We journey to the land of tea drinkers
Third-Person PoV: Camp Half-blood
Leo stared mindlessly at the flashcards that were in his hands, it had been a week since Hecate had briefed them of the initial details of the request and visited them in their dreams to bestow the required knowledge unto them. Jason, Reyna, Hazel, and Frank had arrived the day after with Thalia arriving with the hunters on that very weekend. Once they were together they spent a day playing around with their newfound wands and testing out spells.
After that, there came the fun moments of learning how wizarding royalty was supposed to act, what everyone needed to know, and all the other boring stuff. If you ever wanted to know how to torture an ADHD just force them to listen to you drone on and on about history, important figures, and politics for hours and hours and they'll end up begging you to kill them.
There was even more pressure on the newly appointed princes and princesses, they were expected to know all of the new information by heart, Percy nearly cried with happiness when Annabeth made all of the demigod's flashcards of everything that Hecate was teaching them.
Leo flicked over to the next side of the card as he went over the more current important wizarding families, most of them being pureblood such as the Malfoy's, Potter's and like a gazillion more, which quite frankly Leo found stupid to judge someone based upon their blood type, as his time as a demigod he had learned that someone's godly parent didn't define them to what they could do, Piper was a prime example.
"Is any of it sticking in your head yet?" Calypso spoke from behind the son of Hephaestus, he gave a startled squeak and recollected himself.
"Meh, if I go over it enough times then it'll end up being stuck in my head hopefully, from the sounds of it Hecate has high hopes of us not blowing the whole operation up in our faces. But with us being demigods I doubt it won't go wrong eventually." Leo sourly thought a frown etched onto his elfish features. "Anywho, how have you been sunshine?" He grinned at her as she sat down on the grass beside him.
"I've been ok, I'm quite upset that you'll be leaving next week though." She twirled her hair between her fingers gazing down at the ground. Leo frowned, he understood her distraught though, he nearly backed out of the 'quest' (they all preferred to call it that despite how much they hated the sound of it) when he learned that she couldn't come with them. However, a few of the head counselors had backed out as well, but they did say that if needed they'd be happy to go to England when needed. Unfortunately, that didn't leave them out of the studying sessions that Hecate had dragged them all into.
"Me too Caly, I wish you could come with us, maybe I could convince the witch lady to allow some of our friends to visit during the year." He doubted there was any chance of that happening but a demigod could dream.
"Maybe, but I do believe that it's time to head to your next session with Hecate." The ex-Titaness pointed towards the Big House where some of the Head Counsellors were already heading inside. Leo sighed and turned back towards Calypso giving her a tight hug.
"I'll see you after sunshine."
"I will repair boy." Leo gave her a cheeky grin and then dashed towards the blue building, unluckily he was the last one there, he scrambled for a seat just as Hecate started to talk.
"Good you're all here, let's get started. Today will be our last day of learning about the wizarding world, after we finish this session I'll be giving you updates on your departure for Britain. The rest of the week, until you leave, will be spent going over the knowledge that I have given to you all and practising your magic."
The notebook that was filled with notes was handed to Annabeth first, all of the demigods knew that there was no way that all of them could concentrate on what the goddess was saying and write it down. To solve this issue they quickly decided on creating a rota of who would write down the info they were told. While Frank was the only demigod without ADHD it would still be unfair to make him write it all down for them.
"I think a nice way to end our sessions would be to talk about the First Wizarding War and the possible incoming Second."
"A second war? Please don't tell me we might get involved in a third war, both camps are still healing from the Giant war and our separate wars. I'm not sure if all of us could do with another one." Will spoke up, concern in his voice, the rest of the half-bloods nodded in agreement, even if they can fight in a war the after-effects they wouldn't be able to handle this time around. It had had a heavy impact on the younger campers that had come after the Gods kept their promise to Percy in claiming all their children, the healers in both camps have been working overtime in caring for everyone, even Apollo came to help at some point as he was worried for the health of his children.
"That's the complicated part of all of this," Hecate bit her lips, grimacing "I'm actually unsure if there will even be a Second Wizarding War but I suspect it. I thought that man that had started the first war, Lord Voldemort" Leo and the Stolls snickered at the name "was dead, but after reading one of the newspapers from Britain I looked into the matter and found out from Hades that he is still actually alive and has escaped death."
"Wait, he wouldn't happen to be actually called Tom Marvolo Riddle would he?" Nico questioned as he tapped at his chin. Hecate grimly nodded and Nico groaned. "Dad and Thanatos have been complaining to me at any chance they have about him, he's somehow escaped death for some time now, but neither of them knew how."
"That's not good, if their villain has returned then why are they inviting us then?" Thalia asked sharpening her knife.
"Which is the problem, during the First Wizarding War a prophecy was given about a boy who will defeat the Dark Lord, Voldemort then went to kill him but only succeeded in killing his parents and in turn destroyed his own body. The boy, Harry Potter, lived and was believed to be the chosen one, and at that point, they all thought that Voldemort was dead.
"Skip forward to earlier this year, Potter witnessed the resurrection of Voldemort in his third task of a competition called the Triwizard Tournament. Voldemort then killed another competitor, Cedric Diggory, before escaping with the rest of his followers called Death Eaters, I know a rather silly name." Rolling her eyes as the demigods laughed at the name, breaking apart the tense atmosphere.
"What was Voldemort's aim to begin with?" Annabeth asked as she tapped the tip of her pencil on the table.
"Even though he was born as a half-blood he despised all Muggleborns and muggles and wished to kill them all, he would also attack and murder any wizarding families that were against his case. During this period he had a lot of allies and even succeeded in taking over the Ministry of Magic at some point.
"My biggest concern is how ignorant the Ministry is being towards this issue, in one of their newspapers they've made Harry Potter seem like a nutcase and Albus Dumbledore to have also gone crazy. I still plan to have you go to keep up appearances but to also see what the situation is like in Britain currently. Since there is no prophecy and this isn't a quest you don't have to get involved more than you feel that is necessary. You are also just there to see if there is the possibility that a Second War will arise and if the Ministry of Magic will call for international allies. I would also like you to see how far along Voldemort is in gathering his allies, as much as you do wish to avoid another war, we know that while we can easily fight and win it, it will cost you your health immensely."
"Now onto less pressing issues, as most of you may hopefully remember the Wyvern family have a lot of power in both the muggle and wizarding world, the Ministry has decided that they shall be your host family while you stay in Britain."
"Oh, they handle a lot of the issues with the magical creatures don't they?" Pollux asked.
"Yeah, they do have quite the connection with dragons specifically too." A twinkle shone in her eyes.* "As for your transport to Britain, Zeus has provided you with a private plane to Heathrow Airport-"
"Nope. No. Nuh-uh, not happening. Never again." Percy interrupted and shook his head.
"That's just a great opportunity for him to kill us," Nico stressed his already pale complexion going even paler than one could imagine as Hazel nodded with him.
"Can't we just, use a Portkey to get there?" Thalia suggested nervously with a small smile.
"Aren't you daughter of Zeus? The air is in your father's domain, if anything you and your brother should be safe." Holly scowled at the Lieutenant in confusion who responded with a glare.
"There's no need to worry, I made him swear that he wouldn't harm any of you while you're on the plane." Thunder rumbled outside in the sky, it calmed down the four of them slightly but they still looked slightly pale.
"Will we be able to visit our mortal families and camp during Christmas break?" Percy voiced. A lot of them either didn't have any mortal family left or didn't get on, but even if they didn't camp was still home to all. Sally was pretty much seen as another mother to a lot of demigods at Camp Half-Blood, who had all met her at some point, she always offered them a place to stay if it was too dark to get to camp and her cooking was legendary.
"I'm afraid that would lead to one trip too many, Zeus only agreed to two trips on the plane, there and back." Percy deflated at this fact. "But I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind you inviting your family over for Christmas, they'd most likely agree." Percy nodded still looking a bit down but was at least a bit happier.
"Your plane will be leaving New York at 8 AM and it's an eight and a half hour journey, so you'll be arriving at 2 PM EDT but it will be 7 PM BST." Hazel whimpered at the sound of the length of the journey, Frank gave her shoulder a squeeze which she smiled gratefully at him for.
"One last detail before I leave you all to yourselves, I've decided it will be good for Rachel Dare to join you as your official Oracle of the Olympian family, I want to be more cautious about the whole operation. I'm hoping that the Oracle doesn't make an appearance while you're all abroad but we can never be too careful. Good luck all of you and stay safe and stick to the cover story, don't let any of the wizards know the truth at all costs." Hecate began to glow and they all covered their eyes as the goddess disappeared.
"Let's have a quick quiz over everything we've learned, we can practice our spells tomorrow." They all groaned as Annabeth took out the large stack of flashcards.
One week later: Long Island MacArthur Airport, New York
The demigods shuffled out as they went to collect their bags from the camp vans and placed them onto trolleys. Argus helped them with bags before he waved to them and got back into the van and drove back to camp.
"The plane should be waiting for us on the third runway," Annabeth said as she looked down at the letter that she would need to hand to the guard before they boarded the plane. In the end, Damien, Paolo, Holly, Laurel, and Chiara had decided not to come with them.
"I guess this is where I leave you all." Sally had decided to come and see them off with large bundles of care boxes that she had made individually for all of them. She pulled Percy into a tight hug, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. "I get you back and I have to see you off so soon." She pulled back and held a hand to Percy's cheek her blue eyes sparkling with sorrow, in the time that Percy had been away he was now taller than his mum.
"I'm sorry mum." He mumbled and pressed a kiss to her cheek, Sally shook her head and smiled up at her seventeen-year-old son.
"It's not your fault, just make sure that I can come and visit you at Christmas. Make sure he stays out of trouble Annabeth."
"You bet I will Sally." Annabeth was wrapped in a hug from the older woman, Percy pouting behind her, muttering about how he can take care of himself just fine.
"Stop hogging Aunt Sally from us, Annie." Thalia came over with a grin, Annabeth scowled her, letting go of her.
"Take care as well Thalia, and please try to not get into any fights with Nico and Percy."
"No promises Aunt Sal."
"Yeah, cause you start them all and then drag Jason into them," Nico grumbled as he gave Sally a shy side hug.
Thalia snorted at him and crossed her arms. "I do not."
"You kind of do Thalia, but then again you all sort of start it so none of you are innocent." Hazel chipped in.
"And here I thought Hazel would be on my side."
"It's nearly eight guys, we should go," Jason spoke up, tilting his head towards a clock that told them they had ten minutes to get to the private plane.
"Make sure you all stay safe. And contact me whenever you can." Sally waved bye to the group of demigods and Rachel as they thanked her for the care packages and went on their way. It took them a further five minutes of following signs, directed by Frank and Rachel, till they reached the plane that sat on the third runway, no one else waited in the area seeing as it was a private plane. They walked up to a woman with silverish, curly hair tied back into a ponytail
"Are you here for the flight to Heathrow Airport?" Her eyes flickered from grey to white.
"Yes, here's the letter." Annabeth handed her the letter which she skimmed over, she gave a small smile before she handed it back to her.
"Let's board the plane shall we." She leads them through the door and down the walkway onto the plane, their bags were taken from them by three other people to be placed in the hull of the plane. Once inside they gauped at the interior of the plane, of course, Zeus had opted to have it with a theme of gold, white, and thunderbolts but it sure was impressive.
"Welcome aboard Olympus Air, please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts, the plane leaves in 15 minutes. I'm Alan and I'll be your pilot for today." A voice sounded through a speaker, the half-bloods made their way to the seats and placed the rucksacks that they carried with them underneath the seats and put on their seatbelts.
Leo bounced around in his seat and babbled to Piper and Jason about what he could currently see in the plane.
"...an integrated bar, well, of course, there's no alcohol as we kiddies can't be having any of that stuff but it the bar pours the drink for you. No way, there's Hephaestus TV here!" The last comment caught the attention of the other passengers.
"Do you think we could all watch a movie on it?" Clovis asked sleepily, he let out a loud yawn which caused all the other demigods to yawn after him.
"Of course we can! Since dad created it no uglies will be after us."
"We can have a look through once we take off I guess."
They waited a few more minutes making conversations between themselves before the speaker crackled as the pilot's voice started to talk again. "This is your captain speaking, make sure your seatbelts are tightened, emergency exits are towards your back left, and where you came in. Sit back and relax as the plane is about to take off." Percy, Thalia, Hazel, and Nico paled as the plane began to start moving slowly, after a few minutes of turning it stopped. Then it suddenly began to race across the runway as it picked up speed flinging them back in their seats, Hazel let out a squeak and Nico began to start aggressively cursing in Italian, and Percy and Thalia looked like they were about to pass out as the plane lifted into the air going higher and higher, passing through the clouds.
"Let's pick a movie to watch," Connor suggested, they all murmured in agreement.
"We're watching a Disney movie," Hazel stated.
"But we-" Hazel's gold eyes flashed at Leo who raised his hands in defence. "Ok, we'll watch a Disney movie."
"Princess and the Frog, I haven't watched that one yet." Leo nodded as he got out of his seat and fiddled about with the TV and found a remote and put on the film, the Stolls had gone and ransacked the plane for snacks and drink which they all handed out. Clovis had pointed out where the blankets were (surprise, surprise), once they were all settled Leo hit play and the movie started.
8 1/2 hours later: Heathrow Airport, England
Halfway through their sixth film, another announcement was made. "Fasten your seatbelts and put your bags back underneath your seats we will now be arriving at Heathrow Airport, the local time is 7 PM BST. Thank you for flying with Olympus Air."
"Finally," Thalia said. The plane dived towards the ground, with little turbulence, once they were permitted to leave Thalia, Percy, Nico and Hazel dashed off of the plane. They were greeted by a woman in a hostess uniform that lead them off and to a small coach, they quickly arranged themselves in an order of hierarchy that they had gone through with Hecate. Their bags were collected off a trolley and placed in the side storage of the limousine.
Standing next to the open door of the vehicle was a dark-skinned girl with braided hair shaped in a bob, her artic eyes stared dully as they neared her, she wore a red and black tartan dress over a long-sleeved black polo neck and black mary janes. She bowed at them before she started speaking.
"Good evening your Majesties. I'm Cedella Wyvern and I'll be your main hostess for your stay in Britain, I imagine that you are all tired from your journey?"
Percy stepped forward. "Why yes we are, would you perhaps know when we shall be having dinner?" Annabeth let loose a small smirk, impressed at Percy to be able to already switch into character.
"Then I propose we have a quick stop at a fast-food joint, any preferences?"
"McDonald's! If you'd please." Nico quickly blurted out before coughing and regaining his composure. Cedella let loose a small tilt of her lips at the pale boy and gave a nod.
"Then we shall be stopping at a McDonalds on the way to my home, it all shall be on me. The journey shall be 50 minutes to Sevenoaks and my mother informed me that we shall be dining at 10." She waved them over to the door as they climbed into the limousine.
"Welcome to Wizarding Britain."