|◇|The Vanishing Glass|◇|
.
.
—--------------------◇♡◇-----------------------
The newcomers fall into a pile on the floor, a whole lot of groaning and whines come from the pile.
“Death, why didn't you let us prepare?” A ginger complains. Before another chimes in,
“What dear Forge said,” Another ginger, clearly his twin, groans.
“Fred, George, watch your tongue.” The eldest ginger warns.
“Yes Bill,” the twins pout. While the one named Bill sighs fondly of the two. He manages to line the group of 7, including two adults, into a line and tells them to introduce themselves.
“My name is Sirius Black, Prankster extraordinaire, the fabulous god-father of Hyacinth,” the man of 35 with long curly black hair, and a grin on his face full with enough mischief to rival Hermes, introduces himself. This gains a smack to the back of the head by the next man in line.
“Pleasure meeting you all, I'm Remus Lupin, resident werewolf and previously a teacher at Hyacinths school,” Remus introduces himself awkwardly, he's a tall lanky man with scars littering his face and body, hair a chocolate brown with eyes not dissimilar to amber.
“I am William Weasley, although I prefer to go by Bill, I work as a curse breaker at Gringotts, and Hyacinth is my honorary sister.” Bill introduces himself, Bill is a well built man with a few scars decorating his hands, clearly from his job with a fang earring and a rogue boyish charm to him.
The second oldest ginger goes next, “My name is Charlie Weasley, I am his brother and I work in a dragon sanctuary. Hyacinth is my honorary sister,” Charlie says, he has short ginger hair, with a stocky build, where His brother had a rogue boyish charm, he had a rugged boyish charm.
“Im Gred and he’s Forge Weasley, we are the true prankster extraordinaires, not that washed up has been. We run a joke shop in Diagon Alley and we hold the title of Hyacinths favourite brothers,” George and Fred introduce themselves, they couldn’t help but add the last part, to rile up their brothers.
“You little shi-” Charlie gets cut off by a platinum blond 14 year old.
“Come on Weasley, you know that she hasn’t got a favourite brother…. Not one that's a Weasley anyway.” The platinum blond snarks.
“My name is Draco Malfoy, I'm heading into my fifth year at Hogwarts, the same year as Hyacinth, and her favourite brother.” Draco introduces himself smugly.
“Dragon-” Another light blonde starts, only to get cut off when all four of the gingers tackle Draco.
While they fight the blonde introduces herself “Nice to meet you all, I'm Luna Lovegood, I'm going into my fourth year at Hogwarts and I am Hyacinths’ honorary sister.” The blonde says airily, Apollo jumps up with an excited grin
“You're a seer, aren't you?” Apollo asks with excitement.
“Yes Lord of the sun,“ Luna says calmly, before turning to the gaggle of fighting people and whistles. They immediately fall back into line, Remus just sighs in exasperation.
.
.
.
.
The newcomers make themselves comfortable together, not intermingling, when Thanatos pops up in a cloud of smoke. “Ah, you've made yourselves comfortable, good. Now, you're going to listen to the Life of Hyacinth.” Thanatos tells them quickly, just wanting to get this over with.
—--------------------◇♡◇-----------------------
The Vanishing Glass
“Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their niece on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys’ front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful
news report about the owls.”
“Im sorry…. What?... Mr Dursley, as in Petunia Dursley, Lilys’ bitch of an older sister?” Sirius questions with a sneer, Remus, sitting next to him, becoming pale at the sound of Hyacinth living at Petunias.
“Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how muchtime had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets — but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held
no sign at all that another child lived in the house, too.”
“And why might that be,” Annabeth asks with narrowed eyes, already getting a bad feeling about it.
“Yet Hyacinth Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. Her Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
“Up! Get up! Now!”
Hyacinth woke with a start. Her aunt rapped on the door again.”
“Well thats a lovely way to wake up,” Percy says sarcastically. Sirius lights up and turns to Remus
“I like that kid,” Sirius grins.
“Up!” she screeched. Hyacinth heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. She rolled onto her back and tried to remember the dream she had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. She had a funny feeling she’d had the same dream before.”
“My bike!” Sirius shouts proudly. “My baby, I worked so hard on her.” Sirius says, wiping away a fake stray tear.
“Her aunt was back outside the door.
“Are you up yet?” she demanded.
“Nearly,” said Hyacinth.
“Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don’t you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy’s birthday.”
“.....No…. Is she being serious…?” Fred Weasley and Conner Stoll mutter. An eleven year old using the stove with bacon frying on the pan, it's a recipe for disaster.
“Hyacinth groaned.
“What did you say?” her aunt snapped through the door.
“Nothing, nothing…”
Dudley’s birthday — how could she have forgotten? Hyacinth got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. She found a pair under her bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Hyacinth was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and
that was where she slept.”
“What?!” was heard throughout the room, plenty of the goddesses rage at this information, no child should be sleeping under the stairs. Remus’ eyes start to glow as he growls in anger, his wolf coming closer to the surface, Sirius’ animagus causes a deep rumble in his chest to form at the anger he holds for Petunia.
“What in the name of Tartarus is wrong with her! Thats child abuse!” Percy yells, angry on the behalf of Hyacinth.
“When she was dressed, she went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley’s birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Hyacinth, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of
course it involved punching somebody.”
“I swear to the Gods, this better not be heading where i think it’s heading,” Bill says appalled.
“Dudley’s favourite punching bag was Hyacinth, but he couldn’t often catch her. Hyacinth didn’t look it, but she was very fast.”
“That mortal is as terrible as his parents, you don't treat a maiden that way,” Artemis argues.
“I'm going to drown him if I ever see him.” Percy says through gritted teeth.
“Calm down Percy, he might get better with age,” Sally comforts him.
“Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Hyacinth had always been small and skinny for her age. She looked even smaller and skinnier than she really was because all she had to wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was about four times bigger than she was.”
“That, and because your malnourished my child,” Hecate says sadly, mad at herself for her inability to truly help her chosen.
“Hyacinth had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. She wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched her on the nose. The only thing Hyacinth liked about her own appearance was a very thin scar on her forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. She had had it as long as she could remember, and the first question she could ever remember asking her Aunt Petunia was how she had gotten it.
“In the car crash when your parents died,” she had said. “And don’t ask questions.”
“Don’t ask questions? How is she supposed to learn?” Athena raged, education and knowledge are (obviously) things she holds in high regard.
“Don’t ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Hyacinth was turning over the bacon.
“Comb your hair!” he barked, by way of a morning greeting.
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Hyacinth needed a haircut. Hyacinth must have had more haircuts than the rest of the girls in her class put together, but it made no difference, her hair simply grew that way — all over the place.”
“You poor girl, perhaps I could help her with it,” Aphrodite mutters to herself.
“Hyacinth was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Hyacinth often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.”
“Why didn’t we get this sassy Hyacinth,” the Weasley twins pout, whereas most people were laughing at Hyacinths’ description of her cousin.
“Hyacinth put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn’t much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.
“Thirty-six,” he said, looking up at his mother and father. “That’s two less than last year.”
“Ungrateful child that one,” Hera frowns, not liking how one child is being mistreated while the other treated as a prince.
“Darling, you haven’t counted Auntie Marge’s present, see, it’s here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy.”
“All right, thirty-seven then,” said Dudley, going red in the face. Hyacinth, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down her bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.”
Clarisse and her fellow siblings look on in disgust, they may have anger issues and such, but this is disrespectful to yourself.
“Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, “And we’ll buy you another two presents while we’re out today. How’s that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right”
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, “So I’ll have thirty… thirty…”
“Thirty-nine, sweetums,” said Aunt Petunia.”
“My gods, the kid can't even count,” Sirius mutters disgustedly.
“Oh.” Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. “All right then.”
Uncle Vernon chuckled.
“Little tyke wants his money’s worth, just like his father. ’Atta boy, Dudley!” He ruffled Dudley’s hair.”
“No he doesn't, he's just a spoiled brat!” Draco says “Even worse than I was.”
“At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Hyacinth and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control aeroplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.
“Bad news, Vernon,” she said. “Mrs. Figg’s broken her leg. She can’t take her.” She jerked her head in Hyacinth’s direction.
Dudley’s mouth fell open in horror, but Hyacinth’s heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley’s birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Hyacinth was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Hyacinth hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made her look at photographs of all the cats she’d ever owned.”
“Honestly, I don't blame her, that sounds like a nightmare,” Percy shudders at the thought.
“Now what?” said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Hyacinth as though she’d planned this. Hyacinth knew she ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn’t easy when she reminded herself it would be a whole year before she had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.
“We could phone Marge,” Uncle Vernon suggested.
“Don’t be silly, Vernon, she hates the girl.”
The Dursleys often spoke about Hyacinth like this, as though she wasn’t there — or rather, as though she was something very nasty that couldn’t understand them, like a slug.”
“Horrid mortals shouldn't even be trusted with their own child.” Hera scowls.
“What about what’s-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?”
“On vacation in Majorca,” snapped Aunt Petunia.
“You could just leave me here,” Hyacinth put in hopefully (she’d be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley’s computer).
Aunt Petunia looked as though she’d just swallowed a lemon.
“And come back and find the house in ruins?” she snarled.
“I won’t blow up the house,” said Hyacinth, but they weren’t listening.
“I know that feeling, being ignored,” Percy laments, acting dramatic while sending pointed looks to Hades, Zeus and Athena.
Sirius lets out a bark of a laugh at Percy.
“I suppose we could take her to the zoo,” said Aunt Petunia slowly, “… and leave her in the car…”
“That car’s new, she’s not sitting in it alone…”
“Their only concern is the car! Man that sounds like Gabe.” Percy says with a repulsed look on his face. Sally just gives Percy a soft look before ruffling his hair.
“ Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn’t really crying — it had been years since he’d really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
“Dinky Duddydums, don’t cry, Mummy won’t let her spoil your special day!” she cried, flinging her arms around him.
“Someone is really lacking some self respect…. I don't know if its more Mrs Durlsey or Dudley.” Percy snarks.
“I… don’t… want… her… t-t-to come!” Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. “She always sp-spoils everything!” He shot Hyacinth a nasty grin through the gap in his mother’s arms.
“Two faced little-” Sirius gets cut off by Remus slamming his hand over Sirius’ mouth.
“Just then, the doorbell rang — “Oh, good Lord, they’re here!” said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley’s best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people’s arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.”
“Wooooowwww, such a wonderful child,” George says sarcastically.
“Half an hour later, Hyacinth, who couldn’t believe her luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys’ car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in her life. Her aunt and uncle hadn’t been able to think of anything else to do with her, but before they’d left, Uncle Vernon had taken Hyacinth aside.
“I’m warning you,” he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Hyacinth’s, “I’m warning you now, girl — any funny business, anything at all — and you’ll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas.”
“That slimy piece of shit! Get your hands off my God-daughter/ Soulmate!” Sirius and Percy shout at the same time.
.
.
.
.
“Your what?” Sirius slowly asks.
“...My soulmate?” Percy says hesitantly.
“Moony, i don't like this kid any more,” Sirius huffs, narrowing his eyes at Percy.
“Padfoot, you need to calm down,” Remus says amused.
“I’m not going to do anything,” said Hyacinth, “honestly…”
But Uncle Vernon didn’t believe her. No one ever did.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Hyacinth and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn’t make them happen.
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Hyacinth coming back from the hairdressers looking as though she hadn’t been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut her hair so short she was almost bald except for her bangs, which she left “to hide that horrible scar.” Dudley had laughed himself silly at Hyacinth, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where she was already laughed at for her baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, she had gotten up to find her hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. She had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though she had tried to explain that she couldn’t explain how it had grown back so quickly.”
“Petunia knows it's accidental, ‘Accidental’!” Sirius glares.
“How could she do that to the poor girl's hair!” Aphrodite Screeches in horror.
“Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force her into a revolting old sweater of Dudley’s (brown with orange puff balls). The harder she tried to pull it over her head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn’t fit Hyacinth. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to her great relief, Hyacinth wasn’t punished.”
“Thankfully so,” Many in the room let out a short cut sigh.
“On the other hand, she’d gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley’s gang had been chasing her as usual when, as much to Hyacinth’s surprise as anyone else’s, there she was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Hyacinths’s headmistress telling them Hyacinth had been climbing school buildings. But all she’d tried to do (as she shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of her cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Hyacinth supposed that the wind must have caught her in mid-jump.”
“Holy Cow… She apperated!?” Bill and Charlie shout in shock. “That's hard for any Adult to do , let alone a child!”
“But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn’t school, her cupboard, or Mrs. Figg’s cabbage-smelling living room.
While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Hyacinth, the council, Hyacinth, the bank, and Hyacinth were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.”
“How dare he?! They are a thing of beauty and art!” Both Sirius and Ares say in defence of their bikes.
“… roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums,” he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.
“I had a dream about a motorcycle,” said Hyacinth, remembering suddenly. “It was flying.”
“The worst thing to say Hyacinth,” Remus sighs.
“Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Hyacinth, his face like a gigantic beet with a moustache: “MOTORCYCLES DON’T FLY!”
Dudley and Piers sniggered.
“I know they don’t,” said Hyacinth. “It was only a dream.”
“By the gods, that man needs some anger management classes,” Percy mutters in annoyance.
“But she wished she hadn’t said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than her asking questions, it was her talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn’t, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think she might get dangerous ideas.”
“If she’s anything like James, then she might have done,” Sirius jokes, trying to lighten the mood.
“It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Hyacinth what she wanted before they could hurry her away, they bought her a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn’t bad, either, Hyacinth thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn’t blond.”
“That poor Gorilla didnt deserve that relation,” Dionysus snarks.
“Hyacinth had the best morning she’d had in a long time. She was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn’t fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting her. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn’t have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Hyacinth was allowed to finish the first.”
“That seems awfully kind,” Charlie mutters, suspicious.
“Hyacinth felt, afterward, that she should have known it was all too good to last.”
“Oh Gods, it seems like she has luck as bad as yours,” Annabeth playfully remarks to Percy and Grover laughs.
“After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon’s car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn’t look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.
“Make it move,” he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn’t budge.”
“That mortal is a real piece of work,” Poseidon huffs in annoyance.
“Do it again,” Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.
“This is boring,” Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.
Hyacinth moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. She wouldn’t have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least she got to visit the rest of the house.’
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Hyacinth’s.
It winked.”
“Snakes don’t have eyelids, they can't wink,” Annabeth says confused.
“Hyacinth stared. Then she looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren’t. She looked back at the snake and winked, too.
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Hyacinth a look that said quite plainly:
“I get that all the time.”
“That poor thing,” Hestia says softly.
“I know,” Hyacinth murmured through the glass, though she wasn’t sure the snake could hear her. “It must be really annoying.”
The snake nodded vigorously.”
“It can understand her?” Percy says in awe.
“Where do you come from, anyway?” Hyacinth asked.
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Hyacinth peered at it.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
“Was it nice there?”
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Hyacinth read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. “Oh, I see — so you’ve never been to Brazil?”
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Hyacinth made both of them jump. “DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT IT’S DOING!”
“Insufferable child,” Athena huffs, glad none of her children were like that.
“Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could. “Out of the way, you,” he said, punching Hyacinth in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Hyacinth fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.
Hyacinth sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor’s tank had vanished.
“Well I guess this explains the title,” Percy chuckles awkwardly.
“ The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
As the snake slid swiftly past her, Hyacinth could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, “Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo.”
“She can talk to snakes…” Percy says with a grin, where Sirius’ face drops before placing his head in his hands and mutters,
“That's gonna bite her in the ass if that ever comes out…”
“The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
“But the glass,” he kept saying, “where did the glass go?”
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologised over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Hyacinth had seen, the snake hadn’t done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon’s car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers
was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Hyacinth at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, “Hyacinth was talking to it, weren’t you, Hyacinth?”
“You rat faced little shit,” Remus snarls.
“Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Hyacinth. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, “Go — cupboard — stay — no meals,” before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.”
“Smart, giving the angry man a drink of alcohol,” Annabeth says sarcastically.
“That has a history of going well,” Percy adds as sarcastically, speaking from experience. Sally has a regretful look on her face, seeing this, Percy leans on her comfortingly.
“Hyacinth lay in her dark cupboard much later, wishing she had a watch. She didn’t know what time it was and she couldn’t be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, she couldn’t risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.”
“She shouldn’t even have to sneak to get her basic human right!” Fred and George yell angrily.
She’d lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as she could remember, ever since she’d been a baby and her parents had died in that car crash. She couldn’t remember being in the car when her parents had died. Sometimes, when she strained her memory during long hours in her cupboard, she came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green
light and a burning pain on her forehead.”
“She can remember that night?” Remus says horrified. Only solidified when Sirius also looks horrified.
“This, she supposed, was the crash, though she couldn’t imagine where all the green light came from. She couldn’t remember her parents at all. Her aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course she was forbidden to ask questions.”
“Still terrible people, I mean not letting a child ask questions, they are curious by nature,” both Athena and Hestia say with disgust at the mortals.
“There were no photographs of them in the house. When she had been younger, Hyacinth had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take her away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were her only family. Yet sometimes she thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know her. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to her once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. “
“What is wrong with them..” Hecate wonders about her creations.
“After asking Hyacinth furiously if she knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman
dressed all in green had waved merrily at her once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken her hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.”
“Why are they all just grabbing her? Do they not have common decency?” Hera sneers.
“How dare they think they have the right to just grab my god-daughter like that?!” Sirius raises his voice.
“The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Hyacinth tried to get a closer look.
At school, Hyacinth had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley’s gang hated that odd Hyacinth Potter in her baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley’s gang.”
“Mum, are you sure I can't drown him?” Percy asks his mum with puppy dog eyes.
“No Percy,” Sally says, looking towards Poseidon to get him to tell Percy ‘no’ as well but he had the same want and look on his face as Percy.
—--------------------◇♡◇-----------------------
“You get a break before we move onto the next chapter,” Thanatos tells them before disappearing into black smoke.
—--------------------◇♡◇-----------------------
.
.
.