Slytherin Roar || Tom Riddle's Era

Chapter 1 || Unexpected Invitation

Sitting before the river in Camp Half-Blood in the morning, I stared at the shimmering surface of the water. I dipped my hand in the lake, my reflection becoming blurry, like my knowledge about my godly-sided parent. Sighing, I gazed at the other demigods' figures in a reverie.

It was unfair, how the gods just pop up into our parent's life and leave them alone to take care of the demigods they left behind. Everybody knows how gods are forgetful about their children, and it was normal for us to cram up the unclaimed demigods in the Hermes Cabin. Nevertheless, I was lucky enough to have my father, Joshua Pearce, a kind man and a skilled surgeon who took care of me until he thought I was ready for me to train at Camp Half-Blood to prepare myself.

"Happy birthday, Vivi!"

My head turned towards the source of the voice to see Annabeth standing there with a grin on her face.

"Thank you, Annabeth. You're officially the first one to tell me that. Even before my father," I smiled at the long-time friend.

"Thought so," she took a seat next to me and pulled me into a small hug. When we separated, she brought out a squared shape object, wrapped in a colourful wrapper. "Here. Your birthday present."

"Aww. Thanks." 

Carefully unravelling the paper, I realized it was a rather thick book, filled with pages of foreign alphabets. Nordic Runes: Understanding, Casting, and Interpreting the Ancient Viking Oracle. I opened the very first page and saw that there was writing belonging to Annabeth, My best wishes to my best friend.

"This is perfect, Annabeth. Thank you so much."

I fanned my eyes, pretending to be shedding tears while squealing, earning a laugh from Annabeth. Staring at the cover of the book, I couldn't help but flip through the pages, admiring the ancient language other than Greek. I'm guessing one of the reasons why Annabeth gifted me this book was because of the unknown strong connection I have with magic.

"Maybe we should head back to eat breakfast."

"Good idea," I agreed.

Before I can get up and start heading for the Mess Hall, a sound cut through the air, a sound of flapping wings. A white feathered owl perched itself in front of me, holding a letter on its leg. Annabeth and I exchanged a look and we both looked back to the bird. Hesitantly taking the envelope, I examined the paper, no, a parchment. The owl hooted then flew to the air.

I raised my arm towards the flying away owl, my mind buzzing with questions. Tearing my gaze back to the letter, I studied the wax seal; it was crimson red with a symbol of something, shaped like a British shield.

"I'm surprised the owl was able to survive." I was worried that this mysterious piece of parchment may be a trap of some sort, so I asked, "Should we tell Chiron about this?"

"It would be the wisest choice, or we can just open it and see what's written inside," she replied, a cloudy expression on her face. Being friends with a child of Athena, one thing you learn is that they hate not being able to understand a situation and tackle it with a plan.

"Alright."

Nodding, I broke the hardened wax seal and uncertainty opened the letter. Inside, on the very top of it, was the same odd symbol with a drawn lion, snake, badger, and an eagle on every four columns of the shape. Looking down at the words, I attempted to read it out loud but couldn't make out the words due to my dyslexia.

"Yeah, this is impossible," I mumbled. Annabeth nodded and we decided to ask someone else to read this for us.

By the time Annabeth and I arrived at the Mess Hall, we were out of breath. We hurriedly walked towards Chiron who was enjoying his breakfast. He smiled at us, however, faltered when he saw our breathing out of control and having a worried expression.