Harry Potter stood off to the side as everyone tried to speak at once.
As much as he wanted it, he knew it wasn't right for him to demand attention right now, not with Mr Weasley quite possibly dying.
But he wanted… no… he needed answers.
How had he seen the attack? While he was grateful that he had been able to warn people about it, he needed to know how. Sirius had just told him to report any dreams to Dumbledore, but Harry needed to know more than that.
He needed to know why and how he was having these dreams. And more importantly, he needed to know why he felt like he was living the dream when the snake had attacked Mr Weasley.
"WHAT?"
Harry's attention snapped back to the conversation before him, Dumbledore tiredly standing there opposite a red-faced Ron. "Arthur Weasley, injured. Wife, children and Harry Potter coming to stay" the portrait Dumbledore was looking at rattled off, sounding disinterested. "Yes, yes. Very well" the portrait muttered petulantly as he turned and vanished into the frame.
"No!" Ron yelled, "He isn't coming!" the redhead argued, jabbing a finger in Harry's direction. "You heard him! He attacked Dad! He's bloody gone Dark he has!"
"Mr Weasley," Dumbledore tried to interrupt, only for Ron to barrel straight over his voice and continue shouting.
"That freak attacked Dad! He can stay here and rot!" Ron continued, "He doesn't deserve to come with us when he did it!"
"MR WEASLEY!" Dumbledore roared, cutting the red-haired boy off as the door opened and Fred, George and Ginny slowly entered the room. "Mr Potter merely saw the event. He did not harm your father in anyway. He sees Arthur as a surrogate father and would rather die than hurt him or your family".
"He's not family," Ron spat coldly, smirking at him when Harry flinched away.
"Harry? Ron?" Fred asked mid-yawn as Professor McGonagall shut the door behind her, "What's going on? Minnie said Dad was hurt?"
"He attacked Dad!" Ron yelled instantly, pointing at Harry.
"MR WEASLEY!" Dumbledore repeated angrily, "ENOUGH! Mr Potter had a vision of what I believe to be Voldemort's familiar attacking your father, Mr Weasley," the Headmaster explained slowly. "He's been found and is on his way to St. Mungo's as we speak. I want the five of you to portkey to Grimmauld Place where your mother will meet you," he instructed, "You'll be able to visit your father from there more conveniently than if you were to remain at Hogwarts".
"You stay away from my father!" Ron snapped, turning on Harry again.
"Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, "It wasn't his fault!"
"Bloody hell it is!" Ron shouted, "It's his fault that You-Know-Who even came back! And now he's killed Dad! It's all his fault!"
"SHUT UP!" Harry screamed, his mouth moving before he could stop himself. "JUST SHUT UP!"
"Why?" Ron sneered, "The truth hurts don't it?"
Rage burst through his chest like liquid fire, the space between him and Ron warping and bending before lashing out, lifting the redhead off the ground and throwing him into the wall with a loud crack.
As Harry stood there dumbly, Ron shrieked and tugged at his pajama top as it smoked dangerously, the twins leaping forward and tearing it from his chest mere seconds before it burst into flames. Pain exploded through his head moments later and Harry staggered backward, collapsing against the wall as he clutched at his skull, the liquid fire moving from his chest and travelling rapidly through his veins into his brain.
"Harry!" hands grasped his arms, heat surging up inside him in response, causing the hands to release him with yelps of pain. "HARRY! CALM DOWN!" a familiar voice shouted in his ears, Harry's eyes flicking open for a second before the almost unbearable pain forced them shut again.
Hadrian
As the word floated through Harry's mind, he paid it no attention, instead struggling to control the raging inferno that had taken hold of his core.
Calm yourself my son
Harry's panicking mind snapped to attention as the voice spoke, a sense of shock filling him at the words 'my son'. Realising that the mere sound of the voice had allowed him some sense of control, Harry desperately wished that his father would keep speaking, not caring about how his father was speaking to him at the moment.
Hadrian. Listen to my voice, hear the power within it, hear the control I have. You can control this power, I wouldn't have gifted it to you if you couldn't.
Gifted it? It feels more like a curse, Harry thought as the fire continued to burn through his body. Part of him felt the fire swirling around his body, caressing it even as it burned at his surroundings despite the chill he could absently feel in the air.
Control it Hadrian. Do not let it control you.
He was trying, but his errant magic was too strong for him. It hurt too much, his best friend was betraying him and he'd been suppressing his emotions for too long to hold it in any longer. The screaming he could hear around him made him double his efforts to control the fire, struggling as hard as he could to make the fire and his magic obey his commands and just stop.
I do not command, I am the God of Fire, I will the fire to behave and it does. You can do the same my son.
Confusion flickered through him for a split second, the fire consuming it an instance later.
I believe in you.
And that was it…
Harry felt it clicking into place in his chest, the fire dancing across his body being absorbed without hesitation and rejoining the bonfire he could feel that had ignited within his heart. It was still running through his veins, but it was like his father's words had flipped a switch inside him and the fire merely warmed him instead of burning him.
"Harry?"
Cracking his eyes open at the sound of the muffled voice, Harry jerked back in shock at the sight in front of him, a wall of ice so thick he could barely see light coming through it. "Harry?" Professor Dumbledore's voice called as Harry looked around to find he had fallen into a corner and was trapped in it by the wall of magical ice. "Harry, are you under control now?"
"Ye- Yes!" Harry stuttered out nervously. He had been terrified , and admittedly he still was, when the fire had been possessing him. He didn't want to think about what the Weasleys felt, the idea of terrifying them or - Hades forbid - hurting them, making him sick to his stomach.
Wait… Hades forbid? Where had that come from? He had long since exchanged 'God forbid' for 'Merlin forbid', but when had he ever heard someone using the name of the God of Death?
"Harry. Professor McGonagall and I will lower the shield, do you feel confident enough to control your emotions?" Dumbledore questioned slowly.
Could he control his emotions? No.
Could he control the fire? Unless someone was about to drop a bombshell on him then yeah… yeah he could control it.
"Yes Professor… I'm sorry," Harry replied hesitantly, fear flashing through him at the thought of being expelled for losing control like that. He knew that Umbridge wouldn't hesitate to use his loss of control like that as a sign of his 'instability' and twist it around into expelling him for the 'Greater Good'.
As he watched the wall of ice shrunk slowly, melting rapidly as the shapes of Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall appeared through the wall. A flash of fire made him freeze in fear, standing stiffly as he realised it came from the other side of the ice wall, part of him afraid that he had already lost control and the fire was lashing out again.
"Fawkes is warning us," Dumbledore's voice murmured softly, "Professor Umbridge must know you're out of bed, she's on her way here. Minerva, go and te-" the Headmaster cut off suddenly, Harry fidgeting nervously as the silence dragged on. "Very well Fawkes. Go," the old man ordered.
Harry let out a yelp as fire exploded in front of his face, Fawkes the phoenix landing on his shoulder and trilling happily, the words 'Welcome brother' flashing through his mind before he and Fawkes were both surrounded in comforting fire and were gone.
His feet hitting the ground suddenly, Harry fell to his hands and knees onto the wooden floor, gasping for breath after the both beautiful and horrifying method of teleportation stole it from his very lungs. Energy rolled through his body as Fawkes sung happily, landing on the floor in front of him and watching him, the song numbing his pain at Ron's betrayal.
"A phoenix huh? How quaint".
Harry stiffened at the unfamiliar voice, nervously looking up to see a man lounging on a couch against the wall. The man's hair was wild and his goatee untrimmed, and he was glancing between Harry and the can of soda in his hands with curiosity and hatred respectively. "HEY! HORSE BUTT!" the man suddenly bellowed, making both Harry and Fawkes jump in fright, "SOME KID IN HIS PAJAMAS IS HERE TO SEE YOU!"
"What?" he asked defensively as he glanced down to see Harry staring at him in shock, "I ain't dealing with you. I hate kids," he explained before rolling over and showing his back to Harry.
The sound of hooves made Harry's jaw drop as he looked towards the open door in time to see a centaur stepping through it. "You could at least show some manners," the centaur scolded, his tone of voice implying he'd told the wild man this multiple times before.
The man snorted, his back still to them as he raised his hand to pull the finger at the centaur. "Welcome to Camp," he called over his shoulder, "Try not to die, the paperwork is endless".
"Dionysus," the centaur began warningly.
"Fine! Fine!" 'Dionysus' exclaimed as he sat up and turned to face them. "I'm lying. There is no paperwork," he confessed simply, "Now get out of here before I turn you into a cabbage".
The centaur's face twisted into a scowl at the man, but he still trotted over to Harry and smiled gently at him. "I know you must be confused, but if you come with me I promise to explain everything to you".
Fawkes' soft trill snapped Harry out of his confused funk, making him scramble to his feet, his hands flexing nervously as he suddenly realised he had left his wand in his dorm room. Swallowing dryly, Harry realised he didn't have many options at the moment considering his current state of dress, and hesitantly followed the centaur from the room and into an office.
Catching sight of the setting sun through the window, Harry faltered as he wondered exactly where he was, the American accents on the two uh… men… making it obvious he was extremely far from home.
"Take a seat please," the centaur requested as Fawkes flamed into the room to perch on a jumping Harry's shoulder. "Ah, greetings again Fawkes. How has the pampered life been treating you?"
Sitting down and staring in confusion as Fawkes trilled back at the centaur, Harry resisted the urge to just demand answers, getting the feeling that losing his already damaged temper would be a bad thing for him. Chuckling at Fawkes' answer, the centaur finished digging through a desk and pulled out some forms which he placed in front of him, fixing Harry with an intense look.
"What's your name young one?" the centaur asked slowly, "I am Chiron. The Camp's Coordinator and Leader".
"Uh Harry," he replied dumbly, "I'm Harry".
"Well then Harry. Welcome, to Camp Half-Blood," Chiron said gently, "A place hidden from the rest of the world, a place for Demigods to train and be safe. Welcome Home".
Pyre
Hi everybody! This is just to celebrate the fact that the training course I'm taking is almost over! I assure you that my posting will begin again properly when I'm not spending all day in the city.
I've had this story since the very beginning, it was actually my first draft for DZ2's Twice-Blessed Half-Blood challenge, but I had a better idea and abandoned this one. I've finally finished it despite my promise to avoid such crossovers for now, and while it's not applicable for the challenge, it's still something I'm happy with.
ALSO
Fair warning (And my final note for this chapter), I might be re-using this intro for another story I've got bouncing around. It merely became a matter of do I finish the thought before I lose it, or do I leave it for the new idea, and you can all guess which one I chose.
I don't own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson