Percy Jackson and the Department of Mysteries [Book 5]

77) Happy Easter, My Little Reader Eggs

I waited in the Gryffindor common room with Ron and Hermione for Harry to arrive. Ron didn't know about our plan, but he kept glancing at us awkwardly, so I figured he knew we were up to something.

Finally, Harry climbed through the portrait hole, and Hermione's anxiousness seemed to increase tenfold.

"Here," she said worriedly, pushing a bowl of flowery smelling yellow stuff towards Harry, and he plopped down in his favorite chair, "soak your hand in that, it's a solution of strained and pickled murtlap tentacles, it should help. Percy made it for you."

Harry's look of slight fear dropped once he'd heard I made it (Hermione had tried to make him a batch previously, and it had made his hand smell like rust for several hours, or so I'd heard. I did the same stuff as her, except I put Silena's perfume in it), and he dipped his hand in the bowl. Relief washed over his face almost immediately.

"Thanks," Harry nodded at me.

"No probloma, mama," I said.

"I am not your mama."

"Sure you are. I'm your little duckling, following you around on all these weird adventures. Where you go, I go, mama."

"I still reckon you should complain about this," Ron said lowly.

"No," Harry said simply.

"McGonagall would go nuts if she knew —"

"Yeah, she probably would," Harry agreed. "And how long d'you reckon it'd take Umbridge to pass another Decree saying anyone who complains about the High Inquisitor gets sacked immediately?"

Ron opened his mouth, but closed it, frowning.

"She's an awful woman," Hermione said, her voice small. "Awful. You know, I was talking to Percy earlier... we've got to do something about her."

"I voted poison," I pouted. After hearing our Hermione's idea, I had proposed we just poison Umbridge. Would've been easier, and more enjoyable.

"Again, no... I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is, and how we're not going to learn any defense from her at all," Hermione said, glancing back at me. I sent a smile her way, but she didn't look any less nervous.

"Well, what can we do about that?" Ron yawned (that almost rhymes). "'S too late, isn't it? She got the job, she's here to stay, Fudge'll make sure of that."

"Well," Hermione started slowly. "You know, I was thinking today..." She shot a look at Harry, and now started speaking quickly, "I was thinking that — maybe the time's come when we should just — just do it ourselves."

"Do what ourselves?" Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Well — learn Defense Against the Dark Arts ourselves," Hermione said.

"Come off it," Ron groaned. "You want us to do extra work? D'you realize Harry and I are behind on homework again and it's only the second week?"

"But this is much more important than homework!" Hermione cried.

Harry and Ron shared a look, finally getting that this was something super serious.

"I didn't think there was anything in the universe more important than homework," Ron said lightly, his eyes wide with something like terror (I understood. Hermione saying something was more important than homework had nearly knocked the air out of me).

"Don't be silly, of course there is!" Hermione's eyes were bright with the same kind of ferocious light as when she talked about S.P.E.W.. "It's about preparing ourselves, like Harry and Percy said in Umbridge's first lesson, for what's waiting out there. It's about making sure we really can defend ourselves. If we don't learn anything for a whole year —"

"We can't do much by ourselves," Ron said, sounding deflated. "I mean, all right, we can go and look jinxes up in the library and try and practice them, I suppose —"

"No, I agree, we've gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books," Hermione shook her head. "We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we're going wrong."

"If you're talking about Lupin..." Harry had a line forming between his eyebrows as the conversation went on.

"No, no, I'm not talking about Lupin," Hermione said. "He's too busy with the Order and anyway, the most we could see him is during Hogsmeade weekends and that's not nearly often enough."

"Who, then?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked at me, then let out a sigh as she turned back to Harry, "Isn't it obvious? I'm talking about you, Harry. You and Percy."

Happy Easter, my friends. May you celebrate Jesus becoming a zombie and find them eggs (if you celebrate. If not, look forward to all the candy going on discount soon. I know that is what I most look forward to). Chocolate bunnies and Cadbury eggs that are trash in America 'cause Hershey sucks. Pastels decorating boiled eggs and plastic eggs shaped like butterflies. Baskets filled with little pieces of fake grass as you tackle your siblings to get to that egg because you totally saw it first. I like Easter. I generally keep my holidays separate from my religion, because honestly the holidays don't really rep the whole church thing anymore, so I just cheer over candy-filled plastic eggs. Truly an amazing thing. Also... I messed up. In Hogwarts Mystery, I had to tell Talbot something before I could Obliviate him. One of the options was that I fancy him. I figured that since he would forget it, that I would do it. Well, now my character has admitted outside of that situation that she likes Talbot. I'm sorry, Merula, but now you've got competition... because Talbot is pretty dope. I don't know what to do... I will just cry. Okay, it's been a minute since I wrote the stuff above, and I have now had a romantic scene with Talbott where we discussed whatever while looking up at the starts... it might be settled. Damn I love the both but Talbott and I are buddies, pals, and we spent time together. Merula came with me at Christmas but Talbott... he opened up for me, and admitted that I was different than the others. That means something.

Anyway, I hope you guys have had an egg-citing (I had to do at least one) Easter, and I'll see you on Tuesday CT. Love ya!