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 author. I hope you enjoy Joining Forces.
Annabeth POV:
"Settle down everyone," Snape snapped as he regarded the crowded hall, chatter amongst the students. "Professor Dumbledore has an announcement." Once each table was filled with everyone, Dumbledore stepped up and smiled. I didn't know how, but even in the most serious of moments just looking at Dumbledore's facade gave me a sense of comfort in the worst of situations.
"Some of you may have heard rumours of the return of a rising enemy. I am here to confirm the truth behind it, Lord Voldemort has come back." A collection of gasps and murmurs went around the hall.
"He's returned?"
"I thought he was defeated."
"Is he ever going to stay dead? How has he come back?"
"It can't be…"
"You may be fearful, anxious, nervous, however know that we are in the process of stopping Voldemort once more." It was short, but the message was clear to me. I personally wasn't too worried, if he had fallen twice who says he would fall again - he wasn't a titan nor immortal, he was only a human with magical abilities. However, Chiron had been right when he told us how our worlds were colliding, that gave me some fear. Trouble spelled with such circumstances.
"There's more." Dumbledore added before gesturing to the two of us. Nervously, I thought over my words, what I was going to do. I was going to reveal our world to billions of people. The magical community as a whole would be aware of not only our identities, but the existence of demigods, monsters and the gods in their entirety. There was a sudden squeeze on my hand. "Well," Percy remarked. "There's no turning back now."
"I just hope we don't come to regret this." I took a gulp and headed to the front with him at my side. Upon arriving next to Dumbledore, I gave the old wizard a nod.
"Hello, everyone." Dumbledore began. "I'm sure most of you are still a little startled, however I have some news that hopefully will add some degree of comfort. Voldemort has not returned alone this time, this time he has joined forces with an enemy from another world, joining forces to become stronger. We will become stronger as well! Unity between the two worlds is important for this battle, so now I welcome your fellow students up to give you all a message." The eyes of every student were on us, and although I couldn't see it, I was sure the teachers were staring at us too.
"You know us as your fellow students," I began. "Students from an American magic school. That is not completely true. Rather than a school, we come from a camp."
"A camp for half-bloods," Percy continued. "Camp Half-Blood, CHB, where the offspring of mortals and Greek, or Roman, or the gods of any pantheon can live in peace."
"We were selected for a mission," I said. "The dead are rising and a new enemy has formed. Our worlds have not crossed each other in the past, but now it is time for us to join forces." We stopped talking, as the hall was filled with chatter. "If we are to unite," I continued. "There should be truth between us. I know this is big news, so if you have any questions, don't be hesitant to raise your hand and ask." After a few moments several reluctant hands raised. I pointed to someone from the Slytherin table. "Why is it only you?" A voice asked. "Shouldn't we have more reinforcements?"
"The director at CHB first thought it was best to send only a few demigods to stay here for a long duration, if the battle requires more than we'll likely receive backup." I explained.
The next question was from a Gryffindor. "What sort of enemy that relates to your world?"
"That is not specifically known yet." Annabeth said. "However, we do know that monsters from our world, like the minotaur, the empousa, Laistrygonian giants, have been working with Voldemort."
Another rumble of whispers.
"The what?" Someone piped.
"The attacking things," I simplified.
"How are we supposed to believe this?" A voice from the Ravenclaw table asked. "You've been lying to us this whole time, haven't you!?"
Annabeth took in a deep breath. "If I remember correctly, we were very sparse about CHB, and several details were true."
"This can't be true," Another voice added. Percy looked to me, mumbling under his breath. "Can't say I didn't expect this possibility."
"That's enough, everyone," Snape said, intervening. "I suggest you all retire tonight," Once the announcement was over, finished with a few random reassuring words from Dumbledore, everyone began exiting, not at all ready to retire as Snape suggested.
"You-know-who...back?"
"I don't believe it." I turned around to a nearby Ravenclaw girl. She had thick red hair and several pimples scarring her face - Marietta Edgecombe. Her face was twisted in an angry scowl.
"They were right last time," Cho said. "I feel that we should believe them."
"What are they going to do this time?" Marietta said, still scowling. "Make another secret organization? Jinx anyone who doubted them?
"I don't think that's a reliable statement." I objected stepping forward. "As they aren't going to be hounded by that ministry woman at school this time. Besides, why wouldn't you believe it? It was true last time."
"Their claim was only true last time. A second time," She shook her head, her voice slightly shaking. "it won't work on me. The ministry will hear of their ridicule soon enough. No way he's back again!"
A crowd had begun to form around us. "That's ridiculous," I said. "Dumbledore is a completely reliable source. The ministry should support his endeavors."
"He's a nutter!" Marietta accused. Looking at her, I felt myself holding my hands together. Maybe everything was only too sudden and too scary. It seemed as if our lives were an endless cycle of missions and villains.
"I suppose you only feel that way after you betrayed the D.A," Lavender Brown chimed in from one part of the crowd. "Wait until something bad happens like last time, then you'll regret it."
Although the murmurs didn't decrease, we headed back to our dorms. Percy and I took a walk in solitude on the Hogwarts grounds. Grabbing one of the school's extra brooms they had kept, he suggested we go for a flight. We had been receiving flying lessons for the past several weeks, allocating a period to learn how to do so in-case of emergencies. Dumbledore allowed us to replace one of the classes to learn. He warned us that it might be difficult to maintain our grades if we had less sessions of a class a week, but Percy and I were up to the task. So every Friday rather than Study of Ancient Runes, I'd head to Hogwarts grounds for lessons with brooms. Percy was happy about it too, he said he'd rather have a flying lesson than divination. That day we were out on the quidditch pitch, we were testing our agility on the brooms as we tested to see how fast we'd fly around in a circle and through each of the hoops.
I found myself getting quite proficient at it.
"I don't think it's allowed," I sighed. "And we've already drawn enough attention today. Besides, you hate flying." Percy was less than comfortable in the sky, oftentimes finding himself anxious of any sudden lightning bolts he feared would come down. Needless to say, he rarely did fly and took the barest amount of time in the sky.
Percy shrugged his shoulders. "I think I'm in a bit of a slump. Can't say I really rather be walking, do you want to take a seat?" He patted the empty spot next to him on the stone bench. I sat down.
"With Voldemort returned to power, I'm not sure how much these students can all handle. I have a feeling these next few days will be rough. I think we need to come up with a plan." He took a moment to laugh, his smile seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. "I'm no good at that stuff, I'll still try of course, but I think we can do it. We've done it all before. It might not have been witchcraft and wizardry, but it was still pretty intimidating."
At this point, we noticed Ron, Hermione and Harry. They were rushing about the corridor, seeming to be looking for something, only to stop near our gate. Percy lowered his head, barely meeting them in the eyes. I could tell they wanted to talk, perhaps yell, demand some more, but kept quiet as I did. After a long moment of silence, Percy looked up at them. "I know you want to say something, go ahead."
"We have a lot to say," Ron breathed. "But, I think you have more to tell us; or are you going to continue to keep secrets? I thought we were friends, Percy!"
"You don't understand yet."
"I don't think I really do," Ron snapped. "You know we're trustworthy, we shared our secrets with you, but you never thought to do it the other way around?"
Hermione chimed in. "You're...demigods. You knew about what was going on? We might not have understood the answers we got since they could be greek mythology related, however you knew completely well and didn't tell us."
"It was too big of a secret." I said.
"Let me tell you something," Harry took a deep breath. "When I first came here, I didn't know anything or anyone, but in a few months - the three of us became close, and we got through a lot together. Why? Because I was open and I was willing to trust good people. I promise you we would have done nothing wrong."
Hermione interrupted. "It's not that we don't understand your reasons. It's just that we don't know how much you've lied. If what you said to us is true or not."
"We still want to be friends with you, of course." Harry voiced. "but I think we'll need to know if there's anything else."
"Well, there's really nothing more to add on. Essentially everything is out. Hogwarts, the magical community, everyone can know." I sighed, I can't believe we actually did that. "The only thing left is how we need to work together, because this battle is going to involve both our worlds, and I don't any of us can get out of it unscathed."
Guest - I usually refer back to the Harry Potter wiki pages to check for any discrepancies. Apparently, she was attacked and then died. Thank you for commenting!
CJ-Lee - Thank you very much for the feedback! :) I'll try to do it less in future chapters.