Ah, it's good to be back.

I'm really, really sorry it's been so long since the last update. I've been incredibly busy, but that's all over now! And as promised, I have returned with an update in June.

I'd love to respond to some reviews, but truthfully I'm sure most of you just want to read the chapter, so I'll let you get to it. But a huge, huge thanks to anyone who did review. I may not have been updating, but I sure was grateful for everything you said!

So in case you didn't realise, this is the first chapter in Part 2 of the Intertwining Magic Trilogy. I hope you enjoy it, and I'm so glad to be updating again :D

Also, I realise it's been a while since you probably read the last chapter... maybe quickly look over it to refresh your memory? Or not. Whatever works!

Part II: A Rising Darkness

Chapter One- Sudden

Jason

Was it a surprise that their summer was cut short by a cloud of dark, glittering mist?

No. Not at all.

Jason knew demigods didn't usually have the most peaceful summers, so really he was almost expecting it. There had been no war, no fights, no deaths; instead Jason had spent the summer visiting San Francisco with Piper, since her father was there, and switching between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. So with summer drawing to a close in only two weeks, Jason had a vague sense of unease. Everything had seemed too quiet, when in reality Jason knew things were changing in the world.

Last year Jason had gone to a school for wizards and witches called Hogwarts (when he said it out loud, it really sounded ridiculous) and Lord Voldemort had returned. Over in Britain, Harry, Ron and Hermione would be spending a summer full of uncertainty about what Voldemort would do now that his return had been exposed to the wizarding world.

Of course, Jason was trying not to spend too long dwelling on that. He and his friends would return to Hogwarts in two weeks, and for now he wanted to enjoy the last few days of his holiday. He was walking through the cabin area of Camp Half-Blood, his sister by his side. Jason saw Thalia infrequently, and so when he had learned she was coming to visit Camp Half-Blood, he had been pleasantly surprised.

They walked along the gravelly path. Thalia's dark hair was casually spiked, as always, and her bow was slung over her silver jacket next to her quiver. She gave him a rueful smile.

"It's so strange," she said quietly, studying him.

"What?" Jason asked, taken aback.

"You're older than me now," Thalia explained. "I just still remember you as this little boy who tried to eat a stapler, but you've grown so much."

Jason realised that the situation was strange, but he knew he would always view Thalia as his older sister.

"Trust me, I've not changed that much, sis," Jason smiled.

"As long as you don't still eat staplers."

In the distance Jason saw Nico walking away from the strawberry fields. He called him over, and Nico approached.

"Thalia?" Nico asked, surprise entering his tone. He and Thalia embraced. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just decided to drop in for a visit," Thalia said, ruffling Jason's hair playfully. Nico smiled.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked. "I thought you were with Will."

"He had to go to the strawberry fields," Nico said, slightly glumly. "Calypso's organised a growing session and she asked Will for help."

"Why don't you come with us?" Thalia insisted. "It'll be fun."

"Go where?" Nico asked.

"To the beach," Jason told him. "We're going there to meet the others."

Nico smirked. "Let me guess: Percy's idea?" Jason nodded, smiling as they walked down the path to the beach. "So when do you have to go back to anyway?"

"Two weeks."

"Go back where?" Thalia asked immediately. "To that school?"

"Yeah. How much did Chiron tell you?" Jason asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Not much," Thalia admitted. "Just that you're going to some school for wizards. I just assumed it was something to do with Hecate."

"It is… sort of," Jason commented dryly. Even Nico, who knew a fair amount about their quest, having stepped into a leadership role at Camp while they were gone, looked eagerly at him, hoping for some information; Chiron had remained ever-secret about their quest. Most campers had no idea about the quest, but simply thought they had gone to a new school.

Before Jason could continue, they reached the beach. The others were already there, and immediately Piper ran up to them, dressed in shorts and a tank top. She was still tanned from the San Francisco sun, and Jason grinned at her as they kissed briefly.

They had returned to Camp Half-Blood a few days ago with Frank and Hazel, considering the end of summer was approaching. Jason grinned at Frank and Leo (they had managed to convince Leo to come to the beach since Calypso was busy: ever since they had returned, Leo had spent most of his time with her, clearly having missed Calypso while they were at Hogwarts) and hugged Hazel. Meanwhile Thalia went straight to hug Annabeth and Percy in delight. They had spent most of the summer at Percy's mom's place.

The seven of them had had a hectic summer, from the moment they had returned to Camp. They hadn't even been able to discuss the events of last year, and what they would do now. They had promised Harry and the others that they would return to Hogwarts, but they had learned that Harry was the subject of a prophecy. He would need help.

But for now, Jason could forget about that.

Percy smiled. "Finally; we were waiting for ages. I wanna go surfing."

Immediately the group walked towards the blue, lapping waves, stepping over the soft sand. But before Jason could do anything, a cold wind blew across the beach. Piper shivered at Jason's side.

Frank looked around nervously. "Was it just me, or did that feel-" He was cut off by a shriek. Hazel pointed at the air. A black smoke was descending from the sky, glinting in the sun.

"We need to go," Annabeth said quickly, but before any of them could move, the mist darted down, engulfing them. Jason's vision turned black, as he coughed in the smoke, the mist burning down his throat.

And then he disappeared.

Harry

"There are others there, I've heard… strange students, they say."

"The rumours are true," came the clipped reply.

"And you have any information on them?" the shopkeeper at Borgin and Burke's asked eagerly, leaning closer to the boy over the counter.

"Not yet," Draco replied, gripped the unseen object he had bought in his hand. "But I will."

But I will.

The three words resounded in Harry's head as he peered down at the shop, crouched on the roof of a neighbouring building. He almost didn't hear Hermione when she muttered to him.

"Harry, there are people coming to the shop. We have to go," she murmured. Harry didn't move, desperate to continue listening.

"C'mon mate," Ron mumbled, pulling at his sleeve.

"Harry!" Hermione hissed sharply. Giving up, Harry ducked down the back exit and skimmed down the wall on the other side of the alley. Following Ron and Hermione down the cobbled path, they soon re-emerged into Diagon Alley.

"That was close," Hermione said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"We should have stayed for longer," Harry huffed. "I wanted to know what Draco was saying. He was talking about the demigods." He said the last word in a lower voice.

"Yes, but if we'd got caught-" Hermione shot back.

Ron interrupted them both. "It doesn't matter. We'll find out another way."

The three of them had been at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, visiting for the first time with the rest of Ron's family, when Harry had seen Draco. On instinct, he had followed him to Borgin and Burke's, where they had spied on him. Draco had bought a small object, one they couldn't see… and he had mentioned the Americans.

Harry's mind flew over what he had seen, desperately analysing every detail. What could Malfoy want with the Americans? And what had he bought?

Soon they had returned to Fred and George's shop. Most of the crowd had now dispersed. Mr. Weasley saw them and smiled.

"Ah, there are you! I was beginning to wonder."

"We just went for a walk, dad," Ron muttered.

"Well, yes," Mr. Weasley said anxiously, "but you know, nothing's quite safe anymore. I wouldn't advise walking about just like that, especially so close to Knockturn alley. You-know-who is at large. You never know what could happen."

Ron scoffed. "Oh, come on. It's not like death eaters are going to attack Diagon Alley."

"Hey, Ron," Ginny called, walking out of the shop towards them. "Come and look at what I found." As they looked around Harry caught sight of all the crazy products stacked up on the high shelves all around them. He noticed Fred and George convincing a customer to buy their puking pastilles.

"Here, try this one, Ron," Ginny handed him a sweet resembling a lollipop, "it's my favourite."

Ron looked at it and tentatively took a lick. Encouraged by the fact that nothing crazy had happened to him, he continued to lick at the sweet. Suddenly his eyes bulged and he ran behind a nearby shelf as he started spluttering unwillingly. Ginny burst out laughing as they followed Ron and watched him cough up cats' hair. Suddenly George and Fred appeared behind Ron.

"Nice choice, Ron," George smirked.

"I see you've tested our new product then," Fred added lightly.

Ron tried to retort something, but ended up coughing harder and turning even redder as a ball of fur popped out of his mouth. "In a bit of a hairy situation there?" George asked and the twins burst out laughing as they moved away and disappeared to sell another poor customer one of their new products.

Hermione was trying to resist laughter. "Oh, come on, Ron, let's take you outside." She pulled Ron outside, who glared at Ginny on the way.

Harry exchanged a look with Ginny. "How long have you been waiting for that one?"

"A while," Ginny said triumphantly. "Oh, he's going to be mad at me for ages, isn't he? I'll give him some of my quidditch cards to make it up to him. I don't even regret it." She caught Harry's eyes, and they shared a grin. Harry unknowingly held his breath.

"Come on, we better get outside and see how he's doing," Harry motioned after a moment's silence, Ginny's dark eyes trained on him. For a second she was still, and then she nodded.

They made their way to the entrance, the moment passed. Ginny went outside to look at Ron, who was drinking some water, but Harry paused for a second, lingering in front of the doors. Hermione looked at him, stepping inside beside him.

"Harry, what's wrong?" she asked.

Harry scanned up and down the street. Something felt odd…

Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound. Black pillars of mist shot to the ground, materialising into humans. Down the street a group of death eaters formed, shooting green spells at shop windows. Harry heard people screaming, crowds running away from that area.

Ron and Ginny jumped back, startled by the sound. Harry stayed frozen in horror, in surprise, but Hermione acted swiftly. Without delay, she tapped her wand on Harry's head.

"Mutatio!" she uttered sharply. Harry felt a cold rustle through his hair, and in the reflection on the glass door, he saw himself. He yelped. His hair was blond. He could barely recognise himself.

But Hermione wasn't done. Realising what she was doing, Ginny chucked her a cap which she found on the floor nearby, and Hermione quickly put it on his head.

"Hermione, what-"

"The death eaters can't know it's you," Hermione said urgently. The death eaters were still making their way down the street, four of them, chaos forming. Suddenly a person brushed past Harry: it was Mr. Weasley, Fred and George behind him. Wands out, they were charging towards the death eaters.

Harry stumbled out of the shop, fumbling for his wand in his pocket. Suddenly, more pillars of mist hurtled towards the ground on the other end of the street. Ron cursed.

Harry's heart was beating fast now. Diagon Alley was under attack, but before he could fire at these new death eaters, more black smoke appeared. Yet this one was different. It sparkled slightly, as if someone had shaken glitter over the cloud.

As shapes formed, Harry hesitated. Something about this seemed strange.

"It's them," Hermione breathed.

Nine people emerged from the mist, looking very confused. The Americans glanced round. Harry spotted two people he didn't recognise, a girl in silver clothes and dark haired boy.

"Harry?" Percy asked. "What the-"

"How did we get here?" Leo demanded. They were dressed in Hogwarts robes with wands in their hands. "And where did these clothes come from?"

Before Harry could even speak, to express his shock, spells fired down from the alley. The death eaters wouldn't stay preoccupied forever. Ducking, Harry fired one back.

The scene was chaos. Black mist lingered in the street, and Harry lunged forward trying to avoid spells. The demigods scattered, immediately starting to fire spells. There was no time for talking.

As death eaters apparated back and forth, Harry continuously had to move to avoid them. He was soon far away from Hermione, Ginny and Ron. Luckily the death eaters didn't seem to recognise him.

Yet despite the initial assault, the death eaters were being overcome. Harry didn't recognise any of them, unfortunately. He would have appreciated the opportunity to try and target Bellatrix, after what she had done to Sirius.

Suddenly, a death eater appeared in front of Harry, one of the few remaining: most of the others had fled, having caused most of the damage they had come to do. Harry was in a secluded corner of the alley, having turned a corner, and he couldn't see any of his friends. Harry stumbled back into an alleyway branching off the main road, thin and dark.

"Stupefy!" Harry bellowed. The red spell ricocheted towards the death eater, but the death eater had already fled before the spell made its mark. Clearly he didn't think it was worth staying here any longer.

Harry panted, scanning his surroundings. He was far away from the main street now, but hopefully everyone else was ok. Suddenly he spotted the silver-clothed girl and dark haired boy from before, the one that had come with the Americans. They weren't wearing Hogwarts robes, nor did they have a wand, unlike the others. The girl had a bow in her hand, and the boy had drawn a steel sword. Harry tensed looking at them.

Hopefully they were friendly. Percy and the other demigods hadn't seemed to have a problem with them, so Harry hoped that meant they would help him.

Suddenly the girl caught his eye from in front of the alleyway.

"Nico," she said sharply.

"Thalia," the boy muttered, "I think that's one of them."

Before Harry could say anything, or even ask what they meant, the girl bounded forward with lightning speed. Before he could even realise what was happening, he was knocked to the ground, his back colliding with the bumpy stones.

The girl pressed her knee to Harry's chest, and quick as a snake drew a silver tipped arrow and pulled it back, pointing it at Harry's heart, which was hammering against his ribcage.

She hissed, and the point of the arrow tore through Harry's shirt, a bead of blood bursting out beneath the tip. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

Prepare for a longish A/N:

First of all, I hope you liked the chapter! I'm kind of nervous about it, since it's been a while, but a lot of you have been asking for more Nico and Thalia, and let me say this: your wishes shall be granted.

On my updating schedule: I am going to try and update a lot. I've got one planned for Dumbledore's Tale (very soon!) and also All's Fair, so check them out if you want.

As for this story: as always reviews will speed up my update. I'm hoping for a super quick update, like in a couple of days even?

So yeah, if anyone's still reading this story, maybe drop a review? Thanks so much, as always :D