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9. Warnings and a Lot of Mud

I wake up to a tapping on my window. Lazily opening my eyes, I look to the window. The petals of the moon lace have closed with the rising sun.

Tap. Tap.

A small brown owl taps its beak against the window again. I jump up and throw the window open. The owl swoops in and lands on the top of the dresser.

Hoot. It sticks out a leg, and I see a note attached to it.

It has to be from Albus.

Cautiously, I keep one eye on the owl as I remove the note from its leg.

It sits there, calmly waiting. Once I have the note, I expect the owl to fly back out the window.

But it doesn't.

"C'mon. Go," I point to the window.

The owl just blinks as if I've told it the stupidest thing on earth.

"Go," I motion to the window again, but when it still doesn't move, I sigh and unfold my note.

Thalia,

This is Penny. She's our family owl. In the Wizarding world, this is how we get our mail around. Lily named her. If you can, meet me in Central Park after 10 today. I hope you aren't in shock still about our ride last night.

Albus.

P.S. Penny is going to want some water before she leaves.

I fold the note up and set it on the dresser next to his rose.

Penny looks down at me expectantly.

"Wait here. I'll go get you something."

Coming back with a dish of water and a bit of toast, I set them on the windowsill. Penny jumps down, nips my finger in what I can only guess is an affectionate way, and starts to eat.

When she's finished, she looks back at me, her amber eyes glowing. With a final hoot, she disappears back out the window.

[[[[]]]

I'm at our corner of Central Park by 10:23. Albus is already sitting on the bank of the stream, his broomstick lying beside him.

"Hey," I say as I sit down next to him. It looks as if the rain has finally left us. There's barely a cloud in the sky.

He looks over at me, "Hi."

We sit in silence for a minute, but it's not awkward.

The day passes.

I take Albus to get ice cream because he's never had it before.

"That's awful!" I exclaimed when he told me.

"Have you ever had treacle tart?" He shot back.

"No, but-"

"That's awful!" He mimicked.

I stuck my tongue out at him and ordered two cookie dough sugar cones.

We go swimming again. Illegally.

Sitting on the bank, I lay back, sun drying.

Albus and I talk, and I can't believe that I've only known him for four days. It seems like four years.

I try not to think about the fact that he's not going to be here forever either. Trying to distract myself, I lay back, looking up at the clouds, "Can you tell me about being a wizard?"

Albus looks down at me, "I actually wasn't supposed to tell you I was a wizard. Statue of Secrecy."

"But you did."

Albus smiles and lies back next to me, "Remember that boarding school I told you about? It's called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It's a special school just for wizards."

"And you're whole family is wizards?"

"Yes. My mum's family, they're pureblood. They have all magical blood. My dad, he's a half-blood, like-"

"Like what?"

"Well, he had one parent that was pureblood, my grandfather, and my grandmother, she was muggleborn."

"Muggle?"

"A non-magical person. Like you."

"Ouch."

"It's not an insult. At least not from me. Some people might say it as an insult. Anyway, my dad is still a half-blood even though his mum was a witch. That also makes me a half-blood."

"Wait she was a muggleborn?"

"Well, she died."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I didn't know her. It was before I was born."

I nod, "So even if you married a pureblood witch, your kids would still be half-bloods?"

"Yeah."

"That's confusing."

Albus laughs, "Anyway, Hogwarts is amazing. It's a big castle in the middle of nowhere. No one knows exactly where it is. And Godric's Hollow, where I live, that's a Wizarding town, named after one of the founders of Hogwarts."

"I'll have to get there sometime."

Albus smiles and keeps talking. He tells me about a place called Diagon alley, and Hogsmeade, and something about Quidditch. I don't really understand, but he seems to be happy telling me.

My late night and four hours of sleep catch up with me, and without meaning to, I fall asleep, listening to the sound of his voice.

[[[[]]]

Something's changed in Half. There's a tense feeling in the air, and it's suddenly a lot harder to breathe. I stand as close as I can to the island without touching it. The warmth of the sun beating down on the sand warms my face. I want to run and climb up the branches of the olive tree until I reach the top, but I know I can't.

I want to lie down in the water and lose myself like I used to, but again something's changed. I look cautiously over my shoulder. I expect to just see the water stretching out, but there's something there. My knees buckle and I fall to a heap on the water, all in slow motion. There's someone- no, something – there.

A shadow. Dark and haunting, it stretches endlessly behind me. It's not my shadow though. At first glance, it looks like a human shape, but the longer I stare at it, the more misshapen it becomes. I look in every direction, but there's nothing around that could cast that shadow.

I want to scream. Half is supposed to be the place of perfects. Not anymore. I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. I remember all the nightmares I had as a little girl. All the ones where you try and try to scream but no sound will escape your lips. Giving up, I lay my face against the water and watch as the shadow creeps closer and closer to me over the sea.

My stomach drops as a cold hand grasps my wrist.

[[[[]]]

I open my eyes to see Albus leaning over me, his green eyes anxious.

"Thalia?"

I look around. We're still on the bank of the stream in Central Park, but now I just can't shake the feeling I got while in Half.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You fell asleep, and then you started to shake all over. You kept opening your mouth like you wanted to scream."

I sit up. "Lovely," I say, rubbing my head.

"Does this happen a lot?"

I laugh uneasily, "No, this would be a first."

Albus looks up at the sky, "C'mon, we'd better get going."

The clouds must've rolled in while I was sleeping.

I try to hide the shaking of my knees as I climb onto the back of the Flame Runner.

With the clouds and the darkening of the sky, no one sees us fly back to the apartment. My head pounds as I wrap my arms around his waist, laying my head against his back.

Albus lands in a deserted alley on the side of the apartment building. Sliding off the broom, I collapse onto the filthy ground. Albus rushes to my side.

"This isn't going to be a regular thing is it?" He asks, pulling me off the ground.

"I hope not," I say, bracing myself against the wall.

Somehow, we make it back up to my apartment and I collapse onto my bed.

"Hand me my sketchbook."

Hurriedly, I draw what I saw in Half: the dark shadow stretching endlessly over the water.

"This is what I saw," I say, handing the sketch to Albus.

He looks at it, his brow furrowing, "This doesn't look good."

"No. It doesn't," I sigh, leaning back against the pillows.

I'm almost asleep when I hear a clicking at the window, "Is that Penny?" I ask, my words slurring.

"No," Albus says quickly. He sounds scared.

I open one eye as Albus opens the window and a large grey owl swoops in, dropping a letter at the foot of the bed and flying back out.

Albus takes a shaky breath before opening the envelope. A woman's voice fills the room, coming from the letter:

We have received intelligence that a Conjuring Charm was used at the Empire State Building on the morning of August 15 at two minutes past twelve.

As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).

We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' statute of Secrecy.

Hoping you are well, Mafalda Hopkirk

Improper Use of Magic Office, Ministry of Magic

Everything falls silent.

"Is that bad?" I ask cautiously.

"Um… yeah Thalia. Just a bit."

I close my eyes again, not wanting to see the look on his face anymore, "I'm sorry if it's my fault."

Albus kneels on the edge of the bed, "It's not Thalia. Don't worry, everything will be fine."

How much I want to believe him.

"I won't leave Thalia," He says, stroking my hair, "I'm right here."

And I fall into unconsciousness, wondering why that comforts me so much.

[[[[]]]

When I wake up the next afternoon, Ben is sitting in the corner of the room.

"Oh," I groan, "the Protector."

"Hey Thalia," Ben says, ignoring my comment. "How're you feeling?"

I sit up, "Better." I try to say with confidence. And it's true, my head isn't pounding and I don't feel like I'm about to throw up.

"Well I hope you feel better than you look because you look like- never mind."

"Thanks."

"Hey I just tell it like it is. And I saw this," He holds up the drawing I made before I blacked out, "this is the kind of thing I was referring to."

"I figured."

"Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine Ben, really-"

"I'll go get you some water."

How did he know?

After he comes back with my water he says, "I should be getting back to Grover. Just be careful okay? And I'll be here if you need me. Protector, you know."

"Okay Ben, and thanks."

For the rest of the afternoon, I have time to rest and mull over what happened in Half and Central Park, and what I should do next.

As a result of all this time, I have come up with a plan. Not a great plan, not even a good plan. Okay, it's not really a plan at all, but it's all I have.

Later that evening, when Albus walks into my room, I decide not to beat around the bush, "I want to go back to Central Park tonight."

My expected reaction from him: "Absolutely not. Did you completely forget what happened the last time-"

What he really said: "Okay."

Well… that was easy.

[[[[[]]]

"So… what're we doing here?" I ignore Albus and step into the water, up to my ankles, my knees, my thighs… I was right to come here, there's something in the air that tells me I'll find out what's going on tonight.

I look slowly around, Central Park panning out before me. A smell wafts through my nostrils, making me cringe, the smell of rotting plants and moldy mud. I turn back to see Albus standing right behind me. I squeak and jump backwards, barely able to catch myself.

"Sorry. It's just… I don't really understand why you wanted to come back here, when the last time…" He trails off.

"Yeah, well… that was the last time. I need to figure out what's going on, and this is where it'll start to make sense," I say with a lot more confidence than I feel.

"How do you know-?"

"I just do, okay?! Please don't tell me you've never had a gut feeling before!" I whirl around to face Albus, wondering why I'm so irritable all of a sudden. But before I can push him down, like I really want to, he looks up and I catch his eye.

The greenness engulfs me and I freeze. I don't know how long we stood there, in the middle of the stream in Central Park, but it was too soon when the same rotten smell found its way into my nose again. I look around, "Do you smell that?"

Albus starts, but then looks around as well. He takes a deep breath, his nose wrinkling in disgust, "Ugh, what's that, do you suppose?"

I shrug my shoulders, "No idea…" That's when I hear it, a trickling of water, getting louder and louder. I turn to look behind me, but see nothing.

What is it?

When I turn back to Albus, a scream starts to bubble in my throat, "ALBUS! BEHIND YOU!"

But it's too late.

The ghost of a long muddy arm reaches out and hits Albus upside the head, sending him flying across the stream and into a large boulder at the bank. My stomach clenches as a sickening crack rings out across the water. I can distantly hear someone scream, and realize it must be me.

I want to run to Albus's lifeless form, but am paralyzed with fear as the person who hit Albus steps into the moonlight.

It's not a person at all, but a thing.

A monster.

Ten feet tall and completely covered in mud. Little twigs and bits of sea grass stick out of the creature's head, and glowing red eyes dance cruelly in the darkness. The stench is overwhelming, making my eyes stream.

A low, gravelly voice rings out across the water, "Poseidon's blood. Haven't had any of that for centuries!"

And the monster charges.

I barely have time to gasp and step out of the way before it rushes past, muddy arms outstretched, just missing me by inches. Just then, Ben's words as he looked at my sketch pop into my mind, "This is the kind of thing I was referring to."

So this is the monster that owns the shadow that I saw in Half….

I chance a glance at Albus, still lying limp against the rock, and feel my stomach clench.

Mud-man turns around to face me again, his red eyes glowing like poisonous rubies. He starts to slowly advance, the smell becoming increasingly unbearable. I try to back up, but, of course, stumble on a rock, and fall with a splash. Mud-man stops and looms over me, his head up in the clouds.

I try to stand back up, but I feel my ankle crack as it breaks, and I fall back down. A low rumble issues from the monster's mouth, a cold, mirthless laugh. He pulls his arm back, ready to strike. I hold my hands up to my face, not seeing any other possibilities…

Is this seriously the end?

That's when I feel it, the pulse of the seashell necklace around my neck. It's telling me something… if only… as Mud-man starts to bring his fist down, I force myself to roll over.

His fist comes down hard in the water, squarely hitting the rock I just stumbled on. As his roars ring through the night, I search the water for anything I could use as a weapon. My necklace is pulsing like crazy… c'mon Thalia….

Mud-man is standing over me again, cradling his bruised fist against his muddy torso, "Sacrifice yourself, Granddaughter of Poseidon, and I will spare the rest of your… precious family…"

I start to get shakily to my feet, letting the water trickle through my fingers until something solid is sitting in my clenched fist.

I glance down to see the gleaming, silvery hilt of a watery sword, held tightly in my grasp. I glance up at Mud-man to see a flicker of uncertainty pass over his face, "Fat chance, Bucko." I mutter before I swing the sword, aiming for his stomach, about the only thing I can reach.

Unfortunately, my ankle decides to give out at that exact moment and I end up cutting two-thirds of the way through Mud-man's leg.

He gives a strangled cry before splashing down into the stream beside me. The monster's leg starts disintegrating into a yellowish dust, but he's not dead… yet.

I walk up to Mud-man's head. He sees me with the sword in my hand and starts spluttering, "Please… I… I..." I wield the sword over my head, the cool hilt swimming between my fingers.

With a deep breath, I bring the blade crashing down on the monster's neck.

Mud-man stops protesting and I turn away from the gruesome sight.

My necklace is still pulsing, but less urgently than before. I hold up the sword in the moonlight, its watery blade shimmering like the stream around me. I hold up the seashell and pop the clasp open. The sword starts to vibrate excitedly in my hand and I suddenly know what to do.

I start to push the tip of the sword into the seashell. Soon, all that's left of my weapon is a little puddle of water lying in the seashell.

Just like magic.

I close the seashell back up and hold it tightly in my hand.

Just like magic.

I whirl around to see that Albus is still lying on the bank with a big gash in his head.

Any thought of triumph immediately vanishes as I limp over to collapse on the grass next to him.

Pushing the hair out of his eyes, I take a good look at him. He might as well be dead from the way he looks, his pale skin shining in the light from the moon and the little pool of blood surrounding his head.

I gently slap his face, "C'mon Albus… wake up!" He doesn't move. I press my ear to his chest and can barely make out his heartbeat.

I press my ear to his mouth to hear… nothing. He's not breathing! I know what I have to do… but do I have the nerve?

Thalia. I chide myself. You just fought off a ten-foot man made of mud, and you don't think you can give a dying person CPR?

I start to pump the spot just over Albus's heart, "C'mon Albus… c'mon…"

I remember when I was six, back in New Hampshire, my dad used to bring Luke and I to a swimming pool that was close to our old apartment.

Good times.

But, there was this one time in particular that sticks out in my mind. I think Luke was too young to remember it now, but I was just old enough for it to scare me.

I think it was a lifeguard break and this little three year old was walking past the pool when he slipped in. My dad had to jump in and save him. The boy wasn't breathing, kind of like Albus now, and that was where I learned how to do CPR, from my dad. I remember sobbing, praying that the boy would wake up. Dad had shushed me, showed me what to do if this ever happened again to someone. This is the first time I've ever had to do it, but everything is fresh in my mind like it was that day.

Stopping for a moment, I feel Albus's pulse again. Oh, thank God! It's a bit stronger, but he's still not breathing…

I pull the hair out of my face and take a deep breath. Pinching Albus's nose shut, I tilt his mouth open. I start blowing air into his lungs. I can see Albus's chest slowly moving up and down.

"C'mon, Albus," I whisper between each breath.

I start to get light headed by the fourth breath, and a little worried by the sixth breath.

Shouldn't he be breathing already? If he's not dead yet…

"ALBUS!" I finally scream, shaking his shoulders.

What if he doesn't wake up!? It would be all my fault!

Tears start to cloud my vision as I take one last deep breath. But this time, something happens. Albus gasps, his arms pulling me closer to him as he starts to kiss me.

My eyes pop open, a squeak of surprise getting caught in my throat, but I don't pull away.

Albus pulls me closer and closer, until I'm lying on top of him. I kiss him back, his arms tightening around my waist, like he could never get close enough.

After what seems like a million perfect years, I'm so out of breath, I start to see stars.

Slowly pulling away, Albus's eyes start to open, "Thalia?" he whispers.

My heart almost stops beating at the sound of his voice. My throat closes up, and I can't speak.

He reaches up and pushes a strand of hair back behind my ear, smiling weakly. All I can do is stare at him, wondering what just happened.

"THALIA!" My head whips around to see the silhouette of a boy standing on top of the hill above us.

As he starts to race down the hill, I realize it's Ben.

I scramble off of Albus as Ben comes up to us, a smirk creeping across his face. I want to slap him so bad; I have to sit on my hands.

"Where have you been?! Jeez, some protector you are!" I snarl.

Grover comes racing up behind Ben, "What happened here?" His eyes widen as he sees the big pile of golden sand, still sitting in the middle of the stream, and Albus with his head wound. His eyes finally fall on my ankle, bent at a weird angle. I suddenly remember that it's broken, and wonder how I could be standing on it…

"Get in the water," Grover orders.

"Uh… why?"

"Thalia…" he says in warning.

"Okay, okay."

I step back into the stream, and immediately feel my ankle start to mend, scratches and cuts close up on my arms. I look up at Grover and Ben questioningly, "How…?"

"It's time," Grover mutters to Ben, "get her to camp as soon as possible." He walks into the water to give me a warm hug, "I'm so proud of you Thalia. We all are."

And he turns and trots away. Wait… trots?

That's when I realize there's something weird about Ben as well. I have to squint in the darkness, "What is that!?" I point to Ben's legs, which are now furry. I look closer to see that they're goat legs, right down to the hooves.

"I'll explain once we get to camp, right now, we need to move."

I glance helplessly at Albus, "But- "

Ben sees me looking at him, "You can heal him," he sees my blank stare, "help me move him to the water."

[[[[]]]

Ben and I brought the half-conscious Albus back to his hotel room.

"Send me an owl?" I whisper as I try to help him fall into bed.

"Of course."

Ben knocks on the door again, "Thalia…"

I look back at Albus, "I have to go, I…" I want to say something more, but am not sure what.

As I stand up, Albus grabs hold of my hand, "Thalia, I…" I look back into his eyes, not surprised to see them already trained on my face, "Thank-you." And he lets go of my hand as I open the door and walk with Ben from the Potters' hotel room.