Wizards in New York

This Isn't Lee Jordan's...

*George's POV*

"Ron!"

The ginger poked his head into the living room. "What is it, George?"

I held up a pouch of Floo powder. "Are you sure you don't wanna come to Lee's with us? You'd have fun!"

Ron shook his head. "I don't wanna get pranked every two seconds while I'm there."

"Suit yourself." I shrugged.

A suitcase tumbled down the stairs in a cloud of dust, and a girl's voice called, "What was that?"

Another redhead ran down the stairs and hauled the suitcase into the living room. "Sorry, Ginny, I didn't mean to squish your doll."

"What?!"

I winced. "C'mon, let's go!" I whispered. "Before mom and dad get home and start grilling us!"

"Good point." Fred stuck a couple of trick wands in his back pocket. "Alright, I'm ready."

He dipped his hand inside the pouch and scattered the powder into the fire.

"Lee Jordan's house," he announced, and he was gone.

I shuddered. I had always hated traveling like this, though Fred loved it.

Sprinkling the Floo powder into the flames, I shouted out, "Lee Jordan's house!"

Instantly I began to spin, snippets of other fireplaces and the rooms beyond passing in and out of my sight. I heard Fred's voice yell, "Don't come through!" but it was too late.

My knees buckled as I crashed to the stone floor, and I fell on my face.

"You okay, brother?" Fred's face appeared above mine, and he helped me up.

My jaw dropped as I looked around me. "Uh, Fred? I don't think this is Lee Jordan's house..."

We were in a pavilion with picnic tables full of seated teenagers, mostly wearing orange shirts, though some wore purple. A few held various swords and spears.

All of them were staring at us.

I straightened. "We come in peace!" I announced to the crowd, slipping my wand out of my pocket and holding it up.

"Magic!" A girl with curly gold hair and a purple shirt stood up, brandishing a gold sword.

I frowned. How did she know it was magic?

"Lumos!" I shouted, waving the wand at the girl.

What should have happened was the end of my wand lighting up, hopefully scaring the girl into backing off. Instead, the wand turned into a grey rat.

"Ah!" I dropped the rat, and it ran away squeaking.

Fred laughed, somewhat breaking the tension. "You used a trick wand, brother!"

"I noticed," I muttered, my face burning red.

Another teen stood up. This one had messy black hair and wore and orange tee. A blue pen was clutched tightly in his hand, which struck me as a little strange.

The boy frowned at us. "Who are you two?" he called. "Demigods? Maybe minor gods?

"

What's a demigod?

"I certainly look like a god, don't I?" My brother grinned at him. "But no, we are unfortunately not."

"Also," I added, "What is a demigod?"

I heard a sound like hooves slapping against stone, and a centaur galloped into the pavilion.

He had curly brown hair streaked with gray and a bushy beard. A quiver was slung across his back, and he held a bow.

This time, a blond girl stood up. "Chiron! These two just appeared-"

"In front of the hearth, yes," Chiron finished. "All of you, go back to eating your dinners. I will deal with this."

The teens remained silent as the centaur galloped up to us and smiled warmly, then burst into quiet murmurs. "Hello, Fred and George Weasley! How are you?"

I frowned. "Good...how do you know our names?"

"I have contacts in the Ministry of Magic. There was a report that someone mistakenly traveled knot camp using Floo Powder." Chiron waved his hand dismissively, then continued in a hushed voice. "The point is, you cannot tell any of the campers here that you are wizards. This stays between us. Do you understand?"

Fred frowned. "Yes..."

"Good." The centaur began to trot out of the pavilion. "I will explain more in the Big House," he called back. "Follow me!"

I looked at Fred, who shrugged. "Might as well, right?"

And that is how we found ourselves running behind a centaur through a maze of cabins, with no idea where we were.

Fun times.