Chapter VIII: The wall was a door. Weird, I know.

The rest of the trip went by pretty quickly and plainly. Percy didn't remember all details of the trip, because they had been to so many places-mostly on his insistence, yet he never bothered to remember them all-, but he remembered some significant places.

Like the uniform shop, Madam Malkin's….

"That's it. I'm NOT going. Uniforms?! ME?!"

"Percy, if you don't shut up and enter…"

"Okay, shutting up now."

"Good."

Honeydukes...

"When are you ever going to be done, Seaweed Brain?"

"Never. Oh, cool, look! Is that toffee jumping?!"

Eeylops Owl Emporium…. (He frowned slightly. That was one unpleasant memory)

"Get out, Percy! The owls are going crazy because of you!"

"WAIT, that one broke free from its ca-Ow, Stupid birds!"

Flourish and Blotts….

"Just one more book…. No wait, make that two, no three-!"

"Oh come on! Please, Annabeth? We're going to stay here all night if we- if you don't get out soon!"

"A few more won't hurt you. Look, Percy, this is about curses!"

"Please don't tell me you're gonna use it on me."

"Nope, trying to see which spell will make Circe suffer and have a horrible death."

And the rest was history. He smiled at the memory as he looked under his bed for the other sock he had lost. Time flew by with constant training and sparring session, as well as occasional monster attacks. And now, after a month and a half had whizzed by, there was only a single day left before the start of school.

He finally found the sock draped under his hoodie, which was draped over a chair. Annabeth told him to start packing a week before, yet him being the person he is, of course he had just started packing today. He tossed the sock into the trunk-which was in a jumbled mess-and went into the bathroom to pack his toothbrush. However, it was nowhere in sight. He frowned slightly.

"Annabeth, have you seen my toothbrush? It's not in the bathroom!" He yelled loudly. At his yell, the owl resting right next to Annabeth went ballistic. She hooted around and tried to scratch him, and only calmed down when Annabeth called her back and stroked her feathers.

He really hated her, and vice versa. The only reason a full battle hadn't occurred was because Annabeth threatened to throw either out if one of them started a fight. Why did she have to buy the stupid owl? Why not a nice cat or something? 'Thanks a lot, Athena.' He thought.

Annabeth, who had been reading on his bed, right next to him, and who had been trying her best to ignore Percy for the past 10 minutes, sighed and set down the book. She gently removed her owl (named Piper of all things, due to her kaleidoscopic eyes so like McLean's) from her shoulder before sitting up straight. He had a brief glance at the title: Hogwarts, A History.

"Are you ever going to let me read in peace?" She asked, giving him a glare, stroking the now purring owl below the beak like a puppy.

He, like always, shrugged it off. "Never. So have you seen it?"

She sighed. Never had a day gone by without her sighing of exasperation. She put Piper back into her cage and said, "Have you checked, I don't know, YOUR TRUNK, Seaweed Brain? We had this conversation thirty minutes ago, you know." Percy scratched his head.

"We did?"

"We did. Oh, stop making that face. Fine, fine! I'll help you look for i-Gods, Percy, is that supposed to be your luggage?!" She yelled seeing the heap of clothes and schoolbooks mixed together into one giant glop. Piper screeched along with her (Man, he really despised that owl). She gave him a pointed stare, and Percy slowly turned his eyes to the left.

Annabeth massaged her forehead. "Take everything out, Percy. We are going to pack this time, and don't you dare think about complaining." He gulped. When Annabeth said it, she meant it.

And that was how he spent the rest of his last day at Evermore Road.

ㅡ

"The platform number is what?" Percy asked in disbelief. "9…. And three quarters." Annabeth replied, equally mystified. She looked at the numbers again. 9, 10. 9, 10. No matter how much she looked, or no matter how hard she looked, the numbers refused to turn into anything else.

She bit her lip. It was her mistake. She had been so focused on finding out about the society in general that she forgot to ask the professor how to get to the school. Her eyes moved to the clock. It read 10:46 a.m. The train would leave in 14 minutes, and they really needed to get on the station before then. She looked around in search for someone, anyone really, who could help them get on the platform.

She turned left and right until she spotted something. Other mortals didn't seem to notice, but nothing got past her sharp demigod eyes. "Look, Percy." She pointed at a man and woman, with two children, pushing their carts towards the empty wall between platforms 9 and 10, and finally disappearing behind it. They looked at each other. That had to be it. It was too weird not to be it.

Quickly, they turned their carts towards the wall. When they got close enough, she touched the wall. But unlike the family, her hand didn't go through. She could feel the wall; it was hard and cold. Confused, she was about to turn to Percy when her danger radar beeped like crazy. She darted left on instinct, and as soon as she did, something ran past her and slammed into the wall.

Annabeth braced herself for an impact, but surprisingly the 'something' went right through. 'What?!' she thought. The wall had been sturdy moments before. The thing different this time was…. The speed. She figured the magic must have been cast to let something above a certain speed to pass through. She turned around to share Percy with the information.

When she did, she realized the 'something' that went through moments before was her idiotic boyfriend. Percy, who had been behind her moments before, was nowhere in sight, trunk and all. She fought back the urge to strangle him or blast him in the face with a curse she found inside one of her new books. Sighing, she went back to her cart. Piper was waiting for her patiently in her cage.

She stroked her owl, trying to calm her anger, and the owl cooed under her touch. She looked at the owl fondly. Annabeth just knew she was meant to be her owl from the moment she set her foot in that shop. All the owls were absolutely friendly to her (Screech owls less so, being Hades's sacred symbol, but still respecting her nonetheless), but out of every owl in the shop, this one caught her eye. With a hazel-colored feather coat and eyes that shifted from gray to amber and black, she looked like a literal symbol of her girlfriends.

And of course, she needed to have her. No matter how much Percy complained, she fell in love with her, and she wasn't letting her go. She convinced him: the fact that she looked a lot like their friends, the fact that they needed an owl, the fact that she won't attack him when Annabeth convinced her. In the end, she finally struck a deal with him, letting him go into Zonko's Joke Shop, in exchange for buying the owl.

"I agree with you this time." She whispered as she continued to stroke the hooting owl. "He's the worst. I kind of want to just let you have a go at him." Piper hooted in agreement. She stood there for a good three minutes to catch her cool before finally straightening up, smiling coldly. Oh, Percy Jackson better be waiting for her, because she was about to give him a piece of her mind.

She gripped the handle of her luggage cart hard-extremely hard.

"Ready?" Piper hooted in response.

And with that, Annabeth charged with a cart and slipped through the 'wall'-also known as the door.

ㅡ

Percy's head still ached on the spot Annabeth had struck after following him onto the platform. He rubbed the back of his head, pouting as he followed Annabeth onto the train. He got himself to focus on something besides his throbbing pain in the head, and turned his attention to the scene around him instead.

Everywhere he looked, there were families with kids about his age. Those who didn't had already got on the train. The scene of children saying goodbye to their families made his heart twinge and hurt more than his head. He bit his lip. Never in his time of the one and a half month he spent here had he thought of his family-it hurt too much. Percy missed everyone; Frank, Hazel, Leo, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Nico, Paul, baby Estelle, and most of all, his awesome mom, Sally Jackson.

Heck, he was even missing Poseidon. At least back in present day, he knew his father's powers were always with him; now, in Britain, they were oceans away. Sure, his powers never faded, but it was hard to be in unfamiliar territory once again- and this time, just the two of them, with no backup at all.

He stole a glance at Annabeth. Annabeth didn't seem to be affected as much as he did, probably because she was quite awkward with her family. Mr. Chase and she had only just made amends, and her stepmother Helen and her…. They were even more awkward. It was hard for them to get along, and her father really should be thankful for Annabeth not going at her. He was relieved to see that she at least wasn't too upset. He tried to push down his feelings, so she wouldn't worry.

But of course, she knew at once. And Gods, she was smart. She knew that something was up at a single glance at his face, then at the platform, and then at him again with understanding. She didn't let it linger on for long though (This another reason why he loved her) and grabbed his hand. The warmth spread through his fingers and washed his sadness away. He clung on tighter, a smile spreading across his face remembering how lucky he was to have someone as awesome as Annabeth next to him.

And just then train puffed out a cloud of smoke, and the engine sounds blared throughout the platform, killing the mood. So much for a romantic, sentimental moment, he thought, before he and Annabeth hopped on the train, hand in hand.

ㅡ

Percy took a good look at the train once he boarded. He was kinda disappointed, because the train didn't look all that magical. It looked like a normal train- like the one he, Frank, and Hazel had ridden to Alaska. Ah, the good old days. He was daydreaming all the way until he was pushed inside an empty compartment. Annabeth was pushing him onto a chair when he finally caught hold of the situation.

Annabeth sat down on the opposite isle when he had properly seated. There was a small silence as they waited for the train to depart. The stupid owl was still staring at him and not going to sleep as good little owls should. He had a staring contest with Piper-not-McLean-but-owl before he turned. He was wasting his time; he could be having a chat with Wise girl instead of arguing with that thing.

He broke free from the owl and set his sights on Annabeth. "So, how long does it take to get to Hogwarts?" He started, and she looked up from her book, The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). He figured the answer she would say would be about…. An hour or so, at the most? Or two hours, if he were really unlucky. But the answer she gave, smiling evilly, made him want to flip this mission all over again. (Thanks a lot, Tyche. You too, Hecate.)

"Oh, about…. 9 hours?"

9 hours…. 9 hours…. 9 hours….

The words echoed in his head like a ringing bell.

"Whhhhhhaaaaaaattttttt?!"

"Percy, quiet down, it's a train, for gods' sake!"

"Okay, fine, but still…. 9…. How…. 9 HOURS?!"

Annabeth actually laughed at the ridiculous look that was slapped on his face. "Seaweed Brain, it's your own fault that you didn't listen. I clearly told you that we'd have to travel by train till the evening. See? You gotta listen!"

He hated when Annabeth was right like this. He chose to pout and cross his arms as he plopped down opposite to her. She laughed one more time before she set down her backpack and took out her wand. Percy subconsciously followed her movements, taking his wand out as well, before quickly crossing his arms again.

Annabeth snorted. "Lighten up, Seaweed Brain. Guess what? Magic usage is allowed on the train." She waved her wand around, a smirk plastered on her face.

At that, Percy's eye's jerked open. "You mean it?"

"Absolutely." Her gray eyes were full of amusement.

Percy felt his frustration beginning to be replaced by curiosity and excitement. Finally, after long months of waiting, he could finally use magic. Because 'The underage wizards can't use magic blah blah blah', they had never been able to use magic, even after they had gotten their very own wands. He thought it was so unfair. But now, finally, he had a chance to actually become a wizard.

"Alright, you got me." He said sheepishly. "Which spell are we going to try first?"

"Hmm…." She tapped her chin with her gray wand. "Let me flip through the book real quick. How about…. This one? The wand lighting spell, Lumos? This seemed easy enough." Annabeth held up the book for him to see. It indeed did seem like a simple spell: just say the word 'Lumos' and loop the wand around once like a connected Greek letter omega.

"Okay, I'll try it out." He lifted his wand up into the air. Annabeth, seeing him raise his wand, shouted urgently, "Percy, wait, we nee-"Naturally, he ignored it.

"Here it goes!

"PERCY, I don't think it's a good idea to-"

"Lumos!" He yelled as he spun his wand around.

In an instant, the tip of his wand brightened up. He faced Annabeth with a victorious look of 'See? Nothing happened!'. But Annabeth scowled and pointed at his wand, which had gotten brighter. Wait, was it supposed to get brighter? His heart started beating faster, and his instincts began to wail danger like crazy.

"Pass me the wand, quick!" She said, somewhere beyond the light. He frantically moved his hands in a search of her with his eyes blinded by the light. He finally found her hand and forced the wand into her hand. There was a cry of "Nox!" and a sound of something swishing through the air. Beyond his eyelids, which were shut to shield his eye from the light, he could sense that the light had died down. After he was sure the light was fully gone, he opened his eyes to see Annabeth was sighing in relief and sinking back into her chair.

"Good thing I took a look at the reversing spell before jumping in, just in case something like this happened." She slumped into the chair and wiped the dry sweat off her forehead. Seeing her so tensed up, his conscience hurt a little. He, feeling sorry, gave her an apology saying, "Really sorry, Wise Girl. I mean it. But what really was that thing? The spell looked harmless enough…."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "A friendly reminder that I'm new as well? But if I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do with our divine heritage. I mean, I didn't know whether it would backfire, not work, or work too well, with us being demigods and not witches and wizards." She gave the blue wand back to him and sighed.

"Don't start again without waiting, okay? If I hadn't seen the spell, Nox, then…." There was no need for her to finish. It was abundantly clear what would have happened. Their sight would have been seriously damaged by the light. Maybe blinded, even, if the light went to level divine. Brilliant. He always found new moments when he was glad to have Annabeth by his side.

Annabeth was soon back on her feet. "Now, let us try magic again- this time, WAIT, and we'll practice controlling it. Together. Fair?" She gave him a pointed glare.

"Fun trip." Percy muttered. Then he gripped his wand and nodded.

ㅡ

Halfway through the ride, Annabeth called the little magic class to a stop. She saw that Percy was starting to lose interest. At first, he had been excited, but the little incident seemed to have killed his mood. She didn't want to force the class on him, and to be honest, she was getting pretty tired trying to stop the spells from going boom.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Annabeth, that parchment is- HOLY HEPHAETUS, did that parchment just burst through the roof?!"

Yup. Boom after boom.

She had just put her wand away, stopped Percy from just stuffing the wand in like nothing, when a gentle knock came from outside and the compartment doors slid open. There were two people at the door: A girl with flaming red hair and a boy with greasy black hair-wait, were they actually, them?

Percy sat up straight. He recognized the pair as well.

"Lily?" She asked, surprised.

The redhead smiled brightly and said, "Hello, Annabeth! And Percy, was it? I didn't know you two were going to Hogwarts as well! Four witches and wizards from our town, this is terrific."

Okay, Annabeth did not expect this. Lily and Snape were wizards as well? Was that why she had winded up in Cokeworth the fist place? Her head was spinning with questions as Lily chatted on-"I'm so glad, you know, if I were separated from Sev, I would still have friendly faces-"- until a quiet voice cut Lily's words and her train of thoughts off.

"Lily…." Snape had spoken quietly. He looked like the every other time she had seen him; tattered black clothes, greasy hair, scowling look. But for some reason, the tip of his ears was slightly red. Then she smiled as she realized one of his hands were intertwined with Lily's. Meanwhile, hearing him, Lily made an expression that clearly said Right before she turned back to them, smiling.

"So…. We were just wondering if you two would be so kind and let us share a compartment with you? Please?" She put her hands together in a please gesture that made Annabeth sure that if she refused, she would feel incredibly guilty. Her eyes were like baby seals, which was Percy's favorite and her one big weakness as well. Her heart melted away.

However, Percy, who wasn't affected, frowned. "What about the compartment you were in before? Why come to us now? I mean, some time has passed since the train started moving."

Lily scrunched her nose up as if she were disgusted. "Some rude boys came in to sit with us halfway through the ride, and they called Sev mean names and made fun of us. I couldn't bare to sit with them longer, so I got Sev here and got out. Is the answer…. Yes?" she made the hopeful face again.

Annabeth looked at Percy. He frantically shook his head no. She looked at Lily. She stared at her with big, pleading green eyes. Snape just seemed to be grumpy as he always was. She looked at Percy again.

'No. What about our quality time on the train?' He mouthed.

'Just one train ride. Please?' He still said no.

'Fine, a deal then. Two hours with you, without a book?'

'Make that two and a half.'

'Oh fine. Deal?'

'Deal.' He uncrossed his legs and scooched over to make some room. She flashed a small smile at him before turning back to Lily and Snape.

"Well, Percy…. Agrees. Welcome aboard!"

ㅡ

Okay, this is by far the worst chapter I have written. I'm sorry for the sudden and awkward transitions; I really tried my hardest, but this was the best I could do. Heck, I've actually rewritten the chapter twice to make it better, but... Yeah, here's my epic failure. Again, my deepest apologies. The next chapter will be much better, I swear. I'll try my best to update till Christmas. And plus, there is a special holiday gift I'm preparing for you guys. Hope you'll like it.

I've always wondered where Lily and Severus had gone after they left the compartment with Sirius and James. Sirius and James had come in their compartment because there was no space anywhere else. So, in the original book, where would they have gone? Still curious.

This chapter may be crappy, but at least there was a hint of their magical powers. Right...? Sorry. Shutting up now.

-Awesomeguy246: Thanks for your generous compliment! I doubt this chapter will be interesting for you as the other chapters were, but still... Just hoping that you won't lose interest after this one. If you don't, thank you so much, but even if you do, I won't blame you. Again, thanks for the review and I wish you a very merry Christmas!

-Callum Runchman: So glad you like the mixtures! I tried hard to make them interesting and unique yet not too over the top and way to AUish. In this chapter, you had a sneak peek of their magical powers! I have a great use for this scene later on, I'll just tell you that. Hope this chapter isn't too cringy for you to read. Your consistent reviews always makes my day! Always love your reviews :). Thank you, and have a very merry Christmas!

-noobsalive: Wow, that's a huge compliment. I can't express enough gratitude for your generous praise. I don't know about this being the next hit (especially after this chapter; Sorry :(...!), but I'm honored that you think so. Thanks for sticking with this story despite its low quality from the very beginning. Again, thank you so much and happy holidays!

-Yeee68: No problem! It's actually my pleasure to respond to all of you, and I get really happy when I'm doing so. I hope you'll enjoy the actual plot- them actually going to Hogwarts, which is happening really soon. Thanks for your kind words, and I take them to heart. Happy holidays, and please enjoy this chapter as much as you can.

-Just Me: I really liked that line, too XD. That does summarize our seaweed brain nicely, doesn't it? And Percabeth's daily routines as well. So glad you think that was a great chapter, but makes me guilty about releasing this garbage. Still, hopefully you won't hate it too much and be able to... enjoy it slightly? Just maybe? I don't know. But still, thanks for the great review and hope to see you again next chapter! Happy holidays!

-Bandgeek2015: Thanks for the compliment! Nice to know that you find previous chapters easier to read. Your advice was great, and I deeply appreciate it. Well, here's another chapter for you to read, and hopefully your thoughts on this story won't change. Have a great Christmas and holiday season! :)

-Guest: This is an honor! I can't believe this is your favorite. Mine? Really? Sorry, its just unbelievable. I always have doubts about my story, but your review really cheers me up! True, there are some stories that go too AU beyond my comfort zone, but I still think every story is great. But about the favorite story, it might change seeing this work today. Fingers crossed that won't happen. Anyways, thanks for your touching review, and have a great holiday! Cheers!

Apologies for this chapter taking so long to update, yet it being a piece of trash. I literally had two goes of this, and the first version- ugh, don't even want to think about it. I'm sorry this chapter couldn't meet your standards at all, but I'll come back soon, this time with a chapter that could actually satisfy you. See you then, and happy holidays to all readers!

Please review, and I'll see you all again real soon- with a better chapter.

P.S. : PM me for private questions!

-Claire-