All things considered, this birthday was going better than the last several. He had a promise to spar with Chiron, Dionysus had remembered his real name, and the harpies had made his favorite dessert, treacle tart. Plus, the new glasses the Hesphatus cabin had made for him allowed him to actually look at someone without being blinded. They were sturdy, with round wire frames, and they were clear. Apparently they had used a special crystal for the lenses. All in all, it was a wonderful day. But he was Harry Potter, so of course something had to come along and ruin it.
-oO0o0Oo-
They stood in the training hall at opposite sides of the circle. The news of their planned sparring practice had spread, and soon a large crowd had gathered to watch Chiron and Harry cross swords. Harry held his sword away from his side, and sized up his opponent, trying to ignore the milling observers. Chiron had been training for thousands of years, and was as skilled with his long sword as he was with his bow. He had the height advantage, the length advantage, the skill advantage, and the strength advantage. Harry would need to come up with a strategy if he was going to be able to hold his own. Harry had reasonable strength, skill, and height, but Chiron was in a class all his own. He felt honored that Chiron had agreed to spar with him, the least he could do to repay the favor was to try to make the fight last as long as possible.
-oO0o0Oo-
Chiron's hooves clopped against the wooden floor as he studied Harry. It was never good to be over confident when entering a fight, and Harry was undoubtedly skilled, but Chiron hadn't been training heroes for decades for nothing. He knew that the boy was going to come at him with everything he had, and he would not embarrass the boy by holding back. He remembered how Harry had smiled yesterday, and was glad he was able to give the boy such happiness, even if it was only for a short while. The Hermes' cabin leader was the referee, and as she blew her whistle, the fight began.
Harry and him were about to exchange blows when the howling of a dozen hell hounds was heard. Harry turned toward the sound, tearing off his glasses.
"There's fifteen of them," Harry shouted to him over the sudden swell of noise as campers rushed to grab their weapons, "I can see their auras. There's also three things in the sky, but I don't know what they are." Unfortunately, Chiron knew exactly what was in the sky. Hades was truly angry with them if he had sent his three furies. Chiron leapt over several campers blocking his way and yelled
"Demigods, split into two groups and attack the hounds from two sides. Archers, shoot at the Furies and keep them from landing," galloping out of the doors. The demigods hefted their weapons and charged, yelling their battle cries. His four legs ate up the distance between him and the monsters, and soon the campers were left in the dust. Only Harry was left keeping pace with him, donning a helmet, his sword gleaming, glasses completely forgotten. The glaring gold-flecked green eyes were the only things visible beneath the armor, and they were focused and merciless in their glare. Chiron reflected that if those were the eyes of an enemy, that was one he would not want to face.
The hellhounds were dispersed among the cabins, one on each of the roofs, while three were surrounding the fire pit in the center. Several campers who hadn't left to watch him and Harry spar were trapped inside cabin 10, every time they tried to rush the door a fury would swoop down and lash at them with their whips of fire. He drew his bow and called to Harry, "Take out those hellhounds on the ground while I handle the furies. We need to get those campers out of there!" Without waiting for a reply, his first arrow was whizzing toward a fury who was swooping down at him, claws extended, eyes red with hate. The battle for camp had begun.
-oO0o0Oo-
Harry held his sword out in front of him and charged the hellhound on the left. Jumping up and over the enraged beast, he slashed down at the neck as the hound ran underneath. Like a crumbling sandcastle, the monster exploded into dust. One down, 14 more to go. Harry remembered the last time he had came face to face with one of these beasts, but this time he had no surprise powers to assist him. The remaining two hellhounds on the ground had split up, one leapt at him from the right, the other blocked off his escape on the left. As the beast pounced, he slid underneath and cut open the furry underside, covering himself in monster dust. Rising, he turned to face the final beast. As it charged, he stepped to the left and plunged his sword hilt deep into its side and the third hellhound returned to the underworld. He heard a snarl from above him and looked up at the sound. During the fight he had gotten closer to one of cabins than he had realized and now directly above him perched another hellhound. At that moment, the rest of the hellhounds on the roofs of the cabins jumped down from their posts and began to advance on Harry.
The rest of the campers picked that moment to arrive. Even the strongest of monsters would have trouble holding their ground against an entire camp full of battle hungry demigods. Two of the furies were quickly felled by the archer's arrows, already having been dealt severe damage by Chiron's onslaught. Forming a semicircle around the Aphrodite's cabin's doors, Harry stood shoulder to shoulder with his comrades from cabin 12 and defended the escaping campers. As the hellhounds tried to attack their fleeing captives, the rest of the camp attacked from behind, wading into the surprised beasts' ranks. As Harry finished dispatching a particularly stubborn hound, he noticed that a young undetermined camper was carefully making their way out of the Hermes' cabin. Apparently there were more campers stuck in their cabins than they had originally realized. But he wasn't the only one who noticed the escaping camper. As he watched, the final fury swooped down and grabbed the camper, dragging them skyward.
Harry didn't hesitate. Out of all the cabins, Hermes' had been the nicest to him. They let him pursue his own interests, they didn't steal his stuff, and right now they were next to him, facing down the enemy. He was not about to let one of his comrades be sent to the underworld prematurely. Sprinting toward the monster he leapt into the air. He rose through the air, higher and higher, until he overtook the fury 20ft above the ground. With one stroke, he severed the head from the body, and as the dust surrounded them, grabbed the camper from its disintegrating claws. Seeing the ground so far away, he placed himself between the camper and the ground as they fell back down. While momentarily surprised at how far he had jumped, he had other things to worry about than undiscovered powers. He should be able to survive the fall, with his healing factor, but he could only hope that his body would be enough of a cushion for the camper to sustain minimal injuries. Harry closed his eyes, bracing for the impact he knew would come.
The impact came much sooner than he had expected, and considerably gentler. When he opened his eyes he realized that he and the camper were sitting astride a white pegasus. Harry smiled in relief, and expertly guided them to the ground. Horses usually hated him, but the pegasi were always happy to see him, this one especially. Sometimes he would take her on early morning flights around the camp if the weather wasn't too cold. But this was no time for reminiscing. As they flew, he realized that the camper had deep gashes on their shoulders and was rapidly losing blood. He urged his steed forward with renewed energy, this camper needed medical treatment, fast. As they sped toward the ground, Harry could only hope that they weren't too late. They were about to touch down when a chorus of howls sounded out from the woods. Passing the wounded camper to a nearby medic, Harry turned and saw at least 20 more hellhounds stalking out from between the cabins. It seemed that Hades had sent reinforcements.
As he watched the herd of beasts advance on the campers, Harry's body trembled with rage. Who were they to threaten his home and his adopted family? Everyone was tired from the previous onslaught; they would be hard pressed to defend against this new force. With the flood of emotions coursing through him, Harry's palms began to tingle and the lightning marks began to glow. Gripped by a sudden surge of understanding, Harry grasped his sword's hilt with both hands, leveled the point at the oncoming beasts, and released the energy swirling inside him at the foes. Lighting discharged from his palms, crackled down the length of his sword, and arced from the point to each monster, frying the entire horde of beasts in a deadly wave of electricity.
-oO0o0Oo-
McGonagall stood at the edge of a beach, mouth agape, as she watched the ferocious battle come to a close. She had thought that Dumbledore had left Harry with muggles, but one warrior had clearly summoned lighting, wandlessly and wordlessly as well, and had jumped at least 20ft in the air. She wondered if she had come to the right place, but she reaffixed her face into her normal stern expression and strode toward the battlefield in the hopes of speaking with someone in charge. As she approached the group, several people took notice of her and pointed their various assortment of weapons at her. With a start, she realized that most of the group looked to be in their young teens, and the young warrior they were surrounding was collapsed on the ground. She started to try to move pass the people blocking her way, but before she could make any progress, a voice called out to her.
"Halt! Who are you, and how did you get here?" the voice came from above and behind her, and when she turned around, drawing her wand, she realized it was a majestic white centaur who was addressing her. Overcoming her momentary feeling of surprise, she drew herself up to her full height and responded.
"My name is Professor McGonagall, Teacher of Transfiguration and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I came here in the hopes of delivering Harry Potter's acceptance letter in person, as the owls we have sent have not returned. Who might you be and why are you interested?"
-oO0o0Oo-
Chiron thought the day's quota of surprises had been filled when no less 35 hellhounds and 3 furies had somehow made it past the barriers and attacked the camp. When Harry had suddenly displayed amazing powers, he only assumed he had miscalculated. But now, when a mysterious woman appeared wearing clothes he had only seen once before and talked of things he had never heard of, he resigned himself to dealing with any number of surprises, as clearly things were not about to get more ordinary.
"My name is Chiron, Trainer of Heroes, Son of Kronos, and Activities Director at Camp Half-Blood. You have just passed borders assumed to be impenetrable and are inquiring about one of my campers. Harry Potter has been with us since 11 years ago, when a strange man appeared, left him here, and then disappeared. Since then, Harry has grown up here, and we have no knowledge of Hogwarts or any acceptance letter. He has trained and studied to be the best he can be, and was intent on remaining here for the remainder of his studies. He, at this moment, is passed out from his efforts, but should regain consciousness shortly. If you do not trust me, perhaps it would be better to address him yourself," he responded, gesturing for the campers to lower their weapons.
-oO0o0Oo-
AN:
All rights belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling and Rick Riordan for the original stories.
I had hoped to end on McGonagall taking Harry to Britain but the chapter was getting too long.
Quick Poll: Would you like me to upload every weekend or sporadically like I am now?
Thanks for your reviews!