A Tale of Gods and Magic

Annabeth: Thestrals and Chocolate-Covered Ronald

They were there.

Spires pierced the cloudless blue sky. There were bridges and turrets and towers and, to Percy’s delight, a large lake. In the distance was a collage of squat buildings that was apparently called “Hogsmeade.” Trees, some turning the bright colors of autumn, others still summery green, lined the various courtyards. An imposing willow seemed to move of its own accord.

All the demigods were staring out the window in the dining room at the beautiful, haphazard structure called Hogwarts. Students streamed into the building, pulled by bony horses that many of the students didn’t even seem to notice.

“Everyone ready with their trunks?” the loudspeaker-Leo said.

“Aye, aye, cap’n,” said Jason, sitting on his leather trunk, robes cascading down the sides.

“Where are we landing?” asked Piper. She nervously twisted a feather in her hair around her finger.

“Near the Whomping Willow,” said Leo, as if they should know what it was.

“And that is… “

“The really large willow tree. Chiron told me to be careful not to land in it, though, which I find very demeaning as who would decide to land in a willow tree?” the loudspeaker cut out and the train started its downwards descent.

The grounds got closer and closer as the flying train careened towards them. In the distance, a few of the creepy horses trailing carriages stopped in their tracks, as if sensing Percy.

“KEEP MOVING!” Percy screamed and the horses started trotting again.

The train hit the ground with a thump, and everyone went flying. Jason landed face-first in a bowl of guacamole, Piper’s trunk bounced off Travis’ head and hit Connor in the stomach, Annabeth was launched at Will, who was plowed into the window with Annabeth’s force. Shadows filled the room like dark mist as Nico cowered in a corner.

“Welcome to Hogwarts!” Leo shouted. He entered the room. “um, sorry for the hard landing?”

“Valdez… “ said Jason dangerously. He didn’t look very dangerous, though, with avocado dripping off of his face.

“Why don’t we all go outside?” said Annabeth before they could start a full-out brawl that would definitely end with a one-eared Leo and broken glasses. She shuddered at the thought.

“Chiron said we should we should Iris-message him when we got here,” said Percy. He grabbed a drachma from his back pocket and turned on the sink in the corner.

After a minute, Chiron’s face popped up. He was standing on a platform in the amphitheater, saying;

“... and, like I said last week, glittery makeup and toilet water do not mix, especially-oh, hello, Percy.” The sheepish campers all craned their necks to see the Iris-message.

“Campers, dismissed. We will continue this later.” the campers all boo-ed, but the Athena campers herded them all out.

“Hi, Chiron. We’re here,” said Percy.

“Thank the gods! Hazel told me about the wizard. What’s his name?”

“Arnold,” said all the demigods together.

“Well, I’m sure that he was a rogue wizard. I don’t want you to be thinking that all wizards are like that.”

“Or witches,” added Annabeth.
“But how would you know, Chiron? The wizards and witches are all very mysterious. Maybe they-” Travis was cut off.

“Travis, I’m really not in the mood for another of your conspiracy theories. I want you all to just go in calmly and not start blasting people with water just because they look at you weirdly. I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Excuse me?” said Percy. Annabeth looked at Percy.

“It could happen.” Percy crossed his arms over his chest.

“Children, children. Now, the headmistress Minerva McGonagall has sent a student to show you around for the first few days. I forget her name; it was something like ‘Hermes.’ But I also want you all to remember that this school is recovering from a war, too. While we were conquering Gaea, another evil who used to be tied to the earth goddess was attacking them. The school, of course, is grounded in Greek mythology, and many of the spells have Latin roots. Your Roman friends-”

“Okay, okay. We get the idea,” said Leo. Chiron looked taken aback.

“Just go in,” said Chiron. “good luck.” Percy swiped his hand through the image.

“Allons-y,” said Annabeth, happy to get a Doctor Who reference in.

“In un-geekified words; let’s go,” said Percy.

Everyone picked up their trunks and slowly made their way to the door of the train. Annabeth breathed deeply as they exited onto the grassy, leaf-strewn grounds. The air smelled of fall leaves and dark chocolate and new beginnings.

“So, um, where’s this Hermes girl?” asked Piper.

“Hello,” said a girl. Everyone jumped, except Nico, who clung to Will. He immediately let go. Shadows roped around his feet. The girl raised her eyebrows.

“I’m Hermione Granger. Welcome to Hogwarts,” she said. “these are my friends Ronald and Harry,” she pointed at a red-haired boy in a sweater and another one in glasses.

“Friend?” the red-haired one scoffed. “I thought I was more.” he had chocolate around his mouth.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Let’s get you inside.”