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

Chapter 180 - Percy - A Shroud To Honor The Dead

I don't know what happened after that. 

The six of us were sitting around the broken archway. Harry was still shouting in denial. 

"She's gone," Nico said. "I felt it."

Jason's angry eyes were glistening with tears. 

"It's okay," I whispered to myself. "It'll be okay."

"We just made sure that the only goddess who helped half-bloods on their way to Camp is gone," Annabeth sobbed. "She's gone forever."

I shivered. Tears were rolling from eyes. I held onto Jason tightly. "It's okay, man."

The room went silent. No one was in the room, except a red eyed Sirius Black, and he was on the state of passing out. I took a deep breath.

"Please come back," Jason whispered. "Please come back."

"I'm so sorry," Sirius was whispering as he sat down next to me. "I'm sorry, Uncle... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

Hours passed. We were just staring at the rocks. Jason had taken to crying into Sirius' shoulder, when Remus and the others finally came and forced us out of the Ministry back to the atrium. No one protested to stay. We were all too shaken to even wrestle our hands from whoever was leading us.

The Atrium was full of people; the floor was reflecting the emerald green flames that had burst into fire in all the fireplaces along one wall; and streams of witches and wizards were emerging from them. Harry and Dumbledore were standing close to where the golden fountain once stood. Both seemed rather traumatized.

"You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts," Dumbledore was telling a bewildered Fudge. "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. I will give you..." Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and surveyed it "...half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me."

Fudge goggled; his mouth was open and his round face grew pinker under his rumpled grey hair.

"I--you--"

Dumbledore turned his back on him, looking to us. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said. He extended a golden statue head to all of us, including Harry. "But we must talk later. Take this Portkey."

"I shall see you in half an hour," said Dumbledore to Harry quietly as we all placed on our hands on the statue. "One... two... three..."

The polished wooden floor was gone from beneath my feet; the Atrium, Fudge and Dumbledore had all disappeared and I was flying forwards in a whirlwind of colour and sound...

And I heard her voice. "Thank you, Percy."

We were in Dumbledore's office. 

Harry was pale and purple at the same time, somehow. "Jason-"

"It's not your fault," Jason said instantly. 

"Look-"

"Shut up, Potter," Jason said through gritted teeth. "Please. Just. Shut up."

"Okay, come on," I said, patting Jason. "We'll get you to the Hospital Wing."

No one moved. 

"I said," I told them all more firmly, "let's go get ourselves patched up!"