Secrets of Hogwarts and the Slytherin Prince

HALLOWEEN

They didn't find anything for a while. They scoured the entire library together, but whenever someone from Slytherin saw them, they would get yelled at, resulting in the person who yelled at them to get yelled at by Madam Pince. Annabeth would get a satisfied look every time it happened, and then she'd see the raised eyebrow Percy had and she would try her hardest to wipe the look off her face. Percy would laugh at her, and they'd go back to finding books to look in.

She helped with his homework too. Helped meaning she still made him write everything himself, but she'd answer small questions and quiz him. And in Charms, she'd watch him for what he did. The only student in Charms who was better than him was Hermione. Potions class wasn't too hard, either, for Percy, so long as someone read the instructions for him. Annabeth struggled, though. So they stood side by side and worked together on their separate potions.

One time, the directions said to cut something that would not cut in half the way everyone else was trying. They held them in between books, held them down, sawed on the shell. Percy, after observing for a moment, looked down at the beetle and flipped it onto his back, positioning the bug on its shell, before cutting it down the middle. Annabeth gave him a surprised look when he continued, a step ahead of her. "How did you do that?" She asked.

Percy smirked, glancing up at Professor Snape, who was inspecting the potion of a poor Gryffindor boy named Neville. He had a scowl on his face, and poor Neville looked petrified. "Cut from the underside. Put the thing on it's back." He said quickly, returning to his potion as Snape approached them.

"Smart approach, Mr. Jackson... Of course, it'd do you well to learn how to read..." Percy clenched his jaw, but said nothing, not flinching under Snape's gaze. "And Miss Chase, I advise you to stop cheating and stop leaning on Mr. Jackson for help, here."

Annabeth looked furious. Snape walked away, and Percy grabbed her wrist, sending her a look. "House points aren't worth getting mad at him, Wise Girl." He'd turned that one-time insult into a very fitting nickname for her. She seemed to like it. She responded to it pretty calmly. She sighed, looking down at her potion, which was a pale green color, like Percy's, and how the instructions read.

At the end of class, they both turned in their completed potions, both getting less than pleased looks from Snape, and Percy waved to her. "I'll see you in History of Magic." He nodded to her and she hesitated, before leaving. Percy waited until the classroom was empty before approaching Snape's desk. "Professor?"

"What do you want?" He asked slowly, looking up at Percy with his dark eyes.

"I was wondering if there are any books for potions that are in a different language..." Percy hesitated slightly.

He remembered spotting something in the passage when he explored it a bit more a week or two back. It read 'If one way does not work, try another language'. It was so simple, and Percy hadn't thought of it... Until he realized that it wasn't English. Annabeth had been with him, and he pointed it out, but she couldn't read it. Said it was Latin, but she couldn't read what it said.

"A different language? And what language would you request, Mr. Jackson?" Snape said sourly, scornfully. He was mocking Percy. "Perhaps Ancient Greek, or Russian?"

"Latin, actually, professor. I er, I have what muggles call Dyslexia. I have more trouble reading than other people. I... Saw something the other day, and a friend of mine said it was in Latin, but I had no problems translating it. I read it easily." Snape looked suspicious.

"And where was this translation you saw?"

Percy almost told him about the passage. "A book, in the library. I was looking to see if I could find any information on my mother." Snape narrowed his eyes, before opening a drawer of his desk and pulling out a book. It was the same cover, same make, and the same build as Percy's issued Potions book... But he could read the title.