Reading Maddie Potter and Percy Jackson

Reading Chapter 15: The Forbidden Forest

Things couldn't have been worse.

"Ain't that true" Clarisse shook her head.

Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Hermione was trembling. Cedric was muttering curses to himself. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover-up stories chased each other around Maddie's brain, each more feeble than the last. She couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak?

"Don't be too harsh on yourself, hon" Piper said.

"Thanks bruh"

"Oh, you didn't let me complete" Piper went on, a sly smirk taking birth on her glowing face, "don't be too harsh on yourself for being stupid: it's in your blood"

Laughter echoed around the Council room as Maddie half-heartedly glared at Piper, before joining in the laughter.

There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the invisibility cloak, and they might as well be packing their bags already.

Had Maddie thought that things couldn't have been worse? She was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.

"Maddie!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other three. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag--"

Maddie shook her head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.

Ron shivered. "That was one experience I never wish to repeat"

Harry and Hermione grimly nodded along while Cedric passed looks with Maddie.

All this took place while the demigods (excluding Maddie of course) were mentally comparing their own experiences to this particular time. As the person recording all this, I can assure the comparison they came up with was not pleasant.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."

It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue. Cedric gulped and he and Maddie exchanged terrified looks.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

Maddie caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor, blundering Neville -- Maddie knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.

"Please stop thinking Maddie, your thoughts hurt"

"I know Cedric, bear with me"

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. Mr. Diggory, I thought you aimed to be a prefect. As for you, Miss Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All four of you will receive detentions -- yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous -- and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."