The Clash of the Worlds (Percy Jackson Meets Harry Potter)

Chapter 0 - And It Begins

"Albus," Headmistress Minerva McGonagall's voice trembled as she addressed the portrait on the wall.

Professor Dumbledore blinked sleepily in his portrait, as if waking up.

"Another child has gone missing," McGonagall whispered, "or rather, has been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? From Hogwarts grounds?" Dumbledore asked, his face maintaining his usual calm as he surveyed her over his half-moon spectacles.

"From the Forbidden Forest," Minerva spoke hurriedly, "Hagrid was in pursuit of these kidnappers, who he says were a centaur and a," she choked, "... a dryad."

Dumbledore's face was unreadable.

"I would like to speak to Hagrid," he said calmly.

"He is injured. The centaur shot an arrow through his leg. I have questioned him thoroughly. He is certain of what he saw."

Dumbledore closed his eyes in thought.

"I see you are not shocked, Albus. Why is that?"

"It is simple enough, Minerva. We are not the only magical world hidden from the eyes of Muggles."

Her silence and sharp stare were Dumbledore's cues to continue. So, he did.

"But sometimes, through forces, natural or unnatural, our worlds collide. This seems to be the case here. If dryads are involved, we may be dealing with Greco-Roman forces."

"Greco-Roman?" McGonagall sputtered.

"Indeed."

Dumbledore was quiet for a while before he continued.

"A dryad would not plan a kidnapping with or without a centaur. I have reason to believe this is a wizard's work. A wizard, or should I call this person a sorcerer? We cannot ignore the possibility of their being a demigod. A powerful one, for having convinced a centaur and a dryad to join hands with them, or perhaps, for having taken control of them."

"Demigod?" Disbelief rippled in waves on Minerva's face.

"Yes, Minerva. A demigod. A child born of a human and a Greco-Roman god. That would be my guess. If a demigod or a sorcerer is involved, we will have to contact Chiron."

McGonagall stood unmoving as Dumbledore told her all about demigods, Camp Half-Blood, and Chiron.

The Chiron, from Greek mythology. The Greek mythology that she had considered unworthy of her time when she had had to study it as part of her Muggle Studies curriculum.

As Dumbledore continued, her eyes kept getting wider. Why had she not been made privy to this information before?

Minerva McGonagall had aged years in the past three days since she had first received the news of a student – Sabina Austen, a second-year from Slytherin – going missing overnight. Talking to her friends had led to unsettling revelations.

The child had been bullied because of her house.

Minerva had had to hide her horror to continue asking for the possible whereabouts of the missing student. Of course, she would smoke out the bullies soon, but the safety of the child was her chief concern.

The past two weeks of continuous searching had not yielded any results.

Dumbledore quietly observed her, his portrait a precise likeness of his former self.

"Is it possible that the student who went missing earlier..." Minerva did not wish to complete the question.

"Yes. She may also have been kidnapped."

Minerva was barely holding herself together after meeting with Sabina's parents, who were, naturally, worried sick.  Mrs. Austen could hardly speak without bursting into tears.

Minerva McGonagall would not allow any kind of harm to befall her students. Greco-Roman or not, she'd make sure the perpetrator was caught and punished. She gained a hold of herself and straightened up before asking, "What do you suggest, Albus?"

"Contact Chiron at the earliest. He may be able to provide counsel," Dumbledore said as he gestured towards a low shelf of books behind the Headmistress' desk. "You'll find his details inside A History of Magic."

***

Minerva wrote a letter explaining everything to Chiron, the Chiron, and addressed it to Camp Half-Blood. She found it odd to ask for help from a person she had considered a mere myth. One would think the Wizarding World would have taught her otherwise by now.

Owls are Athena's sacred animals, she thought, owl delivery would do, as she purposefully strode to the owlery.