Perseus Potter

Chapter 9

“You’ve got to try quidditch,” Harry insisted, holding out his broom to Percy.

Percy shook his head again. “I am not going to fly. Bad things happen when I fly.”

Nico smirked at his cousin. The two brothers had been arguing in circles for ten minutes. “You scared, Potter?”

Percy glared at him. “If you don’t think it’s a big deal, then you should try it,” he challenged.

He smirked triumphantly when Nico paled dramatically (which was impressive, considering how pale he already was) at the thought of flying and shook his head. “No way,” he said.

Harry glared at the both of them in frustration. Percy could tell he really wanted them to play. Percy sighed and when he spoke next, his tone was gentle. “Harry, I want to play it with you, but I can’t. I’m a son of Poseidon. It’s too dangerous for both of us if I were to fly with you.”

Harry frowned but nodded. “Okay. What do you want to do instead?”

After a moment’s thought, Percy grinned. “Let’s explore. The castle is huge, there has to be a secret room for a hideout.”

Harry thought about it before nodding. “Alright, but we have to be quick. We’ve only got a couple of hours.”

The three set off back towards the castle. They roamed the halls, searching for some kind of secret entrance to a hidden room. Much to Percy’s disappointment, they didn’t find one by the time curfew rolled around. They shadow traveled back to the demigods' dorm and sat on Percy’s bed, talking about anything and nothing. Ina popped into existence next to Percy soon after they got back and curled up on his pillow

“And then Hagrid gave Dudley a pig’s tail!” Harry laughed. Nico was laughing lightly in amusement and Percy was doubled over, cackling at the mental image of his mortal cousin with a pig’s tail.

There was a knock on the door and Hermione’s voice said, “Harry, are you in there?”

Harry walked over and opened the door to reveal Hermione standing there. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“Well, we were wondering if you would want to come down and play wizard’s chess. Ron doesn’t want to play it with me anymore,” she asked.

Harry looked back at Percy who smiled. “Go, Harry. We have a whole year together.”

Harry grinned and left with Hermione. Once he was gone, Percy turned to Nico. “Why are you here, Neeks?”

“Dad’s getting irritated with this dude named Tom Riddle, who’s apparently trying to become immortal. He wanted me to come make sure he dies,” the demigod explained casually.

“Looks like we’ll be working together then. Harry’s destined to kill the guy and I’m tasked with protecting him,” Percy said. “Hey, how did you get here without me seeing you?”

Nico shrugged. “Shadow travel. I wasn’t about to take one of those rickety old boats.”

Percy sighed. “Were you on the train?”

“Yeah. I found an empty compartment and locked the door. I figured it would be better to be alone if any monsters managed to get on board.”

It was at that moment that Percy remembered the necklaces. He face palmed before pulling the two out from his bag. They were similar in design, the only difference being in the pendants. They both had a thin, seemingly delicate looking chain. Both demigods knew, however, that the chains were anything but delicate. They were made of a mixture of stygian iron and silver, the metals swirling together to form an almost indestructible metal.