Being that the Olympians had moved westward and effectively abandoned Europe, the region split along two separate lines, where anything north of France went to the Norse and anything south of the British isles was given to the Roman Gods.
One would have assumed a wizard as old as Dumbledore would have recognized the Elder Futhark rune that was on Harry's forehead when he saw it, but no, a trait shared among wizards was their lack of common sense so he for whatever reason believed it was a scar given to him by Voldemort's killing curse. A funny notion that someone would survive the curse and yet still have gotten injured by it.
No, had he considered that for even a moment he would have recognized it for what it truly was, a birthmark symbolizing his divine heritage. For Lily Potter was in fact the mortal shell of the Norse Goddess of the Sun. And it was by her blessing that her son would survive that night.
Harry hated living with the Dursleys for so long, he hated that they hated him despite always trying his best to earn even a smidge of love or affection but always being denied it.
And now Harry found himself following a strange man with goat legs all because the Dursleys had been far too eager to send him away with a complete stranger. This allowed him time to think back on how this sequence of events began.
"So we're going to America for what reason again?"
"Grunnings Drills wants to set up a buy out of a smaller company and they need me and Johnson to go and finalize it, besides being one of their top salesmen," Vernon grunted as he pulled up his pants to loop the belt through. Harry still believed that in a battle between that belt and Wonder Woman's lasso, the belt would win. "They figure that our family image would look good for the company. And since I refuse to leave you alone for a month in our house," glaring at the child he hated.
"Oh no, that would be so awful for the both of us having an entire month away from each other," Rolling his eyes Harry continued to listen to his uncle grunt as the belt held his gut in.
"Shut up freak," Dudley hissed angrily from the stairs. The fat boy hated his cousin, for whatever reason his cousin was strong, almost impossibly so, and it made him mad. He tried to bully his cousin but when that same much smaller kid could pick him up by his ankles it wasn't a fair fight. So he stuck to verbal insults.
"So while we are there, you will be on your best behavior, no freakishness allowed," Vernon waggled a finger inches from Harry's face and for a moment the young boy was tempted to bite it off, but he didn't want to get indigestion from it, so he just willing it heat up. Something he discovered at a young age, that no matter how hot the sun got outside, he was never sweating, he was never cold in winter and sometimes he could start fires without meaning to. It took years of practice but he finally got that trick down.
Vernon hissed as he retracted his finger and glared at the young boy knowing he'd been the one to do it. Letting out a growl Vernon grabbed his and Petunia's suitcases and carried them out to the car while Harry took Dudley's and his own much smaller case, since Dudders couldn't possibly be asked to do any manual labor. 'And the baby hippo wonders why he's physically weak' Harry shook his head as the fat little piggy ate another chocolate bar, his sixth in the hour.
"We'll be at the borders soon," the Satyr said to Harry who was following him through a path in the forest.
"Whatever you say," Harry responded as he didn't really have anything better to do but follow. Worst case this just gets him killed by some crazy nutjob in the woods, but at least that'd be more interesting than what his Uncle had him do the last few days.
"And you are not to come out at all," Vernon warned as he left Harry in the cheap motel for the third day in a row.
"Yes Uncle Vernon," Harry dryly responded as his uncle shut the door and Harry flopped on the bed and turned on the tv, which didn't have anything playing that would interest a young child. So it was after an hour that Harry did what he always did when his uncle wasn't there. Ignore the rules. Stepping out of the motel room he began wandering around the area, looking for something to do.
The place wasn't bad, a bit more cars than he was used to seeing but it wasn't until he got pulled into a dark alley that he regretted his decision. "Ooh a tasty snack," the voice said from behind him as he felt claws digging into his skin.
Flinging out his elbow behind him, Harry felt it impact something soft and whatever it was let out a grunt as it hadn't expected that much power to come out of a demi-god of his age yet. Harry whirled around and in the dark could only see a pair of eyes. Raising his hand he willed light into the area, another ability he had discovered at a young age when he was small and still stuck in the cupboard.
"What the?" Harry questioned as he looked at the strange human-animal hybrid. He started to back away from it as it recoiled from the bright light.
"He uses magic," it hissed as it hadn't considered that danger, not many demi-gods were also gifted with the arcane arts, some were, but those were all older and not suitable targets for the weaker monsters.
Harry decided that staying and attempting to interrogate the strange beast in front of him would not be best so he booked it out of the alley and made it half a block before he collided with someone. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry," Harry apologized as he looked back and could see the face of the monster glaring at him, but not leaving the alleyway before it slunk back into the shadows.
"Wait," the person he bumped into looked between him and the alley, having seen the monster as well. "Oh crap, you're a half-blood," the satyr in disguise recognized.
"I'm a what?" Harry asked as he stood up and then noticed the misshapen legs on the other gentleman.
"Damn and it's my day off too," the older satyr grumbled. "I mean, what are the odds that I stumble upon a random demi-god?" Pausing for a moment before shaking his head. "Actually pretty good depending on which god you come from."
"I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone else," Harry said, taking a step back from this person's muttering.
"Hang on there," the satyr sighed. "Let me talk to your parents," he quickly requested figuring he might as well bring the kid to camp now rather than send someone later when he got back and told them about him, hell figuring Chiron, he'd just send him right back out for not doing something after the monster already got his scent.
"I don't have parents sir," Harry said sadly.
"Shit," the satyr groaned, for one that was not cool to bring up parents to an orphan, and it could also have meant this kids been running for a while. That always tended to be an awkward conversation, since the satyrs never knew how bad the kids had it before being found.
"I do have an aunt and uncle though," Harry informed. "They aren't here right now but they should be back in a few hours."
Letting out a sigh of relief that he hadn't been a total jackass about this kid's situation. "Sure, that might be best," the satyr nodded as he started to walk towards the motel with the demi-god named Harry.
Harry and this Satyr named Vincent, who he learned was a Satyr as they sat in the motel room waiting for the Dursleys to arrive. He had explained to Harry a bit of what was going on. Harry was quite shocked to learn that he was actually a demi-god, which caused him to think about some things. "Vincent, how would a car crash kill a god?" Harry asked.
"It wouldn't," Vincent scoffed at the strange question.
"But my aunt and uncle said they died in a car crash." Harry replied.
"Pfft, might be how one of them died, but no, they probably just made that up since it would be easier than telling you the truth," Vincent shrugged, and he hadn't been wrong, but he wasn't all right either.
When Petunia stepped through the door she saw the strange man sitting in the room talking to her nephew. "You're one of those freaks," she hissed as even though she was a full mortal she was still sister to a witch and goddess, so was able to see through the mist that would have obscured the Satyr from normal sight.
"Well that's rude," Vincent looked quite shocked to be referred to in such a derogatory manner.
"He's not even of age yet, what is your lot doing here?" Petunia demanded to know.
"Jeez hang on lady," Vincent held up his arms. "Yeah he's a bit young, but I'm taking him now."
"Oh no you won't," Vernon puffed up to seem as threatening as he could. "You lot dump him on us and think you can just come get him whenever it is convenient."
"Well yeah, that's how this works," Vincent laughed. "I don't get to decide when he comes with us but now's the time."
"HIs mother didn't go until she was eleven, he still has time?" Petunia looked confused as Lily only got the letter when she was eleven, why was Harry getting a man with goat legs at nine.
While the adults bickered Harry just sat with his thoughts. 'Does this mean one of my parents is alive? But then, why didn't they come get me? Did they not want me, what was wrong with me, was I not good enough?' Suddenly Harry began to hyperventilate as would any child when suddenly dealing with an existential crisis about what is their worth as a person.
"Okay look," Vincent stood up. "It doesn't matter if he's a few years too young. I'm taking him now. So Harry... Harry," the Satyr finally noticed that Harry was panicking and that needed his focus more than arguing with these mortals. "Dursley just gather his things, he's coming with me, then you can send the rest of his belongings to this address."
"All of it?" Vernon questioned as Vincent tried to get Harry to take deep breaths to calm down.
"Yeah, he's not coming back," the Satyr responded, clearly tired of this talk with the mortal.
"Well why didn't you say that at the beginning then," the fat man said with glee as he grabbed Harry's suitcase and made sure everything that Harry brought with him was packed up. "I hope to never see either of you again." giving a sadistic smile to the two people as they quietly left the motel room. As soon as the door shut Harry heard a cheer of joy from his uncle and he hoped the fat man suffered for it.
"Okay why did Odin request that I strike this mortal with a bolt of lightning?" Zeus questioned the message Hermes delivered to him in the throne room.
"Dunno," the messenger god shrugged. "Said their Sun Goddess was really pissed off at him and didn't want to wait a month to drop a pillar of fire on their house."
Zeus looked appreciatively at the request before directing a bolt of lighting to strike the fat man the moment he stepped outside. He wasn't really one to question when another pantheon wished a mortal to be smote, but with how much they moved around it did happen every now and then that someone offended a god then fled to another territory to try and escape punishment.
So that was how Harry Potter found himself following the grumpy satyr named Vincent towards a camp of other Demi-Gods. And for the first time in Harry's life he was excited to be around other kids, because these kids would be like him.
"Normally this is a bit more difficult," Vincent commented. "Things typically go wrong when I'm bringing a demi-god to camp, more monster is smooth sailing from here on out," chuckling at his own joke.
Harry looked horrified at that comment, not because of the monster attacks, but because. "Why would you say that, that's pretty much going to guarantee that something goes wrong now!"
"Nah, it's fine," Vincent waved off the concern. "I got it on good authority that the fates aren't listening right now, so we aren't tempting them."
"If something does happen, I get to say I told you so," Harry pouted as he did not like the casual way this satyr was pretty much inviting trouble.
"Nah, we're already here," the satyr chuckled as they had crossed the barrier before he made his comment. He wasn't foolish enough to do it when there was a possible danger and the fates would always hear if someone was arrogant enough to mock them.
"Vincent, I thought you were still on vacation?" Chiron trotted over.
"I was, stumbled into this little half-blood by chance," Vincent ruffled Harry's hair. "Figured you'd make me go back and get him anyway. He was already being chased by a monster so I just picked him up."
The centaur chuckled. "I would have," Chiron said as he and the Satyr started walking through that camp even as Harry followed along nervously noticing as more kids who all seemed to be older than him were coming out of cabins and stopping their tasks, seemingly interested in his arrival.
Chiron smiled seeing all his campers wanting to meet the new kid. "Attention everyone, we have a new arrival," Raising his voice so everyone could hear him. The centaur reached his hand out towards Harry. "I know he's a little young for a camper, but please help me in welcoming..." turning to the child so he could get the name.
"Harry Potter sir," Harry gulped.
"Harry Potter to our camp." Chiron finished as the other demi-gods clapped and cheered to have another camper.
"Wait, that Harry Potter?" a feminine voice called out from Hermes cabin. Chiron looked confused as a teenage girl pushed her way through the campers. "You, you're The-Boy-Who-Lived." She said getting in Harry's face.
"I don't think so?" Harry looked at Vincent who shrugged.
"Hold up your hair," the girl demanded as Harry backed away from her terrifying advance.
"Vanessa, that's not how you ask someone," Chiron chastised the camper for not being polite.
"Fine, sorry," Grumbling at getting told she was being rude. "Would you please show me your forehead?"
"Why?" Harry asked nervously.
"I want to see if you have the famous scar."
"I have a scar," Harry said, lifting his black hair out of the way to show the lightning bolt on his forehead.
"You are him," Vanessa squealed as she grabbed Harry and started to take him towards the other witches and wizards that ended up in camp. While Demi-Gods all had abilities or traits of their parents, it didn't always come in the form of magic, so there were only three or four magicals in Camp Half-Blood at any given time. "So it's true, you survived the killing curse."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Harry tried to pull out of the grip and Venessa learned quickly that Harry was far stronger than his size would seem as she was thrown to the ground quite easily when he pulled out of her grasp.
Vanessa growled angrily as she picked herself up off the ground and pulled out her wand. "You're a wizard you dingus," she shouted as she cast a spell at a rock.
"Wait, I thought I was a demi-god?" Harry looked to Vincent who wasn't going to be any help at all.
"You're both," an older teenage boy said, deciding to get involved to ease the situation. "Name's Jericho Johnson, I'm a sixth year at Ilvermorny."
"Harry Potter, I'm nine," introducing himself to the much more polite teen holding out his hand to get shaken.
Snorting at the greeting Jericho felt that Harry had a very firm grip. "Strong one aren't you. Probably one of Ares kids, they tend to be scrappy."
"Don't know who my parents are, I just learned their names a few days ago," Harry shrugged.
Those who could hear were quite shocked to learn that Harry didn't know the names of his parents until recently, although now they were all trying to guess who his divine parent was.
"Well… let's see if any of the gods claim you first," Chiron coughed hoping to move past this awkward moment to have a discussion with the newest arrival about his previous home life as Vincent had said the mortals were very rude to him.
Harry came back over to the centaur and looked around as the campers got really excited. "How do I do that?" He inquired.
"Well normally you'll get a little symbol above your head when your divine parent notices you are here, so it could be any time really," Chiron told the young child as the gods were not watching at all times so some got to it later than others.
"Well maybe you're one of Hecate's?" Jericho guessed as he, Vanessa and the other magicals in camp tended to be. "You are a wizard."
"Nah, no nine year old should be that strong," Vanessa disagreed. "He's got to be one of Ares' brats," sticking her tongue out as the children of the war god hissed and booed at her. "Oh that's practically a compliment."
"Is there anything I can do that might maybe help?" Harry asked the older campers.
"You got any special skills?" someone from Demeter's cabin spoke up before letting out a cry of pain because someone cuffed him on the side of the head.
"He's a wizard dingus, that could just be his magic." The person who struck the first commented
"I'm just saying he doesn't have a wand, so maybe," the two starting to bicker among themselves.
As Harry watched the camp devolve into one of their favorite pastimes called, "Guess that Parent" Harry just wondered when he'd know which god or goddess didn't want him.
"Alright," Chiron shouted. "As fun as it is to see you all play detective and try to figure it out before the gods tell us, you all have chores to do." Seeing his campers grumble as they started to go back to what they were doing before Harry's arrival. "That includes you all, I know you haven't finished your summer homework," Chiron warned the few Ilvermorny students he had that looked ready to pounce on the young celebrity.
"It's always an experience with this lot," the centaur sighed as he started taking Harry towards the big house to explain some of the things about the camp to him and to ask some of the questions about Harry's upbringing.
Harry shuddered a bit as he shook over the overwhelming experience of meeting the campers for the first time. "They seem… nice."
"Hah," Chiron barked out a laugh. "Nice, just wait until the games begin, then you'll see them as the little terrors they truly are. I like them though, so I hope you end up liking them too."
"It's different than I'm used to. Being accepted, wanted even," Harry said sadly as he was led into Chiron's office.
"Tell me about that," the centaur said as Harry sat in a chair across from him. "What did Vincent mean when they were calling him a freak?"
Harry looked nervous as he wasn't sure he could trust this new person he just met.
"Please, anything said in here, stays in here. Unless it's a threat to the rest of the camp then you can trust me to keep it secret." Chiron informed Harry, recognizing the hesitation. "I do this for all the campers so they have someone they can go to if they need it, and I can't help them if they don't trust me."
"Okay," Harry nodded as he spoke about his upbringing. Chiron being as old as he was grateful that he had millennia to practice controlling his expression because behind the calm mask he was furious. Every time he got a camper who came from an abusive household he wished the gods would smite the mortals, non-intervention be damned. He was unaware that Vernon Dursley had been smote already and the two remaining Dursleys were going to suffer in the coming months for their mistreatment of the son of a goddess.
After Harry had told his story, needing quite a few tissues he felt better, not having to hold it all in anymore. "Thank you Mr. Chiron sir," he said even though his voice sounded raspy and he was emotionally drained from having to tell it to someone.
"I am always here for campers when they need it," Chiron smiled, glad that Harry had been able to open up to him. "Now it's just about supper time, so let's head on over to the dining pavilion, I'm sure you're hungry after the day you've had."
"I've gone longer-" Harry started to say before the immortal centaur cut him off.
"You will no longer be forced to skip a meal, at Camp Half-Blood we do not deny food as punishment," Chiron firmly said as he hated hearing how those vile mortals would treat Harry. "We have never had trouble feeding our campers and one more mouth will not put a strain on us."
"Okay," Harry nodded as he followed the centaur out of the large red building and towards the feasting hall.
Harry was amazed at seeing the loud and happy atmosphere in the pavilion as the numerous tables held the students enjoying their food. "Where do I sit sir?" Harry questioned.
"Since you haven't been claimed yet, then you will join those at Hermes Table until such a time happens," Chiron pointed towards the largest and most crowded table.
Sitting down Harry was quickly pulled into a conversation which he found astonishing that he was making friends that easily. For the first time in a long while he felt like he found a place he belonged at.
After seeing some of their customs and traditions Harry was excited to be at Camp Half-Blood, even as he settled into the overcrowded Hermes Cabin, Harry was content because now he might begin to flourish as a person instead of being stuck with the Dursleys.
"I don't get it," Harry scratched his head as he looked at the signs posted around. "How do you all read this?" he asked of his guide who was showing him around the camp.
"It's ancient Greek, we're demi-gods so we can all read this," the counselor said to the latest arrival.
"Well it's all blurry to me," Harry shrugged.
"Maybe it's your glasses," the counselor scratched their chin, deciding that maybe he needed to get his eyes checked. Even after stopping by Apollo's cabin to see if anyone could find something wrong with his eyes and getting one of Hephaestus's children to make him a new pair that better fit him, Harry still had trouble reading the signs.
"Don't know what to tell you," the counselor shrugged as they had no idea why ancient Greek was so difficult for this particular demi-god to read since it seemed to be an inborn trait of all the other campers.
Harry felt annoyed that there was still something that made him different from the other demi-gods in camp, but that just meant he had to get better at remembering where everything was since he couldn't read any of the signs. When it came to the other campers though, he was fitting in pretty well. It had been the older witches and wizards that had explained to him why he had a name like The-Boy-Who-Lived and more about magic.
And Harry really enjoyed spending time with them as they listened to his stories about the things that would happen around him as they helped him contextualize that as accidental bursts of magic. They shared some of the information they had learned in their first years so that Harry had an understanding of what he could do later on in life if he practices hard enough.
All in all he was settling into life at the camp well enough, he didn't think anything could go wrong, until the first time some of the campers went on quest.
It was nearing the end of December and he saw there was a large group of people gathering at the edge of the barrier. "What's going on?" Harry asked one of the other campers.
"They got a quest," the person said with glee as they saw the group form.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked as he knew the word quest, he just wasn't sure if it was the same thing or not.
"The Oracle gave a prophecy, so that means someone needs to go and complete it. It's a great honor," that person continued to explain what a Quest was, as this older boy Harry hadn't interacted with that much gathered a small team.
"Hey Vanessa is going too," Harry commented as he saw the older witch get picked for the team. She'd been nice about sharing the books she was reading since she was only in her third year at Ilvermorny and figured it wouldn't go over his head too often. So even if they got off to a rough start they were slowly becoming close friends.
"Yeah, probably figured a little magic would go a long way to help," the person said as they headed back to what they were doing.
"I hope she comes back soon," Harry said as he joined some of the other younger campers with their chores, wondering when he'd see his friend again and to learn all about her quest. She had come back for the holidays to spend time at the camp on break since the others at Camp Half-blood were the only family she felt she had.
Vanessa never returned.
They burned a shroud for her on a pyre, a celebration of the quest's success but to also mourn the one lost. And Harry had never looked at a fire with such hatred before in his life, as the symbol of his friend's death was turned into smoke and ash. "It happens," Chiron settled down next to Harry who had been as far away from the other campers as he could without seeming disrespectful.
"Why though?" Harry questioned as he looked at the centaur for advice.
"Sometimes the monsters are too dangerous, the task too daunting, other times it is simply chance," Chiron admitted as he didn't feel like Harry would appreciate a sugarcoated answer.
"Why didn't her mother help her, that was her daughter," Harry's voice cracking as he struggled with his emotions. He knew his parents died to try and save him from that Voldemort guy the other magical campers told him about.
"The gods cannot interfere, not directly at least," the old centaur sighed as he explained the rule that prevented them from acting.
"The gods are stupid," Harry muttered as tears streamed down his cheeks.
Chiron looked down at the young demi-god, this was not the first time he had done this and he expected to do so countless more times. "The gods can hear you here, so it is best not to insult them," having no desire to try and say the child was wrong, he never did like how hands off the gods could be. But he also didn't want the gods to think Harry was arrogant and in need of punishment, they could be particularly vindictive.
"I'm ten and my friend is dead," Harry sniffled, not seeing a problem with what he said. "And she wouldn't be if they broke their rule to keep a thirteen year old girl safe. Is that so wrong?" Looking at Chiron for his opinion.
"It's not," the centaur admitted. "It really isn't wrong to wish that those who died did not, that our friends did not suffer. But there was nothing you or I could do to change this."
"Not yet," Harry glared at the large fire which suddenly erupted sky high, causing the other campers to stumble back before continuing their partying, placing the blame on Hephaestus' children for losing control of the flame. "Chiron if someone was stronger with magic, would they have been chosen over Vanessa, would she be alive then?"
"That is a dangerous thought, to wonder about what might have been, it is a path that leads to madness," Chiron quickly warned as he's seen so many people lose themselves to grief and regret.
"But if someone was stronger, then maybe they could change things?" Harry repeated his question.
"Possibly," Chiron sighed. "Maybe the leader would have picked the stronger sorcerer, maybe not. Sometimes it's people they like more, people they get along with, maybe it's because they think a certain talent will help them better than another, there are a lot of factors that play into how quests are given that I doubt even the gods could figure everything out before something happened."
"Then I have to be stronger, if I was older and better then maybe they would have chosen me and Vanessa would have been here when I got back, she could tell me stories from her books, teach me more about magic, and keep being my friend." Harry gritted his teeth angrily as his tear-filled eyes flashed with power.
"If you want to be stronger, then you will have to work for it," Chiron ran a hand through his hair. "Any power you get without putting in the proper effort though is false power, and it will cause you more problems than solutions," Chiron warned, as he knew that the magicals had many tools at their disposal to get stronger than the other campers had and that to him just meant they had more ways to hurt themselves if they weren't careful.
"I will Chiron, I'll get strong, for Vanessa," Harry promised as he never wanted to see another of his friends not return from quest ever again.
"Harry," one of Athena's daughters called out as she came over to him where he was practicing his swordsmanship. "You got a letter," she said, holding out the letter that came with an owl.
"Huh, not Ilvermorny," Harry said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He had expected that the American school would send an invitation to him, but it had been Hogwarts, something he figured was still a possibility. "Could one of your owls please send the acceptance?" He asked as any owl of a child of Athena could reach anywhere in the world almost impossibly fast. And that was the standard mail system used by magicals so he didn't want to have any of Hermes' children send it and have them get suspicious.
He had learned to not let those who weren't demi-gods or magicals know about magic, as per the Statute of Secrecy, but also more importantly, they warned Harry that because he was going to be around magicals, to never let them know he was a demi-god. Even Mr. D had told him that it could be disastrous as the blood of a demi-god could be used for some truly heinous dark magic and rituals so it was best that they did not know. This situation was worse because the other Ilvermorny Demi-Gods at least had each other to rely on in the school while Harry would be on his own halfway around the world if something went wrong.
"They could for the normal fee." the daughter of Athena giggled as Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yes yes, whichever owl sends it can have my bacon," grumbling as he hated having to give up the delicious meat, but until he got his own he needed to pay the fees, even if he suspected that getting an owl of his own, he'd just be paying it instead.
"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Chiron asked as Harry gathered his belongings needed to get back to Britain. Unlike the other campers who were going to Ilvermorny, anything that Harry forgot this year would take, well not much more time and effort to get to him than the others. But he should still make sure he was responsible to pack everything he needed.
Since it was his first year the older magicals in the camp, of which there were now only two, a fifth year and a third year, made sure that Harry had gotten everything he needed for Hogwarts. His wand had been a nightmare to get him, they had gone through almost a hundred wands before the wandmakers had given up. "He's going to be a custom job," the three wandmakers concluded as nothing they had would get that proper reaction.
It wasn't until Harry stepped into the magical menagerie that he discovered a piece of his wand. Harry had been looking over the various pets, even if Hogwarts only allowed an owl, toad or rat, when he could swear he heard someone speaking.
"Jennifer?" Harry looked over at the witch who had taken him to look at the animals. The wizard Tobias had gone off to get his school books or their better equivalent because he had written his professors about the list that Harry had gotten and those that taught at Ilvermorny had been shocked at the choice for History, claiming it to be an outdated piece of garbage. The potions and defense text hadn't been bad, the Professors claimed, but they said it was incomplete and lacked context and were either chosen because the professor had faith that all the students understood the foundational principles of the craft or they simply wanted students to struggle.
So Tobias had been given a list by his own professors of texts to supplement Harry's education since he mentioned this wizard was going to have to go to Hogwarts instead. The reaction from the Ilvermorny staff had been mixed, while some lessons taught in the ancient school were by some of the best in their fields, the standards the lessons were taught too were questionable. So Tobias had said he was going to be gone for a while.
Jennifer looked over to Harry as she had gotten distracted by the puppies and kittens. "What is it?"
Harry shook his head. "Sorry, thought you were talking to me," being that it was only Jennifer and himself in the store as the shopkeeper had stepped into the back, Harry wasn't sure who was talking. "There it is again," Harry said as he heard the voice speak.
Jennifer looked to Harry. "I'm not hearing anything." She commented as she tried to hear what Harry was hearing. Hearing voices wasn't common, but it did happen sometimes, so she wanted to be ready in case it meant something bad.
"It's coming from over here," Harry commented as he approached a glass tank. "Hello?" He said as he looked in the glass before a serpent became visible for him.
"Hello," the Horned Serpent replied.
"Oh, I didn't know that it was you talking, I was overhearing your conversation," Harry apologized for accidentally listening to what the snake had been saying.
"That is alright speaker," The snake hissed towards the young boy. "It is quite rare for someone with your gift to be here."
Harry was going to continue his conversation with the snake when Jennifer pulled him away from the glass. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were a parselmouth?" she quietly hissed as she looked around the room in case any one had heard him.
"A what?" Harry asked.
Jennifer pointed to the glass tank. "You can talk to snakes."
"Oh, I guess I can," Harry mused as he hadn't noticed a difference from talking to the horned serpent and anyone else. "What does that mean?"
"Not much really, it's just a rare talent, people would probably think you were more interesting since one of the Ilvermorny founders supposedly could talk to a horned serpent," Jennifer answered the young boy's question.
"So should I get the snake then, I think it would be pretty cool to have a pet I could have a conversation with?" wondering if that was the right call.
Jennifer shrugged. "I think you might be one of the few people who could, but that letter said you can only have one of three pets."
"It can turn invisible, so no one would notice anyway," Harry grinned as he liked a little rule breaking every now and then, as did all the demi-gods.
Jennifer ruffled Harry's unruly black hair, it being the one head of hair that the children of Aphrodite could never tame, to their utter dismay. So instead they had decided to tailor Harry's style around that immutable fact and made it look like it was intentional.
Stepping out of the pet store with his own owl and snake draped over his shoulders, Harry was having a whispered conversation attempting to learn about the new companion. While Harry was doing that Jennifer led him over to get his robes. Both of them got measured for new clothes and Harry lamented that his robes had to be a boring plain black. Jennifer giggled as she twirled in her blue and cranberry colored outfit. "It's not my fault Hogwarts wants to be a stereotype."
"Well at least I only have to wear them in class," Harry frowned. 'Hopefully' he thought as he couldn't imagine spending all his time in these things, even if they were comfortable, it offered nothing in terms of protection and was restricting his movements quite a bit.
"Yeah, you're going to have to learn how to fight all over again in these bad boys," Jennifer sighed. "I think Tobias is finishing up soon so let's get some lunch before we see if those kooky wandmakers are ready for you now." Looking to a magical diner that she beelined towards.
Harry rolled his eyes as he joined the demi-god witch in a booth as she ordered what was basically a mountain of meat between two buns. After he ate a far more reasonable amount of food he went back to the wandmakers hoping they had a solution for him that wouldn't require him having to go to London early and find a wand there.
"A horned serpent," Violetta Beauvais gasped as she recognized the snake draped over Harry. She, like any wander maker in America or student of Ilvermorny, was aware of the prestige a Horned Serpent held.
Harry reached up and scratched the snake on the chin before hissing at it. "He says hello," Harry turned towards the witch who looked a mix of terrified and awestruck.
"I believe I may know what your wand core will be," Shikoba Wolfe said as she approached the snake. "If I could take a shaving of it's horn, which will regrow, it can serve as the core of your wand, from there we will only need to find what wood best suits you."
Harry asked if the serpent would be willing to allow this, and to his surprise the snake considered it a great honor to have part of it become a wand for a Speaker. So the two witches carefully took the snake to the back room to get a single filing of the horn and to make sure it is properly shaped to go into a wand.
Johannes pulled out a few blocks of wood. "Come on while those two," aiming his thumb behind him. "Are playing with your snake," chuckling as the boy in front of him sputtered. "We'll see what type of wood you're going to put in your hands."
"Oh you just love to make those jokes don't you?" Harry rolled his eyes as he caught on that this guy liked to tell puns and euphemisms.
"I do," Johannes smiled as he set a few blocks down in front of Harry. "Go on, give them a test."
"How do I do that?" Harry asked as he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with them.
"Whatever you like, it's about whichever one feels right, and only you can know that," Johannes told Harry. "Maybe it's the way it feels, maybe the weight, could be how well you can swing it around. Even had one guy who insisted on licking them all and said the taste mattered more, he was a chef so maybe he was right," Johannes shrugged.
"I hope you at least cleaned them all afterwards," Harry grumbled as he randomly grabbed the different blocks, but he just felt foolish, they were wooden blocks, why would any of them… Stopping his hand over the golden colored wood.
"Hmm, the pacific yew, sturdy, cleans up real nice," Johannes hummed as Harry inspected the block. "Something caught your eye?"
"I don't know, it's just, different," Harry responded as he was confused why suddenly this block called out to him.
"Well that's heartwood, from the center of the tree, so it's going to have more orange or gold coloring to it, as opposed to the sapwood, which is lighter to the point that it can be white. Not a very flexible wand, but a solid one for those who might have a bit more of a kick to their spellwork." Taking the block from Harry's hands, the wandmaker went into the back. "We'll have it done shortly," Johannes promised as normally making a wand took a wandmaker time since it wasn't always the highest priority.
But the nature of the wand was one that had the trio of wandmakers curious and willing to put aside any distractions and work together to craft this particular instrument.
Half an hour later they came out and presented Harry with his wand, with the way that it had been waxed to a near reflective sheen. Grasping the long stick in his hand he felt a rush as a spark of fire rolled across his hand and spiraled out the tip. "I like it," Harry smiled at the wandmakers who were very proud of their work. "How much do I owe you, since you all put in a lot of work?" asking as he didn't know the price but he assumed it was expensive.
"No charge," the wand makers said together. "We've never had a chance to make a wand like the founder of Ilvermorny had, so make sure you do great things with this."
"I promise," Harry nodded as he looked at the tool he could use to grow in power.
After getting his wand, Tobias and Jennifer took him back to the camp. They were eager to see him test it out with some of the more simple spells.
Harry watched as families went through the magical barrier at platform nine and three quarters, which was how he was able to tell where to get on as he slipped in behind a blonde family. He was aware of his fame from the other campers telling him that he apparently had a book series written about him and once information made its way around the camp copies were gotten and the other demi-gods made sure to tease him about the things he supposedly had done. He knew it was all in good nature as for them the methods that he "used" to defeat the creatures were hilarious and implausible.
But he also didn't want to draw attention to himself, that could cause him problems since he would be alone in this new school. He managed to get onto the train without any fuss and settled into a compartment somewhere near the middle, ensuring that he would meet some people, but not as immediately as if he chose a carriage in the front.
Watching out the windows of the compartment he could see other students running all over the place, either looking for their friends or someone in particular, which led him to believe it was him and he was grateful that he had a hooded cloak that hid much of his face unless they got close enough to look under it.
It was a few minutes later when the door opened up and Harry looked up to see an older girl with brown hair that had a spot of orange on it. "Ugh," Merula Snyde scoffed as she plopped herself down on the bench. "Just keep your mouth shut firstie and I might let you live," she rolled her eyes as she didn't want to try and find another compartment knowing they would already have a few people in them and she had claimed this one the last few years. She normally didn't have to deal with anyone coming around since she didn't have any friends.
She resigned herself to think nasty thoughts about this new firstie who seemed to have decided that he would take a nap. And to her annoyance the door opened again, causing her to stop reading the book she just pulled out and see who it was. "Ugh Spawn, what do you want?" She sneered at the pampered son of Lucius Malfoy.
"I hear that Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts," Draco sneered back at the witch who sometimes babysat him. "And I mean to get to him before he meets the wrong sort of families," Draco's eyes running up and down Merula. Sure she was a pureblood whose parents served the Dark Lord, but she was poor and last of her family name, all that meant she was good for in his eyes was a broodmare for a more proper and wealthy pureblood.
Out of the corner of her eye Merula noticed as the firstie's lips ever so slightly turned up into a smirk. "Sorry Spawn, maybe he's somewhere else," she snapped as she slammed the door shut.
Before she even had a chance to settle back down and call out this mystery person on who she thought he was the door opened again. "Now what?!" She shouted as she came face to face with the group of students she liked the least at the moment, the traitor Barnaby Lee, the know it all Tulip Karasu and the perfect prankster Nymphadora Tonks.
"Hey, we just," Tulip rubbed her arm nervously as she looked at the first friend she had ever made and then betrayed.
"I don't want to hear it," Merula snarled as she wanted these people to leave her alone.
"Look Snyde we just, that vault was," Tonks hair flickered through various colors as she tried to be calm about this apology.
"Hey maybe we just," Barnaby raised his hands trying to play peacekeeper and failing as Merula pitched a book at his head.
"Leave me alone!" Merula screamed as she hated that the girl who stabbed her in the back was trying to pretend that it wasn't a big deal.
"Hey!" Harry shouted over everyone else. "Keep it down, I'm trying to fucking sleep here," he swore at the group who were on the cusp of a loud argument. Normally he'd be much more polite with his language, but some of the kids at camp, Ares Cabin, were very loose with their tongues and made sure that Harry was well acquainted with the curses. Coupled with being tired from having to deal with the time difference and the uncomfortable number of portkeys needed to get from the US to London meant that Harry was tired and cranky. So his tongue was sharp and ready for the first fool to annoy him.
"Shut up firstie, you don't have any idea what this is about," Barnaby said as he glared at the young boy.
"I don't care what it's about, people are trying to sleep," Harry pulled down his hood and glared back at the boy, his own eyes flashing with power, the reveal of his identity had been enough to surprise them, but what he did next was truly shocking. "Asclepius if they start arguing again, scare them off," he hissed to the snake he finally came up with a name for as it became visible hanging from the upper rack and hissed at the students who looked terrified.
"Merlin's balls, Harry Potter's a parselmouth," Tonks mouth snapped shut as the intimidating horned serpent hissed at her.
"Yeah, and Harry Potter is trying to get a nap, so if you plan to talk sit your butts down and do so quietly with your indoor voices or he's going to get bitey with some of you," Harry said as he nestled back against the wall and pulled his hood back over to block out most of the light. "And that wasn't a suggestion," he muttered as he heard the shuffling of feet and the door closing before the previous conversation was restarted but much quieter and more restrained.
Because of the literal hanging threat of a class xxxxx creature, the conversation was more subdued and productive than it would have been had they devolved into screaming at each other. To the point that a tenuous alliance was made in regards to the cursed vaults, however the discussion had taken so long that the trolley had made its way to the door.
"Anything off the cart, dears?" the trolley witch asked the room who declined but the movement of the famous boy drew her attention.
Harry stretched a bit and looked at the cart of sweets before shrugging. "I'll take the lot," he said as he handed her a stack of galleons and received an enormous pile in return, it was a mix of everything she sold, but of course it wasn't the entire cart, that would be ridiculous but Harry had enough that he could share.
"Well," Harry looked at the older students. "Any of you want some?" Asking as he offered some of the candy to the compartment. He could see that the teens were looking at him suspiciously. "I'm sorry, I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night and I was still not over having to take six portkeys to get back to London. It was wrong of me to take my frustrations out on you lot because of that, so please, let me make it up to you by bribing you with chocolate."
For a moment the compartment of fourth years stared at Harry before Tonks snorted. "Okay you were doing good up until the bribe part."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Really, you're going to try and tell me that magical teenagers don't want junk food?"
"I didn't say that," Tonks shook her head as she snatched up a chocolate frog. "Just didn't think you'd be so upfront with your wicked ways."
"Please, when I show my wicked ways, you'll know," Harry chuckled as he ignited his hand briefly before snuffing it back out with a wave. He was so glad that some of the other demi-gods had shown him how to harness his gifts outside of magic. They benefited as well as currently the pool was that Harry's divine parent was between, Ares, Apollo and Hephaestus. There was still a small group who considered that him surviving a supposed killing curse might make him a child of Hades, but the big three weren't supposed to have children so those talks were quieted up quickly and the other campers really hoped it wasn't the case.
"Okay," Tulip gulped back her fear. "That was pretty wicked," the redhead admitted as she hadn't expected that out of Harry Potter, but after what she just saw, she wouldn't be putting anything off the table just yet.
Harry for the most part felt at ease talking with the older students as the other Demi-gods at Camp Half-blood were all older than him, except for a few other campers. "So, what's Hogwarts going to be like?" He asked as he popped a jellybean in his mouth before his features twisted in disgust. "Oh that's rancid," he said as he coughed. "Seriously every flavor?" he questioned as he looked at the package. "Someone does not know how to make candy," shaking his head in disbelief that adding something like spoiled milk as a flavor is a good idea to sell.
"Yup every flavor," Merula chortled as she took one herself. "Mmm mint," she said smugly as she looked at Harry's face.
"Anyway," Barnaby said. "It's a castle, and you learn magic there." Saying that as if that was all that needed to be said.
Harry deadpanned a stare at the other boy before sighing. "I meant, what would be more beneficial to me coming all the way back to England to learn magic rather than stay in the US and go to Ilvermorny?"
"Wait, you live in the States?" Tonks said in confusion.
"For just about the last two years," Harry nodded. "So it's kind of nice to be back home, but since I didn't have too many fond memories it's more like nostalgia than actually enjoying being here. New York has much nicer weather," Harry commented as he forgot how wet everything could be on this side of the country.
"Wow, I mean I guess it's not too shocking, no one has seen you since well, that night," Tulip gulped as she tugged on her tie.
"Yes, the night Voldemort murdered my parents and then blew himself up," Harry rolled his eyes. "I am aware. As to that I spent most of it with my no-maj aunt, uncle and cousin," Harry continued.
"No-maj?" Merula tilted her head.
"No magic, muggle sounds like a slur, but more importantly it sounds stupid," Harry commented. "As if it's not bad enough that I have to hear the bastardization of the King's English by the Americans, to come here and find out that the magicals have silly names reminiscent of children's cartoons is just… No-maj just sounds more like something a real person would say," Harry folded his arms as his discussion with some of the other campers who found it fun to mess with Harry about his accent had been quite annoying.
"That's not terrible reasoning," Tulip chuckled as she realized that the word was kind of silly.
"But anyway, after a trip to America, I ended up staying and they, well I don't rightly give a damn what happened to them," Harry scoffed as never checked up on them and he had no intention of doing so now. That was a part of his past he never wanted to revisit.
Unknown to him he would not be able to, as after the sudden death of Vernon Dursley, which the insurance company declared an Act of God, which was not incorrect, but they would have no way of knowing that. Petunia had been unable to collect on the policy and suddenly the debts owed were being called in, to pay off the mortgage and the car she had to sell the house and damn near everything in it.
But to make the situation worse, the day before she could close the sale, it suddenly caught fire and the sudden appearance of a burn permit prevented her from collecting on that insurance as well. Which Petunia had sworn she never filed.
"Why exactly did you assist me on this one Loki?" Sol questioned the trickster as to his reasoning for adding that little detail after Sol had sparked the fire to eradicate the hellish prison her son was subjected to for years and years.
Loki chuckled as he strolled away from the Sun Goddess. "Well, normally you don't get involved in anything in the mortal realm, so when you took great interest in punishing this particular family I wanted to know why. I just felt you might need a little help with some details that might have gone amiss with this retribution for the Dursley family." He said surprisingly honestly, even to himself.
"Very well Laufeyson," Sol said sweetly. "I will accept your aid with my vengeance for the one who was once my sister who threw that potential goodwill and protection away all because of her own petty hatred and for taking it out on my son."
"Oh my dear," Loki bowed low and proper as the burning woman passed by him. "We are going to have so much fun," he clapped and skipped after her. Normally he'd be told to leave Asgard whenever seen as he was unloved here, but with Sol's request of aid, he was free to come and go.
So for the last few years Petunia has been barely scraping by in a dingy poor apartment, working painfully long hours at terrible wages just to make ends meet. She had two full time jobs and barely made more than what she needed, it was exhausting and there were so many things going wrong that it was draining the will to live out of her, but she at least was content to know that she still had her son Dudley.
Things for Dudley hadn't been going well either, with his father dead and their home destroyed along with most of his belongings, he'd been distraught about his material possession and his mother refused to replace them all saying she didn't have enough money. But he knew she was a liar because she worked more than dad did and he could afford all of it. So he regularly stole from her purse when she was sleeping on the couch after another all night shift, unaware that his thefts were making her have to work more and more to make up the difference. A never ending cycle of poverty she found herself in.
But that was not anything Harry needed to concern himself with, he meanwhile was having a good time with these older magicals on a train ride up to an ancient castle where he would learn how to cast spells and make friends and live a far better life than he had before.
Stepping off the train Harry waved off the group of friends he had made before joining the other first year students next to the very tall man. Harry hesitated for a moment as he sized up the potential threat. Making sure to stay near the back so he didn't get boxed in he watched as this seemingly jovial giant of a man led them all to boats. "Hmm…" Harry pondered what exactly that man was, because he could tell it wasn't fully human, but he didn't seem hostile.
"Hello there," a brunette witch greeted Harry as she and a couple others joined him in one boat. "I'm Lavender Brown," she introduced herself.
"Harry Potter," Harry nodded as he looked over the side of the boat, seeing movement in the deeper parts of the near pitch black water. Extending out his hand over the waters he formed a ball of light and dropped it in, illuminating the shape. "Not a kraken, just a big squid," Harry commented to himself as he now wanted to not be on top of the water in just a small wooden boat. "Can this go faster?" He asked loudly towards the large not human man, wanting to get to the other shore sooner.
"Oh don't worry none about the squid, he's harmless," Hagrid said over his shoulder as the other students had been a mix of amazed and terrified at sight of the massive cephalopod.
"Yeah, and I'm cute and cuddly," Harry snorted as he snuffed out the light and folded his arms as he mentally willed the boat to go faster, to no avail.
"I mean, you kind of are," Lavender giggled as she watched the famous boy purse his lips and his face turn bright red.
Harry practically jumped to shore the moment he was certain it was within reach. "Afraid of large bodies of water?" A brown haired girl said. "That's thalassophobia."
"No, I'm fine with water," Harry shook his head. "But put a potentially dangerous creature under me and then that changes. I bet if you had to walk across a bridge with a hydra under it and you only had the word of someone you didn't know that it wouldn't attack you, you wouldn't say that's fear of heights, it's just common sense," Harry said back to the girl flatly who thought deeply about what he said.
Hermione sheepishly nodded as she realized that the giant squid could have attacked them and that there wasn't anything but the assurance of the really tall man that it wouldn't. It was enough to make her take a second look at the lake before she shivered as she thought of the tentacles picking students off one by one and dragging them down into the dark waters below.
After trudging up a long set of stairs the students finally arrived outside a large door. "So you're Harry Potter," Draco Malfoy said as he pushed his way through the crowd of other children.
"Oh Spawn, hello there," Harry said as he recalled the younger boy from earlier on the train. "Odd name that, but I'm not really one to judge, my parents named me Harry," smiling as he heard some of the other kids laugh.
"It's Draco Malfoy, not Spawn." Draco sputtered.
"Really, because Merula seemed very insistent that it was," Harry mused. "Maybe it's a pet name."
"I'm not a pet to that whore," Draco shouted as his red cheeks contrasted his near white hair.
"Woah, chill," Harry put his hands up. "No need to get so angry, it's called banter. Secondly," Harry nudged his head to the side where Professor McGonagall was standing and looking furious about Draco's outburst.
"Come now children, let's get you all sorted, and Mr. Malfoy, I will let this go with a warning, Hogwarts does not tolerate that kind of language, or volume." Minerva states as she turned and led the students into the Great Hall.
"Hannah Abbot," Minerva called out as she began the sorting. It seemed to go quickly enough until it was time for Harry's name to be called.
"Huh," the hat said as it was settled onto Harry's head. "Well then, that's something you don't see everyday."
"Are you in my head?" Harry questioned the hat.
"I am Demi-God," the hat replied.
"If you try and say anything, I'll burn you until there's nothing left but a pile of ash," Harry warned as he would not allow this magical garment to threaten camp half-blood by revealing its location or that there were so many demi-gods there.
"Heaven's or in this case Olympus no," the hat shook back and forth on his brow. "I couldn't anyway, I am sworn to the castle itself only, and she will not allow me to harm a student, regardless of their, ahem divine heritage."
"Good," Harry nodded as he liked that arrangement. "So how does this work?" he questioned the cloth on his head.
"Well you are certainly a brave one, and you definitely will have to be when you go off and face the horde of monsters that will inevitably come for you. You'd likely outshine Sir Godric himself with your future deeds and heroism."
"Studious, but not overly so, Ravenclaw would likely drive you up a wall, definitely not there," the hat considered.
"Yeah, I figured I wasn't one of Athena's," Harry chuckled as he liked to learn but not to the extent those kids did.
"Hufflepuff might be a good spot, you are loyal to those like you and you'd fit in well with the badgers," the hat continued to sift through Harry's mind until it came across a single memory.
"No, Slytherin is where you belong," the hat decided firmly and he would not be shaken from this reasoning.
"Because I can talk to snakes?" Harry questioned.
"That's a nice benefit but no, Vanessa," the hat said even as he could feel the pain even saying the name caused the boy. "You promised to get stronger so that it never happened again, in Slytherin you will be great."
"You mean it?" Harry asked.
"If you go there and shine as bright as you can, then I am certain you will become the person you set out to be, so that one day…" trailing off as he let the implication hang for Harry.
"Thank you for the wisdom hat," Harry said as he accepted that Slytherin might be tough, as it should be, but if it could help him achieve his goal, he would do it.
"SLYTHERIN!" The hat's voice boomed to the quiet hall.
Harry set the hat down on the stool and proudly walked towards the table of the snakes, ignoring that the entire Hall hadn't even made a sound about his sorting. The determination to live up to the promise he had made to himself was one he was going to keep and anyone that got in his way would soon regret it.
