Hi Guys! I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated for so long, I haven't had much time to write, I've been really busy this month.
As soon as they left, students began to surround Hermione and Annabeth, pelting them with questions.
"Where are you from, Annabeth?"
"Are you guys on the run, or are you on a mission?"
"What were you after at Gringotts?"
Before either of them could answer even one question, there was a collective gasp from the students. They backed away from Annabeth and Hermione, their eyes wide, staring at something behind the two of them.
"What is it?" asked Hermione, she yelped in surprise as she turned around. Annabeth looked and saw a shimmering screen behind them, an iris message from camp Half-Blood.
"Annabeth!" said Miranda Gardener, daughter of Demeter, who had cast the iris message. "Thank the gods! We've been trying to call you since yesterday, but something keeps blocking the massages!"
"Miranda, what happened?" asked Annabeth urgently. Behind Miranda, Annabeth could see nothing but chaos.
"Monsters have invaded the camp! They got past the border, and have been attacking for days now!"
"What? But how did they get in?!" asked Annabeth, her eyes wide.
"We don't know! We called because the last time someone breeched the perimeter it was, well, the wizards." She gestured to Hermione.
"What the bloody hell is that!?" said Seamus, who seemed to have gotten over his shock. The rest of D.A. began to shout questions, looking at the iris message with alarm.
"QUIET! Everyone!" shouted Hermione, everyone obliged. She turned back to the iris message.
"We certainly aren't responsible for the attack on the camp." She said.
"We're not saying you are," said Miranda, "It's just that, these monsters aren't Greek, and we can't kill them!"
"What do you mean, you can't kill them, are there too many or something?" Asked Annabeth
"No, it's not that, we literally can't kill them. They should all be dead by now, but they're not! I stabbed one with my dagger in the, right in the chest, but as soon as I took the blade out, the wound healed!"
Annabeth's eyes widened in shock, monsters had invaded her camp, and weren't being killed? How were they getting in in the first place?
"Monsters can't get into the camp unless they're being let in by a half-blood-"
"Or unless they find another entrance into camp." Interrupted Miranda, "Remember the labyrinth entrance, it opened up right into the middle of camp."
"But we destroyed the labyrinth on our-"
"I think I know why!" Hermione suddenly said. "I mean, I know why you can't kill them." She elaborated, lowering her voice so only Annabeth and Miranda could hear. "Remember when Percy was visited by Hecate, she said that wizards cannot kill Greek monsters, and half-bloods cannot kill magical beasts! They must be monsters from the wizarding world! Miranda, can you describe the monsters?"
"Well, there are dragons, tons of them, all different species."
"No surprises there." Said Hermione, "Dragons are magical beasts."
"Then these weird, black things that look like cloaks, they creep up on people and suffocate them."
"Those are Lethifolds!" said Hermione, "Also known as The Living Shroud."
"And these gigantic leopard-like things, they move silently and attack, and their breath causes disease, they've been plaguing the camp for ages!"
"I've read about those, those are Nundus!" Hermione said at once, "Highly dangerous creatures."
"And these weird spider things with five legs and reddish hair. They like eating us."
"Those are Quintapeds!" cried Hermione,
"And then these huge, black…things" Miranda shuddered, "Wherever they go, that place becomes all cold, and you start thinking about the worst moments of your life. It's like they suck out all the happiness from the world."
"Dementors." Said Annabeth gravely, "No doubts about in now, magical beasts are invading camp."
"But that would imply someone let them in, some wizard!" said Miranda.
Hermione turned to Annabeth, "You-Know-Who figured out what you, Percy, and Nico are," she said, carefully avoiding using the word 'demigod', "He must have figured out there were more of your kind somewhere, and sent monsters to finish you!"
"Yes, yes, that's all very good," snapped Miranda, "but now how do we kill them! If only wizards can kill them, we're doomed!"
"No, you're not." Said Hermione, suddenly straightening up, "We'll come to the camp and help you."
"Hermione, no." said Annabeth, she lowered her voice, "It's bad enough that even three wizards know demigods exist, bringing all these kids to the camp, if even one figures out who we are, they'll tell everyone."
"What other choice do we have? Would you prefer the camp in ruins?" asked Hermione. After Annabeth didn't answer, Hermione turned to address all of D.A.
"Everyone!" she said. The babble of curious talk died down. "Annabeth, Percy, and Nico joined our quest a while ago, and they've already saved our lives many times."
Annabeth was about to point out this was not entirely true, but Hermione gave her a look that said quite plainly, shut-up. Then, she continued addressing the students, "Now, their society of wizards in America is being threatened by You-Know-Who, it's our duty to help them!"
"Go to America and fight with wizards we don't even know?" said someone from the crowd skeptically, "There's a war going on here, and I'm not leaving."
Hermione's face turned red with anger, "Oh, for Merlin's sake, a few bloody seconds ago all of you were dying to help Harry with his mission, now, You-Know-Who is threatening to wipe out an entire colony of magical people, and you want to sit on your behinds and do nothing?! Merlin's pants, that is despicable!" she cried shrilly. Annabeth couldn't help but smile. Merlin's pants?After a few moments of silence Neville said,
"Where is this place, and how do we get there?" Annabeth almost cried with relief, and from the iris message, Miranda said, "Thank you." Then cut the connection. There were a few more gasps as the screen of the iris message disappeared.
"We'll apperate into the camp, but first, everyone coming must know how to defend themselves properly." There was a collective murmur of acknowledgement from the students, but none of them backed away from the task. "Good," said Hermione, "Everyone must also know how to produce a Patronus, that's the only way to defeat Lethifolds and Dementors." Again, everyone nodded.
"Right," said Annabeth, "Hermione's been to the camp before, so she can apperated you there in groups. Have your wands out and be ready for attack as soon as you arrive."
Hermione began to apperate in and out of the castle, taking the students with her in groups of five or six. Many apperations later, Hermione latched on to the last five students and said,
"Alright, Annabeth, we'll see you in a while."
"Wait, what?!" said Annabeth, walking forward, "I'm coming too!"
Hermione sighed, "Annabeth, you can't defeat these monsters anyway, there's no need to put yourself in unnecessary danger."
Annabeth drew herself up to her full height and said, "My camp is under attack. That camp is my home, I don't care if I can't help, I am going."
There was obviously no way Annabeth was going to change her mind, and Hermione knew it. She jokingly put her hands up in surrender and said, "Alright, grab on.", and they apperated to camp.
Annabeth's P.O.V
When their feet touched the ground, Annabeth's stomach did a flip as she saw her beloved camp infested with creatures. Dragons swarmed the skies, shooting jets of flame on the roofs of cabins. Huge, leopard-like beasts rampaged the camp, attacking every camper in sight, and large black things that looked like cloaks and emanated a chill similar to that of dementors. Campers were desperately trying to kill them, but no matter how many arrows or swords pierced the monsters, they did not die. Their wounds healed, and they continued to attack. Some campers continued fighting, even though they knew the effort was fruitless, and others simply took shelter in their cabins or the Big House.
The wizards and witches that had just arrived were fighting with a little more success, cursing and hexing every creature in sight. Many of the campers had stopped to watch the wizards in action, gaping at the patronuses that chased away the Lethifolds and Dementors. But after quickly looking around the camp, Annabeth realized that the beasts that had invaded the camp were highly dangerous, even in the wizarding world and trained wizards weren't fighting them, schoolchildren were. It was true, they were having more success than the half-bloods, but even with their combined efforts, the campers distracting or cornering the monsters and the wizards killing them, Annabeth knew this wasn't going to be an easily won battle. She, as well as Hermione and the five other students, took off down the hill to join the fight.
-Line Break-
Hours later, Hermione and Annabeth sat in the dining pavilion, which had been declared the most secure area. Wizards and Half-Bloods alike lay on cots and tables, children of Apollo healing their many wounds or curing them of the plague the Nundus breathed. Connor Stoll and Fred Weasley walked in, smiling as if they had just shared a private joke. Annabeth had known the two sets of brothers would get along perfectly. Fred plopped down on a seat, and a healer rushed to tend to a gaping wound on his shoulder. Connor walked up to Annabeth.
"We've cleared the perimeter; most of the monsters have been forced past the border. Once they're outside the camp, Thalia's tree keeps them from getting back in."
"Why do you sound so disappointed." Asked Hermione.
"No matter how many timed we 'clear the perimeter', more monsters just keep appearing within the camp!"
"When the attack started," said Travis, who had appeared at his brother's side, "There were about twenty monsters. Then suddenly,"
"There were thirty." Said Conner,
"Then forty," said Travis.
"And the numbers kept going up. They've-"
"Got to be multiplying or something!"
Hermione rubbed her temple. "Please stop finishing each other's sentences, it's driving me crazy. You two are worse than the Weasley twins." The two brothers cracked identical, mischievous grins.
Annabeth face was scrunched up with concentration. "Keep fighting them." She said to the Stoll brothers. "Hermione and I will figure out where they're coming in from."
"Sure thing, Annabeth." Said Connor, and they ran off to the battlefield outside.
Hermione turned to Annabeth, "Is there any other way to get into the camp, apart from walking right across the border."
"None that I know of." Said Annabeth, "Do you think someone can be apperating the monsters in?"
"Definitely not." Said Hermione, "You can only apperate something other than yourself it's holding on to you tight; these monsters would devour a wizard before he ever had the chance to get anywhere."
"Well, there used to be an underground labyrinth that had an opening into the middle of the camp," said Annabeth, "But Percy and I destroyed that labyrinth on a quest. The entrance shouldn't be functional anymore."
"It's worth checking." Said Hermione, "We don't have any other ideas of where they could be coming from."
"Alright, it's in the woods." Said Annabeth, and the two girls took off towards the forest. They past campers, wizards, and witches fighting all sorts of monsters Annabeth had never seen before. They stopped at the entrance of the forest.
"There are probably even more monsters in there." Said Hermione, the tiniest bit of fear creeping into her voice. Annabeth wasn't used to seeing her like this; she was usually so smart and steady.
"We can take them." Said Annabeth in a reassuring voice. And they ran into the forest.
"Where is it?' panted Hermione, just barely keeping up with the athletic Annabeth.
"It's by Zeus's fist, not much farther." Said Annabeth.
"Hey, I know this spot." Said Hermione, suddenly stopping in the middle of a clearing. "This is where we apperated when we first arrived at camp Half-Blood!"
"And where you jinxed me." Said Annabeth, smiling, remembering how much rage she had felt at Hermione at the time. She had wanted cleave her in half with her dagger, and would never have imagined they would be going on a quest together.
"Let's keep going." Said Hermione. "Where's this 'Zeus's Fist'?"
"Right over there actually." Said Annabeth, pointing to a pile of boulders.
"That doesn't look anything like a fist." Said Hermione frowning. Annabeth shrugged and headed over to the fist.
"The entrance was here." She said. Hermione walked over to join her, and peered into the gap in the boulders. "But ever since we destroyed the labyrinth it hasn't opened up."
Hermione gingerly touched the soil where the entrance had once been. There was no great explosion, no dramatic event, the entrance remained stubbornly shut.
"Well that's that." Said Hermione, obviously disappointed. Suddenly, she slapped herself on the head. "How could I have forgotten!" she muttered, taking out her wand.
"What? What is it?" Annabeth inquired.
"The labyrinth collapsed, so of course it wouldn't open up the way the builder designed it to! If You-Know-Who put an entrance under here, it would open up by magic!" she said. She pointed her wand at the ground and muttered a few words under her breath. A swooshing noise emanated from her wand. "Well, there's definitely something down there."
"Can you open up the ground?" asked Annabeth, sliding down into the gap with Hermione.
"I think so, there are a few protective enchantments around it, but I think I can break through them." She said. She began to mutter spells under her breath. And Annabeth could have sworn she saw a transparent bubble around the entrance fading away as Hermione finished the spell with a flick of her wand.
"That should do it," said Hermione, "Now we just need to-Whoa!" She yelped as the ground suddenly caved in beneath them, swallowing the two girls whole. The fall wasn't very far, and Annabeth stood up as soon as she hit a solid brick floor. They were in some sort of long room. No, not a long room, a corridor. Her mind reeled in shock as she realized she was in the labyrinth. Had it somehow reconstructed itself? How was it still here?
"Wow," said Hermione, looking around in amazement, "I was prepared for something dramatic to happen, but I wasn't expecting this." She stared to walk along the corridor, but Annabeth quickly pulled her back.
"Hermione, we are in Deadalus's labyrinth, the biggest, most complicated maze in the world. Everything's different down here, time, distance, it all changes in the could walk three steps in the maze, and it would be three miles above ground. We need to find a way to navigate it!"
"Annabeth, calm down!" said Hermione, "From what I've heard about Deadalus's maze, no magic can reproduce it. If you collapsed it, then it's gone. This is probably just a portion of a corridor, revived by a repairing spell. None of the other time or distance enchantments are here, it's not possible."
Annabeth tentatively let go of Hermione's arm. "Okay, but we should still be careful, no matter how small it is, it's still a maze." And they began to walk down the corridor. After walking for a few minutes, the girls had their first encounter. A roar thunderous roar could be heard from far way, so loud it seemed to shake the walls. And out of nowhere, a dragon came hurdling down the passage, had Annabeth not pushed Hermione out of the way, she would have been trampled. It turned around and faced the girls, glaring at them with its slit-pupil eyes. Annabeth couldn't help but think it was rather pretty, with its smooth, copper colored scales and black ridge markings along its back.
"That's a Peruvian Vipetooth!" squeaked Hermione, obviously terrified. "It's the smallest of all known dragons, but has a particularly venomous-"
"Spare me the lecture!" shouted Annabeth, drawing her dagger and dodging a plume of flame the dragon had fired, "How do we kill it?!" The dragon lunged at her and Annabeth rolled away just in time, the plunged her dagger into its back. The dragon howled in pain, but as soon as Annabeth withdrew her dagger, the wound began to close. "Help me out here, Hermione!" she shouted. Hermione, who had been staring at the scene in horror, quickly snapped out of it.
"Distract it!" she said, "I need to hit it right in the eye!" Annabeth ran in front of the dragon and waved her dagger.
"Over here, you big smelly beast!" she shouted. The dragon lunged at her, but she dodged it easily. For a millisecond, it remained still, looking for Annabeth, and in that millisecond, Hermione shouted,
" Stupefy!" The spell hit the dragon directly in the eye. It swayed on the spot for a moment, a low growl that might have been an attempt at a roar escaped its lips, and it fell to the ground.
Annabeth sheathed her dagger and cautiously examined the dragon.
"Is it dead?" she asked.
"No, only stunned." Said Hermione. "I'll have to kill it, won't I?"
Annabeth stared at Hermione, realizing she was a bit of an animal lover. "Yeah, you will, I would offer to do it for you, but..." she trailed off.
Hermione sighed, then pointed her wand at the dragon, closed her eyes, and said, "Avadra Kedava." There was a blinding flash of green light, and when Annabeth could see again, the dragon was dead. Hermione was looking down at the clay of the beast, shocked at what she had done.
"Well, we know one thing for sure." Said Annabeth, breaking the silence, "This is definitely where the monsters are coming from."
"Let's keep going, be ready for attack, another could come at any moment." Said Hermione. With their weapons drawn, they continued down the corridor, until they reached a large door.
"That's strange," murmured Annabeth, "I don't recall any doors like this in the labyrinth." Hermione carefully opened the door, which surprisingly was unlocked. As soon as she entered, she yelped in surprise. It was a large room with a high ceiling supported by many pillars. The room was being illuminated by many flashes of lightning revolving around a large, oval shaped black hole-like thing. In front of the storm-thing was a huge creature. It had a lion's body, but a human face. It seemed to be guarding the storm-thing.
"They've been getting in through a portal!" said Hermione, looking at the storm-thing with awe. "Portals are incredibly hard to conjure."
Annabeth's attention was more focused on the creature guarding the portal. She had seen pictures of creatures like it, it was a sphinx. She crouched into battle position, but the sphinx didn't seem want to attack, it just gazed calmly at the two girls.
"Sphinxes aren't usually violent," said Hermione, as if reading Annabeth's thoughts, "They only attack if you do something against their duty. This one will only attack if we try to get to the portal."
"Nicely phrased." Said the sphinx in a women's voice. Annabeth stumbled back in surprise, but quickly collected herself. If the sphinx could talk, perhaps she could reason with it.
"We need to disable the portal, and we'll use any means necessary to do so. You might as well let us past willingly, or we'll have to hurt you." She said.
"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to pass, if you try to, I shall be forced to attack." Said the sphinx stubbornly. Annabeth held her dagger out in front of her, preparing to charge at the sphinx.
"What about a riddle?!" said Hermione suddenly. The sphinx turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "All sphinxes have a love of riddles, don't they? Tell us a riddle, and if we get it right, let us pass. If not, you can attack us." Said Hermione. Annabeth held her breath as the sphinx considered the offer for a moment, then began to speak.
"A natural state, I'm sought by all.
Go without me, and you shall fall.
You do me when you spend,
and don't have me when you eat to no end."
Hermione turned to Annabeth expectantly. "Well, daughter of Athena, what do you think?" Annabeth was already thinking hard, trying to unravel the riddle.
"A natural state, I'm sought by all. That could be riches, gold or jewls…" she murmured.
"That's not our answer!" Hermione quickly said to the sphinx, then she turned to Annabeth, "Riches would be an answer to 'You do me when you spend', and I suppose without them you wouldn't have much success in life, or 'you shall fall', but they have nothing to do with 'Eating to no end'"
"Then what does fit with 'don't have me when you eat to no end'?" pondered Annabeth, mainly to herself.
"I dunno', hunger maybe?"
"No, hunger isn't a 'natural state sought by all'. Let's focus on the 'without me you shall fall' bit, it seems that most straightforward."
"Legs?" asked Hermione, giggling. "Maybe a cane or crutches to balance on, or-"
"That's it!" Annabeth suddenly cried, a grin spreading across her face.
"What's it? A cane?" asked Hermione skeptically, "I seriously doubt it."
"No, no, balance!" she cried, "'A natural state, I'm sought by all' everyone seeks an 'inner balance' or whatever, 'go without me and you shall fall' without your balance, you fall, 'You use me when you spend', you have your bank balance which you use when you send money, and 'don't have me when you eat to no end' you don't have a healthy balance when you eat too much!"
"Your right!" said Hermione, "Annabeth Chase, you are a genius!" she turned to the sphinx. "That's our answer, Balance."
The sphinx smiled and stepped aside. "You have a sharp mind." She said to Annabeth.
Hermione walked up to the portal, her wand drawn.
"Do you know how to disable it?" asked Annabeth, joining her by the portal, examining it with fascination.
"In theory, yes." Said Hermione, "But it's a very complicated spell, I'm not sure if I can-eek!" she jumped back as a slimy, rotted looking hand emerged from the portal, followed by a long cloaked arm and body. Annabeth felt the familiar cold wash over her as a dementor glided out of the portal. She felt her worst memories flash to the front of her mind. Thalia was lying on the top of Half-Blood hill, wounded and dying. Luke was rising out a coffin, possessed by Kronos. Suddenly, Hermione's weak, shaky voice snapped her out of her daze.
"Ex-Expecto Patronum!" she said, her voice quivering. A silver otter burst from her wand and swam through the air towards the dementor. Annabeth could swear she heard the cloacked beast scream as it retreated back through the portal. The cold disappeared abruptly and Annabeth sighed with relief. She heard Hermione take a deep, shaky breath in.
"I'll start disabling the portal, but we might have to call a more experienced witch or wizard to help." She said.
"That would be a problem." Said Annabeth, "I was under the impression you where the most experienced witch out of D.A., there isn't any other more skilled witch or wizard to call."
"I'll try on my own first," she said, "If I can't manage the spell we'll apperate back to Hogwarts and bring someone to help, maybe one of the professors…" Annabeth didn't agree with this plan, she trusted the wizards and witches completely, but she didn't want any more magical folk to come to camp. If anyone found out the campers were demigods, she doubted they would keep it a secret as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had done. As if reading her thoughts, Hermione said,
"Most of the DA has probably figured out you aren't wizards by now, just being here says that." Annabeth sighed, knowing she was probably right.
"Just try it on your own first." Annabeth pleaded.
"I know, I know." Said Hermione. Then, she pointed her wand at the portal and began to wave it in a complicated, hexagonal shape, muttering an incantation under her breath. A series of green sparks emanated from her wand and hovered around the edges from the portal. Then, slowly but surely, they began to retract, forcing the portal to become smaller and smaller. Soon, it had gone from having a twelve foot diameter to no bigger than Annabeth's palm. The portal seemed to be resisting the spell, desperately trying to burst outwards. Annabeth could see sweat forming on Hermione's forehead from trying to keep it under control. Hang in there, Hermione; she thought anxiously, Camp Half-Blood depends on it. With a final flourish of her wand, the portal exploded with such force it knocked Annabeth and Hermione, off her feet. When she straightened up, the portal was gone.
"I shall return to the wild." The sphinx said, and it loped off down the passageway. Annabeth rushed to Hermione, who was still on the ground, panting from exhaustion.
"You did it!" she said happily, "The portal's gone!" A small smile formed on Hermione's face.
"Yeah," she said panting "Let's get back to the cam and finish off the remaining monsters." She tried to stand up, but her knees buckled and Annabeth just managed to catch her.
"Whoa!" said Annabeth, helping her to her feet. Hermione still had to lean on her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes…I think." Said Hermione weakly.
"That spell really drained you." Said Annabeth, supporting Hermione as the two of them walked down the corridor toward the exit. "I'll get you back to camp and an Apollo kid can fix you up."
-Line Break-
After every monster had been forced out of the camp or killed, the campers, witches, and wizards had regrouped at the dining pavilion, where most of the magical folk were eager to get back to Hogwarts. The excited babble of talk died down immediately as Chiron, Hermione, and Annabeth walked to the front of the hall.
"On behalf of the camp, I would like to thank all the witches and wizards here, without whom our camp would still be under attack." Said Chiron, who was in his wheelchair form. There was a murmur of acknowledgement from the campers in the crowd.
"Annabeth!" a voice suddenly cried out from behind them. Annabeth whirled around to see an iris message floating in the air behind her, Percy's face framed in the screen of the message. "Thank gods! Where are you!? When we got back to the room of requirement you were missing!"
"Hermione! Are you alright!?" said Ron's panic stricken voice from behind Percy.
"We're fine." Said Annabeth "We had to go back to camp for a while-"
"What!? Why!?" said Percy.
"There was an attack," said Hermione. "Voldemort was probably behind it."
"What sort of attack?" asked Percy, panic rising in his voice.
"A bunch of magical beasts invaded, we had to bring D.A. to help out." Said Annabeth. "Everything here is fine now."
"What's happening at Hogwarts?" asked Hermione urgently.
"Death Eaters have invaded the castle, there's an all out war going on here!" said Ron, "Harry and Nico found the next horcrux and destroyed it, that just leaves the snake."
"We'll get back right away." Said Hermione, slashing her hand through the mist and cutting the connection.
"We need to get back to Hogwarts" began Hermione, there was a outburst of giggles at the name 'Hogwarts' which she ignored. "There is a war going on there and-"
"And I propose we go with them to help!" Annabeth said suddenly.
"What?" asked Hermione, looking at Annabeth as if she had gone crazy.
"You need help there." she said, "The only troops you have there are schoolchildren and a few teachers, everyone here are trained fighters, we can help! Besides, we owe you!" There were nods of agreement from the crowd, and Annabeth could see the campers from the Hecate cabin were practically jumping with excitement at the prospect of seeing more magic.
"No way are you people coming to Hogwarts!" said Neville, who had forced his way to the front. "You all don't belong there!"
"And why is that?" asked a camper. Neville rolled his eyes.
"We're not completely stupid," he said, "We know you aren't wizards. I've seen a lot of magical things since I came here, including weird goat-human hybrid things." (Several satyrs bleated angrily at being called 'weird goat-human hybrid things.) "But I haven't seen a single wand since I came. But you obviously aren't muggles either. I for one want to know who you all are." There were shouts of agreement from the other witches and wizards. Annabeth cleared her throat loudly to quiet them.
"Your right, we aren't mortals-uh-muggles." She said loudly. "We will tell you what we are, but now is not the time. We can help you, and we will. We're coming to Hogwarts to finish this battle."
Grudgingly, the campers, wizards and witches agreed. Every member of D.A. paired up with a camper, and on three, they all apperated to Hogwarts.
Yay! The demigods are going to Hogwarts! I know this chapter was kinda' unnecessary, but I really wanted Hermione and Annabeth to go on a quest together. How many of you tried to solve the riddle by yourselves? Sorry again about not updating for a long time.