A/N: This chapter is dedicated to luna_silene for always being the first to vote! Their support for this story is greatly appreciated, and I hope they continue to enjoy it!
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I noticed that a rotation of people would start tailing me. One had a weird walking stick and guarded expression; another only wore a brown, tweed jacket while trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible; the third paid no mind to the judgmental looks at his purple clothing, billowing jacket, and fez-like cap; the fourth was a sneaky, short fellow; and the last was... indiscernible. I could tell by their fierce, yet mischievous mannerism that it was the same person, but their hair color, facial features, and outfits always changed.
Those in the quintuplet that switched out every three days (give or take) always stayed at a distance and never made a move to get any closer, so I couldn't discern specific features, but they were undoubtedly stalking us. A couple of times it was someone entirely new—like the bright redhead that looked overwhelmed by everything—but they never stayed for more than 24 hours.
I once tried to approach the tweed jacket guy casually—my excuse being to buy Harry a hot dog—but I got a weird feeling near him that sent my hairs up straight. It was a nervous itch I got when monsters were near, but unlike monsters, the guy didn't attack. In fact, he disappeared as if he could vanish in thin air.
The only person who could do something remotely similar was Nico, and I know Hades didn't have another child. Even if he did, said child would probably never wear a brown, tweed jacket. More likely a leather jacket with black clothing. Then again, Hazel would probably never choose to wear a leather jacket and only black clothing, so there goes my theory.
But one theory not disproven yet was that these guys weren't actually following me—they were following Harry.
I noticed they only popped up when I was with him and their line of vision would consistently flicker towards Harry whereas they only sometimes looked in my direction. Still, I had no idea why they'd be following my cousin. If they truly meant him harm, they could've made their move any number of times. They wouldn't know I could kick their ass, so they wouldn't have deemed me a threat. That meant they were either waiting for the absolutely perfect moment, or they were here for another reason. I just had to figure out what that reason was. And I got my answer one rainy morning.
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I was redirecting my pent-up energy from staying inside all day into drawing a starfish. You wouldn't think drawing a starfish was hard, but for someone with a complete lack of artistic skills, it was very difficult. Harry said he needed to do summer reading, so he was in his bedroom for the time being. Mom had to go into her publisher's office again and Paul was teaching summer classes, so it was just the two of us.
That was when I heard a knock on the door. Looking out of the peephole, I saw the group of people who had been following Harry with another, rougher-looking dude at the front. The new guy had long, shaggy, black hair with striking grey eyes (nowhere near as intimidating as Annabeth's, though) and pale skin, clearly marked by scars. He was covered in black and wore a brooding face.
I don't know about you, but I was always told not to answer the door for strangers. So as you can imagine, I simply walked back to my seat and continued drawing. They kept knocking on the door, which was totally rude if you ask me. And I would've been cool just ignoring it, but Harry complained.
"Percy, please shut up! I'm trying to read!" he called out from his bedroom.
I rolled my eyes and finally decided to confront my cousin's stalkers. I was twiddling Riptide in pen form as I opened the door just enough so that they could see me. I did not expect to be met with a stick in my face. And not even a good stick. Tyson would not have approved.
"Umm... can you not?" I asked, rather politely considering this man was a total stranger.
"Let us in," the man with the stick demanded. He was the one in all black.
"That's gonna be a hard pass. Please leave," I responded.
"Sirius, put that away," the tweed jacket guy ordered. "We're only here to talk."
The stick dude, apparently named Sirius, didn't listen to his friend. Instead of putting it away, he shot a beam of light at me! I dodged it easily, but my mom's lamp did not and shattered into pieces. Strong light.
"Not cool, man! My mom liked that lamp!" (That was a total lie. She hated that lamp and probably would've thanked the man for finally getting rid of it.)
"Get out of my way!" Sirius yelled as he stormed into my home.
I was not about to let this psycho just barge in with his wooden laser pointer, so I did the natural thing and judo flipped him just like Annabeth taught me. As I grabbed his outstretched arm, I also took his stick. That made the other weirdos at my door raise their sticks at me. Suffice to say, I was very confused. But I was also angry. Who were they to demand entrance and then threaten me with glowing lights that shoot out of wooden rods?!
Sirius was getting up, but before he could, I twisted his arm back and held him in a locked position with the pointy stick at his jugular.
"Put that down, boy. You don't know how to use it," said some man with a staff and odd eyeball.
"Maybe not, but it won't feel too good for a stick to be shoved into your throat, now would it?" I said as I thrust it up a little more just to make Sirius uncomfortable.
I was definitely bluffing, but they didn't need to know that. Sirius had been struggling against my grip, but I held firm and refused to relent. Holding back Piper after Travis pranked her was good practice for situations like this. I did need Jason's help, but whatever.
Seeing their apprehension, I spoke forcefully and took control of the situation. "You're all going to toss your stick things towards the right—my right, your left. Then you're going to slowly back out of my house." The last four words were clipped to emphasize how dead serious and infuriated I was.
Of course, that was the perfect moment for Harry to come out of his room to question all the ruckus he heard. His eyes enlarged to comedic proportions when he saw what was going on. Turns out he has a stick too.
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Fanfiction[Completed] Harry Potter's world turned upside down. He no longer had to spend lonely summers at the Dursley's. In fact, he would never again spend his summers at the Dursley's. But was that a good thing? It meant leaving his friends, people he cons...
