Percy Jackson and the Locket of Salazar [Book 6]

13) Everyone Around Me Sucks (not in the sexy way)

As the train lurched to a stop, the annoyed feeling that had come over me as Harry certainly decided to go do something stupid washed away under the weight of the worry brought on by his continued absence.

"Where is he?" Hermione asked for the thousandth time, poking her head out of our compartment as if that would make him magically appear.

He was probably frolicking in the land of idiocy.

"Maybe he's getting off of the train ahead of us," I muttered, staring out at the crowd that had overtaken the halls.

"Yeah," Hermione said breathlessly, "that's got to be it."

We trudged out of the compartment, dragging Harry's things along with us, all craning our necks for any sign of Harry. Neville thought he saw him at one point, but we quickly discovered it was actually an impressively tall third-year Slytherin who sneered at us when we approached her. Tall people have way too much confidence.

When we stepped outside onto the platform, our unease grew. Ron, tall enough to see everyone, couldn't even find him.

"Maybe we should —"

I stopped, frowning. Tonks was walking toward us, mouth pulled in a frown. Dumbledore had mentioned bringing in some trusted Aurors for extra Hogwarts protection, but I guess I hadn't expected Tonks to be among them.

"Where's Harry?" She asked. Just like at the Burrow, she looked exhausted, her hair plain and her face drawn.

"Hello to you too, Tonks," I said. "And we have no idea. He suddenly decided to abandon us on the train, and never returned to the compartment."

She nodded, sighing. "Great. You lot head on up to Hogwarts, I'll look for him. Percy, you wanna come help?"

I said yes, partly because I wanted to find Harry, but mostly because I didn't want to hear whatever Dumbledore said about the war that summer.

We bid my friends goodbye and stepped back onto the train. There were too many compartments to check one by one, so we rushed down the corridor, hoping to spot something suspicious. Luckily, we did.

"He's maxed out his 'dumbass' stats," I grumbled, scowling at the compartment with the blinds pulled down. I recognized it of having housed a certain Slytherin Harry had a passion for hating. "He's in there."

I pulled the door open, then paused; the compartment seemed to be completely empty. Tonks sent me an unimpressed look, then I remembered my friend had an Invisibility Cloak. I stepped in as the train gave a lurch, beginning its trip back to London. Another step, and my foot collided with something on the floor. Bending down, my frown was replaced with a grin as I tore the Cloak off and saw that he'd been petrified by spell. He was curled up, lying on his side with his knees pressed against his chest, mouth hanging open. If I had to guess, he'd lodged himself somewhere with little space and had been caught by the most observant demigod around.

"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks said, pulling out her wand and aiming to at my friend. With a flesh of red light, he unfroze, promptly pushing himself to a more comfortable position. His nose had been broken during the whole fiasco, and he hastily wiped at the blood on his face.

"I wasn't aware I was friend's with the dumbest man on Earth! Are you in the Guinness Book of World Records? Surely you must be, with an IQ as low as yours."

"I get it, okay?" Harry said, voice nasally.

"Really? That's a first."

"We'd better get out of here, quickly," Tonks said, starting down the corridor. "Come on, we'll jump."