Hello people, turns out the reuploading bit of this chapter didnt go so well, so here i go again.
i am sorry i have not been working on this story for the last 5 years. i have had the most epic of writers blocks, which has included everything creative that i used to enjoy. i am blaming this on my elevated stress levels that have never really subsided since i did my a-levels.
thank you to everyone that has reviewed and read this story. i have been inspired by you to edit this and then continue with my story... hopefully finishing it this time. i would like to mention a few things before i start though. I am dyslexic. i use a spell check program but there is only so much a cheap algorithm can do. you might also find some grammar mistakes, especially in the comma placements as i was raised in germany. i think anyone that was raised bilingually can confirm that speaking a language at home with your parents is different to speaking it with all of your peers constantly.
i would also like to address some of the questions i have received over the years. i am fully aware that i have changed Percys date of birth. that was done to make the story work, as i want there to be 3 possible candidates for the BWL. secondly, i believe i have altered the demigods ages. the same age differences are still present here, so Nico being a grandpa mentally and Thalia having spent her teens frozen in time as a tree, but i have made Percy to be Harrys age... again to fit the story time line. I have also decided that Sally has raised Percy with some awareness of the wizarding World and his destiny, but has withheld certain aspects of the story from him to protect him... more on that in later chapters. therefore Percy is aware that Sally is not his mother but he loves her just as much.
i hope that cleared some things up. stay safe, respectful of each others differences and look after each other.
Chapter 1:
Two months had passed since the giant war, and Camp Halfblood was enjoying a time of well-earned peace. The banners of the dead had been burned, their respects had been payed, and Nico DiAngelo had ensured every single one of the demigod souls a save voyage across the river Styx and into the lands of his father. New children had joined Camp, training had restarted for those that had been deemed healthy enough, and the atmosphere almost seemed happy… almost.
The games room in the big blue house was largely avoided by anyone that had survived the last two wars, due to the bad memories that it brought up of the battle plans and the people they had lost. A fine layer of dust had settled over the furniture and the pool table, and spiders had made their homes in several of the corners and under the furniture. This made the sight of the 6 people gathered there even stranger. the room was currently occupied by 4 demigods, a centaur and a goddess, all of which wearing grim expressions on their faces and the latter two of the 6 arguing.
"Chiron, they have endured enough hardship. you cannot send them into the midst of another war. Especially not one that has nothing to do with them and that they have no business fighting in." surprisingly Artemis, Goddess of the hunt and eternal maidenhood, was protecting even the two males in the room. "the wizarding folk is part of our world. They were once blessed of Hecate, Goddess if Magic, though they tragically do not remember. If this evil sorcerer we are talking about is not stopped, he will undoubtedly cause mayhem, anguish and destruction far beyond the confines of Britain. Soon there will be blood, mass murders, people running and screaming on the streets of Manhattan, fleeing from a force they cannot comprehend, and all because we did nothing. Artemis, wizarding kind is neither ready, nor powerful enough to fend for themselves, let alone the world." Chiron had obviously attempted to remain calm, however the argument had been going on for several hours. Both participants had forgotten the children still in the room. The 4 teens had been trying desperately to stay out of the fight between the immortals, but they were getting tired and the ADHD was not helping. It was only a matter of time before…
"wait, are you trying to tell us that these people are incapable of protecting themselves from a guy named after the fungus in his underwear?" Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon, finally burst out. Artemis shot him an incredulous look, followed by a startled stare from Chiron, while Nico DiAngelo, son of Hades, and Huntress Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, burst into bouts of laughter. Anabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's remark but smiled endearingly. "his name is 'Lord Voldemort', not 'Mouldy Shorts', seaweed brain" understanding crossed over the elders faces while Percy looked almost disappointed. With an embarrassed "oh" he sank back onto the couch the demigods had occupied previously.
When the laughter had died down, Chiron took the initiative to speak up. "No Percy, they are in no way ready for battle. Instead, they are putting all their hopes on an unfortunate boy 2 months shy of his 17th birthday. And let me tell you this: those shoulders are not strong enough to carry a burden so great, unlike yours Percy. Miraculously he has stayed alive so far, relying on his friends and shear dumb luck, but there is only so far that luck will go, and I am afraid that it will soon run out." Chiron's eyes were slowly wandering from person to person, desperately trying to bring his point across.
"our dilemma began two decades ago, when Lord Voldemort first started his play for power. Fear and paranoia became as natural as breathing air, for Lord Voldemort targeted anything and everything that dared cross his path, as well as a fare share of other things that did not. his thirst for destruction was not limited to witches and wizards, but mortals and other beings too. A small group of people stood strong and opposed him, but they could only do so much, and Lord Voldemort had amassed too many followers and with them too much power for this group to make much of a difference. Then, 17 years ago, a prophecy was made." The group of beings gathered in the games room collectively winced. Prophecies could be treacherous things and they tended to not end well for the person they concerned. "it claimed that a boy born on the 31st of July would oppose Lord Voldemort and be able to defend him." Chiron continued. Annabeth looked at her boyfriend worriedly. Wasn't Percy born on the 31st of July?
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches,
Born to those who have thrice defied him,
Born as the seventh month dies,
And the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal,
But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not,
And either must die at the hands of the other,
For neither can live while the other survives"
By the time Percy had finished reciting, the entire room was looking at him. "what?" he blushed. "I know things." A silence had filled the room. Chiron and Artemis were shooting meaningful looks in each other's direction, gesticulating wildly. Chiron seemed to lose the silent argument between the two entities and gave a huff of protest before combing his long fingers through his hair. "Percy, how did you come by this prophecy?" Chiron looked at him uneasily, making Percy blush even harder. "Sally made me learn that prophecy by heart because…" he trailed off, took a deep breath and seemed to brace himself for the oncoming chaos "… because it's about me"
The room was in instant uproar. People asking how come he had never told them, Annabeth exclaiming that she had known as soon as his date of birth had been mentioned, Thalia and Nico groaning simultaneously about how another prophecy was there to ruin their lives but also reassuring Percy that they would go with him, Chiron wondering how a demigod could possibly be so unlucky as to have 3 prophecies about him and Lady Artemis just looking at the boy sadly, knowing just how much the Fates must hate him. Percy was standing in the middle of it all, hating the amount of attention once again directed in his direction. Finally, the physically youngest in the room took pity on Percy and commanded cold shadows to run down the backs of the group, effectively silencing them. "alright, can we please have order people? Fish-head here has never been good at listening to one person for very long, let alone 5 people trying to shout over each other's heads." A small snicker came from Annabeth and Thalia's direction. "now, the obvious question in the room is that if you are the victim of the prophecy, then who is the poor sod taking the brunt of it for you?" nods and murmurs of agreement were heard from each of the beings present and worried looks were shot in Percy's direction. Slowly Percy's eyes wondered around the room before settling on Annabeth.
"fine" Percy huffed. "but you'd all better sit down, this could take a while." And with that he heaved a sigh and continued the story that Chiron had started. "Lord Voldemort or 'The Dark Lord' as many called him, though I prefer that name for Hades, soon found out about the prophecy and decided to do everything in his power to prevent it" again the people gathered in the room winced. They knew all to well that there was no way of stopping a prophecy from happening, and woe to them that tried. "he knew of two infants that had been born on the 31st of July that year, one was a boy named 'Nevil Longbottom', son to two aurors or the wizarding equivalent of the police and the other boy was named 'Harry Potter', his parent too were aurors and like the Longbottoms were a part of the resistance group Chiron mentioned. The Potters had been a pain in Voldemort's backside ever since he started his career as aspiring supreme bad guy of the wizarding world. Unbeknownst to him or anyone else for that matter, James and Lilly Potter had a second son… me. Percy Potter, born on the same day as Harry but unfortunately there were some complications and I was delivered in the last second of the 31st of July… 'Born as the seventh month dies'." Percy looked around the room to see expressions of recognition on several of the people present.
"when the potters and the Longbottoms heard that Voldemort was after such a child, they went into hiding. The Longbottoms barricaded themselves in Longbottom Manor and the Potters hid in a small cottage in the English countryside. But alas, the potters were betrayed. And so, on October 31st, the year after I was born, Longbottom Manor was invaded and the Longbottoms were tortured to insanity, while the Dark Lord made his way to the Potters cottage. James Potter tried to defend his family while Lilly ran to the nursery to escape with the boys. James was overpowered quickly, and the boys had become too heavy for the panicked Lilly to carry by herself. Lilly Potter transported herself and me to a safe place and returned for Harry, when Voldemort broke into the nursery."
"another thing that is important to know is that Lilly Potter was a legacy of Zeus and while she could not access any of the powers of a child of Zeus, she did know of the gods and the lord of the skies was indebted to her mother. When Lilly faced Lord Voldemort, she sent a desperate prayer to Zeus 'don't kill Harry, please kill me instead' and so she too died. Just as Voldemort was about to kill the boy, Zeus begrudgingly granted Lilly her last wish, protecting the boy and marking him with a scar in form of a lightning bolt on his head."
"one thing doesn't make sense Percy" Annabeth butted in. "how can James Potter be your father, if you are a son of Poseidon?" Annabeth had this expression on her face that she only wore when something was deeply puzzling and frustrating her. To Percy's relief, Chiron took over the explanation. Percy did not want to relay the entire 'mating process' of the Gods to Annabeth. "my dear… sometimes when the gods fall in love, but the mortal remains loyal to their partner, the gods…" Chiron grimaced. "you know how Gods shapeshift?" Annabeth nodded, "well it sometimes occurs that the Mortal is unaware of their romantic activity with a God… or even of their sexual escapades with someone that is not their partner." Understanding dawned on Annabeth's face, while Thalia and Nico looked disgusted. "you mean Poseidon Raped Lilly Potter?" Annabeth was outraged. Chiron wrung his hands in desperation. "essentially, yes". Artemis turned red before looking pointedly at Thalia. "and that is why we do not trust men. The male population can be so cruel and stubborn Thalia. We must stick together as Hunters and protect ourselves from the likes of men." Thalia nodded her head in determination. An uncomfortable silence followed this statement. Finally, Percy continued his story.
"Well… Lilly, before her death had apparated me to her cousin's apartment, which was situated in New York, and asked her to take care of me should Lilly not be able to come back. Soon after, Poseidon found me and informed Sally Jackson of who I was and asked her to keep me safe. Sally was more than happy to do so as she both loved Lilly and children but was unable to conceive of her own.
I had no idea what happened to Harry. I never realized he was taking the brunt of this prophecy as it was never written about him. I can't imagine his childhood was very nice though, seeing as James was an only child and Lilly's sister was an awful woman who detested anything that was not normal. I think we would probably have taken him in as well, had we known he survived… but Lilly never came back so we assumed that Voldemort had killed her and Harry." At the sight of Percy's guilt-stricken face, as well as the fact that Percy had told them everything he knew, Chiron continued the tale of their hero's twin brother.
"Harry Potter was found in the ruins of the house and taken to his aunts place to be raised outside of the wizarding world until his 11th birthday, because everyone believed that it had been little harry that had vanquished Lord Voldemort and took the lightning bolt on his forehead as confirmation. Thus, Harry became famous for being the first person to have survived the Killing Curse. They called him 'The Boy Who Lived' and even had a national holiday on his birthday. Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" another bout of laughter escaped the demigods mouths as they heard the name of the school "and also leader of the resistance group the Potters fought in, wanted young master Harry to grow up away from that. After turning 11, Harry started his education at Hogwarts which is a boarding school in Scotland where he is about to finish his 6th year. Obviously, seeing as he is related to Percy, he has had one or two adventures on the way." At this the demigods laughed at Percy's expense, and even the goddess of the hunt gave a faint chuckle. After a small reprieve, Annabeth could no longer sit on her questions. "so, how did Voldemort mark you as his own?" the laughter had died down and the demigods were sitting on the edge of the sofa again.
"you know how there are many people that go by the term of 'Dark Lord'?" Annabeth shook her head questioningly. "well… there is Sauron, Darth Vader, Lord Voldemort… they all went by that name. as does Hades." Percy looked at Annabeth waiting for a reaction but all that he got in return was a frustrated stare. "get to the point Percy" Annabeth scolded, but Nico DiAngelo, frustrated by the pair of them, took over the explanation. "Hades asked me to let Percy bathe on the river Styx. Lord Voldemort split his soul into 7 pieces, thereby making him practically invincible and causing my father tons of paperwork," he grumbled, giving the beings in the room the impression that Nico was talking to himself on the last bit. "Hades marked Percy as Voldemort's equal by making him also practically invincible."
A period of silence overcame the group, giving each being the time to mull the past few hours over in their heads. Even Percy only fidgeted minimally. Eventually, Thalia looked around the room before letting her eyes settle on Chiron. "I think there is only one more question to ask." She sighed. "when are we leaving?" for the first time in hours, the rooms undivided attention was on her. "What? You expect us to stay? Nico and I are Percy's cousins. That makes us Harry's family too by the way. And Annabeth is his girlfriend. They fell into Tartarus together. Do you honestly believe that we would let Percy do this by himself? No. we are sticking together. Especially with this nasty prophecy business."
And that was that. With those words Lady Artemis had officially lost her argument and the 4 demigods were out for another definitely dangerous, doubtlessly bone breaking, possibly lethal adventure, to help someone they did not know existed a few hours ago. To help Family.