Harry Goes to Camp
“Mate, are you alright?” Ron asked as the train pulled to a stop at the platform. “I can go with you if you want? Mum can’t stop me,” Harry had come clean to Ron about everything while they were on the train, it was hard not to when Ron had always supported him and trusted him. One concerned look had Harry telling Ron everything that Dumbledore had told him. By the end of the story Ron was frowning.
“It makes sense in a way. You were always really observant and odd. Not that that is bad of course, just makes sense now that I look at it. It is a bit strange that you were never told a thing by anyone, shouldn’t you have known who your godly parent is?”
Harry had to give credit where credit was due, Ron had always been incredibly smart. He saw strategies with ease and dismantled them in moments. He could spot a scheme from a mile away, if he thought something was up then something was most definitely up. Harry had never been led astray by Ron’s intuition and he wasn’t about to start doubting him now, especially since he agreed wholeheartedly.
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine on my own, you know how I am. If I need you I’ll owl you,” Harry said firmly. He didn’t want to put Ron in danger if this was some kind of scheme. Ron nodded and grabbed his trunk from the rack.
They both departed the train, one filled with worry and one filled with trepidation. “Good luck,” Ron called to him as he left with the Weasleys. Harry noticed that Chiron was standing at the very back of the platform with a manky boot in his hand. ‘Must be a portkey,’ Harry thought to himself as he strolled over to the centaur.
The man smiled at him before saying the word that teleported them to camp. If Harry had thought Floo was bad, it was nothing in comparison to portkeys. Never again.
They appeared to have landed in a large clearing, it was filled with cabins in a U shape, arenas, rock climbing walls, archery ranges, pavilions, and people. Lots and lots of people. If there was one thing that made Harry uncomfortable it was people. They were all dressed in bright orange shirts and had a wide array of weapons on them. Chiron led him to a table with an aged man setting up a pinochle game. The man had a scruffy beard and was wearing a tiger print shirt. He looked like the kind of person uncle Vernon would want to beat over the head.
‘Well, are you going to play or not, Henry Plopper?” The man asked in an exasperated tone. Chiron shook his head.
“Mr. D, please try to be more accommodating,” Chiron asked the man politely.
“Mr. D? What’s your actual name?” Harry asked curiously. He figured that the man was a god of some sort based on the power he emanated.
“I, dear boy, am Dionysus,” the man announced dramatically.
Harry smiled at him and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you Dionysus.”
Dionysus stared at the boy's hand for a moment before smiling and shaking it. “And I you, Harry.” He didn’t even register that the man had used his real name when moments before he had no idea but Chiron did.
It was then that a blonde girl walked up to them with a boy trailing behind her. “Chiron, who’s this?” She asked, gesturing to the new kid. The boy behind her sent Harry and apologetic look at her blunt attitude.
“I’m right here, you could ask me yourself,” Harry said with a raised eyebrow. The girl looked shocked by his snark but straightened up.
“Who are you?” She asked him this time.
“Harry, Harry Potter. And yourself?”
“Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena,” She looked like a right ponce. Her head was held high and her eyes held a look of superiority. She clearly thought she was above him, Harry hated people like that. “Who is your parent?”
“Not Athena,” He replied vaguely. He had no idea who his parent was but he would stab himself through the eye with an arrow if it turned out he was related to this girl.
The girl's eyes bored into him. “If not Athena, then who?” She asked.
“Not quite sure,” He retorted. This girl was seriously getting on his nerves, she reminded him of Hermione in first year when she had felt entitled to answers that weren’t any of her business. He missed Hermione, she was still being unpetrified when they left for school because apparently the process was a long one, which meant he wouldn’t see her until the next school year.
“So you are undetermined?” She looked uninterested now, like he had suddenly turned into a snail. “Just like Percy here, I’ll take you to Hermes cabin,” She tried to grab his sleeve and pull him along but he was too quick. He danced out of her way and scowled.
“Don’t touch me without my permission,” He said firmly. She looked startled at this while Dionysus simply smirked.
“Fine. Lets go,” She instructed, walking away at a brisk pace. The boy, Percy, shrugged and followed. Harry wasn’t too sure about this girl, true enough that Hermione had improved but that was with the assistance of others and Harry didn’t want to spend too much time around this girl. He would probably end up stabbing her.
“Well, looks like we got a few newbies,” A husky voice called out. Harry’s eyes flickered to the burly girl in camo, he let his eyes assess her form and her weapon that hung loosely in her hand. She was clearly underestimating them by how slack her form was, which gave them the advantage, they could catch her off guard easily. Her weapon could be knocked out of her hand without much effort based on the grip she had on it. Harry noticed that the girl's figure was muscular which would make her slower in a fight, yes she would have the upperhand in brute strength but he would have the upperhand in speed and flexibility. This was a fight he could handle.
Annabeth froze. “Go clean your spear Clarisse.”
“Oh I don’t think so, I’d like to give the newbies a little initiation into the camp,” The group behind her chuckled under their breaths at this. If Harry had learned anything from Dudley it was that an initiation wasn’t actually an initiation, it was always a facade for bullying. “What’s your name, runt?”
Percy’s eye twitched at the name. “Percy,” He answered.
Clarisse turned to Harry with a malicious grin. “And you?”
“Not Clarisse,” He smirked.
The girl’s face reddened with anger. “Come right along then,” She gestured for them to follow her.
“Clarisse-”
“Stay out of it, wise girl.”
Annabeth looked hesitant but Harry knew she wouldn’t interfere, she didn’t have the right attitude for it. Harry knew bravery when he saw it, this girl didn’t seem to possess much of it, she seemed like a knowledgeable kind of brave. She would seek knowledge and announce it fearlessly but when it came to the actual fighting, she would avoid it as much as possible choosing to use her wit instead. Harry could respect that, Annabeth knew when she could win a fight and this wasn’t one of them.
Percy gave Annabeth the oddly shaped horn he was holding and stepped forward in what was clearly an untrained fighting stance but before he could begin to fight the girl had him by the neck and began dragging him towards what Harry could only assume were the toilets. ‘Now wasn’t that cliche’ Harry groaned internally.
Harry watched as the girl bent the boy over the toilet talking about a big-three of some sort, when suddenly Harry’s instincts flared. He quickly ran out of the way as a burst of water soaked everyone but Percy and himself. Annabeth looked on in shock while Clarisse was being dragged away by her friends.
“What?” Percy asked as he turned to face the surprise and confusion of Annabeth’s face. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking…I want you on my team,” She said contemplatively.
“Team for what?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. The girl turned to him, clearly having forgotten he was there.
“Capture the flag,” She responded. Harry grinned.
“Like a hunt?” He questioned, his eyes glowing silver for a moment before returning back to its usual green. Annabeth eyed him before nodding.
“I suppose you could call it that.”
“Right, I’m in,” He sounded positively gleeful. Harry wasn’t sure why but he always found the idea of hunting to be brilliant, even Harry hunting was a rush. His cousin and his friends never could catch him, he was just too fast.
Harry felt bad for Percy after the bathroom incident, it seemed like everyone was staring and whispering about him. Harry knew what that felt like so he decided to stick by his friend. Annabeth showed them to the Hermes cabin where they would be staying until they were claimed. The cabin was a little run down and had peeling red paint, Harry had to admit he much preferred the silver one a few cabins down. Percy nodded when Harry voiced this. “I like cabin 3,” Percy told him, pointing at the cabin for Posiedon. Harry looked between Percy and the cabin before his eyes widened.
“Percy…you can control water and you feel drawn to the cabin for the god of the seas. Do you think maybe you could be his son?” Harry asked carefully. The boy seemed startled by this.
He swallowed before nodding slowly. “I guess we will have to wait until I’m claimed,” He joked but Harry could see the insecurity that seeped into his eyes, Percy was worried he wouldn’t be claimed. Harry couldn’t say that he could relate, he was used to disappointment so he didn’t expect to be claimed.
When they entered the cabin it was to see a room full of kids, some were on bunks and others were on the floor. Harry didn’t like that one bit, it reminded him too much of the Dursleys. “Why are they on the floor?” He asked no one in particular.
A tall blonde boy appeared to have heard them and stepped forward, he was disarmingly handsome and Harry didn’t trust him at all. This boy reminded him too much of Tom Riddle, too charming, too handsome, and incredibly cunning. “There are so many of us that we don’t have room for everyone to have a bunk. Are you guys regular or undetermined?”
“Undetermined,” Harry muttered coldly. It was barbaric. No one should live in these conditions, gods should claim their kids and from the look on Percy’s face he agreed.
The entire cabin seemed to groan collectively at this. “Wow, thanks for the warm welcome,” Percy grumbled and Harry found himself thinking the very same. These kids weren’t particularly kind.
“Sorry about that, we uh- we get a lot of undetermined campers and it can be frustrating having our cabin be so crowded,” The blonde boy scratched the back of his neck.
Percy seemed to accept this and walked over to the spot on the floor that Luke had told him was his. Harry was seconds away from leaving and going back to the Dursleys, at least he had a bed when he was there. That was when Hedwig flew in through the open doorway and landed on his shoulder. Everyone jumped at the sudden appearance of the snowy owl.
“This is Hedwig,” Harry introduced. “Anything happens to her and you will find yourselves in a world of pain,” He warned them with steely eyes of silver. The blonde boy flinched back.
“Your eyes-”
“Turned silver? Yeah, they do that,” He strode past the boy and found his trunk and Hedwig’s cage laying in a corner not too far from Percy. He could do this, it was temporary, soon his parents will claim him and he will be able to get away from the hoard of people that currently surround him.