Siren's Call (PJO/HP crossover)

Chapter Five

PERCY JACKSON

Percy had been on edge since stepping into the stupid dusty shop. But the sudden appearance of an old man who knew his name turned his nervous energy up to a ninety-eight out of a hundred.

Riptide was in his hand immediately, and Percy's thumb was poised on the cap, ready to flick it off at a moment's notice. The only thing that stopped him was Harry beside him. The other boy was calm, looking at the white-haired man with something bordering on fondness.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," he said.

The man's unnerving silvery eyes stopped boring into Percy's and flicked over to Harry. "Mr. Potter," he whispered. "It has not been that long since you last graced my shop. I assume you are here to help Mr. Riddle get a wand?"

"Stop calling me that!" Percy interrupted. "That's not my name!"

The old man's gaze went back to the son of Poseidon, and he immediately regretted speaking up. "I see," he said softly.

He turned back to Harry. "If you could, Mr. Potter. I think this wand will more easily choose the wizard if he is alone."

Harry nodded, but there was concern in his green eyes. He backed out of the wand shop, waving at Percy, but there was some hesitation in his movements. A distrustful look flashed over his face as he turned away.

Percy ignored the swift pang of hurt. Why should it matter what this random boy thought of him? He'd only known him for a couple hours, anyway.

As soon as the door closed, Percy glared fiercely at Ollivander. "Who are you? Why are you calling me Riddle?"

"I apologize if my words have upset you, child," Ollivander says, his pale eyes staring unnervingly into Percy's own green ones. "I meant no offense. I thought perhaps Dumbledore would have informed you of your heritage."

Percy's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, my heritage?" How could Ollivander know about the gods?

"Your grandfather, child." The old man paused, seeing Percy's suspicion. "The Dark Lord."

Percy blinked twice. "Who?"

One of Ollivander's eyebrows quirked up. "Ask Albus when he comes back," he said. "For now, we have a wand choosing to attend to."

The son of Poseidon frowned, unsatisfied, but he acquiesced, making a note to ask Dumbledore who the Dark Lord was. It sounded suspiciously like a nickname for the Titan King who was probably rising.

"Your wand arm, Mr. Jackson?"

Percy cocked his head, confused. "My what?" But he didn't say anything else before a flying tape measure lifted up his left hand. "Oh, but I'm right-handed?"

Ollivander looked unconcerned. "Some wizards find it easier to use their wand with their non-dominant hand. Now, let us see which wand chooses you..."

He disappeared into the shelves stacked high with black boxes, then reappeared moments later.

"Here you are," he said, pulling a slim stick out of the box. "Dogwood and unicorn hair, 10 inches. Give it a try."

Percy hesitantly reached out towards the wand, but before his hand even made contact with the wood, it began to quiver and then suddenly exploded.

Percy yelped. "Oh my gods! I'm so so sorry. How much is that wand? Oh, no, I'm really sorry. That is my bad." He tried to scoop up the splinters of the wand, but they turned to dust in his hand. "Oh, that's just making it worse. Oh gods. I'm really so sorry." He backed up as far as he could from the dust on the table.

Ollivander looked unconcerned. "You apologize quite a bit, Mr. Jackson."

"Sorry," Percy said. Then he blinked. "Oh, I see what you mean."

The old man looked amused. "Very interesting. Let me try another core. Unicorn hair doesn't seem to hold the power you need."

The white-haired wizard disappeared back into the shelves, and Percy could hear him muttering to himself. "Not dogwood, I don't think. Not elm. Perhaps laurel...? Oh, but then again, maybe not."

He came back with a stack of five boxes. "Wonderful, wonderful. Try some of these. This one is pine and phoenix feather, 12 inches. Here you are."

Percy carefully stretched a finger towards the wand, but as soon as his finger grazed the mottled wood, Ollivander snatched it away.

"No, no, no," he mumbled to himself. "That's not right. Well, maybe the next one, then."

Percy went through the remaining four boxes quickly. Then another stack. And another. Not one of them was good enough for Ollivander. One of the wands had made it into his hand, but it soon heated up and launched a blast at a stack of wands, toppling and creating a huge mess. Another had frozen, literally iced over, and almost gave Percy frostbite in the process. But every failed wand seemed to give Ollivander more energy.

"Oh, this is quite, quite interesting. You, Mr. Jackson, are by far the hardest customer I've had since before Mr. Potter, who came in with you."

Percy gave a weak smile. He looked around at the destruction he had caused since entering the shop and felt horrible. He was definitely more trouble than he was worth. He had probably destroyed a good third of Ollivander's stock, and he definitely didn't have the money to pay for all of it.

Ollivander came back with two more wand boxes. "Here you are, child. Try these."

Percy lets out a sigh, emotionally preparing himself for the wands to reject him, like the others did. But as his hand hovered over the boxes, he found himself drawn, as if by a magnetic force, towards the box on the left. He opened the box and pulled out a wand with two different colored woods twining up the length. The handle had what looked like vines or kelp etched onto it, and it was inlaid with small blue stones.

Percy wrapped his hand around the wand. It fit his hand perfectly. The wand began to quiver, then glow. A blue light shot out of the wand, and the smell of sea air filled the wand shop. Memories of his mother and Montauk flashed before Percy's eyes, and when the shop went back to normal, he noticed his face was wet. He quickly wiped away his tears, aching for his mom.

Ollivander hummed, delighted. "Ah, Mr. Jackson. This wand, the wand that chose you. It is made out of a mix of blackthorn and holly wood, inlaid with lazulite, dragon heartstring core, thirteen and a half inches, unyielding. It's been a pleasure having you here."

He waved his own wand, and everything that Percy had done to the shop became undone. Percy heaved a huge sigh of relief. He would not have to pay for all the damages, thank the gods.

Happy birthday, Percy!

Thank you,

ATOTALMUSICALNERD