So it's been less than 24 hours but I've been feeling inspired recently. The next 2 chapters are mainly generic demigods at Hogwarts stuff with some details that are important to the plot. Please like/follow the story and review if you want to see more chapters. Also, disclaimer; I'm not JK Rowling/Rick Riordan, just a fan.
Harry
"Some lesson though, eh?" Ron was saying to Harry, as they set off for the Great Hall "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right there-"
But Ron suddenly fell silent at the look on Harry's face, and didn't speak again until they reached the Great Hall, when he said he supposed they had better make a start on Professor Trelawney's predictions tonight, as they would take hours.
"Attention, students!" Harry noticed the staff exchanging nervous glances, as Dumbledore gestured for everyone to be quiet, "I have an announcement to make!"
"Do you think it's about the Triwizard Tournament?" Ron mumbled, around a mouthful of food.
"Ssshh!" Hermione hissed, leaning forward to listen.
"I'm sure you've all heard the Greek myths; legends of gods and heroes, kings and monsters. I'm here to tell you that they're all true and they affect everyone here." Several mouths dropped open, "Centuries ago, the goddess of magic, Hecate, created the first wizards as a force for good. We all bear the burden of that legacy and, now, we are at risk of losing this great heritage. I am telling you this in the hopes that we may embrace our roots together and change the course of the wizarding world… Forever."
Ron gaped, "Is he serious?"
"You're all aware that the hospital wing has been closed, for several days now. Our dear Madame Pomfrey has been tending to a group of individuals who I believe may have the power to help us on this difficult journey. They are demigods, the children of gods." Someone snickered, nervously, "May I present to you, the heroes of Olympus!"
Whispers flew across the room.
"He's kidding, right?"
"Is this a joke?"
"Harry, look!" Hermione gripped his arm, tightly.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting; a chariot, perhaps, overflowing with Hercules-type heroes in shining armour, bellowing a war cry as they bore their swords aloft. But as he turned he found himself facing a ragtag bunch of eleven teenagers, all wearing ordinary muggle jeans and t-shirts and grimacing uncomfortably as they made their way toward the front.
"Perhaps," Dumbledore began, "One of the demigods would like to come up here and speak to you all?"
After a quick scuffle, a tan, dark-haired boy was sent stumbling forward to the headmaster.
"Uh, hi," he said, eying the wizards warily. The boy looked about seventeen, with dark, windswept hair and a troublemaker's grin. "I'm Percy, um, son of Poseidon."
The Hall exploded with disbelief. At the Hufflepuff table, Ernie Macmillan waved his arms about, shouting, "Are we supposed to believe this?" Even Ron snorted, "Not bloody likely!"
From the direction of the Slytherins, someone jeered, "Go to hell!"
Percy flushed, knuckles white against the dark wood of the lectern. Goblets began to tremble, skittering toward to the son of Poseidon. Something bad was about to happen, Harry was sure, but then he saw Percy let out a shaky breath and grin.
"Camp Half-Blood has been my home since I was twelve," he began, his voice growing steadier, surer. "Dumbledore tells me that some of you are, uh, muggleborn. Then you know what it's like to grow up not knowing who or what you are. You know that when you find a place where you can really be yourself, you treasure it, like I treasure my home. Now, I can never go back… unless you save it. You don't know it yet, but my world is your world, too. Centuries ago, Hecate created wizards for a reason. Help me save my home and, maybe, I can help protect yours'"
"Thank you, Percy," The headmaster's voice rang clear in the stunned silence that followed, "And now, for the Sorting! Professor McGonagall, over to you."
"They're being sorted?" Ron whispered, excited.
"I hope we get Percy…" Hermione muttered, watching intently.
Harry agreed. He wasn't sure why. Maybe because Percy seemed to hold the same disinterest in brushing his hair as he did – much to Hermione's distaste – or maybe because he recognised some of his own pain in the older boy.
The hat and stool were brought forward, quickly. The parchment was considerably shorter than the Sorting at the beginning of the year, with only eleven names, but McGonagall stepped forward with the same grandeur as Harry remembered from his first year.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she addressed the demigods, "Benvenuti, Chiara!"
An olive-skinned girl with a dark pixie cut tiptoed forward cautiously, put on the hat and sat down. The Hall itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the hat's reaction to sorting a – Harry still couldn't believe it - demigod.
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat screamed.
"Blackstone, Lou-Ellen," also became a Ravenclaw and then McGonagall called forward "Chase, Annabeth," a tall, blonde girl with sharp grey eyes who held herself with the confidence of a leader. The hat took a long time to decide. Silence, then –
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry cheered and clapped with the rest of his house, as the girl sat down across from him. She smiled distractedly, though her eyes never left her friends still waiting to be sorted.
"Di Angelo, Nico!"
Another long wait – finally, "GRYFFINDOR!" Nico looked confused, as though he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.
"Gardiner, Miranda," became the first Hufflepuff and then, at last –
"Jackson, Percy!"
Everyone craned to get a good look at the boy who'd spoken so passionately of having a home as the hat was dropped over his eyes. One second passed, two, three, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Percy beamed, whooping loudly as he practically ran over to his new table, and Harry couldn't help but feel glad.
He had a good feeling about Percy Jackson.
Percy
Son of Poseidon? The hat whispered in his ear, Well, this is interesting… Reckless, brave, smarter than you're given credit for… I see you have a dark side, too, impressive, what you did to Akhlys. Gave up praetor? Not Slytherin, then. Hmm, shame… Well, better be… GRYFFINDOR!
Percy grinned and headed straight for Annabeth and Nico, catching one of the students' eyes as he jogged over to the red and gold table. He looked a year or two younger than Percy, with messy, beetle black hair. Wow, this kid hates brushing his hair almost as much as I do!
Annabeth punched his shoulder playfully as he slid onto the bench, beside her. Behind him, Paolo Montes was already becoming a Gryffindor, which he accepted with a large amount of yelling in Portuguese. It was excited yelling. Probably.
Nico crossed his fingers as "Solace, Will," stumbled forward and jammed the hat onto his head.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
He walked shakily toward them, frowning. "That's weird," he muttered, sitting beside Nico.
His boyfriend rolled his eyes. "Will," he said, exasperated, as if they'd had this conversation many times before, "There are many types of bravery. It's not just waving a sword about and blowing up goddesses. You're our best field medic. You risk your life to save others. That's brave."
"Nico's right, Will," Annabeth offered, earnestly, "We would've lost many more battles without you."
Many more. As in, more than one. The demigods fell silent at the unwelcome reminder that they'd failed when it mattered most.
"Stoll, Connor!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Wakefield, Ellis!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"White, Damien!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Excuse me," a younger girl with bushy brown hair stuck her hand out, eagerly, "I'm Hermione Granger. These are my friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."
They grinned, "Hi."
Percy smiled, glad that at least someone was being friendly, "Hey, I'm Percy Jackson."
The ginger-haired kid laughed, "We know! Great speech, man."
"Uh, thanks. This is my girlfriend, Annabeth, and our friends, Nico and Will."
"So," Harry Potter blinked his startling green eyes, "You're really demigods?"
"Yep! And you're really wizards?"
"Yep."
Nico ran a hand through his raven hair, "Oh, Hades. This is weird."
"Would you like some potatoes?" the girl, Hermione, offered shyly.
Percy's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and something Percy couldn't name but definitely wanted to try that he guessed was one of those things only Brits ate.
He filled his plate but, before he could take a bite, Nico elbowed him. Hard. "Do you want to get fried?" he asked.
Percy groaned, dumping half his plate into one of the braziers that lined Hogwarts' Great Hall with a half-hearted, "Poseidon." Luckily, the food didn't look like it was running out anytime soon.
Ron's eyes bulged. "Are you crazy? What did you do that for?"
"For the gods." Annabeth said, simply.
Harry frowned. Without a word, he stood and tipped his pudding into the flames. "Hecate." He said, loudly enough that the students at the other tables turned to stare. Seeing the others' expressions, he shrugged, "You said you wanted our help to bring her back, right? Count me in."
Annabeth's lips pressed together in a smile. At the Ravenclaw table, Lou Ellen looked like she might hug Harry.
The meal went quickly, after that. At last, the puddings too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.
"I have a feeling this year will be very different from the previous few. In times of darkness, we will forge new friendships, both through the Triwizard Tournament and our demigod friends!"
Percy leant over to Annabeth, "Triwizard what?" She shook her head, confused.
"A few start-of-term notices," Dumbledore continued, "First-years and our new, ah, exchange students should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all students. Quidditch try-outs will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in joining should contact Madame Hooch.
And now, bedtime! Off you trot!" He cast his twinkling eyes across the Hall one final time before sweeping back to his seat, leaving chatter in his wake.
The Gryffindor demigods clustered together against the current of students heading for the doors. Paolo was talking loudly to Connor in Portuguese with animated hand gestures, probably describing the feast.
"We can show you to the dorms, if you'd like?" Harry suggested. Percy nodded, relieved.
They followed the wizards in silence, too tired to notice the paintings whispering as they passed. Hermione was firing off questions faster than any of them could answer, "Is there a school for demigods? Is the orange t-shirt your uniform? It's a bit informal, isn't it?"
The Gryffindor common room was hidden behind an opera-singing portrait – and Percy thought his life was weird.
"The boys dorms are this way," Ron said, leading Percy, Will, Nico, Paolo and Connor up a flight of steep, spiral stairs. Percy glanced back at Annabeth, left alone with Hermione. She gave him thumbs up.
The other boys fell silent as they clustered in the doorway, "Uh, hi," Percy began.
"So, you're demigods?" A sandy-haired boy with a thick Irish accent raised an eyebrow, sceptically.
Paolo's fists clenched, "Yeah. You got a problem with that?"
"Relax, Paolo," Will's voice reminded Percy of all his father's good aspects; Apollo's laid-back energy and relaxed vibe. He turned to the wizard, "We're demigods. If you don't believe us that's your problem."
"Leave it, Seamus," Harry advised, "Let's go to bed."
As Percy crawled into bed his thoughts wandered back to Camp Half-Blood, his home… How long could it survive without the Mist? Did his father know what was happening? And his mum… Had Chiron told her where he was? He would get back to her. He had to.
He'd swear it on the River Styx.