A Brother's Fight
Harry and Percy spent Christmas and New Year at home. They had a lot of fun and received many gifts they genuinely liked. Well, Percy not quite as much. For some reason, he had received five different books about etiquette and good manners. Percy was convinced that someone had spread the word in the right place so that he would get that kind of gift, and he had already decided to find out who was responsible.
After saying goodbye to Sally, who genuinely seemed a little sad about having to send them off once again so they could return to Hogwarts, where they would spend a couple of months before coming back home, the brothers also looked somewhat down. Not as much as the first time they had gone to Hogwarts, which made it clear that at least they had matured slightly over time.
Eventually, they boarded the Hogwarts Express, waving goodbye to their mother from the train car door.
On the train, they met up with their friends, who had also spent the holidays at home. Ron, Hermione, and Neville. Now they were sitting together, chatting calmly as the train glided smoothly along the tracks, heading straight for Hogwarts.
"…so my brother Bill suddenly showed up with a lot of money. He said he had earned it, but he did not want to say where. And he bought all of us new robes as a gift," Ron said while stroking the wizard robe he was wearing. It was the first time he had something that had not previously belonged to one of his older brothers. It was not luxurious, but it was new, and his face showed a very obvious happiness.
"That's great," Harry said when he saw his friend's expression.
"Although he was acting a bit strange," Ron added. "Sometimes he would just stare at the sky and the clouds like he was in another world. Fred says that seeing so much money all at once made him go a little crazy." Ron laughed, amused, remembering the look on his brother's face as he seemed lost in his thoughts.
"Your brother works as a curse breaker at Gringotts, right?" Hermione asked, setting aside the book she had been reading to join the conversation.
"Yeah, in Egypt. But it seems he has some work around here too, so he's going to stay for a while," Ron replied as he grabbed one of the sweets from the table.
Neville, for his part, was too busy eating quietly to intervene. He watched everyone in silence while seriously struggling with a licorice wand that stubbornly refused to break.
"And what did you do, Harry?" Hermione asked, since Ron had told that story so many times she practically knew it by heart.
"Oh, not much," Harry replied calmly. "We celebrated with everyone at home. Then we went to see our cousin Dred, who couldn't join us, and we brought him lots of Christmas snacks. After that, we went for a walk around London with Mom." He said this while grabbing a chocolate frog.
"I fought in a coliseum," Percy said with the same calm tone.
His words froze everyone just as they were about to grab more snacks.
"Sorry… what?" Hermione asked first, as if she had not quite understood what she had just heard.
"I fought in a goblin coliseum. I also went into a secret Gringotts vault to choose the trophy, which were the gifts I gave to Harry and Mom," Percy explained, treating it as something completely normal.
Harry, who seemed to be hearing this for the first time, stared at him. Then he looked down at his wand, where that silver ring, the wand holder, was placed, and looked back at Percy.
"Are you an idiot?" he asked, his expression visibly annoyed as his grip tightened around his wand.
"Huh? Why are you calling me an idiot? You're the idiot," Percy replied immediately.
"Why would you fight for a Christmas gift? You could have just bought something," Harry said, clearly angry as he finally learned the story behind the gift.
"I don't have any money," Percy replied, as if it were the most logical excuse in the world.
He did not get to say anything else before receiving a blow to the head from Harry.
"Ouch," Percy complained, lifting his head and meeting his brother's genuinely furious face. "What's wrong with you?" he asked.
Harry did not respond. He hit him again.
"That hurts, Harry, idiot," Percy said, standing up from his seat and hitting him back. Within seconds, both of them started fighting over the train seats.
"Stupid," Harry could be heard shouting as he punched Percy. "You really are an idiot," he added.
Hermione, Ron, and Neville moved slightly away so they would not get caught in the middle of the exchange.
"Should we stop them?" Neville asked nervously, not knowing what to do as blows flew back and forth.
Although Percy was physically stronger than Harry, what Harry had were quick reflexes thanks to his training as a Seeker, along with great agility for his size. Because of that, the fight was fairly even.
"Stop it," Hermione shouted, but neither of them was listening.
"I think it's better to let them go until they get tired," Ron said completely casually. "The twins fight like this all the time." At that exact moment, he had to dodge a shoe that came flying in his direction.
…
After a good deal of effort, Hermione finally managed to pull Harry away, while Neville held Percy back.
Harry glared at his brother for a few seconds before crossing his arms and letting out an annoyed snort. Percy, for his part, was angry about the hits, but at the same time felt confused by Harry's reaction.
That left the atmosphere in a rather uncomfortable silence. Only the sound of the train moving forward remained.
Luckily for everyone, the train had already arrived at Hogsmeade, so they had to get off and head toward the castle.
As soon as the train stopped, Harry shot his brother one last annoyed look and got off first. Ron followed him, shrugging with an expression that showed he did not really know what to do. Percy got off afterward, frowning. The cold hit them, but no one said much. The mood created by Harry and Percy lingered heavily.
Everyone climbed into the same carriage with their friends, but the silence between the two brothers continued. They did not speak to each other, not even when they entered the castle and returned to their dormitory. The night passed the same way.
And the next morning was the same.
It was slightly amusing to see that, despite not speaking, they still walked together to breakfast, as always, purely out of habit.
…
Percy was sitting in the courtyard where he usually trained almost every day, but this time he did not have much motivation. He wore a genuinely irritated expression, and the wooden sword rested in his hand without him moving it. After a few seconds, he threw it to the ground in frustration and dropped himself onto a nearby rock, crossing his arms while staring at the wooden sword without much interest.
Neville and Grover were there with him. Grover, by the way, had also returned to Hogwarts, though unlike the students who came back on the Express, as was expected, his uncle lived nearby, so he did not need to travel by train.
Both of them were already used to watching Percy train in the mornings. Since they did not have much else to do, they usually accompanied him while chatting calmly.
"What's wrong with him?" Grover asked Neville, glancing sideways at Percy, who was clearly still frustrated.
"He fought with Harry. Since we arrived, they haven't been talking," Neville replied in a low voice, explaining what had happened, including how the fight had started.
Percy seemed to hear the conversation and, with a frown, spoke without looking at them.
"I don't know why he's so angry. Did he finally go crazy or what?" he said irritably.
Grover looked toward Percy and let out a soft sigh before speaking.
"Percy, if I had a brother who put himself at risk to give me a gift, do you think I would be happy?" he asked right away.
Percy stayed silent for a moment before answering.
"I didn't risk my life. It wasn't a fight to the death. And I won all the matches," he said firmly. "Besides, he also gave me a really great gift. If I had given him something lesser, I would have felt bad," he added.
Grover sighed again when he heard Percy's response, but he spoke gently once more. "But did Harry have to fight in a coliseum to get that gift?" Grover asked calmly.
"No," Percy replied, making an uncomfortable face.
"And what if he had? Would you have been happy to receive whatever it was he gave you?" Grover pressed.
"Mm… no," Percy admitted again, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Grover seemed to be talking to him like a child; and, technically, he was. "Tsk," he clicked his tongue as the realization hit him.
Percy leaned forward, picked up the wooden sword, and put it away with a sigh.
"You're right… if Harry had put himself in danger to give me Anaklusmos, I would have been really upset," he added with understanding, nodding slowly. His expression was still irritated, but now it carried a different shade; determination.
He stood up, clearly determined to go apologize to his brother.
"Wait… what did you say?" Grover asked when he heard that name.
But Percy was already running.