The Exchange Program - PJO/HP

2 - I Tried to Survive an Airplane

[Percy]

The next day, I packed all my stuff for the trip, had the last breakfast at the Dining Pavilion, and headed up Half- Blood Hill.

Anabeth was already there, along with Jason and Piper. Some time later, Frank, Hazel, and Leo arrived. Nico popped up from the shadow of the Athena Parthenos.

Chiron is giving out wands. Mine was made of cedar, with the core of pegasus feather. There was a hole at the bottom which I later found out was supposed to snap onto Riptide in pen form. Very convenient. He also told us that they made friends with the school during the time they were in England. There is also a wizarding school in America called Ilvermony, but they are not that welcome of visitors.

Argus arrived with the camp van and told us we're heading to the airport in half an hour.

What?! No no no no no. No. It can't be the airport. Zeus will blast me out of the sky before I know it.

"Is there another way? I don't fly."

"I'm not sure Percy, if we go on a cruise we will not arrive on time. I will contact Zeus and your father and try to persuade the lord of the sky not to kill you." replied Chiron.

I sighed. I guess I will just try my best not to throw up or die in the process.

The security checks went quite smoothly, since we had Piper's Charmspeak and Hazel manipulating the Mist. But I was getting very nervous when we're boarding.

"Percy, you'll be okay. I think Chiron has sorted it out." Annabeth squeezed my arm.

We walked on board.

I stayed awake for the whole seven hours and grabbed tight onto the armrest and looked very green at the end of the ride. It was a great relief when we hit the ground. I dashed towards the bathroom.

After some cleaning up, we headed out of the airport.

A huge man stood there waiting for us. He is almost twice the height and width of a normal person, and he had long and bushy hair and beard. He introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid. Is he half giant or something?

"Call me Hagrid, and I'm the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, an' I'm showin' yeh around Diagon Alley for yer stuff for the exchange trip." he explained, "now if yeh follow me." 

We looked at each other, unsure whether to trust him, but finally we decided to come along. We also introduced ourselves.

When we arrived at some book shop, Hagrid stopped. "That's it," he said, as a small grubby pub appeared out of nowhere between the book shop and the record shop beside it.

"Here it is – the Leaky Cauldron." announced Hagrid.

I didn't see what's so exciting about an old pub in the middle of London, except for the fact that it just popped into existence.

We headed inside.