For reference - this happens after ToA but I kept some characters from going off to college or the Waystation or the Underworld (Jason)
I don't own HP, which belongs to JK Rowling, PJO, HoO, ToA, MCA, or KC, (last two mentioned only,) which belong to Rick Riordan.
Harry couldn't believe he survived all those years within the walls of Hogwarts. Not only that, but he faced something increasingly scarier with each year. In his second, a girl named Luna Lovegood had a diary that made her open the Chamber of Secrets. Harry had to rescue her. In Harry's third year, an 'escaped convict' was after Harry, and it turned out the bad guy was his best mate's pet rat the whole time. And this previous year, he was forced to participate in the Triwizard Tournament and watch Voldemort come back to life.
Harry would say he was glad the year was over, but he didn't want to jinx his fifth year.
The whole train ride home, he talked to his friends in his compartment, but kept a part of him reserved. Hermione, ever the caring friend, kept sending worried glances at this stance. Harry forced himself to smile back. He didn't want to raise any questions.
It hadn't been that long since Cedric's haunting death, but the grief and guilt weighed down on him it hurt as if it'd been hurting forever.
It felt like the weight of the world on his shoulders, with no one who could understand him there in shouting distance. People who heard him would turn their heads to him with sympathy and look away again, no one willing to help. No one knew how to help.
Harry's Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had sent an owl (after being told multiple times that muggle post does not reach Hogwarts) saying that they wouldn't pick him up until three hours after the train reached King's Cross. Harry hadn't even mentioned this to Ron or Hermione.
"Mate, are you sure you're alright?" Ron looked at him curiously and patted Harry's knee a few times. "Hermione looks worried for you, and you look depressed."
Apparently, he was so obviously sad that even Ron could see it.
Harry shifted his weight around to face Ron. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine. I just need some time to think, that's all."
"Okay then," Ron pityingly. Harry hated it when people pitied him, but accepted the silence nevertheless.
When the train finally reached its intended destination, Harry was amongst the first to get out of platform 9 ¾.
"Harry, Harry, wait up!" Hermione pushed her way next to him. "Why are you in such a hurry?"
Harry let out a frustrated groan. "I just want time alone, okay?" He quickly spun a lie. "Plus, my uncle would kill me if I'm late. He said to meet him there." He pointed vaguely off to a somewhat deserted area.
"I'll wait with you, then," Hermione declared, lugging her baggage, "I'd already said bye to the Weasleys, I'll meet them soon enough."
"My uncle would hate to see me having friends."
Hermione blew out an impatient huff. "Since when did you care about what your uncle thinks?"
"Since I set my new goal to lie low for the summer," Harry raised his eyebrows at the challenging tone. Hermione was being really difficult. She probably already figured out half of his ploy for being left alone.
"It'd be very dangerous if you were alone, you know. You're quite valuable to some people." Hermione pointed out. Harry revised his thoughts. She knew what his plan was.
"Oh, so now I'm being sold off the black market?" Harry grumbled as he followed Hermione.
"Harry!" Hermione hissed at him to shut him up. Not to Hermione's surprise, it worked. She trudged through the crowd to the area Harry pointed at, dragging Harry with her.
"What about your parents?" Harry asked. She would have to leave Harry alone then. But what Harry didn't account for was Hermione pulling out a phone and calling her parents.
After a while, Hermione hung up. "They say they're going to meet us here." She answered smugly. Harry sighed.
In an instant, a huge serpent looking monster appeared. The monster had at least five heads - they were moving everywhere and he lost count - and he was having violent imaginary crossovers between Fluffy the three headed dog and the Basilisk he fought in his second year.
Somewhere to his right, Hermione let out a scream. Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it to one of its heads. "Reducto!" He shouted.
Some blood and gore later, Harry found out that he had wiped one of the heads off clean. But then slowly, two came to replace it. Harry's eyes widened in shock.
"Not the heads!" Someone shouted to him. "It's a hydra!"
Harry glanced over to see a trio, the only three people out of the large crowd who looked like they could see this hydra. The trio consisted of an emo kid eating McDonald's french fries, a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a girl with frizzy red hair and scribbled on jeans.
The boy with blonde hair had a bow slung across his back and yet bypassers weren't giving it a second glance.
"Help me!" Harry cried, wondering how to defeat it. The heads were definitely out of the question. The girl took out a blue hairbrush and readied herself.
The blonde guy rolled his eyes. "Rachel, a hairbrush? Again?"
"You're just jealous of my aim," the girl, Rachel, retorted. Despite their little argument, they both faced off the hydra together with harmonized moves. The emo boy just stood there, finishing his fries.
Harry, Rachel and the blonde guy fought off the monster together while Hermione stood to the side in fear. After a while, the companion of Rachel and the blonde guy seemed to have finished his fries and decided it was time to do something.
Out of nowhere, he summoned a jet black sword and cut through the air a couple times, as if trying it out. Then he walked up to the hydra from the right. While the monster was swinging its heads at the other three, the short kid in black stabbed it through. The hydra vaporized into yellow dust. On the end of the black sword was a heart.
"Why is there a heart on my sword?" The kid asked, as if this were the most confusing thing that just happened within the last ten minutes.
"You stabbed its heart, and if you break something off a monster before they go to reform, it stays." The blonde one explained. The one with the sword shook the heart off.
Rachel looked at the two of them, "what happened to 'grab and go'?" Harry had no idea what 'grab and go' was, but he did not like the sound of it.
The blonde guy shrugged. "That was thrown out the window when Nico took a detour to McDonald's."
The guy named Nico looked offended, "hey! Watch it there, Will, at least I ate something."
Will shook his head. "I set the bar too low," he muttered. Then he turned to look at Harry. "Let's go."
"Go where?" Harry asked, startled. He was beginning to wish he'd listened to Hermione. He tried to pull away, but Nico grabbed his arm before he could move any further. Running away from Nico was not going to be easy. The boy had a really strong grip.
"I got him," Nico told the other two, "Rachel, you come over here, and Will, wizards and witches see this stuff. Use the Mist on that mortal."
Hermione, who had been standing in absolute silence, looked between the two boys. "Me?"
"Yes, you," Will flashed her a smile and snapped his fingers, "you were here alone looking for your parents. Harry made it home safely."
Hermione nodded weakly and walked away, supposingly looking for her parents.
"What have you done to Hermione?" Harry cried. That was his only chance of escape. The other people didn't seem to know what was going on.
Rachel grinned. "Oh, nothing. Will was just convincing what her mortal brain was telling her was true. Hydras don't roam around King's Cross."
"Bold words coming from a mortal," Will joked easily, coming over to join them. "Neeks, you sure you can handle four people?"
Nico rolled his eyes. "Need I remind you again that I've done this with one other human, one satyr, and a giant statue?"
"You almost faded that time," Will pointed out.
Nico proceeded to stare Will down. Harry, still very confused about the turn of events, suddenly felt the familiar yet foreign tug. It was almost like a portkey, but not exactly.
Suddenly, the world stopped spinning. Around him, he could see green fields of strawberries. There were people around Harry's age wearing orange shirts everywhere. Harry noticed that the four of them were behind a big building, facing the odd buildings littering the open area.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," Rachel introduced, "where half-bloods from all over the world come to cower in fear and hide from monsters."
"Hey, stick to the facts!" Will protested, then put his arm around Nico, who promptly collapsed. Will looked at Nico's passed out face, then turned to Rachel. "We'll be in the infirmary." He told her, then left.
Rachel didn't have anymore of a chance to badmouth these half-bloods, because a figure came up from behind the pair.
"I'm glad you got a chance to look around the place," the figure said. As it turned out, the figure was a centaur. "I'm Chiron," he introduced himself, "and I see you had the pleasure of meeting our Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Dare."
At this point, Harry had no idea what a centaur was doing out of his pack, introducing him to a half-blood insulting Oracle. What was an Oracle, anyways?
His face must have been betraying his confusion, making Chiron chuckle a bit. "Let's start slowly," he proposed, "you're a wizard, yes?" He seemed to be looking for an answer, so Harry nodded slowly, waiting for Chiron's reaction. "Then let's introduce to you someone you might be able to relate to. Rachel, will you please take our newest camper to meet his guide?"
Rachel nodded mutely, and beckoned for Harry to follow. "Come on, we don't bite. Well, for most of us, anyway."
The two of them walked down to a strangely shaped line of buildings. "Rachel - when have I signed up to become a camper here?" Harry asked curiously and desperately - he just wanted to go to the Dursleys' now, where there was strictly no magic involved.
Rachel looked at him with a gleam in her eyes. "You don't sign up, you just look back and thank yourself for staying here."
She followed the path in front of the differently shaped structures and stopped in front of the black one decorated with skulls. "Anyways, we're here." Rachel knocked on the door three times. "Stop hiding, you're only delaying the inevitable."
"Let me delay the inevitable in peace," a voice groaned back.
"Hey, come on," Rachel knocked again, this time more rapidly, "I have to go visit cabin ten. He's yours now." With that, Rachel actually left Harry at the doorsteps of cabin thirteen - according to the sign above - all by himself.
Feeling rather foolish, Harry said to the door, "um, hello?"
The door swung open with such force not even Dumbledore could have created, given his magical ability. A very annoyed looking girl showed up. "You, Harry Potter, have the audacity to show your face where you're least wanted."
It took some time for the connection to arise, but when his brain gained control over his mouth again, the best he could stutter was, "Ginny?"
"Yes, it is me." Ginny walked out of the cabin. "Come on, I'll show you around this place." She led him to the middle of the cabin area, where there was a burning fire. A young girl seemed to be tending to it. "These are the cabins," Ginny explained, "you know, where you sleep. There are twenty cabins in total, each one unique to accommodate its residences. The cabin you get depends on your parent."
Harry looked around. Each cabin looked very different, each with its own style. Cabin one, for example, at the middle of the line of cabins, was the biggest and most formal looking. "Where do you get sorted if your parents fit the category of 'dead'?" Harry asked.
Ginny looked at him for a moment. "Everybody here, save for Rachel and some counselors, are half-bloods."
"You're a half-blood? But the Weasleys are pureblood," Harry scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion.
"Half-bloods as in demigods. But yes, I'm also half-blood in the sense of my magic." She paused. "Has anyone told you anything?" Harry shook his head, and Ginny sighed. "This is Camp Half-Blood. Where half-bloods - demigods - stay to train."
"Start at demigods," Harry suggested.
"Demigods are people like me, half human, half gods. I'm the daughter of Hades," explained Ginny.
"No, you're not," argued Harry, "you're the daughter of Mr and Mrs Weasley."
"I'm the daughter of Molly Weasley and Hades, Harry. I'm not a Weasley," Ginny said, "not by blood, not by pride."
Harry needed a second or two to catch up to what Ginny was saying. "Does that mean everyone here has a god for a parent?"
"Yep, your godly parent would claim you soon, if you're lucky. Percy Jackson, the unofficial representative and head of camp, made the gods swear to claim their kids before they turn thirteen or as soon as they are on camp grounds." Ginny looked at the top of his head. "Looks like someone isn't holding onto their promise," she muttered.
"Gods are real?" Harry addressed the elephant in the room.
"Greek gods, Roman gods, Norse gods, Egyptian gods… but the last two would probably not concern you. This camp is designed for Greek demigods. There's another camp across America for Roman half-bloods, but the two camps, well, we mix it up a little."
Ginny looked around and Harry followed her gaze. Everyone that Harry could see was minding their own business, carrying around spears and swords. He didn't notice Ginny looking at him until she spoke up again.
"We're going to need to get you a weapon first. Now you'd be able to defend yourself in the case of an unidentified flying weapon." She dragged Harry to an area next to a cabin, cabin number six. "The armory," Ginny introduced, "pick your weapon."
Outside looked like an old shed, but when Ginny opened the door and beckoned for him to step in, he found that first impressions were not always the best. Inside was lined with weapons hanging from every wall, piled up off the floor, all gleaming and twinkling with light.
"All made of either celestial bronze or Imperial gold." Ginny told him.
"Er- what's the difference?" Harry touched the nearest sword with uncertainty.
"Celestial bronze is Greek material, Imperial gold is Roman. We have a mix, so we decided to combine the two types. There is more celestial bronze though. Pick whichever you feel comfortable with." Ginny elaborated on the metals. "Both cannot harm mortals, though. Just look around - you'll know it's the one when it draws you in."
"What do you have?" Harry looked to see if Ginny had a sword on her. She didn't.
"Stygian iron," Ginny replied, and suddenly, her bracelet transformed into a sword, not unlike Nico's.
"How come that's not in this collection?"
"Stygian iron is a metal of the underworld, only children of Hades or Pluto can wield this metal." The sword transformed back into the bracelet before it cut off Harry's head, much to his relief. "Dad gave it to me."
"Dad?"
"Hades."
"And that guy, Nico?"
"He's my brother."
"Your brother." Harry didn't know Mrs Weasley had another boy.
"Half-brother, son of Hades. More of a brother the Weasleys would ever be to me."
Harry busied himself with finding a weapon. So far, he had no idea why it was that he'd decided to stay for this long. They were just a bunch of people who believed in gods, and in turn, he was starting to believe them. He walked behind a shelf and saw a sword gleaming in the dark shadows. That was the one. He just knew it.
"Found it?" Ginny's voice startled him.
Harry nodded to answer her question. "Yeah, this one."
Ginny took one look at it and turned back to Harry. "Have you read the carved words in the sword yet?"
Harry shook his head and picked up the sword for closer inspection. "Godric Gryffindor," he muttered under his breath.
"Starting to believe this is all real yet?" Ginny smiled at the look on his face. Ever since Hagrid appeared on the doorstep declaring that Harry was a wizard, Harry was willing to believe probably anything.
"Wasn't Gryffindor's sword in the Sorting Hat?" Harry asked back.
"Chiron - the centaur who is immortal as long as there is someone he needs to train, the very same one that trained Achilles - told me that Gryffindor was a demigod, the son of Athena."
"Athena, goddess of wisdom, was it? Then how about Ravenclaw?"
"Gryffindor was smart, but he valued bravery more. He was the only demigod out of the four founders. Anyways, that was his first sword. His celestial bronze demigod sword."
Harry just nodded along, "is it mine now? Do I get to use it?"
"Yep."
Some time later, Harry walked out with the sword of Gryffindor. A person around eighteen came up to them.
"Harry - Percy Jackson, Percy - Harry Potter." Ginny introduced the two.
"Hey," Percy stuck out his hand for Harry to shake, which he complied to do. "Ginny, Neeks is looking for you. You know where he is."
"Let me guess; the infirmary," Ginny shook her head, "one of these days Nico is going to have to learn to shadow-travel in shorter distances. You stay with Harry," she addressed the last part to Percy and ran off.
Percy looked at Harry awkwardly, trying to strike a conversation. "Have you finished your tour?"
Harry told Percy of the places he'd visited and seen.
"Then I guess I'll have to show you the stables, my second- no, third favorite place here. Then we can go to the dining pavilion for dinner." Percy beckoned Harry to the other clearing.
After the very elaborate tour of the camp, they went to their second to last touring spot, the beach. Around the area, couples were walking around, and there were some people playing in the water.
"I really like this place," Percy looked at the water, "my father's - Poseidon's - domain."
A moment passed in silence.
"You know, the two of us, we look very similar," Percy pointed out.
Harry laughed. "Black hair, green eyes, if you were a bit younger and wore glasses, you would have passed as me."
"Makes you wonder if we're related," Percy remarked casually, "half brothers, maybe?"
"Maybe," Harry gave a doubtful snort. If he were the son of Posiedon, maybe the second task last year wouldn't have been so hard. Then suddenly, a sign erupted above Harry's head. It looked like a wheel to Harry. "What do you make of this?" Harry asked his companion.
"I've seen it before, on a girl named Leslie." Percy closed his eyes in concentration. Then suddenly, he opened his eyes again and declared to the witnesses around the beach area, "I present to you, son of Hecate, goddess of magic!"
A few awkward claps and cheers later, Harry found himself sitting at a table in the dining pavilion.
"This is Hecate's children's table. Other children of Hecate will join you shortly." Percy gave Harry a reassuring smile before walking over to the table marked 'Hades', where Nico and Ginny were sitting. He told the siblings something in a low voice nobody would have heard over the noise in the area, but as soon as Percy finished telling them, Harry could feel Ginny's ice cold glare staring straight back at him. Their eyes held a little while, but Harry looked away, intimidated by the intensity of the anger flashing through her features.
"'Ello, would mind some company now, would we?" Someone asked Harry, "I'm Lou Ellen, head counselor of your new cabin of Hecate, if I'm not mistaken."
Harry looked up to see a girl with black hair and sky blue eyes. "Hi, I'm Harry. Harry Potter. I'm told to be the son of Hecate, I think."
Lou Ellen raised her eyebrows. "Harry Potter - the boy who lived? The chosen one?"
Disappointment settled within Harry, for he had thought that these demigods would have not known who he was. "That's me, I suppose," Harry confirmed glumly.
"You sound sad about the fact that I know who you are."
"Yeah, well - I don't really appreciate the fame."
Lou Ellen laughed. "Don't worry, it's only us children of Hecate who know about you. The wizarding world is our mother's realm, you know. All purebloods are descended from her. It's incredible - how's Hogwarts? I've heard that Mother put the same anti-monster enchantments as there are here, but I've never got to go."
A few more demigods sat down at the table, thankfully cutting off the interrogation. "Woah, he is Harry Potter," one of them said, he'd evidently been listening in, "he has the scar and everything."
After a bit of talking - and being hyper-excited about meeting the chosen one on some of the younger campers' part - Lou Ellen showed Harry the traditional scraping of food for the gods before they all settled down to eat.
Harry couldn't help but glance over to the Hades' table, though. More and more demigods were crowding around, but Harry doubted that most of them weren't children of Hades.
"Aren't you supposed to sit at your godly parent's table?" Harry asked Lou Ellen.
"Yes, according to the rules," she answered around her mouthful of food.
"Then what about them?" Harry jabbed his fork at the Hades' table.
Lou Ellen waved it away. "Oh, don't mind them. Mr D and Chiron probably allow it."
"Mr D - Dionysus, the god of wine?" Harry recalled the information Percy had supplied him with.
Lou Ellen nodded. "I've learnt not to question them as long as you don't want to do something that would get you killed."
That night, after the campfire sing-along, Chiron summoned him to the Big House. In front of the building, Lou Ellen was waiting for him.
"As the counselor of your cabin, I have to escort you to the rec room." Lou Ellen beckoned him to follow her into a room in the big house. Inside the room, there were twenty people and one centaur waiting for the pair. They were sitting around a green painted ping-pong table drinking apple juice and eating cookies.
"Welcome to our head counselor meeting, Harry," Chiron greeted, "have a box of apple juice and take a seat."
"So, um, this is our collection of head counselors," Lou Ellen introduced.
Harry quickly did another head count. "But there's twenty-one of you and only twenty cabins."
"We have two empty cabins - Hera and Artemis - and three cabins with co-counselors, Hermes with the Stoll brothers, Nike with the Victor twins, and Hades with Nico di Angelo and Ginny Weasley." Lou Ellen recounted.
"It's just Ginny, I keep telling you I'm not a Weasley," Ginny reminded her, as if she did many times before.
Lou Ellen managed to slip in an apology before Chiron called the group's attention with a cough. "Head counselors - you already know why this meeting has been called, and well, Harry, you probably can already guess."
"Me?" Harry answered in a small voice. He didn't want to be narcissistic or anything, but most things have been about him, and he's not really proud of his overspilling record.
"Yes, you," Chiron continued, "because I just received a message from a goddess, clearing up a little misunderstanding. Hecate, the goddess of magic and the Mist came to meet me just after dinner, telling me about you. You are not the goddess' son," Chiron took a breath and waited for the murmurs from the head counselors to clear, "but she is your patron."
"My patron." Harry repeated dubiously.
"A god or goddess, or rather, any divine being who decides to become a patron for a mortal will have control over the mortal to a certain extent. But this would also give the mortal certain powers in their patron's area, about as much power as their demigod children would have." Chiron explained. "In this case, Hecate would be able to - within a limit - impact your decisions, manipulate your thoughts, and give you suggestions. You would have some of Hecate's magic at your disposal. I have not recalled a single god or goddess being a patron to a mortal for over two millenia."
"Is it - her voice in my head - is it… strong? Do I automatically feel the need to comply, or do I have some self control over my own decisions?" Harry hated the idea of having a godly patron, especially if it were to be like the Imperius Curse and cause much more drama.
"It depends on your willpower and mental strength, and the power of the patron. In this case, Hecate is a really powerful goddess, so if you have no willpower or mental strength, your actions and decisions would entirely fall into Hecate's hands. Best case scenario for you would be you are realizing that what you're doing might not be what you want to do, but you can't do anything about it." Chiron put his hands to his forehead.
"Like an overexcited spectator of a first-person movie," one of the Stoll brothers suggested.
"Well, er, I resisted Barty Crouch Junior's Imperius Curse, do you think I could possibly survive Hecate's control?" Harry ignored the last comment in order to maintain the last of his mental health.
"The first part of the sentence means nothing to us," the head counselor of the Ares' cabin, Clarisse la Rue, raised an eyebrow. The rest of the room seemed to agree, except Chiron and Ginny.
If anything, Ginny actually looked impressed. "Wasn't Crouch Junior sentenced to Azkaban by his own dad and died there some time later?"
"Well, as his mom's dying wish, she switched places with Crouch Junior and died. If you dug up the body, you'd see Crouch Junior's mom's corpse. Crouch Junior had been living with his dad ever since." Harry explained.
"I've been digging up his death file for weeks now, I can finally just tell Dad he's not dead yet." Nico concluded in relief. Will snorted next to him, but tried to cover it up.
"For the second time, we didn't understand a single word," Clarisse emphasized yet again.
"It doesn't matter, Clarisse," Chiron dismissed with a swish of his tail, then looked at Harry, "I think you'll be fine. Just don't think of things that might get you killed. Anyways," Chiron looked around brightly, "time for some of our latest updates of this camp."
Harry had to stay and listen in for a few hours as a temporary honorary member of the head counselors, the meeting ended and Harry was free to go to his new cabin, cabin twenty, cabin of Hecate's children and one mortal she decided to be the patron of.