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(3.2) Harry

I needed to return to London early. The hearing was on Percy's birthday, which did not please anyone, and Mr Arthur Weasley would be apparating me to the Burrow where I'd stay until then.

Aunt Sally tried contacting Dumbledore but was unsuccessful. She refused to let me go at first. Claimed that a hearing should not force me to move out so early. But she eventually relented after we found out Percy could go with me. Why he could go with me was an interesting discovery...

***

A lady in dark robes with a lit torch was standing in the living room. Percy stood across from her with his arms crossed.

'Please don't tell me you're throwing another quest at me, Lady Hecate', he said.

The woman's eyes were alight with magic. And the way Percy addressed her told me she was a goddess. I had to blink at that one. An actual goddess standing in our living room. As if this were a casual visit between acquaintances.

'Not a quest,' the goddess told my cousin, 'a proposition.' Percy's unamused face did not change, so Lady Hecate continued. 'The Wizarding World recognizes very rare types of wizards known as elementals. They have unparalleled control over a certain element: fire, earth, water, air. There are subsets to each, but those four encompass them all.'

'So...?' Percy circled his slightly outstretched hand in a 'go faster' or 'get to the point' motion.

'So,' she explained with slight annoyance at being rushed, 'your water powers fall into that category. You can pass as an elemental wizard. The Mist will help.'

'Excuse me,' I interrupted, 'Lady Hecate, who are you?'

Finally, both turned their attention to me.

'Harry, meet Lady Hecate, goddess of the Mist, magic, witchcraft, sorcery, crossroads, and a few other things I'm sure. Lady Hecate, my cousin, who I think you know is a wizard, Harry Potter.'

'Hello, Harry Potter. I do indeed know all about you.'

Her words sent shivers up my spine. I don't think she meant anything by it other than to state she knew me, but it was still creepy.

'Hello', was all I managed.

'The Boy Who Lived. Cousin to our own Hero of Olympus.'

'Hero of Olympus?' I questioned. Then I turned to Percy accusingly. 'You were holding out on me!'

'Was not!' he argued back. 'I just left out some minor details. Like that title.'

'Right, yeah, because "Hero of Olympus" sounds so unimportant', I retort sarcastically. 'You told me you protected the world a few times, but now I'm sure you've downplayed your entire life's story.'

'It's not my entire life's story', Percy whined with an eye roll.

'We've steered away from topic', Lady Hecate interjected. 'My point is, I shall manipulate the Mist to make Percy seem like a prodigy elemental wizard, concentration on water, of course. And you can show up to court, Harry's hearing, and get the charges dropped because you'd be considered a wizard. At the very least, not a muggle.'

'You'd do that?' Maybe I was pushing my luck by questioning a goddess, but I had to ask.

'The Fates had taken interest in Percy, but they've moved on to you, Harry. Unfortunately for your cousin, that means he is involved too.'

Percy sighed defeatedly. Selfishly, I was glad to know Percy would get to stay in my life. I knew I was a burden, but I couldn't imagine how much harder it would be without someone to support me the way he does.

Perhaps I didn't deserve it. Perhaps it would be best if I'd never told him the truth. Perhaps I made things so much worse than they were to begin with.

Before I could jump into the realm of worthlessness that my mind often drifted to, Percy placed his hand firmly on my shoulder.

'I choose to remain in your life, Harry.'

Such a simple sentence blew away my doubts. He told me that he'd stick with me, he'd do it because he wanted to, he'd stand by me because he believed in me. I never knew how he did it, but he could guess what I was thinking and say what I needed to hear. And every time, he genuinely cared.

'It's settled then', Lady Hecate affirmed. 'Percy will claim to be an elemental wizard, which he kept secret to stay out of the spotlight, clear Harry of his charges, and then return to America before Harry starts his school year.'

'Yeah. And it's on my birthday, so they better be nice and drop the stupid accusations', Percy stated.

I knew he was trying to lighten the mood and I appreciated it. But this was all happening so fast, my head threatened to pop off.

'Right then. I'll contact Mr Weasley about transportation for Percy and me. Thank you, Lady Hecate.'

'You're welcome, Harry Potter. Goodbye. Take care.'

And with a blinding flash of light that Percy shielded me from, the goddess vanished.

***

'Ugh! How much longer? They literally just pop out of thin air. How long does that take??'

Percy was complaining because Mr Weasley and Dumbledore were supposed to transport us to London. They were only two minutes late, but to Percy, they were taking ages.

As if on cue, the distinctive 'pop' of apparition was heard and the two wizards stood before us.

'I apologize for our tardiness', Dumbledore said, 'I had just opened a new jar of sherbet lemons—that'd be lemon drops to you, Mr Jackson—and got sidetracked.'

Percy made a disgusted face. 'I'll stick with my cookies, thank you. And who are you?'

Cue long name: 'Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, at your service. Although, I typically go by Albus Dumbledore.'

'Wait,' Percy interjected, 'I didn't know we need to come up with a bunch of middle names! Is that a wizard thing? Then my name is Perseus, er, Achilles Bob, eh, Chase Jackson. But I go by Percy Jackson.'

I adopted an American custom and facepalmed right then. But I snickered at the addition of Annabeth's last name. She was definitely the person to keep their last name in marriage, but from what I've heard, she wasn't too fond of her family and might not want to keep the last name anyway. Regardless, Percy kept muttering different names to choose under his breath. Bloody hell, my cousin was weird. Mr Weasley looked as if he shared my thoughts, but Dumbledore only looked amused.

'You know, there are rumours in the forest,' Dumbledore started, 'amongst the centaurs, I hear—though, very few are willing to talk to me. They speak of a great hero with ancient blood in America. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?'

The knowing gleam in my professor's eyes was evidence enough that the old man knew more than he let on. Probably knew about the Greek gods too, I reckoned. While I was unsurprised, Percy became guarded.

'And if I did?' he asked, all humour previously shown long gone.

'Then I should like to thank them for saving the world. Twice, I might add.'

Saving the world?! Percy told me he protected it, but saving it?! We needed to have a very serious discussion about sharing accurate information regarding our lives. Of course, I didn't say this out loud on the off chance that my headmaster didn't know about him.

Percy's voice hardened as he said, 'It's a good thing I don't know who you're talking about.'

Dumbledore merely smiled in response. Mr Weasley, on the other hand, had no understanding at all.

'Umm, should we go now?' he suggested.

'Quite so', Dumbledore agreed. 'Please grab hold of our arms.'

I took Mr Weasley's as Percy hesitantly took Dumbledore's, both of us holding onto our luggage. After a nauseating trip, we landed in front of a warn down housing complex. I wondered what would be inside the address given to us just after landing—Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.