Disclaimer: I am but a humble or not so humble teen, I don't own HP or PJO, I'm just playing in the metaphorical sandbox.
Author's Note: Thanks for the review harryislife. Yeah, I've just been trying to speed up the unimportant information and get to Hogwarts, especially because it speeds up the meeting with Nico. As for the story with James Potter, you'll be finding out this chapter. I forgot I needed to explain, so thanks for the reminder. Just remember, Hermione is brilliant, and I skipped over Harry's explanation at Fortescues, so there's info you don't know, and that I can make up on the spot. Also, while you'll find out a bunch of the answers you want in this chapter, I do want to say that I like both Snape and James Potter. Severus isn't a good guy. Not completely. I get that he made mistakes and bullied himself over it, so that raises my respect, but his treatment of Harry regardless lowers that respect. So I'll have him being a bit of a snarky git, but moderately agreeable. Not too terrible like canon!Snape. His history will also be less brutal for reasons you'll find out later in some flashbacks.
That's a wrap, and onto the story!
xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx
Harry stumbled through the barrier. Luckily, he didn't fall or injure himself like he had done with portkey travel and Flooing. Catching himself, he used his trunk to steady himself, and joined his friends.
"Take care of yourself, okay, kiddo?" Dan told him seriously. Harry nodded solemnly, and Dan's shoulders slumped with relief, as he pulled the younger boy into a hug and ruffled his already messy hair. He held out an arm, and Zaire jumped into the hug, almost bowling them over.
They separated, and stood chatting for a bit. However, Dan checked his watch, and cursed in Greek. "Sorry guys, I'm late for work. Xeno gave me the job so I could stay in Britain and look out for you guys, I don't want to get fired." He apologized. "Take care of him." He instructed Zaire. Harry started to protest, when he was fixed with a glare. "Don't get in trouble. Stay safe, and take care of her." He ordered.
Smiling affectionately, Dan rolled his eyes, and pulled the two into another hug. With a wave, he left back through the barrier, and the two new Hogwarts students dragged their trunks, and in Harry's case, owl cage, to the train. The trio had decided to get to the train early, and the train wasn't very full. Still, Harry decided to take an empty compartment near the back of the train. Zaire sat with him and rested her legs in his lap, to his annoyance, and read her books. For such a hyper kid, she was a complete bookworm.
Harry stowed away his trunk, and set his owl on the floor. He briefly thought about names for the feathered messenger. Athena? Rowena? Artemis? Hedwig? He thought idly, going through a list of female figures in from Olympus and his textbooks. He looked the owl over. Hedwig it was.
Having named the owl, he shifted in his seat, and leaned into the corner by the window. He could see people stepping through the barrier, and he was pretty sure he saw the Entwhistles in the crowd. It looked like the Grangers were also by the train, talking with their daughter. Seeing her bushy brown mane of hair made his brow furrow in thought.
*Flashback*
"-books say I defeated him as an infant. Some say he died, some say he's just healing from whatever happened that night." He told the Grangers, going through what he'd read and remembered. "I remember a flash of green light peeking from under the closed door, the Killing Curse I think. The dull thud of, I assume my father's body hitting the floor." He said, being careful to imply James Potter as his father.
"There was a glowing of gibberish on the floor surrounding me and Mum. High, cold laughter. A woman screaming, "Not Harry, please not Harry! Have mercy!" A Killing Curse, a thrum of energy and a tingle in my forehead. Another Killing Curse, and then pain." He said, voice trailing off into barely a whisper. The Grangers flinched, and Hermione looked sick. She visibly calmed herself, the green tinge fading. Her brow furrowed, and she fell silent from the questions she had been asking. An infant surely couldn't defeat a Dark Lord. She would have to think on that.
"A baby killed the supposed more feared murdering psychopath? Your mother was there, and an infant was the one to defeat the dark bastard?" Jacob Granger stated. Emma scolded him for his language, but he continued talking. "Let me get this straight. So you're saying this Moldymint character was supposedly defeated by a baby ten years ago and still nobody says his name?" Mr. Granger asked incredulously.
Harry snorted. "Voldemort. Or Tom Riddle, I guess. Ripclaw says that's his real name. But yes."
Jacob laughed. "Thank god. If Voldemort was his real name, I think that would've been the most ridiculous thing I'd heard all day." Jacob Granger continued talking, when his daughter spoke up.
"Dad?" She asked quietly. "It must've been Harry's mum who defeated this Dark Lord. Harry says she was there that night, protecting him. We just found out magic is real. Couldn't she have cast some spell to protect him from Voldemort? But does that mean that the public is really blind or they just want a living hero?"
Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour faded away, and Hermione's voice grew muffled and indistinct.
The Lord of the Underworld sat on his throne, watching over Lily and James Potter. Lily had been trying for a baby, but she didn't know her husband was infertile.
She was a rather beautiful mortal, Hades mused. Persephone watched from a dark alcove, jealous. Hades came to a decision, and disappeared in a cloak of shadows. He appeared in a garden in front of a small cottage. It was a cool, crisp November night. James Potter was out for the night, drinking at a bar with his friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Lily Potter nee Evans on the other hand, was sitting in their bedroom, a muggle pregnancy test in hand.
This wasn't an uncommon sight. James Potter would go out for the night, and Lily Potter would Apparate into an alleyway in the muggle world, walk to the nearest pharmacists, and buy a single pregnancy test. She would then go back to said alleyway, and Disapparate into her home. She would then go to the bathroom and use the small test, waiting impatiently for it to finish. This was far from a rare occasion. Once more, Lily Potter was sat on her and her husband's bed, pregnancy test in hand. Once more, it was negative.
The fierce, fiery redhead had tears swimming in her green eyes. She was in the middle of a war she might not survive, her husband might not survive. She wanted a child. One might think that would be the last thing she would want. The idea of endangering an unborn babe was harsh. But she knew her chances of surviving the war were slim. She knew the idea of both her and her husband surviving was even less likely.
Lily Marie Potter nee Evans loved her husband. Oh how she loved him! Aphrodite herself would gush over the beautiful union. Their story was full of fights and disgust on one side, her side, while her husband had been a bully and "an arrogant toerag" who followed her determinedly. But he had grown up, and she had slowly felt herself become attracted to James Charlus Potter. She wanted a little boy, or a little girl as a sign of their love. If she died, if he died, or if they both passed, she wanted a child to carry on their memory. So she tried every time they consumated. She took fertility potions, and checked whenever she went out. To no avail.
But this night was different. The Lord Hades, ruler of the Underworld, King of the Dead, had seen her struggles and admired her beauty. So he came to the house that night, and knocked on the door with a single pale hand. Lily's head shot up, and she hastily threw the test under the bed, and wiped her eyes. Fixing herself up, she took a deep breath as she answered the door.
Standing outside was a tall man in elegant black robes. For a moment her hand flew to her wand, thinking he was a Death Eater. Her delicate hand rested on her wand, even after she noticed the lack of a mask. She noticed his face. His skin was as pale as snow, and he had deep dark eyes, like her old friend Severus had. The color of obsidian. His hair fell in soft waves around his face, standing out starkly against his skin. He had an aristocratic look, but not precisely the look she had seen on purebloods like Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Black.
"Who are you." She asked coldly. It was war times, and she wouldn't welcome a stranger.
"I'm here to help you, Lily Potter. I've been watching you, and I have come to offer you a deal." He said, his voice smooth, like water running over rounded stones.
"I won't join Lord Voldemort." She spat, eyes narrowing as she rapidly drew her wand on the stranger. He simply smirked lazily, and made no movement.
"I wasn't talking about Tom Riddle. He is an abomination. He has escaped me for too long." The man said, his voice as cold as ice, an undercurrent of calm rage hiding beneath the surface.
"I am Hades, Lord of the Underworld. I have seen your heart's desire, Lily Potter, and I will help you." He told her casually.
Her heart stopped for a second, and her breath caught in her throat. Now that she looked for it, she could see the power he held, in his eyes, and his posture. He was strong. More powerful than anyone she'd ever seen, even Dumbledore. She wavered for a moment when she thought over his proposition. She knew if was no coincidence he had come at this time, when she was looking over the pregnancy test.
"James Potter is infertile."
These words froze her heart. She felt a bubbling sense of despair and mourning fill her. She had already know it. Lily had had herself tested, and she knew she could bear children. But she'd been denying the truth for even longer. Her lip quivered.
"I can change my form," Hades continued. "I can become James Potter, and give you the child. He would look like his stepfather, and he would have my power. He would be yours and James' child, but mine as well. Zeus has forbidden another child of the Big Three, as they have too much power, he says. But I unlike my brother had never had as many children. I unlike my brothers, care for my lovers. I once offer to build a palace and bring my lover and our two children to the Underworld, away from Zeus who would kill them. I would have a child, I would protect this child, and you would have your babe with James Potter. Will you take this offer, Lily Potter?" He said.
She was silent for a moment.
"Yes."
xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx
Later than night, Persephone would feed the cowardice in the heart of Peter Pettigrew, and push a nearby Death Eater in his direction.
xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx
Harry woke to the a muffled gasp, and an exclamation of "Honestly!" followed by a huff of annoyance. He yawned, and rubbed his neck. Harry had apparently fallen asleep in a rather uncomfortable position, and Zaire hadn't bothered to help him.
From the doorway stood a rather pudgy boy, with blonde hair that looked to be darkening, Harry noted. Next to him stood Hermione Granger, with an annoyed look on her face.
"Oh, um, hi Hermione." Harry said awkwardly, raising an eyebrow in the direction of the mysterious boy in the doorway.
"Hello, Harry." She replied. "This is Neville Longbottom, we're looking for his toad," she informed him in a rather bossy voice. He'd have to work on that. "Have you see it?"
"I've been asleep," Harry told her dryly, a wry smirk on his face. She blushed pink in embarrassment.
"Of course, sorry. Have you seen a toad?" She directed at Zaire. The two hadn't talked much, their contact limited to exchanging names.
Zaire shook her head. "Why do you have a toad anyway?" She asked Neville.
He blushed, and replied, "My uncle Algie gave him to me. My whole family thought I was a squib, and gave me a toad when I did some accidental magic." He told them shyly. Harry noticed the Neville's eyes darting to his forehead.
"What did you do?" Harry asked despite his reservations.
"My Uncle Algie was visiting and he sometimes tried to make me do some accidental magic. So he dangled me out the window by my ankle, and then my aunt came in and offered him some pie. He dropped me, and I thought I was done for, but I bounced all the way down without a scratch on me. Gran almost cried, she was so happy I wasn't squib." He explained, sounding a bit proud at the end.
The others in the compartment, however, were shocked. Hermione was absolutely enraged, bristling with righteous fury and the other two weren't far behind. Harry himself, sympathized with the boy. He personally thought that his Grandmother must've scolded him a bit too much, and not encouraged him enough. The pudgy blonde boy was meek and obviously lacked self-confidence.
"Your Grandmother almost cried because you had magic, not because you almost died?" The muggleborn witch asked him heatedly. Neville frowned and started to defend his grandmother, but Harry cut across him.
"Hermione's right, Nev," he said grimly. "What your Uncle did is blatant child endangerment. Sure your family found out for sure that you had magic, but your Grandmum should've cried in relief that you were okay, and then celebrated your accidental magic."
Zaire hummed in agreement, and Neville grew visibly confused and uncomfortable. Harry sighed, and changed the subject.
"If you're trying to find your toad, I'd say look in the toilets. Toads don't live in water like frogs, but they do still like water." Harry told him. Harry had once caught a toad by the canoe lake and showed it to Annabeth. He'd kept calling it a frog, and she'd set him straight, giving him a long lecture on the differences between toads and frogs.
"Oh." Neville mumble. "I didn't think of that. Would you, umm, help us?" He asked shyly.
Harry and Zaire looked at each other for a long minutes, before they both agreed and left the compartment in search of a toad.
Little did they know, they'd just missed a first year ginger haired boy by mere seconds.
xxxxxXXXXXXxxxxx
Harry sat in his compartment, laughing with four other first years. It'd taken a half hour to catch Trevor, Neville's toad, but catch him they had. When the two demigods started off back to their compartment, they'd started talking, and asked Hermione a question, only to find that she and Neville were still standing by the toilets. Harry gave them a confused look and asked why they weren't following.
"Huh?" Neville asked in shock, and Hermione's eyebrows jumped in surprise.
"Yeah," Harry replied slowly, "We were kinda expecting you guys to come back to our compartment and hang out."
Neville and Hermione exchanged glances, and both ended up stuttering a thank you and going off to retrieve their trunks.
Harry and Zaire headed back to their compartment to wait for the other two, only to find a single red-headed first year sitting in their compartment, staring out the window.
"Um, hello?" Harry spoke up inquisitively. A freckled face turned to him in surprise, and blue eyes met green.
"S-sorry. Is this your compartment?" The red-head asked awkwardly. Harry nodded.
"Yeah. I mean, you can stay, but why are you here anyway?" He asked curiously.
The boy blushed, and his ears turned red. "Fred and George, my brothers, said I could stay with them in their compartment, but then they decided to go see Lee's tarantula. I hate spiders." He said by way of explanation, shuddering as he mentioned the arachnids.
"My friend Annabeth does too," He offered. "Freaks out when she sees one, and if you need her help and there's a spider around, she's absolutely useless." He said, remembering Percy telling him about the trip to Waterland to retrieve Ares' shield.
The freckled boy gave a small smile, and Harry relaxed. He turned to look at the compartment door, and it slid open moments later.A red faced Neville and smiling Hermione appeared, and collapsed into the seats. Hermione turned towards him and started chattering on about Hogwarts A History and what she'd read in her Charms book.
"So how've you been Harry?" She finished eagerly. A small gasp came from the corner. Harry smiled and heard Zaire give a small laugh. "Zaire and I've been good. Apparently Dan got me an owl without me knowing, though." He said.
"Oh, she's beautiful, Harry!" What's her name?" She asked distractedly, cooing to the white owl. "Hedwig."
"From Hogwarts a History?" Hermione asked interestedly. Harry nodded. When he turned back to his other friends, he saw the redhead staring at his forehead, like he was straining to see something.
"What are you doing?" He asked curiously.
"L-looking for your, you know.." The ginger gesturing to his forehead. "Scar?" Harry asked, internally deflating. He was a Son of Hades at Camp, and despite learning he was famous for something he didn't remember, he'd been hoping for a normal time at Hogwarts where no one looked at him differently for something he couldn't control.
The ginger nodded, ears pink. Harry simply sighed, and lifted his fringe. The others in the compartment were quiet, and Neville nudged the redhead.
"You never told me you name," Harry said, changing the subject.
"Oh," the boy said, blushing. "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley." He said, offering a grubby hand.
"Harry." The son of Hades said shortly. A slightly strained silence filled the air, and it was broken by a knock on the compartment door. The door slid open, and a squat, kindly looking woman stood in the doorway.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" She asked cheerfully. Ron shook his head, halfheartedly holding up two wrapped sandwiches, and Hermione politely said no, explaining that her parents were dentists. Harry was pretty sure the woman didn't understand what a dentist is, but she nodded anyway. Harry handed over a handful of sickles, and he and Zaire got some chocolate cauldrons, pumpkin pasties, and Droobles Best Blowing Gum. Neville shyly bought a few chocolate frogs and a licorice wand.
The compartment door slid closed once more, and Harry traded a pumpkin pasty for a chocolate frog. Seeing Ron's sullen and envious look from the corner of his eye, he tossed the ginger a chocolate cauldron, and Neville offered him his licorice wand. The boy cheered up visibly.
Harry suddenly ducked, and a pumpkin pasty hit the window above Hermione's head, and Harry had to quickly snatch his unwrapped chocolate frog from midair as it took the distraction as a chance to make a break for it. He bit the head of viciously as it stilled, and glared at Zaire, rolling his eyes at her impish look. Hermione huffed in annoyance, and Neville and Ron laughed loudly. Harry growled playfully, and tackled the girl, sending pasties and candy flying. Zaire yelped, and from the corridor, a passing Ravenclaw prefect shook her head in amusement.
xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx
It was dark as the train pulled into the station. Hermione and Zaire had left to change into their robes, and leave the boys to do the same. When they got back, they were all wearing their wizard wear, and they all sat together as they waited to arrive. The tension increased as time passed slowly, and Hermione was freaking herself and Neville out. Harry had tried to calm them down futilely, and he just sighed. Ron hadn't helped when he told them what his brothers had said about the Sorting. Harry himself was worried, and dread pooled in his stomach. He was sure that he'd end up being sent back to camp because it was a mix up and he wasn't really magic. He envied Zaire for how relaxed she looked.
As the five first years stumbled off the Hogwarts Express onto the station platform, Neville looked ready to pass out, and Ron was turning white. Hermione looked ready to tear her hair out, and Harry felt sick. His stomach was rebelling, twisting itself into knots, and his heart pounded against his rib cage. In the cool night air, Harry felt the beads of sweat form on his face in his nervousness.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Boomed a loud voice. Over the sea of heads, a large bear of a man towered, swinging a lantern, and calling for them to follow him. Harry and Zaire exchanged looks, and followed.
"All right, you lot?" The Man asked the gathering of first years. Upon closer look, Harry noticed he was kindly looking man. Rather intimidating from far away, but obviously gentle upon closer examination. His beetle black eyes glittered with gentleness, and his eyes were crinkled in the corners. He was a man that smiled. His wild black hair and beard gave him the look of a person who knew the woods like the back of their hand. Harry thought he'd like this man.
"Now, no more than four ter a boat," The bear of a man informed them. "Up yeh get."
Harry looked at the lake with no small amount of trepidation. Zaire gave his arm a small squeeze and shot him a reassuring look as she hopped into the boat. Like him, she was a child of the Underworld. However, she wasn't a child of Hades, which lessened the risk for her. Harry, however, was a son of Hades. This meant it was risky and dangerous for him to cross the water. But, as he shot a nervous look around him, it looked like it was the only way. He clambered into the small boat behind Hermione and Neville, and sat stiffly. He grabbed the sides of the boat in a death grip, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his teeth. As the boat moved slowly through the water, a tentacle brushed his arm.
Harry nearly screamed, and the blood from his lip was telling. Zaire shot him a worried look, and he sat still as stone. The tentacle went away, and he relaxed minutely. They boats passed under a cavern, and Harry tried to distract himself by remembering the difference between stalagmites and stalactites. As they exited the cavern, his death grip on the boat loosened in sheer awe.
Above him, was a castle. A sloping lawn led up to sturdy walls, with towers winding their way into the heavens. The lake lapped against the shores, and a dark, imposing, and mysterious forest populated another side of the castle. It stood over them in all its glory and grandeur, Hogwarts school. It was awe inspiring, though he'd seen Olympus, it was still beautiful by mortal standards. Oh of course Olympus was far more beautiful, but this... Hogwarts was mortal made. This incredible piece of architecture was mortal. He wouldn't have been surprised if a child of Athena had helped out, it was so grand.
As the boats hit the shore, and they crawled out onto the lawn of the castle, Harry smiled. When the Man, Hagrid, he thought Neville had said, called for them to follow him to the Great Hall, Harry followed easily. He had been trained for battle and survival. This man looked at least part-monster, even with the kindly aura he sent out. Harry should have been on his guard. He should still have been terrified about his Sorting. But this beauty, it was calming. The tingling feeling of soothing magic had rippled over his as he entered the grounds, and he knew he was safe. For now, he was safe. There might be danger in the castle or in the forest, but right here, right now, he was safe.
Harry had a tiny smile on his lips as he looked up at the castle as Hagrid knocked a large fist against huge wooden double doors.