Percy Jackson and the Heir of Slytherin [Book 2]

44) Worried

Even as summer began to seep into the school, people were worried. We weren't even allowed to visit people in the hospital. They said it was too risky for the petrified students.

The one thing we could do about this whole mess was try to find the spiders Hagrid had been talking about. They seemed to be completely absent from the school, and this made the task impossible. Ron wasn't too mad about that.

In Potions one day, I heard Draco insulting Dumbledore. I glanced back at him, and noticed the slight twitch of his mouth as it threatened to move down.

"Sir," Draco said loudly. "Sir, why don't you apply for the Headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," Snape said, struggling to suppress a slight smile and showing a slightly confused glint in his eyes. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I dare say he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," Draco plastered a smirk on his face. "I expect you'd have father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job. I'll tell father you're the best teacher here, sir..."

Snape smirked and moved around the dungeon. Seamus and I simultaneously pretended to puke in our cauldrons.

Snape didn't seem to noticed Seamus.

"What was that, Mr. Jackson?" Snape glared at me as he stood in front of my cauldron.

"I was pretending to vomit, sir."

Snape looked exasperated, "And why were you doing that, Mr. Jackson?"

"Because I don't think you'd be a good Headmaster. And Draco is kinda sucking up to you. You wouldn't be a bad Headmaster, but you can't stand kids. You're too angry. You wouldn't be a good Headmaster. Plus, no one could outdo Professor Dumbledore. We both know that he's not as creaky as he looks," I said, rambling.

Snape glared down at me, "Five points from Hufflepuff, for insulting a professor."

"I wasn't insulting you. I was sharing an opinion that you asked about. If you can't handle opinions from students, then you couldn't be Headmaster. That's simple," I said, twirling my pencil in my hand.

Snape frowned, "Detention, Mr. Jackson. I will be seeing you during free period tomorrow."

I groaned loudly, and Snape's eye twitched.

"Do you want me to contact Luke?"

"Yeah. He'd laugh. Then he'd give me a hug and tell me 'No Big Adventures' and then I'd get my ass kicked."

"Another five points from Hufflepuff for colorful language. I will be writing Luke a letter later," Snape said, twitching again.

"Don't worry. I'll write him myself," I said. Then the bell rung, and Snape started herding us to Herbology."

We walked into the Greenhouse and started working on plants and stuff. Neville and I worked together, happily planting withered stalks. I saw Ernie, who had to retake second year Herbology, walk over to Harry. I watched them shake hands, and was happy that Ernie didn't blame Harry for all of the attacks anymore.

Then I saw Harry motion to me. He pointed at the ground beside him, and I saw spiders scuttling in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

"Have you noticed the weather lately?" Neville asked suddenly. "It's been... it's been quite scary, hasn't it?"

I frowned and nodded slowly, "Yes. I believe Zeus and Poseidon are fighting."

Seamus looked up at me with wide-eyes, "What?!?" Everyone looked at him, surprised at the sudden shout. Seamus didn't care. Instead he shouted in Greek, "What do you mean the gods are fighting?"

Professor Sprout and the rest of the people who could speak Greek in the room seemed to choke.

I sighed, "I died. Remember? I talked to Hades in the underworld. He told me that Zeus and Poseidon were fighting. Over what, I can't say yet. But watch the sky. Watch the storms. It's fighting itself. We just have to hope there won't be a war."

Ron looked outside suddenly, staring at a cloud in the distance. He looked at me with horror.

"T-time for Defense Against the Dark Arts, children. Come on, don't want to be late," Sprout said, leading us away.

We walked into DADA and I tried to ignore Lockhart. He seemed cheery.

"Come now," Lockhart cried, grinning at all of us, "why all these long faces?"

"He's joking. He has to be joking," I said in Greek.

The campers all mumbled agreements, and Lockhart narrowed his eyes at me, "Mr. Jackson, if you are going to announce something to the class, you should say it in a language we all understand. What were you saying?"

"I was practically insulting you," I said, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

Lockhart's eye twitched, "What did you say exactly, Mr. Jackson."

"'He's joking. He has to be joking.'"

"Don't you realize," Lockhart said slowly, as if I were stupid, "the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away."

"Says who?" Dean Thomas challenged Lockhart.

"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty," Lockhart said, now looking at Dean as if he were stupid.

"Oh, yes he would," Ron, Dean, and I all shouted.

"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart said cockily.

Ron almost said something, but I got to it first, "Some of us here are trained for war, Gilderoy, and part of that war involves remaining hidden. I know exactly what happened the night of Hagrid's arrest, and I know exactly why he is under suspicion of being the heir in the first place. If you say anything like that again, anything at all, I will hold you to the boundaries of a Greek duel, boundaries and rules you agreed to when you came into this world."

Lockhart stared at me with surprise, but didn't say anything. He just looked at me sadly, as if I were stupid and pitiful, then went to 'teaching' the class.

Harry leaned over to me, "Let's do it tonight."

I saw a dog today. It was a good day. She was four weeks old, tiny, and very adorable. Sam is dog sitting for a friend, so we all hung out with the dog and ate pizza. It was an awesome day. Also, I have to clean my room tomorrow, then I'm gonna go drive with my dad. I don't really want to go drive, but I know I need to learn, even if it kinda scares me. But whatever. It's all cool cause I saw a dog today.

I love you all, and I hope you had an awesome Thursday. I hope you guys see a dog soon, and I will see you on Saturday. :)