Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Percy Jackson or any of their respective characters or universes. They belong to J.K. Rowling and R. Riordan, respectively. The Twice-Blessed Half-Blood challenge idea belongs to DZ2. If anything in this story belongs to me, it is only the dream to one day be a wizard.
Plot: During the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Harry follows his godfather Sirius through the Veil. He meets Thanatos, the Greek God of Death, learns about his true parentage, and appears in Camp Half-Blood to find a goddess has been kidnapped and a whole bunch of trigger-happy demigods are racing across the country to find her. Harry just wants to go home to his friends, but instead must find his footing in this strange new world where, once again, he has prophecies circling, the masses loving and hating him for his fame, and multiple things out to kill him. But really, what else is new in the life of Harry Potter?
Merge-Point: This story is a cross-over with the merge point being right at the end of HP book 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and the beginning of PJ book 3 (Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse). Since Percy Jackson doesn't have a definite timeline beyond "early-2000s" I am instead following the timeline of the HP series for continuity. In OotP, The Battle of the Department of Mysteries takes place on June 20, 1996. I am moving the events of the Titan's Curse to overlap with that summer in 1996. Harry will be 15 years old (turning 16 on July 31st) and Percy will be 14 years old (turning 15 on August 18th) at the start of the story. Up until the merge point, assume that everything written in the books is what happened for this story unless it is specifically mentioned otherwise (such as in the case of Harry's parentage). Thanks and happy reading!
Challenge Information: DZ2's 'Harry the Twice-Blessed Half-Blood' Challenge is a Harry Potter/Percy Jackson crossover: every Half-blood has one god-parent. However, Harry is different because of one reason: through the ways of the divine, he has more than one god for a parent/guardian.
Challenge Rules:
Light, Grey, or Dark Harry Grey all day
Harry's first god-parent MUST be one of the twelve while the other can be any of the Greek/Roman Mythological forces: gods, deities, divines etc. Olympian father, demigod mother, eventual Master of Death/Thanatos
Harry and Percy MUST have different views of right and wrong duh
Either Thalia, the Di Angelos, or Clarisse must be allied with Harry keep reading to find out
Whoever Harry's god-parent is MUST break the law and talk/interact/meet with Harry this won't be a dumbledore info-hoarding event, promise
If Harry is dark, Luke MUST see Harry as the new leading force of New Olympus and pledge to serve him instead of Kronos While Harry can lean dark, its not enough to replace Kronos
When Harry is 'determined' it must be because of a canon event e.g. defending the Stone, the troll, the Basilisk, the spiders etc. Sirius falling through the Veil of Death during the Battle of the DoM (OotP)
Any pairings are welcome EXCEPT Harry/Hermione and Harry/Percy gotcha
Tom and Dumbledore must both feel wary about Harry when he comes into his god-like powers Better watch out
The Horcrux is destroyed – unless Harry's 'other' god-parents use it to 'determine' him as theirs Voldy's mouldy souly is a yummy appetizer
Even though he leaves Hogwarts for CHB or his own dwellings, Harry must still keep in touch with his friends Harry would be soooo out of character if he didn't worry about his friends
At least one of Harry's friends – or a redeemed friend if you want to use someone like Draco or Severus – must be a Half-Blood did that
Sirius and Remus do not abandon him I'll do my best
Challenge Guidelines:
Powerful Harry duhhhh, next
Harry and Percy as enemies perhaps, perhaps not
Immortal Harry thats a bit too OP for a half-blood
Master of Death Harry eventually, yes
The force that determines Harry is a primordial e.g. Thanatos, Erebus, Nyx, Chaos etc. yes
Harry's god-parent – his main one – is one of the Big Three yeppers
Lily and/or James were that particular god in human form not this time
Others of the HP universe are Half-Bloods yes obviously
A prophecy being made about Harry maybe more than one shhhhhh
The Percy Jackson universe being diverted from canon due to Harry's involvement e.g. Harry goes after the Lightning Bolt and keeps it or Harry helps Luke claim the Fleece and destroys Kronos Harry definitely interferes with the events of "Titan's Curse" and onwards
Challenge Forbidden Elements:
Harry remaining the naïve, malleable wizard/demigod people wish him to be blech, move over gullible Harry
Harry's actual god-parent being anything over than Olympian/Roman its okay we love the Greeks here
Dumbledore and Tom as allies of Harry nahh lets bash them both a bit
Sirius and Remus abandoning Harry They'd better not
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Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.
The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.
The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.
Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the dais too.
It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch…
And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his god-father's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place.
Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing — Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second….
But Sirius did not reappear.
"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, "SIRIUS!"
He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out again….
But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.
"There's nothing you can do, Harry —"
"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"
"Its too late, Harry —"
"We can still reach him —"
Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go….
"There's nothing you can do, Harry…. nothing…. He's gone."
"He hasn't gone!" Harry yelled.
He did not believe it, he would not believe it; still he fought Lupin with every bit of strength he had: Lupin did not understand, people hid behind that curtain, he had heard them whispering the first time he had entered the room — Sirius was hiding, simply lurking out of sight —
"SIRIUS!" he bellowed, "SIRIUS!"
"He can't come back, Harry," said Lupin, his voice breaking as he struggled to contain Harry. "He can't come back, because he's d—"
"HE — IS — NOT — DEAD!" roared Harry. "SIRIUS!"
/ The above is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter Thirty-Five: Beyond the Veil /
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Harry suddenly sagged all his weight onto Lupin like a rag doll, causing the werewolf to loosen his grip in shock — then Harry lept up with renewed vigor, elbowing Lupin across the face, and spun on his heel to dive straight through the Veil after Sirius. As he passed through the shimmering doorway, the sound of incoherent whispers grew louder and drowned out all that remained of the Department of Mysteries: the grief-filled howl that could only be Lupin's, a shrill scream from Neville, Bellatrix's high-pitched cackling, and muffled sounds of curses from the still-ongoing battle between Death Eaters and Order members.
Harry's field of vision was consumed with a bright white light, and abruptly the sound of whispers gave way to total silence. Gravity reasserted itself as he crash-landed from his dive; half on what felt like solid stone, and half on a thin, ragged body that he recognized to be Sirius', who promptly collapsed back onto the ground with a loud "OOF!".
"SIRIUS!" Harry called, scrambling to sit upright next to the prone body of his god-father.
To his great relief, Sirius also sat up and immediately gripped him in an embrace. "Harry, Harry, why did you follow me? Now we are both in this mess because of my lack of…. Sirius-ness", and in spite of their situation, Sirius couldn't help but crack a wry grin at his own joke.
Harry heaved a soft laugh as he leaned back, full of relief, to look around. It was still very bright, so as he shaded his eyes, he asked "Do you know where we are?"
Sirius looked around, shading his eyes, "Considering we both went through the Veil of Death, I do believe us to be, well… it appears that we are in some sort of train station?"
Ignoring the insinuation that they were both dead — Harry felt strangely confident that he was not — he glanced around with curiosity while slowly standing to his feet. It did look like a train station, but a lot less dirty than any he had previously seen in person. There were an endless number of benches and pillars and suspiciously empty tracks, and everything was starkly white. The absence of both noise and people made this place feel both eerie and oddly comforting to Harry, who had not had time away from his hovering (but admittedly caring) friends in nearly a week.
"It doesn't look like anyone else is —", Harry stopped mid-sentence as his statement was abruptly proven false, for there was a shadow of a man suddenly appearing in the corner between two pillars.
The figure was cloaked in black robes, which were oddly rounded, almost like it was wearing a backpack, and it stood looming in equal height with Hagrid. A dark hood was drawn over its face, and in one skeletal hand it gripped a long black pole topped with a silvery crescent-shaped blade — a scythe, his mind whispered. Around it's neck hung a long silver chain with a strange symbol of triangle bisected by a line, and containing a circle within it. The figure stood unmoving and silent, which is probably why he had only just now noticed it, but as he looked on in shock the figure raised its head until Harry could just make out a ghostly smile on its lips.
"Hello, gentlemen. I do not aim to startle, I come to greet you as…. an old friend, here to guide you to the next great adventure. But first, I have something to show you."
Sirius whipped around at the sound of an unexpected voice, fingers grasping for a wand he no longer held. The figure was reaching his free hand into his robes but stopped and held it up in front of him placatingly at Sirius' gesture. He then reached back and pulled down his hood to reveal a kind, pale face of indistinguishable age. "Forgive me, I mean no harm to either of you. As you correctly inferred earlier, Sirius, you have entered Death's Domain. You may call me Thanatos."
While both Harry and Sirius gaped in shock, the figure — Thanatos — gave a gentle smile, and reached into his robes once more to pull out a familiar-looking smoky sphere.
"Huh, I guess I didn't destroy all the prophecies today after all."
Sirius shot him a curious glance, but before he could say anything, the figure spoke again.
"We do not have much time, so I will do my best to be quick. This is a prophecy that Apollo divined through one Sybil Patricia Trelawney in 1980 —"
"Apollo?" mouthed Harry curiously, "— that I thought you should like to hear."
Thanatos raised his hand, and above the orb a ghostly countenance of Professor Trelawney appeared and began to speak.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
/ The above prophecy is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince /
Harry flinched back with shock. "Is this the reason my parents were murdered when I was a baby? Some old hag makes a prophecy and suddenly everyone's out to kill me or use me to kill Voldemort?" He reached up to rub his fingers across his scar, "And thats how I got this? Voldemort marked me 'as his equal'? But what does that even mean? He's many years older than I am, and much more experienced, how am I meant to 'vanquish' him? With what power?"
Thanatos simply nodded. "Unfortunately, I am not able to interpret a prophecy, for that is Apollo's domain, but I am aware that one of Voldemort's followers overheard the first part of the prophecy as it was recited and took that portion back to his master. Voldemort decided the prophecy could apply to two boys born at the end of July: yourself, and one Neville Longbottom. Neville is thought of as a pure-blood, while you yourself are a half-blood —," at this, he broke into a secretive grin, "much like Voldemort himself is. And so, he decided to come after you first, and retrieved the secret of your parent's hiding place. He made a series of mistakes in his approach, however… the first was, as one who 'flees from Death', to decide to target you on All Hallow's Eve, the sacred night of Hades. Voldemort was unprepared for the lengths your mother would go to protect you, and though he meant to kill you that night he was instead defeated and robbed of both strength and body, though he did unintentionally leave behind a Horcrux, a part of his very soul…. in you, Harry."
Sirius, who seemed to arrive at the correct conclusion first, gasped and turned to pull Harry closer by the shoulders, looking intently at the scar on Harry's forehead.
"We have to get the soul-shard out of him! It could be corrupting his own soul and magic!"
"Do not fret, I have already taken care of that at least." With a wave of his scythe, Thanatos revealed a bloody, misshapen husk curled beneath a nearby bench, silently keening in pain. "It shall remain with me, after you depart from here. It, and those horrible visions, will trouble you no more."
As Harry sighed in relief, Thanatos spoke again, "I am sorry to pile more confusion upon you, child, but there is much you do not know. To start, let us think on how the world of Magic exists. It is through the patronage of the Goddess Hecate that magic-wielders exist in human form, as well as all forms of magical creatures, flora and fauna. The world of Magic has drawn itself apart from the world of non-magical humans…. Or 'Muggles', I think you call them? There exists another such world, held apart from regular mortals… that of the demi-gods, those who have one mortal and one godly parent. See, the gods of the Greeks are real and walk among mortals to this day. Many of the figures you know such as King Arthur, George Washington, Leonardo di Vinci, Adolf Hitler, Gellert Grindlewald, your esteemed Headmaster Dumbledore, and yes, even you, Harry, are descended from them."
Harry, still staring slack-jawed, did not think this conversation could get any stranger. He held his tongue against the flow of questions, knowing they never helped with his relatives or Dumbledore anyway, and not wanting to interrupt the flow of much-needed information.
Sirius, however, was not so patient. "Hold on, what in Merlin's name are you talking about? My family is darker than most and still dwells in the occult, but you can't expect me to really believe that gods exist and have children with regular humans, or even magicals like us! Dumbledore's a great man, but even he is not so pretentious as to claim to be descended from gods! Snivelleus, on the other hand —"
"Ah, yes, Merlin was one of my favorite demigods. I even gave him my blessing once, in his battle against Mordred. But yes, I suggest you ask Dumbledore yourself, Harry, when you see him again. There are others you know well that are also of divine heritage, as you will soon come to find. I will send you to a safe place, where you can learn about your family's legacy and your own abilities. But first, I do unfortunately have a second prophecy for you to hear."
Sirius looked about to ask another question, but was interrupted by a second ghostly image rising from the orb still resting in Thanatos' hand, that began to speak in a gravelly voice:
A half-blood of the eldest gods
Shall reach sixteen against all odds
Born as the seventh month dies
Through Death's Veil his destiny lies
And see the world in endless sleep
Long lost soul, cursed blade shall reap
A single choice shall end his days
Olympus to preserve or raze.
/ The above prophecy is loosely copied from Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, with two lines added and some minor changes made /
"This prophecy was divined through Apollo by the Oracle of Delphi, and is referred to as the 'Great Prophecy' amongst the Greeks. It is not unusual for demigods to perish before reaching the age of sixteen, and the more powerful one's heritage the more likely one is to attract the attention of monsters. You are fifteen years of age yourself, correct, Harry? Yet you have already faced mortal peril many times. Though I am not a diviner, the second couplet is pretty clearly speaking of you and our current circumstances, especially when tied together with the prophecy by Sybil Trelawney. As for the remainder, that has yet to be seen."
"Whats the deal with all these prophecies being centered around me? Why can't I just be normal for once…" Harry grumbled.
"Alas, it is not the destiny of one such as yourself to lead a mediocre life. Especially as I hope to be able to escort you through the gates of Elysium for the final time, upon your death. Your mother Lily is waiting there for you."
"My mother? How is it that I am a demigod, as you say, if both my parents were mortal? I saw their spirits that night when I fought Voldemort in the graveyard after the Third Task, and everyone says I look just like James Potter with Lily's eyes."
"Your mother, Lily, is very special to me. She was not a 'Muggleborn', as wizards say, but was actually descended from my own progeny. Her father, Icarus Peverell, was the many-times-grandson of Ignotus Peverell, one of my three demigod children and who was the original owner of your Invisibility Cloak. It is one of my own relics, you see." He fingered his necklace, as if lingering in nostalgia. "Icarus was quite a capable wizard and a very handsome man, even handsome enough to attract the attentions of the Goddess Aphrodite. Thus, the line of my descendants was newly infused with divine blood in Lily, and what a brilliant girl she turned out to be. Sadly, the strength of her blood drew a monster to her as an infant, and her father gave her to a mortal family after spelling many protections upon her and the family cloak, hoping to retrieve her after defeating the monster…. Instead, he died in battle, and your mother was left to be raised unaware of her heritage. Though, when she was thirteen, she was discovered by a satyr in Hogwarts and learned of her adoption and her true bloodline. I suspect you were not similiarly discovered because of the mystery surrounding your public persona as the 'Chosen One' and 'Vanquisher of Voldemort'."
Sirius interrupted, "What about his father, though? Did James know about Lily's past?"
"James Potter is not Harry's birth father. In her school years, Lily actually despised James for his arrogance and his bullying towards her own childhood best friend, Severus Snape —"
Harry let out a gasp at that revelation, even though it was definitely not the most outrageous thing to be revealed today. He latched onto the least shocking part of that statement, "That's right, I saw a memory in Snape's pensive a few weeks ago, where he called my mother a filthy mudblood after she defended him from James. I guess it makes sense they were friends before that."
"Yes," said Thanatos, "After that incident things only got worse between your mother and Severus, but that is another story. James tried wooing Lily during school, but she'd always refused his advances. After graduating, your mother took to travelling to gain experience in various Charms, as she was intending to pursue her mastery, and while abroad she met your true father. Unfortunately, I cannot say who that is at this time. She fell pregnant with you, but your father could not stay with her. She returned home to Britain, alone, as her adoptive parents had been murdered by then and she was no longer on speaking terms with her adoptive sister or her childhood best friend. I'm not entirely sure how, but she came to confide in James about her situation. James had always loved Lily, and had grown more mature since graduating and becoming an Auror. He offered to marry her, and adopt her child as his own. And so they did just that. James never considered you any less his son, for in his mind you were the son of his wife Lily, and so you belonged to him as well. Evidently it was enough for James, given that he sacrificed his own life to save you and your mother when Voldemort came to their door in 1981. Lily, with her gifts, knew that danger was coming for you, and devised her own form of protection that even I could not have fathomed. But it worked…. And it is still active, even though Voldemort stole your blood last year."
Sirius gaped. "But... but... Harry looks just like James! James was my best friend, how could he have never told me about this?"
"I know not the answer to that. As for Harry's similar appearance to James Potter, it might have been that James blood-adopted him as an infant, and so Harry now possesses some of the Potter family traits. Or it might just be the natural result of his own genetics, or even some other reason yet unexplained."
Sirius nodded thoughtfully, while Harry stared in silence. "I do have a question, actually…" said Sirius, "Dumbledore said Harry had to live with 'his mother's blood' in order to keep Lily's protection, that is why I let Hagrid take Harry in 1981 and went after Wormtail immediately. How did this work if Petunia was not related by blood to Lily?"
"Hmm…. I was not aware that Lily's protection for her son depended on relatives as such. I assume Lily knew she was not blood-related to her adoptive sister and would have avoided such complications. I'm afraid I do not know Dumbledore's reasonings for saying so," said Thanatos.
At this point, Harry's mind was bubbling over with shock. Here he was, standing in an empty train station, talking to the literal God of Death, who is saying that Greek mythology is real and his own father is a God, CAPITAL G! And that both his mother, Lily, and himself were demigods. To add on that he's not even a real Potter, and his mother wasn't truly an Evans…. His true last name should be Peverell then, after his maternal grandfather (or did Gods have last names?). He had not just one, but two prophecies centered around him. Not to mention, he was still worried about dying (and Sirius dying) considering he did actually jump through the Veil of Death, and left behind all of his friends to face Death Eaters without him.
"-arry? Harry?"
"Oh, sorry Sirius, I was just thinking. That was a lot to take in. Not to mention, I'm still really worried about my friends." Turning to Thanatos, he added, "Will my friends be okay? I kinda left them injured and some of them unconscious. Ron was fighting with a giant tentacled brain, for Merlin's sake. And I saw the Order members arrive, but there were Death Eaters everywhere!"
"Yes, time moves differently in my domain. The battle is already won; after your departure your Headmaster drove away the Death Eaters and brought your allies back to the school. I did get quite the chuckle when I visited the aftermath to collect a few souls and saw one man whose head was that of an infant, throwing a tantrum. Your friends Hermione and Ron were greatly injured, which is why I could sense them so clearly, but they have recovered well enough to move away from my doorstep. I think your friend Ginny suffered the least injury, and is sitting vigil for them. And Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, of course, recovered quickly and are searching for you as we speak."
Harry sighed in relief. "I'm glad my friends are okay… But what will happen to Sirius and I now? Do we get to go back?"
Sirius, having been slowly coming to terms with his own mortality while Harry was distracted in his thoughts, shook his head. "No, pup, I think this is the end of the line for this old dog. Thanny here —" he jerked his thumb towards the God of Death, who sneered in a look entirely reminiscent of Snape at the nickname, "— already said he would send you someplace safe, though, and you know I would go with you if I could."
Harry screwed up his face in frustration. "It's just not fair! I don't want to go back without you, Sirius! I followed you here because you're important to me. No one else is there for me the way you are, and we haven't even gotten to spend that much time together this year, what with you still being wanted by the Ministry! I dont want to leave you. I can't let you die!"
Sirius began to reply, but Thanatos held up a hand. "I am truly sorry to interrupt, but our time here is drawing short. See those trains, there?" As he gestured, two trains on opposite ends of the station began blowing steam, and let out a synchronized whistle. "One leads back to the realm of the living, and the other ferries further on, into Hades. All who pass through my Veil must go onwards, but in Harry's case, I have made an exception." Thanatos grimaced with disgust while indicating towards the forgotten husk of Voldemort's Horcrux, still bleeding under a bench. "I will take that thing's soul as payment, and allow Harry to pass back. The same does not go for you though, Sirius. Do not despair, it will not be a bad end for you. Your friends James and Lily await you in Elysium. And I suspect you will be seeing Harry again, when he has need of you. This is not goodbye forever. Death is but the next great adventure, after all."
Sirius nodded, and then turned back to Harry. Upon seeing the expression of firm denial on his godson's face, he pulled Harry into an tight embrace, and Harry finally broke down into the tears he'd been holding back for what felt like a lifetime. As he sobbed and clung to Sirius, a feeling of unknown peace began to wash over him, and he felt that same feeling as when he had been small, alone in his cupboard and starving, imagining that his mummy would come rescue him and give him lots of hugs and food to eat. He heard the incoherent whispers of the Veil, once again, but now one voice was clear… a woman's voice softly saying "I love you, Harry. My beautiful boy. My son. I love you so much."
"Mum?" He mumbled with his head buried in Sirius' chest. Sirius drew him back, and looked at him, and grinned. Somehow Harry knew there were no further words needed, and that everything would be alright. He finally calmed enough to accept that where Sirius was going, he could not follow, and vice versa. As their embrace ended, the feeling of peace stayed, and Harry hoped it lasted forever.
The trains whistled once more, Harry grabbed Sirius in one tight, final hug before letting go and stepping onto the train's boarding steps, watching as Sirius strode to the train opposite to stand on its steps as well.
"Harry, one last thing," said Thanatos, spreading his wings — and Harry suddenly realized that what he thought was a backpack was in fact, a set of four wings, covered in black feathers, that had been folded onto the god's back — "Though I have gotten rid of the soul-shard inside of you, I can still feel other ties holding Voldemort to the mortal plane, and out of my reach. It will be your mission to destroy the rest of Voldemort's anchors so that I may finally collect his soul. If you recall, you already destroyed one other in the form of a diary, and I have given you my blessing so that you may sense when another draws near. This journey — ah, the train you see — will heal you of your battle injuries and allow you to pass unhindered through the protected boundaries of the Greek's sanctuary, and the removal of the Horcrux that was stunting your growth and leeching your strength will soon result in your powers increasing by leaps and bounds, especially as you come to discover your own divine heritage. Farewell, and as Socrates once said, 'The wise man seeks death all his life, and for this reason death is not terrifying to him'. I will always greet you as I would an old friend, my child."
As the train's whistle blew for the third and final time, and the engine began to puff, Thanatos disappeared in a gust of wind and Harry's last glimpse of the Veil was of an empty station, and Sirius waving goodbye with an infectious grin.
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As he awoke from the strangely comforting dream, surprised from the lack of pain or nightmare, he reached for his glasses on the table beside the bed, but found none. As his hand fumbled around for his glasses or even his wand, Harry realized with a newfound sense of strangeness that he was not in his dorm in Gryffindor Tower, his small bedroom at Privet Drive, or even his preferred cot in the Hospital Wing — he really ought to get his own plaque there by now, actually. Harry stood and gazed about the small room with surprisingly clear vision; it had dark wooden floors and cream-colored walls, a standing dresser was against the wall opposite the bed. There were two doors, one was open leading to an adjoining bathroom, and upon the back of other hung a full-length mirror.
Harry went immediately to gaze in the mirror upon the door, and almost did not recognize himself… he stood taller, taller than Ron now. Without his trademark glasses, the green of his eyes shone bright and unhindered. The lightning bolt scar, usually red and angry, was faded to almost nothing and was now barely noticeable, without even a twinge of pain. His hair was still black, but seemed to have grown overnight, and now brushed his shoulders in soft waves. He seemed to have gained some much-needed weight, and the muscle he had earned from long hours at Quidditch practice and teaching in the DA now shone through. He was dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a faded orange T-shirt with 'Camp Half-Blood' printed in white letters on it instead of his usual school robes or huge, ugly hand-me-downs from his whale of a cousin. As he turned away from the mirror, he spotted a folded note resting on the dresser.
Harry-
I was unable to return your wand to you, as it did not seem to be on your person when you passed through my realm. I am sure one of your friends retrieved it for you though, so don't fret. In the meantime, learn to use the skills of the half-bloods here. Be wary, for not all would be friendly to a demigod as powerful and infamous as you are. In fact, I would suggest taking a new name until you are able to get your bearings. After all, with the Horcrux no longer stunting your growth you should look a bit different. You can trust in Chiron, he is much like your Headmaster Dumbledore in that he will always do his best to care for children. Remember your dream, and remember to always look forward, never back.
-Thanatos, Lord of Death
Harry sighed, and then yelped as upon reading the last word, the paper erupted in black flames in his hands and (without singeing him, thankfully) vanished. Resolutely, he turned on his heel back towards the door to face the new chapter of his 'next great adventure'.
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After exploring what appeared to be an empty house with many empty guest rooms for several minutes, Harry finally stumbled upon what looked like a small gaming parlor decorated in garish shades of purple and orange, and many vines hanging from the ceiling.
In the center of the room were two men playing poker. The first was grey-bearded, looking vaguely like a teacher he'd once had in primary school, and wearing a Hawaiian shirt, sitting in a wheelchair facing him as he entered the room.
Across the table sat a pudgy middle-aged man with a wreath of laurels in his curly brown hair, wearing a purple leotard with a cape made from what appeared to be cheetah fur draped over his lap, and drinking from a coconut with a straw and tiny paper umbrella stuck in it.
"Ah, you must be the new arrival. Didn't you remember to bring a customary gift of wine for your host? Preferably a 1370s Italian vintage?" said the leotard-clad man.
Harry stammered, "Uh… sorry, I didn't bring any wine."
The other man in the wheelchair spoke up, "Bah, just ignore him, he's not allowed alcoholic beverages anyway. That is Dionysus, Camp Director and God of Wine and Revelry (though not necessarily in that order), and I am Chiron, the Activities Director. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, though I must say your method of arrivial was most… unusual."
The cheetah cape guy — Dionysus, apparently — frowned and slurped loudly from his coconut, but didn't contradict what Chiron said. Harry, trying his best to sound natural, said "To be honest, I have no idea where I am, sir. I kind of just woke up like this in one of the bedrooms back there," Harry gestured vaguely to the hallway he had just come from.
"Ah, I see. Well, considering you got through our wards, I would assume you to be a half-blood. Do you know who your godly parent is? Where did you come from?" Chiron asked.
"No, sir, before today I thought both my parents were mortals —" Harry paused, glancing warily at Dionysus, but deciding that Thanatos had advised trusting in Chiron, he forged ahead "— but I do know, kind of, how I got here. See, I was in London, and I managed to take a trip through the veil. Thanatos said he would send me somewhere safe… I'm assuming that means here."
Both men paled at the same time. "You met Thanatos himself? And returned to the land of the living? Such a thing is impossible!" Dionysus exclaimed, dropping his coconut on the table.
Harry scowled, the lingering sense of peace from his dream slowly fading, and as he opened his mouth to retort, the exterior door opened with a bang, and a girl stood in the doorway.
She had short, spiky black hair and was wearing a ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants, and black combat boots. She wore silver chain jewelry around her neck and wrists, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death-to-Barbie T-shirt. She casually twirled a silver spear with a wicked-sharp-looking tip until it rested handle-down on the floor. Under one arm, she was holding a golden helmet with a blue flume of horsehair, that looked rather like the hairstyle of one of Dudley's friends who had grown a mohawk and dyed it purple.
Chiron, who was about to ask another question, snapped his mouth shut with an audible click at the girl's abrubt appearance, then sighed and said "Ah, Thalia, right on time. This is our new arrival… Ahem, I don't believe I caught your name, young man?"
"Oh, my name is H —" Harry cut himself off abruptly, remembering what Thanatos' note suggested about his identity, "Orion. My name is Orion Peverell."
The goth-looking girl glanced at him suspiciously, then shrugged her shoulders and switched her helmet to her other arm. "My name is Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Also leading the Blue team in tonights game… which I assume you'll be joining, since you don't quite have that sparkle of eternal-maiden energy denoting a Hunter of Artemis." She smirked while offering up her hand to shake.
Harry, remembering the fall-out from his refusal to shake Malfoy's hand back in first year (and hoping that taking said offered hand would lead to a different outcome this time — especially as he was a lot less reluctant to take her hand than he had been Malfoy's), obligingly shook it and nodded. "Thats fine, though I have no earthly what game it is we'll be playing. I don't have a spear like that, either," he said, glancing again at her weapon.
Thalia took her hand back and said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Charlie always has extra gear. Chiron, are you sure we can't foist Jackson off on the Reds? He's being rather insufferable."
"Think of it as a test of your teamwork skills, to co-captain with young Perseus today. Perhaps Orion here can help with that. There's about a half hour before dinner, can you take this time to show our new camper around, Thalia? He's undetermined, so we'll put him in Cabin Eleven." Chiron winked, and shooed the pair of them out the door.
Thalia blinked slowly at the dismissial, but shrugged again as if it wasn't worth her concern, and turned towards Harry with a slight grin. "So, Orion, how much do you know about the twelve Olympians?"
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