a group that tortured their enemies, he didn't seem to want to help them.
Narcissa glanced over in my direction. Her look conveyed everything she was feeling- panic, excitement, worry for her son, anxiety- everything my mom usually felt. Just looking at her gave me a wave of guilt for not being with my own mom for the past four months. I gave her a comforting smile and turned my attention back to the Snatchers.
I watched as the group squabbled over the boy who looked beaten. Lucius looked excited, Draco looked sick to his stomach, and Greyback looked bored. After a while of debating, they spun the boy around so the girl was facing them. The girl had bushy brown hair, dirty clothes, and a smart look in her eyes; much like the one Annabeth wore. I longed to hold Annabeth again just from looking at the girl.
The Snatchers and the Malfoy's continued their discussion of what to do with the new found people, until the drawing room door opened. I groaned when I realised who it was.
"What is this? What's happened, Cissy?"Bellatrix entered the room and began to circle the group of captured enemies. Bellatrix both frightened and annoyed me. She was completely mad, and seemed to believe she had some higher power that would make her more desirable to Lord Moldywarts.
She began to argue with the Snatchers and Lucius about who got to claim the honour of finding Potter, until she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes fixed onto something Greyback was holding.
I squinted and looked closely at it. My eyes took in the sword, and I let out a low whistle of impress. I wonder if it's one that could harm wizards..? I thought idly to myself. It wouldn't hurt to have a sword nearby that I could use against the enemy if ever need be.
Bellatrix began to flip. Apparently, it was a sword that could harm wizards. She removed her wand with a quick swipe and began to Stupefy the Snatchers. My eyes widened, and I wanted to call out to her to stop. What could be so important about that sword? They didn't think I would use it against them, did they?
Greyback, who was currently being humiliated by Bellatrix, admitted to finding the sword in the tent of the captives.
"Draco, move this scum outside," Bellatrix said, motioning to the unconscious men on the floor. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."
She couldn't be serious. Why should they be killed for finding the sword?
"They don't deserve to-" I began to say right as Narcissa began to say "Don't you dare speak to Draco like-"
Draco, without saying a word, followed his aunt's orders and began to drag the men out of the room. I decided to lend him a hand; the poor kid looked like he was ready to keel over any second.
We both dragged the men out of the room in silence. The only sound was our feet hitting the floor, and the gravel being pulled along with the guys. We reached the courtyard, and I frowned.
"They don't deserve to die. They did nothing wrong. All they did was find a sword" I said.
Draco let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, a sword that belongs to Aunt Bella. And it sounds like they stole it from either Snape or her vault."
"Oh." I stared down at the man at my feet. He was drooling in his forced slumber. "Still… shouldn't they get a trial or something?"
Draco shook his head, and headed back into the building. He stopped at the doorway. "Percy… how about you head back to your room?" He suggested.
I could tell, though, from his tone of voice, it wasn't really a suggestion, but rather a command. "Why?"
"It won't be smart to be about when Aunt Bella's in a rage." He explained. "You could get… oh. Right."
I smiled. "I'll be fine. I'll just stay away from her for a bit." I began to drag the men into the bushes. Hopefully they could be somewhat hidden so she wouldn't see them. (Wishful thinking, I know. Though, in this position, it was let the thieves win, or have Draco be horribly punished, and he hadn't done anything wrong.)
"I'm going to go back to the drawing room… they might need me. Just… don't come in there. Okay?"
I frowned, and turned to look at him. "What do you do to the other prisoners, Draco?"
He didn't answer me. Instead, he went inside, and I was left with three sleeping dudes as company.
_
When a half-blood's curiosity kicks in, it kicks in hard, and the temptation of finding out is too hard to resist. I began to tip-toe down the hallway to the drawing room, when I heard a blood-curdling scream. Forgetting being quiet, I took off down the hall and drew Riptide.
I came to the drawing room and cracked the door open. Bellatrix was standing above the girl with bushy hair as she twisted and contorted in pain on the floor. "Where did you get this sword?" Bellatrix was yelling at her.
Bellatrix withdrew a silver knife from inside her robes, and got down on the floor with the girl. She began to carve something into the girl's skin, and the girl began to scream.
"Stop!" I yelled, running into the room.
Bellatrix looked up from her position on the floor. The girl began to softly sob. "Get out of here, boy, if you know what's good for you!" She hissed.
I opened my mouth to argue with her, when a pair of hands emerged from me and rested themselves on my shoulders. I looked up into Lucius' face. He gave me a cold smile. "Percy… why are you out of your room?"
He then began to half-drag me back to my room, not uttering a word. He pushed me into the bland room, and shut the door behind me. I heard the lock slide into place, and I sword out loud.
I could hear the girl's screams and pleas for mercy and Bellatrix's own angry voice even from my room. Bellatrix would kill that girl if someone didn't stop her.
"HEY!" I yelled out. I got no answer. They did not care, I realised, if the girl was killed. So what if she was an enemy? She was defenseless, and there was no honour in that.
I pulled Riptide from my pocket and uncapped it. Using the handle of my sword, I began to smash the door handle. After five or six good whacks, the handle cluttered to the ground. I gave the door a solid push, and it opened with easy.
I rushed to the drawing room. No way would I let someone who seemed to have no crimes die. So what if she stole a sword? Yeah, she could be locked up, but being killed was just crazy.
When I burst through the door, I was certain I was staring at uttermost madness. I entered the room just as the chandelier fell to the floor in a glorifying explosion of chains and crystals. The chandelier fell on top of the girl with bushy hair, and Griphook, who was now holding the sword.
Draco doubled over, his hands flying to his face as blood began to pour from it.
I ran to Draco just as the first boy from before- was that Harry Potter? His face had cleared up, and it was clear that yes, it was Harry Potter. The boy reached Draco before I did, and stole three wands from Draco's grip.
The boy yelled "Stupefy!" at Greyback, and the werewolf flew though the air.
I opened my mouth, slightly stunned. Okay, so it made sense now why this guy was supposed to be a huge danger.
"Dobby!" Narcissa screamed. I spun and looked at the doorway. A small creature with huge eyes and ears trotted into the room. He was wearing mismatched clothes and socks. "You! You dropped the chandelier -?"
"You must not hurt Harry Potter!" He squealed. Narcissa's wand fell from her hand at the sound of a loud crack.
Bellatrix began to curse at him. "How dare you defy your masters?"
"Dobby has no master! Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends." The elf yelled back defiantly.
Harry seemed to take this as his cue, and he, the girl, Griphook, and the red-headed boy all rushed to the elf.Before I even knew what I was doing, my feet were in motion, and I was lunging as the snapping elf. Everything seemed to slow down. I could see the dagger flying through the air towards the elf, and the small creature beginning to disappear. I have to stop him, I thought, and threw myself at the creature. The silver knife and I reached the small form at the same time, and with the sickening sound of metal hitting flesh accompanying us, we were pulled into a dark abyss with a loud POP!
_ Well, I am deeply sorry about not updating for such a long time. I did not really forget about this story, I just kind of forgot that I kind of need to sleep as well as function with daily life. Who knew? I want to thank you guys so much for reviewing, favoriting, and following this story, even though I haven't updated in such a long time. You are all 'siriusly' supermegafoxyawesomehot. By the way, the winning option was A, so you guys will get to see Percy travel with Harry. Don't worry, Draco will still be a part of this story, but not as a Draco-travels-with-Harry-as-a-fourth-member type of story. I will update within the month, as best to my abilities. Sorry if this chapter has some spelling mistakes, I did not get a chance to check for them. I will check back later. Oh by the way, this is going to sound really odd, but I finally figured out why the weapons won't harm the wizards. Think of the meaning of the word Muggle- non-magical being. Which means a wizard is just the opposite of that- a magical human being. Their weapons cannot harm humans, even if the humans are magical. (I am so sorry if that makes no sense what so ever. I tried to have it make sense…) One more thing, I would love to change the summary of this story, since it's kind of… lacking…? If any of you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thank you!