If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016
--------
For over an hour, Percy, in his magnificent black Pegasus form, was ferrying his excited friends around the sky above Hogwarts.
The very first person on his broad, feathery back, of course, was Fleur. And when some of the others, like Ron and Seamus, started to argue that she had already had a special turn flying with him on Valentine's Day and it wasn't fair, the French Veela just turned her head, glared at them with her iciest, most regal look, and replied with undeniable, possessive finality, "I am 'iz girlfriend. 'E belongz to me. I go firzt, non?" Honestly, if Percy wasn't currently a horse, with a horse's emotional range, he would have blushed redder than a Weasley at her proud, confident declaration. He kind of loved it when she got like that.
A lot of the little ones, the first and second years from all the houses who had gathered around to watch, rode him as well.
They were so eager, their eyes wide with wonder. For them, pegasi were just magical creatures from storybooks and legends they heard about from their parents.
To actually ride a real, living, breathing one was a dream come true, an unbelievable adventure.
Percy didn't mind at all giving them short, gentle flights around the Quidditch pitch. He loved being there for them, seeing the pure, unadulterated joy sparkle in their eyes.
It made him almost sad that his little brother, Tyson the Cyclops, wasn't there with him to see it too. Tyson would have loved this. Percy missed his big, kind-hearted brother a lot sometimes.
The next day, though, it was straight back to work and serious business. It was almost amazing how quickly the general school situation changed.
Yesterday, everyone was still talking about Percy and his incredible Animagus transformation.
Today, all that excitement was replaced by a new, nervous buzz. They were focused on the fast-approaching second task of the Triwizard Tournament, which was scheduled for the very next day.
Fleur was hard at work up in 'The Forest', Percy's secret study. She was surrounded by books and parchments, trying to find the best solution for whatever the champions would face in the Black Lake.
Percy let her be, giving her privacy to concentrate. He already had his own plan in the bag, he knew that much.
He had offered to help her, to share some ideas, but she was too proud, too independent, to accept his direct help for the task. She wanted to solve it on her own. And he loved her for that stubborn, determined spirit.
So, since Fleur was busy, Percy decided to go and check up on Harry. He found the younger boy in the quiet, dusty Hogwarts library, looking stressed and frantic.
Harry was desperately searching through stacks of old books, trying to find some kind of underwater spell or charm.
Well, it looked more like he was desperately flipping through pages with little to no actual success, his face growing more worried by the minute.
Percy spotted him at a large table, completely surrounded by three huge stacks of ancient-looking books.
Susan Bones, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were all sitting with him, trying to help him find something, anything, useful.
With a small, sympathetic smile, Percy walked over to their table. "Hey all," he said quietly. "Fancy seeing you here, burning the midnight oil, or… I guess the midday oil?"
"Sh!" came the sharp, angry shushing sound from Madam Pince, the stern-faced librarian, who glared at him from behind her desk.
She clearly didn't appreciate any noise in her sacred domain. Percy quickly gave off an apologetic look and sat down quietly next to Ron.
"Hey Percy," Harry whispered, looking up with tired, bloodshot eyes. "You look… surprisingly ready. Not stressed at all."
Percy grinned, a confident, easy grin. "That's because I have a secret weapon for tomorrow, my friend."
"What's that?" Hermione asked immediately, her brow furrowed with curiosity, her own pile of books momentarily forgotten.
"Well, I specialize in water magic, Hermione. What do you think my secret weapon might be?" Percy chuckled softly.
"Sh!" went that stupid vulture of a librarian once more, her glare even sharper this time.
Percy had had enough. He turned to her this time and gave her a small, polite but firm glare of his own.
He then quickly took out his wand and, with a subtle wave under the table, cast a sound-proofing charm around their little group.
"There," Percy said, his voice now at a normal volume, though Madam Pince wouldn't hear it. "No more stupid shushing." The librarian blinked, looking confused as she saw Percy's mouth moving but heard absolutely no sound coming from their table.
Percy smirked in satisfaction and turned back to Harry. "Anyway, as I was saying. Made up any good plans yet for the lake?"
"No," Harry huffed, tossing the heavy book he was reading aside onto the table with a frustrated thud. "This is completely pointless! I'm getting nowhere!"
"It's alright, Harry," Susan said gently, reaching out and rubbing his hand comfortingly, holding it tightly in hers. "We'll find a way. We always do."
"How, Susan?! The task is tomorrow!" Harry cried out, his voice full of despair. "I'm going to fail! I'm going to look like an idiot in front of everyone!"
"And we'll keep working right up until the very last minute if we have to, until we find a way," Susan replied calmly, her voice steady and reassuring. "I promise you, Harry. We won't give up."
Harry let out a long, shaky sigh. Slowly, a small, grateful smile touched his lips as he looked at her. "Thanks, Susy," he said softly.
"Ooh, 'Susy,' eh? What a cute little nickname," Percy chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows at the blushing pair.
"So, you actually have any useful ideas then, Percy?" Ron asked, leaning forward eagerly, ignoring Hermione's disapproving look.
"Ron!" Hermione hissed under her breath, elbowing him in the ribs.
"What? We can't ask him for help?" Ron protested, rubbing his side.
"No! Of course not!" Hermione said, looking scandalized.
"Why not?" Ron asked, genuinely confused.
"Because… because…" Hermione blinked, suddenly at a loss for a concrete rule.
"I don't think champions are supposed to help other champions with the tasks," Harry supplied quietly, though he looked like he wished it wasn't true.
"Yes… yes, exactly!" Hermione said, nodding vigorously, looking triumphant. "That's the rule!"
Percy chuckled, shaking his head. "And a champion isn't supposed to be younger than seventeen either, right? I seem to remember that rule got broken pretty spectacularly too, huh?"
Harry sighed again, running a hand through his messy black hair. "Yes… it did." He looked at Percy, his eyes pleading. "Do you, though? Have any tips, I mean?"
"Harry!" Hermione called out, aghast. "That's cheating! You can't just ask him!"
"Well, I have to do something, Hermione!" Harry argued back, his desperation clear. "I can't just go in there with nothing!"
"But still! It's against the spirit of the competition!" Hermione insisted.
"Oh, cut him some slack, Curly," Percy waved her off good-naturedly, using his old nickname for her. "He's just desperate. And he has a very good reason to be, considering he probably has to save Susan's life tomorrow from the bottom of the lake."
"What?!" both Susan and Harry cried out in unison, their faces paling dramatically.
"Ah, yeah," Percy nodded, looking serious now. "Remember the riddle from the golden egg? 'We've taken what you'll sorely miss.' They are going to take the person you will miss the most, hold them hostage underwater. In this case..." he looked pointedly from Harry to Susan, who were still holding hands tightly.
Harry's eyes went wide with horror. "No… they can't do that! They wouldn't! That's… that's horrible!"
Percy shrugged, his expression calm. "Them's the rules of the tournament, Harry. It's supposed to be dangerous."
"How can you be so calm about this?!" Harry demanded, his voice shaky. "What if it was Fleur they took from you! What would you do then?!"
Percy shrugged again, his calmness unwavering. "Well, first off, it won't be Fleur. She's a champion too, they wouldn't take another champion. And second," his voice became firm, his sea-green eyes full of a steely determination that surprised them all, "it honestly doesn't matter who it is they take. If they took someone I cared about, I will save them. No matter what it takes. It's not even a question in my mind."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Susan were all silent for a moment, amazed and a little awed by the Hufflepuff champion's quiet, unshakeable confidence in himself. Finally, Harry spoke up, his voice hoarse. "Percy… can you… can you help me, please?"
Percy smiled, a warm, reassuring smile. "I thought you would never ask, mate." He reached into the inner pocket of his robes and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a shimmering, yellow-green potion. He tossed it gently to Harry. "Here. Catch."
Harry caught it immediately and looked at the strange potion with a mixture of hope and suspicion. "What is it?"
"It's a potion that will help you breathe underwater," Percy explained. "It should last for about an hour, I think. Maybe a little more, depending on your metabolism." He shrugged. "It's pretty potent."
"What? How is that possible?!" Hermione cried out, her eyes wide with disbelief. "I have been through every single potions book I could possibly think of, looking for a potion exactly like this! I never even found a single mention of one!"
"Well, that's probably because it didn't actually exist until a few weeks ago," Percy shrugged again, looking rather pleased with himself.
"I made it myself. Invented it. I haven't really decided on a good name for it yet, though. I was thinking something cool like, 'Poseidon's Touch', but then the implications of that name became... really weird, to say the least." Percy shuddered dramatically.
"You can't just invent a brand new potion that's never been invented before!" Hermione cried out, sounding completely flabbergasted. "You need to be a fully qualified Potions Master, with years of experience, to do something like that! It's incredibly complex and dangerous!"
"Or just really, really smart," Ron argued, grinning at Percy with admiration. "And good at Potions, which Percy is."
Harry ignored their bickering, staring at the vial in his hand with a focused, intense glare. "Will it work?" he asked Percy, his voice low and serious.
Percy nodded confidently. "I haven't tested it on a human subject yet, obviously. But it should work perfectly. I've never made a potion that didn't do what it was supposed to do. Maybe you should go down to the lake later tonight, after it gets dark, and try a little bit for yourself, just to be sure. Here," Percy took out a second, identical vial of the potion from his pocket and handed it to Harry. "This one's for the actual task tomorrow."
"Why do you have two vials?" Susan asked, curious.
"Oh, I made one for Fleur too, just in case she asked for help or got stuck," Percy explained. "But my little bird is way too proud to ask me. Personally, I think it's because she doesn't want to seem weak or admit she needs help in front of me. It's so cute when she gets all stubborn like that." Percy chuckled fondly.
Harry grabbed both potions, his hands trembling slightly. "Thank you, Percy," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I-I don't know what I would have done without this-"
"-Save it, Harry. It's fine, really," Percy waved off his thanks with a casual gesture. "I promised Hecate I would look out for you, remember? And besides," Percy's expression turned a bit more serious, "you didn't actually want to be in this stupid tournament in the first place. If Voldemort is really the one who forced you into this, then you can't die on us now. Not yet, anyway. You've got a Dark Lord to defeat, apparently."
Harry managed a watery smile. "Thanks, Percy. You're a true friend."
--------
If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016