Blitz

I looked over at Hearth's face, pale with hints of green on his nervous but excited face.

It was near midnight in the abandoned girl's bathroom on the second floor and we were just waiting for Harry to get here. As if he'd heard my thoughts, a few seconds later Harry came through the door with a piece of parchment in one hand, pulling his invisibility cloak out from beneath his robes with the other.

"What's that?" Magnus asked, pointing at the paper as Harry checked the hallway before shutting the door. He glanced nervously at the parchment, then at us; as if debating whether or not to say anything.

"It's a map. Of the school," he said slowly and vaguely, tapping it with his wand before stuffing it into his robes.

Magnus raised an eyebrow at him then shook her head and said, "Well whatever. Will the cloak cover all five of us?" Harry studied us, then shook his head.

"No. Maybe me and Blitz? Sorry, but you two are kind of tall." Harry said awkwardly to Magnus and Hearth. Hearth had been reading his lips so he nodded walked over to Magnus.

He pulled out a rune and held it ready in one hand. I was guessing it could shield them from anyone we happened to run into.

When Harry pointed at the stone questioningly, Hearth simply signed Magic. I repeated the message and Harry just nodded as if this explained everything.

Alex (she/her) was supposed to come but she got caught painting Snape wearing a pink dress in the halls by the man himself (it was going to happen eventually) and is now serving detention. I hope we get to see her tomorrow before her probable death at the hands of that greasy-haired Professor.

Suddenly a loud wail broke through our hushed conversation. I covered my ears and looked behind me to find a shimmering white ghost of a girl, floating above one of the stalls.

"Murtle! Shh it's the middle of the night!" Harry said quickly, trying to calm the girl down.

"Oh don't shush me!" she continued, just as loudly. "Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I don't have feelings! You five shouldn't be in here right now, disrupting my peaceful sleep. Why don't you just explode my toilet for all I care. After all, no one even likes pitiful, moaning Murtle."

Then she promptly broke into hysterical sobs, and I could hear water being splashed out of the toilets and onto the ground as she dove into one. You could still faintly hear her wailing from the pipes.

"Wow. That was..." Apparently, Mangus couldn't find the words to finish his sentence. Harry sighed.

"Yeah. She's always like that. That was pretty calm for her actually. But if we're going we should go now." We nodded, shaking off our confusion as I climbed under the cloak (amazing fabric, I'll have to look into it). Hearth used the rune although I don't think Harry was looking, since seconds later the space where he and Magnus had been standing was empty.

"Uh, are you guys still there?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yup. Now go already." Magnus answered from somewhere in front of us.

We opened the creaky door, carefully checking for anyone who might have heard Murtle's screaming. We made our way down the eerily quiet halls, the shadows from Harry's wand keeping my eyes alert. I thought I heard the stairs creak at some point, but it must have been my jumpy nerves.

Five minutes later, we were sneaking down the hall. At one point I heard Magnus from somewhere beside me mutter under his breath, "No, Jack. You are not exactly what I'd call sneaky you'd get us all caught. And you can't eat so stop asking for bagels." I stifled a snort as we continued to walk through the quiet school.

Our one encounter was when we all pressed ourselves against the wall as a cackling man, floating sideways in the air, sped past us followed closely by a rather old guy and his cat. Harry explained to us in whispers after they'd gone the feud between Filtch the caretaker and Peeves the school poltergeist.

When we got to the doors, we jogged across the grass, shining white in the moonlight overhead. We came to a wooden shed harry shrugged the cloak off. I took that as an all-clear and pulled the cloak the rest of the way off me, Hearth and Magnus quickly reappearing next to us.

I heard a rustling sound behind us and whipped around, but it was just a bird in a nearby tree. I watched as it flew away.

Harry muttered, "Alohomora," and the pitted wooden door swung open with a creak.

We walked in single file, Hearth in front. He shuffled tentatively up to a big box on the table, opening it and bringing out the small golden ball. Thin fluttering wings unfolded as it tried to fly away, but Hearth held onto it tightly.

He looked at it for a second, before pulling out a rune from his bag. I recognized it as Clauditiskinesis, the rune of locks. I thought it was a pretty good choice considering this ball looked like a small, high-tech golden safe or something.

He took it, closing his eyes in concentration as the rune started to glow.

"What is he doing? Why is the rock glowing?" Harry said from the corner, but no one answered his questions.

After a few seconds, the rock exploded into dust and the golden ball opened, splitting in half. Wedged in a small space the size of my thumbnail, was the end of a black string. Hearth's fingers trembled as he pulled on it. A bag came out of the small hole, about the same size as Heath's other rune bags. Hearth's face was covered in awe as he just stared at the leather bag in front of him.

"Woah," Harry said, looking at the bag in shock.

Open it, I signed to him. He seemed to shake out of his daze and carefully, using his long slender fingers, undid the tie and reached his hand in and pulled it out.

In his pale hands sat a softly glowing red jewel with a black rune etched into it. It was beautiful; more dazzling than my mother's tears, pulsing with a soft power as if waiting to be used. Hearth's eyes reflected the red glow, and a silent, happy tear ran down his cheek. He moved to put it back in the bag, the stone sliding smoothly into it with a soft clink.

Just then, a somewhat familiar and somewhat apprehensive voice rang from behind us.

"What are you guys doing?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magnus

I actually had to hold Jack to stop him from leaping off his chain. He was whining in my head about how the runestone was his soulmate, and I mentally threatened him by saying I wouldn't let him meet the runestones if he didn't shut up.

Then a familiar voice came from behind me, "What are you guys doing?"

I spun around, looking guiltily at the confused face of Neville Longbottom.

"Uh... we were just, um..." Harry stuttered. Wow, he was really bad at coming up with excuses. Even I could do better than that.

"You guys could lose a bunch of house points, so you'd better have a good reason," he said, looking at Hearthstone, who was still holding the bag.

"We were looking for treasure from an old American legend," Blitz mumbled quickly, speaking the kind of truth.

"Oh. It's still wrong though, what if you got caught?" he said, making me feel guilty all over again. Neville was like an innocent child (although he's technically 17 and I'm 16, but whatever), and I felt awful until he spoke up again.

"So... can I help? Were you able to find it yet? Can I see the treasure?" I couldn't help but laugh at his questions, partially because they sounded so much like Neville, but they also reminded me of how I used to sound when I was a kid. Before my mother died, when Annabeth was there to make fun of me, and yell at anyone else who dared to do the same. Simpler times.

"I think we can spare a look. Hearth?" I asked, signing Neville's question for Hearth in the dim light of the shed.

He nodded and reached back into the bag. He produced the same rune, which looked just as cool as the last time I saw it a few seconds ago. Neville's jaw dropped and his eyes went as wide as red gold. I grinned slightly at his expression, it looked like a frozen video of a baby monkey after being offered chocolate.

Harry put the cloak back over him and Blitz while Hearth used the same rune on me, Neville, and himself. We silently headed back to the castle and were almost to the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room where we'd split up when I felt Jack's consciousness perk up.

"Señor... I don't know why but there appears to be a crying wall nearby. Should we leave the wall to wallop or go check it out?" Jack whispered in my head. He sounded sincere, which was what made me pause. He usually isn't this sirius (ha, puns) unless he's really concerned. Also, I had a suspicion that it might not be the wall that was crying, but someone within it.

Neville noticed my abrupt stop and turned to me, "Magnus, is something wrong?" This made all the footsteps stop and towards my general direction.

"Yeah. Yeah, I just need to, um, go to the bathroom," I said, mentally facepalming at my lame excuse. The bathroom? Really Magnus?"

"Okkk," Harry said, obviously not convinced. "but you know there are bathrooms in our dorms-"

"Ah, but those bathrooms don't have windows do they?" Blitzen said, in a knowing tone of voice. "Let him go be by the windows. The moon is bright tonight and he's always been somewhat of a sky guy," he continued, making Neville and Harry agree with him, and continue walking.

Thanks, I sign in the direction of Blitzen's voice and run off to an empty classroom. There, I take Jack off his pendant where he floats for a second, his runes doing disco lighting as he gets his bearings.

"This way, Señor," He said in a low voice, thankfully not waking up the entire castle. I followed him down hallways for Thor knows how long (let's be real: Thor doesn't know right from left, he sure as Hel don't know where they were going), taking turns whenever he did, until we reached a dead end.

I realized it was the same one I had run into earlier that week while running from an angry Snape. I looked down and realized I was visible again. I guess the spell had a range or something. I willed Jack into pendent from, listening. I heard the muffled sobbing coming from behind the secret door. Connor.

I quietly knocked on the door, not wanting to surprise him. The crying instantly stopped and I heard a sharp intake of breath.

"It's Magnus, Conner. Can I come in?" I asked softly, not wanting to scare him. When there was no response, I felt around until I found the edge of the camouflaged door. I pulled it open, swinging silently on perfectly balanced hinges. I saw Conner sitting against the wall; his knees pulled up to his chest, his hair a dark brown mess of curls, and his face wet with tears.

I didn't say anything, just walked up to him, sitting down on the cold stone with my legs crossed and my back against the wall.

After a few seconds of silence, I looked up and asked, "Why were you crying?" I almost regretted asking as his face contorted with shame, embarrassment, pain, and a shattered look in his wet silver eyes. I knew that look.

I had seen it in my reflection after my mom died. I had seen it again after our last quest. I had seen it in my friends after going through what they had gone through. I also know that it gets better, but in the moment, everything seems to make no sense. So I just looked at the other wall again.

"I'm sorry," I said, leaning my head back to look at the ceiling.

He looked at me, his face confused, "Why would you be sorry? I'm the one who's been avoiding you. I'm the one who ran out and left you in here. I'm the one..." His voice cracked at the end. I looked at him with understanding.

"No, Connor. I reacted badly when you told me you had a crush on me," I said plainly, which made him blush a little. "I wanted you to know that it's not because you're gay. I'm pan. Er, not the god," I said, then laughed at my own joke.

"I was more surprised that you liked me. I mean," I started with a more serious tone, getting a little nervous, "I was shocked when Alex first kissed me. I still can't believe it, if I'm being honest. So I'm sorry if you misread my reaction because you seem like a really nice guy," I finished, looking him in the eyes and offering a small smile.

He looked back, as if weighing whether or not I was being sincere. He eventually gave up and turned back to staring at the wall.

"Can I tell you about my life?" He asked, which caught me off guard. I was not expecting that. "Not for pity, I just... haven't had another friend to talk to since Al, it's been years," I nodded, and he started.

He told me about his parents, his childhood, and his life. All the way up to Hogwarts. I just nodded, an idea starting to snag at the back of my mind. Something Annabeth told me about demigods...

His story checked all the boxes; his dad left before he was born, he had a sucky life, and he was sent to Hogwarts, a school of magic. But one thing didn't fit, and that was the fact that no monsters had ever attacked him. I must have been lost in thought because Connor was smirking slightly at me.

"Was it that boring?" I looked at him, and laughed.

"No sorry, lost in thought. Just wondering, have you ever seen something, strange? Out of the ordinary, looks like it shouldn't exist, but no one else sees it?" I ask, trying, and failing, to casually ask him if he's ever seen a monster.

Smooth Señor, Jack commented from his pendant. Shut up, I thought back.

"Yeah, this one time actually. But you'll think I'm crazy," he said, looking down.

"Try me," I said, and he looked up at me with a smile.

"I was on a trip with Al and her family last summer. We saw a bunch of ancient Greek ruins and famous landmarks and stuff. Anyways, I was walking home with Al from this great donut shop when I tripped on the sidewalk and fell backward. I hit my head on the ground, and when I sat up, I saw what looked like two giant dogs with glowing red eyes chasing a girl with choppy brown hair and a blonde boy.

"Then, and this is how I know I was hallucinating, the boy picked up the girl and flew off! Like a blonde Superman or something. Then I passed out. Al said she didn't see anything, but helped me draw a picture of the dogs. It made for a great ghost story," He said, giving me his small, shy smile.

But I wasn't laughing. I was worried. The dogs he'd seen were definitely hellhounds, I'd know since I had killed one that interrupted me and Annabeth's lunch once. They were Greek, which meant he was a Greek demigod.

If I had to guess, I would say the son of Hephaestus, due to his amazing tunnels and reluctance to interact with humans. Although that could also be because of his childhood. He didn't seem to know of his heritage (word of the week, I know I'm smrat), so once we told him, the odd lack of monsters in his life would come to an end.

We talked about school for a bit, still sitting next to each other but a few feet apart. Then we realized that we had been talking for at least an hour, and it was well past midnight. I said goodbye, watching Connor walk down the dim tunnel before stepping out and closing the door behind me, blending back into the wall as soon it shut. It was really incredible craftsmanship.

I wandered around a bit before finding the common room, quietly walking over to my bed and crashing onto the covers with exhaustion. My last thought before slipping into unconsciousness is how much I miss the Fadlan's homemade falafel, and how Conner is almost definitely a demigod-wizard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annabeth

It was after lunch when I spotted her. I had been looking for Luna every day for the past week, I think she's been avoiding me. But not today!

"LUNA!!" I shouted through the crowded hall. She turned to see who called her name. When she saw me her eyes widened and glanced around, looking for an escape. When she couldn't find one, she made a small come here gesture with her hands and slid behind a door near her.

I followed and when I opened the door, I saw rows of empty chairs and a dusty-looking classroom. It was obviously abandoned, and a good place to not be overheard. Luna was sitting guiltily in a chair up front that had been turned around, looking back at me.

"I'm so sorry Annabeth!" She said quickly as if she thought I might leave before she was done talking.

"Hectate told me to come here and my father said not to make contact with camp. I listened to him, he's the only family I have. And I didn't want you guys to see me after probably getting things back to normal after everyone we lost in the war," she now had tears threatening to spill from her cool bluish-grey eyes.

"Luna," I said firmly, making her look up. "You know I'm not really mad at you, right? Well, maybe a little frustrated, but I'm mostly happy that you aren't lying dead somewhere. I know the pegasi missed you," I half-joked because the pegasi really were sad about the deaths of those who took care of them, which included Luna.

I hugged her, and we stayed like that for a while, in comfortable silence. I felt wet drops on my shoulders and hugged her more tightly. Finally, she pulled away.

"I'm not supposed to know about it, but Draco is a descendant of Hermes. He was sent to look after all the wizards, but specifically Harry, to make sure the wizard prophecy came true. So naturally, he became his bully," which made me laugh.

"Where's he from?" I asked, realizing that I had never seen Draco before at camp.

"He was never taken to camp, but trained with a daughter of Hecate during the year so he can manage himself. We became friends when I was IM my sister, Fleecy, and he walked in. I swear his eyes almost fell out, because he had never seen an IM before. So, what's happened since I left? Did you and Percy get over your stupidity yet?"

I glared at her, "If you're asking if he's my boyfriend, then yes. But he was the only one being stupid. I was just waiting for him to realize it," although I felt myself blush slightly. Luna gave me a Really? look, and I continued to tell her everything that had happened.

We talked about stupid stuff, and how Ron is so thick, and how I'm going to introduce her and Draco to the group.

I forgot how much I missed her and before I knew it it was dark and time for dinner, so we headed down together, talking like she had never left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex

Snape had caught me. Well, it was bound to happen sometime.

After the first few detentions of scrubbing desks and sorting foul-smelling potions, we started talking about stuff. At first, it was just an argument about how pranks are stupid (Snape) and how they are awesome (me). After that first week though we started talking about other things; school, stupid teenage boys, how everyone judges you for who you were.

Anyways, it was my last day of detention. We were talking about the pros and cons of muggle technology when Sevy asked an odd question.

"Are you really a wizard?"

I looked at him for a second before asking, "Um, what?" Internally I was freaking out, did he know something?

"Are you a half-blood?" He asked cautiously. It took me a few seconds to get his full meaning. To any wizard, he had just asked if one of their parents was a wizard and the other a muggle. But to demigods...

"Maybe. And who are you?" I replied, putting my hand on the edge of my garrote (it was now permanently around my waist). If he was a halfblood he would know what I was talking about. And if he was Greek or Roman, I could say Hermes was my father since that was close enough. Yes, I had actually listened to Magnus explaining everything, even if his hair was distractingly soft and fluffy. Don't judge.

Oh, and if he turned out to be a monster, I can just cut his head off.

"I swear on the Styx not to say anything unless you say it's ok. My father is Hades. Who's yours?"

"Hermes. And yeah my friends are too," I said, trying to sound convincing. Technically, Hearth and Halfborn aren't demigods, but Hearth is an elf, and Halfborn acts like a child of Thor so we'll just go with that.

"Is camp ok? The last time I was there-" His voice cracked, something I had never seen it do, "Chiron was burning burial shrouds. It was right after the Second Titan War. I fought with them, but I had to leave due to the Order and the Wizarding war over here. Nico... he doesn't know about me. Hectate gave me her blessing and sent me to teach here and focus on the Wizarding war. Also, are Percy and Annabeth a couple yet?"

I laughed at his last question, "Yeah they're nauseatingly cute together. And I only recently found camp, so I wasn't there. So were you, uh, put out of time? Like Nico?"

"Yeah, something like that. Very long story short, I was left for dead in a building fire as a boy until my father took pity on me and turned me to stone. I was found and sold to a museum for art. I was in there for decades, until one day... I woke up," he said sadly. I thought about being stuck in stone for over 70 years. As a kid. Wow.

"Hey, why are you so nasty to the wizards?" I asked, pulling out and chewing some gum from my bag. He gave me a look. It occurred to me that might have sound rude. But whatever.

"Well, Hectate told me my instructions, and how I must teach to keep an eye out on her group of blessed mortals. I'm not supposed to have strong emotional ties to people to make my job easier. But some of them are so high and mighty about having 'pure wizard blood', which is so stupid. And some are just snotty talkative kids who hate my class so I feel justified in hating them back. Sometimes I swear they gossip like Aphrodite kids," which made me chuckle.

"How is it that there have been no attacks out here? Did England scare them all away?" I asked with a smirk.

"No. For the most part, the magical barrier around Hogwarts keeps them away. But a few of the braver ones occasionally get through. Be careful though, the mist doesn't work as well on wizards as it does on mortals.

"I should probably go soon, it's close to midnight," I pointed out.

"Oh, of course. See you soon, Alex."

"Will do. Night," and I walked out the door. I can't believe that our professor is a demigod! And not a complete slimeball. Wait until I tell the others.

END CHAPTER TEN

Sorry I haven't updated since Friday, but essays are, and excuse my language but a total b*tch. MAPS testing makes me want to sleep all day, and writing essays about dead white presidents is pointless in my opinion. Like, when are we ever going to use this information ever? I think we should get a crash course or summary of history, then we have more time to learn actual helpful stuff, like math or science.

Thanks for reading! Stay awesome, stay safe, and don't stop being weird!