A/N: I meant to put this up months ago, but then my computer deleted the almost finished chapter… 5 TIMES! Anyway, this chapter is for: Rogan-Merthur-Whouffle with cookies here for:

BookFreak

BlackGryphon101

Wolfman613

FrostyOwl

GinnySong

Dragonlorelover

Embarrassed-Elf

Let's hope that the 6th time's the charm -_-

For a moment after the connection was destroyed, the demigods could do nothing but look at each other in shock. From the IM, Nico was sure that he had been able to make out the figure of a black haired, green eyed boy who looked a lot like his cousin… a boy who had to be Harry frigging Potter, and if he had been able to see the kid in that much detail, then he was sure as Hades able to see them. Brilliant!

Finally, it was Reyna who was able to pull herself together enough to actually do something about the situation at hand, automatically falling back into the role of team leader and, for once, no one disputed her authority.

"We have to get a message to Dumbledore."

The command in her voice snapped all the others out of their shocked dazes and, as one, they all turned to face the daughter of Hecate who was pointedly not looking at any of them. After a second, when she finally gave up the oblivious act, Lou scowled at her team mates.

"Oh, come ON! Why do you guys always look to me when there is a problem? Why not try the novel activity of THINKING for a change and solve your own problems? I don't have all the answers you know!"

Nico couldn't help but smirk at the rant, rolling his eyes at her theatrics, it was completely different from back at camp when she was always complaining about not getting any recognition even though she was one of the oldest campers. The switch was actually rather amusing, though that may have made his voice more than a little condescending when he answered… and that was probably also why Hazel stomped hard on his foot. Brat.

"Well… A; Annie isn't here for us to ask, and B; are you saying that you don't have any idea at all? I thought that you were the magical expert of the group."

If looks could kill, the son of Hades was sure that he would have been seeing a lot more of his father, but after roasting him alive with a withering look, the witch sighed in defeat, though it was pretty clear that Nico would have to sleep with one eye open for a little while at least.

"I guess I could try the Patronus spell I read about the other day, it should be adaptable to be used as a messenger, or at least the book said it should. It should be simple enough."

When no one objected to the idea or volunteered a different one, the demigod gave another put upon sigh and waved her hand, causing a book to float from the top of one of the many piles scattered around the floors of the attic. For a moment, everyone just watched as she flicked through the pages of the book at a speed that was much too fast for her to be able to read anything properly. Nico couldn't help but snicker at the image that the older girl made, with her hair still a mess from a storm spell that went awry and the mad dash to hide their presence, added to her pale complexion and the fact that she was stood there muttering o herself, she really did look like an escaped mental patient. However, in the interest of self-preservation, it was probably better to keep those thoughts to himself.

All of a sudden, the chuntering broke off and Lou threw the book on the floor behind her. After a quick death glare sent at where her wand rested on her sleeping bag after one of her temper tantrums earlier, she flicked her hands in a complex fashion and shouting 'Expecto patronum' at a volume that was surely not necessary, though the result was definitely impressive.

Out of a strange purple pentagon that had formed in mid-air, a large quantity of silver mist floated down and solidified into the shape of a glowing dog. To Nico, it didn't seem like all that impressive of an animal, not like the hell hounds he could summon, but it must have meant something to its creator as Lou gasped and stared at it in wonder before… speaking to it? What the Hades?

"Dumbledore, this is Lou, one who isn't to know us spotted our Iris Message during the meeting. What should we do?"

As though that wasn't strange enough, the glowy animal… thing, nodded a low bow to Lou and jumped out of the wall, seeming to melt through the wood. Even though he lived in the underworld for most of the summer, Nico swore that that must have been one of the strangest things he had ever seen. Seemingly, Frank was of the same opinion as Frank let out a quiet "What the… fudge monkeys?" Unfortunately, children of Hecate also seemed to possess the power of radar hearing as well as their magic.

"Oh for Zeus' sake. That was a patronus, it's a none substantial charm that can be used to repel certain demons and deliver messages and it took the shape of a greyhound, my mother's sacred animal. It looks like my mother's blessing is allowing me to master spells more quickly… though I wish she had something to help with that stupid conduit… I HATE wands!"

Thankfully, they were all saved from the awkward silence that was sure to have followed that declaration, by the sound of a teen shouting loud enough to reach them through about 4 levels of rooms… That boy must have had a good set of lungs if he was able to reach that volume, though Nico didn't envy those who were in the same room as the irate wizard.

"Looks like someone's angry!.. Ow, what the Styx Hazel?"

Apparently his little sister was in an exceptionally violent mood at the moment as she had just swung round and punched him hard in the stomach, smirking in a way that would have made him proud, if it hadn't been aimed at him.

"Of course he's angry you moron! Everyone has kept him completely in the dark about the wizarding world for the last month! He's the one who defeated Voldemort in the first place and is probably wondering what his enemy is doing, but Dumbledork is effectively cutting him out of society despite all of this. How would you feel if you were still getting ostracized after all you did in the battle of Olympus? And don't try and deny it, daddy will tell anything to his little girl!"

Well… that was a low blow, not to mention completely disturbing. There was no way on earth that Nico could see Hades as the stereotypical dad who was wrapped completely around his daughter's fingers, but, knowing Hazel, it wouldn't be impossible.

"Okay, Okay… Styx, I get it. Now stop hitting me, seriously, are you wearing some invisible armour or something? That really hurt!"

Hazel chose only to stick her tongue out in answer to that comment and all those around them had to stifle their laughter with their hands at the show of sibling disharmony, but the strangely endearing scene was cut short by a silver phoenix that swept into the room. Once it had gained the attention of all present (and Nico didn't have to stop pouting because he didn't pout) it began to speak in the old headmaster's voice. It was pretty freaky.

"Do nothing for the present, and use the mist sparingly if it comes to it. If you are discovered, tell them your cover story, but do anything you need to do to keep your status as demigods a secret, that is information we cannot afford to fall into the wrong hands."

Then, before the words had even finished echoing around the room, the phoenix faded, leaving the room darker than it was before its entrance, and just as silent. Still, those never lasted long amongst demigods, or just teenagers in general and, when it began to get strained, the son of Jupiter coughed awkwardly, calling attention back to him.

"Well, not exactly a plan worthy of Minerva… I can see far too many things that could go wrong with this, but it's the best we've got at the moment so I guess we don't have much choice. For now, let's just plan our lessons up here and spar… though we're going to have to keep that as quiet as possible. There can't be that much longer until the term starts so it won't be for long, and we can go get the school supplies tomorrow while everyone else is distracted by the ministry hearing."

When everyone nodded, the unofficial meeting soon broke up and they returned to their prior activities with Nico and Hazel using their new found magic abilities to summon a rainbow, enabling them to continue their conversation with Hagrid. Reyna and Jason went back to trying to beat each other to death with the wooden swords as the metal ones and Frank started trying to draw a diagram that would effectively explain the use of marbles to magical children. Lou, on the other hand, decided to have a heart to heart with her new wand… meaning that she started slamming it against the wall in a fit of rage.

After 15 minutes and 6 fires that had to be quickly smothered after Lou hit her wand a little too hard, Nico couldn't fight the urge to slam his head into his hand. If they couldn't even last an hour without causing some sort of mini disaster, how the Hades were they going to survive days in hiding? He may not be a child of Apollo, but you didn't have to be able to see the future to know that this was not going to end well.

B/N: You guys are so lucky you don't have to hear Ella's rants when her computer fails, they're not fun, but at least she should calm down now... maybe... probably not going to happen. Anyway... What could possibly go wrong? I have no idea :P The question for this chapter is:

What breed was Percy Weasley's owl?