Meeting Of Swords and Wands

Chapter 8: Welcome to Hogwarts!

Sunlight attacked my eyes, forcing me to stir from my uneasy sleep. Of course Apollo would be excited on a day I dreaded. Though the general atmosphere of the Burrow has been steadily energizing itself for the last week, I've dreaded going back to school and the inevitable problems of my aptitude for trouble, ADHD, and Dyslexia combined with a system of education designed to put "troubled" kids like myself down. But, I wasn't going to spoil on the others' fun. Last night was especially excitable as Ron, Hermione, and Harry practically yelled into our faces about all the things in Hogwarts: the food, the classes, the moving stairs, the moving portraits, the House Quidditch Tournament, Hogsmeade, and of course the Ghosts. That one got Nico riled up to no end. In one of our private chats, he yelled my ears off about how "There had better be paperwork on them!!!" and how it was a "pain in my motherfucking ass" to create new paperwork for surface world permits and how it pissed Hades off when he got behind. Of course, I didn't help matters when I joked that Nico could always just resign as the Ghost King. When I say that my cousin laid some hands, I mean he did a flying kick then proceeded to strangle me. I laughed at that memory as I woke up.

"What's so funny Percy?" I heard Harry ask.

"The time Ron got stuck in that tree." I lied. Ok, that was hilarious when Ron wasn't paying attention to his flying and wound up going headfirst into a tree and getting tangled up in it.

"That was sick." Harry laughed. It was great that Harry and Hermione lived in the mortal world. That way, the 4 of us could talk like normal teens and absolutely confuse the pureblooded wizards much to our enjoyment.

"That was the most epic wipeout I've seen since that time Percy face planted himself in San Francisco!" Nico said inbetween laughs.

"C'mon guys," Ron whined, "that wasn't funny."

"Oh yes it was Ron." Hermione added as she stood at the flap, "Mrs. Weasley wants to remind y'all to get ready. Breakfast is in 1 hour." Ron and Harry scrambled to the showers so they would be ready on time. Nico and I, being Campers, foresaw the mad dash for the morning showers. So we, along with the girls, took our showers last night. All Neeks and I needed to do was just throw on fresh clothes and we were ready to go.

"Hey Neeks, I can't decide whether or not to change my navel." I said as I looked at it. For the last half of the week, I had it as an outie just for the fun of it. "Should I have it as an outie or as an innie?"

"Percy, does it really matter?" Nico replied as he put his shirt on, "You're going to be wearing a shirt anyways."

"Nico, I can't decide! I like both!" I complained.

"Ok, fine. Innie" Nico finally decided.

"Thank you!" I said as I pushed my navel back in.

"Perce, that is both the weirdest and coolest thing I've seen you be able to do." Nico commented as he started to tie his shoes.

"Well, some of us have to have our unique abilities, above and beyond our parents' gifts." I finished by sticking out my rolled tongue. Nico replied by sticking out his rolled tongue. We laughed at bit, then the two of us made our way to the kitchen and started to help set up breakfast.

After a chaotic rush for the showers (Ron! Hurry up in there! Shut the fuck up George! RONALD!!!!) and a chaotic breakfast (Pass the sausages. Who has the OJ?! Oi! Don't hog the eggs!!), the Weasley household + Harry, Hermione, Neeks, and I gathered up our trunks and pets and prepared to throw ourselves in cars supplied by the Ministry of Magic. Crookshanks, Screetcher, Hedwig, and Tyfónas all played the part of regal and dignified pets in their cages. Pigwidgeon, on the other hand, was whizzing around his cage and squawking loudly like he had combined cocaine and 10 shots of espresso. Hedwig, Screetcher, and Tyfónas all looked downright scandalized at the sight, and Tyfónas was not hiding his thoughts.