Percy Jackson and the Order of the Phoenix (SEQUEL)

Chapter 8: Heading to 12 Grimmauld Place

At first, Nico chided himself for not seeing the cave before. Of course, in his original visit, he had only explored the top of the cliff, practically screaming curses at the annoying aura which seemingly had no reason of being there.

But now, after nearly falling to his death, he had time to process his new surroundings.

His nose crinkled at the unnatural, tainted stench of death. But for some reason, it still was fainter than Harry's. Yet, Nico still thought it was logical to explore. For all he knew, the weaker aura could be because this horcrux was older than Harry... Or something along those lines.

He slowly stood up, wincing at the excruciating pain of his broken wrist, and hands littered with various gashes and cuts from the fall. One particularly large cut was bleeding, a wide gash across his right hand's palm, blood trickling onto his skin's surface.

His right hand, slightly less injured than his left (which was still broken), braced itself on one of the cave's walls. Then, he attempted to search for a cube of ambrosia in his jacket pockets.

"Dammit," he swore in a hushed tone, eyeing the tear in his aviator jacket venomously, "Typical..."

He began to chew the ambrosia, almost immediately feeling his left wrist shift back in place, accompanied with a small 'pop,' and the various cuts and bruises slowly healing. Nico closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the taste.

A cool breeze filled the cavern.

Nico's eyes snapped open. Whirling around to look back at the cave's wall he had braced himself against seconds ago.

"Huh, that wasn't there before."

An opening appeared, and Nico's only guess on how was the small droplet of blood sitting on the rocks next to his feet.

In his mind, the only logical decision was to walk deeper inside.

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CRASH!

'Shh,' Annabeth put a finger to her mouth, gesturing for everyone to remain silent. And in a blink of an eye, Hazel slid a golden drachma across the coffee table, which immediately began to morph into her drakon sword.

The was a moment of silence after the window broke in the kitchen. Everyone remained eerily still.

Percy gripped onto Riptide (in pen form) tightly, slowly standing on his feet, and taking cautious steps closer towards the kitchen.

Annabeth followed suit, the two now in sync, about to turn the corner and face the intruders in the kitchen. The Daughter of Athena thought for a moment, then, unsheathed her wand as well.

Hazel stood side-by-side with Harry, the two armed with their cavalry sword and wands.

That's when Annabeth mouthed to Percy, counting down when the two should both simultaneously jump around the corner and catch the person by surprise.

'3...' Annabeth began to count

'2...'

'1...'

"Expelliarmus!" Annabeth shrieked, aiming to the silhouette standing across the kitchen counter.

A jet of red light flashed across Petunia's gleaming, overly-tidy kitchen, aimed towards the figure. But with a mouthless 'Protego' the spell bounced back, plunging right into two cabinets over the stove. The wood smashed into smithereens, dust flying into the air.