Daughter of Poseidon, the Girl Who Lived

25. Harriet the Monster Slayer

Our plan was to pass near Scylla. Our guest explained that the six headed beast was susceptible to the Stunning spell; Stupefy. He would conjure a shield of energy that prevented Scylla's heads from grabbing anything off the boat, at least for a few minutes.

The shield would weaken every time one of Scylla's head crashed into it. To slow her down as much as possible Harriet and I would try and hit her with the Stunning spell.

Severus were not going to be of much help, his seasickness was keeping him busy holding back another wave of vomit.

There was just that little problem with me and Harriet both being underage.

"I can shield you from the radar, no need to worry about the trace."

Green Clad (as I decided to call him in my head) waved me off and Harriet kept the corse towards the cliffs where Scylla was residing.

The plan actually worked out to start with. Green Clad's magical energy shield hindered Scylla from taking anyone of us and we stupefied any head that came towards us. She was put off guard and her motions slowed down.

"We might actually make it!"

As Hagrid would say: I shouldn't have said that...

In that second, Scylla seemed to regain her composure and with a particularly hard hit, shattered Green Clad's shield. He scowled at me.

"You jinxed it, child."

He conjured a pair of knives and stabbed one of the heads in the tongue as it was about to snatch him. It retreated.

I had no time to apologise as another head aimed for me. I threw myself down on the floor and rolled to the side before I became Scylla-food.

Harriet then came into my view. She held her Nimbus 2000 in her hand.

"I have an idea."

"Wait- are you going to-? You're mad!"

"Yes, I know."

She then set off. She flew in sick sack motions avoiding reptile head like I've seen her dodge bludgers on the Quidditch pitch multiple times. She flew all the way up to the ledge in the cliffs where Scylla sat and aimed with her wand.

"DIFFINDO!!"

I've heard the Severing charm can be very effective. When cast by skilled hands, it can be quite precise.

Harriet just cut Scylla's whole body in half.

The beast's body exploded into golden dust that scattered through the wind.

I watched in awe as our boat sailed past Scylla's cliffs below her. Harri landed in the sea behind us. A small tidal wave formed that drove her back to the boat, she was still completely dry when her feet touched the floor on deck. Harri beamed from shock and delight.

"Gotta admit, I didn't actually think that would work!"

She screamed in surprise when I flung my arms around her.

"Harri, that was wicked!"

"I know, right?! I can't believe I did that!"

"Yeah, remind me to never make an enemy of you."

"I think that will be entirely up to you," Harri replied to Green Clad's comment when I let go of her.

"Well, moving forward I would advise you to not take such huge risks, but I know better than to get too much hope. Risks are basically your second nature," Severus muttered from his corner of the boat.

"Now, where to go next?" I asked.

"I'd say find a relatively safe island to sail ashore on. Puker seems to be in need of a break," Green Clad advised.

"I-!" Severus was about to protest but stopped himself. "P-please don't call me 'Puker'."

Green Clad put his finger to his chin and put on a mock thinking face.

"Hm, nope, I find it funny."

While Severus debated whether it was worth it to stand his ground or not, Harriet sailed us to an island that appeared to once have been a beautiful vacation spot but was now mostly ruins.

"C.C.'s Spa and Resort," Harriet explained. "Or at least what remains of it."

"There was a resort in the Sea of Monsters?" I asked.

"Yes, ran by C.C, Circe, Hecate's daughter. But then my brother came here ten years ago, let some pirates loose, and wrecked the place."

"That sounds... harsh?"

"Well, Circe captured him and turned him into a guinea pig."

"Oh. Okay?"

Harriet turned to look at Severus, who looked to be in bad shape.

"We'll ashore on the island and rest for a few hours," she said. "I think our trickster friend is right, Severus needs a break."

She parked (or whatever the correct term is) the boat at the pier and helped Severus stand up.

"You guys go ahead and find a good spot to rest. I'll join you as soon as I've made sure all the ropes are secure."

I nodded and led Severus towards the wrecked buildings. Green Clad was striding closely behind us. One part of me wanted to tell the guy that he was more than welcome to help me with my Professor, but the logical side of my brain said that if he really was a god like I suspected, it was probably not a good idea to argue with him. And he had already helped us a lot back with Scylla.

As we walked through the remains of Circe's resort, I got an uneasy feeling of being watched. I looked around but saw nothing. I wanted to believe I was being paranoid, but my instinct said 'danger ahead!'

My feeling only got worse when an old flower pot fell from it's place. We stopped. I pushed the button on my web shooter and the handle of my sword came out. With the bronze blade in hand I got closer to investigate. The pot was too heavy for it to have fallen randomly on it's own. Something had bumped into it.

Or someone?

I was no longer sure we were alone on this island.

Turning back to my companions I saw their questioning looks. They were both ready to drag their weapons. Apparently they had drawn the same conclusion as I had. No matter who knocked down the flower pot, if they were friendly, they would probably not be spying on us like this.

I wished Harriet had been with us. I hadn't seen much of her in battle but after cutting a monster in half, I didn't doubt for even a second that she would be more than useful in a situation like this.

What was it she said about this island? Her brother had been here. Percy had been turned into a guinea pig, and in return he had released...

Something heavy hit me in the back of my head and the world went black.