Demigods at Hogwarts (Discontinued)

10

This fic has absolutely BLOWN up in the past few months, so before this chapter begins I just want to take the time to say thank you so much for reading! I know my older chapters need some tweaking in terms of accuracy, but I wasn't a great writer back then (let's face it: I'm still not!) I also know I don't update as often as I should - hopefully now that I've got more time because of Corona I'll be able to update more! Thanks again!

Unknown POV

"Hello?" Percy called out. His hand was in his pocket - that's where he kept his infamous sword.
The one that led Camp Half-Blood to victory in the Battle of Manhattan.

The battle that ended in the murder of my master.

I stared at Percy from the shadows.

"Is anyone there?" He turned in a circle. "It's, uh, it's kinda dark, I can't really see!"

I fiddled with the rock in my left hand, tensed the weapon in my right. I had to wait for the perfect moment.

I waited.

His eyes passed over the spot where I crouched. Perfect. I tossed the rock, which rolled to a halt at his feet. He stared at it.

"Uh," he looked up, right at me but not at me. "Thanks? I guess?"

He bent down to pick it up. I fired.

The needle zipped through the air and lodged itself into the skin below the cuff of his jean on his left ankle. He flinched and glanced down at it.
"Ah, splinter . . . " he mumbled before pulling it out. Fool.

He turned over the rock and studied it before putting it in his pocket. He called out, "Is that it? You really just . . . wanted to give me a rock?" I smiled as he turned in a full circle one more time before shrugging, giving up and making his way back towards the castle.

My master would be so proud of me.

——————

"So what happened, bro?" Leo sat on the floor, fiddling with a screw and a nut.
Percy flopped onto the couch. "Someone threw a rock at me."
"What, that's it?" Thalia sat up from her definitely uncomfortable position of sitting sideways on an armchair. "They just threw a rock at you."
"Pretty much. Probably a dumb prank from one of the eighth years. They were kinda suspicious of us."
"Suspicious how? What's there to be suspicious of?" Annabeth asked. "McGonagall knows why we're here."
"There's some weird energy in this room right now," Nico mumbled from across the room. No one heard him.

"Maybe McGonagall's word isn't enough," Jason said.
Percy shrugged. "Eh, whatever. I kept the rock. Maybe it's magical?"
"Could I check?" Hazel offered. Percy tossed it to her.
Hazel studied it. "This is a regular rock. There is nothing special about this rock whatsoever."

Piper laughed. "What did you expect?"
Frank spoke up, "Could the rock have been a distraction?"
"Distraction from what?" Percy cocked his head like a puppy.
"I'm not sure. Did anything else happen to you while you were out?"
"Uh, let's see." He tapped his chin in thought. "I was walking around at the edge of the forest. I said, "Is anyone there?" Someone threw a rock at me. I bent down to pick it up, and I pulled out a splinter in my ankle-"
"-A splinter? From what?" Nico said.
"Dunno. It was a big one too. Anyway, I-"
"Percy, let me see your ankle."
"Uhhh."
"Now."
Percy made his way over to where Nico and Will were sitting and put his foot up on the arm of their snuggle chair. Every person in the room crowded around to get a glimpse of what the hell was going on. A collective gasp filled the room.

Stemming from a single spot, webbed green lines spread about Percy's ankle, covering a space about two inches in diameter.

Percy shrieked. "Oh my god, I've been poisoned!"
"No, you haven't." Hazel and Nico leaned in closer, the latter muttering, "Oh, that was the weird energy in the room."
"Whaaaat?"
"You've not been poisoned." Hazel poked the spot on Percy's ankle. "You've been cursed."
"Cursed? Man, I hate curses."
"Well, can you reverse it?" Annabeth asked.
"Hey, I only have third year knowledge. You guys should know this stuff."

"Who would know about curses? McGonagall?" Frank kept glancing at Percy's ankle.
"We don't even know what this curse is. We don't know what it does!" Piper threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Cal? You know anything about curses?" Leo turned to his girlfriend.
"I know about a girl who was cursed to live on a non-existent island for eternity, falling in love with everyone who washed up on shore. I don't know about wizard curses."
"Aight, I was only asking, jeez . . . "

"Why don't we ask the Defence teacher?" Piper suggested. "If anyone'll know about curses, it's them."
"Good idea, Piper." Annabeth slipped her hand into Percy's. "Come on, you."

—————

"Hmm." Professor Hudgens studied Percy's ankle pensively.
"Everyone's staring at meeeee," He moaned.
"Shh."
"Uh, 'kay."
She shone a light on it from their wand. The webbed lines seemed to shimmer under the glow.
"Yep." They tucked their wand back into their pocket. "That's a curse, alright."
"Well, we already knew that," Nico muttered, just loud enough that the professor heard, who ignored him.
"Am I gonna die?" Percy's eyes shone with fear.
"No."
"Oh! Oh, thank the gods-God. Thank God." He coughed to stifle his slip-up.

"Can you get rid of it?" Leo piped up from the back, comically standing on the tips of his toes to see over Frank and Jason's shoulders.
"Yep! It'll take time. Also, it's contagious."
"What?!" The group jumped away from Percy; even Annabeth let go of his hand.
"Relax."
No one relaxed.
"To be honest, I'm not even sure what it does. It's no wizard curse, I can tell you that." The professor pulled a book from a nearby shelf and flipped through it. "Green shimmer, green shimmer," they mumbled while turning pages.

Percy grinned apologetically. "Heh, sorry guys. Has anyone touched me? Besides Annabeth?"
"Ah, crap, does that mean I've got it too?" Annabeth studied the hand that had previously held her boyfriend's. Sure enough, faint green lines were beginning to show up on her palm.

"Uh, I think I bumped into him in the hallway." Travis Stoll pulled up his sleeve to reveal similar lines.
"Great, so basically: everyone's got it. Now what?" Thalia said.
"Hmm." Professor Hudgens said again. "It's asymptomatic as of right now, but I'm not entirely sure what it will do in the future. Your best option is to wait until the morning to see if anything changes."

"What, so that's it?" Hazel frowned. "You've been cursed, wait and see what it does?"
The professor blinked. "That's . . . that's literally all I can do."
Hazel shrugged. "Fair. Come on, guys."

————

"So."
Connor looked at Travis. "So what?"
"So now we wait, bro. So now we wait."
"Waiting's boring . . . "

"How are you feeling?" Annabeth held Percy's hand; they were both cursed, after all.
"Fine? I don't understand what this curse even does?"
"Well, we've all got it and we're all fine. Can you pass me a bottle of water from your bag?" Leo hunched over near the fire, tinkering. "

"Ooh, can you do it with water bending?" Hazel piped up.
"I'm not the Avatar," Percy grumbled, but he tossed the bottle.

Which hit Leo square in the nose.
"Ow! Dude, what?" He rubbed it angrily. "I thought you were gonna Katara it!"
"I tried to! Let me try again."
Leo threw the bottle back, and Percy held out his hand Stranger Things style. This time it bounced off the couch and rolled to a halt at Frank's feet.

"You uh, want this?" He held it up.
"What the hell?" Percy tried to pull it towards him. "It's like there's something blocking me! Like a force, or-or-"

"Like a curse." Nico stared hard at Percy, who blinked.
"Nico, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying," he snatched the bottle off Frank and placed it on the table. "Frank, turn into a dog."
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
Frank concentrated, screwing his eyes shut until beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "I-I can't do it!"

"Thus proving my theory," Nico stood up in front of the group.
"Bit dramatic," Leo whispered to Calypso.
"-that this curse doesn't harm our bodies. It harms our abilities."