Demigods at Hogwarts

Chapter Eighteen: Piper McLean

~Piper~

Jetlag sucks.

It's one of the most uncomfortable feelings in the world. It makes you tired, but keeps you from falling asleep.

At eight, I headed down to breakfast, crashing into a suit of armor on the way.

I sat in between Jason and Leo, with Ginny across from me. I poured a glass of orange juice and grabbed a box of cornflakes blearily.

"Too early for you, Pipes?" Jason teased. Of course the son of Jupiter would never get jetlag.

"It's still three A.M. in New York," I said, sloppily pouring milk into my bowl piled with cornflakes.

"Oh yes, the great and terrible jetlag." Jason grinned and pinched a piece of bacon from a tray.

I looked at the bacon filling his plate. "If you eat that, I will never kiss you again."

"Oh, touchy," Leo said, with a really fake, put-on British accent. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Leo, you just did."

He stuffed an entire syrup-drowned waffle in his mouth.

"Ew," said Ginny, taking a pointed, delicate bite of eggs. "Bad enough my brother eats like a pig."

We continued like that for a while, until the mail arrived. By mail arrived, I mean hundreds of owls swooping down on everyone.

A huge barn owl landed in front of Annabeth, hooting importantly. I grinned. Probably Athena.

A snowy owl dropped a newspaper on Ginny's Eggs Benedict, and she unfurled it.

An impatient tsking came from where Ginny had disappeared behind the newspaper, and she resurfaced, shaking her head.

"Umbridge's usual nonsense," she complained, whacking Harry over the head with the rolled-up newspaper when he sat.

"Ouch," he said, loading his plate with blueberry-covered pancakes. "She's got so much nonsense that I have to ask, which one?"

"'Extremely dangerous half-breeds,'" Ginny quoted. "'Anything that is not full human cannot be trusted. Anything that is not full human is a dark creature.'"

My cheeks warmed, and I shot a glance at Jason. His hands were clenched.

"Excuse me?" I said quietly.

"Oh, it's a horrible story," Ginny said. She set the newspaper down. "When I was in fourth year, the year after Voldemort rose, the Ministry of Magic decided that someone needed to see how things were doing at Hogwarts. The professor they sent, Umbridge, thought that Harry was lying when he said that Voldemort came back, and forced him to carve I must not tell lies into the back of his own hand. She has this big hate for anything that is half-human: mermaids, centaurs, werewolves, even our kind groundskeeper, Hagrid."

"So," said Jason slowly. "Anything that is not all-human is automatically evil?"

"Insane, right?" Ginny poked Harry's arm in a friendly way. "Lupin was the best DADA teacher we ever had, and he was a werewolf."

Harry put a hand over his forehead. "Too soon, Ginny. Especially with Teddy living at Grimmauld Place with just Fleur."

"Phlegm," Ginny muttered. This seemed to be an old joke, because Harry laughed.

Then a bell rang, and Ginny said, "Time for class. Leo, you better chew that waffle before we get to class."

~

I wrote this chappie when I had jetlag, so yeah. I love Leo here. He's so funny! And that Umbridge reference may or may not have been foreshadowing XD.

I know who I'ma gonna be for Halloween...

...Annabeth!!!

*accidentally throws phone out window*

Ooops...