Trying to Be a Villain Isn't Easy
As the days went by, Percy did not have a good plan to get information out of Grover, nor to try to enter the Forbidden Forest, something that would surely bring him a lot of trouble now. He also did not want to tell Harry anything, not wanting to drag him into more problems, especially since he already did not seem to be doing very well.
Harry had even considered quitting the Quidditch team, though luckily Wood had not allowed it. Even so, his teammates barely spoke to him, and when they did, they simply called him "Seeker." That annoyed Percy quite a bit for a moment, and he even thought about giving them what they deserved, since thanks to his brother that group of idiots had managed to win something. Once again, that feeling of not belonging there began to creep under his skin, made worse by the sight of those Gryffindor idiots' faces.
That also made his thoughts about continuing the investigation grow more muddled. Seeing Hermione so quiet and Harry so calm, with little interest even in his clumsy duels, made him think. Even when Percy tried to annoy him just to get a reaction, Harry was simply there, calm. He said that what others said did not affect him much, but his lack of motivation was obvious, as if he were holding himself back just to avoid being seen doing something wrong.
"This is so annoying," Percy said angrily, running a hand through his hair.
Behind him was Neville, who looked even more discouraged than the rest. Being ignored affected him deeply. He always walked with his head down, following Percy without saying much. Percy looked at him and let out a sigh.
"Nev, if you do not want to help me, you can go back to the common room. Harry and the others are studying there."
Neville lifted his head and shook it slightly.
"No. I said I would help you. I would not leave my friend alone," he said with a small smile.
Percy looked at him for a moment, feeling that everything they had done so far had been counterproductive and had led nowhere. They had been following Grover for months and had gotten no information at all.
"I'm sick of this," Percy said.
"Hm?" Neville looked at him, confused.
"Let's change plans. Let's finish this once and for all. If it does not work the nice way… then we will just do it a little worse," he said before walking off, making Neville follow him.
…
Grover was walking calmly through the school corridors. He was smiling and seemed to genuinely enjoy the place. The magic, the friendly Hufflepuff students. It could be said that this was his easiest mission so far, even though it was actually only the second one he had ever had in his life.
Most importantly, he had finally received new information. He no longer needed to investigate Percy and Harry. Now, legally, he was their protector, and he had to stay close to them to protect them from any danger. That was right. He had become the protector of both of them, and he was also the first to protect two at the same time. It gave him a bit of pride, but also a lot of fear. If everything went well, he would be able to watch them grow, at least until the day they learned who they really were.
"Hi, Grover."
A sudden voice interrupted his thoughts. Grover turned around, and there was Percy, smiling. A smile Grover could recognize perfectly by now. It was the smile Percy wore whenever he was about to do something really stupid, like the time he went swimming in the river and ended up being thrown by the giant squid.
"Hey, Percy," Grover greeted him, as a bad feeling began to form in his stomach.
Percy took a couple of steps toward him, keeping that smile, which made Grover take a step back.
"Grover, you're one of my best friends. Or at least, I think you are," Percy said as he kept approaching.
"Wow… thanks," Grover replied nervously, taking another step back.
"I told you how, when I was a kid, a snake crawled into our crib. But instead of attacking us, it stayed there playing with Harry, while I played with the rattle on its tail. And that was even though Sirius told us never to say that Harry could talk to snakes," Percy said, taking another large step toward him.
Grover stepped back again, realizing that he was entering what looked like an empty classroom.
"Ahem… yeah. You told me never to tell anyone," Grover said, starting to sweat. "And I didn't tell anyone. I never would."
"Friends do not keep secrets from each other, right?" Percy said.
"Well… some secrets maybe even friends should not tell," Grover replied, trying to sound calm.
"Except when that secret has something to do with that friend," Percy added, taking one last step until he was standing right in front of him.
"Percy, what—"
Before Grover could finish the sentence, Percy raised his hand and suddenly shoved him backward.
Grover's eyes widened, not expecting that. But instead of hitting the floor, it felt as if he had fallen into a chair. Immediately, ropes of different colors burst out of the seat and wrapped tightly around him. At the same time, Neville appeared behind him, wearing a slightly guilty expression.
It had been Neville who placed the chair behind him.
"Neville? Percy, what are you doing? This isn't funny," Grover said, trying to sound calm, even though he was trembling as he looked at Percy's expression.
He tried to free himself from the brightly colored ropes, but the more he struggled, the more they seemed to multiply, trapping him even tighter.
"Don't bother. These are some items I bought from the Weasley twins through very illegal deals… and that Harry paid for," Percy said, wearing a wicked smile that honestly did not suit him at all.
Then he turned toward Neville.
"Nev, the lamp."
Neville looked confused.
"What lamp?" he asked.
"The interrogation lamp. It was on the table while we were planning the kidnapping," Percy replied.
Neville shook his head, indicating that he had not brought it.
"Great," Percy said, looking at Grover for a moment. Grover kept staring back, unsure of how to react.
"Wait a second," Percy added before looking around the room.
His gaze landed on the candles lighting the area. They were magical candles, enchanted to light up when someone entered certain rooms and, supposedly, never burn out. They were spread all over the castle, along with a few torches.
"That will work," Percy said, focusing on a candle placed quite high on the wall.
He walked over, but quickly realized it was too high to reach just by standing on his toes. So he looked around the room and dragged a chair over to the wall. He carefully positioned it, climbed up, and grabbed the candle. Then he jumped down, looking proud of himself.
"Alright, with this—"
"Percy, you have to put the chair back, or they'll notice we were here," Neville interrupted. After all, everything they were doing was anything but legal. Supposedly, Percy was supposed to erase every trace.
"Fine. Hold the candle," Percy said, handing it to Neville. Then he picked up the chair and put it back where it had been.
While all of this was happening, Grover, tied up with ropes, had lost most of his initial panic as he realized something very specific: he had been captured by children. Literally.
"How do you erase fingerprints?" Percy asked Neville, even though it was obvious Neville had no idea what those were.
"Uh… well, I know how. If you untie me, I can help you," Grover said suddenly.
Percy looked at him for a moment, hesitating.
"Alright, let's leave that for now," Percy said at last, stepping closer again. He took the candle from Neville's hands.
Then he looked at Grover, slipping back into his strange, low-budget movie villain act, and brought the candle close to Grover's face.
"Alright, Grover, now I want you to tell me—"
"Wait, Percy! That's dangerous, you could burn me," Grover said immediately, nervous as the flame came so close.
"Oh, sorry," Percy replied, pulling it back slightly. "Is that better?" he asked.
"I'd prefer it farther away," Grover said.
Percy moved it just a little more.
"That's fine," Grover said right away.
"Good. As I was saying… ow, ow, the wax burned me!" Percy suddenly yelled, dropping the candle. It fell to the floor as Percy shook his hand in pain, blowing on it.
"Aren't these candles supposed to be enchanted so they don't melt?!" he shouted, staring at his burned hand.
"Maybe the enchantment wears off once you take them down," Neville said, sounding surprisingly logical.
"Oh… I see," Percy replied, distracted as he looked at the other candles.
"Uh, guys," Grover said, looking down at the floor. His eyes widened as he saw the candle starting to set the floor on fire. "Why is the floor burning so fast?!" he yelled nervously as the flames slowly spread closer.
"We cleaned the floor with alcohol to erase evidence," Percy said with a bit of pride.
"Where did you even get alcohol? No, wait, untie me first, it's too close!" Grover shouted, growing more frantic.
"From the house-elves in the kitchens," Percy replied, trying to stomp out the fire.
"I said untie me, I'm going to burn!" Grover yelled as the flames reached his feet.
"My feet!" he screamed.
Percy ran over and pulled out his wand, blasting water everywhere until the fire was out, soaking the entire room, Grover included.
Now completely drenched, water dripping from his hair, Grover shouted with a truly angry expression on his face, "Are you insane?! You could've burned me! Look at my shoelaces!" he added, staring at his scorched shoes.
"Oh… I'm sorry. Really. I just wanted to scare you a little… I'll buy you new ones," Percy said as he crouched down to inspect the damage.
"No, wait, Percy, don't—" Grover tried to stop him.
But Percy was already lifting his shoe. Suddenly, it came off completely. Foot included.
Percy froze, staring at the foot in his hand.
One or two seconds passed before he reacted and jumped up.
"Glue! We need glue!" he started shouting, running around the room.
Neville, seeing someone lose a foot because of fire, promptly fainted.
Meanwhile, Grover thought that his first day as a guardian had failed… correctly.