IT WAS A FAIRLY NORMAL DAY for Sirius Black, perhaps except for the fact that Harry had just arrived and set off his mother's portrait. He sighed, burying his head in his hands.
He loved his godson, but sometimes, he resented the fact that all he was allowed to do was to stay in this old house he's thought he'd never have to come back and live in again while Harry could go on thrilling adventures with his friends.
Just like him, James, Remus, and Lupin when they were younger. The trio's adventures were just as epic, if not, more than his own collection of events when he himself was younger. The good old times. Back when James was still alive and Peter was just an innocent young boy. He smiled at the memories that flooded back in his mind-pranks, detentions, and full moons.
Well, I better start help cleaning up the house then, he thought as he smiled grimly and stood up, pushing back the old wooden chair he had been sitting on. Lots to do before Harry and his friends leave for school in a few days.
Sadly, his train of thought was interrupted by three people materializing in the living room. No, scratch that. It was two people and a man who had a goat's lower body, who was currently wielding a baseball bat and glaring in his direction.
"Oi! Molly! Mad-eye! Tonks! There's somebody in the living room!" He yelled, cupping his hands to his mouth.
One of the people-a pale boy wearing dark clothes-crumpled on the floor, seemingly unconscious. By now, most of the residents of this house had rushed down the stairs and were watching, paralyzed, unsure of what to make of these intruders.
A girl wearing-was that armour?-and a purple cape knelt down and tried to nudge the boy's shoulder. Keyword: tried. Her hand passed right through as if the boy was nothing more than a ghost, or in this case, a pile of shadows.
A sharp intake of breath resounded throughout the house. Was the boy fine? Sirius couldn't help but wonder.
The half-goat man was the first to break the silence. "Hey, cupcakes, where are we? Do you have healing potions of some sort?" He demanded, pointing the baseball bat at them.
"You're in England," Mad-eye answered gruffly. "Who are you and why are you here? Was the boy using Dark Magic? Are you Death Eaters?"
"None of that, Moody. Can't you see the poor kid's hurt?" Molly spoke in a sharp voice."I don't care who they are, or why they're here. We have to help them."
The girl lifted her head and shot a grateful smile at Molly. Her dark eyes were swirling with multiple emotions-concern, panic, and despair and forced calm. It was clear to Sirius that she was studying them, deducing whether they could be trusted.
"Coach Hedge, do we have any unicorn draught left?" She turned her head to face the half-goat guy, who was rummaging through a bag. Hedge held up a small vial and exclaimed triumphantly, "I knew we hadn't run out yet!"
The girl carefully uncorked the vial and touched the boy's shoulder again. This time, it was solid and she let out a sigh of relief. Prying open the boy's mouth, she slowly tipped and emptied the vial's contents into the boy's mouth.
She stood up and glanced at the wizards warily as if they were the intruders. They still hadn't moved.
"Blimey, what was that?" Ron, one of Harry's close friends, blurted. Sirius internally facepalmed. It was obvious the boy was possibly about to die just now, and all he could think of to say was that? A cold glare from his mother effectively shut him up.
Hermione, another one of Harry's friends who had helped free Sirius, peered at the intruders curiously. Harry himself and Mad-eye were sending them suspicious looks.
"So will you now answer my question? More specifically, who are you? Why are you here?" Mad-eye asked.
"I can't tell you, and it was an accident while we were…" The girl paused, unsure of how to describe their situation, "traveling. However, I can assure you that we mean no harm."
"What's that burn mark on your arm then?" Harry piped up. It hadn't occurred to Sirius that the girl had a mark that had been burned on her arm. Was the girl a Death Eater?
She held out her arm and Sirius could see 4 stripes, the letters SPQR and some sort of symbol on there. Not a Dark Mark, then.
"I know those letters!" Hermione gasped. "It was a muggle thing to do with Romans, wasn't it?"
The girl shifted uncomfortably, which showed that Hermione had been right. "Just a tattoo Reyna got! Nothing suspicious!" Coach Hedge yelled.
Reyna sighed and glared at Coach Hedge. "Could you be more obvious that this is indeed suspicious?" She turned to us. "We're sorry for intruding inside your house, but with the clothing, the fake eye and wooden sticks, it couldn't be more clear that you're not regular mortals. We do not demand an explanation, nor will we give you one, but allow us to nurse Nico back to health before we continue on our journey. Please."
"Of course, dears. We'll leave them be, right?" Molly stared pointedly at the other wizards.
"You may not demand an explanation, but we do," Mad-eye growled, jabbing his staff into the ground. "And you can't leave. Not when you might spill our location to others."
Hermione, Harry, and Ron nodded along to his words.
"We swear on the River Styx not to tell others of your location." Reyna wore a solemn expression that let Sirius know that she wouldn't ever break the oath. Thunder rolled across the clear sky from the window.
Hermione gasped again. "But that's basically the biggest oath you can ever make!"
"Are you sure? I reckon we should let them do an Unbreakable-" Tonks was cut off by Hermione.
"If you break an oath sworn on the River Styx, it is said in old Roman and Greek mythology that it leads to a fate worse than death." She fixed an admiring stare on Reyna. "That was really brave-if not reckless-of you to make an oath like that."
Ron scoffed, "Oh, please. Those old muggle stories that they invented to explain nature? Anyone knows that those aren't true."
For the second time that day, thunder sounded. Sirius glanced at the window to see good weather and a perfectly clear sky. Then how was there thunder?
Reyna and Coach Hedge's expressions darkened. "Do not assume things and speak them out loud. You may offend… somebody." She said in a tone that warned them not to further mention or discuss the subject of muggle mythology.
"Right." Molly shuffled forward and smiled hesitantly at the intruders. "Let's get this boy a proper place to rest, shall we?"
Said person stirred and groaned, rolling over so he faced the door. Reyna and Coach Hedge supported his weight with their shoulders, lifting him up and awaited directions to a couch, or even better, a bed.
"Thank you." Reyna nodded at the wizards.
HALF AN HOUR of checking them for injuries and offering them healing supplies, Reyna and the Order members sat at the dinner table, sipping on some delicious Butterbeer.
Harry let out a sigh of content. Butterbeer never failed to satisfy his taste buds, and it seemed to also help Reyna relax and briefly explain their situation to the wizards.
"Where I come from, there's currently a war against an evil being," She told them, taking a sip from her Butterbeer, "But there are two… say, schools that have this long-existing rivalry. One of my co-workers managed to convince my side to attack the other school after a slight misunderstanding."
Harry winced. It must be hard to fight a war when there's already a civil war between the people who were supposed to come together to fight an evil being.
"Anyways, Coach Hedge, who is a satyr," She nodded in the direction of the half-goat man, "Nico and I planned to bring this statue of one of their important figures, which had been stolen by our school long ago, back to the other school as an act of peace."
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione nodding at what Reyna had said. It was a good plan, then, if Hermione also approved.
"But our way of traveling tires Nico tremendously. If he doesn't get enough food and rest, he might fade into a puddle of shadows," Reyna shuddered at the thought of her friend disappearing into shadows. "And a lot of people have tried to stop us from completing our ques-mission."
Harry looked at Nico, who was sleeping on the couch. He didn't seem much older than Harry himself, yet he already had the important mission of stopping a war in his hands-Harry felt like what he himself had done was insignificant compared to the importance of whether Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge succeeded or not.
"And now, we've ended up here, with no clue of what day it is, where we are, who we're surrounded by, and whether we'll be in time or not," Reyna concluded.
Hermione looked thoughtful, Harry noticed. Something made him feel as if Reyna was hiding something-but then again, they didn't exactly tell her they were wizards, so it was probably fine.
"Why are people your age doing this?" Hermione flushed as Reyna raised an eyebrow. "I-I mean, Harry's got to defeat You-Know-Who because of a prophecy, but-don't you have adults who are more suitable for the job?"
"Some of the most powerful adults don't care." Reyna's cold voice masked her hurt and anger, "And most of our kind do not survive to adulthood. Even so, as you said, it has something to do with a prophecy. Some of the other adults have had a hard enough life and have retired from service."
Everyone went silent. Hermione said in a small voice, "Oh."
"Cheer up cupcakes!" Coach Hedge shouted optimistically and waddled around the table, finally choosing a seat beside Reyna. "Either it's gonna be fine, or everyone in our world dies. No worries."
A gasp went up from the couch and everyone's head turned to find Nico sitting up.
"I felt like-I felt like something was drawing me here."
Then Nico got a look at his surroundings and leaped to his feet, his hand reaching out as if prepared to do something, which, Harry suspected, would not be much of a pleasant experience
"Nico!" Reyna's face was filled with relief. She shot up from her chair, making her way to Nico. Hesitantly she hugged him lightly, then let go and held him by his shoulders, studying his face to see how he felt.
The younger boy yawned but fought to keep his eyes open as Reyna told him about how they'd ended up here with a bunch of people who weren't ordinary mortals yet didn't know of their world.
"So… everything's okay? Octavian doesn't know where we are?" Nico looked like he wouldn't be able to take it anymore if his companions said 'no'.
Reyna shrugged. "We don't really know."
"That's enough, dear. Get some rest and go to sleep. You look like you haven't slept for days." Mrs. Weasley said firmly to Nico, who was struggling to stay awake.
Harry tried not to grin at the resemblance between and Madam Pomfrey right there and then.
"You too, children." Harry's grin became a frown as Mrs. Weasley ushered them upstairs. "We'll have to call an Order meeting for this. Reyna can share a room with Ginny and Hermione tonight. I'll call you down for dinner."
With a sigh, Harry trudged unwillingly up the stairs.
"You'd think they'd actually tell us something for once when it's not about Voldemort," Ron grumbled.
"But it could be," Hermione whispered, shooting a glance at Reyna. "For all we know, she might've used some magic to cover up a Dark Mark."
Smacking himself on the forehead, Harry groaned. "Blimey, why didn't I think of that?"
"Also, we still have no idea how they got here," Hermione added. "The wards and defenses were set up by Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore, greatest wizard since the Hogwarts Founders, not able to keep out a few kids from Apparating in? Highly unlikely. It must've taken some powerful Dark Magic to do that."
"Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom." Reyna headed towards the bathroom. The others all headed to Ron and Harry's room.
"So what do you guys all think about this?" Harry started.
"Well, I think she's got a lot on her shoulders for someone so young," Hermione said slowly. "But you can't disagree with the fact that she's really suspicious. Appearing out of thin air… and if there was a war as big as she described, wouldn't the wizards from where she came from have noticed immediately?"
"Maybe there aren't wizards from where she came from," Ron suggested.
Fred-or was it George?- scoffed. "Nonsense, Ron."
George continued, "There are wizards everywhere, ickle Ronnykins."
"But from the way she talked, she made it seem like she was from a different world altogether…" Ginny trailed off.
"And aren't satyrs not supposed to exist?" Everyone looked at Harry. "I mean, they only exist in Roman mythology."
"Satyrs are from Greek mythology," Hermione corrected, "In Roman mythology, they're called fauns."
"You know a lot about muggle myths, 'Mione." Ron joked. "Were they actually real? Maybe one of your parents is a god?"
"The correct term is demigod, Ron." Hermione snapped. "And the reason I know so much is that I read."
"It was a joke," Ron mumbled.
Something clicked into place in Harry's head, but he had to make sure first. "' Mione? What's 'the River Styx'?"
"It's a river that runs in the Underworld," Hermione stated. "In Greek and Roman mythology, it was the place where Achilles got his near-invulnerability."
The Weasleys just looked confused, but Harry recognized the name from one of Dudley's books he never bothered to touch.
"Do-D'you think Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge are working for modern demigods?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"It'd be so cool to meet one, mate! D'you reckon they have powers?" Ron exclaimed.
"It would make sense, Harry. The 'schools' she talked about… they probably stand for the Greeks and Romans! The thing she was traveling with… well, it could be anything, really… and her tattoo… she's on the Roman side." Hermione's eyes lit up, then dimmed slightly at her next statement. "But according to the myths, demigods are supposed to be really, really powerful. Whatever worries them so much… we should worry ten times more."
_
REYNA CURSED in Latin as she tried to find a drachma for an Iris Message.
Turning on the shower, she waited for a rainbow to form and tossed the drachma in.
"O Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me... Jason Grace on the Argo ll." A few moments later the mist shimmered and an image of Jason, Piper, Leo, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and Percy sitting around a table with something in the background that sounded suspiciously like, "Put some clothes on!"
It was Leo who spotted her first. "Oh, hey, guys, look, it's Reyna!" He pointed straight at the Iris Message.
"What happened?" Annabeth asked with concern.
A few minutes later, Reyna had finished telling the seven her situation and all of them looked deep in thought.
Percy leaned back and crossed his arms. "You could sneak out in the middle of the night and leave." He said suggestively.
"Nico's in no state to shadow-travel."
"Oh! I know, I know!" Leo bounced up and down like an overexcited kid-which he was, "You can blow up the place with-"
He started rattling off the ingredients of a recipe for making bombs and didn't stop until Annabeth interrupted him.
"Not an option." She glared at him.
"You could stay overnight there," Piper said, absentmindedly twirling Katropis around, "But just be careful and leave immediately after that."
"My thoughts exactly." Annabeth agreed.
"Guys, the Athena Parthenos is missing." Reyna reminded them.
Most of the boys looked alarmed while Annabeth rolled her eyes at them. "Try getting dreams. They usually work."
Nodding, Reyna said goodbye and slashed through the Iris Message as she pocketed her remaining drachmas. "It's time for dinner, kids!" Coach Hedge was loud.
She sighed and swung open the door, heading towards what would be no doubt a dinner full of suspicions, questions, and arguments-and no answers.