Half-Blood Means Two Things || Marauders Era | Percy Jackson ||

|| 16 - Black Hits Potter With A Chair ||

The first thing that crossed my mind besides an outrageous amount of cruses in Latin, French, English, and Ancient Greek was, "I didn't release Squeak." Only a moment after it left my lips, I realized I should probably listen to that little voice in my head also known as a conscience and not say the first thing that pops into my mind. Especially when that first thought is the name of the Doxy I "hadn't released."

Too late now.

I chose that moment to whirl around and figure out who I'd messed with. I was only half-surprised when I saw the strict and sour expression of Castriel Cygnus.

"Miss Myers, is it?" Cygnus snarled.

For a moment, I was so surprised by the furious look on his face that I couldn't do much more than nod and mutter something about Potions as the bell rang.

I was honest-to-gods shocked that I'd pegged both Aquila Delphin and Castriel Cygnus wrong, but then again, I'd only seen them when they didn't think anyone was watching. People are scandalously different when they think they're being watched. My only problem? I wasn't sure which Castriel Cygnus was the real one. Was it the decent, desperate, obviously smitten for Aquila man or the scowling, threatening, obviously resentful professor standing in front of me?

"Last night after your Astronomy lesson, I came up into my room and saw several things strewn around the room. And, to my immediate surprise, I'd seen that some irresponsible, impulsive, unruly student had released the Doxy in my possession."

I opened my mouth, decided against defending myself and closed it once more.

Cygnus stared at me. He gave me a piercing look before continuing, "So, I thought to myself, 'What possible student would be so foolish to release a dangerous Doxy? A Doxy with a very lethal bite?'" He stared into my eyes, and I had the uncomfortable feeling that he could see directly into my soul. "'Yes,' I thought, 'a very lethal bite, indeed. In fact, it's very unlikely that the student survived the speeds of a Doxy without suffering the poison of a Doxy.' You can imagine my panic. Doxy poison is very painful, as you might imagine," he gave me a look like he knew I hadn't just imagined it. I thought about telling him that it hadn't hurt that bad, but I decided that it would be wiser to plead not guilty. "I hurried around, because, obviously, I did not want to find a student lying dead around the corner. When I completed my search, it was near morning, so, deciding I was maybe imagining things, I headed back to my room, exhausted and very worried, for good reason. I checked my supplies and found my Doxy antidote empty. That cure is tremendously difficult to make, Miss Myers. This leads me to but one conclusion."

The longer he talked, the more I felt his anger building, but his tone stayed completely even. His eyes, however, glinted with exhaustion and simmering anger.

Brilliant, Charlie, another teacher hates you, I thought bitterly as I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to retain the need to speak. In my pocket, I could feel Squeak vibrating in my pocket from pure fear. I wondered what Cygnus had done to the poor Doxy that would make such a dangerous creature cower in terror.

Cygnus clasped his hands behind his back and started pacing in front of me, occasionally looking up to study my features like he expected a slip-up.

"Nothing to say, Miss Myers?"

I bit my tongue and shook my head.

"Can you not guess the conclusion?"

I shook my head again as Squeak squirmed. I heard the occasional shrilly chatter, but Cygnus looked too focused on scolding me to bother listening to the high-pitched squeals. Did he even know Squeak was hidden in my pocket?