Chapter 1
It was a beautiful day at Camp Half-Blood. Birds were chirping and the sun was shining bright above them. Of course, the weather did not have much effect in the little sanctuary of Half Blood Hill but the sun was really shining bright that day. It could also have been because a son of Apollo had entered the Camp last day and had been claimed just the previous night. The campers speculated that the Sun God was feeling extremely happy and thus the sun was shining bright.
At this little camp of dyslexic demigods, everything was peaceful. The campers had an enjoying game of Capture the Flag just a few days prior so, they were happy and all the previous animosities were forgotten. The end of lunch had brought the youngest campers of Camp Half-Blood together. The three young campers all bordering on eleven could be found huddling under the canopy of trees near the Big House.
Jean, who had arrived at amp at the tender age of Ten and thus was the youngest camper in their little group, was telling Mike, who had come in the previous day after being chased by a flock of Harpies, scary stories about Camp. She was managing to make everything sound spooky even without the haunting effect of the darkness in the night helping her. Emma, who had been at Camp for a few months, was sitting beside them with a book in her hands. She was laughing loudly when the newbie camper was frightened by ridiculously untrue but nevertheless really scary stories and nodding grimly at the true ones. Her attention was neither at the book she was reading nor at the stories her friend was telling, so, she was the first one to notice a boy just arriving in front of the Big House.
Emma was half listening to Jean and half reading her book but her mind was in none. Instead she was just staring ahead in the direction of the Big House. She proceeded to count the steps leading to the house all the while thinking about Sherlock Holmes when a boy just materialized out of thin air. She blinked and the boy was still there, he was not a figment of her imagination. A little fazed but not too curious about his sudden appearance, she did the most logical thing she could: She told the other two about the strange boy. The three young heroes turned and walked towards the boy.
Jean had her hand in her bracelet which doubled as her sword and Emma was reaching for her trusty dagger ready to fight if needed. This was not necessary as Mike held his hand out at the fallen boy and he accepted it gratefully. Mike had arrived at Camp only yesterday and had learned he was a demigod so, he was more open to supernatural occurrences than the other two demigods. Jean and Emma, after seeing this brief encounter and upon realizing that he was a friend, not a foe, took their hands away from their respective weapons.
"Hey, I am Mike."
"Severus." The newly dubbed Severus threw the sock he was holding in his hand and asked "Um... Where am I?"
"You are at Camp Half-Blood at the base of Half Blood Hill. Is this the place you wanted to arrive at?" Emma asked looking a little concerned.
Severus nodded, a little relieved that he had come to the right place. "Is there a Mr. Chiron here? Mum told me to give this letter to him." He asked taking a folded paper from his right trouser pocket.
"He's inside the big house. I'll go call him" Jean answered and ran into the big house to call the centaur.
Chiron came out after some time in his full half horse glory led by Jean. Severus did not say anything, he just handed the letter as his Mum told him to. Chiron took it and started reading it smiling at the process. He turned to Severus, and smiled at him.
"Starting Hogwarts this year son?" At his nod Chiron added. "Don't worry young Prince, you'll do fine and make your mother proud" He then turned to the other three. "Can I trust you three to give him a tour and explain the basics to him? Okay then, he will be staying at Cabin 11, undetermined, I am afraid. I have some work to do, I will see you four later."
"Where are you going?" Jean asked.
"I am going to visit my old student. If you happen to meet Minerva on the way, do tell her to visit me. Tell her that an old friend has returned." He winked at the bewildered kids and trotted away.
"Okay. That was really weird even for Chiron." Jean broke the silence.
"So you are a wizard?" Emma asked Severus.
"Yes." Severus said at the same time Jean asked "Wizard?"
"I'll tell you later. Yes, it's got to do with his sudden appearance. Let's fill him in first." Emma replied.
"Okay. I'll tell you the short version. Greek gods are real. They are alive and reside at Mount Olympus which is at the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. They occasionally have children with mortals. The children are called demigods. We are demigods. Since the gods are real, the monsters of mythology are real too. Those monsters try to kill us and eat us because we are demigods. We kill them because we don't want to be killed."
"So all of us are demigods?" The three nodded.
"Jean, Daughter of Hermes."
"Emma, Daughter of Athena."
"Mike, Son of Apollo."
"How do I know who my godly parent is?" Severus asked again.
"You have to be claimed by your godly parent. Until then, you will be staying at Hermes cabin with me." Jean answered him. "Come on, let's give you a tour of the Camp."
"It does feel good not to be the newest camper." Mike remarked.
"You are new here, too?" Severus asked walking close to Mike.
"Yeah, I just came in yesterday."
"So, you are a wizard and you are going to a school to study magic this year?" Jean asked.
"Yes. I don't see how you find this so unbelievable?"
"If demigods can be real, why can't wizards be?"
"Actually, wizards are a community who expanded from the few that Hecate blessed. She gave them magic many centuries ago. Some of those older families still exist and some new ones not born in magic also have magic. It's her pet world." Emma explained.
"I get that but a whole hidden world, how can that be possible. I mean the mortals are bound to know about this hidden world someday. How are they hidden?"
"Some mortals, they call them muggles, by the way know about the existence of the wizarding world. If anyone who is not supposed to know comes across anything magical, they wipe the minds of those people. There is a spell to do that."
"They can wipe minds? What else can they do?" Jean turned to Severus.
"I don't know. I am just a kid and I wasn't brought up in the wizarding world." He replied.
"Don't look at me. I am not a witch, my Aunt is."
Jean sighed in annoyance. "You can do magic, right? Can you show me?"
"Jean?" Everyone turned to the direction of the the voice. Two boys were standing there, both older than them. One had Blonde hair and grey eyes like Emma and the other had curly light brown hair.
"What do you want, Russell?" Jean addressed the taller brown haired one.
"Are you talking about magic?"
Jean's eyes widened "Don't tell me you are a wizard too?"
"Actually, both of us are." The blonde answered.
"Do you go to Hogwarts?" Severus asked and Jean rolled up laughing.
"Can you not laugh at that name?" Russell said in annoyance.
"Yes, we both go to Hogwarts. The name's David, what's yours?"
"Severus."
"So, Severus, did you get your wand yet? No? Well you can go shopping with us, we still need to get our books."
"We'll have to take my sister too" Russell said. "She wants to visit the magical world."
"We are coming too." Emma declared speaking for herself and Mike.
"Ask Aunt Minnie first. I am taking you anywhere without her permission." David told her.
"Fine. I will."