Chapter 1
Look, Percy never wanted to be a wizard.
The idea of magic is truly ridiculous, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to it. But as he rereads the letter in his hands, he knows he’ll have to.
His mom was ecstatic when he got his letter to the infamous Hogwarts, and Gabe was…well, Gabe was himself. The two of them both went to Hogwarts when they were his age, but they led two very different lives.
His mom, Sally Jackson, was a brilliant Ravenclaw and she was quite successful. Gabe, however, was a disgraced Griffyndor who cheated on every test handed out. Percy thinks he’s an idiot, not because he had to cheat, but because he got caught (many, many times).
At the age of 12, Percy feels that he knows more than a person his age should. He knows how to lie (thanks to Gabe’s relentless fits of anger), he knows how to talk to people to get what he wants, and he knows how to push people’s buttons until they explode. Even at a young age, Percy knows what he can do. At least, he did. Then he got the letter saying he’s a wizard. It single-handedly flipped his entire life.
And he’s angry.
But he’s willing to do anything to make his mom happy. Which is why he’s walking down the busy street of Diagon Alley, his hand clutching his mom’s.
“Percy, honey. We have one more stop!” She’s excited, her face shining brightly. Percy’s heart clenches. His mom is happy, so he’s happy.
They walk into a shop called Ollivander’s. The store is crammed with shelves full of little packages. Papers are in a disarray and random items decorate the interior. It’s disorganized and Percy loves it.
An old man stands at a counter, his white hair messy and wild. His face lights up as he shouts,
“Ms. Jackson! Oh my, you look wonderful, my dear!” He walks out from behind the counter and envelops his mom into a bear hug, to which she returns with just as much force.
Percy hopes the old man’s bones are sturdy. His mom is stronger than she looks.
They separate and the man looks at Percy, his smile is brighter than any Percy has ever seen.
“And this must be your son, Percy! He looks just like you, and he’s got his father’s eyes,” the man gushes.
“How do you know who I am?” Percy asks, he’s pretty sure he’s never been here before.
“Why you’re the son of two of the most famous wizards! Your mother and father are practically celebrities in the wizarding world,” This is probably the most he’s heard about his father in years. The man disappeared a few months after Percy was born. Gabe says he abandoned them, but Percy knows his mom doesn’t believe it.
But he doesn’t know what to think. He’s learned not to trust people, how can he trust a man he can’t remember? He does trust his mom, though. And is she thinks his father still cares for them, well… he’s holding out hope.
The man- Garrick Ollivander- is chatting away happily with his mom. He doesn’t know what about, he zoned out several minutes ago.
He looks out the window and sees a blond-headed boy with bright blue eyes staring back at him. Percy waves and the boy timidly waves back before a blond woman snatches his wrist and pulls him into another shop.
Percy’s staring is interrupted when Mr. Ollivander shouts out excitedly.
“We have to find you a wand, young man! And it’s going to be the very best!” He looks down the shelves carefully, eyeing the boxes, “Ah-ha! Let’s try this one. Beech wood and phoenix feathers at the core.” He hands it to Percy and a light immediately explodes.
Percy jumps and his mom just laughs. He glares at her with no real heat behind it.
“Okay, maybe not that one,” He scans the shelves again, “Hmm, this one might just do the trick! Aspen wood and dragon heartstring.” When he hands it to Percy, nothing explodes, but the wind picks up and papers fly gracefully around him.
“That’s the one,” Mr. Ollivander cheers. His mom claps happily as Percy just stares at it in awe. The wand is white with a brown handle. It is beautiful. Percy gets a terrifying thought that he’s going to break it.
He says goodbye to Mr. Ollivander and his mom hugs him one last time before they step out into the chilly outside.
- -
A few days later, his mom is hugging him goodbye at a train station. Platform 9 ¾ to be exact. Percy’s still dazed from running through a wall, so he barely takes in the other children around him. His mom is crying, but she’s smiling, and Percy doesn’t want to leave. Gabe refused to see him off, and Percy isn’t surprised. The man’s probably throwing a party back home. The train’s horn blows and Percy knows he has to board. He gives his mom one last look and then he gets on the train.
Children are everywhere, chatting happily and running around. He walks down past the different compartments until he finds an empty one. He sits down with a sigh and mentally prepares himself for a long ride.
Before he can fully relax, a boy around his age pokes his head in. He has curly brown hair and warm, chocolate eyes.
“Hi. I’m Grover. Can I sit with you? Everywhere else is full,” Percy nods and the boy smiles and sits down.
“I’m Percy,” he sees a card fall out of Grover’s pocket and goes to grab it, “Is this a Mythomagic card? I love this game,” he exclaims and Grover immediately starts talking with him about the game. Some would call them obsessed, but Percy likes to think they’re well-cultured.
A blonde girl sticks her head in, interrupting their conversation. Her gray eyes are analyzing and seemingly cold. Percy is immediately intimidated.
“Hey, I’m Annabeth. Can I sit here? Someone threw up in my cabin,” her face morphed into one of disgust and she shuddered.
“Sure, I’m Percy,” He points to Grover, “and that’s Grover.”
He finds out that Annabeth is super smart and she want to be an architect, and that Grover loves nature.
He hopes that they can stay friends after the train ride. He really likes these two, even if Annabeth thinks he’s an idiot.
The train stops at the final destination and the three kids peek their heads out the door, watching as kids file out of the train onto the landing. They soon file suit and step out of the train.
Percy watches as a huge man begins pointing children wooden boats. He loses sight of Annabeth and Grover but he figures he’ll find them later and he heads towards a boat. He finds his seat and looks to his right to see the a blond boy sitting beside him. The same blond boy from Diagon Alley with the electric blue eyes. Percy smiles at him and the boy smiles shyly in return.
“Hi. I’m Percy. What’s your name?” He’s had good luck with making friends today, why not try some more?
“...Jason,” He sounds suspicious, like Percy might bite off his head.
“Are you excited? I’m kinda nervous, but I think it’ll be fun,” He gets Jason to talk a little bit, mostly about the school and the magic. Jason seems to like the magic. And eventually Jason started talking about a sport called quidditch. Percy has no idea what quidditch is but he lets Jason explain it to him. Before they know it, they’re walking through the halls and into the The Great Hall, as Jason calls it.
There are piles of delicious looking food on long, long tables. And Percy’s pretty sure he’s seeing ghosts flying around. Children are in robes much like Percy’s but they have different colored ties. Percy doesn’t have one, he wonders when he’ll get it.
The group is led to the front and Percy sees a ratty, brown hat on a stool. An older woman with a pointy hat and a green robe comes to the front with a long paper in hand.
“Good evening, children. Welcome to Hogwarts. Those who do not know what this is better listen carefully. This is the sorting ceremony where you will all be sorted into various houses. There are four houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. When I call your name, please come up and sit on the stool.” She calls the first name:
“Piper McLean.”
The lady grabs the hat and places it on Piper’s head. And the hat forms a face. Percy is thoroughly disturbed.
“Gryffindor!” The hat bellows and one of the tables erupts into cheers.
He calls up Annabeth who is placed in Ravenclaw, and Grover who is a Hufflepuff. Based on what Jason told him on the ride over here, Percy believes that they both belong in those houses.
The hat calls many more people and Percy has to stop himself from falling asleep. Then the hat calls Jason and Percy is suddenly wide awake.
“The hat barely lands on Jason’s head before it calls out “Gryffindor!” Percy decides that Gryffindor is the perfect place for Jason.
A few more names later and the hat calls out, “Percy Jackson!”
He goes to sit on the stool and the hat is placed on his head, it takes awhile, longer than most before the hat speaks up, yelling loudly.
“Slytherin!”
The table on the far right cheers loudly and Percy can see the green on their ties. He looks to where Jason is sitting over at the Gryffindor table. The boy’s face wrinkles in disgust and looks away. Percy is left confused and slowly walks over to the table, plopping himself down beside a redheaded girl.
“Welcome, Percy. I’m Rachel. Rachel Elizabeth Dare.” She slides Percy plate of food and he can’t help but notice how none of it is blue. Sadness lurks inside, but he pushes it down. Time to move on.
After the great feast, they are shown to their sleeping quarters and Percy runs into Jason again. He’s about to say hi when the boy looks down at him in disgust and turns away.
Percy, now annoyed and confused, rolls his eyes and walks in the opposite direction.
Well, fuck you too.