CHAPTER SUMMARY
The Diagon Alley protest. The campers clean Camp Half-Blood.
BEGINNING NOTES
Chapter Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing, Graphic Depictions of Violence
Word Count: 3549
This is the last one for today.
And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.
Credits at the end.
_HERMIONE_
The protest started at nine o'clock on December 22nd. Much like the day Harry defeated Lord Voldemort, Hermione would be surprised if the day didn't go down in history. Based on everything that she saw, this was the first protest in the Wizarding World in a very, very long time. Maybe ever.
When they arrived in front of the Daily Prophet Headquarters, the witches and wizards that organized the protest handed out signs with slogans like "Propaganda =/ News" and "They Were CHILDREN." Some (probably muggle-borns) brought signs of their own. A small group from They Are Our Future-the Save the Children of the Wizarding World-sold cloaks for two galleons. Many witches and wizards had one thrown over their robes.
A middle-aged witch stood on top of a table in front of the crowd with her wand pointed at her throat. "Thank you all for coming. I know this is a first for many of you, and for the Wizarding World. My colleagues and I are so glad so many of you want to protect your right to the truth! Now, let's make sure those editors hear us!" The crowd cheered. "PROPAGANDA ISN'T NEWS! PROPAGANDA ISN'T NEWS!"
The first Daily Prophet worker who tried to enter the building was greeted with shouting, jeering, and booing. The two dozen or so who were unlucky enough to have to enter or exit during the protest kept their heads down, hurrying as quickly as they could past the volatile crowd. Mostly, though, the protest consisted of chanting, singing some theme-appropriate songs, and They Are Our Future's efforts to run it all and raise money through their cloaks, food and drink.
Cho left them pretty early on. Hermione saw her a few times, talking to various people and weaving through the crowd.
She probably knows a lot of people here. She's very popular at Hogwarts.
But Hermione wasn't sure if she believed that was all it was. Cho seemed too intense. She studied every person she saw and planned out every move she made. And why would she come to the protest alone in the first place if so many of her friends were here?
Her mind turned from Cho when the Aurors appeared.
Pius Thickness stood beside them with at least ten Aurors behind him. He put a wand to his throat. "This is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Disperse, immediately."
The crowd roared in protest. Hermione saw an auror clench his wand, but no one else moved. She thought back to Merlin's warning-the Wizarding World no longer had a god to keep things stable.
I have to stop this before things get bad.
She turned to Ron and Percy. She hadn't noticed until that moment how pale Percy looked.
"You're not going to bail on us now, are you?" Hermione asked, her voice harsh.
"...no," Percy forced himself to say. He swallowed hard. "No. I'm not. If I get fired, if I have to resign, I'll do it. I... I can't believe I just said that..."
"Then come with me," Hermione told him, "because we need to get to the front of the crowd. Things can't escalate."
She fought her way towards Thickness and the Aurors. Ron and Percy were frozen to the spot. As much as she wanted to fault them for it, she couldn't. Their dad worked for the Ministry, and he couldn't afford to lose his job. Besides, they didn't realize how bad things could get. They were purebloods; they hadn't seen muggle protests get ugly.
"You have attacked employees of the Daily Prophet," Thickness accused. "Disperse."
"We have not!"
"How many children did you attack, huh?!"
Thickness tightened his grip on his wand. "A ministry official punished students lying about You-Know-Who's return, preventing mass hysteria from Hogwarts and protecting your children. Wizarding Weekly lied about the methods. We have entertained this muggle practice long enough. You have harmed innocent witches and wizards. Disperse."
Someone climbed on the table with a wand to their throat.
Cho.
"Dolores Umbridge tortured Harry Potter! When he died, you covered it up! You covered it all up! What about Neville Longbottom, when he defended his parents, the war heroes? Or Lisa Turpin, when she gave a house-elf her leftover food in the hallway? She didn't punish students, she punished anyone who didn't agree with your agenda! She tortured-"
An auror waved his wand, and Cho stopped short. She kept opening her mouth, but nothing came out.
"A silencing charm!"
"They cursed a child!"
"How many more children do you want to silence?!"
Hermione ran the rest of the way past the crowd. "Sonorus," she whispered. "Stop!" Her voice rang out and echoed through the streets of Diagon Alley. She finally got to Pius Thickness. Swallowing her pride, she threw herself at his feet. "Please! Whatever the Daily Prophet told you, we didn't touch any of their workers! Please, let us finish the day in peace. Please-"
Pius Thickness caught her by the jaw. "Prefectus Totalis."
"No!" Ron shouted. Hermione watched helplessly as he shoved his way through the crowd, as the crowd got more and more angry, as someone helped a terrified Cho get her voice back just in time for an auror to grab her and violently pull her off the table. There were screams, there were shouts, there were spells, there were punches, kicks, shoves...
By the time Ron got to Hermione, someone had broken her nose with their foot, and she had three different people's blood somewhere on her skin.
_ANNABETH_
At three p.m. on the dot, Mr. D sorted Camp Half-Blood into groups to finish up the tasks. The only people not present were Leo and Calypso, Will, Lou Ellen, and Will's half-sister Kayla, all of whom were at Leo's side, making sure he didn't die for the second time.
"Yes, so, these are the groups Chiron placed you in to clean this miserable camp that you will no doubt ignore to slack off with your friends, blah, blah, blah..."
"Could he care any less?" Nico whispered.
"Of course not," Percy whispered back, "I'm sure he wishes Zeus blew this place off the map."
"Peter Johnson and Nathan Diablo, thank you for volunteering to clean the Big House!" Mr. D said with a malicious smile. "Hecate's possé may help you-no magic, of course. I would like to remind those three that we punish rulebreakers harshly here." Annabeth didn't doubt that-Hecate made a lot of enemies, and Alabaster in particular was a traitor to the camp. They'd get more than kitchen duty if Mr. D sensed them using their powers.
Thalia, RoszĂ, and Ianthe joined the Ares and Apollo kids in hunting monsters who'd crossed over the boundary line when the Golden Fleece was in the Big House. Grover led the satyrs and nymphs around the camp, using nature magic to regrow the foliage uprooted during the tornado and mourning the nature spirits that fell in the storm, and the Hephaestus kids minus Leo dealt with repairs and replenishing supplies. Since the remaining cabins only had one or two campers each, they got to choose their own groups and were assigned where to start picking up debris by Mr. D. Since Mr. D had a special hatred for Annabeth and her friends, they, of course, got assigned to the front of the camp, where the majority of the wreckage was.
It wasn't all bad, though. She, Reyna, and Frank started a competition to see who could come up with the most efficient way to collect everything-Hazel gave each plan a hilarious title-Piper charmspoke Jason into doing her work-Jason was the only one who didn't find it funny-and Rachel used her "oracle powers" to predict who would pick up the next rock, each time with a more and more ridiculous voice and overdramatic performance.
Around midnight, none other than Alabaster C. Torrington met them on the Big House lawn with a sinister glimmer in his eye.
"What?" Frank asked him.
"I didn't say anything."
"You get that look when you're planning new war games with Reyna and me. So, what is it?"
Alabaster grinned the way a cartoon villain would. "Chiron's in the Big House. Private conversation with Diana, Bacchus, and Vesta. Nico and Percy are already there. I can apparate us. You're going to want to hear this."
"For what reason?" Reyna asked. "It's a big risk, eavesdropping on three powerful gods."
"They're talking about the state of Olympus and the trial. Don't you want to know what's happening?"
The strategist in Annabeth stirred. If there was information to be had, she wanted it. One look around confirmed that everyone else agreed. Alabaster raised his eyebrows. One by one, they all nodded. He waved his hand, and they were silently transported outside Chiron's office. Percy and Nico were huddled by the door with flesh-colored tubes in their ears.
Percy turned. He held out a box with more flesh-colored tubes. Annabeth read the information on the side.
Extendable Ears. Product of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
Fred and George. Of course.
"I'm not so sure about this," Hazel whispered.
Nico turned to her, white as a sheet. "Haze. You guys really need to hear this."
_CHO_
When Hermione threw herself at Thickness's feet, Cho realized what she'd done. She knew she'd spend the rest of her life wondering if she was the one who started the mob. But, first, she had to make sure she got out of it alive.
One of the protesters let her out of the silencing charm but was quickly separated from her by a stampede of angry wizards charging at the Aurors ahead of them. Before she could catch her breath, a big, burly man grabbed her by the hair and yanked her off the table. He dragged her to a corner twenty feet away from them all while she fought and screamed. But no one noticed. They were far to occupied.
The auror shoved her against the wall of the Daily Prophet building. Hard. "Are you the informant?!" he shouted.
"No!"
"Are you the informant?!"
"No, I'm not, please, don't hurt me!"
The auror threw her to the ground and kicked her in the stomach, knocking the wind from her. Hair fell into Cho's face. She felt blood rushing from her hands and knees.
It was at that moment that Cho Chang became someone new. Something shifted in her, something awakened that she never knew was there.
Fuck You-Know-Who. Fuck Fudge. Fuck Umbridge. Fuck Marietta. Fuck Harry. Fuck Cedric. No more fucking tears! I am not a victim. I'm not some damsel in distress. I'm going to save the Wizarding World from chaos if I have to kill You-Know-Who myself and tear down the Ministry brick by brick. Let me die-I'll go down kicking and screaming and come back as a ghost to fight some more.
You want to torture me, Time? You want to suck all the colors from my life? You want to trap me in darkness so thick I can't move? You want to make the sun go cold and night last forever? You want to keep me at three o'clock, trapped in this merry-go-round for the rest of eternity? Fine. I'll take your curse and make it a blessing.
This is me walking away from the tea table.
Cho whipped her body around at lightning speed. She pointed her wand at her attacker and, for the first time ever, performed a non-verbal spell.
Expelliarmus.
With a flash of red light, the Auror's wand fell out of his hand. Cho screamed and kicked him hard between the legs, then scrambled from the ground and pointed her wand.
Stupify.
She turned and ran down the alley and into the Daily Prophet headquarters through the side door. Unfortunately, the mob had already made its way inside the building. And the Ministry had sent back-up.
She fought her way to the steps, hoping the upper levels would have somewhere to hide. But too many people were crowding the front hall, so much so that she couldn't see anything but the stairs. She ran towards the nearest wall and stood on a chair.
Wingardium Leviosa.
The chair rose into the air. She was four feet from the railing of the stairs. Without a second thought, she jumped. Her hands caught the banister, and she pulled herself up. She threw her body over the banister and ran up the first flight of stairs, then another, then another. The halls were deserted now, she just had to get as far from the mob as possible-
"You filthy little mudblood!"
Cho stopped in her tracks. A woman was crying right behind the wall. She could hear grunts and screams as her attacker hit her again and again.
"You're a spy! A spy for the Ministry, you filthy mudblood!"
"Please, no!"
It was her friend from the Leaky Cauldron, the one who was supposed to get married. She had a choice. Save herself, or save this bride.
She chose the bride.
"Let her go!" Cho shouted when she entered the conference room. Immediately, she was hit on the forehead by a metal inkwell. A mixture of ink and blood poured into her eyes, blinding her. "I said, let her go!" she shouted again, wiping the liquid off her forehead with the back of her hand.
Two men and a woman turned to her, a crazy light in their eyes. Cho raised a shield just in time to be greeted by three different flashes of light, all of which missed her. Rope sprang from one of the spells, trapping a chair in its grip and breaking it to pieces. Cho shot a jelly legs jinx at one of the men, and he fell. When the woman tried to unhex her friend, Cho shot a leg-binding curse. She fell into the man's jelly-legs, and the man roared in pain.
"You think you're clever, girl?!" the man shouted. "You're defending a mudblood, Ministry-loving traitor! Expulso!"
Cho dropped to the ground just in time for the conference table to explode. She grabbed a rather large piece of former table and lobbed it at the man. It hit him in the shoulder, and his wand fell out of his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the bride moving towards the door...
While Cho was distracted, the man picked up his wand. "Levicorpus!" he screamed. Something wrapped around Cho's leg and pulled her into the air. She fell, helpless. Her already injured forehead hit the ground and dulled her vision. "Relashio!" Cho shot backward. Her back hit the wall. He took his time walking towards her. "Deprimo Liberacorpus."
Cho fell from the air as the wall behind her exploded. She was knocked twenty feet forwards, landing on her stomach and cheek on top of the concrete remains of the conference table. Every bone in her body was broken, most of her skin was badly burned, and every muscle was on fire. Most of her hair was singed in the explosion, leaving only choppy remains ending at her cheekbones. She felt vibrations in the floor as the man stepped towards her.
The lights in the room went out. Cho couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Someone picked her up and ran out of the room with her in her arms.
"Thank you for saving my life," the bride whispered, "I'm Genevieve. I'll get you help. You're going to be fine."
Even through the haze of hot, searing pain, Cho knew that wasn't the case. Her mum was an E.R. doctor in the Muggle world, and Cho had heard enough to recognize the signs of shock. The black circles in her vision got bigger and bigger until she passed out completely. It was a roll of the dice if she would ever wake up.
_ANNABETH_
At Nico's insistence, everyone took an extendable ear from Percy. It was hard to fit everyone in, huddled by the door. But it was more than worth it. She heard Artemis speak as though the goddess stood right next to her. "According to Nico's dream, Hecate has already declared war, unofficially of course. Persephone knows and is gathering troops in her husband's name, as is Merlin for Hecate. It may be a day until both sides are prepared for battle, but once they are, fighting will begin."
"Are you sure, Artemis?" Chiron asked.
"Yes. Dreams do not lie."
"She's telling the truth," Mr. D said. "Olympus doesn't know war has been declared, but we all suspected it would happen soon. No one addressed it in council, except when Demeter asked to delay the trial. Have you overheard anything, Hestia?"
"Yes," she admitted. "What's worse, most gods can't decide what form to take, Greek or Roman."
"That will make it harder to predict who will choose who," Artemis said.
Hestia continued her briefing. "All the gods lean towards one side or the other, but very, very few have made up their minds. Zeus and Ceres have both chosen Hecate outright, and I doubt they will ever go back on that decision. Hades secured Venus and Juno, though Juno will not openly declare her allegiance since her husband chose the other side. And I know you promote Hades, Artemis. The others are still deciding, and hard to predict. I am neutral, of course. Dionysus, have you taken a side?"
"No. I would like it best if war never came."
"Wishful thinking," Artemis snapped. "Both sides have grudges that run too deep."
"Predictable as always, Artemis." Mr. D sighed. "I know Athena and Mars have settled on their forms."
"They'll decide where the war goes," Chiron concluded. "Both are Olympus's top strategists. Hecate and Hades have access to fine military minds, but no one can fight like the gods of war. Do you know how they lean?"
"That is obvious," Mr. D said. "Hecate is a Roman god. Have you ever known Mars to fight against Rome, where so many of his children continue to rule? And the grudge between Ares, Athena, Mars, and Minerva runs deep. Athena will never take Hecate's side if Mars considers it an option."
"But, I promise you, neither have made their decisions," Hestia assured them.
"And Poseidon is neutral?" Chiron asked.
A tense silence fell. A pit formed in Annabeth's stomach as she realized why.
"I hope you're mistaken," Mr. D said.
"No... she is right," Artemis realized. "Blizzards chased my Hunters. Khione is too weak now to do such a thing. Only Poseidon can control the water cycle. It is clear-he has chosen to fight against Hades."
Oh no...
Annabeth backed away from the door. Her heart was in overdrive, her blood pounded in her ears, her breath was ragged, and nothing and no one could shake her terror. This was worse than spiders, worse than Tartarus, worst than any unrelenting nightmare. This wasn't supposed to happen! This was never supposed to happen again!
"Annabeth?" Percy asked. He sounded like he was underwater.
"You don't understand," Annabeth whispered. "Zeus and Poseidon have teamed up against Hades before."
"What do you mean? When?" Hazel asked.
"It was a Greek conflict, Annabeth," Piper explained. "They don't know."
"Right," she said. "A son of Hades, Adolf Hitler, joined with his brothers in Japan and fought against Joseph Stalin, son of Zeus, and sons of Poseidon, Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Things got bad fast. A son of Ares, Benito Mussolini, eventually joined Hitler."
Rachel's eyes clouded with fear. "The Great Prophecy, the Big Three Pact, led to World War Two. It was almost the end of the world. And that was when almost all the fighting took place here, with demigods. The only godly death was..."
"Mamma," Nico whispered.
"They're fighting along the same lines," Reyna finished for Annabeth, which was good because she could barely keep it together. "Jupiter and Neptune fight against Pluto and Mars. But this time, they fight on Olympus."
"And the stakes are higher," Frank put in. "If Hecate wins, she takes Pluto's place on Olympus. If Pluto wins, he defeated both of his brothers, proved he's stronger than them both. He could start a rebellion and take Jupiter's place if he wanted to."
"Hecate has followers all over the world," Hazel realized. "She has an army already, even if both camps fall into chaos."
"And Pluto has the Artifacts of Thanatos," Alabaster concluded. "He could kill gods if he wants to."
They all stood there, waiting for an assurance that never came. Their extendable ears had been on the entire time, and the gods hadn't broken their silence. They sat there, huddled by the back door, until Chiron said he had to finish with the camp. Hestia agreed to join him, Artemis said she needed to speak to her Hunters, and Mr. D agreed their meeting was at an end. No one said a word. Not the gods, not the demigods.
Annabeth knew why. No one said anything because there was nothing to say. There was no way Mars and Athena would remain neutral. There was no way to predict who would go where. There was no way the conflict wouldn't escalate.
There was no way out. The end of the world had come.
Again.
END NOTES
I cannot wait for you to see next week's chapter...
About the snow: Snow is based on two things: temperature and the water cycle. Poseidon controls the water cycle. I figured that one quick favor from Khione and he could send the blizzard for Hecate.
Also Hitler's the only one who is canonically a son of Hades. Yes, Hades said "sons," but I figured there could be other Germans and Japanese sons of Hades. Since Italy is so closely tied to Rome, and Mussolini's whole ideology was about restoring Italy to its former Roman Empire glory, it makes sense to me that he'd be a son of Mars, not Hades.
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: *beginning of doc*
LISSY: That chapter that seems to be a commentary on current events despite the fact that it's not
OLI: This Is A Metaphor For Politics [this was a title suggestion]
OLI: metaphor or allegory?
LISSY: Neither. God help me, neither.
Credits:
Melody Rose - Author (Tumblr melody0rose)
Oli - Beta Reader (Tumblr paradoxicalpsychic)
Suhalia - Beta Reader (Archive Of Our Own users/milkandtahoney/)
Please comment so I know what you think! See you tomorrow!