Arion stayed up late every night reading, that was a given, but now he had new material, more exciting than ever. By the time the week was out, he'd read all the course books and was beginning with the extra ones his father had bought him. This meant that on the night of August 15th he was wide awake when the rest of the household had been asleep for hours, and he heard it all begin.

It started with footsteps. Quiet at first, and Arion dismissed them, it wasn't unusual for people to walk past late at night. The footsteps became heavier. Arion could hear heavy breathing, almost panting, before the crash. His whole world was torn apart.

What looked like a giant dog came crashing through the roof, barking and growling. Terrified, Arion ran. He sprinted down the corridor to his father's room, only to find Edwin standing in the hall, wand at the ready. Edwin raised his wand, ready to curse the beast, when he spotted Minerva staring in awe from behind it. Distracted, he lost his only chance. The monster placed one giant paw on top of him, and that was the end of Edwin Spinnet.

Arion refused to believe what his eyes told him. He stared, not hearing anything, at the space his father used to occupy for what seemed like hours. His father couldn't have just been squashed by the largest dog on the planet, it wasn't possible. His father, his caring, wise father, would never be killed by a dog. Arion may have been a wizard, but he knew fiction from reality. He knew Killer Labrador resembled a hellhound from the mythology books his mother gave him, but they didn't exist, not really. He must have fallen asleep reading, 'this is a nightmare Arion, that's all' he told himself. He was brought back by the screams of Minerva. He looked up at the jaws of Killer Labrador and was tempted to scream himself. This couldn't be a dream, dreams always had a tell, something slightly off, and the hellhound in front of him was perfectly terrifying.

Minerva screamed again, and Arion sprang into action. He was the oldest, the strongest by far, he had to protect his family - what was left of it. He jumped straight up, mind racing through every possible outcome of every possible move he could make. His quick brain juggled thousands of possibilities before he had even reached the monster's head, and decided on the best one. This was what he had been born for.

He latched on to the hellhounds giagantic head, his hands going over the monsters eyes to grab onto fur before it could think to snap at him. He wrapped his skinny legs around its nose and ensured it couldn't see anything. Killer Labrador went crazy. Arion clung on for dear life as the beast violently shook its head, trying to shake off the boy. When this failed, it careered forward, smashing headfirst into a wall. Arion clung on and shouted back at his siblings;

'Ari! Get the twins and run! Go to the school, call for help, someone, anyone!' Ariadne didn't need telling twice. She took the hands of her younger siblings and dashed out the gaping hole in the wall, jumping down the short gap to the grass, she lifted down the younger kids. Minerva and Hephaestus ran as soon as their feet hit the ground, but Ariadne was reluctant to leave her brother to face a ten foot dog on his own.

'Go Ariadne! Keep them safe!' Arion yelled as the hellhound made a turn and smashed down another wall. Arion figured that Killer Labrador would run in the direction he had most weight, and he needed to get to one room in particular. So he manouvered himself to the left, and sure enough, the hound swung left and drove forward. Satisfied, he pulled left again, then right, and the dog smashed a path through the house.

It was a terrible plan, reckless, and completely impossible. So it might just work. Arion would have merely a second or two to pull it off - or be the dog's dinner. 'All or nothing' he thought, and dived sideways off the giant hounds face.

In the dark it was nearly impossible to see, the only light came from two streetlamps through the trees behind him, but Arion had the entire house mapped in his head. His dive had been slightly off, but he'd landed more or less in the right place. Arion lept to his feet and yanked at the lock on the cabinet doors.

Locked fast.

Arion reached behind and pulled out his wand, desperately hoping that reading the theory would be enough, closed his eyes, and -

'Allohamora!' he shouted. Nothing. 'ALLOHAMORA!' he waved his wand in the best imitation of "swish-and-flick" he could muster, and the lock clicked. He grabbed for the contents of the cabinet, turned, and swung.

Arion was just in time. He knew his father had once been a code-breaker, and had read up on the job. He knew his father still kept weapons around, just in case. His hand had landed on a shortsword in the cabinet, and he was grateful for it - had the sword been any bigger it would've been too heave for his small arms.

Aided by the Hellhound lunging, the sword found its mark, and Killer Labrador crumbled into a pile of ashes. Arion sank to the ground. He pulled his legs up to his chest, but his head on his knees, and cried.

~O-O~

Arion woke up on the floor deeply confused. He was in his father's study, and the house was destroyed, it was also raining - through the roof. As he stood up, the events of the night before came back to him. His first thought was 'Where did they go?'

This was answered almost immediately as he stepped outside into the large garden, to find Ariadne conversing with one of his old primary school friends, confused, he walked up to them.

'Sleeping beauty awakes,' his old mate Dan said as Arion walked over 'Nice work with the hellhound by the way, although I must say I'm surprised your father keeps - kept - celestial bronze swords around. Arion gaped at his mate. 'Oh yes, I'd better explain.' He then took his shoes and jeans off. Arion averted his eyes on impulse, before realising his friend had goat legs.

'Wha- Daniel you're half goat!' was all Arion could splutter out, much to the amusement of Hep.

'Fantastic observation Arion,' Daniel said, smiling. 'I'm a satyr. I was sent here to watch out for you lot, and when the time came, safely transport you to Camp Half-Blood.'

'Uhhh, Camp what?'

'Camp Half-Blood, and speaking of which, it's about time we got going. I've got us plane tickets for this afternoon.'

'PLANE TICKETS?! Look, Dan, we're mates. I've got school to go to in 13 days, your camp whatever is going to have to wait.' Arion made to leave, entirely unsure of what he was going to do next.

'You'll be back for school, don't worry. And anyway, it's only a few hours. The younger ones can stay there all year round while you and Ariadne go to boarding school.'

'I still don't agree. Where is this place anyway?' But Arion never got his answer, as an almighty CRACK sounded, and an old, but tall woman wearing long purple robes appeared beside him.

'Wh-who are you?' he gasped, shell shocked.

'I am Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, and you sir, are my pupil.' Arion couldn't believe it. He'd read about McGonagall, she had taken over Hogwarts after the great war, she was the longest hatstall known to wizardkind, and she was his headmistress.


AN: i intended for this to be longer, but just back to school tonight and i wanted to update soon, so have a short chapter