[Special] Things That Happen When Harry Doesn't Keep an Eye on Percy
Early in the morning he had a free day; so Harry, who the night before had officially joined the Quidditch team, went to train with them very early to get used to the new group.
He invited Percy to go watch him; but Percy honestly felt it would be really boring to just sit there watching others fly around and smash their heads without being able to do the same, so he refused. Although he did wish Harry good luck and told him not to break an arm, because their mother would surely forbid him from flying on a broom again if that happened.
Harry thanked him for the encouragement before leaving, more or less with a resigned smile.
Neville entered the shared Gryffindor dormitory room to look for something he had forgotten. As soon as he walked in, he saw Percy sitting there with an expression of absolute concentration and his hand under his chin, as if he were thinking deeply. It was the exact pose of the Thinker sculpture, which only made him look stranger.
"What's wrong with him?" Neville asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt in case Percy was pondering something important.
Dean Thomas, who was sitting on his bed reading a comic he had brought from home, lifted his gaze and observed Percy for a moment.
"I don't know; he said something about the Black Lake and then stayed there thinking", Dean commented before going back to his comic. It was a day off for everyone, and he did not seem willing to get involved in anyone else's problems.
Neville approached Percy to ask what was going on; but Percy suddenly stood up, as if he had made an inevitable decision.
"All right; I'm going for a walk", he said with sudden determination, before running to his trunk and pulling out beach clothes that, for some reason, he already had prepared there since who-knows-when.
Without saying anything else, he rushed out of the room, leaving Neville surprised and confused. Dean lifted his gaze again for a second, saw Percy leave, and simply shifted into a more comfortable reading position, as if nothing in this world could matter less to him.
"You're not going to follow him?" he asked Neville with curiosity; after all, they were always together with that weird Hufflepuff kid.
"Oh, right", Neville said before running after Percy, not understanding what had gotten into him now.
…
The Black Lake stretched along the left side of the castle like an immense, slightly dark mirror, deep and silent. Even on clear days, the color of the water remained somber; it was truly enormous, so large that from the shore you couldn't see the other side. And in certain spots, it looked more like a small inland sea than a simple lake attached to the castle.
The air around it was cool and humid; filled with that distinctive smell of deep water. The wind moved the surface slightly, creating small waves that advanced in irregular directions. It was quite a beautiful place, if one ignored all the creatures said to inhabit its depths.
Of course, Percy had been investigating ever since the first day he heard rumors about what lived in the lake.
He had even asked Hagrid, who told him that merfolk, grindylows, and other animals that were "friendly" to Hagrid lived there; although to Percy, they did not sound friendly at all.
In truth, Percy was very interested in meeting some of these creatures; especially one of the most special ones in the lake: the giant squid, which sometimes showed one of its enormous tentacles as if waving. Percy had heard that some students who had fallen into the water were rescued by that tentacle, so he trusted it would be a friendly creature. And, above all, he wanted to test his ability to speak with aquatic animals, like when he had spoken with that turtle in the aquarium.
If a simple turtle had such an interesting story about its birth; then what kind of story would that giant squid have, supposedly living in the lake for hundreds of years?
The merfolk did not interest him as much; at first he thought they would be those beautiful mermaids from fairy tales, but in reality these were their much uglier cousins.
Percy was standing at the edge of the lake while stretching his muscles before going into the water. He wore beach shorts, since he thought wearing a professional swimming suit would be excessive; and his upper body was bare, showing some fairly well-defined muscles. But, after all, he was an eleven-year-old kid; so there was no point describing too much.
Behind Percy, Neville watched him with clear nervousness.
"Percy… are you sure you want to swim there? I heard grindylows live in that place, and they aren't very friendly", Neville said, imagining at least ten possible ways Percy could die in a lake, but avoiding mentioning them so he wouldn't sound too pessimistic.
"I'm fine, Nev; don't worry. I always carry this", Percy said as he pointed at his necklace, which held two objects. One was the sword his Aunt Mor had given him, in its tiny form; and the other was a kind of medallion with a sword in the center. That was a charm their mother had bought them for protection, and he firmly believed it actually worked.
Even his Aunt Mor had told him to try not to take it off ever, because it also hid his smell… whatever that meant. For a second he wondered if he was stinky; but his aunt gave him no answer. Sometimes it really annoyed him when she acted all mysterious.
That was why he once called her a dark old lady; and that sentence had ended with him hanging upside down from a nearby tree while Harry tried to help him down.
"But…" Percy was still hesitating a little.
"I'm fine; I'm a good swimmer. If Harry's home is the air, mine is the water. I can even stay underwater for several minutes easily", Percy said with a calm smile.
"Well… I guess that's fine. Just in case, I'll stay here, in case you need help getting a professor", Neville said seriously.
"Sure, sure", Percy replied before turning around and slowly entering the lake. He thought the water might be cold for the season, but no, it was quite comfortable. He continued forward until he finally submerged himself completely, swimming toward the deeper area with his arms extended above his head.
Meanwhile, Neville stayed nervously staring at the lake, following the bubbles Percy left behind as he swam. He noticed Percy was moving incredibly fast underwater; in just an instant he had already moved several meters away, heading toward the center before lifting his head to take a breath and continue swimming deeper in.
Neville saw him dive again while keeping his eyes fixed on the lake in case something might attack him; but unfortunately nothing could be seen beyond that slightly dark surface that made it impossible to distinguish what lay below.
"Hey, Neville, what are you doing? And where's Percy?" a familiar voice sounded behind him.
It was Grover, approaching with a friendly smile. And he seemed to be coming from… the forest? Neville hesitated for a moment; but immediately assumed he must have imagined it.
"Percy went into the lake. He said he wanted to try talking to the giant squid," Neville replied.
"What?" Grover froze. "Talk?" he repeated, completely incredulous.
"That's what he said," Neville assured calmly.
Percy hadn't told them directly that he could talk to aquatic animals; like Harry with snakes, except Percy didn't hide it as much. In fact, he thought it was a pretty cool ability, so he didn't treat it like a forbidden secret.
"Wait, since when can he do that?" Grover asked quickly, far more serious than before.
"I don't know," Neville answered simply.
That unsettled Grover even more; but before he could keep asking, a huge splash echoed from the water, causing both boys to turn around instantly.
What they saw made their eyes widen.
Percy had been flung into the air while screaming; he immediately fell back into the water, where a huge tentacle grabbed him and then launched him upward again.
"Wait, wait; I'm getting dizzy!" Percy shouted as he flew through the air before splashing back down.
"A professor! We have to go get a professor, the giant squid is going to eat Percy!" Neville shouted, panicking as he prepared to run without having any idea where to go.
…
Literally seconds earlier…
Percy was swimming through the darkness of the water, barely able to see a few meters ahead thanks to the dim light. But for some reason he could sense his surroundings perfectly. He could feel fish moving nearby, as well as other things hiding in holes between the rocks and soil. For a moment, in the distance, he thought he saw some kind of horse made entirely of water; the creature stared at him for an instant before racing away at incredible speed.
Percy truly felt comfortable in the water; and it was easy to find what he was looking for, because a huge tentacle appeared in his field of vision.
Percy felt excited, but that excitement lasted only a moment when he realized something important: in order to speak to the creature, he would have to open his mouth. And he couldn't speak underwater.
At that moment, the tentacle moved quickly, as if it had immediately detected his presence.
Suddenly it was right in front of him. Percy couldn't see the full shape of the giant squid; only some tentacles surrounding him slightly, as if they were studying him.
One of the tentacles approached and touched his stomach softly, as if checking what exactly he was.
Percy realized that maybe this had all been a bad idea; but seeing that the squid wasn't attacking him, and actually seemed curious, he internally sighed in relief, realizing that this time his bad idea had turned out relatively okay.
Since Percy wanted to ask the questions he had planned, he gently petted the tentacle and then, with a hand gesture, pointed upward, indicating he wanted to go up.
At that moment, the squid fully emerged into his field of vision. It was enormous. So enormous that it blocked almost all the light underwater. A gigantic eye focused on him, observing him with interest.
After a few seconds, and as if it really had understood his gesture, the squid grabbed him with one of its tentacles.
And swam toward the surface.
Percy felt incredibly excited to be able to communicate, or at least interact, with a giant squid. But that excitement turned into a mix of horror and disappointment when he realized the squid might not have understood him at all; especially when, instead of lifting him gently out of the water, the squid flung him into the air.
And then caught him.
And then flung him again.
As Percy screamed for it to stop, he understood that either his ability to speak with aquatic animals wasn't fully developed yet, or this squid was far too stupid to understand anything.
After tossing him a few more times, the squid, surprisingly gentle for its size, left Percy on the shore. Percy stayed still, trying not to vomit, just as Professor McGonagall arrived running at full speed, nearly out of breath, accompanied by Grover and Neville. Both boys let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him alive.
Percy, soaked, dizzy, and trembling, tried to look normal; which obviously did not work.
"Mr. Jackson… why… what… how…" the professor was so confused she couldn't even form a complete sentence. She stared at him dripping wet, delirious from dizziness, then glanced at the lake where the massive squid slowly sank back into the depths.
She finally let out a sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"You had better go change and dry yourself; and for Merlin's sake, do not think of doing anything else foolish on the way," she said sternly.
Percy nodded so fast he nearly collapsed from dizziness.
The professor left, though she gave all three boys one last warning look.
"Well… the squid didn't work; maybe the merfolk," Percy said out loud, already planning another insane idea.
But Grover and Neville both shouted "No!" at the same time and grabbed him by the arms before he could even consider attempting anything else suicidal.