The Boys Take Action (1/2)
"Percy, I am not really sure about this," Grover said while staring at the small pile of rocks scattered at his feet, and Neville's. Not far from them, Percy stood with his silver sword, calmly stretching his arms and legs.
Since they were not allowed anywhere near the Forbidden Forest, where Percy usually trained, and since that area was also close to the Black Lake, they had no choice but to move to the inner courtyard of the castle. Still, it was large enough to serve their purpose.
"And I already told you not to worry. We have had much more dangerous training sessions with our cousin," Percy said with a calm smile. He stopped stretching and took the sword with both hands, settling into a guard stance as he looked at his friends.
"Besides, I still have some issues using this sword," he continued. "It requires a lot of my concentration just to try to cut something, so it is not that simple," he said while studying the silver blade for a moment before lifting his gaze with seriousness. "You just need to throw the stones. I will cut them," he added, with a hint of pride and slight arrogance.
"Mmm… well, I guess it is still less brutal than how they train at camp," Grover said as he picked up a stone and threw it at Percy without much more hesitation.
"More brutal?" Percy asked, distracted for just a second, right as the stone hit him on the forehead. Even though he had tried to block it with his sword, the rock passed straight through the blade as if it were an illusion. "Ouch," he said, bringing a hand to his forehead.
Meanwhile, Neville, who had been rather quiet until then, followed suit. He grabbed a stone and threw it as well, hitting Percy in the stomach a moment later.
"Wait, wait," Percy said quickly, raising one hand to stop them. "Ahem… wait until I regain my concentration," he added, clearing his throat, clearly embarrassed and with his forehead reddened from the blow.
Percy rolled his neck slightly before adopting a serious expression. He let the air out of his lungs and then placed the sword in front of his chest, gripping it with both hands. He took his stance.
The blade pointed forward, slightly raised, with one elbow pulled back and the other arm closing the posture firmly.
For a moment, Neville and Grover felt a bit nervous as they saw Percy's flawless stance and focused gaze. Confidence and pride. All of it could be felt in the way he stood.
"Let us begin," Percy said without taking his eyes off them. "And do not stop for anything. This is serious training," he added.
Grover and Neville exchanged a glance before throwing their stones. The first one came fast, and Percy moved, delivering a swift thrust that split the rock cleanly in two with a downward cut. Without stopping, he twisted his wrist and lifted the sword in an upward slash, cutting another stone in midair.
Then he stepped aside, dodging a rock he did not have time to cut. At the same time, he raised the sword above his head and delivered a half horizontal slash angled downward. The cut stone flew past his head and brushed against the side of his leg without touching him.
"Faster," Percy said.
Grover and Neville grabbed several stones in their arms and began throwing them with all their strength, as fast as they could. Percy cut each rock with precision, and the ones he could not reach he simply avoided by moving his foot slightly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The training turned into a true spectacle. Some students passing by could not help but stop, amazed by Percy's skill and the perfection of his movements.
As Percy cut every stone flying toward him, no matter how big or small, something caught his attention for a brief moment. His gaze shifted.
"Mmm… Harry?" he murmured when he noticed Hermione, Harry, and Ron running through the corridors at full speed, their expressions frantic.
That small distraction took its toll.
His sword no longer managed to cut the stones still flying at him, and they began hitting him from all sides.
"Ouch, ouch. Wait… ouch. Wait," Percy said before breaking into a run, since the two of them were taking the part about not stopping for anything very seriously, because it was serious training.
The scene went from a perfect knight training to Percy fleeing from his friends as they tried to stone him with rocks, causing those who had been watching in admiration to lose interest and walk away.
…
"Professor McGonagall is not listening to us, the Headmaster is not here, and Snape is probably already planning how to get to the Philosopher's Stone. What do we do?" Ron said with a genuinely irritated expression.
A few moments earlier, after warning Professor McGonagall, the three of them had lingered around the staff room to see if Snape was still there. However, the professor found them again and threatened to take another fifty points, saying she was fed up with them.
Not only did she not believe that the Stone was in danger, she did not even bother to check. Instead, she scolded them.
Harry frowned slightly. He remembered Gema, back in the Muggle school. When Percy or he said they had seen someone strange lurking across the street, she never hesitated. She called someone, even if it might have been a mistake.
Maybe he was exaggerating. Maybe not. But she never took risks. And that contrast felt even sharper here, in the magical school.
Harry pushed the memory aside and began thinking seriously, but nothing came to mind that could fully work.
Hermione spoke quickly.
"What if you call your aunt? She could enter the castle and…"
But Harry shook his head almost immediately.
"She cannot hurt people unless she is attacked first, or she would be punished. I never fully understood it… well, until now."
"Punished by whom?" Ron asked, confused.
Harry shrugged. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but ended up shaking his head instead. He had a rough idea now that he knew he was a demigod, and that was the reason Mor had been sent to train him in magic. It was not hard to guess.
"What if you call your house? Maybe that… what was his name, that not very pleasant wizard?" Ron said, quickly referring to Mark.
"I do not think he is unpleasant. After all, he helped a lot last time," Hermione said for a moment, earning a sour look from Ron.
"No, that would not work either. First of all, you cannot use phones here to call him. Last time it only worked because my mother forgot the two way mirror at work," Harry explained, shaking his head. "And the moment I call my mother…" Harry paused for a second, twisting his mouth slightly.
"She will come flying. Literally. And when she finds out that a professor is trying to steal something dangerous and, on top of that, tried to kill me… she will not let us stay here."
"That leaves us with only one option," he added, looking at his friends.
Harry took a deep breath.
"Tonight… I am taking the invisibility cloak, and I am going after the Stone."
"You are insane!" Hermione exclaimed immediately. "You will be expelled!"
"So what?" Harry replied, as if that were not the worst thing in the world. The truth was that, so far, he had not felt many reasons to stay at that school. After losing those points halfway through the year, nothing had changed. Not just Gryffindor, but the rest of the school as well. The teachers did not listen to him when he wanted to help, and at some point he had noticed that Percy did not feel entirely comfortable there either. He was only forcing himself to stay to be with him. Especially since he realized he was not really a wizard like everyone believed.
"If Voldemort comes back, this school might not even exist anymore, or he will turn it into one for the Dark Arts. Or did you not read about all his atrocities?" Harry said in a serious tone.
"If they catch me before I reach the Stone, then fine. I will just be sent home. And Voldemort will have to come after me there, probably facing our neighbors. And even if he is a powerful wizard, our neighbors are not normal people," he added with a faint, amused smile. His neighbors were, quite literally, the entire Order of the Knights of Pendragon, and to Harry, they were the strongest people he knew.
Ron and Hermione looked at him for a moment.
"So, your cloak can cover the three of us?" Ron asked.
That made Harry look at him.
"Come on, you do not think we would let you go alone. Unlike you, I do not have neighbors. I do have a lot of brothers, though, and I would rather not see them fighting dark wizards," Ron said with a small smile.
"I will try to look through my books and see if there is anything that can help us," Hermione said, nodding.
"Are you not afraid of being expelled?" Harry asked with a slight smile.
"It is impossible for me to be expelled. Flitwick said I got one hundred and twelve out of one hundred on the exam. Expelling me would mean losing a great student," she replied with a touch of pride.
That made Ron roll his eyes for a moment.
"Will you tell your brother?" Ron asked.
"If I find him before we leave. I do not know where he went. He said he was going to train with Grover and Neville, and I have not seen him all afternoon," Harry replied, nodding.
After that, the three of them returned to the common room. Their nerves were obvious, but no one from Gryffindor spoke to them, so it seemed like no one cared. More importantly, they did not care either. Hermione kept reviewing her notes seriously, looking for any information that might be useful and the spells they would need to cast.
Meanwhile, Harry looked up every time the portrait of the Fat Lady opened, hoping Percy would walk in. His legs moved restlessly, and the common room slowly began to empty as everyone went to bed.
"Where did that idiot go?" Harry muttered irritably.
"There is not much time, Harry," Ron said, as they watched Lee Jordan finally leave, the last student still there.
"Fine. It does not matter. Let us go."
Harry pulled out the cloak he had hidden, and the three of them headed toward the exit.