Voldemort, with his wand in hand, performed a series of wand movements and muttered a few things under his breath. He pointed the wand at a seamless box, causing it to open up. Inside was the necklace he'd taken.
Gently picking up the necklace, Voldemort placed it into the cauldron. The necklace sank to the bottom, disappearing beneath the grey potion he'd made on the night of the new moon. He stirred it a few times clockwise with a steel stirring rod then counterclockwise once.
The Dark Lord put down the stirring rod and pointed his wand at the necklace, which had bobbed up to the surface. Though there was no visible difference between before and after Voldemort put the necklace into the cauldron. Voldemort seemed to think otherwise.
Voldemort did not speak, for he was alone, but anyone could tell that he was pleased. Considering, he did look very ecstatic by his standards. By that, it means his lips curled up to form a thin, murderous looking smile, his eye mere slits showing his red pupils, his face creased in an awkward way to accommodate the unaquainted way his facial features aligned.
Making up for his verbal words, Voldemort had many thoughts on his mind then. And inside his head, past his Occlumency shields, he was really glad his plan was working. There was only one phase left. Eliminate the Potter boy, and live a long life.
Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, woke up in cold sweat. The nightmare he just had, Voldemort with some necklace… what happened? The details were slipping away like water through his fingers.
"Harry? Are you okay?" Lou Ellen looked at Harry in concern.
Harry sighed. He didn't want to talk about it. "It's… nothing," he lied.
Lou Ellen put down her quill and walked over to Harry's bed. Even after Hecate stopped being Harry's patron, cabin twenty had still allowed him to stay, most welcoming him with open arms. He is, after all, still Hecate's legacy, as he is descended from a pureblood family.
"Harry," Lou Ellen said in a warning tone.
"Lou Ellen," Harry returned. Lou Ellen raised her eyebrows. "Nightmare," Harry said as his way of explaining. She'd probably leave him alone after this, but he had no such luck.
"Demigod dreams are usually visions of the present," Lou Ellen told him, "you're not a demigod, but you're a wizard and a legacy. Tell me about this dream."
"It's probably fine. I just had this dream about Voldemort."
"Isn't that bad?"
Harry shook his head, wanting her to let it go. "I saw him come back, it's probably just some follow-up nightmare or something."
Lou Ellen sighed. "You being difficult, you know that. If you feel you need anything, just ask me or Will Solace."
"Why Will?" Harry remembered the boy from the King's Cross incident. The two hadn't talked much after that, just minor interactions through Nico di Angelo.
Lou Ellen shrugged. "He's head medic and good with therapy. The younger ones go to him when they have nightmares, and now he just adopted the title of unofficial camp therapist."
"I don't need a therapist, I think," Harry replied, "I'm fine."
"Sure you are," Lou Ellen snorted, then composed herself, "just find someone to tell your nightmares to, not only might the information save us, but it would help you a lot, trust me." Then Lou Ellen went back to writing whatever she was writing at two in the morning.
Regardless of Lou Ellen's advice, Harry kept the dream to himself. He didn't know what to make out of it yet, so he didn't want to talk to someone else about it then.
That evening, Harry was in the Poseidon cabin with the seven, Nico, Will, Ginny, Rachel and Reyna. The Romans were visiting for two days, and they wanted to catch up with each other. Harry didn't know why he was there, but Percy had invited him over and he couldn't refuse, he had nothing to do anyway.
When Harry asked why the seven were called the seven, the demigods took a very long trip down the memory lane.
"Speaking of prophecies," Rachel spoke up, "Harry has one too."
"Oh no," Percy muttered under his breath, "Not another one." Annabeth wrapped her arm around Percy and laid her head on his shoulder.
Rachel frowned in thought, "It goes like this: '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 will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...'"
The others stared at Rachel and Leo Valdez was the first one to speak up. "That doesn't sound like a prophecy," he argued, "prophecies rhyme."
"This one is a prophecy from Hecate's realm," Rachel explained, "it's not part of the Oracles, nor does it work like one."
"How do you know it's about Harry?" Reyna questioned skeptically.
Rachel couldn't give a better answer than a shrug.
"It fits, doesn't it?" Ginny pointed out, "Harry defeated the Dark Lord once when he was one, born on July thirty first, as 'the seventh month dies,' his parents thrice defied him," She ticked these points off, "the lightning shaped scar from the night his parents died, a literal mark."
"And now he will find power and either Voldemort or Harry will die because of the other," Jason concluded.
Frank said, "hopefully we can delay the death as long as possible and we can find this power in the meantime."
"That's wishful thinking," Percy snorted, "usually, you won't find out this 'power' until the last minute."
"Now, don't give the Fates ideas, okay?" Leo widened his eyes, looking around, in case the Fates heard.
Annabeth and Piper shared a look regarding the boys' tendencies. "So now what?" Piper asked.
"Well," Annabeth immediately answered, "we prepare ourselves for what can happen, which means," she glanced at Harry, "we need to train you. Your abilities have decreased since Hecate came over to visit, and the rest of you also need to practice too."
"Training, right," Harry nodded.
Annabeth was right. Since Hecate stopped being Harry's patron, his powers were limited to his magical abilities, and his physical abilities were left untrained. The magical abilities he had learned to control in his four years at Hogwarts were significantly weaker than a child of Hecate's abilities with magic. He now relied on his wand, which he deemed a disadvantage against Voldemort.
The group split up, each going off their own ways to train. Rachel went off to her cave and Harry had a lurking suspicion that whatever Jason, Piper and Percy were getting up to wasn't strictly training - if their snickers were anything to go by, and that Leo was actually sneaking off to the kitchens.
The majority of the group did go to the training grounds though, but then Ginny, Nico and Hazel were pulled from the group by Chiron.
Ginny didn't know what Dad wanted, but here she was, with her two half-siblings, standing before Hades' throne. Chiron came to tell them that Hades had demanded a meeting with his children, both Greek and Roman.
The three of them gave an awkward tilt of their heads. "Hazel. Ginny. Nico." Hades addressed each of them in turn. "You must be wondering why you were summoned."
Nico muttered to Ginny, "is it Father's day? Did we forget Father's day? How do you think he'd kill us if we did?"
Hades chuckled. "You did not forget anything, my son." Ginny heard Nico release a sigh of relief.
"Then what is it, Father?" Hazel asked.
"I wanted to talk to you about the situation with Tom Riddle," Hades looked at each of them.
"Who?" Hazel blinked, as if trying to remember where the name had come from.
"Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord." Ginny told her.
"Correct. Now, I assume all of you have heard of him." He got affirmative nods from the three of them. "Have you also heard of a Horcrux?" One nod and two shakes of the head. Hades continued. "A Horcrux is when you trap a piece of one's soul in an object, anchoring the person to the living world. Voldemort, afraid of death, has seven. Harry Potter had already killed one in the form of a diary.
"He is not able to die as long as he has his Horcruxes, the reason he survived the night he tried to kill Harry Potter." Hades looked uncharacteristically furious. "He had cheated death. He is responsible for many more deaths. As my children, I expect you to return his soul to the Underworld."
The three nodded their heads to confirm that they were going to do so.
"We will, Dad," Ginny promised.
Hades gave an approving huff. "Good. Here are three maps of where his Horcruxes are. You three should be able to tell when you are near a Horcrux, so this should be easier. Now remember, the Horcruxes are guarded with magic, so watch out." He handed each sibling a map each.
Ginny's breath caught at the word 'magic'.
"Hazel, Nico, you are dismissed." Hades waved his hand to tell them to leave. After Ginny's siblings left, Ginny turned to face Hades somewhat awkwardly. "Ginny." Hades sighed. "I am truly sorry to have to put you back in the wizarding world while you search for the Horcruxes, but Voldemort cannot be destroyed as long as they stay intact."
"I understand, really, Dad," Ginny gave a wane smile, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."
"I don't know, I would accept it if you wanted to sit this one out."
Ginny rolled her eyes, something she felt she shouldn't have done in the presence of Hades. "You sent me to find Barty Crouch Junior, Dad, and he's plenty magical."
"But this… this will be more difficult. I can assure you of it." Hades projected a map in front of the two. "There are only six left, since Harry Potter destroyed one about two years ago. But there is still one left at Hogwarts. I know what the school means to you. I do not want to subject you to this."
"I told you, I'll be fine, Dad." Ginny persisted.
Hades gave in with a dramatic gesture. "If you say so." He flicked his wrist, and Ginny found herself in the sword fighting arena.
Nico and Hazel paused in their recap about what happened and turned to look at their sister. "Ginny!" Hazel waved over. Ginny came over towards the rest of the group.
"What happened?" Nico asked.
Ginny shrugged. "Nothing much," she replied. But by the look in her eyes, Harry could tell there was something bothering her. He decided to let it drop for now. Thankfully, so did Nico.
Percy, Jason, Piper and Leo rejoined the group not long after they heard the children of the Underworld were summoned. When Nico and Hazel arrived at Camp, they had given them along with the rest of the group a very short and edited version of what had taken place in the Underworld. Harry was shocked to know that he had destroyed a piece of Voldemort's soul in his second year, and that there were more pieces out there that could harm others.
Annabeth nodded. She addressed the group around her, "we need to split up. Find the Horcruxes. Kill them. We would then be a step closer to defeating Riddle."
It was logical, Harry thought, but it sounded absurd. The rest of the group seemed wary, but agreed to the plan.
"Never doubt Annabeth," Frank reminded everyone.
"Right," Annabeth stood up straighter, and she told them with an air of authority, "three groups for the Horcrux hunt, and I'll have two people stay with Harry." She looked at Harry calculatedly. "Jason and Percy, you two train Percy. Lou Ellen can help with wizarding magic."
"That leaves us with nine people, which splits into three groups of three, the Fates' favorite number," Reyna added, "which is a very good thing."
"Right, so, teams. Each group will have one child of Hades or Pluto. Nico, Will and I are one team. Ginny, Frank, Reyna." As Annabeth called out names, the people in question got together.
"So that leaves me with Leo and Hazel," Piper concluded.
Annabeth nodded. "There are six Horcruxes, so each team will go after two."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
"Wait- now?" Leo looked at the sky. Harry followed his gaze. Leo was right, it was getting dark.
"We can go submit the quest - or quests - to Chiron now- we even have a prophecy and everything, we can go tomorrow," Jason suggested.
Ginny nodded. "Now, who's the quest leader?"
Everyone looked at Harry. "Me?" Harry asked.
"Yes, you. The prophecy was about you." Percy explained.
The group walked over to the Big House, where Chiron was sitting out on the deck.
"How may I help you, demigods?" Chiron greeted them.
"We're going on a quest tomorrow." Annabeth gestured for Harry to step up for his quest.
"Is that so?" Chiron asked.
Harry nodded, but then decided to go verbal. "Yeah, we have a prophecy."
Chiron sighed. "Another one?" He got up and paced on his hooves, making a clicking sound on the deck.
"Unfortunately, yes. It's from Hecate's realm, Rachel told us." Harry recited the prophecy.
Chiron nodded, "come in, all of you. Tell me your plan."
Harry took the lead again, and they walked into the living room. He recounted the plan Annabeth had spun up, with her popping in some details that were left unmentioned.
"That's… an interesting plan," Chiron concluded, "the leader of the quest doesn't actually go on a quest."
"He really needs to train," Ginny piped up, poking Harry in the ribs.
"He does," Piper seconded.
Chiron sighed. "Very well. I wish you all the best of luck. Get a good night's sleep, and don't forget to bring you nectar and ambrosia." He checked the clock on the wall. "Dinner. Head counselors, go get your cabin. The rest of you, to the dining pavilion."
At the fire, Harry was supposed to offer his food to his godly parent. The problem remains that he didn't have one. Even Rachel Dare knew who to offer to; Apollo, who gave her the prophetic abilities she possessed.
In the end, he settled on Hades. He figured that he'd be the one taking care of Harry's dead parents, right?
That night, as he lay in bed, he thought about his friends at home. It'd been three weeks since he had seen either Hermione or Ron, and he was missing them a lot. They were his first friends and his best friends. Harry smiled as he heard the little Hermione voice going off at the back of his mind telling him off for getting in this situation, and mini Ron asking if he was okay.
His smile turned sad. It wasn't as if he didn't like the demigods, no, they were great friends, but rather that he couldn't see his other friends. He knew that seeing them would be a horrible idea, and the Hermione voice agreed with him.
Harry just wondered where his friends were now, and if they had found out he wasn't at number four, Privet Drive.
chimera629 - You asked about why Hecate had to show up to camp. It's mainly because she wanted to make it public knowledge that she was on Voldemort's side now and not Harry's. Hera followed her, in hope to change her mind about her loyalties. Harry's abilities are now limited to his powers he had before, so basically only wand magic and a bit of muggle duelling. He has no experience in sword fighting and can't control the Mist anymore. And for your last question, all purebloods are related to Hecate by blood, meaning Hecate started the sacred 28 bloodlines. This means that the witches and wizards are legacies of Hecate. Sometimes, she blesses muggles (mortals) with magic, creating muggleborns. There is no actual difference between a legacy and a descendant. However, I would like to point out that despite that purebloods are directly related to Hecate, their magic is not better than a muggleborn's as they were handpicked to be blessed by Hecate. This doesn't mean muggleborns are more powerful either.
