Chapter 2 Diagon Alley
Percy and Frank shared a room that was in the front of the bar, with a window showing the street.
Frank was sleeping on his bed in the form of a bulldog and Percy stared out the window wondering about their mission when suddenly a blur of color flashed by and a rather rickety weird looking bus appeared in front of the Leaky Cauldron.
A boy that looked like a younger version of himself with glasses jumped down off the bus. Someone helped the young boy lower a trunk and a cage – was that a white owl?
"Well, bye then," The boy said.
"There you are, Harry," A man approached the boy from behind, and grabbed the boy's shoulder.
Then they conversed some more and then the man asked,
"Neville?"
Percy almost fell asleep.
"This is Harry Potter."
Percy jumped up hitting his head on the window sill.
"Holy Hades," Percy muttered, rubbing his head, as he ducked out of sight as the man looked his way."
"I knew it!" The bus guy shouted, "Ern! Ern! Guess 'oo Neville is, Ern! 'E's 'Arry Potter! I can see 'is scar!"
"Shout a little more," Percy whispered to himself, "And let the whole world hear you. Great idea." Percy's last two words were ringed with sarcasm.
The man steered Harry into the Leaky Cauldron and immediately Percy decided he was going to watch this. If he was going to protect the famous Harry Potter, he might as well do it right.
Percy crept out of the room and slipped into room 4, where Annabeth slept.
Exactly where Percy expected was Annabeth's Yankee cap hanging on her bed post. Taking it off and setting it on his head, Percy left the room invisible.
Percy sat down at an empty table just as the man and Harry strode in. The bartender, Tom, grinned and called across the room,
"You've got him, Minister!" Tom bustled over to the two, "Will you be wanting anything? Beer? Brandy?"
"Perhaps, a pot of tea," said the man, Percy noticed he hadn't let go of Harry yet.
Two men entered the bar, one of them Percy recognized as the loud bus guy, carrying in what Percy guessed was Harry's belongings. Which included, a trunk and a cage that held a beautiful snowy owl.
"`Ow come you di'n't tell us 'oo you are, eh, Neville?" said the loud bus guy, beaming at Harry, while the other guy peered over the loud bus guy's shoulder.
"And a private parlor, please, Tom," the man said, pointedly.
"Bye," Harry sounded upset as the man marched Harry after the bartender. Percy followed closed behind, his hand in his pocket just in case.
Tom led the two, and Percy unknowingly, to a small little room in the back, the fireplace burst into flames as Tom snapped his fingers, and then Tom left.
Percy walked closer to the two wizards.
"Sit down, Harry," the man motioned toward a chair next to the fireplace.
Harry sat, and Percy walked over until he was standing right next to Harry. The mandate down opposite of Harry.
"I am Cornelius Fudge, Harry. The minister of Magic." The man said gravely.
Percy had to bite on his fingers to keep from laughing.
Tom entered the room once again with a silver tray of biscuits and tea.
"Well, Harry," Fudge said, pouring out tea. The two wizards failed to notice four of the biscuits disappear on the silver platter. "You've had us all in a right flap, I don't mind telling you. Running away from your Aunt and Uncle's house like that! I'd started to think . . . but you're safe now and that's what matters."
Percy chewed his second biscuit slowly, digesting the minister's words.
"Eat, Harry, you look dead on your feet."
Percy definitely agreed, Harry looked thinner than Nico, thinner than a twig. Percy knew that if Harry ever met his mom, Sally Jackson, his mom would throw a big fit about not eating enough. Then she would sit him down in the kitchen and make him eat two batches of cookies, or five cheeseburgers. Percy loved cheeseburgers, they were so yummy and delicious . . . Percy remembered when the seven had taken Hazel to McDonalds and had shown her what real American food was like. Whoops! Pay attention!
"I broke the law!" Harry was saying, "the decree of the restriction of underage sorcery."
Percy clapped a hand around his mouth to keep himself from blurting out, You broke the Law!
Percy hadn't expected this young boy, barely a teenager to have already messed with the law. Okay, Percy was wanted when he was twelve. But he was a demigod, that thing happens all the time.
"Oh, my dear boy, we're not going to punish you for a little thing like that!" Cried the minister, "It was an accident! We don't send people to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!"
Now Percy could think of one thing that power would come in handy . . . Jeez, his family was huge, and it had a lot of people that deserved being blown up.
"Last year I got a official warning just because a house elf used magic to smash a pudding in my Uncle's house," Harry told Fudge, frowning. "The ministry said I would be expelled if there was anymore magic done there!"
Percy frowned, that didn't match up very well, how was Harry getting off so easily?
"Circumstances change, Harry . . . We have to take into account . . . In the present climate . . . Surely you don't want be expelled?" Fudge said slowly, looking indeed awkward.
Percy scrunched up his face trying to figure out what that meant, if only Annabeth was around.
"Of course, I don't," Harry said, quickly.
"Good, you will be staying in room eleven," Fudge said, solemnly, and he strode out of the parlor.
Harry stared after him for awhile, then got up and grabbed a biscuit and left the room, Percy followed behind, after grabbing the last three biscuits of course. They were good biscuits.
Annabeth woke up with a scream, beads of sweat rolled down her face, and she was shaking uncontrollably.
Piper dashed out of the room, and ran right into Percy's room.
"Annabeth, Dreams, Now," Piper gasped.
Percy was out of bed before Piper could blink and dashed out of the room.
Percy sat down on Annabeth's bed, Annabeth's eyes were closed, and little screams burst from her mouth.
"Percy. . . Gone. . . Alone. . ." Annabeth gasped, "I can't see. . . Blind!"
Percy reached out and stroked her cheek,
"Annabeth, it's all right, we are safe, Percy is right here," Percy said, quietly, "You are not alone."
Annabeth shuddered, and yelled, "Alone! Percy where are you!?"
"Annabeth Chase, wake up right now," Piper commanded.
Annbeth's eyes opened, and she gasped.
"I-I was a-alone, blind. Oh, Percy," Annabeth shuddered, and Percy wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm here now, we are together, everything is fine," Percy reassured her, "Let's think of happy thinks, like . . . Breakfast!" Percy's face lit up, and Annabeth laughed, punching him in the shoulder.
"Well, breakfast does sound nice," Annabeth agreed.
"Let's go eat, then," Piper said, forcing a smile on her face, seeing Annabeth like that was . . . sad.
"You mean Harry Potter broke the law, and got away with it?" Leo whispered, as they all sat at a table discussing what Percy had seen the night before.
"Something is not right," Annabeth said, "Smashing desert-"
"Pudding to be more specific," Percy told his girlfriend.
Pudding is desert in England, Percy," Annabeth informed him, "Using magic to smash a pudding would be very little magic but he was given a warning about getting expelled next time magic happened in the house. Something is up," Annabeth said, thinking, "blowing up his aunt, that had to be big magic, he should have been expelled."
"Maybe the Minister is a big fan of Harry Potter," Frank said, "I've heard that Harry is really famous and sometimes he gets annoyed with all the attention."
Percy, Jason, and Thalia sighed.
"Maybe," Hazel said, "but the Minister kept saying, 'at least you're safe', and things like that. Perhaps something has happened that has made Harry in an unsafe position."
"I think Hazel is on to something," Annabeth decided, "Perhaps a jail break."
"Or Tom," Reyna said. "The dark wizard that is after Harry."
"Wow, what a scary name for a dark wizard," Leo rolled his eyes, "Tom, it just shakes my bones with fear."
"Don't be sarcastic Leo," Nico warned, "the dark wizard goes by Voldemort now, and he isn't to be taken lightly."
"I thought this Voldy guy disappeared about twelve years ago," Percy said.
"He did," Nico hissed, "But he has already made a visit to Harry twice since then."
"Harry is alive, so it looks like Harry can survive on his own," Thalia pointed out, idly shooting an arrow at the ceiling.
"Yes, but when Harry was eleven, Voldemort entered the castle disguised as a professor and tried to steal something that would make him immortal, Harry managed to stop him, barely surviving," Nico said in a whisper, "In his second year, Voldemort managed to possess his best friend's sister and tried to kill Harry using the Chamber of Secret's monster, a basilisk, a deadly snake. Harry managed to kill the snake, and save his best friends sister, defeating Voldemort once again. I think Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, is worried Voldemort will make another appearance in Harry's life. And no one has survived escaping from Voldemort three times."
"Jeez, this guy sounds dangerous," Leo whistled.
"You seem to know a lot about this," Hylla said, suspiciously.
"I've met a lot of wizards in the underworld," Nico said, simply, "And I've met a lot of ghosts."
"You mean Lars?" Retina asked.
"No actual ghosts," Nico said.
"That's weird, ghosts-"
"Ghosts do exist, Annabeth," Nico warned.
"Hey, guys-"
"Guess who-"
"Is coming down-"
"The stairs-"
"And about to-"
"Be pranked." The Stolls said excitedly.
"Percy, there's a water balloon above the stairs," Reyna said.
"The winds tell me, Harry is coming down," Jason gasped.
"I'll use the mist to make you a wand," Hazel ordered, "Use your power over water."
"I call popping the balloon," Thalia said, notching an arrow.
Hazel concentrated, and Percy was suddenly holding a wand.
Thalia's arrow whizzed through the air and popped the water balloon. The water rained down and Percy raised his wand and closed his eyes in concentration, the water zipped through the air and landed in Percy's cup. Reyna did a somersault catching the popped balloon. Harry stared at them astonished.
"Sorry," Percy shrugged, he glared at the Stolls, "They are always pranking random people."
Harry turned to the Stolls.
"Hello, Harry," They said in unison.
"We are Travis-"
"And Conner-"
"Stoll." They bowed.
Harry's mouth dropped open.
"Do you happen to be related to, er, the Weasleys?" Harry asked.
"Nope," Travis said.
"Of course not, if you were related to the Weasleys you would have red hair," Harry said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I'm Harry Potter." He held out his hand and Percy shook it.
"I'm Percy Jackson, and these are my friends, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, L-"
"The one and only amazing, LEO VALDEZ!" Leo shouted, "Go team Leo!"
"Well, that's Insane Leo Valdez," Percy said, laughing at Harry's shocked face, "Then, that's Calypso, my girlfriend Annabeth Chase, Hylla, Reyna, I am not going to give you their last names because they are long and I don't remember them. This is Thalia Grace, believe it or not she actually is older than her brother Jason by six or more years, and Nico de Angelo, you already met the Stolls, this is Clarisse La Rue, Chris Rodriguez, Lou Ellen, Katie Gardner, Will Solace, and the sleeping figure Will is carrying is Clovis, he sleeps 24/7, Juniper, and Grover Underwood, and Rachel Elizabeth Dare, don't cross her or she might throw her plastic hairbrush at you."
Percy took a deep breath and looked around, "Did I miss anyone?"
"Well, I'm here to make sure all twenty-two of these teenagers are on their best behavior," Coach Hedge grunted taking a bite of his napkin and chewing it slowly, "I'm Gleeson Hedge, but call me Coach."
"Coach, get that napkin out of your mouth," Piper said.
Coach Hedge's eyes widened and he spit it out.
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Coach can be very strange sometimes," Hazel told him, "We're Wizards and Witches from America, we were wondering if you could show us around."
"Sure," Harry said, "Hazel, right?"
"Yeah," Hazel nodded.
"Have you been to Diagon Alley?" Harry asked, sitting down between Percy and Jason.
"Never heard of it," Percy said, taking a big bite of his roll.
"It's like the wizarding mall-" Harry paused, "Sorry, I live with muggles a mall is a muggle store. Diagon alley is an alley with a bunch of Wizarding Stores."
"Muggle?" Jason asked. Percy had his hand clamped across Annabeth's mouth. Jason understood, that Annabeth, as a child of the wisdom goddess, Annabeth felt insulted that Harry thought she didn't know what a mall was. Anyone would be insulted about that.
"A muggle is someone who isn't a witch or wizard," Harry said, looking at them confused, "Shouldn't you already know that?"
"In America we call them mortals," Frank said hastily.
Jason shot him a thankful look.
"I guess I should show you Diagon Alley," Harry said, he turned to Tom's kitchen helper, Berta and ordered pancakes. Once he had ordered he turned back to the big group.
"What's your favorite Quidditch team?" Harry asked, turning to Percy.
"Quidditch?" Percy asked, taking a bite of Annabeth's pancakes, Annabeth elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!"
"I mean, what's your favorite?" Percy corrected, "I got preoccupied with my food, sorry."
Harry's eyebrows raised further.
"I'm not sure, probably Bulgaria," Harry shrugged, "But since I'm still in school, I want the Gryffindor team to win."
"Gryffindor?"
"Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, if you are so curious about Hogwarts ask my friend Hermione Granger, she knows more about it," Harry advised, thanking Berta when she brought him his pancakes.
"Hermione Granger?" Annabeth asked.
"She's one of my good friends," Harry explained, "She is a big reader and the brightest witch in our year."
"Sounds like Annabeth," Percy said, taking another big bite of Annabeth's pancakes. Annabeth shot him a glare.
"Well," Harry said, "I'm finished, I can show you Diagon Alley."
"Wait a second," Percy said, "Are you going to finish that pancake?"
"Where do you want to go first?" Harry asked.
"Gringotts," Annabeth said immediately, "We need to get our money out."
"Right," Harry said, "Do you have your keys?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good, it is right down this street," Harry said, taking them down to a big white building.
"Check out the Architecture," Annabeth breathed, "It's beautiful."
Hazel read the writing engraved on the stone above the door.
"Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there."
"Wow," Leo said, "That's . . . friendly."
Harry laughed as he pushed open the door and the large group filed in.
"Back again, Potter?" A rather rough voice said.
"So that's a goblin," Percy whispered.
"Griphook, these friendly American wizards need open their vaults," Harry said carefully.
"Actually, I'm Canadian," Frank added.
The gnarled looking goblin nodded thoughtfully.
"Dumbledore's Americans?" Griphook whispered, only so Percy could hear.
Percy nodded.
"Your keys, please," Griphook clapped his hands together.
Everyone produced their keys from their pockets. Each key had their name engraved on them, was made out of Celestial Bronze, and had a symbol or jewel on them.
Annabeth's key had a fancy owl carved on it.
Percy had a trident carved on his.
Jason had a Sapphire imbedded in his.
Hazel's key was covered in gems that only she would be able to identify.
Frank's key was obviously enchanted. The eagle would change into a bear then an elephant then an eagle and the cycle would restart.
Leo's key kept bursting into flames, everyone stayed clear from his.
To name a few. After a few hours, all twenty-two of the teenagers and adults if you count Hylla, Percy, and Annabeth.
"Well, where do you want to go first?"
"Flourish and Blotts," Annabeth said, jumping up, "I heard it had books."
"Definitely not that place," Percy said.
"Quality Quidditch Supplies," Jason said.
Harry laughed, "Looks like we are going to need to split up." Harry grinned.
"Okay then," Percy said, "I shall do the honors. Group 1, Me, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel. Group 2, Jason, Piper, Leo, and Calypso. Group 3, Clarisse, Chris, Travis, and Katie-"
"I get stuck with Travis!?" Katie yelled.
"Yup," Percy grinned evilly, "Group 5-"
"Group 4, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth corrected.
"Group 4," Percy rolled his eyes, "Grover, Juniper, and Lou Ellen. Group 5, Reyna, Hylla, Rachel, and Thalia. Only because Thalia would kill me if I stuck her with a group with boys."
Thalia idly notched an arrow.
"Group 6, Nico, Will, Conner, and Clovis, but you guys can drop Clovis off at The Leaky Cauldron if he gets too heavy.
"Perce, I'm a doctor, not a fighter," Will groaned, "I can't carry Clovis." Will's knees were about to buckle, when Nico grabbed the heavy sleeper, and took him out of Will's arms.
"Thanks, Nico," Will said, "I'll help you tow Sleeper Boy to the Leaky Cauldron."
As the two boys disappeared around the corner with Clovis in their arms, Harry piped up.
"Does Clovis always sleep?"
"It's a long story," Percy said, "But yes, Clovis sleeps all the time."
"I wonder why," Harry said, but the others didn't offer any information.
"Well, let's split up," Percy said, "If you run Conner, you probably will be able to catch up with Will and Nico."
The quickly formed into their groups and Harry decided he would go with Will, Conner, and Nico.
With Group 5 Friendly Arguments and Book Shops
"Well, what do we want to do first?" Reyna asked her group.
Hylla stopped juggling her three knives and she stuck them in her belt. "Let's follow Annabeth's group, I thought Flourish and Blotts sounded interesting."
Reyna looked at her sister, Hylla wasn't the person to sit down and read.
"I'm going to read up on this world," Hylla said, "I want to know every detail."
"Fine with me," Reyna said, "I need to know some details to."
"I agree," Rachel said, "I want to know about the fortune telling and Seers and stuff."
"I'll just tag along, perhaps they'll have good targets in there," Thalia said, lazily shooting an arrow at a store sign.
"Someone's bored," Rachel commented, taking a few colored markers out of her jean pocket and started doodling on her shirt as she walked.
"Says the girl who is drawing on her shirt," Thalia said, watching one of her arrows hit a cauldron with a ping.
"Hey," Rachel protested, "I love drawing."
"Point for Dare," Thalia said, shooting another arrow at a random passer's long pointed hat. It pierced right through the witch's hat without the witch noticing.
"Point for Grace," Rachel said, drawing an arrow on her sleeve.
"Thalia," Thalia growled, "I do not use Grace anymore."
"Of course you don't, Thalia Grace," Rachel said, smirking, as she slipped her markers into her pocket, and pulled out her blue hairbrush and began running the brush through her red hair.
"Oh, Dare," Thalia scowled, notching another arrow and letting the arrow fly, it hit a sign that said FLOURISH AND BLOTTS, right in the middle of O of flourish.
"Uh, guys?" Reyna said, opening the door for her sister, "We are here."
"Thanks, Praeter," Thalia said, gliding through the door. Rachel snorted and stepped into the shop.
Immediately they noticed the smell, it was paper, ink, and that musty book smell. You could hear the rustling of pages as people opened up the books. On a stand there was a bunch of pots of different colored ink, Rachel even noticed an ink that seemed to change color every few minute. Bunches of quills were in pots and people poured over them.
"Don't they use pens?" Rachel asked, pulling a dark blue quill that was gold tipped out of a pot.
"It seems like the whole wizarding world is behind in technology," Hylla commented, "People haven't used quills for . . . well, a long time."
Thalia went down the shelves looking for any books that might catch her eye, she pulled out a book labeled The History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot. Thalia sat down in one of the chairs and opened the book.
Hylla combed the shelves, looking for something particular, she seemed to find it when she pulled it off the shelves and sat down immediately opening up the book to start reading.
Reyna looked at the ink, and then she studied the feathers, pulling each one out and examining them. Then she looked over the parchment and finally settled on pulling out another copy of the same book her sister was reading.
Rachel looked around the store for a little bit and then found a book she was willing to read titled Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky. As she turned a corner she ran right into Annabeth who was holding a large stack of books.
The books scattered everywhere and Rachel and Annabeth scrambled to get them.
"What's the problem girls?" A very short and familiar man said, smiling.
"Professor Flitwick," Annabeth said, jumping off the floor and dropping her books once again.
"Ah, Annabeth," The professor nodded looking amused, "Having trouble I suppose?"
"Yes, if you could . . ." Annabeth smiled sheepishly.
"No problem, Annabeth," Professor Flitwick smiled, "Wingardium Leviosa, there you go, Annabeth."
"Thanks, Professor," Annabeth said, as all the books flew into her hands, "I believe this one was yours Rachel," Annabeth handed her a book. Rachel took it and then thanked her quickly sitting down on one of the chairs. Annabeth sat down on the chair next to her.
"What's up with all the books Annabeth?" Rachel asked, setting her book down.
"Well, I need to know a lot about this world," Annabeth said, "So I have, The History of Magic, Hogwarts: A History, and a lot more."
Rachel nodded, opening up her book.
With Group 1 the Shopping and Ice Cream Craze
"Okay, Annabeth, now can we leave?" Percy asked. Annabeth handed him her large stack of books.
"Just wait Percy," Annabeth said, pulling some more books off the shelves and stacking them on her ever growing pile.
"We've been here for an hour," Percy whined, "I'm starving, and Harry told me there was an Ice Cream shop down the street."
"What is it called?" Annabeth said, flipping through another book and adding it to the pile.
"Floral Flowers Ice Cream Parlor?" Percy said, thinking out loud, "Something like that."
"I doubt it is called Floral Flowers, Percy," Annabeth said, investigating a grey quill that was tipped with silver.
Hazel touched the quill,
"Wow, that's pure silver," Hazel said.
"Good," Annabeth put it on top of her pile of books and started looking at the inks. She picked up one that was a dark grey, but set it down. She investigated a few more inks and finally settled on a black ink and a dark grey ink. She set them on her pile of books and started investigating the parchment. She grabbed three rolls and set them on the pile that had grown about a foot taller than Percy.
"Er, Annabeth?" Percy said.
"Hmm?" Annabeth asked, grabbing a few black quills and adding them to her pile.
"Do you have money to pay for this?" Percy said, almost tripped over the table of ink, Fran guided him around it.
"Do you think I would pick it up if I couldn't pay for it, Percy?" Annabeth said.
"Of course not, Wise Girl," Percy said, "But could we really leave? Thalia and her group left hours ago."
"You just said we have been here for an hour, Percy," Annabeth corrected, "How can Thalia and her group leave hours ago when we've only been here an hour?"
"I don't know, but they did leave hours ago," Percy said, "I'm hungry for ice cream, aren't you hungry for ice cream?"
"That would be nine galleons, sixteen sickles, and twenty-four knuts," The shopkeeper said.
Annabeth handed him his money.
"Would you like an expansion charm on your bag?" The shopkeeper asked.
"Yes, please," Annabeth said.
The shopkeeper gave Annabeth a cloth bag, and to Percy's amazement, Annabeth put her large stack of books, quills, ink, and parchment into the bag with ease without a problem.
Annabeth picked up the bag and tossed it to Percy.
Percy caught it with ease.
"Now, we will leave, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, joining Hazel and Frank at the door of the shop.
"Floral Flowers Ice Cream Parlor here we come," Percy announced.
"Floral Flowers?" Frank choked.
"Do you mean Florean Fortescue Ice Cream Parlour?" Hazel asked, confused.
"Yes!" Percy said, "That one!"
"Okay, but I want to go to Daily Prophet Newspaper shop," Annabeth said.
"Later," Percy corrected, "Ice Cream First."
"Okay," Annabeth laughed, "Ice Cream first."
With Group 3 & 6 Snickers and Skittles
A bell jingled as Travis opened the door, the hinges creaked rather loudly that Katie wondered why they would even need a bell if the door always creaked that loudly.
"Come in, Come in," A cheerfully bubbly voice said, excitedly.
Travis held the door as the groups filed in.
A rather tall, and extremely long, and thin old woman, appeared from around the other side of a shelf of packages.
"I'm Matilda Florian Sugarplum, call me Flor," The tall and thin woman said, her long white hair went all the way down to her waist, she wore a dark blue pointed hat, and long blue robes.
"Hi, er, Flor," Conner said, Katie elbowed him.
"Welcome to my shop, Sugarplum's Sweet Shop," Flor said brightly, "I have chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's every flavor beans, Drooble's best blowing gum, Pumpkin pasties, Cauldron cakes, Liquorice Wands, you name it, I have it all."
"Snickers?" Travis asked.
"I'm sorry, what's a Snickers?" Flor asked, staring at Travis.
The group exchanged glances.
"Er, that's his name, Flor," Katie announced, "This is Travis Stoll, but we call him Snickers."
The two Stolls stared at her.
"Oh, may I call you Snickers?" Flor asked.
"Sure," Travis said, glancing at Katie.
"Okay, Snickers, could you introduce your friends for me?"
"Okay, this is Conner Stoll, my brother, Nico de Angelo, Clarisse la Rue, Chris Rodriguez, and Katie Gardner, but you may call Katie, Skittles, because that's what we call her."
Katie glared at him, and Travis shrugged, his grin so big it almost didn't fit on his face.
"What strange nicknames," Flor said, "Skittles and Snickers. Could you enlighten me on how you got them?"
Katie and Travis looked at each other.
Travis opened his mouth to speak.
"Let the young witch go first," Flor said.
Katie glared daggers at Travis.
"Well, Travis got the name Snickers because it's his favorite candy," Katie said, thinking up a story as quickly as she could, "Once we were going shopping at another delightful store, just like yours except yours is better and Travis saw this candy and it was labeled Snickers. Travis decided to try it and it was so good he wanted another one. But the store was out, and we learned that the only Snickers for miles was . . ." Katie paused and started thinking, "In a bank like Gringotts, a bunch of dragons and spells were guarding the candy that was so . . ." Katie closed her eyes and thought wildly, "that was so delicious that it was disappearing fast and the candy factories didn't have any time to make anymore and so the candy was disappearing all over the world. Travis, here, was in such a need of the fast disappearing candy that he managed to kill the dragons avoid the spells and steal the last snickers. That is why we call Travis, er, Snickers."
Travis and Conner's eyes bugged out.
"Now, Snickers, will you tell me how Skittles got her name?"
"Sure, Madame Flor," Travis said, bowing for fun, "Katie has always been obsessed with this book called Skittles. You see, in this story Skittles is this young girl who is a thief." Travis paused and glanced at Katie, sure enough she was staring daggers at him. "In the story Skittles, survives by stealing but she also enjoys her time by pranking the few friends she has. One of her friends happened to love gardening, so she took a bunch of cookies shaped like teddy bears and made it look like her friend had grown cookies. But her friend wasn't happy, another time she watered her friends plants with water that she had dyed orange and all the plants had turned orange from drinking that water. An the end of the story her friend forgives her and they have these many prank wars. Katie overly obsessed with this book starts pranking all of us, we are her friends, and so that is why we call her Skittles."
"Amazing, amazing," Flor clapped her hands together, "What great stories on how you got your nicknames, and for those wonderful stories, you get all the free treats that you can fit into three bags."
"Oh, cool!" Conner said, grabbing a bag and started stuffing his bag with the candy.
As everyone joined him, and Flor went into the backroom.
Travis grabbed his bags and joined Katie who just stared at the shelf.
"Didn't know you could tell a lie, Katie," Travis said, opening a Pumpkin Pasty and popping it into his mouth, then he grabbed a handful and stuffed it into one of his bags.
"You're rubbing off on me," Katie scowled punching him in the shoulder.
"Hey," Travis said, rubbing his shoulder, "That hurt." He pouted, but Katie punched him in the shoulder again.
"What did I do, Flower?" Travis said, grinning as he sampled a chocolate frog, "These are really good, you should try one." He handed her a chocolate frog.
Katie punched him again. Hard.
"You are influencing me, you idiot," Katie punched him again.
This is getting painful, Travis thought, taking a step back. |
"So, Katie," Conner said, dropping from one of the shelves, "With a little bit of training you could be a natural. That was amazing!"
Travis groaned, how long had Conner been on that shelf?
"Travis!" Katie snapped, "Are you even listening to me?"
"Wait? What did you say?" Travis said.
"Can you stop staring at me like that?" Katie said, she slapped him on the cheek.
"Travis Stoll, listen to me, if I find myself lying ever again, I kick you all the way to Manhattan the hard way!" Katie's chocolate brown eyes were murderous with rage, her long black hair was braid over her shoulder and tied with a green ribbon.
Travis didn't know why he did it, Katie and he had been enemies for as long as . . . well, for as long as Katie had been at Camp.
Their lips were locked to together, and to Travis's surprise, Katie was kissing him back. Then they broke apart, and they stared at each other in shock. Katie bent down and scooped up Travis's bags full of candy, and walked to the door.
"See you later, Travis," Katie said, then her voice turned slightly angry, "And don't do that again."
Travis reached down to grab his bags when he realized Katie had taken his bags. He grinned, he knew she like him.
Nico tasted a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly bean and spit it out.
"What was it?" Conner asked, from his perch on his shelf above Katie and Travis.
"Hmmm?" Nico asked, leaning against the shelf and staring at Conner.
"What flavor was the Jellybean?" Conner said, stuffing another Pumpkin pasty into his mouth.
"I'm not sure, but it tasted awful," Nico muttered, "I don't even like candy, why am I doing this?"
"Probably because you like me, and I just love candy," Conner said, jumping down from his perch on the shelf.
"I'm not doing this for you," Nico growled.
"Of course you are not," Conner winced as the shop's door was slammed. Loud.
"Who was that?" Nico asked.
"That was Katie," Conner jerked his thumb toward the place where Travis and Katie had been standing. "They just, er . . ."
"Oh, Conner," Nico groaned, turning a few shades redder, "And you spied on them doing that?"
Conner turned bright red, "I didn't mean to, my brother just-"
"I don't need to know the details, Conner," Nico said, clapping his hands over his ears.
"Don't need to hear the details of what?" Will said, a smile beaming on his face, his bright blond hair swept to the side, his golden yellow shirt seemed to sparkle even in the darkness of the shop, his blue eyes sparkled playfully.
"Things you don't want to know, Sunshine," Conner teased, cramming an entire Cauldron Cake into his mouth.
Will ran over to him as Conner began to choke, and began patting him on the back. When Conner managed to swallow the cake, Will glared at him.
"Sunshine just saved your life," Will smirked, "Don't call me Sunshine."
"Got it, Doc," Conner said, grabbing a chocolate frog and throwing it into his bag, "We probably should go, I think Travis and Katie already left."
"Together?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Their separate ways," Conner said, scooping up his bags and marching toward the door. Will and Nico followed him.
"Come on, Death Breath don't be so slow," Will called out from behind him.
"Do you see that dog?" Nico said, slowly.
"I don't see any dog, Nico," Will said.
"The dog in the shadows, it's big, with shaggy fur, and looks half dead," Nico said.
"Could you please not say the D word?" Will begged, as he kicked a bony hand back into the ground.
"Sorry," Nico said, but he started approaching the shadows where he thought the dog was.
"Really, Nico, I don't think it's a good time to go into the shadows," Will said, "You promised not to use your powers unless necessary."
"That wasn't a binding oath, Will," Nico said, "Do you see it, it's right there." Nico pointed toward the shadows again and Will shook his head.
"I don't see anything, Nico, are you feeling all right? Do you have a headache? Fever?" Will continued asked Nico questions, but Nico zoned out as he slowly approached the shadow.
Sure enough, a big shaggy dog was sleeping on the cobblestones. Nico crouched down and ran his hand through the dog's fur, Nico jumped back as if he had been struck with lightning.
"What's wrong, Nico?" Will stopped his stream of medical questions to ask.
"That dog's soul is a human!" Nico gasped, his breath becoming ragged as he stared at the dog.
"What?" Will said, "Nico! I told you not to use your powers."
"I didn't it's a sort of a sense, I can't stop it, I just know," Nico said, his voice wavering as he stared at the sleeping dog.
"Well, perhaps they're acting up," Will decided, he tried grabbing Nico's arm but failing as his hand went right through.
"For Hades sake, get out of the shadows, Nico, you're already starting to fade!"
Nico jumped up and ran into the direct sunlight, his shadow started to steam but finally stopped when Will punched him in the arm.
"Ow! What's that for?" Nico complained, as he rubbed his arm, glaring at his best friend.
"The sunlight was dissolving you, you needed contact with something or else you would be a shadow forever," Will said.
"I think this dog is a human disguised as a dog," Nico decided, "I'm going to Flourish and Blotts to do research."
"You, research?" Will shook his head, "No, you are going back to your room to lay down and rest. You will not be turning into a shadow on my watch. Doctor's Orders."
"Sorry, Sunshine," Nico scowled, truly looking scary when he did, "I'm doing research. This seems interesting, I think there is something going on here."
"It's probably Frank," Will said, trying to distract his friend.
"No, this is not Frank," Nico said, "I know his soul, this is different."
"Okay, it's creepy when you say you know Frank's soul," Will said.
"I don't but I would recognize the soul," Nico said, "I would be able to tell if it was a demigod, which godly parent, and that's about it. I wouldn't know which child of Mars, I would just know it was a child of Mars. But this is different, it has a tingling sensation that is weird, but I'm guessing that it means it is a witch or a wizard. That means that this magic person has disguised him or herself into a dog, for some reason."
"Or they are stuck in that shape," Will said, "Like when Lou Ellen changed those Romans into piglets."
Nico smiled grimly, "Maybe, but Will, I have to do research on this before I forget."
"Yeah, right," Will said, "You are going back to the Leaky Cauldron with me."
Nico sighed, "Right."
"Don't you dare do any shadow stuff," Will warned.
"Oh, I'm not," Nico grinned, "But I can do this."
Nico lunged forward and pushed Will to the ground.
"Hey!" Will protested, as Nico dashed off.
Clarisse and Chris walked into the Sugarplum's Sweet Shop and as soon as they heard the word 'Snickers' they left.
"Where do you want to go?" Chris asked, as they walked down the alley.
"I don't care," Clarisse scowled.
"Lighten up, Clarisse," Chris said, "This trip will be over soon."
"Over in two semesters," Clarisse groaned, "And instead of normal school, it has to be a school of Witch Craft and Wizardry." Clarisse huffed angrily.
"At least there won't be any wars, we have to fight," Chris said.
"Depending on the luck of a demigod, we will probably have to fight in a war," Clarisse snapped.
"Clarisse," Chris said, "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing, besides this whole entire life," Clarisse grumbled.
Chris rolled his eyes, "You're just in a bad mood."
"Am not," Clarisse argued.
"Are to," Chris smiled.
"Am not!"
"You are to," Chris grinned.
"Am not!"
Chris rolled his eyes, but didn't respond.
"What in the Hades?" Clarisse gasped, "Where are we?"
"Knockturn Alley," Chris read a crudely written and falling apart sign.
"Just are luck," Clarisse scowled, "We're lost in some shady part of Diagon Alley."
"Why don't we explore," Chris suggested, "We might run into some people who happen to be plotting something against . . ."
"Harry Potter or Dumbledore," Clarisse finished, "Great idea, plus I love a fight."
"Who doesn't know that?" Chris said, smiling at Clarisse.
"Wipe that stupid grin off your face, Chris," Clarisse said, hoisting her spear up they walked into the nearest store.
The sign creaked and swung in a wind the two demigods couldn't feel, as Clarisse read the sign.
"Borgin and Burkes," Clarisse grinned, as she walked into the store, Chris following after her.
"Great," Chris groaned, as he stared at the creepy masks that lined the wall. Clarisse just stared at them and grinned.
"Daughter of War, never scared of anything," Chris muttered under his breath.
"What was that, Chris?" Clarisse asked, as she picked up a skull.
Chris blanched.
"Really, Clarisse, I think we should go," Chris edged toward the door.
"No, Chris, this is amazing, I truly believe my dad would love this store," Clarisse said, as she picked up a hand. Chris gasped as he realized the hand was made out of real bones.
"This is so cool," Clarisse said.
Chris rolled his eyes, but he picked up a glass circle, and he almost dropped it when he realized it was an eye encased in glass. The eye swiveled around and look at him.
Chris uttered a quiet scream, as he quickly set it down.
"Jeez, where is the owner of this store?" Clarisse asked, "I want to tell him how great this store is!"
"I would be right here, Witch," A ghostly whisper said, right in front of her. Clarisse didn't even jump, she just grinned and handed him the things she had picked up.
"How much?"
"Three galleons, fourteen sickles, and two knuts," The man said.
"And you are?" Chris said.
"Mr. Borgin at your service," He nodded his head, and inspected the items Clarisse had handed him.
"I was wondering if you had seen a boy with black shaggy hair and green eyes." Chris said slowly.
"With glasses?" Mr. Borgin asked, handing the items back to Clarisse.
"No," Chris said.
"Now if you were talking about Harry Potter, he's at the Leaky Cauldron to be safe," Mr. Borgin grunted, "If you ask me, they don't need those extra safe precautions. No one survives the Dark Lord for long, it doesn't matter how many safe spells they have around him. Harry won't survive."
"Why does Harry need to be safe at the moment?" Clarisse asked, she scowled again as if she needed to keep up her reputation of scowling a lot.
"Sirius Black escaped Azkaban, the wizarding jail," Mr. Borgin said, "I thought everyone had heard of it."
"We live really far away from here," Clarisse said, "Takes forever for news to reach us. Who is this serious Black?"
"Oh, Sirius is his name," Mr. Borgin said, putting on some gloves and polishing a necklace. Chris noticed he took great precaution not to touch the necklace.
"Is he serious?" Chris said, grinning.
"Quite the opposite really," Mr. Borgin said, "Always goofing off, strange that he was the one that went to the dark side." Mr. Borgin grinned so evilly, "He wasn't like us you know, he was a happy spirit, never would have believed it, but when they sentenced him to jail, I knew he must have been a spy for the Dark Lord."
"Why does everyone call him You Know Who, and you call him the Dark Lord?" Chris said.
"Some people still call him the Dark Lord," Mr. Borgin said simply, taking the coins from Clarisse.
"So this Sirius Black . . ." Clarisse said, "What did he do?"
Mr. Borgin walked to his door and flipped the open sign to close, he opened his door and looked up and down the street. Then he closed the door and locked it.
He narrowed his voice to a whisper and said,
"He practically killed Lily and James Potter, Harry's parents," Mr. Borgin whispered in his deathly whisper.
"How?" Clarisse said, brightly.
Chris punched her in the shoulder.
Clarisse punched him back. Hard.
"Yow!" Chris screeched.
Mr. Borgin smiled. "The Dark Lord was after the Potters for some time now, Harry was only about one year old. Dumbledore suggested the Fidelius Charm, it helps hide the house and someone holds the secret of where it is. Whoever he tells the house becomes visible to them. James and Lily Potter chose Sirius Black a well trusted friend who they believed would keep them safe. A few months in the house, Sirius told the Dark Lord where the house was. Lily and James were murdered on October 31."
"Wow, Halloween, really?" Chris rolled his eyes.
"Epic," Clarisse breathed.
"Your dad's been talking to you, Clarisse. They were murdered," Chris pointed out.
"Sorry," Clarisse shrugged, "My dad's the g- he's a big fan of war and bloodshed, of course I would love this story."
"Well, it sounds sad to me," Chris said.
"Oh, shut up," Clarisse growled. "Don't ruin it for me."
"Another one of their friends got to the house and realized what had happened," Mr. Borgin said, his eyes glinting with . . . hatred? "He was so angry that he hunted down Sirius Black to kill him, but Peter Pettigrew was never a good fighter. Sirius just raised his wand and killed him and the eight people behind him with one curse. The only thing they ever found of Peter's body was his finger."
"Whoa!" Clarisse said, obviously impressed with Sirius Black's dueling.
"This isn't something to be impressed about, Clarisse," Chris said, "Sirius Black's a murderer."
"Well, I've got to say, he knows how to fight," Clarisse breathed.
"When I tell people that story they normally cry or sigh sadly," Mr. Borgin said, "But they are never impressed, I've got to say, I like you girl." Mr. Borgin patted Clarisse on the back, then left to go to the back room.
"Well, let's go Clarisse, we've learned enough information for one day," Chris said, steering the daughter of Ares from the shop. "Let's go find Percy and the others."
Clarisse and Chris found Percy and the others at the ice cream shop. Percy had two large ice cream cones in his hands and was eating them quickly. Chris and Clarisse mentioned everything they had learned to the group and they decided not to tell Harry.
"The poor guy will be so angry," Piper said, "We don't want him to go after Sirius Black and get himself killed."
"Just like someone else I know," Annabeth glared at Percy.
"Are you really going to complain, Wise Girl, after I save your life?" Percy gave her sloppy grin before taking a bite of her ice cream.
"Percy, you have to cones of ice cream, you don't need my ice cream," Annabeth protested.
"Let's see," Percy said, dipping his fingers into his ice cream, then as fast as lightning he smashed his ice cream cone right into her face.
"Seaweed Brain, you are so on!" Annabeth said flinging her Ice Cream and hitting Percy and several others.
Everyone burst out laughing as an Ice Cream flew through the air, hitting targets and creating a mess.
So here is my update. I know it was terribly long, sorry about that . . . I just couldn't stop writing, I promise I'll get Hermione and Ron into the next chapter, I just didn't know how I was going to fit them into this one without making it even more longer. Sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you liked it and all. Please Review!
Okay, I've had a lot of PM's asking to have a Solangelo moment in my story, and I'm going t be truthful here. I don't believe that it is God's plan for us to marry with the same sex so their will be absolutely no Solangelo moments in my story. Will and Nico are going to be really good friends but I'm not going to pair them together at all, and if you noticed I put them together for a little blurb of my story it was just FRIENDSHIP. Will and Nico are only going to be friends. ONLY FRIENDS.
Thanks for reading, please REVIEW.