A.N.: Alvor here. Got a bit of a worldbuilding chapter here. Guess where canon exploded and win a cookie.

CW: We also get to learn about why Harry is as much of a troublemaker in the Wizarding World as he is in the Greek world. He is a natural born troublemaker, just like his dear old dad.

Heracleidae - Origins IV

Harry James Potter

"And t-t-t-this, as you can s-s-see is a port-t-trait of a dangerous magical serp-p-pent called t-the Ashwinder. Powerful venom, scales that can heat-t-t-t themsl-lves to a t-t-thousand degrees and cause h-h-hideous burns."

There, on a six foot by six foot magical painting, an angry little snake spat out sparks and ignited as its scales clicked against each other. Even for something so small in such a big frame, it was obvious why a real ashwinder wouldn't be brought in. From its seeming aggression alone Harry strongly suspected this was the kind of magical monster they wouldn't meet in person until much, much later - similar to how the magical greenhouses had similar year restrictions.

As Professor Quirrel said, live specimens were forbidden in his classes since a particularly dimwitted student had let out a swarm of Cornish Pixies a decade or so ago. Causing disastrous damage to a classroom and nearly injuring several students in a muggle studies class had thoroughly convinced the man that small children lacked the maturity to not do silly things.

So they'd have to make due with the enchanted pictures of the dangerous creatures.

Harry didn't mind though! They were very cool and sometimes did really impressive things when they were fed, though, personally, he wished they all could have just gone to visit Fluffy.

As far as classes went, this was hardly a bad one. Sure, the professor really couldn't speak much. Having a sudden moment of inspiration, Harry made him a note to ask the house elves what Professor Quirrel's favorite meal was and to please make it for him. Surely someone so mentally scarred by vampires deserved a bit of pity.

Even if the young wizard thought he might never stop stinking of garlic from all the time spent in that particular class room.

Firstly, the man had given them all a comprehensive syllabus. Harry hadn't been able to read that, but Gemma had walked him through what dark magic actually was, and had explained all the various technical terms he just didn't grasp. For example, what necromancy was or hemomancy or what the Ministry of Magic was. That last one ended up getting him another essay to write, but that had proven useful too.

Ultimately, that meant Harry, like every other eleven year old in existence, wanted to be able to shoot fireballs out of his wand and turn people he didn't like into newts.

But that was illegal.

He appreciated the pictures, though.

They were much easier to reference than the texts, which still jumped out of the pages at times. Scrambling themselves like alphabet soup whenever Harry tried to make sense of the letters and words. Something he'd gotten better at since he started having remedial classes with Gemma and his housemates.

None of that had made him comfortable with reading out loud in class then.

"Now t-t-then, s-students. Wh-which one of you can t-t-tell me the name of another species similar to t-this one? F-fire an-and venom." The poor man stumbled over his words, tongue tying itself in knots as he reassured himself that there was neither fire nor venom in his classroom.

Aside from pictures.

Even then, Harry didn't put it past the professor to faint if he looked at them too hard.

One of his classmates raised his hand, Harry couldn't tell which.

"Yes, Mr. Finch-Fletchley?"

"The Chimera?"

Harry blinked in confusion when half the class tittered. He was certain that Justin's answer was right. He'd have to write a whole essay about the damn thing just a week ago!

"Well, y-you are c-c-c-correct. Up to a c-certain p-point." Quirrel stuttered. "B-but -" At this point the young wizard couldn't take it any more. The stuttering was so bad it was genuinely starting to get on his nerves.

It was interesting hearing about how chimera were alchemical creations raised up by wizards, usually involving some measure of blood magic, and used as either weapons or guardians. But his professor also strongly downplayed the significance of the chimera, dismissing it as no more than a muggle's retelling of a particularly powerful wizard's creation.

Which seemed fine to Harry, except for the fact that Ms. Hippolyta had made it very clear that the Chimera was one of the worst monsters he could come up against.

Being that it was the offspring of Echidna and Typhon the storm giant, the thing was genuinely awful. A monster with the head of a lion, the horns of a goat, and a serpent for a tail… and kin to both Ortus and the Nemean lion, creatures slain by his father's hand. It was venomous and was associated with the element of fire. At least… that was what his 'other' textbooks said.

Harry had never seen one. And he hoped never to.

But to think of it as just some old story to explain some kind of magic felt wrong.

Doubly so when he knew the horror and terror associated with such a creature was so very real. After all, if it could make an ancient living dead speak respectfully about a group of monsters, surely they were truly fearsome beasts!

So, alone with his thoughts, the young wizard listened politely, taking notes where needed, and made sure he had a list of questions to ask both Gemma and Ms. Hippolyta.

And, sitting there in a room filled with garlic, he found himself wondering if he'd ever be able to meet a vampire. Surely they were scary creatures with awesome powers if only meeting a few could make a grown wizard so perpetually afraid. Idly, the young man wondered if they were anything like the gods he'd been told about. Beings who were powerful and terrible and could kill you just by revealing their true form.

Hearing Professor Quirrel explain them as being just particularly powerful witches and wizards made sense, Harry supposed, since both were capable of doing things he knew were impossible.

What, then, was the meaningful difference between the two? Doubly so when compared to muggles, who lived in a world of common sense… no matter how little he personally thought the Dursleys had.

Albus 'still too many bloody names' Dumbledore

When Albus had received the Minister's daily owl, he'd done as usual.

He'd had some tea with his favorite lemon drops.

He'd contacted Minerva about how the defenses for Nicholas's Stone were coming along. Dissuaded her from picking that ridiculously massive chess set she was dead set on using school funds to purchase and then found the time to visit Hagrid while the good man went about his usual duties, after having the delighted elves drag Severus away from his private lab before the man ended up turning himself into a dragon.

All routine things he had made part of his day to day activities.

Then, after addressing the Minister's worries and questions, he made sure to include a very peculiar and non-threatening note at the end - politely requesting a meeting between himself and other interested parties regarding Hogwarts's charter of neutrality and student acceptance policies, as well as warning him that there had been a small incident.

Knowing how… skittish Cornelius was, Albus knew not to stress the man.

Gods knew he was already stressed enough running the Ministry.

'And then they ask me why I never took the job.' Capable or not, Albus knew a trap when he saw one. If he took that chair, he was likely to do such a good job they might do away with the Ministry entirely and crown him king!

Believe it or not, that particularly annoying suggestion had come up more than once.

Regardless, the Headmaster was nothing but pleasant.

So it was to the surprise of no one that when the wards notified him of Cornelius' arrival, or that the man looked as if the Reaper had warmed him over. Why, he looked so pale Albus thought he'd have to check the castle grounds for banshees again.

Wringing his familiar bowler hat, the Minister tentatively stepped into the room. Dumbledore had the impression that the man must have felt like a student all over again, being called to the headmaster's office for getting into trouble.

Which he'd never really done as a student.

Cornelius Fudge had an… uninteresting record. Filled with attempts to make himself popular, doing chores for older students in exchange for favors. Albus reckoned he hadn't changed much even as an adult.

Cornelius still did chores in exchange for something.

Though the minister probably regretted his ambition now that he was saddled with knowledge of a world he could seldom imagine as a child. Unfortunately, this wasn't a case of rogue psychopomps, as the man probably hoped.

Only the man's latest bout of nervousness would plan for something so banal.

In contrast, Madame Bones looked as inscrutable and resolute as always.

A remarkable witch of remarkable talents. A true credit to her office and perhaps one of the few people Albust hadn't been worried about contacting given how… professionally she handled her niece's connection to the hidden side of society.

"Cornelius, Amelia, would either of you like a lemon drop?"

Being a good host came first.

"What is this about, Headmaster? Normally you don't ask us both to come."

Bones, of course, leapt to get straight at things. Fudge was more interested in looking indecisive about taking the piece of candy.

Albus mostly wondered if he'd need to bribe the Minister into taking it.

'Now, now. No making fun of the poor man. After all, other people's gold is rather heavy.'

Chortling, he gestured for both to take a seat. Sighing, the department head did as she was silently asked and the Minister of magic did too - finally taking the proffered candy. Just in time for the house elves to send in a tea tray. Picking up the pot, he gave both of the others a moment to grow just slightly agitated with him before speaking.

"Tea?"

Scowling, Fudge shook his head.

"You called us here Albus. I assume that cryptic message was important? If you just wanted to have tea this could have happened at another time."

"Things to do Cornelius?" Eyes twinkling, Albus very much knew that the man in question had a few… meetings scheduled now.

"As Minister of Magic my time is important and I'm needed to oversee very important projects! My approval is also requested for vital legislation. No matter how seemingly minor, such things could prove disastrous if not properly reviewed."

"Of course." Inclining his head, the headmaster couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips. "I applaud your diligence as always." Because he was painfully aware that Cornelius was supposed to be meeting with Lucius Malfoy at this very moment. "In that case, I shall endeavor to most efficient with the time of such esteemed, capable, and well liked individuals as yourself and Madame Bones."

"That would be appreciated. And I'd like it with cream and a single sugar, please."

Amelia looked annoyed. And a touch confused. But that meant she likely had an idea of what was happening, but not enough information to grasp why he had thought this important to burn up part of his not-quite-infinite political power on bringing both herself and the Minister here.

'She was always clever for a Hufflepuff. Oh, there you go again you old goat. You mustn't think like that!'

But it was only when Fudge had received his tea too, Albus sending the piping hot drinks over to his guests with a twitch of his fingers, that he finally spoke.

"There was, I suppose from a certain perspective, a small incident a short while ago." At these words Amelia's eyes narrowed and Fudge began to bluster. The elder wizard simply quietly and firmly spoke over him. "One of our students was revealed to be part of the Greek Pantheon. Unfortunately, they were unaware of this fact and a representative was sent to inform them."

The reactions were… predictable.

Madame Bones arched an eyebrow, barely flinching at the news. Though he could tell she had coiled tightly, like a spring, ready to take action if he did not say he had handled the situation in the next few seconds.

Cornelius… fainted.

Or well, the rather plump fellow did his best impression of someone fainting, holding onto his heart as he nearly fell backwards, hat falling out of his hands as he tried to stutter something out, looking every bit like Albus' current defense teacher.

He was sure Minerva would get a good chuckle out of it later.

But that would come later.

"I imagine that the reason we didn't hear of this earlier was because you handled it."

"Up to a point, yes."

"Up to a point? Albus, what in Merlin's beard is happening?" Cornelius, as always, was one for theatrics.

The elder wizard sighed. He did so hate having to repeat himself.

"I intercepted the messenger when they tried to make contact with the student in question. Words were exchanged, explanations were given, and I'd like to imagine that a disaster was averted."

"Oh good…" Fudge picked up his hat, dusting it with trembling hands. "Then they already left?"

"No, they refused to leave."

And dropped it again.

"R-refused?! Refused to leave! Why? How?! Those… Those people aren't supposed to stay here. It's against their laws… isn't it?" He sounded unsure by the end.

"I agreed to allow their stay, to avoid further divine intervention." As powerful as Albus was, even he wouldn't bet on himself against the literal Hero God. He was confident, not suicidal.

Amelia, however, chose to stay on target.

"Do we have any idea how an unclaimed demigod managed to enter Hogwarts? It isn't… usual for children to go unclaimed this long, especially in Great Britain."

'If only because that tends to get them killed and eaten. Or worse.'

Even though his eyes lost a little of their twinkle, the old man with far too much power didn't say anything, merely nodding his head.

"There is an extreme likelihood of their politics being involved in this incident."

"Oh." Amelia muttered something foul in Latin before continuing. "Is this going to start a war?"

"A war!?"

'Fudge really is a duffer.' Closing his eyes for a moment, Albus shook his head, doing his best not to judge a whole house by its stereotypes.

"Nothing so serious, at least for now. The parent of the student in question has been in an unfavorable position with his pantheon for some time now. Most of them probably don't even know about this child so we shouldn't assume that it was a premeditated move by a group, but a knee jerk reaction."

Nodding, Amelia agreed with him.

"Aye, the Greeks are like that. The problem is that their knee jerk reactions tend to involve a great deal of drama. I assume that you won't be telling us who the child is?"

Shrugging, the man was glad that Fawkes chose that moment to appear in a burst of flame - heat washing over the room as flames climbed up the great bird's perch and the glorious beast began trilling. Even a few of Albus's hairs caught alight.

Stroking his smouldering beard, the flames repairing, not charring, his hair, the headmaster thought best about how to frame his response. And whether this was going to be a case of mitigating a disaster or avoiding one entirely.

"I'm afraid not."

Annoyance flickered in the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's eyes, but she knew that this sort of thing was solely his providence and the song made her almost immediately relax and smile in contentment. Fudge, however, said nothing, merely rubbing his head as a sudden headache seemed to be making his eyes water.

'Oh, Cornelius, what have you done?'

Pity welled up in the old man. It was natural for politicians to suffer a little from even a single verse of the Phoenix's song, there were times when even he suffered a little too - it was Fawkes way of helping to keep him on the straight and narrow. But a sudden migraine? That truly meant the man was becoming far, far too corrupt.

So corrupt that a being of light as merciful as Fawkes was judging him poorly.

But that was an issue for later.

With his hair now the color of burnished brass, the old man forged ahead, hoping to cut to the quick of the matter now that he was sure his audience was captive.

"But that doesn't mean I have nothing to give. I'm sure that you'll be pleased to note that there was no conflict with the centaurs and that they've given their permission to the spirit to remain in the forest for the time." There was no need to mention that Hippolyta had almost salivated at the prospects of making war upon them. "So the castle's neutrality will be maintained. But I do expect that a polite notice to the other interested parties should be a wise thing to do."

"How many of them?" Fudge was no idiot, just laughably corrupt, and you didn't need to be a legilimens to see his mind already churning away - headache or no. "The standard set, or more, or is there some special contact you need set up?"

Sparks of greed were in those eyes too. Because if Albus wanted to send a formal diplomatic notice to the various factions, then that meant the Ministry of Magic had to approve of it.

Meaning that if Fudge was going to sign off on such a thing, he could expect quite the favor in turn.

"As many as needed to ensure the safety of my students, Cornelius."

Immediately the Minister began to bluster once again.

"Of course! Their safety comes first. Absolutely paramount! But interacting with any of the pantheons requires time and certain resources that don't come cheaply. Especially if one of the Courts is in a foul mood. We might have to take quite the risk. Maybe even involve the Department of Mysteries."

Inclining his head, the teacher submitted to the will of the politician.

"I understand. I'm sure that my own knowledge could help alleviate your… great many burdens, that you should be able to focus on this favor I'm asking of you."

Amelia looking at him with a mixture of pity and disappointment didn't exactly help things either. Unfortunately, unless he wished to truly take up the mantle of a Bright Lord, then he would have to accept that compromise was the rule of the day.

No matter how filthy it could make him feel.

Gemma Farley

Life was busy for Gemma Farley.

Between her duties as a prefect and having to deal with mischievous little anklebiters who thought they were the smartest ones in the school, constant invasion attempts by the Weasley Twins, and having to tutor younger students as part of Professor Snape's plan to secure the House Cup for Sytherin in perpetuity - something he insisted was not part of his ridiculous rivalry with Professor McGonagal - the young woman found herself being run ragged while trying to keep her own studies on track.

It was busy work, but it was rewarding in its own way. And she wouldn't have been chosen if the teachers didn't think she could do it.

But still… there were days she wished they hadn't.

Today just happened to be one of them.

Word about the school's surprise visitor had quickly reached the Head Students, who had seen fit to inform the select prefects who were supposed to know about her.

And that's where her headache started.

Because she was supposed to be running a small review class for a potions assignment right now, but instead was forced to sit through another emergency session, located in a too-large-on-the-inside tower room, lightly furnished with a number of tables, chairs, and completed by a large crackling fireplace, as the other "dual enrollment" students dragged their damn feet.

Seriously, was it too much to ask them to be punctual?

Oh, who was she kidding. They were demigods. Telling them to do something was like trying to herd cats.

And to think this all happened

"Gemma." She turned and looked at Harry, quietly sitting in a chair, kicking his feet back and forth. "May I have another biscuit?"

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she nodded.

"Sure. If they aren't gonna bother showing up, why don't we just go get some dinner? I'm sure the house elves would be more than happy to bring something up."

At this point, they'd already missed the evening meal so, when the firsty grabbed himself a still slightly steaming chocolate chip monstrosity that the prefect knew had only appeared in the last thirty seconds.

'I might be offended the bloody elves were spying on me if I wasn't so annoyed those wankers are playing games with my time!'

Pacing back and forth, the young woman was truly growing agitated. When a clock began to chime, a tiny magical bell ringing out like an orchestra as it began playing some song popular a hundred and fifty years ago, the door finally opened. And her wand snapped up with so much force sparks instinctively blasted out at first person through.

"Now, now." Chuckling, the girl that had stepped through was currently twirling those sparks around her fingers. "Is that any way to greet your head girl?" Flicking them back at Gemma, the other young woman veritably cackled. "Unless you want to challenge me of course!"

Eye twitching, face nearly red in anger, Gemma Farley almost, almost cursed the smug grin off of the face of the cheap tart that thought she actually cared about what the slag did with Gemma's ex boyfriend.

"Bugger off Brianna."

Gritting her teeth, she managed to choose to not start a war.

"Oh, why the poor mood darling? After all, we've decided to come to your little soiree."

Strolling forward, the bitch in the Ravenclaw robes brushed Gemma off as she immediately fell onto a large loveseat. About to say something, she only stopped when she felt Harry tug at her sleeve again.

"There are more people at the door."

The look the ankle biter gave her told the Slytherin that her underclassmen had something in mind.

The gleam in his eyes told him that it would be something… entertaining.

Snorting, the seventh year shook her head and went to greet the rest of "the Council".

"Marcus." Nothing else was said to her ex. "Toddy, Samantha, Marshall, Carter, Jonathan." It took a while to greet every single student that had arrived - because this was all of their particular kind - and by the time she had gotten to the first years the room had started shifting again. "Li, Bones, Zabini, Finnegan, Abbot."

In total, there were fifty two young men and women, ranging from eleven to seventeen years in age, now standing in a room that had only somewhat changed.

Gone were the few scattered chairs and the odd couch, instead a massive, round table, hollow on the inside, had formed. Each person had a seat clearly offered up for them - Brianna still sprawled on a loveseat and with her head in a wincing Marcus's lap - seemingly tailored to best fit them. For some that meant tiny thrones were raised up out of the floor, others had been bag chairs, one fourth year even had what seemed like a tree growing up out of the castle and twisting its boughs to support him.

All in total, there must have been representatives from nearly nine different pantheons from the British Isles and beyond. From the fey courts, to the welsh and celts like Gemma herself as well as a multitude of students from the continent and beyond.

All of these ancient enemies living under the same roof.

If one were to ask if there was definite proof of magic in the world, then they needed not look any further than this room.

"Thank you all for coming."

Gemma remained standing, unable to keep herself from glaring when Brianna tittered.

'I know you're responsible for this!'

Visibly calming herself, she focused on getting to the chase.

"While I would have preferred to have had us all in bed by now, we seem to have a foundling. The Greeks-" That got a round of groans from about half the room. "Have forgotten to claim a child that was sent to Hogwarts. Apparently this is a result of internal politics and is not an attempt at claiming additional rights. The gods have not decided to treat this as an infraction and he is to be welcomed into our number. As the individual closest to the foundling, I will introduce him now. Rise, Harry James Potter, son of Heracles and be welcomed."

Harry, for his par, didn't seem to appreciate the attention very much. Or he did, but didn't know how to react to it. Either way, the first year shuffled slightly awkwardly and nodded.

Gemma could empathise.

He was neither the first nor the last demigod of a… troublesome parent, to find his way to Hogwarts. Even now, Gemma herself didn't know how to feel about her own welcome, despite having since received training and learned more about the world where gods and men intermingled.

But most importantly, she would need to lay out some rules before some of the rowdier students tried to mess with him. After all, the Greeks had made a lot of enemies and Harry's mortal parent, whichever it had been, hadn't exactly endeared themselves to the magical side of things overmuch. James Potter had never taken up his lordship and Lily Potter had been something of an unknown mudblood at best. Meaning it's not like the boy could count on any kind of parental support if a dispute was started.

"As a result of this oversight on his godly parent's part, a guardian was sent to mentor Potter until he is better acquaintanced with the intricacies of the divine world. Of course, the Headmaster has charged us prefects and the head students with preventing any incidents."

Because even now, she was sure many of the students would love nothing more than to start some sort of trouble on their parents' behalf. If only to actually get some attention from them.

'What a sad state of affairs.

"Oh me, oh my. Hercules? That 's fitting." Gemma shot the Head Girl a dirty look. The slag already knew about it, she was just trying to draw attention to herself.

Like she always did.

"And what do you mean by that?" The Slytherin prefect bit back a very unflattering word.

"Only that your… particular house always seems to attract those destined for greatness. The first Merlin, the daughter of the Triple Goddess, and now the son of the Great Hero."

There was murmuring amongst the students, some shooting Brianna dirty looks, others shooting the young boy who barely knew anything about the world envious glares. As if the life he was destined for was something worth jealousy.

"His fate has not been decided yet, Brianna." the Head Boy chided, clearly exasperated by his girlfriend 's antics.

"I was merely remarking upon a trend, Arthur."

Gemma shot her a filthy look.

"Oh? Do you want to fight that badly, Hibernian? Were those little party tricks earlier an invitation to school you again."

Now Brianna was practically sparking as she sat up.

"I'm not the one begging for it, cailleach."

"Come now, we are all witches here, Miss Farley. Though if you wish to handle this like adults… well, you know where to find me."

"How droll." A Hufflepuff sixth year, taller than a man grown, with arms as thick around as a bull's neck, whiskers already coming in thick, and with a rather impressive gut stood up from his throne of flowers and frozen beer. "If this is all, I'm off to see the elves about whipping up a little evening snack." Tipping his head towards the still confused first year, currently half hiding behind Gemma herself, the lad smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Harry. I'm Gunther, son of Aeigir - a Jotun. If you ever find yourself in need of a pint or pie, stop by the Hufflepuff common room. You'll be most welcome!"

And just like that, a quarter of the room got up to follow.

Most murmured a greeting to Harry, some simply nodded, but they followed after the half giant. Just in time for Marcus to come over and introduce himself.

"Marcus Evans, Mr. Potter. I'm, well, I'm the new Arthur. Of the Order of the Sworn Knights of the Unbroken Round and Most Holy Camelot." Blushing a bit, the seventh year Gryffindor managed to keep from being cursed for not looking her in the eye when the prick held his hand out to Harry. "Think of me like the chief replacement for the guys who help keep the peace in the magical world, but not for another few years at least. I'd invite you to come by the Gryffindor common room, but, well, you're a Slytherin and I'm not sure the others would behave…."

Trailing off, Marcus finally managed to look her in the eye long enough to frown and shake his head.

"I'm sorry Gemma. For tonight. I, we, well…."

"Go on. I've heard it all before."

Jerking her head, she shooed the boy away, with the red and gold clad contingent soon following after him. It said something about the state of the school that only a few of these folks did more than glance at Harry before disappearing.

Brianna didn't even bother doing that much, only giving Harry a wink and a laugh before gliding away, eagerly catching up to her boy toy in case Marcus grew a pair before she could clip them.

No, Gemma didn't hold a grudge, why do you ask?

Thankfully, a few of the Ravenclaws were polite enough to stop and speak with the young demigod, giving Gemma a moment to organize the other Slytherins and quietly chew them out.

"Why the Hell weren't you on time!"

Beaumont, a sixth year and the second oldest Slytherin demigod shrugged.

"The area was sealed off. There simply was no path through the castle to reach the council room. We tried, twice, and even asked a painting."

And that was that.

Because there was only one person in the school with the authority and desire to humiliate Gemma like this. And that meant that Brianna had more than set out to make a point. This was nothing less than a political example being made and that meant there would be no customary truce this year. The Game was on and moves were going to be made. But most worryingly of all, that also meant she was far, far behind the curve.

"Damn it all."

Waiting for the last of the Ravenclaws to slip away, the leader of the Slytherins half stalked over to a very overwhelmed Harry Potter and snapped her fingers.

Just like that, the room shrunk down, becoming large enough to comfortably hold the ten people remaining and looking far more similar to the Slytherin common room. Glass wall included.

That the first years didn't even flinch spoke volumes at how used they were to her… ahem… quirks.

After all, children of war gods didn't often come with filters.

And it wasn't like she made much of an effort. At the very least she wasn't cursing out the witch in front of eleven year olds. She had that much tact at the very least.

"You have questions, I take it?" turning her attention to the latest addition to the fold, Gemma had to bite back an amused smile. That the boy looked confused, if not downright lost, was an understatement and she supposed she would have been too had it been her thrown into the secret world of gods and half bloods.

He was handling it… remarkably well.

Though she wasn't sure how much of that was the boy's quiet nature at play.

"Why did we go through all that just for the people to walk out again?"

Choking, the teenager had to smother the sudden spike of anger she felt - Harry was genuinely ignorant to what was going on after all - and chose to give him a smile.

Judging by how worried he looked, it was not a very good smile.

"That was, well, I suppose-"

"It was a witch acting like a bitch because she thinks she's hot shit." Gemma gave Beaumont a furious glare, but the boy merely shrugged. "It's the truth. And to you, Mr. Potter, I am Charles Beaumont, son of Loki - he who is the god of Fire, Lies, and Trickery. In addition to being the poor sucker who has to point out the follies of the gods."

Holding out his hand, the sixth year let small, flaming serpents twist about his head, dancing in the air for a moment and utterly entrancing Harry.

'Son of a witch. He's good at wriggling out of punishments.'

She wasn't going to ruin the first interesting thing the brats had gotten to see tonight, not after they'd had to spend hours dealing with her political bullshit.

"Yes, yes. That's enough showing off. Now go away you filthy giant." The other sixth year Slytherin demigod brushed Beaumont aside the second the handshake was done. "I am Brianna of the Old Clan. Daughter of Corra, goddess of Serpents, Fertility, Prophecy, and a few other things.

Gemma shook her head.

They were gonna get the boy even more confused.

"Alright, you lot! How about we don't overwhelm the newcomers with all the weird titles and names. Gods above and below, it's like you want them to mispronounce something and get smote or something."

The sixth year tittered.

"Can you blame us? It's not often that we get so many new arrivals."

Yes. Yes, she could.

She turned to the recently discovered son of Heracles.

"So, to give you the short version of it. Hogwarts is a school of magic, yes. But not all who come here to learn are fully human. That's where we come in as a sort of… support group, to make sure nobody blows the whistle on our secret."

Of course, the boy had already broken half of their rules just by virtue of not being claimed on arrival and somehow luring a spirit affiliated to his parent inside school grounds. Both of which would have earned him a righteous scolding for putting their secret at risk. Never mind the omnipresent threat of Hell on Earth firing up over a petty dispute involving divine tempers.

But it wasn't like he was even aware of his father before beating a troll to death.

And the spirit sent by his father wasn't technically inside the school anymore. Which was why nobody was pushing for him to get punished.

After all, who knew how the ancient amazon queen outside would react to it.

"So they all have… godly parents?"

"Gods, giants, fairies, famous knights with overpowered swords. Take your pick. We have half-bloods of all sorts in Hogwarts and we have to make sure everyone toes the line."

Or well, that's what they were supposed to be doing.

"They didn't seem to like me very much."

"Oh! Oh! Can I answer this one!" A second year girl raised her hand, eyes sparkling as they shifted from red to blue, before settling on purple - her hair seemingly running the gamut from a blue-black slashed with streaks of silver to white-gold and back again.

Gemma shrugged.

"Sure, knock yourself out. Just try not to confuse him more, Molly."

The girl - Molly, he corrected, offered their prefect a mock salute, taking point as she lounged against the copy of their common room couch.

"You see, cousin, locals don't like the Greek pantheon very much around these parts. Sure, it got a bit better in the past few centuries, but half bloods like us don't get the warm welcomes others do."

Harry took that in… and focused on the wrong part.

"So you're Greek?"

The pink haired girl chortled, hair changing to a light orange.

"Can't you tell from the accent? I'm American, dude."

Harry, bless his eleven year old heart, blinked owlishly.

"I thought you were Greek?"

The look of exasperation on the younger demigoddess's face was worth a few chuckles, Gemma decided. Waving away the girl's glare as her ears turned light pink, Gemma decided to spare her some embarrassment.

"What she means, Harry, is that the two of you are relatives of gods from the same group. You are the son of Heracles and she is the daughter of Eos."

The way his eyes lit up was interesting.

"Cool! I didn't know I had relatives other than the Dursleys."

Molly smiled, probably flattered at the boy's acceptance of her as family.

"That's cute… like… really flattering too! But it's not how the whole half-blood stuff works. They find mortals, take a fancy to them, find a way to shack up with them, then a couple months later you get one of us. Well, someone like you. I'm kinda different."

"I thought you were a half-blood?"

"Well, I am. But from a… different generation. Your dad is one of Zeus' kids. My mom is one of his cousins."

"I don't get it, but I guess we are still cousins, right?"

Gemma snorted back a laugh. Well, he wasn't wrong. Though she was sure that Molly's mother wouldn't like seeing her daughter interact with a child of Heracles, if only because that was too much visibility for the daughter of a Titan. Someone who wasn't supposed to be having kids.

Tensions were always high between the Olympians and the Titans.

No matter the generation. Similar to how the Tuatha disliked having to deal with the Fomorians whenever they popped up. The sort of ages old rivalry that had their kids wrecking city blocks and whipping up storms and floods.

Basic playground pissing match.

"You're sure having fun, Gemma."

"Oh let me have my fun, Molly. After all, it's so touching to see a touching family reunion."

Predictably, she colored.

"You know it's not like that!"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Try and tell that to him."

Harry, of course, hadn't given their conversation much thought, instead in his own little world as he tried to chew through the idea of having more 'distant relatives' like Molly. Gemma couldn't wait to see what his reaction would be when she eventually taught him about Camp Half Blood.

When a large, ancient clock on the wall struck the hour she jumped, a bit startled.

"Oof. I'm gonna get chewed out for this one." Clapping her hands, the prefect tapped into the small measure of control over the castle she had and nudged the exit of the room down to the dungeons "Alright people, you know it's time for bed. Let's get moving before they send out a search party for us."

There was a small amount of grumbling but Gemma had enough influence that her own house obeyed her. If only just. And while she might have liked to speak with Harry a bit, Molly had taken him by the hand and begun trying to walk him through the basics of the Greeks and why he should be very, very discreet about being friendly with her.

"But you're my cousin and you're nice and you have magic and Gemma said you're a nice person and she's a nice person so why wouldn't I want to be friendly with you?"

Watching the twelve year old try to sigh, glare, and blush all at the same time was one of the cutest things the seventh year had ever seen. However, it was still bedtime and, now that the door was done adjusting itself, she threw it open, made sure the coast was clear, and got the small horde of demigods moving. Just in time for Beaumont and Brianna to attach themselves to her side and drag her off during their double quick march back to the common room.

Somehow she managed to fend them off until everyone was safely inside.

Not that it was more than a delaying tactic. Giving Harry one last glance, seeing that he and the other first year demigod - Blaise Zabini - were somewhat awkwardly reintroducing themselves, she grunted, took the sixth years by the ears, and began dragging them towards an area where they could at least pretend to have a private discussion about humiliating that Ravenclaw slag in retaliation for embarrassing Slytherin.

And not at all to do with the fact that it was that particular bitch that also stole her man.

No.

Not. One. Bit.

A.N. 2

List of the Demigods in Slytherin.

7th year, Gemma

6th year, Beaumont and Brianna

5th year, unnamed male demigod

4th year, unnamed female demigod

3rd year, unnamed female demigod

2nd year, Molly, unnamed male demigod

1st year, Harry and Blaise Zabini