571Harry Potter & the Olympians : Tides of War
I: The Demigod, the Goddess and the Spork.
-I-
Dumbledore watched as Harry shoved Tom Riddle's Diary into his dirty sock and ran out of the room to follow Malfoy Senior and he chuckled, catching onto Harry's idea. This amusement however quickly disappeared as Harry's new circumstances weighed on his mind, up until now he had been able to keep Harry safe with a combination of the Wards around Privet Drive and the protections of the castle. It got harder and harder as Harry grew older, now at almost 13 years old he was starting to attract 'their' attention more and more. Now he'd killed a Basilisk, this act would increase his 'Scent' enough that the Wards around Privet Drive wouldn't be able to conceal him any more. Other arrangements would have to be made.
Opening a drawer on his desk Dumbledore retrieved a small brown sack which jingled when he placed it down on the mahogany surface and opened it revealing several gold coins inside. After waving his wand and muttering an incantation, a fine mist shot out of the tip, like steam from a boiling kettle, but instead of dissipating like steam usually would it settled over his desk like a cloud. Sunlight streamed through his open window, hitting the mist and casting a rainbow over his desk.
"Oh goddess, accept my offering," Dumbledore chanted before casting a single gold coin into the mist which disappeared with a golden shimmer.
"United States, Long Island, Camp Half Blood, Chiron," Dumbledore recited as if reading an address off an envelope.
The mist shimmered and suddenly Dumbledore was looking into a room with wooden walls, Dean Martin music filled the air and a man with a brown beard sat in a wheelchair reading a book. The man didn't seem to notice Dumbledore looking at him through the magical window that had opened in mid air.
"Chiron my old friend," Dumbledore called to get his attention.
Chiron looked up from his book startled and noticed him for the first time, recognising Albus he smiled and placed his book down.
"Albus, good to see you again, if you've called to see if I have any new information I'm afraid I've still had no luck in my research. The only monster I can find that petrifies it's victims is Medusa, but her petrifaction is full stone," Chiron stopped as Dumbledore held up a hand.
"The matter has been resolved Chiron, the monster is dead, it turned out to be a Basilisk," Dumbledore explained.
"A Basilisk!" Chiron asked, stunned. "I've never heard of a Basilisk's gaze petrifying anyone. It's gaze kills!"
"It seems that everybody who was petrified looked at it indirectly. In a reflection, thought a camera lens, it lessened the effect." Albus explained.
"Indeed? I assume you used a Rooster to kill it?" Chiron asked.
"Unfortunately not, that's why I've called you Chiron. The Basilisk was killed by Harry," Albus said gravely.
"That's not good, after killing a monster that powerful his scent will be overwhelming," Chiron muttered, almost to himself.
"Yes, which is why I can't send him back to his relatives… it's time for him to go to camp," Dumbledore said almost sadly.
"Albus, now may not be the best time for new campers," Chiron looked uncomfortable.
"Because of what happened during the Winter Solstice?" Dumbledore asked making Chiron's gaze snap back to his old friend.
"How?" Chiron asked simply.
"I know a Centaur, who's dating a Dryad, who's the cousin of an Aura, who was on Olympus visiting her sister during the Solstice," Dumbledore answered with a shrug and a smile.
Chiron rolled his eyes before answering, "Well, then you know how suspicious it would be for new campers to be revealed right now."
"Chiron, we don't have any choice, Harry's true nature has started to reveal itself. Earlier this year he was attacked by an entire colony of Acromantula despite Hagrid's request that they don't harm my students… Harry won't survive the summer at his relatives. From now on he'll continue to attend Hogwarts throughout the year but he must spend the Summers at Camp Half-Blood. It's where he belongs."
"I hope you're sure about this Albus, once he's in camp there'll be no turning back, once he fully embraces who he is... the monsters will never ignore him," Chiron warned.
"It's too late for that, Harry killed the Basilisk with this," Dumbledore said as he lifted a sword into view, it was silver, had jewels embedded in the hilt and the word 'Gryffindor' engraved along the blade which was stained with black blood. Chiron grimaced.
"Goblin silver?" he asked.
"Yes, when Harry killed the Basilisk with this, it was the equivalent of him ringing a gong announcing his presence to every monster within five hundred miles. The beast was killed just over an hour ago and already the wards around the castle have alerted me to a pair of Lethifolds trying to get into the grounds and a Kelpie has appeared in the lake."
"Damned Goblins, vindictive creatures… Very well…" Chiron said with a sigh, "If you can arrange transport to New York I'll have a protector escort him the rest of the way."
"Thank you… now, how's the new half blood you've taken an interest in? Mr. Jackson was it?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not good, a few weeks ago he was attacked by one of the Furies, I may have to bring him to camp after the school year ends."
-II-
Harry sat dumbfounded in front of the headmasters desk, an hour ago the rest of the students left on the Hogwarts Express. Dumbledore asked Harry to stay behind for a private meeting about his summer arrangements, what followed shattered Harry's reality. Dumbledore told him of Greek Gods, Monsters, Demigods and Camps.
"So, cliff notes, the Greek Gods are real, they sometimes have children with mortals, these children are called Demigods and I'm one of them?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Dumbledore answered.
"There's a summer camp in America where Demigods go for training in how to survive and you want me to go there instead of Privet Drive?"
"Yes," Dumbledore answered.
"Have you been drinking?" Harry asked.
"I'm not drunk," Dumbledore answered.
"That's not what I asked,"
"I know," Dumbledore responded with a shrug.
Harry leant forward and pinched the bridge of his nose, "So, my parents aren't…" Harry didn't know how to phrase his next question.
Seeing Harry's discomfort Dumbledore sat forward.
"Harry, I don't know who your Godly parent is, but I can tell you that Lily Potter was pregnant with you so we can assume it was a male god, I can also tell you that James knew you were a demigod and he still loved you as his son," Dumbledore said kindly. Harry blinked away a few tears and replaced his glasses.
"So where do we go from here?" Harry asked.
"I'm not going to force you to go to the camp Harry, it's your choice-"
"Sir!" Harry interrupted him, "My decision was made the very instant you mentioned not returning to the Dursleys."
"Very good, I have a portkey already made to take you New York, someone from the camp will meet you there at 9 o'clock this morning," Dumbledore explained.
"Sir," Harry said with a frown. "It's already 1 o'clock… and what's a portkey?"
"You forget the time difference Harry, England is five hours ahead of New York. You can leave here at 2 o'clock and arrive in New York at 9 o'clock. A portkey is a form of magical transportation, it can transport you from one place to another almost instantly." Dumbledore explained and Harry nodded in understanding.
"Now, before you go we have a few things to do and a few things you have to know, first of all, you're free to use magic in America," Dumbledore revealed.
"What? But, the underage restrictions," Harry stuttered.
"Don't exist in America. There's no magical government in America any more. It's been the sole territory of the Olympians since the 1940s, the International Confederation of Wizards know better than to impose their rules on the American supernatural world," Dumbledore said with a wince as he remembered the Exodus of MACUSA.
"What if Muggles see me?" Harry asked worriedly, it was clear to Dumbledore however that Harry was excited about being able to use magic whenever he wanted.
"In America there is a magical force we call the Mist, it manipulates what Mortals see and remember when they come into contact with our world. A man who sees you using magic will simply see you waving a stick in a strange way, he won't see the spells… However, I fully expect you to show good judgment and be responsible with your magic," Dumbledore said sternly.
"Yes sir, anything else I should know?" Harry asked.
"Most of what you'll need to know will be taught at camp. There is one last thing we need to see to before you leave, your spoils," Dumbledore said while standing up and walking around to Harry's side of the table.
"Spoils?" Harry asked.
"When monsters are killed they turn to dust and are sent to Tartarus, sometimes parts of them will be left behind as a 'Spoil of War', most of the time it's something small, a claw or a fang."
"But the Basilisk didn't turn to dust, it just died," Harry explained.
"That's because most of the outside of it's body is a Spoil. If you cut it open I think you'd find that most of it's organs have turned to dust. All that remains is the hide and skeleton, you need to decide what to do with it."
Harry furrowed his brow, he had no idea what to do with 50 feet of snake skin and bone.
"I have a suggestion Harry, if you're interested," Dumbledore offered. Harry looked up at him and waited for him to continue. "Sacrifice it."
"What?!" Harry exclaimed with wide eyes.
"It never hurts to win a few points with your godly parent," Dumbledore said with a knowing smile. "Many demigods sacrifice their spoils of war to the Gods, more specifically their parent."
"How do I do it?" Harry asked.
"Take my arm," Dumbledore said extending his arm to Harry.
As soon as Harry touched the headmasters sleeve, Fawkes the Phoenix glided from his perch and latched it's talons onto Dumbledore's shoulder, in a flash of flames they were gone.
When Harry opened his eyes he was no longer in the Headmaster's office, he was back in the second worst place he'd ever visited (the first being the Dursleys). In front of him the corpse of the Basilisk laid exactly where he left it, he was a little surprised that it hadn't started to rot after two weeks.
"Read this out loud," Dumbledore said as he held out a small piece of parchment.
Harry took the parchment and started reading.
"I, Harry James Potter, offer the remains of this Basilisk to my godly parent, whomever they may be," as soon as Harry finished reading, the snake's body was enveloped in a fiery white light, when the light died down the Basilisk was gone.
"Woah…" Harry said absently.
"Yes, the first time I made an offering I had a similar reaction," Dumbledore said as he took Harry's shoulder and Fawkes flamed them both back up to Dumbledore's office.
Harry instinctively ran his hands through his hair, putting out small flames that weren't there. He stopped when he registered what Dumbledore had said.
"Sir, are you a Demigod?" Harry asked with wide eyes.
"Yes he is," a new voice filled the air, Harry spun around and reached to his pocket for his wand, standing by the door was a beautiful woman, dressed in a long black dress and high heeled shoes, her hair was black and curly.
"Hello Mother, what brings you here today?" Dumbledore asked with a pleased smile.
"M-M-Mother?" Harry stuttered in shock, the woman looked far too young to have an adult son, let alone one as old as Dumbledore.
"Not what you expected from a god am I?" she said with a grin as she walked past Harry and pulled Dumbledore into an awkward looking hug.
"You feel thin dear, you need to eat more meat and less sweets," the woman said as she separated from the headmaster, she clicked her fingers and the Sherbet Lemons on Dumbledore's desk disappeared leaving an empty bowl. Dumbledore let out a sigh as he sat back down.
"Harry, allow me introduce my mother, Hecate," Dumbledore said while staring longingly at the empty bowl.
"Hecate?" Harry asked curiously, he searched his memory trying to go over the Greek gods.
"Goddess of Magic, the Mist, Crossroads, Necromancy and patron goddess of all Witches, Wizards, Wiccans and Warlocks," the woman said as she snapped her fingers and sat on a chair that appeared beneath her. Another snap and three cups of tea appeared on the desk.
"I'm not surprised you don't know me. I'm a minor goddess, not as well known as the Olympians. Speaking of which, I'm here on business, something very interesting happened a few minutes ago." Hecate said as she passed one of the cups to Harry and took one for herself.
"The Olympians were having a meeting concerning the… 'incident' that took place during the Winter Solstice, I was there for another reason on a different matter. Just as Ares was giving his annual speech as to why they should go to war with Canada, a fifty foot Basilisk appeared in the sky and fell on top of him."
Harry choked on his tea.
"A-Ares? The God of war?" Harry asked looking a little scared.
"Indeed, you should have seen everyone's faces when it happened, Apollo and Hermes were on the ground laughing. Athena looked like her face was going to split open she was smiling so much. Even Zeus and Poseidon grinned for the first time in six months." Hecate said with a smile but it quickly turned into a frown.
"However, then the arguing started again, the Basilisk was obviously a sacrifice to one of the Olympians but they don't know which of their kids offered it, Ares claims it must be his since it landed on him. Zeus stopped the arguing, saying that they had enough to argue about already. He sent me find the Demigod who made the sacrifice and get their name for the Olympians." Hecate explained as she looked at Harry curiously.
"H-Harry Potter ma'am," Harry said very carefully, like if he forgot his manners she'd turn him into something unpleasant.
"Oh, Harry it's almost time," Dumbledore exclaimed as he spotted the time, he flicked his wand at Harry's trunk which was in the corner, it quickly shrunk. Almost knowing it was time to go, Hedwig glided through the open window and perched on Harry's shoulder.
"Ok Harry, here's the portkey and your trunk, don't forget what I told you about being responsible with your magic. I'll see you in September," Dumbledore said quickly as he thrust the trunk and a small marble in Harry's hand.
"I won't, thank you sir. It was nice meeting you ma'a-" before Harry could finish, the clock struck two and Harry disappeared in a swirl.
"Such a polite boy, certainly nothing like Ares. Well this was a pleasant visit, but I'm sure the Olympians are waiting for me. Take care of yourself dear, and for goodness sake have a shave," Hecate said before she seemed to turn into mist and blew away.
-III-
Harry felt a hook on his belt and he was pulled away from Dumbledore's office, he was surrounded by swirling lights, after almost ten seconds the hook disappeared and he landed flat on his face on a dirty floor.
"Ohh, first Floo, now Portkeys," Harry groaned as he sat up and rubbed his sore nose. He wondered if there was a form of magical transportation that wouldn't end with him hitting the ground face first.
Searching his surroundings he found himself in a dirty alley, two trash cans were overflowing with rubbish and a rusty fire escape clung to the side of a wall with Hedwig perched on it's edge. Checking that he still had his shrunken trunk and wand in his pocket. He walked out of the alley into a huge sprawling city, Hedwig took to the sky. The first thing Harry noticed was the building across the road from him, it was taller than any building he'd ever seen. The architecture was familiar, he'd seen it in several movies Dudley had watched. The Empire State Building.
Standing in front of the building was a young man, maybe 19 years old, he was wearing loose trousers and a green t-shirt, in one hand was a wooden crutch he was leaning on and in the other was a square piece of cardboard with the words 'Harry Potter' written in black marker. The top left corner of the sign was missing, like somebody had taken a bite out of it.
As Harry approached him he noticed that he seemed to be nervous, looking over his shoulder and at the sky, like he was expecting something to swoop down and attack him.
"Hey," Harry greeted with a wave, the boy jumped so high he almost fell over.
"Blaa-ha-ha… d-don't sneak up on m-eeee!" he said with wide eyes. He'd said the word 'me' like a sheep bleating.
"Um, sorry. I'm Harry potter," Harry said with an outstretched hand.
"I'm B-B-Billy… can you tell me the n-name of the man who s-sent you heeere?" Billy asked as he looked at Harry's outstretched hand nervously.
"Albus Dumbledore," Harry answered.
Billy seemed to accept this because he nodded and started to walk away after gesturing for Harry to follow him.
Harry followed Billy for five minutes before they came to a parked white van, printed on the side of the van was the name of a company. 'Delphi Strawberry Service'. A man was sitting in the front seat rubbing his eyes, this as quite a feat seeing as he was covered in them, eyes covered his face, neck, arms and hands, those were the one's Harry could see.
"T-That's Argus, try not to st-stare at him," Billy said as they approached the van.
Harry got into the back of the van and sat on a large comfy seat that looked like it'd been ripped apart a dozen times and strapped back together again. When the van started moving a clinking sound drew Harry's attention, on the right side of the van was a rack filled with a dozen bronze weapons, a couple swords, an axe, a hammer, a pair of hedge clippers, several spears and a spork.
After an hour they were still driving, Harry reached up wiped the sweat from his brow, the back of the van wasn't exactly ventilated, the only windows were on the back doors and didn't open.
Billy and Argus didn't say anything to either him or each other, he didn't even know if Argus had a mouth. Harry started thinking about the camp and what it would be like, when he'd started Hogwarts he'd been a nervous mess, not knowing what he was getting into, now here he was almost two years later going through it all again.
After a while Harry started to get tired, he figured it had something to do with the time difference between England and America, Portkey lag, or something like that. He laid back into the seat and quickly fell asleep despite the heat.
-IV-
In the dream, Harry was back in the Chamber of Secrets, the room was empty, no sign of the Basilisk. Tom Riddle's diary was held in his hand with a large fang piercing it.
Click, click, click
Turning around Harry spotted three old ladies sitting on old lawn chairs in front of the entrance to the chamber, two were knitting while the one in the middle held a huge cobweb of black yarn in a tangled mess. She was frowning and struggling to make sense of the mess and untangle it.
Seven long threads stretched out from the ball, six of them reaching far into the shadows of the chamber, their destination unknown. But one of them stretched across the room to Harry and was threaded into the diary he held, like a bookmark.
One of the knitting women saw the diary and smiled, she tapped the middle woman on the shoulder to get her attention and then pointed at him. With unhidden glee on her face at the sight of him, the middle woman stood up and pulled from her clothes a large pair of scissors with gold and silver blades, she eagerly reached forward and snipped the yarn connected to the diary. The sound of the 'snip' echoed throughout the chamber and the Diary turned to ash in his hand. Six yarns remained.
Harry heard the eerily familiar sound of something heavy slithering behind him. He spun around and saw the Basilisk. It reared back opening it's mouth wide. Harry looked down, instead of the Sword of Gryffindor he was holding a bronze spork. Past the Basilisk was a girl laying on the ground, but it wasn't Ginny Weasley, this girl had short black hair and a spatter of freckles across her nose. Her body seemed to be wrapped in a tight golden blanket. Her head turned and she looked at him with electric blue eyes.
"Child of the Tides… brace yourself!" she said.
Harry looked back at the Basilisk, it had changed, it was smaller and it's scales were now sickly yellow and it had golden eyes, just as it lunged at him and the world around him shook.
-V-
Harry's eyes snapped open as the van was slammed onto it's side, the weapons in the rack came loose, one of the spears missing Harry's face by an inch.
"W-What's happening?" Harry cried out loud. Argus was fumbling with his door and Billy was hitting the windshield with his crutch trying to smash it.
"W-W-We're b-being attacked!" Billy cried out
Something slammed into the van again and Harry understood what it was like to be in a washing machine, the van tumbled over and over again like it was being rolled downhill, the weapons made an awful noise as they clattered around as well. Somehow, miraculously Harry wasn't skewered by any of them.
When the spinning stopped Harry tried to get back to his feet, then the ceiling buckled, the left and right sides started moving towards him and the floor of the van moved upwards, it was like a giant elastic band had been wrapped around the van so tight it was cutting it in half, Billy and Argus were in the front half and Harry was in the back. Harry heard a smashing sound followed by a loud hissing and a voice shrieking.
'MEAT!'
Harry spun around and saw a snake's head poking through a smashed window, it wasn't as big as the Basilisk by a long shot but it was just as terrifying, it's scales were a sickly yellow colour and it's eyes were golden, the snake from his dream.
Harry didn't have time to process his shock as the snake snapped at him, Harry stumbled backwards way from it's teeth and yelped as he landed on something sharp. Thinking maybe it was one of the swords, Harry reached back and grabbed it hoping for a weapon to defend himself, unfortunately his hopes were shattered when he found himself holding the spork.
The snake lunged at him, he had nowhere to go, there was now a barrier of twisted metal between him and the front of the van, so he did the only thing he could, he swung the 'weapon' sideways, and by some miracle, it hit it's mark. The snake pulled it's head back screeching in pain, a bronze spork sticking out of it's right eye. It's head pulled back so fast that the back door of the van ripped off it's hinges and disappeared with the snake, hanging around it's neck like a collar. Seeing a way out into the open Harry rushed forward and jumped into the afternoon sun.
Harry scrambled away from the van for a few moments before turning around, he now understood why the van was crushed. The snake's body was very long, it had wrapped around the body of the van several times and constricted around it, crushing it into the shape of a bow-tie. They were in a grassy area, maybe 30 yards from the road where the van had obviously been driving before the snake attacked.
"P-P-Python!" Billy shouted loudly in panic, he and Argus had managed to smash out the front window and escaped the van.
"A Python?" Harry asked in confusion, he wasn't an expert in snakes, but this didn't look like any normal snake.
"No! Not A Python, THE Python, the snake killed by Apollo when he claimed the Oracle of Delphi!" Billy shouted as he held his crutch up like a club. Argus had retrieved one of the bronze spears and was jabbing at Python as it flailed around trying to dislodge the spork and van door.
Harry patted his pockets trying to find his wand, he must have lost it when the van was tumbling.
Python stopped flailing around and it's one good eye locked onto Harry, with a hiss of anger it knocked Argus aside with it's tail and rushed towards Harry, unravelling from the crushed van in the process. Harry dodged to the side and Python's mouth bit a trench in the ground.
Doing something stupid that he hadn't done since the troll incident, Harry jumped on Pythons neck just below it's head, wrapped his legs around its neck like a broomstick and grabbed the spork still sticking out of it's eye.
Python reared back and screeched in pain again, it thrashed side to side and back and forth, Harry tried to keep his grip on the snake with his left arm while gripping the spork with his right hand. It was worse than when he had to hold onto his bucking broomstick during his first quidditch match.
'Eat you! EAT YOU!' Python screamed angry words that only Harry could hear. In one strong buck the spork came loose and Harry flew through the air away from Python.
Harry landed with a grunt and rolled with the force of the landing, still grasping the blood splattered spork.
Another screech filled the air, this one sounded different however. Harry looked up and saw Hedwig, his snowy white owl flapping around Python's head trying to scratch out it's remaining eye. Python turned it's head and snapped at her, missing by centimetres, Hedwig backed off and flew higher trying to stay out of the snake's reach.
"Leave her alone!"
Python turned his attention back to Harry and without a moment of hesitation lunged at him, Harry tried moving back but his back slammed into a tree he hadn't known was there. Python was an inch away from his face when it dropped to the ground with a thud. Harry looked over and saw that Argus had stabbed his spear through Python's tail, effectively pinning it to the ground. Python turned and bared it's teeth at Argus, it was getting frustrated at being kept from it's prey.
What happened next took less than ten seconds, Python rushed towards Argus and quickly encircled him twice, wrapping him in it's scales and started squeezing. Harry's eyes widened, he'd seen what Python had done to the van. Argus was flesh and blood, he wouldn't last nearly as long. After only a few seconds Argus' eyes rolled up into the back of his head, arm, hands, shoulder… you get the point.
Argus saved his life a few seconds ago, with that thought in his head Harry rushed forwards shouting at Python.
"LET HIM GO!" Harry didn't know if he shouted in English or Parseltongue but Python turned his attention back to him, once again the snake lashed out at him. This time Harry didn't move, he didn't dodge, he didn't back away. With unnaturally good aim he thrust his hand forward still holding the spork.
The hybrid eating utensil entered python's mouth and pierced the roof of his mouth, penetrating the brain and everything froze. Harry felt pain in his arm just below the wrist, one of Python's fangs pierced through it. The situation felt horribly familiar, but this time Harry didn't have a phoenix to heal him.
Python turned to golden dust and blew away in the wind, Argus dropped from the snake's grasp and stumbled to his feet.
"You okay?" Harry asked. Argus responded with thumbs up and a nod as his chest heaved, sucking in much needed oxygen.
Harry felt faint, the spork in his hand was horribly bent and one of the prongs had snapped off.
"Y-You killed it?" Billy said in shock as he came out of his hiding place behind the crushed van. "You killed P-P-Python… with a spork?" he said in shock.
Argus gave Billy a glare, from a man practically made of eyes it had quite an effect.
"D-Don't look at me like that, what w-was I supposed to d-do?" Billy said defending himself.
Argus rolled his eyes, all of them, it looked very strange to Harry. Almost like a Mexican wave Gryffindor fans performed at quidditch matches.
Harry's eyes went down to Billy's legs, at first he thought he was hallucinating, he saw goat legs complete with hooves where his feet should be. Harry's mind immediately went to a book he'd read back in primary school, 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.'
"You're a Faun?" Harry asked groggily.
"Bla-ha-ha! SATYR!" Billy yelled after bleating in indignation. Argus' chest heaved like he was laughing.
The poison finally got to Harry, he fell to his knees and everything went dark.
"Ok Styx, he's b-bitten!" was the last thing Harry heard before he lost consciousness.
-VI-
Harry slowly woke up with the taste of treacle in his mouth. He was laying on a soft bed, above him was a girl with blond hair and stormy grey eyes. She was holding a bowl of some kind of porridge.
"W-Who are you?" Harry mumbled, his throat felt dry and raspy.
"Don't try to talk. You were almost dead when Argus brought you in, you need to rest," the girl said before spooning some of the porridge into his mouth, Harry lost consciousness again as he swallowed the treacle flavour porridge.
When Harry awoke again he was laying in a hammock on the porch of a large farmhouse. Harry looked up and found himself looking over a green meadow, the smell of strawberries filled the air.
"How do you feel?" a voice asked, Harry turned over to look at who'd spoken, it was a man with a scruffy beard, thinning hair and wearing a tweed suit, he was sat in a wheelchair.
"Like I fought a snake… again, and got bitten, again…" Harry groaned as he felt his throbbing head.
"Might I suggest drinking that," the man said as he pointed at a glass of golden liquid on a small table next to Harry, also on the table was his shrunken trunk and wand. With his dry throat Harry was happy to have something to quench his thirst.
He raised the ice cold glass to his lips and took a sip, he almost recoiled, with the colour of the liquid he'd been expecting apple juice, but the liquid tasted like butterscotch, just like a drink Mrs. Weasley had given him last summer, Butterbeer. Harry gulped down half the glass in a few seconds and replaced the glass on the table.
"Better?" the man asked. Harry frowned, his headache had disappeared while drinking.
"Yes, thank you," Harry said with a nod.
"You gave us quite a scare Harry, when Billy and Argus brought you over the property line you were barely breathing. Oh, how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself," the man wheeled forward and held out a hand.
"I'm Chiron, Activities Director here at the camp," he introduced himself as Harry took his hand.
"Harry Potter," Harry replied.
"Please, walk with me Mr. Potter," Chiron turned around and wheel towards the corner of the farmhouse, Harry followed him after pocketing his trunk and wand, having been without it during the fight with Python he felt it best to keep it on him from now on.
"Is Argus okay? Python almost-" Harry asked in concern.
"He's fine Harry, he expressed his gratitude towards you for saving his life," Chiron said with a smile.
"He saved mine first," Harry said with a shrug.
As Harry and Chiron reached the other side of the farmhouse Harry sucked in a gasp of astonishment. A valley stretched out in front of him reaching a large river, the Long island Sound, about a mile away. From this viewpoint Harry could see most of the camp, the landscape was dotted with several Greek buildings, an open air pavilion, an amphitheatre and an arena.
There was also a volleyball court, an archery range, stables surrounded with winged horses, a lake with several canoes and a group of smaller buildings, all different colours and placed in a way that formed an inverted 'U' with a large campfire in the centre.
"It's always like that the first time you see it," a girl's voice said, Harry turned and saw the blond girl who'd fed him treacle porridge when he first woke up, she was stroking a familiar white owl.
"Hedwig!" Harry said with a smile, he'd been worried when Python snapped at her. Hedwig spread her wings and flew to him, landing on his arm.
"You okay?" Harry asked her while stroking her.
Hedwig let out a little screech and nipped at the white bandage around his wrist.
"I'll be fine," Harry assured with a smile.
The girl smiled at the interaction between Harry and Hedwig.
"Harry this is Annabeth, she looked after you while you were sick," Chiron introduced.
"Thank you," Harry said with a smile, Annabeth answered with a shrug.
"It seems to be all I'm doing lately," she said in an annoyed tone confusing Harry.
"Another Demigod arrived here a few days ago, he was injured when the Minotaur attacked him, Annabeth nursed him back to health too, he woke up a few hours ago," Chiron explained.
"Now, let's get you settled into the camp, Annabeth, if you would show Harry to cabin eleven please?" Chiron asked. Annabeth nodded and gestured for Harry to follow her.
"Oh and Harry," Chiron called to get his attention.
Harry turned back to Chiron to see him standing up out of his chair, only he was leaving his legs behind, as if the chair was magically expanded a horse's body emerged from the wheelchair and stepped forward with Chiron's upper body attached where the head should be, Chiron was a Centaur.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."
To Be Continued…