"Come on!" Piper rapped sharply on the boys tent as she ducked under her conjured umbrella out of the rain. "Up and at 'em!"
"Five more minutes," Percy groaned back. Piper rolled her eyes.
"Don't make me use my charmspeak," she warned. "We have to get to King's Cross for Hogwarts, remember?"
"Just collapse the tent with us inside it and bring it on the train," Nico called out. "Reyna kept threatening to do that to me and Hedge when we were moving slowly."
"That's not a bad idea," Piper mused. "But if I do, you can't come out until after the feast. And by then I'll be in the Slytherin common room, so..." she let the sentence hang before retreating to the sound of sudden scuffling inside the tent.
"We're taking the mortal taxi," Hazel said as Piper walked down from the hill. The girls were already inside the Burrow, helping out with last minute preparations. "Mr. Weasley couldn't get any ministry cars... so this was the solution."
"But don't they know Harry's with us?" Thalia asked. "I mean, if that really was Voldemort the other night, and Harry defeated him before, wouldn't they make his safety a priority?"
"Until the Dark Lord officially rises, there won't be any special treatment to Harry," Hermione said firmly.
"Pity," Thalia sighed.
The rain was pouring down harder than before, and they got soaked just carrying their luggage to the four taxis that waited for them on the street. And as soon as they dried off somewhat in the squished taxi, they all had to clamber back out into the pouring street again as they pulled more luggage to King's Cross.
"I wonder," Piper said as they navigated their way through the crowd. "You know how this is the entrance to the Hogwarts Express?"
"No, it's the doorway to Narnia," Nico said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Piper shot him a look, and he withered away.
"It's the entrance to the Hogwarts Express," Piper repeated again, daring for anyone to interrupt. No one did, so she continued. "And the number of students at Hogwarts isn't any small number. So why is it that there isn't a long line of wizards to run through a brick wall? I mean, every time we entered through this way it was deserted of all other wizards. Do they all come an hour early or what?"
Frank paused. "That's a good question," he said thoughtfully. "There are probably other entrances here and there that all teleport us to the same place, all between platforms 9 and 10..."
"That's true though," Jason said as they all tried not to watch the Weasleys taking their time as they tried not to draw attention while running head first into the brick wall. "And why isn't Hogwarts just swarming with cats everywhere? Nico and Hermione can't be the only students with cats. I mean the number of owls isn't the same as the number of students, even when subtracting the amount without any pets."
"I feel bad for the students who are allergic to owls." Percy grinned.
Hazel tilted her head. "There are people allergic to owls?"
"There are always people allergic to owls," Percy said seriously as they casually walked into the barrier.
"Goodbye now," Mrs. Weasley said as she pulled Ginny into a hug, obscuring the tears that threatened to spill every time at this part of the year. "Take care, don't go into the Forbidden Forest, and don't binge on the Honeydukes."
"Who, us?" Fred and George looked innocently at Mrs. Weasley. She laughed and pulled them into a hug as well.
"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," Charlie said in a low voice as Mrs. Weasley let them go.
"Why?" Jason asked. Charlie winked.
"You'll see. Don't tell Perce I mentioned it, since it's 'classified information until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it', after all."
Percy (Jackson) grunted. He hated being kept in the dark.
"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," Bill agreed, looking wistfully at the train.
"Why?" Fred demanded.
"You're going to have an interesting year," Bill's eyes twinkled. "I might even get the time to come off and watch a bit of it..." He trailed off.
"A bit of what?" Ron pleaded. But just then the warning whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley herded them all to the train.
"Thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said graciously as they pulled the last of the luggage onto the train.
"Oh, it was my pleasure," Mrs. Weasley said hurriedly. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but... well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with... one thing and another."
"Mum!" Ron said irritably. "What d'you guys know that we don't?"
"You'll find out this evening, I expect," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. "It's going to be very exciting. Mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules--"
"For better?" Percy asked hopefully.
"For us, yes." Everyone going to Hogwarts groaned at that. "Now off you go, don't want you falling out of the moving train now."
They all gave one last wave and Thalia slammed the door shut, her foot out preventing Bianca from leaping off at the last moment. Nico snatched her up. The tiny kitten had not grown in size at all since he first got her, and was prone to slipping away at moments as she got more and more used to life.
"Come on, let's find a compartment." Ron led them down the aisle to the back of the train, where an empty compartment always seemed to wait for them.
They had barely sat down when a drawling voice echoed down to them.
"... Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster. They don't admit that sort of riff-raff mudbloods have. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the dark arts. The students there actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do--"
His voice was cut off as Hermione leaned over and slid the door shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.
"I wish he had gone to Durmstrang, then we wouldn't have to put up with him!" Annabeth said furiously.
"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Hermione said sniffly. "And it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."
"Oh yeah, there was a shortened and simplified version of that on the third bookshelf of the Other Mythical Worlds section in the Athena cabin," Annabeth said, her eyes donning a far away look as she thought of her old home-- no, her home. Hogwarts was like a home for them, but it was only temporary. Camp Half Blood has been and always will be the first ever safe haven she had ever truly loved.
"Where is it?" Ron asked, his brow furrowing. ""Like what country?"
"Well, nobody knows, do they?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Uh, why not?" Percy asked.
"There's traditionally a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, the other European schools, like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets." Hermione said it like it was obvious, which, to her, it probably was.
Ron let out a laugh. "Come off it," He sniggered. "Durmstrang's got to be about the size of Hogwarts-- how are you going to hide a great big castle?"
"But Hogwarts is hidden," Hermione said in surprise. "Everyone knows that."
"So how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts? Bloody massive grounds with a lake and forest-- someone's bound to see it," Ron went on.
"It's bewitched," Hermione said. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying Danger, do not enter. Unsafe."
"Kind of like Camp Half Blood," Thalia said quietly.
"So Durmstrang's got a whole load of enchantments too, then?"
"Probably," Hermione said with a shrug. "Or it might have Muggle-repelling charms, and it's probably Unplottable--"
"Say what now?" Frank interjected.
"Well you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?"
"If you say so," Harry said, his voice thick with disbelief.
"But I think Durmstrang's probably in the far north," Annabeth said thoughtfully. "Somewhere cold... they've got fur capes as a part of their uniform."
"Ah, think of the possibilities," Ron said dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident. Shame his mother likes him..."
Piper frowned at Ron through disapproving eyes, clicking her tongue. Draco really wasn't all that bad once you got to know him, even if he was a bit... evilly influenced at times. She stared out the window where she was pressed against and watched as a particularly fat drop of water trickled down the pane. Suddenly it lifted up and traced a derpy face on the glass before continuing to trickle down. Piper let out a laugh as she saw Percy wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"You look all sad and depressed and lonely," he said, passing her a cauldron cake. "Eat. You'll feel better."
"I hope you don't give this advice to everyone you meet, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth chided.
Just a reminder: I update on Wednesdays and Saturdays as consistently as I can :) Some of them might come out at night like this one (I go by California time)