Euphemia headed straight for Diagon Alley. She really hadn't thought this whole situation through. How was she supposed to go anywhere in the muggle world without breaking the Statute of Secrecy? There was her idea to get to America on a muggle plane ruined. It was such a pity as it was something she had always wanted to do.
After enjoying a butterbeer in The Leaky Cauldron, Euphemia learned from Tom the barman that she could get an international portkey to New York from the Portkey Office in the Department of Magical Transportation in the Ministry. She also got some great information on magical travel, such as how it was possible to rent a vanishing box from the post office so that letters could be sent internationally. She thanked him, and decided to rent a room with him for the night and buy everything she would need the next day.
The next day Euphemia spent buying things she would need for her travels and for the summer. She took out some more money from her Gringotts vault and wandered around Diagon Alley. She got her vanishing box from the post office and some Owl Order forms in case she needed anything over the summer she hadn't already thought of. She wouldn't have to come back when the booklist came out if she didn't want to. She also impulsively bought the new, top of the range Nimbus 2001 broomstick. She couldn't wait to get to camp and be healed and be able to use it.
She checked out of the Leaky Cauldron and thanked Tom for his help. He showed her how to travel by floo and she flooed into The Ministry of Magic. It was extremely impressive. She took the lift to the sixth floor to the Department of Magical Transportation, and located the portkey office. Once he got over the shock of having a celebrity in his office, and after filling out a variety of forms, an older greying wizard named Basil authorised a portkey for her. Somehow the goblins had obtained the exact co-ordinates of Camp Half-Blood for her, so she would have an incredibly easy trip. She thanked Basil, then grabbed onto the sheet of parchment that had been enchanted into a one-time port-key for her. With a jerk to her navel, she was gone.
Euphemia arrived at the top of Half-Blood Hill, was thrown from her broomstick, and was violently sick. She cursed Basil and Tom. Maybe she should have guessed that travelling nearly instantaneously across continents would be disorienting but a bit of warning would have been nice. Nevertheless, no amount of sickness could quell her excitement to finally arrive at Camp Half-Blood. She had to admit the scenery was stunning. She could make out an eclectic mix of buildings down in the valley and fields of strawberries stretched for miles. She crawled back onto her broom and made her way down into the valley. A camper in the distance saw her coming and sprinted away, presumably to inform someone of the new arrival. Euphemia kept a firm grip on her sword. It was supposedly safe here, but Euphemia was not letting her guard down until she knew for certain.
A centaur galloped towards her. 'Hello' he greeted her while scrutinising her appearance. 'I am Chiron, activities director at this camp. Might I ask who you are?'
'Euphemia Potter' she answered nervously. Chiron raised an eyebrow. 'Really?' 'The wizarding world's Euphemia Potter? Have you been claimed by your godly parent? Seeing that you are her I assume you at least have some knowledge of the gods.
'I was hoping I would be able to find out who they were here,' she responded. The goblins think my two mortal parents partook in some ancient ritual so my godly parent is technically my third parent. I don't know whether they're male or female although I have some theories as to who they're not. I only really know about the gods what I've read in books.'
Chiron nodded. 'Well hopefully it won't take you long to be claimed. Until then I'll introduce you to one of the older campers who will show you around and show you where you will be staying.
As Euphemia followed him down into the valley, Chiron spoke. 'I must ask, is there a reason why you are riding that broomstick and not walking. I don't interact with the wizarding world much, but I understand they are mainly used for sport or long difference travel. Euphemia winced. 'I was attacked by one of my teachers while playing Quidditch and fell off my broom. I was hit by a bludger during the incident and the impact of the fall has left me without the use of my legs. I was hoping there would be some way to fix them here?'
Chiron looked at her sympathetically. 'I am truly sorry but we have no immediate cure. We could have probably treated it in the immediate aftermath of the incident with the food of the gods, ambrosia and nectar, but I fear that at this stage the injury has been left too long. Other potential cures have been lost centuries ago. Your best hope would be to pray to Apollo for a cure, however it is unlikely he would cure something of this nature unless it was a reward for some great feat of bravery.'
Euphemia was crushed. She hadn't fully accepted that she would have to cope with her injury for longer than a few months. She had never actually considered that it could be for life. She followed Chiron down into the valley where he handed her over to an older boy named Luke, who showed her around the camp. He seemed pretty nice, and Euphemia knew he likely had other things he would rather be doing than entertaining an eleven year old. When she saw the interior of cabin eleven she immediately resolved that she would be owl-ordering a magically expanded tent. Surely the gods could supply better accommodation for their children? She really wasn't up for sleeping on the floor. She saw a camp orientation film, which really seemed like it had been created with younger children in mind, but still had some useful information. She learned from Luke that some people in the Hermes cabin had never been claimed by their parents and Euphemia silently prayed that wouldn't be her.
Much like at Hogwarts, whispering and staring followed Euphemia around the camp. Hopefully it was just a case of them being interested in the new girl and it would subside soon. Soon it was time for dinner and Euphemia followed the rest of the Hermes cabin down to the mess hall. Here too the Hermes cabin table was much too overcrowded. Overall dinner was an interesting experience. When the time came to give offerings to the gods, Euphemia prayed to her parent to claim her and for Apollo to heal her. She got no response apart from the delicious smell of the very best food at a Hogwarts feast. She chatted with and got to know her new room-mates. She was introduced to the campers as Eugenia Potts by a man in Hawaiian shirt that Luke had told her was the god of wine, Dionysus. Her room-mates all seemed like people she would get along well with. They accepted her as one of them, only treating her differently because she was new, not because she was famous or because they were intimidated by Dudley. She knew that soon she would be one of them.
A.N. Thanks for reading, I hope you are enjoying this. Please review and let me know what you think.