Cold crept through the stone walls. It made its way through the wooden chairs of the Waiting cabin. Silence reigned in the room, interrupted every twenty minutes by the voice of the young lady dressed in a green robe and a pointed hat. The seats were occupied by adults with a strange fashion statement. Except for one which was utilized by a little girl sitting alone at the dead end of the waiting room.
- Annabeth Chase, you're next!
The cheerful voice of the woman made the blonde lonely girl flinch. She got up unwillingly and followed the green-suited lady through the long halls. They stopped in front of a brown door.
- Come in! Said a hoarse voice after the lady knocked.
Both females entered. The interior of the room looked much more impressive as its exterior. A wall was covered with framed pictures of smiling people wearing striped cloaks and pointy hats. A narrow table sat on the opposite side of the photos' facade. It held a strange boom box and several books. A desk was placed in the center of the room. Behind it, sat a middle-aged man, wearing a black striped cloak. Just like the characters in the pictures, a stick, and hat resting next to his hands. When he saw Annabeth, his mouth formed a slight smile.
- Ah, here you are. Please take a seat.
The last thing she wanted to do was take orders from a stranger who seemed to know her. But she obeyed anyway. She didn't want to disappoint Chiron.
She sat on the uncomfortable copper chair while the other lady got out. The man took the papers that occupied his desk and started reading them. After few moments, he put them down, and then looked at Annabeth. He opened his mouth, ready to say something, but she interrupted him fastly:
- Can you please explain to me what is going on?
The man looked surprised at first, but then he smiled, exposing his crooked white teeth.
- Of course, that is what I was going to do anyway. But first things first.
He got up and started pacing around the room. The sound of his steps echoed throughout the stone piece.
- I guess you have a little idea of the situation you are in, no? I think you know the place where we are now.
Annabeth hesitated. No more than 4 days ago, she received a letter in Camp-Half Blood, brought by an owl. Even in a crazy mystical world like hers, letter-carrying owls are strange. The content of the letter was as bizarre. It said that she was accepted in a "Wizardry and Witchcraft school" named "Hogwarts", and that she has "to take the Hogwarts express on September 1st". Chiron looked devasted when he read the letter himself. He immediately convoked her and told her that even if the content of the letter insinuates that its writer is trying to communicate them fairytale-like information, it's still perfectly real. Formerly, she was discombobulated. Magic was always something fictional to her. Of course, lots of her friends can practice magic, but their powers are limited. And then, how is it possible for normal people to be equipped with super powers? But Chiron assured her that it's not neither a prank nor a crazy approach from an eccentric group of persons.
She looked around her. The pictures on the wall had a strange thing about them. She stared closely at them: they were moving. She didn't feel surprised, maybe because she still has the memory of the letter telling her she was a witch, the strange uniform of the lady, and the discussion with Chiron.
Her deep suspicions are slowly being validated by her entourage. The place emitted a strange aura. An old one, but definitely different from anything related to the Gods. And she totally understood it.
- It's a magical place, she answered. Kind of a business quarter for wizards.
The man laughed. She looked at him, not understanding his reaction.
- You're partly right. This is a place for wizards. But not a business quarter. It's actually the Ministry of Magic. And I'm the minister.
- So you are real? I mean witches and wizards.
- Oh yes, and you are one yourself. I know it's a bit of difficult to believe at the beginning, but you'll get used to it.
- But isn't that a bad thing? In books I read, witches do mean stuff to good people.
- I'm afraid those are false information about our community. There's no such thing as "Wizards are bad". We are like normal people, with magical powers. So you can find really mean wizards, and others who are so good. But this isn't the reason you are here today. There are more serious things that have to be discussed.
Annabeth tensed. She feared the arrival of this moment, where she has to talk what she is forbidden from saying. Chiron told her to never bring up her origins during the whole meeting. According to him, it's life-threatening information that no living creature, besides those who belong to her world, should know about. She doesn't know why, but if Chiron is worried, then it must be really dangerous. And the tone the minister has spoken with tells her it must be about this.
- Are you aware of the strangeness of the situation you are in, Miss Chase? It never happened to anyone... Never...
Her heart started to beat faster. Did this man possibly know?
- When we received the owl... We were taken aback. Because how could an American witch be accepted at Hogwarts? This is impossible.
- W-What do you mean, sir?
Her heart slowed down. She didn't get what he said, but it isn't linked to her origins, at least.
- Do you remember the letter you received? It is an acceptance letter from Hogwarts, the British Wizardry School. In normal circumstances, you should have been accepted in Ilvermony, the American Witchcraft institute.
She sighed, relieved. So that's a problem... She wondered why it is that serious...
- This is why I'd like to ask you: Were you born in Great Britain?
- Uh... No? I-I was born in... New York, she answered. But why is it important?
- Normally, people who attend Hogwarts were born in Great Britain, he stated. It is impossible for someone born in America, just like you, to study there... But it happened. So we can't change that, I guess.
Yes, please, she thought. Although she doesn't really get the seriousness of the problem, it bothered her in a way. The last thing she wanted to do was raise suspicions about her.
- Are you a muggle born?
- Excuse me? She replied
- A muggle-born is a witch, or a wizard, who has non-magical parents. You seem to know little stuff about our world, so I thought you...
- Oh yes, I am, she cut him off hastily. Both my parents are...normal?
- Then we will take care of this. But before, we need your approval. So tell me, Annabeth, do you want to go to Hogwarts?
Hesitation crept into the little girl's mind. Camp Half-Blood has been her home since she was seven. There, she built friendships, felt accepted for who she was, mostly because all the campers share the same supernatural trait as her. She felt her heart skip a beat thinking about 11 years old Annabeth, in the middle of wizards with weird robes and funny hats in the same age range, far, far away from Long Island, where her siblings and friends are taking archery and swordplay lessons.
Still... The curious part of her wondered what the wizardry lifestyle felt like. What do they learn at school? Do you they know about science, literature, and other stuff she learned in books? Or do they just make smelly potions and cast spells?
- You know, you could still attend Ilvermony... If you don't want to...
- No.
She spoke with a little too harsh tone. The minister looked so stunned. He looked at her mysteriously, as if she were a new specimen, studying her carefully.
- I think I'll go to Hogwarts.
- So you made your choice.
The fire crackled mesmerizingly, emitting suave noises in the room. Seymour the leopard slept peacefully on the wall where it is hung. Transparent curtains covered the windows, letting in a nice portion of light.
- Yes, I guess so, Annabeth answered.
She was sitting on a chair, facing Chiron, in full centaur form. He was still holding the paper where instructions from the minister of Magic were written. He kept reading it though she never knew why.
- Chiron, I'm sorry, but...
- It's okay, I understand. It's your right. But you should be careful, really careful. I'm not joking. I'm dead serious.
He started pacing around.
- We should keep in touch with you, so I really recommend you to take your phone with you.
- That's what I was going to you, she whispered, swallowing hard.
- You should pack your bags with every necessary thing. I don't really trust these guys...
- Neither do I.
She stared at the wall. She made her own decision, with no pressure exerted on her, but she still felt uneasy about all this concept of Wizardry school. She was a witch. In her world, witches were daughters of Hecate. She is the daughter of Athena. This is sort of contradictory.
- You will go on the 28th of August, read Chiron
- Which is, in two days, she added.
She let silence fill the room. This is when thoughts about her day at the Ministry started coming back. She took things too easy, surprisingly. She even was stunned from her own ability. She was neither worried nor stressed. The meeting went on as if it was a tiny problem getting fixed in seconds. The minister talked to her, a barely 11 years old girl, as if her choice was important, not really taking into consideration her parents' opinion. Not like she wanted him to do so, anyway.
Her life as a demi-god is way harder than discovering she was a witch. Since her arrival at the camp, she never left it, and that somehow bored her, and supported her choice. Maybe it's time for her to explore an even further world…