Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan and I am not JK Rowling. I do not own any characters except for the ones I make up.

The news of the bathroom of incident must've spread like a wildfire because everyone was talking about it, pointing at Percy and talking about toilet water as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. They also looked at Annabeth and Harry, who were both still dripping wet, like they were proof that the most amazing thing happened, which, basically, they were. Annabeth showed them newbies a few more places like the metal shop, the arts-and-crafts room, and the most dangerous of them all, the climbing wall. The climbing wall was technically two walls that sprayed lava and it had mini earthquakes. After a while, she lead us back to the cabins and said, "I've got training to do. Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets," Percy apologized.

"Whatever."

"It wasn't my fault."

She stared at him and Harry understood why. I was Percy's fault. Not his, not Clarisse's, not anyone else's. All Harry did was shock some bully and electrify the water. How he did that? Again, he had no idea.

"You two need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.

"Who?"

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

"How can we talk to something that's not a who?"

"You'll see, Harry."

Harry sighed as the others had another talk about naiads.

"Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

"What about Hogwarts?"

"Wizarding school isn't the world's safest place, Harry."

"You mean, mentally disturbed kids? I mean, wizards don't exist and if so why hasn't he done magic yet? He has to be crazy."

"I'm offended," frowned Harry, "I can't do magic outside of school."

"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?"

"I think you know."

"God. Half-god."

"Your father isn't dead, Percy. Neither is yours, Harry. They're one of the Olympians."

"That's ... crazy."

"Even crazier than having a giant break down the door and telling your a wizard? No, but just as crazy," Harry agreed.

Percy gave him the craziest look ever but didn't comment. "Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"

"But those are just- But if all the kids here are half-gods-"

"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."

"Then who's your dad?"

Her stormy eyes turned even darker as if a lightning storm was happening in her head. "My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."

"He's human."

"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"

"Who's your mom, then?"

"Cabin six."

"Meaning?"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle. My siblings include Hermione, Malcom, and about a dozen other campers."

That explained Hermione's love for books and her impeccable memory when it came to facts and the exact word in whatever book she read.

"And our dad?"

"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."

"Except my mother. She knew."

"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."

"My dad would have. He loved her."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

"The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always ... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

"So I'm stuck here," Percy said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"

Harry frowned. He didn't want to be stuck here. "It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"That's reassuring, Annabeth."

"So monsters can't get in here?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intententionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights. Practical jokes."

"Practical jokes?"

"That's just cruel," Harry remarked.

"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"So ... you're a year-rounder?"

Anabeth nodded and pulled a leather necklace with five beads and a golden ring on it. "I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

"Why did you come so young?"

Her fingers seemed to instinctively begin to twist her ring. "None of your business."

"Oh."

Silence.

"So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."

"Unless?"

"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever hap-pens. The last time ..."

"Something bad happened?", Harry guessed.

"Back in the sick room," Percy said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

Annabeth tensed. "So you do know something?"

"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

"I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others-we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But... how did you get there?"

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at him expectantly. "You are a New Yorker, right?"

"Oh, sure."

"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping ... I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem..."

The smell of barbecue got Harry's attention. "I'm starving," he muttered.

Percy agreed and they walked back to Cabin Eleven. The entire Cabin was laughing and goofing around, playing pranks on each other. Percy invited Harry over to his spot and they sat down together. Luke walked over to them, the smile Harry had seen so many times on the twins' faces was visible. He could really see the family resemblance. "Found you both a sleeping bag," he said, "And here, some toiletries stolen from the camp store."

Harry also saw it in their personalities.

"Thanks, Luke."

"No prob, boys," he said lazily, leaning against the wall. "Tough first day?"

"I don't belong here," he said. "I don't even believe in gods."

"By now, nothing surprises me," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Yeah," he said with a bitter tone. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."

"So your dad is Hermes?"

He grabbed a switchblade and began scraping mud off of his sandals. "Yeah. Hermes."

"The wing-footed messenger guy."

"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."

"Oh."

"You ever meet your dad?"

"Once."

There was silence and Harry figured that Luke didn't like the subject. "Don't worry about it. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."

"Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about us being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said we might be 'the one.' She said Harry and I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"

"I hate prophecies."

"What do you mean?"

"There are prophesies, too?"

"Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp."

"Somebody special?"

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it, kids," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."

As if on cue, horns blew in the distance. "Eleven, fall in!"

The entire cabin ran out into the yard, around twenty people in total, and lined in order of how old they were, so of course Harry was last. Other cabins were also walking out, except the empty ones. Satyrs and other children and adults walked out of the forest to join them and they all started to the pavilion. Torches revealed twelve tables for each cabin with white cloth with purple trim. Four tables were empty and most weren't very crowded. Eleven however was way to overcrowded with too little room. All the stayrs including Grover and Neville were sitting with Mr. D at Table Twelve. Chiron stood, too big to sit at a table. Annabeth and Hermione were sitting at table six, Hermione's curly, brown hair easy to spot in the sea of blondes and Ron was sitting with Cabin Seven, also looking a bit out of place with his hard-to-miss red hair. After everyone settled down, Chiron pounded his hoof against the floor, raised and glass, and yelled, "To the gods!"

Everyone followed his example and raised their glasses. "To the gods!"

The girls from the woods scattered with platters of all types of food that succeeded in making his mouth water. They didn't have any drinks, sadly, and Harry was thirsty. Percy must've been having the same problem because Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want-nonalcoholic, of course."

"Pumpkin juice," Harry said immediately and watched as an invisible pitcher filled the glass with an orange drink.

He sipped it with and smiled. "Any non alcoholic drink possible and you choose pumpkin juice?", asked Percy.

"Is there a problem?", asked Harry, confused.

"No, British people just have weird tastes."

"Americans aren't much better," He said, gesturing towards the blue drink.

Percy rolled his eyes and drank some of it. Harry got himself some roast beef and was about to cut it when Luke called them. The two newbies exchanged confused looks and followed him. Everyone seemed to be taking the best parts of their meals and burning them in the fire. Honestly, Harry wondered if these people we're just crazy. "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell," their counselor explained.

"If they're at the Empire State Building, how can they smell it from here?", Harry asked curiously.

Luke shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Just don't take it lightly."

"Is he kidding?", muttered Percy.

"We just found out one of our parents is a god," Harry pointed out. "I'm pretty sure he wasn't kidding about that so why should he be kidding about this."

Percy shrugged. "That's a good point."

Luke finished burning some of his food and Harry walked up to the fireplace. He took some of his roast beef and pushed it into the fireplace, dedicating this roast beef to his godly parent, whoever that was. He was surprised to see how quickly it burned and how good it smelled. It reminded him of Hogwarts' beginning of the year banquet and that made him homesick in a way. He reluctantly backed away and headed back to the table to eat his food. Soon, everyone returned to their seats and Chiron once again pounded his foot against the floor. They stared at him and Mr. D stood up with a sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

The kids at the Ares table cheered.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have two new campers today. Peter Johnson and Harold Otter."

The centaur muttered something to him and Mr. D waved his hand dismissively. "Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everyone cheered and began to scramble towards the amphitheater. Ron and his other siblings of the Apollo Cabin lead the songs about the gods and life at camp and everyone joked around, laughing loudly. The s'mores were delicious, as were the marshmallows but the important thing was Harry was having fun. He felt at home, just as he did when he went to Hogwarts but this... this wasn't a strict school of magic. This was a fun with a casual environment and Harry loved it.

A few hours later, the conch horns from before blew again and Harry followed the rest of his cabin. Harry laid down in his sleeping bag, feeling exhaustion wash over him. His eyelids were suddenly heavy and he felt like he could sleep for years. "Night, Harry," quipped the twins as they got into bed.

"Night," he muttered back before he fell asleep without bothering to take his glasses off.

Harry knew he'd be happy there and worried very little. Sadly, he didn't know what he was going to get himself into.