Disclaimer!

These characters do not belong to me nor do I make any money off this story. I am merely writing Fan Fiction. The characters belong to their respective authors. I hope you enjoy Joining Forces.

Annabeth POV:

"So what do you think?" Percy asked. I wiped some of the liquid from the Pensieve off my face. "Notice anything I didn't?"

"Your comment about Kelli was right. The way she fought was different than usual," Nico noted. "I feel that she was using spells rather than hands-on brawling than usual."

"Her actions were also very proficient. From the spells, I'm assuming that she isn't new to this sort of magic. Professor," I continued. "Have you ever encountered creatures that are similar to Empousa? They don't usually fight as Kelli did in the dream, however, their mistress is Hecate, goddess of magic. The mist and deceptions similar don't seem to affect wizards and witches too much, but empousa can still change their appearances oftentimes to look like women."

"I haven't encountered many creatures from Greek mythology, including empousa. However, you can say there are some similar creatures though they don't have enough common traits to link them to it." Dumbledore answered. "This dream does give us something to work on, but I believe we will need more information. This may be linked to the virus."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked.

"I've spoken to Madam Pomfrey about the students infected, and so far, we can determine a couple of things. 1, this is not targeted to any group, the students who are infected are completely random. 2, it hasn't affected any of the teachers yet and the students who had been in proximity to the infected do not all show signs of any infection yet. 3, the effects do not seem to be fatal and the students are recovering at a good pace."

"How does this connects to dreams?"

"When some of the students were asked questions, a few of them asked if they had been doing anything during the night seeming as if they did do something but was obliviated or something of the sort. When I questioned the portraits, professors, and Argus, none of them mentioned anything about seeing any students out of bed at night."

"But there should still be a possibility," Nico said. "The portraits might have been asleep during some parts, someone might have used certain charms to help them, or items such as invisibility cloaks."

"Perhaps, they have had a dream similar to Percy's, but for some reason had forgotten about it when they woke up. The other option is that the students have been for some reason leaving their dormitories, but have not been caught by anyone."

"We'll have to try both options to see if they're correct," I said. "Is there a way we can know of all that happens at all around Hogwarts at night, that charms, cloaks, anything is exempt against?"

"I have a suspicion. There may be an item, but I'm not sure if it's attainable," Dumbledore said. "During the Triwizard tournament, Barty Crouch Jr mentioned something about a map that Harry owns. At the time, I didn't think too much of it considering the other pressing matters, but now that I recall his words, it might be useful. A map of Hogwarts that can show the names of the people in the school and where they are if I remember correctly. Though, I am unaware if Harry is aware of where it is or if we can use it."

"I think it's best if you ask him," Percy said. "I don't think my trust level with him is high enough for something like this. Besides, he's a good person. I don't think that'll be too big of a problem."

Back at Ravenclaw tower, most people were in the dorms getting ready for bed, though there were still a few out in the common room finishing up some homework or chatting with one another. "Annabeth!" Cho waved to me as I entered the dormitories. She had just entered the bed and seemed to be reading a textbook. "Do you know if you are staying?"

"Yeah. Dumbledore had discussed it with my teacher beforehand, and they thought it was better Percy, Nico and I remain at Hogwarts just in case we catch the virus. They don't want any possibility of it to spread."

"It's a smart plan. I wonder if Dumbledore will choose to cancel any events or such if this continues. I was looking forward to this final year of Quidditch at Hogwarts for me. Some of my friends have been at the hospital wing for a day or so now."

"I'm concerned too."

That night when I went to bed I found myself in another place.

My steps echoed across empty corridors. It seemed as if I was in a large maze. I was wearing my Hogwarts uniform and had only my wand on me. Suddenly, there was a burst of red. Vermillious, the spell that produced red sparks often used as a call for help. I tried to see if I could look about the walls which were a first only slightly taller than myself. However, the more I tried to look above them, the higher they would grow to make it almost seem as if they had reached the sky. Though above me wasn't a dark night or a clear blue, instead the sky was full of white as if it was covered by something like fog, clouds, or mist.

I looked at the walls for a while, knocking on them a couple of times as well. They seemed to be made of a stone-like material that I didn't recognize, one that might have been too hard to break. Nonetheless, I tried. "Confringo!" I yelled, pointing my wand at the dead-end in front of me. It didn't burst into pieces of rubble, however, the spell had managed to create a few cracks on the wall. Most likely, if I cast the spell a few more times it would break. It was most likely there was at least another in the maze with me. I had already begun to suspect this was a scenario similar to that of Percy's dream, whether friend or foe, it's better to meet the other in this place rather than leave without any other information.

Casting the exploding charm several more times, I maneuvered through the maze with my wand out. Soon, I heard the sound of the shuffling of feet that weren't mine. An unfamiliar male voice was calling out Vermillious over and over again. "Is anyone there?" He said at last. "I'm-" He stops talking as we caught sight of each other. It was a creature at least 8 feet tall, wearing normal clothes that looked like they had strong bulky armour underneath. On its arms were various tattoos of words and drawings too close together and muddled that I couldn't depict them.

He was a Laistrygonian giant.

I encountered them back during the summer when we were going to the Sea of Monsters. Immediately, his eyes widened and he pointed forward his club towards me swinging it from behind his shoulder towards me. "Confringo!" I shouted. There was a blast from my wand, I saw a shadow amongst the dust from the rubble dodge, running the other way.

I furrowed my brows, chasing after him. This was peculiar. Either he's not the only one in this maze, or he knows magic as well, but that doesn't make sense if he does. Empousa work under Hecate, but Laistrygonian giants are a different story. Seeing that I was catching up, the Laistrygonian giant began to call for assistance. "Help, help!" He cried. "She's going to kill me!"

Yes, that was obvious. If I didn't kill him, wouldn't he kill me? Though looking at the situation at hand, it seemed that regular monster behaviour would have to be called out of account.

"If I don't kill you, then aren't you going to kill me?" I asked, hoping to wry out some more conversation. Rather than answer, he instead sneered, showing off his yellow teeth as he whipped his head back briefly before increasing his pace. "You should know you'll be defeated again!"

"Again?" What did he mean by again? In the battle with Kronos, the war with Gaea, we didn't lose in the end.

"You dark wizards always try again, but you should know you won't win! We have Dumbledore back, and Harry Potter, and Kingsley Shacklebolt..." He continued to rant, and by the time he reached the 5th member he mentioned from the Order of the Phoenix, he turned around, his club pointing at me. "I'm going to fight too! I may not be able to kill you, but I'll try!"

Before I could respond, blasts of spells and magic are fired from the edge of his club, all directed at me. I narrowed my eyes, looking at the spells he cast, easily dodging them. It seemed he had more than just a year or so of experience with magic, that or he was like Percy, Nico and I who were quickly learning as fast as we could. "Incarcerous!" I shouted. A rope emerged from the tip of my wand and after a few tries, managing to bind up the dodging Laistrygonian giant. Let's have a good talk. I thought, walking over. Who does he think I am? I'm wearing Hogwarts robes; why did he call me a dark wizard?

"Why do-" I suddenly found myself unable to speak. Each time I opened my mouth, no sounds came out. Suddenly, the maze around us began crumbling, the former sturdy walls turning into desolation within the blink of an eye. Even the Laistrygonian giant in front of me seemed to be at a loss for words, or perhaps it was because he wasn't able to speak at that moment, like me. He opened his mouth a couple of times as if he was asking questions before changing and seemed as if he was shouting something. Then we both fell to darkness.

I opened my eyes to the Ravenclaw Dormitories, my mind was whirling with thoughts.