A/N: First off, there is an important note on my Profile pertaining to future updates of all of my stories, so you may want to have a look at that!

Second, this chapter is for Ilovepenguins24 with Kudos and cookies here for:

Wolfman613

Inion an Mac Tire

Trouble Cleft

Disclaimer: I own neither PJO or HP, this fic is purely for my own entertainment.

In all honesty, not much changed after the initial panic of the twins finding them in the attic, instead, life actually returned to the same rigid patterns that were slowly driving each of the demigods mad with boredom. Despite their boredom however, their interactions now held a new level of tension that seemed to hang, unspoken in the room around them, growing with each day where they grew closer to their departure.

There was a reason that there was only one person outside of the order who had known of their presence, and that was purely because Dumbledore had been convinced that she would have found out the truth if they had tried to hide it. Even then the Granger girl was not aware of the full truth, something that the headmaster had sworn on the river Styx that he would not reveal to anyone. But now two more people knew, and that just made them bigger targets.

Most people believed that it was the scent of the demigods which drew the monsters to them, but that was only partially correct. The biggest draw for the monsters was knowledge. Just as names held power in the demigod world, the knowledge of said world's existence was like a beacon for anyone who cared to look for it so with 6 of them in one place for a prolonged length of time, was it any wonder that they were wishing away the days until they could be 'safe' in the heavily warded castle. That, and there was a limit to how many times each of them could handle being beaten in chess by Frank... and the less said about Reyna's attempts at joking, the better.

When the long awaited date of departure actually arrived, it was a rather unspectacular affair, especially when compared to how much the half-bloods had been wishing for it to get there sooner. The sky was grey and over cast despite the fact that they were still supposed to be in the middle of summer, and a think fog made the entire street seem hazy. These were the conditions that the demigods found themselves in at 7:30 in the morning as they waited outside of the old house, shivering at the cold wind that was wrapping around them and cursing quietly to themselves.

Nico hated it. Who in his father's name ever got up this early any more? Finally, when the son of Hades thought that he probably couldn't take the waiting any longer, there was a faint pop off in one of the side alleys indicating the arrival of the one who was to take them to the station.

Almost as one, the small group of demigods span round to face the source of the sudden noise, their battle instincts leading all of their hands straight to their weapon of choice in an almost unconscious movement. Instantly, the man in front of them froze, the warm smile falling quickly from his face when he came face to face with several sharp, shiny, deadly objects that were all pointed his way. Even his odd, violet top hat seemed to droop at it's owners sudden fear... it was quite amusing actually.

For a few seconds, no one moved. Both parties were slowly eyeing each other up, the demigods trying to asses the threat level of the little man while he was just silently praying that they would not hurt him. After another heart beat, Reyna and Jason sheathed their blades and the others grudgingly followed their example, though Nico silently wondered how much it would have taken on their part to have the little man run off screaming... what could he say, he was bored!

Now that he was no longer on the wrong end of some lethal weaponry, the new arrival seemed to revive some of his earlier gusto as he practically squeaked his greeting at them, bouncing forwards to shake each of their hands vigorously.

"Hello, my names Doge, and I will be taking you to the station. Now, as there are so many of you, we can't apparate, so I think we are going to have to use the Knight Bus!"

Emotions seemed to flicker across this man, Doge's, face so quickly that Nico was actually feeling quite dizzy when he tried to keep up with them. At first there was the ever present cheer, which was slightly sickening, closely followed by an apologetic look that made the grown man look like a kicked puppy (though how he managed it, the Ghost king had absolutely no idea) before the seemingly hyperactive wizard settled on an eerily excited look though his skin had taken on a slight green tinge. Some how, Nico just knew that he was not going to like what was about to happen next.

Quickly, and in the same jittery manner that the demigods were beginning to expect from their new guide, Doge pulled his wand out of his robes and began to wave it through the air like he was trying to flag down a taxi... or take someone's eye out, it could have been either one. However, before anyone could actually be harmed by the flailing stick, the street was filled with a large bang that instantly had all of the teens on guard once again. Though, out of all the things he imagined could have made that sound, what Nico hadn't expected to see, was a giant, bright purple triple decker bus appear out of thin air.

He was right, he really did not like the way that this was going.

No sooner had the purple monstrosity screeched to a stop in front of their little group than the doors at the front of the vehicle were opening to reveal who Nico assumed to be the conductor. The man, teen really as he only looked to be a few years older than Percy, all but stumbled down onto the pavement, the sun gleaming off of his dirt blonde hair as he bent down to read from the card he had clasped in his bony fingers, his voice a monotone drawl that indicated how many times he had had to say this spiel over the years.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this morning."

He then went on to detail a price list that Nico didn't even try to follow after he had heard the first item, honestly, who would ever want a cup of tea while riding on a bus? Sometimes, the people in this crazy country scared him and it wasn't in the 'oh my gods I'm about to be eaten' way either.

After Doge carefully counted out enough money for all of their fares (thankfully without any of the little 'extras') they all filed onto the bus, though with what greeted them, they may as well have just jumped down the rabbit's hole. Instead of the normal (and safe) benches that were fixed to the walls of the bus, this place seemed to be filled with an extremely eclectic selection of free standing chairs... none of which were actually fastened down to anything. Seriously, had these wizards no common sense at all?

Seemingly oblivious to the incredulous stares that all of the demigods were giving safety hazard of 4 wheels (honestly, they were nearly killed on a daily basis without purposely putting themselves in stupid situations like this thank you very much!) Doge just blithely passed them by to settle in a rickety looking wicker chair that looked like it was one sharp collision away from disintegrating... right, no common sense...

After sharing a look, all of the demigods decided against risking the seating arrangements, all of them except Lou who gleefully threw herself down onto a three seater sofa, a manic light gleaming in her eyes... well, Lou was a witch after all, maybe the insanity was genetic? All of the sane members of their party however, decided that it would be safer to stand at the edges so that they had something to hold on to, a decision that they were all grateful for once the bus gave a sudden jerk and the surroundings completely changed outside the window.

Nico felt himself heave slightly, and he was sure that he would have thrown up on the floor had he not left his stomach behind in London. This was definitely worse than Shadow Travelling.

One glance at all of the others showed that they all were of a similar mind until his vision was blocked by a apparently innocent face that looked to be lit from behind with an unholy light, and Nico was reminded why he hardly ever worked with this particular daughter of Hecate. Despite the sudden jerks and swerves that the bus was performing as it manoeuvred precariously through the traffic in ways that should not have been possible, Lou seemed completely unconcerned as she grinned up at him.

"Doge just came to tell me, we're 9th in the cue. There a couple stops in Norway, Three in Scotland, One in Wales, a few in Normandy then us... so, about 2 hours to go. Have fun!"

With that, her smirk took on a absolutely evil tint before she was gone, her long hair whipping him in the face as she turned to go and torment the rest of their party and Nico just groaned. 2 more hours of being tossed around like a piece of washing in a laundrette... fun!

As it turned out, demigods and the Knight Bus did not mix at all, and when they finally reached the destination, the 5 of them all but crawled out of the mechanical menace, Nico was sure that he had even seen Frank kissing the ground out of the corner of his eyes at one point, but he was more distracted by Hazel who had run off to throw up in the nearest bush. Lou, the eternal annoyance, was cackling with glee as she watched their suffering and she herself looked like she had just stepped out of bed or something... never had Nico wanted to hurt anyone more, and that included the time that he wanted revenge on Percy for his sister's death.

Still, the halfbloods were soon able to gather themselves enough that they were able to move one, all of them far too used to weird and wonderful situations to actually star down for long. After all, if you allowed yourself to fall apart on the battle field (or in the sparring ring) then you would be killed so a short recovery time was vital. Despite this, more than a few poisonous looks were thrown at the back of Doge's head as he led them though the station however, that was not an experience that they would soon forget, or forgive.

Currently, they were all standing between platforms 9 and 10, all of them (including Lou this time) staring sceptically at the (extremely solid) brick barrier before them. After leading them through the crowd of people that had filled King's Cross Station, Doge had stopped them before this barrier and had told them to walk through it. That's it. Just walk through it. Like it wasn't a barrier of brick and concrete that would break their faces if they tried.

Oh, but its okay, they could do it at a run if they were nervous.

That was it. Nico was done. What little hope he had left for this society and for things to make sense in his crazy messed up life had just run off. Screaming. Just like he was about to do.

However, before he could take more than a couple steps back the direction they had come from, Lou (or what ever mental patient had decided to cosplay as her) grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the barrier at a pace that was much too fast for his liking. Then, about a foot before the inevitable impact, she planted her feet and swung him towards the bloody thing, a smile on her face like this was all perfectly normal and safe.

Absently, Nico decided that, if he survived this, he was going to push her underneath the next train her found, but then he had barely enough time to brace himself for the pain of the collision... only to stumble out onto yet another platform that had definitely not been there before. Instead of the bustling crowd of business men with their dull suits and even duller faces, the son of Hades was now faced with the strangest mixture of people he had ever seen, with clothing ranging from normal wizarding wear to really weird combinations of normal clothes. For a second, Nico's already exhausted mind contemplated if this is what it looked like when a drunk Iris was locked in a room with no entertainment, but he was soon brought out of his musings by his sister colliding with his back. It looked like the others had arrived.

"Okay guys, the Headmaster told me that there are no wards on the train itself, so we should probably split up to avoid creating too tempting of a target for any monsters that pass by."

Once again it looked like Jason had fallen back into his old role of 'team leader' and his commanding voice somehow managed to reach them above the chatter of platform 9 ¾. Beside him, Reyna was nodding, her face taking on the serious 'I am preator, you will listen to me or you will become dog food' face.

"Yes, and we should probably pair up, big three kids with those of minor gods... or undetermined. I'll go with Jason at the front of the train, by the driver. Nico you can go with L..."

As soon as he realised what the daughter of Ballona was about to say, Nico shot the older demigod a death glare that would make Cerberus heel and stay without complaint. Her face blanching so fast that she looked like she was about to faint, Reyna quickly changed her tune.

"F-frank... you guys should sit in the middle of the train. Hazel, you and Lou should sit at the back. Some of us should also try and sit with the boy we're supposed to be protecting. Come on Jason..."

Not waiting for any of the others to comment, the girl snatched up Jason's arm in a vice like grip and quickly pulled him away until the two of them were swallowed by the crowd. With a sigh of defeat, Nico glanced across at the guy beside him before gesturing to wards the train, and soon the two of them were gone as well, leaving Hazel alone with a more hyper than usual Lou and the daughter of Pluto found herself wondering if her father would mind if she hexed her brother into a coma.

A/N: There we go, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and, I know I made Lou out to be stranger than usual, but that will be explained in the next chapter. Once again, I will direct you to my Profile for further information concerning updates.

This chapter's question is:

Which Harry Potter character is mentioned in all of the books, but does not appear in any of the films?