The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 135 - Percy - A Letter from Percy

"I haven't got time to listen to a sermon, all right, Hermione, I'm up to my neck in it here--" Ron was saying as we entered the room, cracking our necks, tired from the grand discussion we'd just had with Annabeth, Will, Nico and Jason. 

"No--look!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing to the nearest window. Harry and Ron both looked over. A handsome screech owl was standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room at Ron. "Isn't that Hermes?"

Hermes, I thought. Good name for an owl.

"Oh, hello," Hermione said as Alex and I crashed down on the big squashy armchairs. "Good class?"

"Yeah," Alex breathed. "It was fun."

"What's Percy writing to me for?" Ron asked, taking the owl in his arms.

"How could Potions ever be fun?" Harry frowned.

"It can be if you really put your heart into it, Potter," I said. "But it's way more exhausting than transfiguration, I can tell you that."

"Oh, I'll see what you say when you have to color your hair pink," Jason said, trying to hide the streaks of green and pink that jutted out between his blonde hair.

Ron took the letter off Hermes and the owl departed at once, leaving inky footprints across Ron's drawing of the moon Io.

"That's definitely Percy's handwriting," said Ron, sinking back into his chair and staring at the words on the outside of the scroll: Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor House, Hogwarts. He looked up at us. "What d'you reckon?"

"Open it!" said Hermione eagerly, and Harry nodded. Ron looked to Jason.

"Well, I don't know about the other Percy, man," Jason replied, grinning. "Go ahead, let's listen to what he has to say."

Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. The further clown the parchment his eyes travelled, the more pronounced became his scowl. When he had finished reading, he looked disgusted. He thrust the letter at us, and we leaned against each other to read it together:

Dear Ron,

I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister for Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.

I was most pleasantly surprised when f heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the 'Fred and George' route, rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility.

But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully, you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions.

From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternisation with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this-- no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favourite--but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different--and probably more accurate--view of Potter's behaviour. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing--and see if you can spot yours truly!

Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking here about life after school, too. As you must be aware, given that our father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got off on a mere technicality, if you ask me, and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt.

It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter--I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent--but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in Potter's behaviour that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a truly delightful woman who I know will be only too happy to advise you.

This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that, so far, Professor Umbridge is encountering very little co-operation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Ministry so ardently desires (although she should find this easier from next week-- again, see the Daily Prophet tomorrow!). I shall say only this--a student who shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now may be very well-placed for Head Boyship in a couple of years!

I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticise our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore. (If you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders. ) I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people--the Minister really could not be more gracious to me--and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions, either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realise how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.

Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.

Your brother,

Percy

Alex scoffed. "What disgrace to the name Perseus."

I nodded. "He sure seems like one hell of a disgrace, yeah."

"Well," Harry said, trying to sound as though he found the whole thing a joke, "if you want to--er --what is it?"--he checked Percy's letter--"Oh yeah--'sever ties' with me, I swear I won't get violent."

"Give it back," said Ron, holding out his hand. "He is--" Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half "the world's--" he tore it into quarters "biggest--" he tore it into eighths "git." 

He threw the pieces into the fire.

"Come on, we've got to get this finished sometime before dawn," he said briskly to Harry, pulling Professor Sinistra's essay back towards him.

Hermione was looking at Ron with an odd expression on her face.

"Oh, give them here," she said abruptly.

"What?" said Ron.

"Give them to me, I'll look through them and correct them," she said.

"Are you serious? Ah, Hermione, you're a life-saver," said Ron, "what can I--?"

"What you can say is, 'We promise we'll never leave our homework this late again,'" she said, holding out both hands for their essays, but she looked slightly amused all the same.

"Thanks a million, Hermione," said Harry weakly, passing over his essay and sinking back into his armchair, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey," I said, taking one of the essays from Hermione's hand, "let me help too."

____________________________________________

300 VOTES... I love all you so much. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU