Chapter 25- The Interrogation

Harry's P.O.V: -

Harry Potter was sitting on a rock near the lake in Camp Half-Blood, observing the whole 'search mission' that was going on from a distance. Alyssa was sitting beside him, glancing every few minutes towards the lake, as they waited for Percy to resurface from it.

Annabeth had divided all the campers into groups and asked them all to search the whole camp for Hufflepuff's formula. At present, the entire Camp-Half Blood was busy looking for the formula at different places in the camp.

Harry had been put in a group with Percy and Alyssa, and the three of them had been asked to search near the lake and its surrounding areas. Hence Percy had gone inside the water surface, to talk with the Naiads and see if they knew anything about the whereabouts of the formula.

"I don't think the formula could be over here," Alyssa spoke after a few minutes. "I mean, Hufflepuff was Pluto's daughter! So why the Hades would she hide it underwater? That's just something that I don't get."

"Annabeth had said that we shouldn't be taking any chances, and that the formula could be literally anywhere in the whole camp," Harry reminded her.

"Yeah, but still…" Alyssa muttered.

Harry could sort of understand why she wasn't exactly happy with the 'search mission'. Even though the entire camp was literally on its feet searching for it, Harry couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. This was not the way to do it.

The camp was way too large and in spite of the combined efforts of the Greek and Roman demigods, as well as the wizards and some of the monsters residing at the camp, Harry couldn't stop thinking that this was almost like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The formula could be almost anywhere!

Just then he heard the splash of water behind him, as Percy Jackson resurfaced from the depths of the lake. Harry couldn't help but feel amazed at how Percy had managed to stay dry in spite of spending almost half an hour underwater, for that matter he also couldn't help noticing that Percy looked extremely cute when he broke through the surface of the water, and gave him one of his trademark smile.

But Percy's smile didn't last long, as he shook his head dejectedly and told them, "It's not in the lake guys. I looked for it almost everywhere inside the lake, even took the help of the Naiads and some other water-creatures, but no one knows anything about its possible location."

"So, did the Naiads flirt with you again?" Alyssa asked him mischievously.

"What?! Of course not Alyssa!" Percy exclaimed blushing slightly, "And don't say stuff like that too loudly, otherwise Annabeth would kill me," he added in a whisper.

Harry didn't know why, but he felt a sudden pang of jealousy upon realizing that some water nymphs could have been flirting with his Percy. 'Wait a minute, since when did I started thinking of him as my Percy?' Harry wondered to himself.

"So," Percy continued, "What are we supposed to do now? Just help the others in searching the cabins or something?"

"I don't know," Harry replied, "Somehow, I feel that this is not the way to find the formula. We are definitely missing something."

"I am getting that sort of feeling too," Percy muttered as he saw a group of campers walking eagerly towards the mess hall, "I mean, some people are actually thinking that the formula could be hidden in the mess hall just because Hufflepuff was a complete foodie."

"The Hufflepuff common room at Hogwarts is situated near the kitchens though," Harry told him absent-mindedly.

"Well, at least they are trying something," Alyssa commented.

"Tell me Harry, do you have any better idea of finding the formula?" she asked him suddenly.

"I dunno," Harry admitted, "I guess I would have just used the summoning charm or something."

"Hermione has already tried it twice," Alyssa informed him.

"But Harry might be able to do it!" Percy exclaimed suddenly, "I mean his powers have increased a lot since his sixteenth birthday. He has also been able to produce the darkest and the most powerful curse of their world," he then turned towards Harry and said, "I really think you should give it a go Harry."

Honestly speaking, Harry didn't know how to react to that. On one hand he felt glad to know that Percy had so much confidence in him (though he felt that Percy shouldn't have mentioned about the killing curse incident as though it was some remarkable achievment), but on the other hand he felt a little nervous. He wasn't that much confident of whatever changes that were taking place in him, besides Hermione was the best witch in their year and Harry was certain that since Hermione's spell casting hadn't worked, his won't either.

But suddenly Harry felt someone take his hand into their own, and a sudden warmth spread through him as Percy gently squeezed his hand and said, "Don't be nervous Harry, at least give it a try. I know that you'll be able to do it."

Percy was staring at him with trust and confidence gleaming through his eyes, and gave Harry one of his super-awesome blinding smiles.

How could Harry say 'no' after that?

Sighing a little, Harry took out his wand, pointed it in a random direction closed his eyes to concentrate a bit harder and muttered 'Accio Hufflepuff's antidote formula' under his breath.

At first nothing happened, not that Harry was expecting anything either. But then suddenly, he felt a strange magical pull from some direction as though a magnet was trying to pull him. He felt his hand spun around and point the wand in a particular direction.

Harry opened his eyes and immediately noticed two things. One, his wand was pointed in the direction of the forest. Two, Octavian was also hurrying in the same direction.

"I felt a powerful magical pull," Alyssa commented, "I don't remember anything like this happening when Hermione had casted the spell."

"That's because I seem to have detected the location of the formula," Harry replied, "It's somewhere in the forest."

"And co-incidentally Octavian's going in the same direction too," Percy observed, "I always had a feeling that there was something fishy about him."

"But isn't Octavian supposed to be on our side now? I thought that the Greek and Romans have now become friends?" Alyssa wondered. But after seeing both Percy and Harry utter exasperated sighs as they both disliked Octavian, she just changed the subject and asked, "Harry what do you think happened when you used that spell?"

"I don't know," Harry replied. He really had zero idea as to what was happening. "And anyways, you are supposed to be the daughter of Hecate," he pointed out to her.

"Well, I am not sure, but I think that it was because your spell was so strong that it almost managed to attract the formula towards us. But unfortunately, the protective enchantments done around the formula were even stronger," Alyssa replied, after thinking for a moment.

"But we at least know that it is somewhere in the forest," Percy said, who was already on his feet with Riptide ready in his hands.

"Yeah, we should get going," Harry replied. He turned towards Alyssa and said, "Alyssa, I think you should inform Annabeth about this, who knows we might need some more help in retrieving it."

"Oh, I guess you want to spend some time alone with your secret crush, right?" Alyssa asked him in low voice.

Harry blushed a bright red color upon hearing that; he quickly turned to see whether Percy had heard it, but saw that the other boy was already walking towards the forest with a determined look on his face.

"Um, it's not like that! You just go and inform Annabeth, okay," Harry muttered, looking extremely embarrassed and ran in the direction of the forest, to catch up with Percy, while Alyssa, who was looking quite amused by Harry's reaction, went to find Annabeth.

Achilles Riddle was staring at the large screen in front of him. He smirked as saw his seven prisoners being brought into the room which was specially designed for this video conference. Yes, he had kept a video conference rather than actually talking to his adversaries face-to-face as he had no intention of getting any accidental injuries in case any of the prisoners were still able to use a bit of their powers.

His smirk grew as he took in their appearances. All of them were looking extremely tired and defeated, what with their hands above their heads and blindfolds on their eyes. More precautionary measures undertaken by him, to make sure that his prisoners don't see anything during the little time they spend outside their cell.

How he would love to get rid of them as soon as possible. But unfortunately he needed their blood for the accomplishment of his plans, so yeah they would get to live just a little bit longer.

He saw that the red-haired oracle and the dark wizard were looking the most restless. The centaur, the old-wizard and even the sea-god were looking quite calm.

The blond witch was staring around at her surroundings, as though she expected to see something through her blindfolds, whereas the goddess was shaking angrily and for a moment Achilles had the impression that she was radiating some sort of energy through her.

'Good thing I am not actually in that room', he thought to himself.

Taking a deep breath he pressed the button of the mike which was connected to the speakers in their room and spoke in his most dangerous voice, "Greetings prisoners, it's me, your host and the most powerful muggle/mortal whatever you may feel comfortable in calling me. Though I must say that, 'Sir' or 'Lord' would be more appropriate."

He patiently waited to see their reactions. He saw that they were all listening quite intently and seemed to be on their alert.

He continued further, "It is a great pleasure talking to all of you. I am sure you all must be wondering why I have captured you in the first place."

"Yes, we have often wondered about that," the old wizard, Dumbledore or whatever his name was, replied.

"You are speaking to the future ruler of this world old man," Achilles sneered, "And while I can't tell you my whole plan, for obvious reasons, I can tell you this, that soon both the wizarding world and Olympus are going to fall at the hands of muggles/mortals. We are finally going to achieve our revenge on your kind."

"What revenge are you talking about?" the blond goddess asked, rage barely hidden from her voice, "As for destroying our worlds, it's not exactly as easy as you seem to be thinking, you foolish mortal!"

Achilles was expecting this kind of reaction. He replied, "As a matter of fact, we have already started with the destruction of your kind. The people, who got drenched in that rain, won't survive for long. As for the seven of you, you all have been kept alive only because I need you for something."

"And what would it be mortal?" the centaur asked this time, "And why only the seven of us?"

Achilles chose to ignore those questions as he turned his attention towards the sea-god, "Salazar Slytherin was your son, isn't it Poseidon?"

Poseidon merely nodded, but to Achilles intense surprise the dark-wizard standing next to the sea-god gasped with astonishment.

"Is anything wrong Voldemort?" Achilles asked him, directly addressing him by that ridiculous name which often scared a lot of idiotic wizards.

"No, nothing, I was merely surprised for a moment," Voldemort replied.

Achilles wasn't buying it, but he decided not to expand on it further. He had more important questions to ask to these people.

"So, tell me Poseidon, do you know anything about a supposedly powerful potion which your son and his friends were trying to create?" he asked.

"The potion in question never worked properly. Instead of increasing anyone's powers it just sapped the people of their powers, making them weaker and weaker every minute…" Poseidon stopped speaking for a moment, as he seemed to realize something, "So the acid rain! It was this very potion right?"

"Oh, very good, Sea-god, and I here was under the assumption that Athena is the wisest amongst all of you," Achilles replied.

"So are you thinking of using the antidote of the potion for making yourself powerful mortal?" Athena asked him, displaying her wisdom by the fact that she was already one step ahead in understanding his plans.

"Not just one antidote, I am thinking of combining all the four antidotes and adding some 'special ingredients' in it to make myself the most powerful being ever," Achilles answered smugly.

"And by 'special ingredients', do you mean our blood?" Voldemort asked him.

"Wow, looks like I have got a bunch of genius people trapped over here," Achilles commented, "You are quite right about the blood thing, but before that I will have to verify a few things for myself," Achilles paused for a moment before continuing, "For instance, I would love to know a bit about your parents Luna," he said to the blond girl whom he suspected of being a witchdemigod.

"My parents?" squeaked Luna, sounding both surprised and terrified.

"Your parents," Achilles repeated calmly, "I would love to get some information about them."

"My dad's name is Xenophilius Lovegood. He is the editor of 'Quibbler' and right now he would have been researching on the Crumpled Horned Snorkacks had he not been so badly affected by that horrible rain of yours," Luna answered with a trace of anger in her voice.

Achilles merely found it amusing. He leaned in a little to hear the next part, as he was actually interested in hearing her mother's identity.

"And my mother is…dead," the girl said with a slight pause, "She was a great witch who loved to experiment with magic and create new spells. But one day, one of her spells backfired and she…she died," the girl finished.

"Lies!" Achilles said angrily, "I know very well that your mother is a goddess Luna, so just tell me the truth if you know what's good for you." He was really annoyed by the nerve of that girl. How dare she lie to him like that!

"It's true," Luna insisted.

"Her mother couldn't have been a goddess," Poseidon interrupted them, "If Luna was a demigod, me and Athena would have immediately sensed it."

"Oh, of course and the two of you would have told me the truth, isn't it?" Achilles retorted.

"Luna isn't a half-blood, even I can feel that," the centaur said.

"Actually I am a pureblood," Luna told them, "Both my parents have descended from pureblood wizarding families."

"Now that's a good thing," Voldemort commented.

"But…but you can't be pureblood!" the oracle-girl exclaimed, "Only the children whose both parents are god are purebloods, which makes them a god too obviously."

"The meaning of purebloods and half-bloods is a little different in the wizarding world Miss Dare," Dumbledore said calmly.

Achilles was getting tired of this pointless discussion. So he just gave a signal to one of his associates. The said associate went in the room containing the prisoners. He took out a syringe and injected its needle in Luna's arm, making the girl wince slightly.

"I think a simple blood-test would make the girl's parentage quite clear," Achilles remarked.

"Oh please," Athena laughed almost hysterically, "Now don't tell me that you can actually detect demigods with your stupid mortal equipments and blood-tests."

"But we can," Achilles replied, "Though I am definitely not going to bother myself by trying to explain it to you lot."

Achilles knew that they could identify a demigod with the help of his/her blood, because the mortals knew that a demigod's blood contained a certain percentage of golden ichor in it. He had simply given a sample of demigod blood to his followers and asked them to use it for comparison. He had of course not bothered to inform his followers that the said blood sample which they were going to use as a standard was his own. Because the truth was that he, Achilles Riddle, was a demigod too.

Achilles was about to ask his next question to the prisoners, when suddenly his phone vibrated. He saw that it contained a message from Octavian. Achilles was most disappointed and unimpressed when he read that message.

A.N.: - Hey everyone! Sorry it took me soooo long to update this story. Actually I had initially wanted to fit the whole of Harry finding the formula and Achilles interviewing the prisoners in one chapter. But it was becoming way too long.

Please tell me what you think about this chapter. I'll update the next one probably on Sunday I guess.

And as always your reviews are very much appreciated, so…PLEASE REVIEW!

P.S.: -I have kept a stupid poll on my profile page, please vote in it.