Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

NICO DI ANGELO

It had not been a fun trip and the weather was getting worse the longer we stayed. Once again we drew our cloaks tightly around ourselves, rearranged our scarves, pulled on our gloves, then followed Katie Bell and a friend out of the pub and back up the High Street.

"Jason," I whispered, hanging behind. "We're going to need a meeting tonight."

"What for?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I saw something weird- thought you might want to hear it," I whispered.

Jason considered my words severely. "Is it anything relating to the school?"

"No," I replied, shaking a little at the memory. "It's something way worse."

"Dreams?" 

I nodded, although I did not know whether Jason counted it as shivering.

"Fine," he said decidedly. "I'll let you know ASAP." 

The voices of Katie Bell and her friend had become shriller and louder. I squinted at their indistinct figures. The two girls were having an argument about something Katie was holding in her hand.

"It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" I heard Katie say.

"What's happening?" I asked Harry, catching up.

"Dunno," Harry shrugged, looking at them with squinted eyes.

We rounded a corner in the lane, sleet coming thick and fast. Leanne made to grab hold of the package Katie was holding; Katie tugged it back and the package fell to the ground.

At once, Katie rose into the air gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly. Yet there was something wrong, something eerie... Her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression. We had all halted in our tracks, watching.

Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrible scream. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too and seized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward to help, but even as they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them; Percy and Jason managed to catch her but she was writhing so much they could hardly hold her. 

"I'll get help!" Annabeth said, looking at the deserted landscape. "Stay here!"

"She's getting only worse," Percy said.

Will bent down to her, and touched her forehead. "She's burning up. What happened, Leanne?"

But Leanne was too thunderstruck to respond. 

"We need help immediately," Will said. "It's going to take more than just Madam Pomfrey."

Thundering footsteps echoed as Annabeth ran back along the lane with Hagrid. 

"Get back!" shouted Hagrid. "Lemme see her!"

Leanne jerked back into reality.

"Something's happened to her!" Hermione said. "I don't know what --"

Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then without a word, bent down, scooped her into his arms, and ran off toward the castle with her. Within seconds, Katie's piercing screams had died away and the only sound was the roar of the wind.

Will hurried over to Katie's wailing friend and Hermione put an arm around her.

"It's Leanne, isn't it?" Will asked.

The girl nodded.

"Did it just happen all of a sudden, or--?"

"It was when that package tore," sobbed Leanne, pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Ron bent down, his hand outstretched, but Harry seized his arm and pulled him back.