Chapter II
PERCY
Percy found himself standing in a small, ancient looking village. He could see some houses of mud bricks and wood that had glassless windows. The street where they were standing was made of dirt, and apparently was the main street of the village, because it was crowded with people that were selling and buying all sorts of things in little stalls.
“Where are we?” Percy asked as he turned around, trying to process all he was seeing.“
“Not far away from Athens, where most of the people in this town used to live before they moved here.”
There were as many adults as there were children. They all looked positively happy, and it wasn't until you started to pay attention that you noticed the weird stuff going on around them. Most noticeable, their clothes were unusually bright coloured for Ancient Greek people. Their robes were shiny shades green, purple, pink, yellow and every other colour you can think of. Their jewelry seemed to shine brighter than usual too.
Some of them were carrying sacks, but most of them had one or two floating next to them. Percy was particularly impressed by a merchant that was making his merchandise fly all around his stand, and as people paid, the things he sold flew instantly into their new owner's hands or sacks. Jennifer tugged his arm and pointed a group of little girls playing with a terracotta dolls, but the dolls were moving in their hands as if they were alive.
“This was one of the first villages ever founded by wizards” Hecate explained to them.
“But where did they get magic from?” Percy wondered.
“Well, that's the thing about wizards. No one really knows where they come from. There have been wizards for as long as humans have walked the Earth, and they are born with their abilities. I simply made them my protegees and sometimes taught them how to channel their powers in a better way, so their magic could actually be useful.”
“Aren't any of them your children?” Jennifer asked.
“No, not in this particular village, but some of the most powerful wizards have been children of mine, yes. Merlin is still quite popular today, among wizards and mortals. He invented the magic ink wizards use still today to write everything from letters to books. That's why you could read Dumbledore's letter. Merlin was dyslexic, like most demigods, but couldn't live with it, and found a way around it.”
“Merlin was real?” Percy turned around to stare at the goddess.
“Yes, of course. His story has been altered so many times it's now hard to know what happened and what didn't, but he was real. He also was one of my few children to ever get involved with the wizarding community. Most of my children resented them.”
“Why?”
“I reckon they believed it was unfair for mortals to have something as incredible as magic. Merlin thought they were fascinating and became one of them, completely ignoring his demigod side.”
Hecate started walking, and it felt only right for Jennifer and Percy to follow her. People around them were doing all sorts of crazy stuff: changing the colour of their clothes with a snap of their fingers, making things fly to them with a wave of their hands, and there were even people appearing and disappearing around them with a soft crack.
“Greeks didn't use wands, and their magic was quite simple. Rudimentary” Hecate continued explaining. “When Greece fell, most of them followed me to Rome. Others fled to different countries, and magic societies from around the world started mixing.” She snapped her fingers and their surroundings melted into darkness, but then reformed. They were now in a different town, more crowded. Not everyone there seemed to be magical.
“In Rome, wizards created wands. It's now rare to come across a wizard who can perform wandless magic. They became dependant on them.”
Hecate pointed to a young woman in the middle of the crowd. She was discreetly waving her wand, making a heavy looking sack follow her, levitating only a few inches above the ground. You had to pay close attention to notice, and she had her wandless hand around the top of it, as if she was actually dragging it.
“They made their magic better, and they became more powerful. Most spells used worldwide today come from Roman times.” She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was almost sad.
“With Christianisation, wizards were forced into hiding, and they've kept it like that ever since . They erased themselves from all maps and from history, and in consequence, they completely forgot about their roots, about the protection I and other countless gods from different cultures once gave them.”
She snapped her fingers again. They were now in Medieval England. A priest and a large crowd were watching as a woman and two children tied to a stake shrieked with terror, a roaring fire looming dangerously close to them.
“But I never stopped watching over them. I kept my vow, watching over them from the distance, and saved them whenever some outside force threatened them. Heka, the Egyptian god, helped a lot too, and other gods and goddesses look over them in different parts of the world.”
In the blink of an eye, the three of them vanished. The crowd gasped loudly.
“Even if they were chased the most here, it was in England when they really started to thrive. They created stable societies and inaugurated one of the first magic schools around the year 990 AD.”
They were now standing in the gardens of a magnificent castle. It had various towers and was surrounded by a lake and a large forest.
“This is Hogwarts, one of the best wizarding school in the world. If you accept my quest, this will be where you'll be spending most of your time. Perhaps even a new place to call home.”
They walked to the doors of the castle but didn't enter. Hecate went silent, and Percy realized she was waiting for some sort of comment.
Everything he had just learned was a new level of insane, which meant a lot coming from him. But like Jennifer had said, there wasn't a lot to do other than accept the fact that they were going to Hogwarts.
“Okay” Percy nodded as he assimilated all the information. “Why didn't we know about this world? Why don't all demigods know?”
“For the same reason Greek demigods didn't knew about Roman demigods until recently. Every time your paths have crossed, it has ended in unnecessary bloodshed. Mostly because of my own children, I'm afraid.”
“But do the rest of the gods know about all of this?” Jennifer asked.
“They do, but don't really care about it, since they're not related to us. We are not allowed to interfere unless it somehow becomes our business. But now that Lord Voldemort and his followers are a serious threat to America... I can't let them destroy the wizardkind, but I can't interfere directly. I believe he's a genuine threat to Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. He'll find out about your existence one way or another.”
“There's still a lot that doesn't make sense” Percy continued, finally tearing his eyes away from the castle and looking back at the goddess. Magic was real? Sure. Believable. But how on Olympus had they stayed hidden for so long? How had they never heard about it?
Then again, he had never heard of Egyptian gods until recently, and now Hecate had even told them she used to work together with Heka.
“All you need to know is that magic is real. Wizards are hidden all around the world, and the Mist has never protected them because they're not of godly descent. They're careful around non wizards, but they still have complex systems and functional societies. Ministries of Magic are to be found in every single country in the world, and there are eleven great schools that educate young wizards. There are hidden towns exclusively for wizards and witches to inhabit. It makes them feel safer. It's really not unlike your life as demigods, but with zero contact with the gods, at least until now. The rest about their history, their ways of life and the extent of their powers, you'll get to learn by yourselves at Hogwarts.”
With a snap of her fingers, they went back to the beach. There was a second of silence, but then Hecate kept talking.
“Harry Potter was prophesied to end Lord Voldemort, but something went wrong and now he's dead.”
“Wait, dead?” Jennifer cut her and grabbed Dumbledore's letter again. “It says here we're supposed to help him. How can we help someone who already failed?”
“I'll be sending you back in time to the first time he arrived to Hogwarts. You will study, guide and befriend him, even train him in our ways if you think it might be helpful.”
Jennifer and Percy stared at each other for a few seconds, because this was more than they hiperactive brains could take.
“Why can't we just go and deal with Voldemort?” Jennifer asked with a defiant tone. “I'm sure we're more than capable of stopping him ourselves, without helping Harry Potter-”
“Prophecies are a delicate thing to meddle with, Miss Collins, as I know you're quite aware. «And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives». It has to be Harry Potter, I'm afraid, or Voldemort may never truly die.”
“Say we accept. How long will be away from here?”
“Seven years.”
A knot formed in Percy's stomach as his insides started to boil. Seven years was a very long time. How dare she ask them, of all people, something like that? To leave behind their homes and loved ones again, for such a long time?
Percy wanted to laugh. He wanted to make the ocean next to him explode and take them to Poseidon's palace to see if there was something he could do. He had to do something, right? How could he let them be dragged away from Camp Half-Blood again?
He felt Jennifer hand over his shoulder. He looked back at his little sister, who had been through enough pain in her short time at camp. Her eyes looked determined, and she gave him a slight smile. Percy got the message. He nodded slightly and looked back at Hecate. But he had one more question, before accepting anything.
“Why us?”
“I need the best heroes we have to offer. My children are unpredictable and inexperienced. They might become obsessed with magic and ignore their quest. They might hate the idea that simple mortals have powers like theirs, like some have done before. Of course, they'll find out about wizards now, but I can handle the problem if I keep them separate for a little bit longer. And while any of your friends would be helpful...” she fixed her eyes on Percy, then on Jennifer, as if she was trying to take a peek at their very souls. “I've kept a close watch on you two over the last year. You survived Tartarus. You don't crave power. You played a big part in bringing Gaea down. You are willing to risk everything for the people you love. You're good at taking care of yourselves, not to mention already powerful and incredibly skilled with your own set of powers.”
“Annabeth and Nico have done all of that too” Jennifer pointed out.
“Annabeth Chase is a great warrior and smarter than most, but she lacks the basic understanding of magic I would like the hero to have. You two already understand the essence of magic, as I said, because of your powers. Her fatal flaw doesn't help either, which is the main problem with Nico di Angelo. He does have a basic understanding of magic, but he hates people too easily, and he rarely let's go of his grudges. I can't have him not liking the people I need him to like and then never forgiving them. The two of you, on the other hand...” she smiled slightly. “I know you willl get along with Potter, after all, none of you wanted to be heroes or leaders, but life assigned those roles to the three of you anyways. He's similar to you in many ways, and I believe that's enough to create a strong bond. With your fatal flaw being loyalty... If for some reason you ever fight, although highly unlikely, I can trust you will try to make amends and remain loyal to the cause.”
Percy had never felt more like a pawn. He was being analyzed, like a mouse on a lab, and it made him feel slightly sick. Not to mention everything about Annabeth and Nico felt like a lot of bullshit.
“I know you may not like the idea of going away for such a long time” the goddess continued “but I can't give magic to the whole camp, and Voldemort will attack America if I don't do something about him. I can't interfere myself because I swore to protect wizards from the outside world, not from themselves. Hogwarts will give you all the necessary training you need to protect Camp Half-Blood. You will meet new people and they will help you defend it if it's ever needed.”
Hecate put her hand inside her robes, and extracted two long wooden sticks.
Magic wands, Percy realized. The idea felt ridiculous.
“These would be your wands. Normally, the wand chooses the wizard, but no ordinary wand would be able to channel your full potential. I handcrafted these two myself” she explained and held out the first one. “Half Acacia wood, half Blackthorn. The first one makes a really loyal wand, and the second one usually suits warriors. Of course, I had to do it in layers, so from the outside it just looks like Acacia. It has two cores, although normally wands have only one. A phoenix feather, and a piece of coral from your father's castle. Eight inches, quite flexible.”
The design, Percy had to admit, was beautiful. It looked elegant and refined, the wood wasn't particularly dark or pale.
“I think it might suit you” Hecate handed the wand to Percy and he examined it more in detail.
The handle had intricate designs that sort of looked like scales of some sea creature. They faded about halfway through it, and then it was simply polished and looked like it could cause serious damage if he poked someone's eye with it. The handle was comfortable, but it felt weird in his hand, too delicate and light. He was afraid he might break it. It hummed slightly.
“Wave it” Hecate spoke, as if it was obvious. After a short stare at her sister, who simply shrugged, he did. From the tip of the wand, a clear jet of water appeared.
“Woah” Percy muttered. He found himself waiting for the familiar tug in his stomach, but it never came. Instead, he felt a vibration all through his body, so slight it was almost impossible to perceive it all. A comforting warmth settled on the hand that he was using to hold the wand.
“Even if I didn't give wizards their magic initially, I can give it you. You'll be able to perform things like that and much more, and unlike most demigods's gifts, they're not exhausting.”
“So you don't feel a thing?” Jennifer asked Percy. She held out her hand, and brushed the water with the tip of her fingers. With a slight movement of her wrist, the water moved up and down, following her command. Percy was creating water without breaking a sweat.
It felt amazing, to Percy's dismay. His whole body tingled with unfamiliar energy. He normally felt like he drew energy from his core, whatever that meant, and he had to be careful not to use it all at once, but now it was like it came from every part of him.
“I feel something” Percy explained. As he put the wand down, the water dissapeared. “Warmth. A slight tingle. It's different from anything I've ever experienced before.”
“Here is yours” Hecate handed Jennifer the other wand. This one was jet black, slightly longer and thinner than Percy's. It looked even more delicate than his. It also had carvings on the handle that vanished around the half of the wand, but these looked like tiny ocean waves. “Dragon hearstring and pearl cores, with layered woods of Ebony, Blackthorn, and a single splinter of Hawthorn. Ebony, the outside wood, gives it the dark colour and makes for people who will not be swayed lightly from their purpose, and Hawthorne suits healers. I heard you're good with that.”
Percy stared briefly at the goddess, and he noticed a curious look in her eyes. He wondered if there was anything she was keeping to herself. He turned back to Jennifer as she gave her wand a light wave. Golden sparkles popped from the wand, and the weather around them felt warmer.
“Woah” she whispered, looking back at Percy.
“Weird, right?” he half smiled.
“Two perfect matches, indeed” Hecate sounded really pleased with herself. “You can keep them, if you accept the quest.”
Percy and Jennifer stared at each other briefly.
«Looks like we're in for a long ride» he spoke into her head.
«I guess we are» Jennifer agreed.
They looked back at Hecate, who was staring at them expectantly.
“We'd be honoured” Jennifer spoke.
“Excellent” she had a satisfied smile on her face. She waved her hand, and from thin air appeared a rolled up piece of parchment. “I'm aware your Oracle is still not working properly, and you can't go on a quest without a prophecy, so I brought this from the past. You may read it now, or once we're in England. It's up to you.”
Hecate gave Percy the parchment and turned around.
“Pack your things and say your farewells. We leave tomorrow at noon.”