Harry Captures a Flag (or helps at least)
It wasn’t long before Harry found himself walking up to dinner with Percy beside him, after figuring out Percy’s dad he was determined to repay Harry by finding out who his godly parent was. It reminded him painfully of Ron and his unrelenting loyalty and determination. He really missed his best friend. “I think it could be Athena because of how your eyes go gray and your owl.”
“Silver,” Harry corrected. “My eyes don’t go the dull gray of Athena’s children, they go silver. As for my owl, it is quite common in London for us to have pet owls,” He knew that Percy was only trying to help but Harry would rather be compared to Clarisse than Annabeth.
When they arrived at the pavilion, the other cabins were already seated. “Being such a large cabin means it takes longer for us to get organized,” the blonde boy explained. Harry just shrugged and took a seat near the end of the Hermes table, he really wasn’t in the mood for socializing. Harry ordered a butterbeer and venison, Hermione and Ron had hated venison when Harry made them try it but he found it absolutely delectable. Percy gave him a weird look as he chewed on his cheeseburger.
“I know I can’t really judge,” Percy started while looking at his own blue cherry coke. “But what is butterbeer? And why are you eating venison?” He asked incredulously.
“Butterbeer is a drink from my hometown and venison is my favorite meat,” He explained, holding out the cup of butterbeer for the boy to try. Percy took a sip and his nose scrunched up.
“It tastes like water” He washed the taste away with his own drink and went back to eating his burger. Harry frowned, butterbeer did NOT taste like water at all. He tentatively took a sip but found it tasted like it always did. Perhaps it was a wizard only drink.
“To the gods,” Chiron toasted.
The entire pavilion echoed his words before standing with their food in their hands.
The blonde boy must have seen the look on Harry’s face because he began explaining how they sacrificed some of their food to the gods by throwing it into the fire. Harry really didn’t want to do that but he figured it would be rude if he didn’t considering this god was the one who gave him life, not a great life but still life. Percy threw a portion of his cheeseburger into the fire with a muttered prayer for Posiedon to claim him as his son.
Harry knelt before the fire and tossed a few large slices of venison into the glowing flames. ‘I hope you appreciate this because I never share my venison, also could you claim me? The Hermes cabin is extremely claustrophobic,’ He let his prayer sink into the fire along with the food.
Once they had all returned to their seats Dionysus stood. “Another wonderful offering. I would like to announce that capture the flag will take place in two days time and we have two new campers. Perry Johnson and Harry Potter,” The man announced before sitting back down. “Now go on to your silly little campfire.”
Percy scowled. “My name is Percy, why can’t he remember that?” He muttered. Harry thought it had something to do with how he treated the alcoholic god. Harry had been polite and introduced himself while Percy had insulted him by ignoring his presence completely.
On their way to the campfire, Harry broke away from the group and made his way to the Hermes cabin. He scaled the wall and hauled himself up onto the roof so he could have a clearer view of the sky. It was less polluted at Hogwarts where he could spot every constellation but the sky out here was relatively clear as well. Harry could see Hedwig settled on a branch nearby and sighed, he really didn’t want to sleep in a cabin full of kids, especially since they were thieves. “I think I’ll be sleeping out here with you tonight,” Harry smiled over at Hedwig before settling himself comfortably.
The next morning, Harry woke up to the sound of bustling campers. He couldn’t help but groan, so it wasn’t a nightmare like he had hoped. He jumped down from the roof and landed onto the soft grass outside the cabin. He knew he would have to go inside to get changed but he really didn’t want to. Hedwig barked at him and he sighed. “Best get it over with,” He mumbled as he stepped through the door.
Percy was immediately on him. “Where were you?! I looked everywhere,” The boy exclaimed, hugging Harry too tight for comfort.
“I was sleeping on the roof, it’s less busy up there,” He explained as he dug through his trunk for clothes.
“You have to wear the camp designated clothes,” Annabeth’s voice called out from behind him. Why on Earth was she given free access to any cabin she wanted?
“I’ll wear what I want, thanks,” He grabbed his clothes and began putting them on. Annabeth’s cheeks went red and she turned around quickly to avoid seeing anything.
“What are you doing?! You are supposed to get dressed in the changing rooms,” Annabeth screeched.
“I don’t care. I’m not going to wait in line for a changing room when I can get changed right here,” Harry rolled his eyes at the girl’s antics.
After breakfast Harry and Percy were put through multiple activities in the hopes of figuring out their parents. Percy excelled at canoeing and showed promise in sword fighting but not much else which really should have given it away but people seemed convinced he was the son of Hermes. How idiotic can they be? Harry was quite good at archery (unlike Percy who somehow shot Chiron from behind him), he hit every target right in the middle and even split one of his arrows when he was asked to try and shoot one through another. This led most to believe he was a child of Apollo. He was also brilliant at running, beating the nymphs with little to no effort (that left them pouting for quite a while). This made some add Hermes into the mix of bets. However, after a music lesson nearly everyone was convinced it was Apollo. Harry had been asked if he was any good at instruments or singing and Harry had answered by singing a folk song he had heard from the centaurs in the forbidden forest. Granted, the centaurs had sung it in deep voices while he sung it in a soft melodic tone that made Hedwig sleepy and every other camper slightly dazed.
Harry didn’t think it was Apollo and neither did Percy, he just didn’t seem to have the same traits that the Apollo kids had. Harry was almost certain that his godly parent was whomever the silver cabin belonged to, it just called out to him.
At last it was time for the long awaited game of capture the flag.
The campers were divided into two teams which were benign led by Athena and Ares but Harry couldn’t care less, he just wanted to hunt. When Luke tried to give him a shield and a sword Harry shook his head and grabbed a bow and arrow. He wouldn’t need a shield because of how quick he was, it would only weigh him down.
Annabeth instructed Harry to take to the trees if he was going to use arrows while Percy was sent to the creek, alone. Harry narrowed his eyes at the girl, Percy being on guard duty alone was a recipe for disaster and she seemed to know it. She told Percy where he would be right in front of Clarisse so it was clear he was about to be bait. Harry wouldn’t allow this girl to use his new friend so blatantly. “How about you do guard duty? Why pass such an important job onto the new kid with no experience?” He suggested with a smirk. Annabeth froze and stuttered out a bullshit answer about how she already had a job. “Well, I don’t think it’s very wise of you to send Percy to guard all alone, especially since he’d be guarding a spot that is nowhere near our flag. Shouldn’t he be guarding the actual flag rather than the creek?” Annabeth seemed to notice his subtle dig at her by the way her cheeks went red.
“The creek is the border. It is smart to guard the border so we can prevent any campers from crossing it if they do manage to get our flag,” She explained.
“I wholeheartedly agree, which is why I will guard it with him. I wouldn’t want him to be overwhelmed by an ambush,” He stared at Annabeth with cold green eyes that flickered silver every few seconds. She nodded with a swallow and vanished from sight. Percy looked confused but Harry refused to explain his actions, he didn’t want Percy thinking Harry was disregarding his skills.
Harry knew that Percy was upset. He could clearly see from his perch that Percy didn’t like missing out on the fun that all the other kids were having, he was much like Ron in that regard. He had only known Percy for a few days but he was already fiercely protective of the boy, nobody seemed to be helping him or trying to understand him, so it was up to Harry to take care of him and make sure he didn’t feel so alone. It was obvious that the boys shield and sword were top heavy for him, and he was very uncomfortable based on the way he kept fiddling and pacing. Harry knew the boy had ADHD so for Annabeth, who also knew this, to place him in a position where he wouldn’t be able to move much was just cruel.
Harry’s head whipped around when he saw a group break through the trees, Clarisse and her usual group. So predictable. Harry watched as they advanced on Percy and quickly drew arrow after arrow, shooting the campers and knocking them down into the creek, into the water. Percy’s eyes widened when he realized what Harry was doing, he closed his eyes and gained control of the water, instructing it to increase its pressure and wrap around the group, locking them in place. Harry grinned, Annabeth could suck it.
It took only a few more minutes before their team ran through the trees and over the creek, winning the game for the blue team. Harry jumped down from the branch he had been sitting on, landing right next to a now visible and shocked Annabeth. “Pull that again and I’ll be shooting an arrow at your head to knock some sense into it,” Harry leant down and whispered in her ear. She didn’t respond but Harry knew she understood how serious he was.
A canine growl ripped through the air, disturbing the cheers of joy from the blonde boy and his cabin mates. Chiron began shouting in ancient Greek and campers drew their weapons.
Just above the creek, standing on a set of rocks was a large black hound, it was looking straight at Percy. Annabeth yelled out for Percy to move but he seemed frozen in fear. Luckily, Harry acted quickly, he drew one of the sharp arrows he had stolen from Chiron’s store room and sent it flying at the beast’s neck. Everyone in the clearing turned to look at Harry as the beast disintegrated into golden dust.
“What the fuck was that?” Harry demanded, walking over to Percy and helping him up from where he had fallen into the water.
Chiron cleared his throat. “I must ask that you refrain from using that language, Mr. Potter. And to answer your question, that was a Hellhound which can only be summoned by someone from within the camp,” His face was blank but Harry could see the question in his eyes wondering who it was.
“It was Percy!” Clarisse shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the boy.
“Shut up, Clarisse,” Annabeth shouted back.
The shouting match probably would have continued if not for the glowing blue trident that appeared above Percy’s head.
"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."
"It is determined," Chiron announced. All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.
"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
Harry grinned. “Good on you, you finally get to leave Hermes cabin. Can I bunk with you?” Harry asked, completely serious.
Chiron shook his head. “Mr. Potter, you will have to remain in Hermes cabin until you are claimed,” His eyes were still wide and the rest of the campers were still silent with surprise.
Harry frowned but acquiesced.