The Dursley's adopted son

Chapter 19

Henry woke me up in time for dinner. I yawned and sat up. I had been having an interesting dream, but I couldn't quite remember it. I think Grover was in it, and a small boy with a cool looking scar on his forehead. But other than that, I didn't remember anything.

Dinner was rather quiet. Nothing too crazy happened as we ate our mediocre spaghetti. The kid on dinner duty messed up pretty badly on the red sauce, so we were basically just eating spaghetti with ketchup.

After dinner, I retreated to our room to work on homework. Well, actually it wasn't homework. I was looking at the wrestling information sheet that Mr. Vilgar had given to me. Tryouts were next Friday. I wondered what Dudley would think if I showed up at tryouts. On one hand, he did tell me that I should give it a shot, but on the other hand, he had started a fight with me at lunch today. But honestly? I didn't care so much about the fight. It wasn't like I hadn't gotten in trouble before. So yeah. I decided that I would try out for wrestling. The worst thing that could happen was that I don't make the team. Well, the ABSOLUTE worst thing that could happen would be Dudley deciding to beat me up for encroaching on his sport, but whatever. Small differences.

There was a knock on the door. I leapt across the room, and seeing the door open, expecting Olivia, but instead I saw Madame Wool.

"Hey Percy, I have some bad news."

I felt myself stiffen at her tone. She looked at me sadly. I wondered what the news could be. She cleared her throat.

"Well, not necessarily bad news. Just news. It's up to you to decide if it's good or bad."

I nodded and she continued,

"A man by the name of Chris Brunner wants to talk to you. He says that he's your science teacher."

I didn't know anyone named Mr. Brunner, much less a teacher, but I didn't really have anything better to do, so I agreed,

"Yeah okay, I'll go talk to him."

Madame Wool smiled.

"Wonderful."

We walked downstairs in silence. I wondered who Mr. Brunner was. Maybe he was a science teacher from one of my old schools. Or maybe he was a kidnapper in disguise. I let my imagination run wild as we neared the parlor. But when I saw the man who was sitting there, everything seemed to freeze. I was 100% sure I had never seen him before, yet something about him was incredibly familiar. It reminded me of a dream or something. He turned around, and I noticed that he was in a wheelchair. Madame Wool excuse herself, leaving me alone with Mr. Brunner. He observed me quietly, and I shifted awkwardly under his gaze. I felt that he was looking beyond my physical appearance and into my soul.

"You know Percy," he said suddenly, "your father must be very proud."

I spluttered, inspired to process what he had said. Father? Proud? Yeah no. My dad didn't want anything to do with me, which was evident by the fact that I had grown up in a freaking orphanage. But Mr. Brunner seemed confident in his statement.

"Sorry sir, I think you might have the wrong Percy. If my father was proud of me, I wouldn't be here."

I gestured vaguely at the orphanage. Mr. Brunner didn't seem to be deterred by what I thought was very solid evidence. He just smiled.

"Ahhh yes. I expected you would say that. However, you are wrong. He doesn't need to know you to be proud of you.

I had to try very hard not to roll my eyes. Mr. Brunner continued,

"Tomorrow, I will be taking up a teaching post at Smeltings. I thought I would check in with you beforehand, just so you're not surprised."

I nodded, before blurting out,

"Are you checking in with everyone? Or just me?"

Mr. Brunner smiled like he knew some complicated secret, and replied,

"Just you, Perseus."

When he said my full name I froze. My mind went back to the dream I had had a few nights ago. The one about the man with my eyes. And then I saw a flicker of my life before the orphanage. A big room with big chairs, occupied by giant figures. An underwater palace. A three headed dog. I blinked at Mr. Brunner. He looked at me with an expression between amusement and curiosity. I blinked at him again.

"I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

Mr. Brunner shook his head,but it was in a way that implied something else.

"No Percy, I'm afraid we've never met. Although, I am rather familiar with your father. You look just like him."

Again, I thought of the dream. Mr. Brunner must have read my mind or something, because he said,

"You have his eyes."

His statement was enough to make me physically stumble back. Mr. Brunner I've my dad. I looked like him. We had the same eyes. I couldn't even begin to process this information, but I somehow managed to form a question,

"Can you tell me about him?"

Mr. Brunner smiled and nodded.

878. Very short, but hey, I sense a plot!! This chapter is dedicated to @AliciaATM and @Truskawkii. I saw their comments and votes at 3:30 am and it motivated me! So thank you for your contribution!