Percy Jackson and the Heir of Slytherin [Book 2]

34) Rumors

When I walked in, I saw several people sitting on a large couch opening presents. They all looked very similar. Brown hair and pale skin.

I recognized one head of frizzy brown hair.

"Percy!" She shouted, leaping over the couch and hugging me tightly. I laughed.

"Man, I know way too many of you!"

Haley Edwards grinned and pulled away from me.

Last year, Hogwarts had led me to Haley. She was crying. I told her I was a demigod child of the big three, and she told me she was a werewolf. Every month without fail, her and I went to this one house in Hogsmeade so she could transform without hurting anyone.

"Wait, Haley, you're friends with the Percy Jackson? As in the Stone Stealer, Fairy King, Percy Jackson?" A boy I recognized to be a first year poked his head over the couch.

Haley nodded while I furrowed my eyebrows, "Stone Stealer? Fairy King?"

"Yeah!" The boy said. "You stole the Stone from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named last year! Right from his hands! Then you and him had a super awesome battle! And everyone saw you with the fairies. They followed you, and people say that sometimes you will them into the castle so they can beat up bullies and steal food for you!"

I raised an eyebrow and sat on the couch beside Haley, "None of that happened, really. I didn't take the Stone from him, and I can't will fairies to do anything. I just took them back to the forest because Lockhart kidnapped them."

The boy still looked amazed, "But you're a hero! People say you singlehandedly walked to Hogwarts during the blizzard, carrying a flaming sword and willing the snow away with your mind."

"Nope," I said. "I wasn't alone. Seamus was with me. He carried the sword. And me."

The boy tilted his head, "Still! You're allowed into the Forbidden Forest! You scared off the unicorn killer and saved all of the unicorns!"

I shook my head again, "Where do these rumors get started? I'm allowed into the forest as long as I have someone trained with me. And on the night that we met the unicorn killer, I was there for detention. I didn't scare off the guy, a centaur did. And, I almost died. I got bitten by a snake and the poison got to me. I couldn't have saved all of the unicorns even if I tried."

The boy frowned, "But people say—"

"People say some pretty crazy stuff, Harrison. You can't believe all of it," a boy said, this one I recognized as a sixth year.

"Like how everyone is saying that Harry Potter is the heir of Slytherin, and that he's the one killing all of the students?"

Luke and Hope choked while Harrison's siblings looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Students are dying?" Hope demanded, looking at a seventh year.

"No," he said. "They're being petrified. They aren't dead, they just can't move."

"How are they being petrified?" Luke asked, looking a little calmer.

"Some say Harry Potter is doing it. Some say Draco Malfoy. Others say it's another teacher gone rogue like last year. No one knows, really," the boy said.

"Who's all been petrified?" Hope asked.

"The first was Miss Norris. Then there was Colin Creevey, a first year Gryffindor. Recently, Justin Finch-Fletchley, a second year Hufflepuff, and Nearly Headless Nick were petrified," a fifth year girl said. There were two other girls who looked just like her.

Luke was about to ask something when Hope spoke up suddenly, "It's Christmas. We can't talk about terrible stuff like this. Let's go on and finish opening up presents."

The rest of the kids nodded, and I sat beside Haley, watching her open her presents. As she pulled out a shirt, she looked up at me suddenly, then pointed at a boy I didn't recognize, "That's Howie, he graduated last year," she pointed at a seventh year, "and that's Henry. He's Holden. They're Heather, Hattie, and Hindi. He's Harper. He's Harrison. His name is Heath, and this is Harmony. That's Hannah, and the boy over there is Hunter, and those two are Hayden and Holly."

I nodded, mentally forcing myself to remember each of their names.

I watched Haley pull out another set of socks when Hope tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, Percy. Want me to show you around?"

I nodded and climbed over the couch, following Hope as she led me throughout the house. She showed me just about everything. By the time we made it to the room I'd be staying in for Christmas, I was thoroughly amazed at the size of their house.

"You can unpack your stuff for now. We'll watch a movie later," Hope seemed to pause for a moment, "and... Henry says you really have done some brave things. You fought He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the end of the last year. You got hurt. And.... I was just hoping, that you'd watch over my brothers and sisters? You already help Haley more than you could ever realize. And now that kids are getting paralyzed at the school... I'm a bit worried about them. I know that none of them are muggleborns, but that doesn't mean I can't be worried. So, will you watch over them?" Hope looked at me through the doorway, a concerned expression bleeding across her face.

"Yeah," I said. "Of course I will." Hope smiled with relief, seemingly trying to hold it back.

"Thank you, Percy. I hope you like it here." Hope smiled at me as she walked out the door and into the hallway, leaving me alone.

So do you guys remember that one haunted place I went to awhile back? Well I went there with my dad cause he wanted to show me around not remembering that I had been there like five times. But I'm pretty sure I mentioned the evil bird. If not, I'll explain. There was this bird there, and it was massive. When it walked above us, it sounded like a grown man stomping. Anyways, we saw the bird the first time, but not for long, and we each saw a different color. Well when I was with my dad, I was talking about the bird, and went to point out the spot where we had seen it, and there it was. It's a massive bird, and mean looking. We know the color now. It's a really dark gray, and it has lighter gray tufts on its neck. It's probably longer than my torso and head. When I tried to take a picture, it moved into the shadows so I couldn't get one. And a while back, we went into this other building near the bird place, and found pictures of a guy in a casket. Dad and I went in there to see the pictures and they were just gone. Like they aren't there. It was weird.

Also, my sister has four classes for this year. Just four. She signed up for electives but didn't get any or something, so all she has is the core classes. I have double the amount of classes as her.

And sadly, Brianna is leaving. He will not be back until Thanksgiving or Christmas, and I'm gonna miss him. Much sad.

Well, I love you guys, and I hope you had a super Sunday. I will see you guys on Tuesday.