Half-blood or Mudblood?

Chapter 4: Claimed

Hermione's P.O.V

Previously:

I lost my wand!!

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Where is it?!?! I've checked my pockets, the ground and everywhere around me. Wait, I woke up in a huge blue... house. It might be in there. I ran as fast as I could back there and I hope I don't get lost.

I burst through the front doors so fast I’m surprised that they didn’t splinter on impact. What surprised me most was the gathering of people before me. There was that really ho-no. I have a boyfriend. I don't even know this guy and I’m already thinking about him that way. Well anyway, and there was a centaur, dressed in Greek battle armor from the waist up and what I think is called a satyr. From the waist down, he was a goat.

When the door burst open, they all turned to stare at me with the same bewildered expression on their face. I bowed awkwardly to the centaur because at Hogwarts and other various wizarding communities, they demand to be treated with the utmost respect or else they angry. I could tell that Percy and the satyr were not accustomed to this and the centaur let out a low chuckle.

"You need not bow to me, child. I am much more laid back than my eastern brethren. My name is Chiron and I'm assuming you must be Hermione?" Wow. I knew that centaurs were smart but I didn't think that Chiron knew who I was. "Yes, I'm Hermione. Have you seen my w-," What am I thinking?! I can't tell a mortal that I’ve lost my wand! Percy will think I’m crazy. “I mean; I think I left something in the room I was in and I came back to get it." I hope it's still there and that they didn't think it was just a stick (trust me, it HAS happened).

Chiron looked at me with a knowing gaze and he said; "The object you are looking for is in the room at the end of the hall. We can discuss other matters after campfire. Get what you need and Percy will show you the way. Chiron wasn’t kidding when he said he was more laid back then the other centaurs. I walked down the hallway and the last room was on the right. I opened the door and it was pitch black. I stumbled around for a few seconds while I looked for the light switch, and I found it after I tripped over a chair. I looked around and I saw a night stand. Luckily, it had my wand on it, but it had been freshly cleaned and polished. I didn't do that so either someone figured it was important and was just being nice, or they knew I was a witch. I really hoped it was #1.

I grabbed my wand and shoved it in my boot. Mad-Eye would kill me but I had taken to wearing boots just to have somewhere to put my wand. I hurried to the end of the hallway to meet Percy. I couldn't help that guilty feeling that seemed to settle in the pit of my stomach whenever I saw him. I really liked Ron but there was just something that drew me to Percy.

As I got closer, I noticed that there was something wrong with him. He had huge bags under his eyes and his face was pale and drawn as if he hadn't slept in days. I decided not to ask about it and just ponder in silence. We walked without talking to the campfire area. When Percy and I arrived together slightly late, not that many people noticed. There were two groups of kids that seemed to be arguing over, if I heard correctly, a flying chariot. It sounded ridiculous but I’ve heard stranger.  

I searched the crowd for someone I knew and I found the Hermes cabin playing pranks on the Demeter… (I think) cabin as usual. I kept looking and I saw Annabeth and she was drawing some sort of map in the charcoal by the fire pit. Just as I was about to walk up to her and ask what she was doing, Chiron called for silence and said that the campfire was about to begin.

All of the campers stopped bickering at once when the most amazing thing happened. Not even half a second after Annabeth backed away from the fire pit, a huge fire soared up from the ground. My first thought was that it is fiend-fire. After the war, I thought it would be prudent to learn some useful defensive spells just in case and I think that it was a good idea.  It was taking all of my strength and self-restraint not to whip out my wand and put out the fire. In the back of my mind, I knew that there wasn’t a real threat, but it was just instinct. Years of fighting the Death-Eaters made you rather paranoid.

For some reason, I found myself turning to Chiron. I’m not really sure why, but I felt as though I could trust him. He shook his head slightly, indicating not to do anything and that the fire is safe. I turned around and was about to join the Hermes cabin when I heard; “Hey Hermione! Come sit over here!” I turned towards the sound of the voice and I discovered that it was coming from Annabeth. Even though I’m not 100% sure if we’re aloud to sit with other cabins, but I went ahead with it anyway.

I sat down and Annabeth started to explain about campfire and how it changed color depending on the mood off the audience. It was like flipping a light switch. Her voice faltered and she looked like she had seen a ghost, her gaze was directed about 6 inches above my head and then it flicked to Chiron. I looked up and what I saw scared me almost as much as the fire. There was a glowing owl floating above my head. I tried to move but it followed me.

Suddenly a voice seemed to echo across the clearing; “Hail Hermione, daughter of Athena!”

(A/N: So what did you think? Don’t forget to vote and comment :)