Choices || Harry Potter [HP X PJO]

t w o

I sat in the new room of my cabin. I had drawn up the blueprints with Annabeth so that I could get it how I wanted, and thanks to my magic and the Hephaestus cabin, we had it finished in less than a week. Magic was nice, I suppose.

My mother stood in front of me. I now had pretty complete knowledge of the wizarding world and the school—Hogwarts—so I was ready to go. I already had my wand, courtesy of my mother, and had explored my new house and picked up some money from my vault. We were headed to Diagon Alley.

After saying goodbye to my older sister, Lou Ellen (I'm councilor because I've been at Camp longer), Hecate flashes us away to the magical shopping center. "Where are we going first?" I asked. My voice was still cold and untrusting. 

"Madam Malkin's," Hecate responded. Her head was bowed, voice small, much unlike when she had tried to convince me to join the Titan side. I could practically feel the shame radiating off of her. 

I nodded once as we made our way down the street. I kept my gaze straight ahead, never staring at one person for too long. I didn't want to arise suspicion. 

Wordlessly, Hecate handed me my money and waited inside while I walked in. "Can I have three sets of plain work robes, and one black winter cloak with silver fastenings, please?" I asked.

The woman in the store eyed me curiously. "You don't look like a first year, and I've never seen you before."

I flashed her a smile. "I just moved here, this is my first year of Hogwarts. I used to go to a Camp that taught me magic back in America."

The best lies are half-true, I remembered. That was what Hermes once told me.

The woman—Madam Malkin—nodded, accepting my story as she got what I needed, fitting the robes for me. "Is that it?" She asked when she was done. I felt the robes. They seemed flexible and easy to move around in, perfect for me.

I shook my head, though. "I'm just going to browse around, see if I like anything."

Madam Malkin nodded, handing me my robes. "Just bring them to the counter to pay when you're done."

Smiling at her, I nodded. "Alright, thank you," and started to look around.

In the end, I had found three other robes. Two were navy-blue, one a deep maroon color, both with hidden pockets on the inside—good for me to hide weapons. They also only came to mid-calf, so I would have to try hard to trip. I paid quickly, stuffing my robes in my bag and going out to meet with Hecate.

"Mother," I greeted, keeping my tone and face expressionless. "I'm done."

Her eyes flashed with hurt, like always, at the distance between us, but she said nothing. She wasn't in the position to, after all. She knew she deserved it. "You go get your books, then, and I'll grab everything else," she mumbled. 

After grabbing all the required books, I decided to look around a little bit. In the end, I also ended grabbing eight other books, one about making your own spells, one about making your own potions, one about advanced spells, one about advanced potions, one about wizarding travel, one about animagi, one about wordless and wandless magic, and one about extending your magical core.

It was an hour later when I met up with Hecate at the ice cream store. She had bought everything required, along with an enchanted trunk and an enchanted backpack.

"I two other things for you, as well," Hecate added, her voice small and timid. I raised an eyebrow at her. She held out a book and an owl.

"An owl?" I asked, taking attention to that first. Hecate nodded.