Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Percy Jackson or any of their respective characters or universes. If anything in this story belongs to me, it is only the dream to one day be a wizard.

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While the Ares kids were all lying in the infirmary with 'accidentally' broken limbs (at least, the Hunters claimed they were accidents), and everyone else he knew — Chiron, Mr. D, Thalia, Percy, Charlie, Silena, the Stoll brothers, and a few other kids — trooped into the Big House for a 'Cabin Leaders Meeting', Harry was left by himself for the first time since waking up half a day ago. Well — not totally alone, there was Nico after all, trudging after him as they both helped clean up extra gear from the lost game of Capture-the-Flag.

"So... Your name's Orion, right?" Nico asked, as they were stacking shields in the armory.

Harry, his back to Nico, grimaced but nodded. "Sure is. Yours is Nico, right? Are you a son of Hermes?"

"Yep, Nico di Angelo. My sister is here, Bianca… but she joined the stupid Hunter's team and left me alone. I don't know who my father is, but I don't think it's Hermes, or he would have claimed me by now right?"

"I suppose so," Harry said.

There was a loud crash, as Nico accidentally knocked over a suit of armor. He yelped when a helmet landed on his foot, but then picked it up and asked, "Are you from England?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Harry replied, turning to finish hanging his and Nico's breastplates on the wall.

"Your accent. You definitely don't sound American like Percy does. Are you a son of Hermes, or are you unclaimed like me?"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. My mother is — was — human, so I'm pretty sure it is my father that is a god. But I don't know who he is either," Harry said with a shrug.

Nico frowned. "I don't remember my parents. I think maybe we lived in Italy…? But its hazy. I only remember our lawyer told my sister and I that our parents were dead, and they left a trust for us. We moved around a bunch of boarding schools, and some hotels, until Grover found us, and we came here." Nico pulled a card out of his pocket and rubbed his thumb across it, like an unconscious comforting gesture.

"I saw you messing with those cards earlier. What are they?" Harry, not wanting to focus on his own family's story, asked.

"Oh!" Nico smiled for the first time. "I collect them, they're called Mythomagic cards. It's based on Greek mythology — well, I guess I know they're not really myths now — but it gives gods and heroes like Zeus and Heracles different stats and powers. It's like a card game! Here, you can have this one, I have lots of repeats."

Nico handed the well-worn card to Harry, on it was a picture of a three-headed dog that looked eerily similar to Fluffy, titled 'Cerberus'.

"Thanks, I think I've seen one of these before. That's pretty cool." Harry tucked the card into the pocket of his jeans and ushered Nico out of the armory, closing the door behind them, and they started the long walk back towards Cabin Eleven as the sun began to set behind them.

Nico just stared at him in confusion, and said "I don't think you've really seen Cerberus, since he lives in the Underworld and you'd have to be dead to go there. But anyway, do you want me to teach you to play? It helped me a lot when I realized that all the Greek gods were real, because I knew all the stories."

Harry paused, and looked down at the younger demigod, feeling for the first time like he supposed Ron might feel towards Ginny, and smiled. "Sure, kid, I'd like that."

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Three days later, Harry was finally able to reach the top of the climbing wall (admittedly, on the lowest difficulty setting) without getting scorched by lava. He felt he had settled into camp mostly, and more campers were arriving each day for the start of the summer session. The Hermes cabin was already bursting at the seams, so he never went there except to sleep. Instead, he swam laps in the lake — he hadn't been near water since the Second Task, and the naiads here were a lot nicer than the merpeople in the Black Lake — and learned to use a sword, sparring with Charlie, the Stoll brothers, and some of the Ares kids (once they had healed of their injuries — demigods heal fast apparently).

He had also managed to absorb a surprising amount of knowledge from Nico, through their playing of Mythomagic, which reminded Harry of the feeling of playing chess with Ron. He still really missed his friends, and especially his wand. He wished Hedwig would find him soon so he had a way to send a letter. Ron and Hermione, not to mention Neville, Luna, Ginny, and the rest of the DA probably thought he was dead.

Chiron and the cabin leaders had decided on three of the Hunters, as well as Thalia Grace and a satyr — Merlin, was Harry shocked when he first saw that kid prancing after the Hunters, wearing no pants — named Grover, to undergo the Oracle's quest to rescue 'the goddess in chains'. Nico had been very upset to learn his sister Bianca was one of the those leaving, and had cried in his bunk the last two nights where he thought no one could hear.

Percy Jackson had also gone missing that very same day, and Harry had seen one of the quest-bearing Hunters — Phoebe, maybe? — in the infirmary when he went to bring some ambrosia to the Ares kids. It seemed a little suspicious, but Chiron was being rather close-lipped about the whole affair.

Chiron did seem to share a lot of similarities with Professor Dumbledore, in that both of them were not particularly inclined towards sharing information, especially when it concerned prophecies. Harry had come to realize that Dumbledore must have known about the prophecy made by Professor Trelawney, and the contents of it, and probably helped his parents go into hiding back in 1980. He had seen the initials SPT to APWBD on the tag of the prophecy stand, back in the Deptartment of Mysteries. And Thanatos had said in his 'dream' that Professor Trelawney's full name was Sybil Patricia — making her the SPT. Which meant Dumbledore had known — and had plenty of opportunities to tell Harry — for at least the last five years of school. That thought, combined with what Thanatos had said about his mother's protection not requiring him to live with Petunia, soured his mood as he thought on his longstanding relationship with Dumbledore.

Harry didn't have a habit of journaling, considering his memories of Tom Riddle's Diary, but Thalia had suggested it was helpful for her own adjustments after she came back to life — and Merlin, was that quite a story, about how she used to be a tree! — and had given him a nice, black leather-bound journal before she left on her quest. And so, on the morning of Harry's fourth day at camp, he sat alone at the pavilion, and began to write a lot of questions.

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Why did Dumbledore send Hagrid to take me instead of giving me to Sirius after my parents died? Sirius said he was my oath-sworn godfather, had promised to always look after me, and that Dumbledore knew about it. Thus, he should have known it would be impossible for Sirius to betray the secret of my family's hiding place to Voldemort, and place me in mortal peril.

Dumbledore should have investigated those events further as a family friend to the Potters, as well as the Head of the Wizengamot. Sirius was sent to Azkaban without a trial; if Dumbledore had cared at all he could have easily forced the Wizengamot to give him one. Even the guiltiest of Death Eaters, like Bellatrix Lestrange, had their own trials before being sent to Azkaban. Why not Sirius?

Why didn't Dumbledore check on me as a kid? To make sure the Dursleys were treating me well? That old cat lady who used to babysit me, Ms Figg, said that she had reported to Dumbledore of my wellbeing… or lack of. Was she simply a fool who couldn't tell I was being abused? Or was it the more sinister option, where she had told Dumbledore, and he simply ignored her warnings?

Dumbledore had tried to 'shield' me from my fame as the Boy-Who-Lived by sending me to grow up in the Muggle world, but that had ended up hurting my status too. I've been constantly slandered around school and in the Daily Prophet, especially during second and fifth year. I remember recieving a few letters and snubs from fellow students for never answering their family's 'fan-mail' as a kid. When I asked, or actually mentioned to a few Ravenclaws that I had no idea what mail they were talking about, they just scoffed and stormed off saying "What an arrogant toerag you are, Potter" and similar dismissials. It definitely makes me wonder about the truth of my 'celebrity' status.

The traps that were supposed to guard the Sorcerer's Stone back in first year had been remarkably easy for a trio of first-years to pass through. Had the whole thing been made as a 'test' for me? And what authority figure in their right mind tells students to not go somewhere 'on point of painful death'? I know for a fact that the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan had already encountered Fluffy within the first two days of term.

How did Professor Quirrell, a man who the older Gryffindor students said had taught Muggle Studies for multiple years, manage to hide his possession by Voldemort from Dumbledore for an entire school year? Percy Weasley had said, looking back, that the changes in Professor Quirrell's behavior — the new stuttering, strong smell of garlic, and obsession with his turban — were all blatant signs of possession.

In second year, Dumbledore did nothing to calm the hysteria with the petrifications, and some of those students missed almost a whole year of classes due to Dumbledore's refusal to outsource mandrakes, for fear of 'alarming the public'. I don't even want to think about the stupidity of not having Dark Arts wards to detect something as blatantly evil as Tom Riddle's Diary from being snuck into the school to possess a student. I'm pretty sure Ginny was never offered counseling or any help catching back up with the work she had missed during the year due to Tom's possession, either.

After I killed the basilisk, Dumbledore did not even suggest I be checked by a Healer. If not for Fawkes' tears, I would have definitely died that day. Not to mention hiring that fraud of a teacher, Lockhart, who was definitely a criminal for Obliviating various people and stealing their fame. To hire teachers that fail so spectacularly at teaching the students anything actually useful in DADA for the SECOND year in a row is just blatant neglect, at that point.

Speaking of bad teachers, Snape is even worse. He terrifies all his students. I actually think Neville would be a natural at Potions because of its close correlation with Herbology, if we had a different teacher. Though Snape is definitely a Master in the craft, he is an abysmal instructor. And a biased one at that. Slytherin was in at least the top half of the running for the House Cup each year because of Snape's blatant favoritism towards his own House.

In third year, there was that whole fiasco with the 'Notorious Mass Murderer, Sirius Black'. Professor Lupin knew of Sirius' form as Padfoot, the existence of the Marauder's Map, and all the secret passageways into the school. Yet somehow, Sirius (at the time, thought of as trying to murder me) managed to make it all the way to my DORM ROOM with a knife! Regardless of Sirius' guilt or innocence, Dumbledore had actually allowed the Minister to send Dementors to the school! They had boarded the Hogwarts Express, and invaded that Quidditch game. I could have fallen to my death during that incident, as Madam Pomfrey frequently reminds me.

Also, Dumbledore had blatantly encouraged Hermione to overwork herself and play with a Time-Turner. Gods, just thinking about the consequences for that Death Eater whose head had regressed back into a baby's in the Time Room during the battle makes me want to vomit. Even though it was good that Hermione and I were able to rescue Sirius and Buckbeak, looking back it was incredibly dangerous. Sirius could have actually been trying to kill me, and I could have very easily died to any number of other things that night: the possibility of a time-paradox, the werewolf, a hundred dementors, and not to mention the true murdering bastard that was Wormtail.

In fourth year, there was the gods-be-damned farce of a Triwizard Tournament. If someone could trick the Goblet so easily into making it a Quadwizard contest, it should not have been legally binding to ANYONE'S magic! I didn't even willingly submit my own name! I'm still haunted with nightmares of Cedric's death, and Voldemort's rebirth. Not that those events were Dumbledore's fault, but I wouldn't have been in that situation if not for Dumbledore's lack of action when I was forced into the Tournament!

And again with Dumbledore blatantly ignoring a complete personality change of someone he should have known well, considering Professor Moody had been a personal friend of Dumbledore's. Yet, Barty Crouch Jr, the epitome of an insane Death Eater, somehow managed to masquerade as a staunchly-light retired Auror all year long. He even taught the Unforgivables in DADA class, and used the Imperious curse on students.

I know I'm probably being a bit unfair, but I'm willing to deposit the blame for Umbridge's terrifying reign in the school this year entirely on Dumbledore's lap. Dumbledore abandoned the students in their time of need, and fled the school rather than stand up to the Minister. Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock in the Wizengamot, so surely he had more political power to protest Umbridge's placement! That whole situation was just an honest mess.

I was glad to hear from Thanatos that Dumbledore was able to save my friends from the Death Eaters after I fell in the Veil, but even that good action doesn't excuse all his bad ones.

Why had Dumbledore not offered me any extra training throughout my years at school, as the one who was prophesied to defeat Voldemort? I learned more defensive spells while running the D.A. than I did during my whole five years in DADA classes and from Dumbledore combined.

I just don't understand what Dumbledore's thought process is when it comes to me. Why does he treat me so differently from any other student? Why has he been neglecting his job to keep the students at Hogwarts safe? Why —

~~~~~~~

Harry looked up abrubtly as someone sat down across the table from him.

"Hey, Orion! Chiron asked me to tell you that you're needed at the Big House right away, it's apparently really urgent," Nico chattered.

"Oh, thanks, guess I'll go right now." Harry stood up, stowing the journal into a small bag that one of the Stoll brothers — he still had trouble telling them apart — had given him for his extra clothes and toothbrush, since there was not enough room in the overfilled Cabin Eleven for each demigod to have his own trunk or wardrobe.

As Nico, slightly steaming from what Harry guessed was his latest attempt at the climbing wall, walked with him the short distance to the Big House, he had a sudden feeling that they wouldn't be seeing each other for a while. He leaned over to give the shorter kid a one-armed hug.

Nico looked up in confusion, but returned the hug. "What's that for?" he asked.

"I dunno, I just wanted to say I've appreciated your company while I was learning my way around the past couple days. And thanks for teaching me all that cool stuff with your Mythomagic game. You're a neat kid, Nico."

Nico flushed, and shoved Harry's arm off his shoulders playfully. "Have fun at your meeting, dork!" He shouted as he ran away, presumably back to the climbing wall for more practice.

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Harry climbed the front steps of the Big House, and sighed. Finding his way to the parlor was easy; Mr. D looked the same as ever, wearing his trademark purple leotard and tipping his chair back on two legs. Chiron was in full horse-form, which was a bit unusual as he claimed to like to stay in wheelchair form during the first week of summer 'to not startle any new arrivals'. But the most shocking thing to Harry was the presence of three exceedingly familiar people in the room. His eyes slowly raised until he met those of Remus, who was already tearing up at the sight of Harry alive and healthy.

"REMUS!" Harry yelled, launching himself across the room straight into the werewolf's arms. Despite himself, Harry could not hold back the choked sob that sprang forth with the depth of his relief. "I'm sorry for elbowing you in the face last week…" he said sheepishly.

"No apologies needed, cub. I'm just glad to see you alive. And looking so healthy, too! What happened to your glasses?" Remus asked, pulling back to look at him critically.

As he also pulled back from their embrace, he noticed Remus was dressed in his usual shabby wizard's robes, but both Neville and Luna — the other two familiar faces — were dressed in a typical camp outfit, with the trademark orange t-shirts and jeans. Luna still had her radish earrings and butterbeer cork necklace, and a new bronze knife tucked in her belt, while Neville looked just like a classic camper you might find in Cabin Eleven with a Celestial Bronze sword strapped across his back. They were both wearing camp necklaces. Neville's had three beads: one was a trident, a second was a familiar pine tree with the Golden Fleece hanging in the branches, and the center bead was painted green and featured a yellow stalk of wheat that Harry recognized from above the doorway to Cabin Four. On Luna's necklace, she also had Thalia's tree, and her second bead had the golden lyre that symbolized Apollo.

"That's kind of a long story, but I don't need them anymore." He said in answer to Remus' question. "Nev, Luna, Merlin am I glad to see both of you! What happened to Ron and Hermione?"

Luna just smilied dreamily, while Neville replied "That's kind of a long story, Harry." He smiled teasingly, and continued, "When you and Sirius went through the Veil, you were both presumed dead. The Ministry just wrote off Sirius, since to them he's an escaped convict, but they gave you a funeral and everything. Dumbledore had them make a gravestone for you next to your parents, in Godric's Hollow. A lot of our friends from Gryffindor came, and all of the DA members too. Except Hermione and Ron, they are both still in comas from the injuries they got during the Battle, and the Weasleys have been staying at Hogwarts to watch over them both. Hedwig hasn't left their side, she has a perch in the Hospital Wing now. Dumbledore even brought Hermione's parents, since she can't go home for summer break. Luna and I are fine, though." Neville reached over to take Luna's hand in his, and though her expression did not change, Harry could tell she was happy.

Harry, eyes on their clasped hands, said "Wow, Nev, are you guys together? How do you even know about this place, anyway?"

"It turns out, fighting for your lives can bring people together. Luna and I are both demigods… just like you, I guess. I'm a son of Demeter, and she's the granddaughter of Apollo. Between that, our summers here, the DA, and our battle last week… well, Luna's a lot smarter than me, she had to help me figure some things out." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, but then seemed to remember something and reached into his pocket to pull out what looked like a matchbox, and handed Harry.

"Luna knew you weren't really dead, but she didn't know when you'd come back, until we asked Professor Lupin — er, Remus — to escort us to Camp for the summer, and she, well, saw you here. As soon as I knew, I grabbed your wand — I've had it since you dropped it in your dive after Sirius — and shrunk your trunk, which was still in the Tower, to bring with us. Its got all your robes, school books, your photo album, your Cloak, and your Firebolt. Got you a wand holster like ours, as well." Neville grinned, flicking his right arm so that a new wand — Harry remembered his previous one had been broken in the battle — shot out of an invisible holster on his arm into his waiting hand.

"Allow me," Lupin interjected, tapping Harry's miniature trunk with his wand to enlarge it. Harry opened it and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak, his shrunken broom, and most treasured of all, his wand and new arm holster. Instantly grabbing his wand, which emitted a few happy golden sparks, and slipping on the holster, Harry watched amazed as it turned invisible on his arm.

"That's totally brilliant, guys. Thank you for bringing my stuff to me." Harry shut his trunk, vowing to go through it later; keeping the Cloak out, and slipping the miniature broom into the pocket of his jeans, and nodded for Lupin to re-shrink it. He then slipped the matchbox-sized trunk into his backpack.

"No problem, mate. What are friends for?" Neville replied.

"Harry…" Lupin interrupted, "I'm sorry to ask, but, do you know where Sirius is? Did he come back with you?"

Harry frowned, "No. When we went through the Veil, we met Thanatos there in an empty train station. He told me about a lot of things, like the prophecies and my mother's true family, and a bit about this world. He said that when Voldemort (miraculously, no one flinched at the name) came to kill me on All Hallows Eve, 1981, my mother did some sort of sacrificial magic to protect me, and that caused Voldemort to lose his body and strength. But when he cast the Avada Kedavra at me, it rebounded and accidentally broke a shard of his soul off, which latched itself onto my scar—"

Here, Remus did flinch, and said, "A shard of Voldemort's soul is in your scar? That's horrible! We have to research a way to remove it!"

"It's alright, Thanatos removed it. I'm greatful, too; that little husk of Voldemort was quite ugly. Thanatos said that all who pass through his Veil must go on to Hades, but he took the soul-shard as payment for me, and so he was able to make an exception to send me through to here. But Sirius…"

Remus bowed his head "He will be happy in Elysium, at least."

"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... The Great Prophecy! It could be referring to you, young Orion… or, is your true name Harry?" Chiron, who until now had been quietly observing along with Mr. D, interjected.

"Yes, my name is Harry Potter, and I see from your expression that you recognize it; which is exactly why I did not give my true name when I first arrived here. Thanatos suggested I adopt another name until I was able to gain my bearings here, and I am greatful for that time learning to be just another camper. My sixteenth birthday is in just over a month, as is Neville's, actually. I do quite hate hearing so many prophecies that could apply to me… I am relieved that my friends are here, though —"

Harry had reached out his hand to clasp the still-joined hands of Neville and Luna in solidarity, but as he touched her skin, Luna turned deathly pale and her eyes rolled back, and her head lolled to the side as she suddenly slumped over bonelessly onto Neville.

"She's having a vision!" Neville exclaimed, catching her as she fell onto him.

Luna began to speak slowly, in a hoarse voice quite unlike her usual airy tone:

Follow the trail to the goddess in chains

Beware the serpent or face many pains

Betrayed by those thought to be friends

Upon the angels, the outcome depends

A balance can be hard to place

Between stormy waves and thunder's grace

But the chosen one must persevere

With magic, new doors shall appear

The way forward is never quite clear...

There was total silence for about a minute, as Luna slowly regained color and sat up confusedly. Harry sighed. "I just had to say something about hating prophecies, didn't I?"

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