I – A New World

"Spirit of discord, spirit of strife and of striving, spirit of rivalry in times of old it was well-known

that yours is a world of nature and need, that you see well the struggle within us."

"Harry!" Ron lunged for him, nearly sailing over the cliff's edge, "Grab my hand!"

Harry was currently dangling off the edge of a cliff, having been blown off by an insane gust of wind. He made the mistake of looking down and the sight he met did nothing to help his mental. At the base of the cliff was a raging sea, complemented by jagged rocks that looked like they'd draw blood at the slightest touch.

Harry looked back up at Ron's face, which was stricken with grief and anxiety. Noting the distance between them, he quickly surmised that Ron would not be able to pull him up.

"I don't blame you if I fall!" Harry yelled to him, trying to ease the guilt of what was bound to happen. Knowing Ron, if Harry died, he'd never forgive himself and would spend the rest of his life expressing it as his biggest regret.

"That's not gonna happen!" Ron screamed at him, "Now GRAB MY HAND!"

Harry lifted his left arm and Ron stretched to grab it. Just as Harry used all the force he could muster to jump and clasp his best friend's hand, Ron was dragged back by Draco!

"HARRY!"

It felt like he was falling slow motion, seeing as how he had a lot of time to contemplate his life and all the choices he had made up until now. Hermione's face peered over the cliff, tears in her eyes as she tried to cast a spell to save him. Cedric pulled her away from the edge, looking just as upset at she was.

Harry closed his eyes, 'Bet Mum and Dad won't be expecting me this early.'

As he reached the water everything went black.

'Am I dead?'

"Dead so early? You've yet to live! No, death will not come to you so quickly. Not yet."

'Who's speaking?'

"I am the one most irreplaceable in the world: Bringer of Chaos, Pain and Strife. I look into the hearts of man and use as I see fit."

'I asked for your name, not an introduction.'

The female voice clicked her tongue, "That is one thing you and that pesky demigod have in common; always making jokes at the incorrect time. No matter, both of you shall perish, in this world or the next."

Harry hit the ground – hard. He was almost confident that he'd heard a bone snap. As he looked around, he noted his setting had changed entirely. Instead of being impaled by sharp rocks, he was lying in the grass, flat on his back. Voices could be heard in the distance.

'I can't move.' The voices were growing more and more distant.

'Somebody...please.'

"Di Immortales! Are you alright?!" A concerned female voice asked him.

Her face popped into view; She was small and petite, with wispy hair the color of amber, and an elf-like face. Harry tried to say something but was unable to as his throat seared with pain.

"How'd you get in here? Zeus Almighty! You're hurt badly!" She shook her head, "Whatever, it doesn't matter how you got in, you must be a half-blood because they're the only ones able to cross the border freely."

She hoisted Harry up and when he looked down, he saw that she wore a green chiton and brown sandals. Even while holding him she still managed to move very swiftly, which made him question what she was. They came into a clearing and Harry was astonished at what he saw.

It was like he had landed in a camp of some sort. Teenagers of all ages were walking around wearing uniform orange shirts.

Some were competing in obstacle courses, others sword fighting and a few were eating. Harry would've loved to learn more about the activities and possibly participate in them, but his back and chest hurt terribly, along with his throat. A girl with blonde hair jogged up to them.

"Juniper! There you are! Grover was looking for you!" She turned to Harry, "What in Olympus? Who's this?" She hooked one of his arms over her shoulder as she asked questions, aiding Juniper in holding him.

"Thanks Annabeth. I don't know who he is." Juniper answered, shrugging her shoulders, "I found him in the forest. He's not a monster, is he?"

"I doubt it." Harry met a familiar sight, "For now just get him to the infirmary." It was a centaur, white from the waist down with a scruffy brown beard, thin brown hair and intense brown eyes.

"You're," Harry found his voice working, despite his searing throat, "A centaur?"

The centaur was taken back by his knowledge of who he was, "You've met one before?"

Harry nodded his head, "In a forest, just like this. He save me."

He seemed to be brooding, "Are you from California?"

"Chiron!" Annabeth exclaimed, "I'm interested in knowing his story but he's very injured!"

"Yeah and why is California important?" Juniper asked, confused by the statement.

"No reason. You're right Annabeth, this can wait. Take him to the Big House." Chiron shooed them off.

Harry could feel people's eyes on them as they went past. Not that he blamed them of course. If two students walked into Hogwarts carrying an injured person, Harry'd be the first to ask what was going on.

A guy with a Mediterranean tan, messy black hair and sea green eyes jogged up to Annabeth. "Whoa, what happened? Who's this?" He questioned.

"Not now Percy." Annabeth shook her head.

'Percy? Funny. He doesn't look anything like Ron's brother.' Harry chuckled quietly to himself. Then he remembered what he had seen before his fall, 'Ron and Hermione...Draco and Cedric had them. I wonder what's happening now.'

They brought him to a wooden cabin that looked huge on the outside and even bigger on the inside.

"Lee, we need your help." Annabeth brought him to a shaggy blonde-haired guy.

"He's hurt really bad." Juniper added in.

"Holy Hera Mother of All," Lee stopped in his tracks once he took a look at Harry, "You're right; this guy's jacked up. They'll take it from here." Lee whistled, pointing two fingers at Harry and two slightly older-looking guys came up to them.

They relieved Annabeth and Juniper of the duty of carrying him and took him to a separate room, away from the noise and buzzing of anxious, wounded teens. Setting him down on what resembled a hospital bed, there was nothing for Harry to say. The two bandaged him swiftly and quietly, taking extra care not to hurt him but the few pulses of pain every now and then did make him stop them.

Harry let out a wince as they wiped his cuts with alcohol.

"To reduce the risk of infection." One muttered.

'I know that,' Harry thought to himself, 'It wasn't like I wanted to wince.'

"We should give him ambrosia though, just to ease the pain." The other suggested.

The first guy grunted, "Go ahead." He had green hair, which Harry assumed had been dyed. The other that was rummaging through boxes had his hair dyed blue.

"I'm Harry, what are you two's names?" Whatever Harry had done to upset the other guy, he wanted to clear away any misconceptions.

"I'm Ryan." The blue haired guy came back, "And that's Isaac."

"Ah. You two are brothers, then?" Harry inquired.

Ryan shook his head, "I wish I could say so but~"

"Me? Related to him? Please, never say that again. You might just speak it into existence." Isaac immediately shook his head, the very idea of being related to Ryan putting a bad taste in his mouth

Harry finally recognized his accent, "Are you from Britain?"

Isaac looked at him with a new-found interest, "I am. What of it?"

"What a coincidence, so am I!" Harry sat up. But as quickly as he had rushed up, he laid back, "Ow, Ow, OW!"

"Ryan, hand me the ambrosia." Isaac snapped his fingers, "Come on man, we don't have all day for Zeus's sake."

Ryan grudgingly handed Isaac the ambrosia and shot Harry a look of absolute scorn.

'What did I do?' Harry asked himself as Isaac spoon fed him ambrosia, 'This thing kind of tastes like...Treacle Tart? But there's no smell.'

Isaac fed him the ambrosia out of a cup until it was empty, "There. You feeling any better?"

"Yes, much better actually." Harry sat up slowly, "Now I can get up without feeling any pain. What was in that?"

"This is ambrosia. I'm not sure how to explain it but it tastes different for everyone." Isaac said.

"Huh?" Harry questioned.

"What Isaac is trying to say," Ryan stepped in, "Is that ambrosia is a food for all half-bloods. It might taste like pizza to me but to him it will taste like candy corn. It depends on your favorite food."

"Amazing!" Harry looked at the remaining bits stuck to the cup side, "What kind of magic is that?"

"It's not magic, so much as...basic half-blood knowledge?" Isaac stated questioningly, "You're new here so you probably don't know the full story. I'm not good at explaining things so when you've rested up I~"

"We." Ryan corrected.

"Right," Isaac looked back at him, "We will take you down to Chiron and he'll clear up the confusion."

"Chiron? You mean the centaur I saw outside?" Harry was pressed to find answers, "What does he know? Is he the leader of this place?"

"All these questions." Isaac clicked his tongue and threw a pillow at his head, "Rest. Trust me, you're going to need it. Once they tell you the whole story you're going to feel like all the energy's left your body."

Harry patted the pillow, annoyed that he hadn't been answered properly. The mood was short-lived however, as he soon stretched out on the bed after removing his glasses.

Isaac and Ryan left the room, shutting off the lights. The curtains had been drawn, but there was still enough sunlight to give the room a sunset-ish vibe.

'So I'm at a camp where magic is apparently unknown. Or should I say unused?' Harry rolled over in bed, his back still paining him, 'I can't think about this right now. If any of this is even real, I'll find out more after I'm well-rested. Hopefully this is all a dream.'

But sleep didn't come as easily as he had hoped. The constant aching from various parts of his body kept him tossing and turning so frequently, he had to be extra careful not to roll off the bed. Giving up, he laid flat on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

Clearly up and awake, he decided to think about his circumstances and how he had gotten here, 'Ron was mad at me for entering the Triwizard Tournament, even though I didn't put my name in. I'd asked him to meet up by the greenhouses and then...' His mind went blank. What had happened?

Forcing himself to think, he slowly recalled being forced to run. 'But from what?' He shook his head, he was missing a key element.

Pressing his eyes together tightly, he continued trying to stir up memories. Before that, they had been talking about who could've put his name in the Goblet. Harry had said Voldemort causing the mood around them to darken, which usually happened whenever he was mentioned. This time however, it was different.

As Harry recalled, it felt as if a dementor was standing right next to him, sucking out all of the happiness in the air. Ron snapped him out of the mentality by scolding him and telling him to say You-Know-Who instead but it had done its damage. After that, that's when the...the lion!

He sat up in bed, everything coming back to him. After saying Voldemort's name, a few minutes had gone by when a Lion ran out from the Forbidden Forrest, barreling towards them at top speed. They each began running as fast as they could, shooting spells over their shoulders in an attempt to stop the animal.

They were chased up the edge and stopped by a cliff. Cornered by the raging sea, the two had stopped to take their final stand against the lion. That's when Malfoy had arrived as an unlikely hero, pushing the lion off the cliff and into the sea.

The three had exchanged words with the Gryffindors begrudgingly thanking the Slytherin when Harry lost his balance, falling over the edge. That's when Ron had…

"Gah!" He slammed his fist into the bed. How had he gotten here? Why was he here?! There was no reason for him to be in this environment, not when he had the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball-

"The Ball!" He groaned, 'I hadn't even gotten a date.' Just as he was about to complain again, he heard someone grab the doorknob.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice asked from outside.

Harry held his breath and listened.

"I'm going to murder him." Isaac's voice responded, thick with sarcasm, "What do you think Ryan? I'm checking up on him to see if he's alright."

"Don't bother, he's asleep. Going in now would just bother him."

"Then I'll be extra quiet." The doorknob turned and Harry slowly pulled up the covers.

It seemed Isaac was stopped as Ryan spoke again, "Seriously Isaac, what's wrong with you? You find another Brit so that means you should let your guard down? Even after what Chiron~"

"Not another word." Isaac warned him, "Say one more thing and I swear on the River of Styx, I'll hurt you. Besides, you know what the oracle said about me."

Ryan muttered something before continuing, "All I'm saying is, don't get your boxers in a bundle over this guy. He's got some cuts and bruises alright, but if he sleeps soundly, he'll be back to functioning in no time. There's nothing else we need to do."

"Alright." Isaac seemed to yank his arm away as he spoke with emphasis, "I know our Mothers are friends and all, but that doesn't mean you have to stalk me 24/7."

"Stalk you?" Ryan sucked his teeth, "Your Mother asked me to protect you and that's what I'm going to do. Now come on; we've got other things to do."

Their footsteps disappeared as Harry went back to breathing, taking in a large gulp of air.

'What was that all about?' He asked no one in particular as he struggled to breath, 'Ryan is Isaac's guardian? Their mothers are friends?'

His thoughts turned to his godfather Sirius Black, who had been on the run from the magical community. If it weren't for Peter Pettigrew, he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursleys every summer break.

'If it weren't for him…' Harry tightened his hand into a fist, suppressing the urge to just get up and start smashing things. Every time he thought about what happened under the Whomping Willow, his scar burned with a hot intensity. Not painful, like it did when Voldemort was near. No, this was a much different burning.

A deep-seated rage flared up in him and at times, the thoughts that came to Harry's head made him doubt his belonging in Gryffindor.

'This type of hatred...Godric would never approve.' Harry shook his head at himself as he turned over again. Shutting his eyes, it was like a wave of calming had washed over him, as he now felt drowsy and tired.

Relaxing his fist, Harry let the silence lull him to an ultimate sleep.