Percy Jackson Arrives: Hogwarts is Doomed

Chapter 25

~*~*~*<Annabeth>*~*~*~

"Take out your copy of 'Fresh from the brewery', please class, along with a cauldron and a set of scales," the professor called. I groaned. I was going to have to read the textbook. In English. Ugh.

I reached into my bag, plucked out my copy of the book and placed it on the table. Percy did the same next to me.

"Welcome back to potions. I see we have some new students," the potions master spread his arms wide and winked in our direction, "For those of you who don't know, I'm Professor Slughorn and I'll be teaching you your NEWT level potions this year. Anyway, to business. Today you are going to be brewing the Draught of Energy. Does anyone know what it does?"

As predicted, Hermione's hand immediately shot up into the air. "Miss Granger?"
"It boosts someone's energy levels, reflexes and endurance for a short period of time."
"Correct. Five points to Gryffindor. It would be perfect to drink just before a duel or fight and could give you the edge over your opponent. Turn to page 53 for the instructions and start brewing it. You have until the end of the lesson."

I flipped to page fifty three and attempted to decipher the first instruction.
1. Cpoh het grudydtroo...
I gave up. This was going to be impossible. I glanced at Percy and saw he was having the same troubles.
"Sir," I put up my hand. Professor Slughorn walked over to our table.
"Miss..."
"Chase."
"Miss Chase, is there a problem?" he asked.
"I have dyslexia. I can't read the text book." I told him.
"Ahh, I see. Can Mr ..."
"Jackson," I supplied.
"Can Mr Jackson here read them out loud for you?"
"No," Percy said, "I have dyslexia too. I still haven't deciphered the first word yet. Pohc..."
"I see. I'm afraid I'll have to split the two of you up then and pair you with my two star students," Professor Slughorn said.

"Mr Potter, could you swap work stations with Miss Chase please?" I heard Percy groan. Harry looked up. He muttered something to Hermione, picked up his already bubbling cauldron and walked over. I put my bag in my empty cauldron and walked over to Hermione, bracing myself for the interrogation sure to come.

"What's going on?" she asked.
I held my head up a little higher. "I have dyslexia, so I can't read the text book. Prince Percy has the same problem so he can't help. Professor Slughorn told me to sit with you so that you can read the instructions to me."
"Oh. Really? You can't read!" she exclaimed.
"I can, it just takes a really long time to unjumble the letters. By the time I would have worked out what the first instruction says, we probably would have already had half of the lesson," I stated defensively.
"Right. It says 'Chop the gurdyroot with a silver knife and put 13g into the cauldron. Stir for 51 seconds.'"
"I am grateful," I said, "also, what's gurdyroot?" Hermione sighed.
"It looks like a green onion. You'll find one in the store cupboard."
"Thank you!"

I walked over to the store cupboard, past Percy's table.

"Why are you pretending you can't read?" Harry was saying.
"I'm not pretending. I have dyslexia," Percy replied.
"Both you and your girlfriend?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yes."
"What about 'Prince' Jason and 'Princess' Piper'?" he sneered.
"Princess Piper has dyslexia, Prince Jason hasn't been diagnosed but I'm almost certain he has it too."
"Yeah, of course you all have it. How could I have been so stupid?" Harry muttered sarcastically. Percy patted him on the shoulder.
"It's okay, you were born that way. There is nothing you can do to change it," Percy told him soothingly.
"I was being sarcastic!"
"I wasn't."

I walked off, grinning. Go Percy!

At the store cupboard, I found a green onion and headed back to Hermione.

"You know," she started as soon as I sat down, "I've never heard your last name before now." I just shrugged. "Why isn't it the same as your mother's? She's Lady Sofia Polem, right?"
"Polemos. Lady Sofia Polemos. And yes, I have my dad's last name: Chase," I said.
"Why?" she asked.
"That's how it works in our country. We take the last name of those who raise us."
"So your mum didn't raise you?"
"No, I lived with my dad, stepmom and two half-brothers."
"Lived? So you don't now?"
"No, I ran away when I was seven."
"Why?"
"That's none of your business! Stop nosing into my life. I have reasons and I don't have to share them with you!" I yelled. Fortunately, the classroom was so noisy that nobody seemed to notice. Hermione looked taken aback.
"I didn't mean any disrespect-"
"Disrespect? How would you like it if I started questioning all of your life choices?"
"I was just-"
"-being nosy. You and your friends have done nothing but question us, trying to convince yourselves that we are evil and want to end the world or something."

"Do you?" she asked.
"What?"
"Do you want to 'end the world or something'?" I looked at her like she was an alien.
"Of course not!" I cried, "Why would you think that?"
"You lie. All of you do." she stated. I flinched.
"What do you mean?"
"You pretend that you don't know the people from that camp place, but you clearly do!" I relaxed.
"We have never said that we don't know them. We do. I don't see how not announcing to the planet's population that we know some people from elsewhere is evidence that we want to end the world."
"But-" It seemed that Hermione didn't know what to say. First time for everything!

"What does the next instruction say?" I asked. She rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.
"Could you repeat that, please? I couldn't hear you," I asked.
"I wasn't-" she protested.
"You weren't what? Insulting my intelligence? I should hope not. It wouldn't go well for you if you did," I told her.
"Is that a threat?" she demanded.
"A warning. My mother isn't merciful to those who insult her, and I can't guarantee that she'll be any different to those who insult her children." I stated, thinking of Arachne. Not my favourite memory. I shuddered.

"Anyway, next instruction please." This time, she actually read it out. We worked in silence, Hermione only occasionally reading something when prompted.

It was only at the end of the lesson that things became interesting again. Professor Slughorn was walking around the room, occasionally stirring people's potions and commenting.

He picked up Hermione's spoon and gave her potion a stir. "Excellent, as per usual, Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor!" He came over to mine and did the same. "Amazing job, Miss Chase! Have you really never made a potion before? It's pretty much perfect!"
"I go by Princess Annabeth, usually sir. And no, I've never made a potion before."
"Incredible, your highness." He did a mock bow. I smiled and nodded politely.

He moved on to Percy and Harry. "Mr Jackson, is it?" he asked.
"Prince Percy, sir."
"I see. Well, I must say that this potion looks absolutely incredible! Outstanding! Impeccable! Give me another word..."
"Thank you, sir!"
"You are incredibly talented..." Professor Slughorn continued. By this point, I was ready to bury my face in my palms. Percy definitely cheated.

When Slughorn has finished raving about Percy's 'masterpiece', he moved on to Harry's not-so-masterpiece. The potion was supposed to be a shimmering emerald green - his was a murky, pale green. Professor Slughorn bent down to look at the it closely. SPLAT! It seemed like there was a miniature explosion inside the cauldron. About 80% of it's contents ended up on Slughorn's face. The class burst into laughter.

Percy caught my eye. I glared at him accusingly. He tried his hardest to look innocent - and failed. I rolled my eyes.

When the class was quickly dismissed, Percy was out the door before I had time to stand up. We would definitely have words later.