Percy Jackson X Harry Potter

TWENTY SIX: Don't Put Sworn Enemies In A Room With Swords

Harry's POV

PSST. PERCY.

Harry watched as his brother stirred at his desk a few metres from him. What? he slurred, as his head lifted from his Intermediate Transfiguration textbook.

I had another dream, except I think I was in the same place you were the night before. He tried to remember the name. What was it again? Tart- something?

Percy sat up and regarded him. Tartarus. When I first heard about it from Annabeth, I thought she meant the fish sauce.

Smiling for a moment, he resumed. Anyway, I think You-Know-Who reached the other side of the river last night.

Oh, that- Percy let off a string of mental curses, switching from English to Greek. Harry tried not to listen too intently as he caught Σκύλα φιδιού: Snaky B*tch.

Yeah. I know. He came across these monsters down there. I think they were called - oh, I dunno, Arai or something? Yeah, that.

Never heard of them. Percy replied. I think-

'Mr Potter. Are you sure that staring through the table is going to help you revise?' Harry and Percy both jumped. Professor McGonagall was staring him down from the front of the class.

Ooooh. noted Percy. Sorry.

Harry recollected himself. 'No, professor.'

McGonagall sighed. 'And, Mr Jackson, don't think I didn't see you napping on your textbook earlier. You still have a mark on your forehead from leaning on it.' she said, without needing to look over at Percy at all.

The few students who had shifted to stare at them turned to face Percy, who did indeed have a red patch on his face.

'Sorry.' he said.

McGonagall picked up her quill and returned to the work at her desk.

Harry waited for a few seconds before bringing his attention back to Percy... who had placed his head back onto his textbook.

Talk later, then. he said.

Mhm. Percy mumbled.

* * *

Draco's POV

'Good for your first tries, you two. You can take a break.' Percy said, panting. Clutched in his hand was Riptide, his sword. He had been trying to teach him and Harry some basic skills and combat moves. Draco felt he was improving, and no longer feared he would slip and stab himself with his dagger.

Harry was doing alright, for his standards. When Percy made them spar, most of the matches ended in a draw. But sometimes Percy got them to spar him instead, one at a time. And Draco, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't get close to beating him. Draco had to give it to the guy: He was tough.

But when Harry tried, he almost managed it! The two were so in sync, it was like they could read each others' minds. They might have had training sessions beforehand or something like that.

'Thanks. Heck, this is harder than it looks.' Draco stated.

Harry held his side. 'Yep. I haven't worked so hard since Mrs Weasley made us de-gnome her garden.'

'Eh, you get used to it.' added Percy. 'Water?' Draco and Harry both accepted. He watched his companion fill three paper cups with water from the machine. Percy handed one to him and another to Harry, and they drank. 'Wow, I'm glad this room comes with a water tank. Else we'd be dying.' Percy noted, taking sips of his water.

He agreed. Percy found him and queried where they would practise as they walked to the Great Hall for Lunch. Anywhere too open in Hogwarts they had to rule out. They didn't want to risk anyone walking in on three students trying to kill each other.

And they couldn't train far from Hogwarts, as they wouldn't have the time to travel there before needing to return. They also didn't want to arouse suspicion. It would be awkward to explain three sixth years disappearing unsupervised.

But while they were walking, as if on cue, a doorway materialised from the wall. (Later research determined this as the Room of Requirement.) And when Draco pushed it open, they were greeted with everything they'd need to train.

They had agreed to meet there in their free period later that day, as long as Harry could come along. He needed to train too, and otherwise he'd be waiting for Percy by the lake to no avail. By having them both train at the same time, they'd kill two birds with one stone and it would be less work for Percy.

While the three of them spoke, Draco got the eerie feeling that something was off about the others. They talked for a bit longer, and during this he sat down and finished his water, watching the two other boys. His eyes flicked back and forth between them, and immediately he could tell they were acting strangely.

As they filled the silence of the Room of Requirement with unnecessary small talk, Percy spontaneously furrowed his brow. Harry held a blank face, but his head tilted subtly in his direction and looked at Percy.

'Draco? Umm, since you're... well, Percy and I think it's a good time to fill you in on our current situation.' Harry set down his empty cup.

He blinked. 'How so?'

Percy folded his arms. 'Just to clarify: Are you aware that You-Know-Who was killed a while ago?'

Draco nodded.

'And you're also aware that when a person dies, their soul goes to the underworld?' he nodded again. Clearing his throat, Percy continued.

'You-Know-Who was sent to Tartarus, the deepest part of the underworld. And like every other soul, he appeared down there in the clothes he died in.' Draco didn't like where this was going. 'So his wand was in his pocket.' Percy summarised.

'He is currently using this opportunity to try and return to life.' Harry took over. 'For some reason, he decided to not apparate out – or he tried to and failed. One or the other. At some point, he resorted to forming a duck floatie out of dirt and using that to float across the River– What was it?' he stared at Percy.

'Cocytus,' he said. 'The river of wailing.'

Sighing, Draco replied, 'Go on.'

'Anyways,' Harry said, 'You-Know-Who's been doing that for the past three days, and he estimated that he'll emerge from the underworld two days from now.'

'Once he's done that – this is the worst part – he'll stop at nothing to kill Harry.' Percy finished, and they shared a worried glance. 'And it's likely that Hogwarts will be targeted too.'

'He'll probably wait.' Draco muttered.

Percy and Harry both looked confused. 'What?' Percy asked him.

'My father is one of his followers, and he expects me to do the same. So I've been forced to attend a few of his Death-Eater meetings.'

'And here I was thinking that was just you.' Harry mumbled.

Draco snorted a little bit, but didn't comment. 'You-Know-Who is... deceivingly clever. He wouldn't come here straight away – despite his ego, he's still mortal. He would consider charging into Hogwarts a suicide mission.'

'Makes sense.' Percy added. 'I wouldn't try and survive a thousand wizards who all want to kill me.'

Draco nodded. 'Exactly. What he'll probably do is take some time gathering his followers and spreading the word among Death Eaters that he's alive. So we still have time to prepare for the attack.'

Percy exhaled. 'Cheerful.'