Demigods at Hogwarts | the rescue mission ✔

10| Shampoo Disaster

Jason's Pov

"How are we supposed to finish this much homework in, like, a week?" Nico whined for the eighth time. I couldn't blame him—we did have a lot of homework, including an essay on the Incendio charm, which Leo had been excused from, a research paper on the dangers of Transfiguration, and some kind of dream diary.

"What's next on our table?" Piper asked. She sounded tired and worn, but she wasn't the only one—were all completely drained from the morning's lessons.

"Potions," Thalia informed us, not sounding very enthusiastic on taking any more lessons herself.

Leo sighed, a look of longing in his eyes. "I miss those days sailing on the Argo II. Sure, the world was ending and everything, but at least we didn't have to do homework." He said the word the way you would say 'Kronos' or 'Gaea'—like it was plain old bad luck.

  I frowned disapprovingly at the son of Hephaestus. I was still annoyed by what had happened in Charms lesson—he had exposed all of us when we were supposed to trust no one but Dumbledore. "Don't."

We descended into the dungeon, which was worse than I imagined. I wasn't claustrophobic, but it was dark and damp everywhere. And as a son of Jupiter, I preferred broad daylight, thank you very much.

We found ourselves in a creepy dark room full of vials and flasks. The walls reflected the green light coming from the lamps placed at the corners of the enclosed space. Students were seated on uncomfortable-looking stone stools, and we managed to find an unoccupied table at the very back of the classroom. A few seconds after we had sat down, a grim-looking man with a billowing black cloak swept into the room, a stern look on his face.

There was something different about this teacher, and judging by how my friends had tensed up beside me, I wasn't the only one who thought so. The man had pale, sallow skin, greasy hair, and a hooked nose. He was definitely younger than the rest of the staff, who looked about the same age as the gods (not saying you're old, Dad) but didn't look like one of those teachers who would give you free candy.

"Attention!" the man said in a cold, menacing voice. The whole room fell silent, and I noticed that some of the students were wincing. My demigod instincts kicked in as I felt a jolt of energy surge through me—a part of being a half-blood was sensing danger and having your body respond accordingly. And I didn't like the vibes this teacher was giving me. 

The man's gaze fell on us, his pitch-black eyes cold and calculating. Yep, definitely not a nice teacher. "I see we have some new students here," he said softly.  "I expect your school has taught you about Potions before."

I gulped. "Sorry, sir, but our school only trains us on wandless magic." I managed to blurt out, my fingernails digging into my palms.

There was a hushed silence as the man slowly studied our faces. He was scowling. "You have never learnt any aspect of the fine art of potions before?" he murmured in a dangerously low voice, even though he didn't seem shocked or surprised.

"No, sir," Piper said quietly behind me.

The man glared at us, fury beneath his tense expression. "Get out of this room. This class is only for those who know what they are doing, not for pathetic beginners."

  Thalia frowned. "But we were told-"

"Get out!" barked the man fiercely as we sprang out from our seats and ran for the stairs quickly, not daring to look behind our backs. I sighed in relief when emerged into the light.

"Who was that?" Leo asked, frowning. "He sure needed some chill pills."

"Severus Snape, head of Slytherin house," Thalia replied. I could tell from her voice that she was still shaken. And it took a lot to scare my sis. "No wonder why people are terrified of him. Not that I am, of course." she added quickly.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Like Malfoy, and those two minions of his. Slytherins are meanies, aren't they?"

"Then I guess we won't be going to Potions class for a while," Piper said, smiling slightly. " On the bright side, we get an hour and a half to polish off some homework."

That was what I loved about Piper—she was always positive, no matter how drastic the situation was. We made our way back to our common room. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was shining as bright as it could probably get here in Scotland—which was a welcome change after our experience in the dungeons.

I took out my Charms homework and stared at the squiggly words on the parchment. Chiron was going to ask for homework translated to Latin, but Dumbledore had countered that it would raise suspicion among the other kids, and that wouldn't be good if there was an insider who worked for Annabeth's kidnapper in the school.

After five minutes, Piper saw me struggling and walked over to me. "Do you need anything?"

  I grinned stupidly. "How about a kiss to get me thinking?"

The gorgeous daughter of the love/beauty goddess rolled her colour changing eyes, which were now a shade of turquoise. "If you insist." Leaning in, I felt warmth spread through my body as her lips brushing mines innocently.  "Happy?" she asked, grinning.

  I nodded, but my attention, for once, wasn't focused on my beautiful girlfriend. Percy was sitting a few feet away from us, bent over his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook. He didn't look like he was paying attention to us at all.

But the look on his face explained everything.