Percy Has His Own Adventure Too... And That Should Probably Be a Problem
When Percy stepped out of the third-floor bathroom, the silence in the corridor greeted him immediately.
Ever since Colin had been attacked, even the students seemed to speak much more quietly as they walked through the halls. No one strayed too far from their friends anymore, and some even glanced nervously at the walls or the suits of armor as they passed, as if expecting something else to come out of the Chamber of Secrets at any moment.
Especially the first-years.
Many of the students who were new to the magical world had gone from being excited about this world full of fantasy to fearing the unknown.
Just as Percy had said, he really did go looking for Neville and Tyson.
They were still waiting where they'd agreed to meet, sitting in a corner of the inner courtyard while chatting peacefully.
Or rather, Tyson was listening attentively while Neville showed him several things he'd bought.
Percy raised an eyebrow the moment he got close and even covered his nose from the sour smell coming off some of them.
A rather wilted-looking onion.
A dried newt tail.
And something that looked like a small pouch full of garlic cloves.
"...What's all that?" Percy couldn't help asking, looking a little disgusted.
Neville looked up with an awkward smile.
"Oh, this. Some boys told me it keeps evil away. They said that after what happened to Colin, everyone was buying one... so I thought it might be a good idea," Neville explained.
Tyson's eyes widened.
Well, Neville probably saw two. Percy only saw Tyson's single eye light up with interest.
"Does it work?" the giant asked.
"They said it does," Neville answered, perhaps a little too trusting and innocent.
And of course, innocent Tyson immediately looked just as convinced.
"Perc, should we buy some too?" he asked.
Percy didn't answer right away.
Instead, he felt like he was witnessing the birth of a scam right inside the castle.
So before getting to the point, Percy had to stop and explain things to both of them before Tyson and Neville ended up falling for some pyramid scheme.
Neville, who was supposed to be a pure-blood, was unlikely to be attacked in the first place.
Then he turned to Tyson, seeing him in his true Cyclops form, since the Mist didn't hide Tyson's appearance from him.
"And as for you, big guy, I don't think you need to worry that much. I don't even know what you'd count as," Percy said, sounding confused.
He had no idea whether Tyson would be considered a pure-blood, but he certainly shouldn't count as a so-called Mudblood either.
He wasn't even really a wizard.
He was a Cyclops pretending to be one.
For a moment, that thought sent Percy's mind wandering.
Could Tyson even use magic?
Even Percy struggled with it.
He had trouble using the Mist, something every demigod was supposedly good at controlling. Creating illusions that made it look like he was using magic wasn't easy for him at all.
And that was after spending years studying how to control it ever since he was little.
Tyson, on the other hand, had never trained the way Percy had.
More accurately...
He'd never really studied anything.
He'd lived on the streets until Mr. Vincent found him and brought him to England at the beginning of the year.
Percy quickly shook his head.
He was getting off track again.
Tyson was still looking at him, waiting for an answer.
"Just... don't worry about it. If you run into someone who wants to hurt you, just give them a good smack. Like when you use your hammer to bend steel," Percy said.
Tyson nodded immediately, completely confident.
For someone who had been so timid when he first arrived at their house, someone who had even been scared of his own reflection despite his size, seeing him nod like that with such confidence made Percy smile a little.
Neville, who didn't understand what Percy had been thinking—or what he'd just meant by that—couldn't help speaking up again.
"But Filch got attacked too. Well... his cat did. And remember, people consider me practically half a Squib. Even now I still can't cast spells properly," Neville said, sounding both sad and a little frightened.
"Don't worry, Nev. Just stay close to me or Harry. We won't let anything bad happen to you," Percy said, patting his friend on the back to encourage him.
"I'll protect you too, Neville. You're my friend," Tyson said immediately with a bright smile.
"Th-thanks," Neville replied, smiling back at Tyson.
The two of them really seemed to get along well.
Maybe because they had fairly similar personalities.
"Now then..." Percy said with an excited grin. "Time to continue our adventure exploring every secret room in the castle. Since we don't have to find an excuse for Sirius anymore, now we can just do it for fun. And who knows? Maybe we'll even find the Chamber of Secrets."
"Adventure!" Tyson shouted, just as excited as Percy, leaving Neville with no choice but to follow the two Jacksons.
Neville let out a sigh.
"One day I'll learn how to tell you two no..." he muttered, already feeling like he was about to get dragged into something again.
And this time, Grover wasn't here to help stop Percy from one of his crazy ideas.
Instead, Tyson seemed ready to support him even if Percy decided to dive headfirst into the Black Lake to play with the giant squid...
Again.
Without realizing it, that little exploration would end up taking them much farther than any of them expected.
"Then let's get going," Percy said, leading his adventure party through Hogwarts with an enthusiastic Tyson and a much less enthusiastic Neville.
But they hadn't even taken a couple of steps before Percy's gaze landed on a familiar figure walking alone down the corridor.
About thirty meters away, Cedric Diggory had just calmly stepped out of a side passage.
He didn't seem to notice them, since they were still tucked away in the corner of the castle courtyard, partially hidden by a nearby tree.
Cedric glanced around for a moment while holding something bright green in one hand.
From this distance, it was hard to make out clearly.
But Percy had the feeling it looked like some kind of serpent-shaped amulet.
Or maybe a key.
Still unaware of them, Cedric walked toward a statue standing in the corner of the corridor, one that held a hollow sphere above its head.
Cedric didn't hesitate for even a second, as though that strange object knew exactly where it was leading him.
He stepped closer and drew his wand.
"Levioso," Cedric cast, aiming directly at the sphere the statue was holding.
The sphere floated for a moment.
At the same time, a small note seemed to fall from beneath it, landing at Cedric's feet.
He immediately bent down, picked it up, and unfolded it.
But whatever was written there clearly wasn't what he'd been looking for.
Cedric's face hardened.
He crumpled the note into a ball, threw it onto the floor, and let out a sound of frustration.
Naturally, that caught Neville's and Tyson's attention as well, and they turned to look in the same direction as Percy.
Cedric stood there looking irritated, rubbing his forehead tiredly.
Then he let out a slow sigh, composed himself, straightened his clothes, and turned around.
The moment he did, Percy grabbed Neville and Tyson and pulled them behind the nearby tree so Cedric wouldn't see them.
It worked.
The Hufflepuff continued down the corridor before disappearing through one of the doors leading toward the castle entrance hall.
"You two saw that too, right?" Percy couldn't help asking.
He had just watched the friendly Cedric Diggory lose his composure over nothing more than a note.
Neville and Tyson immediately nodded.
Percy walked over to where Cedric had thrown the paper, followed by Tyson and Neville.
He picked it up, smoothed out the crumpled ball, and began reading its contents, taking his time to make sense of what was written there.
"...Field Guide..." Percy read aloud before looking at Neville, hoping for an explanation.
But even Neville had no idea what it meant and simply shrugged.
"I've never heard of anything like that."
"Well... maybe he doesn't like guides... or fields," Percy said, trying to come up with a reason for Cedric's outburst.
But for some reason, that brief flash of anger just didn't fit the Cedric Diggory everyone knew.
Percy couldn't help remembering someone else who had once seemed like a good person...
Until he wasn't.
That feeling...
The feeling that there was something hidden behind a friendly smile...
It felt far too familiar.
"That green object... was it really a snake-shaped key?" Percy murmured, frowning.
As far as Percy remembered, snakes only ruled one house at Hogwarts...
And it definitely wasn't Hufflepuff.
It wasn't much to go on, but after everything that had happened, Percy wasn't willing to ignore it either.
Percy stood there in silence for several seconds.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious everything seemed.
"...What if it had something to do with the Heir?" Percy murmured.
He looked toward Neville and Tyson.
Neither of them had an answer.
Percy lowered his eyes once more to the crumpled note in his hands.
Then he slowly looked toward the corridor where Cedric had disappeared.
For some reason...
Percy had the feeling that their little exploration had just turned into something else entirely.