Remus, the name of the raggedy man Percy had stunned, sighed, his face lined with exhaustion. "Harry, the Order is Dumbledore's answer to Voldemort's Death Eaters. It's a secret society. We fight the battles the ordinary Ministry people can't, or won't, fight."
"Dumbledore's Order?" Harry asked, amazed, looking between the adults. "He has an army?"
Percy nodded, grabbing a slice of cold pizza from the box he had retrieved earlier. "Yeah. Apparently, they're the place to be if you want to fight Snake Eyes and his goons."
"And we need to get moving, now," Moody barked, his magical eye spinning wildly, scanning the street outside the kitchen window. "We're wasting time standing around chatting. The longer we spend here, the higher the chance that a Death Eater or another Dementor comes back to finish the job they started."
"Right," Percy agreed, wiping grease from his mouth. "Let's go then."
"Hold on there, Mr. Jackson," Remus spoke up, holding out a hand. "As much as we appreciate the help you provided tonight, you can't come with us. Only sworn Order members are allowed at Headquarters. It's under the Fidelius Charm."
Percy raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "And what about Harry? He's not in your club."
"Harry is an exception," Remus shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable. "He's the target."
"Right... so let me get this straight," Percy said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "All of you are here to protect Harry, yes?" They nodded. "But how can you possibly do that, if I can single-handedly kick all your asses in less than a minute?"
Tonks snorted, leaning against the counter. "Beginner's luck, mate."
"Oh, you want a rematch, Tinker Bell?" Percy challenged, raising an eyebrow at her bright pink hair.
"Bring it on, Horsey," Tonks glared back playfully.
"Again with the flirting," Hestia Jones, the witch Percy had disarmed earlier, rolled her eyes and groaned.
"We are not flirting!" Percy and Tonks said at the exact same time, glaring at each other before looking away.
Moody sighed, sounding like grinding stones. "Fine! The boy can come with us, but you better not slow us down, Jackson! We travel fast!"
Percy snorted. "Are you seriously 'Mad'? I thought it was just a nickname. I'm a pegasus, man. You lot should be worrying about keeping up with me."
Remus raised a skeptical eyebrow. "We'll see about that." He turned back to Harry. "Harry, have you finished packing your trunk yet?"
Harry nodded eagerly. "Yes, it's all ready. I'll bring it right down."
"I'll help you," Tonks offered cheerfully, as she and Harry bounded up the stairs.
Percy turned to the remaining magical users in the kitchen. "So... what the hell is actually going on? Why the Dementors in Surrey?"
Kingsley, the tall black Auror, sighed, his deep voice rumbling. "We can't tell you, son. Sorry. Only Order members are privy to that information."
"Dumbledore offered me a position in your little club the second I won the Triwizard Tournament," Percy sighed, narrowing his eyes at them. "In fact, he said I could officially join next week. If you don't believe me, ask him when we get there."
"No need for that," Alastor grumbled, stumping over to the door. "The boy's telling the truth for once. Albus was going to bring him into the fold next week; he talked to me about it."
"What did he ask you?" Remus inquired, looking surprised.
"He wanted to know my opinion if it was alright bringing someone so young into this war," Alastor said, as his glowing blue eye traveled over Percy's body, assessing him. "And from what I saw outside... we desperately need his kind of help."
"He's just a kid, Alastor," Remus argued gently. "He shouldn't have to fight."
"I've been fighting in life-or-death wars since I was twelve years old, Remus Lupin," Percy glared at the werewolf, his green eyes hard. "And quite frankly, I don't need your fucking permission to keep fighting."
The man looked like he wanted to argue further, but just then Harry and Tonks came back down the stairs. Harry's large school trunk had been shrunk down to the size of a matchbox and was tucked in his pocket, and in Harry's hand, he clutched his Firebolt broomstick.
"Right, let's crack on," Moody nodded gruffly as they all filed out of the house and stepped into the dark front yard.
"Oh, shit! Wait one second!" Percy cried out, realizing something. He snapped his fingers. His own front door across the street burst open, and the pizza box he had left on the hall table came flying through the air, zooming straight towards Percy. The demigod grinned as he caught it effortlessly and sighed. "Almost forgot about you, baby."
"D-did you just wandlessly summon a pizza box from across the street?" Tonks asked, blinking in genuine surprise.
Percy shrugged. "I went out to get Harry and me some dinner. When I saw you guys sneaking around his door, I thought you were Death Eaters, so I abandoned the pizza to kick your asses." Percy snapped his fingers again, causing the large box to shrink down to the size of a matchbox, which he slipped into his suit pocket.
"How are you doing that?!" Harry asked, amazed. "Wandless shrinking charms?"
Percy raised an eyebrow. "What? The wandless thing?" Harry nodded frantically. "What? Did you think I spent all summer just reading dusty old books for that Mastery? Please. Practical application is where it's at."
"Alright, listen up!" Moody barked, cutting off the chatter. "We're flying to London! So everyone, get your brooms out and ready!"
Percy watched as everyone else took out a miniature broom from their pockets before casting a quick spell to resize it back to normal. "Why can't we just Apparate?" Percy asked. "It's faster."
"Death Eaters can track Apparition jumps if they are monitoring the area," Kingsley explained patiently. "Harry's Muggle address is public Ministry record. So if they detect an Apparition trail leading straight from here to a secret, unplottable location, they can guess roughly where HQ is and narrow their search."
Percy hummed, seeing the logic. "Alright, good idea." He then noticed Harry mounting his Firebolt. "No, stop. You're not riding that."
Harry blinked, pausing. "What? Why not? It's a Firebolt."
"I'm faster," Percy replied simply. "If someone does manage to track us in the sky, I'll be much faster than any old broom you guys have. Trust me, you'll be safest riding with me, Harry."
"No," Alastor replied sharply. "That will be too obvious. A giant flying black horse will stick out like a sore thumb against the clouds. We want to blend in as much as possible."
"I can outfly anyone and anything in the sky, invisible or not," Percy argued, raising an eyebrow at the paranoid Auror.
"It's too risky, Percy," Remus pushed forward gently but firmly. "Harry will be safer on a broom, surrounded by the Guard."
Percy grumbled, crossing his arms. "Fine. If you're sure. But if we get jumped, I'm grabbing him."
"Oh, don't look so glum, Horsey! If you want, I'll ride you," Tonks said cheekily, elbowing Percy in the ribs.
The demigod raised an eyebrow, looking down at her. "Hey, don't you still owe me dinner for nearly taking your head off?"
Tonks' hair turned a bright, embarrassed red. "Ah... rain check?"
Percy snorted. "Fine." He leaped forward, his body blurring in a motion of black shadows. In his place now stood a massive, muscular black pegasus, its coat gleaming in the moonlight. He snorted and tossed his head, looking at Tonks. Get on, Pixie.
Tonks' eyes widened in awe. "So cool!" she breathed.
"Alright, get on already, we're wasting time!" Alastor grumbled impatiently. "Brooms ready!"
Everyone mounted their brooms as Percy bent his front knees slightly to allow Tonks to clamber awkwardly onto his broad back. The young woman immediately tucked her legs securely between his neck and shoulders, and with a quick flick of her wand, summoned a magical rope to tie around her waist and under his belly, securing herself tightly.
"Fly!" Alastor barked as the broom riders kicked off the ground and took off into the night sky.
"What's wrong, Percy?" Tonks asked nervously, noticing he hadn't moved yet. "Am I too heavy?"
No, just want to make an impression on Moody over there, Percy replied in his horse thoughts, though Tonks, of course, didn't understand a single whinny he made. Suddenly, his massive black wings unfurled forcefully beside him, startling Tonks. He then leaped into the air with such explosive power that he blew past the other broom riders in mere seconds, leaving them in his slipstream.
"WOAH!" Tonks shrieked as she wrapped her hands around his thick neck tightly and held on for dear life, squeezing her eyes shut as they rocketed upwards. Slowly, Percy stabilized himself, finding a smooth gliding path just below the cloud belt, the wind rushing past them.
"H-holy shit!" Tonks cried out over the rushing wind, her hair whipping around wildly. "Warn me next time you do that!"
Percy just chuckled, a sound that came out as a rumbling whinny. “Where's the fun in that?”