Hecate handed Percy a stack of paper. "Write down all the formulas you know along with the first three sets of basic rune structure."
Percy took the paper and sighed as he readied his quill and ink. "Had I known magic involved this much work, I would have just stayed hidden in the mortal world instead."
"That must be the fifth time you told me that today Jackson. Stop complaining, it's not an attractive quality." Hecate summoned a glass of wine for herself as she sat down in front of Percy. "Begin."
Percy nodded as he quickly looked over the question sheets and began to answer them as best as he could. He didn't wear the blood band, which he did every time Hecate tested him. The goddess wanted him to answer these questions without any outside help.
Percy hummed as he tackled the Arithmancy problems first. As Hecate said, when he first started they were similar to his number tables. He didn't have much choice but to mug them up, they were the basic concepts of Arithmancy, he needed to learn.
'Let's see, the formula for a twist motion? (M x 4) +number of inches in wand length. Flick, (M x 2) +number of inches in wand length. Stab, hmm...well I suppose that's a tricky one...'
Percy went on for the better half of the morning. At well past noon, he put down his quill and handed the goddess the completed exam paper.
The goddess cast her grading spell on it and smiled as the number '84%' came up.
Percy grinned. "Am I good, or am I good?"
"Don't get cocky kid."
"Did you just quote Star Wars?"
"Yup!" Hecate grinned triumphantly. "And Iris said I wasn't in with the kids."
"Right." Percy responded unsure with what to say. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm done with Runes and Arithmancy, right? Does that mean I can get a wand now?"
"Not so fast kid, you're not nearly close to being done. This was just the theory part, you still need to cover the practical area."
"Cool! Will it be like potions?"
"Yes, it will. I think you are going to enjoy it quite a bit actually." Hecate smiled. "Now, shall we begin?" She snapped her fingers and vanished the question paper and quickly sent away the books Percy's was studying.
"But wait. How am I going to practice all of this practically?"
"Well, you can't really do Arithmancy practically just yet. You need to be a lot more experienced to even think about creating new spells. And that means you need a wand, which you aren't going to get just yet. So for now we'll skip that bit. But we are going to do a rune carving session, which I think you will enjoy."
Hecate snapped her fingers summoning a giant black bag about two feet tall and a wooden bow that was decorated with runes. Percy recognized a few of them, there were runes for protection, safety, and comfort but there were also a bunch that he had no clue about. Percy groaned. "Hecate, why don't I recognize some of these runes?"
"Hmm? Oh, you aren't that advanced yet Percy. You just essentially learned your ABC's, these runes are practically a whole new language. Don't worry though, I'll teach them to you soon enough. Now go ahead, open the box."
Percy nodded as he carefully opened the latch and gently lifted the cover.
Inside were tools Percy recognized from his rune books. They were used to carve runes. One was a blade with teeth along its edges. It had a wooden handle with gold near the blade with runes for 'sharpness' probably to keep its edge. It was called an imber and was used to carve runes.
Then there was a small quill with a golden tip with an ink bottle to its side. It was a line graph. It was used to create a sketch of a rune before one carved it. The ink had a tracing property in it which attracted the imber's metal tip insuring that the carving didn't stray from the ink path.
And then came a magic saturator, a magical nail polish if you will. The user pours magic into the bottle and then takes the paintbrush out and paints over the carved rune. This wasn't really necessary but ensured that the rune carved was more stable and stronger than normal.
And finally, the airbrush. It was just that, a giant fluffy brush. People just used it to seem fancy because it didn't really have a purpose.
"This is amazing Hecate, thank you!" Percy said as he held the imber in awe. He admired it's edged teeth, he could carve stone with this.
"You're welcome Percy, think of it as a gift for doing so well in your studies. You will find the set much better than any other out there. Most people have an all-in-one tool kit with an imber, line graph, and a magical saturater in one big pen. However, I find that it's much more effective by having each tool separate and made of better quality. Called me old fashioned, but it's better this way."
"I see." Percy smiled. "Alright then, what's in the bag?"
"Glad you asked." Hecate grinned as she opened the bag showing that it was full of pebbles. She took one out and laid it before Percy. "Make me an explosion rune."
Percy nodded and eagerly went to work. He worked diligently, drawing the rune first with the line graph and then cut into the stone with the imber. Finally, he coated the rune with his magic and presented the rune to Hecate.
The goddess looked it over and nodded. "Not bad, at least for a first attempt. The lines are a little off, you might get a 50% chance of this actually working. Oh, and you took forever you make it, ten minutes is too long for a single rune Percy."
"Fine, let's see you do it then." Percy grumbled as he passed the tool kit to the goddess.
Hecate grinned. "Gladly." She took out a stone and the imber. She didn't bother drawing a sketch first, she just went to work as she carved into the stone, creating the rune in a single stroke. She then coated the rune in five seconds and presented the stone to Percy.
"Wow." Percy stared in awe. The rune she carved was perfect, better than the textbook drawing of the protection rune. Comparing her work and his, well Percy could understand why she wasn't impressed with his work.
"How did you get so good?" Percy asked.
"Practice, and well... I am the goddess of magic aren't I? It would be embarrassing if I couldn't even do this." Hecate chuckled.
She pushed the bag of pebbles to Percy and smiled. "Use up every single stone in this bag. I want you to carve every rune you know and then do it again and again until you can do it perfectly and without a sketch of it first."
"You want me to sit here and carve runes into stones?" Percy grumbled.
"Yes."
"Dude! That's so freaking boring! I mean come on! You told me I can have a wand after this!"
"You will... After you can carve runes in your sleep."
"That's not what you said! You said as soon as I finish this I can have a wand, now you're just giving me more to work with!"
Hecate sighed. "Fine... Do what I ask, and I swear on the Styx you can have a wand." Thunder roared outside in the clear blue sky signaling the legitimacy of the oath. Hecate raised an eyebrow "Happy?"
Percy nodded. "Yup!" He twirled the line graph between his fingers and grinned. "I can't wait!"
It took him two weeks. Two weeks of runes.
Percy's fingers had gotten rough and calloused from holding the imber and carving the runes. The ink from the line graph had run out three times over. Percy kept asking Hecate for more but in the end, he decided he shouldn't have to rely on it too much.
Percy groaned as his fingertips started to cramp again. He sighed as he stopped carving and dipped his hand in a bucket of water he kept by his desk-side. His hand slowly healed, and he quickly returned to his work.
He carved rune after rune, protection, lightweight, sealing, fire, water, brightness. Most nights he didn't even sleep! The dream away potion made sure of that.
On the 28th of March, Percy charged into the living room and found Hecate sipping a cup of tea. He slammed down a pebble and crossed his arms. "I'm done."
The goddess raised an eyebrow, she put the tea aside and picked up the pebble. The rune was almost as good as the ones Hecate could make, which was saying something considering she was the goddess of magic.
"So? How did I do?" Percy asked.
Hecate looked at the boy and chuckled. "You know Percy, I think you just might be an actual prodigy."
Percy grinned. "So it's good?"
"Yes, it's good."
"Good...well, I'm going to sleep now." Percy said as he slumped onto the couch letting his weariness catch up with him. "When I wake up we're going to get my wand right?"
"I know, I'll keep my promise." Hecate whispered. She stroked his hair gently. A light smile on her lips.
"Good, and don't forget it..." Percy snorted as he finally slept for the first time in three days.
...
"RISE AND SHINE JACKSON!"
"Ah!" The demigod jumped awake holding his ear in pain. "What the hell is wrong with you woman?!"
Hecate stood over Percy with a grin on her face. "Come on Percy! We have a lot to do today!"
Percy groaned. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Around twenty-one hours." Hecate shrugged. "I let you sleep in, you seemed tired."
"Well, thanks. That was so generous of you." Percy spat, the sarcasm dripping off his voice. He got up and sighed. "Now why exactly did you feel the need to yell me awake?"
"Well, I'm sorry, I just thought you would be happy to wake up as soon as possible. You have been bugging me about this wand thing for quite some time now."
At that, Percy perked. All the sleepiness was gone from his face. "Wand? I can get my wand?!"
Hecate nodded. "I promised didn't I?"
"Hell yeah!" Percy jumped. "Alright, let's go!" He charged to the door.
"Not just yet sunshine!" Hecate pulled him back by the collar. "First you need to change."
Percy looked himself over. "Why?"
"Because you have been wearing the same clothes for the past week." Hecate groaned. "By the third day, I had to charm away my sense of smell."
"Really?" Percy looked surprised. "Guess I didn't notice."
"Yes I know. You were to busy carving stones. Anyway go up and take a bath. Oh, and change into your robes. We are going into the wizarding world today and you must look presentable. I won't have my apprentice looking like a mortal."
Percy nodded as he quickly did just that. After the shower, Percy slipped on his robes. Though Percy still found wearing robes odd, it did feel good, sort of like wearing a giant bathrobe. But at the same time, it felt weird. Like...well, wearing a giant bathrobe.
He walked out of the bathroom to find Hecate waiting on the chair. "Ready Percy?" She asked.
How she could sit there doing absolutely nothing, Percy would never know. "I think you know the answer to that already."
Percy and Hecate apparated to Diagon Alley where they quickly walked into the crowd that had already formed that clear skied morning.
"So where are we going?" Percy asked looking every bit excited as he sounded.
"Ollivander's." Hecate informed him. "All of magical Britain get their wands from him. Don't want to break tradition do we?"
Percy nodded as he walked behind the goddess who lead him to a dusty old store. "Is this it?" Percy asked looking concerned at the shabby shop.
"Yes it is, and don't worry. When it comes to wands or magic in general, the older and unmaintained the place is, the better it's goods." Hecate reassured him. "Well then, what are you waiting for, go on!"
"You not coming with?"
"No. Obtaining one's wand is a very...private moment. Go ahead Percy, I'll be right here."
Percy nodded nervously at the goddess and quickly went in. The inside of the store was no better looking, but it did look like a very respectable place with shelves upon shelves of wands stacked up behind the counter.
"Ah, and who might you be?"
Percy jerked in surprise. Before he knew it, Riptide was in the palm of his hand as he turned around facing the voice.
The man who spoke was old, with long curly hair and a surprised expression. He looked at Percy's pen and nodded impressed. "You have good reflexes my boy."
"T-thanks." Percy said as he eyed the man up and down. "Are you Ollivander?"
The old man nodded as he walked behind the counter. "Indeed I am. And you are?"
"Percy, Percy Jackson." Percy told the man as he put Riptide away.
"Ah, I see. American yes? And what might an American boy need with a wand? Did you not get one when you turned eleven?"
Percy gulped. He remembered what Hecate told him to say. "I broke it sir. I came here for a replacement."
"And what was your old wand made of young Percy?"
"I don't know, it was my father's." Percy lied once more. Hecate was very specific in that he couldn't tell anyone about who he was or about his past. Before she even let him out of the house she told him again and again, to not reveal his identity to anyone. Together they devised a backstory for him that seemed plausible.
"I see...well then, let's start shall we?" A measuring tape suddenly flew out of the man's pocket and started measuring Percy. It measured his arm length the distance between his elbow and wrist, the length of his fingers. It then started to act funny as it measured between his fingers, toes, and even the space between his nostrils!
"Right then, try this." Ollivander placed a wand box on the counter revealing a honey brown wand. "Twelve inches. Elm and dragon heartstring. Very stiff and good for advanced magic."
Percy looked at the wand. "Ah...it's very pretty?"
"Well? What are you waiting for?! Give it a wave!"
Percy nodded as he quickly grabbed the wand, but the moment he did Ollivander snatched it away. "Hey!" He protested.
"No, no, not right at all!" Ollivander quickly went into his stacks of wands and quickly pulled another wand out. "Here try this. Thirteen and a half inches. Hazel and phoenix feather. A sensitive wand, hazel often reflects its owner's emotional state and works best for a master who understands and can manage their own feelings. It has the unique ability to detect underground water reserves."
Percy nodded. 'Water, maybe it will suit me then.'
He picked up the wand and waved it. Immediately, however, he felt a surge of emotions reach him and he felt disgusted by what he felt. The wand hated him, and he couldn't stand the sight of it. Percy quickly put the wand back. "I don't think so."
Instead of looking sad at the rejection, Ollivander looked excited. He quickly went in and brought out wand after wand.
Finally, Ollivander brought out a black box with silver runes etched into it. Percy recognized the runes, they were useless, just for effect. He opened the box and presented a wand that shined almost as if it was made of gold.
"English Oak, fifteen inches with a phoenix feather core. Very rigid, unchanging." Ollivander said in whispered tones.
Percy reached for the wand but before even touching it, Ollivander snatched it away, returning to his collection of wands.
"Mr. Jackson you are my trickiest customer since young Harry Potter!"
Percy perked at the mention of Harry Potter. 'Where have I heard that name?' Ollivander suddenly set down another wand snapping him out of his daze.
"Eleven inches. Pine from America actually, somewhere off the coast of Long Island I believe. Phoenix feather core, rather flexible. Very powerful. You'll have to have a focused mind and a good heart or the power will consume you.
The part about a pine tree in Long Island particularly troubled him but he did his best to keep a straight face.
Percy picked up the wand and wrapped his hand around it. The grip on the wand felt perfect, his fingers found a perfect hold on it. Suddenly, a rush of warmth flowed through him as a wave of energy shot out of the wand in bright sea-blue sparks.
Percy gasped. Ollivander smiled. "I believe we have found your wand Mr. Jackson."
Percy looked over the wand enchanted. He had never felt like this before, he felt complete.
"And the core? A Phoenix feather?"
"Correct. A rare core, capable of the greatest range of magic. Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalize, and their allegiance is usually hard-won. You need to work hard to prove to the wand you are worthy."
"You say that like it's alive."
"In some ways, I believe they are." Ollivander smiled.
'I can get why I got this core.' Percy told himself. 'Independent, detached, sounds like me. After all who else is more detached than a demigod that was sent back in time?'
"Thank you." Percy exclaimed. "This wand, holding it...it feels so strange. Like I'm complete for the first time."
"Most feel the same. It's in the nature of the wizard's magic." Ollivander nodded. "Now, that will be seven galleons."
Percy paid the man and quickly walked out of the store with his wand in hand. Hecate quickly walked up to him and eyed the wand. She raised an eyebrow. "Pine, eleven inches with a phoenix feather core. Flexible, unchanging, and yet adapting. Impressive."
"You can tell that with just a look?"
"Yes, after all, I did help create the art of wand crafting." Hecate held out her hand. "May I?"
Percy didn't hesitate as he gave her his wand. She snapped her fingers causing his wand to glow red and then blue. Hecate smiled as she gave it back to Percy. "I removed the trace." She explained. "The Ministry of Magic won't be able to track you now."
"I didn't know you could do that." Percy said impressed.
"I'm the goddess of all magic Percy, there isn't much I can't do. Now come on, we need to get you registered for your OWLs this June. You have finished OWL level runes, arithmancy, and potions in a month's time, plus making amazing progress in astronomy. I'm sure you can finish transfiguration, charms, and the rest by then as well."
Percy nodded. "Right."
"Oh, and before I forget, here." Hecate summoned a black wristband of some kind and handed it to Percy. "It's an Auror grade wand strap. Remember, never ever keep your wand somewhere snappable. It can and will break. It might be powerful but it is still made out of wood."
Percy nodded as he quickly wore the strap on his left hand and slid the wand into place. The wand fit perfectly with his forearm length allowing Percy to move his arm freely without clipping the wand.
Once ready, Percy grabbed Hecate's hand and once again they apparated away. This time when they stopped Percy managed to not fall down, his head still spun around like crazy, but hey at least he didn't puke.
Percy looked up and his jaw dropped. The hallway he was in was huge with paintings on the walls and fireplaces that flashed green. Witches and wizards walked through the fire as they made their way down the hall towards the Atrium that had a giant fountain in the center.
"Come on Percy." Hecate said as she yanked him along quickly walking down the hall.
"So this is the Ministry of Magic?" Percy asked. He was so entranced, he forgot to let go of Hecate's hand.
The atrium was bigger than their house and filled with people walking all over the place. The statue in the center featured a witch and a wizard with a centaur, a goblin, and something that looked like a tiny human with bat-like ears looking at the wand wavers in amazement.
"Correct." Hecate nodded. "This is the government center for the British wizarding world. Everything is here from the minister's office to the Department of Mysteries."
"Department of Mysteries?"
"It's like the magical version of the CIA, except much more powerful and much more deadly. They are also the only ones alive that know the existence of the divine world."
"What?! But I thought you said that the divine and the magical world must never meet? How come these wizards are aware of us?"
"Because we need someone on the inside helping us." Hecate explained as she walked towards a desk at the opposite side of the atrium. Behind it was a hallway leading to several elevators, guess that's where they needed to go.
"You see, the people in the department of mysteries know the danger of our two worlds meeting, and so they help us in keeping that secret under wraps at all costs. After all, it helps if we actually have someone on our side."
The desk they approached had a man sitting behind it reading a newspaper. When they stopped in front of him he looked up lazily and raised an eyebrow.
He sighed and grumbled as he put the paper away and got up shooting them a dirty look for daring to make him do his job.
"Wands." The man ordered. Percy looked to Hecate who nodded in approval. Percy carefully took out his brand new wand and handed it to the man. He flinched as he saw the man's dirty fingers wrapping around his new wand, he didn't even bother holding it by the handle! Percy could see the clogged up dirt gathered under his nails, it took all his will to simply not snatch the wand away.
The man waved his own wand over Percy's and waited. He then finally spoke up. "Eleven inches, pine with a phoenix feather core. Owner, Percy Jackson. Has been registered to said wizard for all of five minutes."
Percy nodded. "Correct." The man handed Percy back his wand who snatched it away, he didn't want the dirty fingered man holding it for a single moment longer.
The man turned to Hecate and raised an eyebrow expecting her wand. The Goddess simply smiled, "I'm Hecate Blackfyre, a squib, no wand for me."
The man grunted in disgust as he looked at her like she was yesterday's trash. "Fine, purpose of visit?"
"I'm here to register my ward for his OWLs, he has been homeschooled for all his life so we can't do it through the school like normal."
"Fine." The man waved his wand and created two badges, one read 'Percy Jackson: Hopeful OWLs taker' and the other simply, 'Hecate Blackfyre: Squib'.
Percy gritted his teeth at the blatant disrespect the man showed. He wanted to say something but Hecate quickly spoke up. "Thank you, we'll be on our way." Hecate pinned her badge and handed Percy his own.
They walked passed the barricade and down the hallway when Percy spoke. "I can't believe he treated you like that! You were like a piece of dirt to him!"
"He didn't know I was the goddess of magic Percy, we can't blame him."
"I don't mean that! Even if you weren't a goddess, no one should treat other people like that!"
"Thinking like that is not wise Percy. When you do eventually join this society you are going to have to learn to adapt."
"No, screw that. My mom taught me that shit like this must never be allowed. I'll stand my ground, let them adapt."
Hecate looked over her shoulder and smiled. "You sure about that?"
"Yes I am."
"...Good. This world needs to change, and something tells me you just might have a hand in that in the future."
Percy nodded as they walked silently. He looked down at his wand and grumbled as he saw finger smudges running along its length. He quickly cleaned it with the long sleeve of his robe. "Stupid guard, what's the point of having magic if you can't even take care of your own hygiene? I mean would it kill him to wash his hands?"
Hecate chuckled. "Honestly most have stopped caring about things like that. Wizards are...not really all there when it comes to common sense."
Percy grumbled. "Yeah, I figured." He looked at the wand again and smiled, satisfied that it was once again clean. "By the way why did you tell him you were a squib? Why not just tell him you lost your wand? Or better yet just snap your fingers and make a wand, you're the goddess of magic."
"No reason, I just wanted to see how he would react."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "No, you didn't. You don't care about him...you wanted to see how I would react."
Hecate smiled and took his hand once more. "And you said you were a seaweed brain." Percy blushed.
They walked down the hall until they reached an office called 'Department of Magical Education'.
Inside was a normal enough office, with desk arranged in a line, row behind row. Each table was filled with stacks of paper, but there were only a few people present at the time.
Hecate walked up to the closest person, a witch who looked very new who was being overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork on her desk. She looked like she barely got any sleep and the only way that humongous stack of paper was still standing was through magic.
"Excuse me." Hecate said gaining the woman's attention. "Could you tell me what I would have to do to register my ward to take his OWLs this year?"
The woman looked up and smiled kindly. "Well ma'am, you would have to talk to Gartha Mediben. She's the witch with the owl hat in the back. She should be able to sort you out no problem."
Hecate nodded. "Thank you dear, have a lovely day." Hecate and Percy walked away leaving the woman to do her work. Hecate then snapped her fingers causing the woman to be surrounded by a golden glow. No one else noticed it, but Percy certainly did.
"What did you do to her?"
"I gave her a gift." Hecate explained. "For the next twenty-four hours, she will have the most amazing luck in the world. She will get a promotion, a new apartment, and even meet her soulmate on the way to lunch."
"Woah, why did you do that?"
"She was nice to me when she didn't have to be, I like that."
"And for that, you gave her a new apartment?"
Hecate shrugged. "To me it's nothing, but to her, it meant the world. I liked her, so I decided to reward her."
"Huh...what would I have to do to get me some of that?"
Hecate laughed, eyes shining but said nothing. They soon found Gartha, kind of hard to miss considering she wore a stuffed owl for a hat, and registered Percy to take his OWLs coming June. Hecate had produced papers and done everything, Percy barely had to say a word.
Once they were done, Percy couldn't hold his silence anymore. "All those documents you have on hand, are they my new identity?"
"Yes." Hecate passed the sheets to Percy. "I had them made a few weeks ago. Why? Did you really think I would have just let you walk around with no form of ID? By the gods Percy, you realize you have to be first registered with the ministry to even buy a wand right?"
Percy sighed. "Damn, guess I'm not that smart huh?"
"Don't worry Jackson, I'll be sure to change that soon." Hecate grinned evilly sending a shiver down Percy's spine.
When they finally got home, Hecate sat Percy down and brought out a few books on Runes and Arithmancy.
"Now Percy. Before we begin, I want you to explain to me what you understood from these books. What are runes, what is arithmancy and how can you relate them to wand magic?"
Percy looked at the two sets of books before him and carefully thought up his answer. "Well...runes are words and letters. They are the physical form of the spoken spell. 'Eihwaz' is the written rune for stun, and if I engrave that rune onto a stone and charge it I can cause a stored spell of sorts. Arithmancy is the study of magic itself, giving the wand motions we use and the amount of magic we use a definable number."
Hecate nodded. "Good, very good. And how do they relate to wand-waving?"
"They are both halves of the same thing. Runes cover the words and arithmancy covers the movement."
"Good, good. Now tell me Percy, why do we need to combine the two in order to do magic?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean when they are separate can't they perform magic? You said it yourself, runes can be stored spells. So why do you need both wand motion and words to perform a spell?"
"Well, you don't strictly need to use words. I mean there is silent casting."
"Yes but when one casts they still recite the words in their head, the words need not be spoken but they are still needed. Why?"
Percy thought and thought. He even had the blood band on, but still, he couldn't come up with a single idea. "I...I don't know."
Hecate smiled. "If you did, then I would have thought someone had replaced you with a child of Athena. Then I would have had to interrogate you and things would have gotten messy...never mind, off-topic. Back to the point. The reason we need both Percy is the reason magic doesn't break reality apart."
Percy looked on curiously as Hecate summoned a long thin transparent pipe filled with water near the bottom alone. She placed it on the table and looked at Percy. "How do you get the water to spray out of the top? And no, you can't use your powers."
Percy raised an eyebrow. 'Really?' He took the pipe and blocked the top with his finger. He then turned it upside down making the water gather in the end he was holding.
"Good. But that's not what I asked for, I asked you to make the water spray out."
Percy looked surprised but shrugged. He tightened the pipe and then flicked it causing the water to spray out the tip.
Hecate laughed. "When you jerked the pipe Percy, what did it remind you of?"
Percy looked at the pipe and his eyes opened in realization. "It was like a wand motion."
"Exactly. The way we move our wand determines the amount of energy we release. Magic isn't like water at all, a simple jerk can't push it out, though you may get the occasional spark or two from the tip if you do. No, we have wand motions to charge up the spell we use, to supply the magic through us and out the wand."
Percy put a hand to his chin. "Okay...so the wand motion is like us pushing our magic out, and the way we move our hands is supposed to, what? Generate a surplus of power?"
"Yes and no, it is more like trying to give enough power to what is needed. Which brings us to the next part of the question, why do we need words?"
Percy hummed. "Words are power. We need them because...because they help us define what we want magic to do."
Hecate nodded grinning. "Exactly Percy! Exactly! The words we use help us focus on the effect we need! Magic is limitless, the very definition of the impossible given form! It can do anything! And we need to control it, or else it will run wild causing us more harm than good."
"So the words help us focus on intent?"
"Yes."
"Then why don't we just use English instead of Latin? Why learn a dead language?"
"Think of it like this Percy, you like to curse yes? You say, 'go to hell!' What if suddenly, your magic treats your words like an order and literally send the person you cursed to hell?"
"Is that even possible?" Percy asked horrified.
"No, not even close. But it's just an example. You see, we usually pick a different language than we're used to to work as magic. During Roman times, magicians used Greek, Ancient Greek magicians used Sanskrit. And during those times...well let's just say there was a reason the Indus valley civilization was wiped out seemingly overnight."
"I see...so we speak the spells in Latin so that we don't accidentally curse someone? But what if I want too? Like I want someone to lose all their teeth? Do I just point and say, 'teeth away!'?"
"Theoretically you can. But you would also need the appropriate wand motions for such a spell, which is why arithmancy is so important for spell creation. Are you beginning to understand now?"
Percy nodded slowly. "Yeah...yeah I am!"
"Good. Now, let's begin." Hecate snapped her fingers and a black and white wand suddenly appeared in her hand.
"Wow! Is that your wand?"
"No, it's just a piece of plastic. Remember, I don't need a wand. Now, I'm going to show you the motions and tell you the words of a basic levitation charm. Okay? Pay attention."
Percy nodded. Hecate pointed her wand at one of the books on the table, she flipped her wand in the form of a reverse 's' and pointed at the book. "Wingardium Leviosa."
Hecate then slowly lifted her wand up and the book followed her path slowly rising up higher and higher into the air. Percy watched in awe as slowly Hecate moved the book around the room over and over again until she finally put it back down.
"That was so cool!" Percy yelled out as he immediately drew out his wand. "Can you show me the wand motions again?"
Hecate nodded as she repeated the motions for the spell. She made sure to slow it down for him so that Percy could observe everything. Percy the nodded. "Thanks, I think I got it."
He then pointed his wand at the book and took a deep breath. 'This is the first type of magic I am ever going to perform with my wand. No pressure.' Percy moved his wand in a reverse 's' form and pointed at the book, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Percy moved his wand up, but nothing happened. The demigod groaned he did the motion again and called out, "Wingardium Leviosa!" And again, nothing.
"Come on! Why isn't this working?!"
"You are trying too hard Percy, you're too nervous." Hecate explained. "Remember what you know about phoenix feathers Percy, what did Ollivander tell you about them?"
Percy closed his eyes and recalled the talk he had just an hour ago. 'Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners...These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalize, and their allegiance is usually hard-won. You need to work hard to prove to the wand you are worthy.'
Percy opened his eyes in realization. "I need to prove myself to it."
Hecate nodded. "Yes."
Maybe Ollivander was right. In a way, the wand was alive, and if the wand was anything like him, it would not give its allegiance easily. Percy would not bow easily to any god, and his wand would be the same.
Percy didn't understand it fully, but he didn't need to understand, he just needed to believe. He knew magic, he was magic. He was a demigod, and this wand, he would prove to it that he worthy of being its master.
Percy relaxed. He remembered the wand motion, the words. He pointed the wand at the book and flicked it into motion. "Wingardium Leviosa." He whispered. And then something pulled at his stomach.
The tip of the golden bronze wand lit up as Percy felt a warm feeling rush through his hands and into the wand. He willed the book to move, he moved the wand up, and the book copied its motions.
Percy smiled as he carried it higher and higher into the air and spun it around. The book dipped down occasionally, but Percy pushed more and more magic into his spell, forcing it up through magic and sheer strength of will.
He suddenly started to feel the spell stress him and slowly brought the book down before letting out a deep breath canceling the magic supply to the wand.
"Good Percy, very good." Hecate smiled as she clapped. "I'm very impressed."
"Why?" Percy groaned as he wiped away the sweat on his brow. "It was just a stupid first-year charm, and I couldn't even hold that up for long. I barely passed the thirty-second mark! I thought I was supposed to be powerful or something? How can I be that if I can barely lift a book?!"
"Tell me Percy, did you know that this is one of the first spells a witch or wizard is taught?" Percy grumbled but shook his head. "Do you know why this is?" Another shake. "You see Percy, when one connects with their core...there is a stress felt. It's like using a muscle you never used. Of course, the first time will be painful! Most can't feel this, they are very young when they start casting spells and the pain is hidden away. But you are older and more aware of your body."
"Fine. I get the stress, but surely I must be able to do more! I mean come on! I can barely lift a book!"
Hecate took the book and held it out "Here."
Percy looked at it curiously before reaching out to grab it. The goddess let go and the book smashed into Percy's hand cracking the wooden table underneath. Percy pulled his hand out and shook it. "Fucking hell! That's heavy!"
"It is." Hecate nodded. "Remember when you felt the book start to dip? That's because I made it heavier and heavier. I wanted to see how much you could hold up. If I had left it at its normal weight I'm sure you could have held it up longer, maybe even for an hour or so, but who has that sort of time?"
"H-how heavy is it now?" Percy asked.
"It weighs around a hundred and fifty pounds." Hecate grinned at Percy's horror. "You are powerful Percy. All witches and wizards begin their training by lifting just a simple feather, and even that is too much for most. Even Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, had trouble with this charm at first. But you didn't, you lifted something equal to the weight of a person on your very first session. Do you understand now Percy? Do you understand the power you possess?"
Percy looked at his wand in wonder. So much power, so much potential. Percy looked at the goddess and smiled. "This is so cool."
Hecate nodded. "Yes it is. Now, before we continue I must tell you, every other spell you learn from me will be equally challenging. Even the simplest jinxes and curses I will make them a hundred times more difficult to master because you are a hundred times more than the normal wizard. Do you understand?"
Percy snapped out of the daze from performing his first spell and nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Now, I want you to log this spell, make a rune cluster for the words and apply the arithmancy formula for the wand motions. Break down this spell and find out every detail you can. Do you understand?"
Percy nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Begin."
That night, Percy and Hecate celebrated him getting his wand. Hecate ordered an extra-large pizza for them. Percy got a coke in a bottle while Hecate summoned for herself a bottle of wine.
"Thanks again for today Hecate." Percy said as he ate his slice. "I can't even imagine being without my wand now. It's so weird, it's like I have been waiting for this thing my whole life and now I'm finally whole."
"Yeah, most wands are like that." Hecate explained as sipped from her glass of wine. "They give a way for the wizard's magic to be released. It's like a valve for the water pressure to be released, most wizards don't know this but they can actually perform magic without a wand."
"Really? Then why do they use it in the first place?"
Hecate shrugged as she took a bigger sip. "Mostly because it's easy. A wand is effectively a set off training wheels. Only wizards never take them off."
"So do you want me to eventually stop using my wand also?"
Hecate nodded. "Yes, that would be best. You can still use it for now of course, at least until your education is complete at Hogwarts. But as you grow older I want you to learn to stop relying on your wand."
Hecate then made to drink from her glass only to find it empty. She poured herself another one and drank.
"That's a lot of wine Hecate." Percy said as he saw her finish half the glass in one gulp.
"Yeah, I don't drink often, but I love this stuff!" Hecate chuckled. "One time Dionysus and I had a drinking contest. Obviously, he won, but the next day he got a hangover! Ha! He was the laughing stock of Olympus for ages! The god of wine that got a hangover! Don't tell anyone, but I actually cursed him with that."
"You cursed the god of drinking to get a hangover?"
"Yup! Ha! The idiot still doesn't know!"
Percy chuckled. "Hey, anyone who can make a fool out of Mr. D is alright in my book." Percy raised his glass of coke clicked it with Hecate's wine.
"So, Percy...tell me a little bit about your camp. Nothing specific of course, but maybe...what was it like? I don't really visit as often, I do look out for my kids there but I try to avoid the place, too much drama."
Percy smiled as he began to tell the goddess about his home away from home. He talked into the night about the way people acted and how they all felt so safe and happy there. Hecate did nothing but smile when needed and laugh when necessary. And by the end of his tale, Percy noticed that Hecate's bottle of wine was gone.
"You finished it that quickly?" Percy asked looking astonished.
"Yup!" Hecate giggled like a little school girl with her cheeks flushed red. "It was good wine! I stole it from D's personal cellar!"
"What?! You stole the wine from Mr. D?! Is that even okay?!"
"So what?! He isn't going to miss it!" Hecate grumbled. "Stupid wine God, he just had to hit on my friend!" Hecate cried. "It's not fair! Wasn't I good enough! Stupid Dionysus! Stupid!" She then grabbed the bottle and threw it at the wall.
"Woah! Be careful Hecate!"
"No!" Hecate yelled as she snapped her fingers summoning more and more wine bottles. "He deserves this!" She then threw them all one by one at the wall. "Fuck you Dio! Fuck you and your stupid face! Why?! Why?!"
"Hecate please stop! You're drunk!" Percy had to duck at that point to avoid a bottle that came flying at his face. "Holy Pegasus!"
"You're being mean Percy! I don't like mean people!" Hecate growled as she threw another bottle at Percy who jumped away. "Get back here and face me like a man!"
"Hell no!" Percy yelled back as he ran out of the kitchen and to the living room just as a bottle sailed over his head. He ran up the stairs, but the Hecate snapped her fingers and the steps turned into a slide causing Percy to slide back down.
"You are going to apologize!" Hecate roared as she grabbed...was that a flower?
"Ah...are you holding a flower?" Percy asked.
Hecate looked at the sunflower in her hands and blinked. "Yes...why am I holding a sunflower?"
"...I don't know. Don't ask me."
Hecate then chuckled. "Oh yeah! I remember! I love sunflowers! That's why! You know." She looked around the living room and smiled. "We need to add more sunflowers in this place!"
She snapped her fingers and suddenly a field of sunflowers grew inside the living room. Hecate giggled with joy as she jumped into the bed of sunflowers flinging her arms and legs around. "Wee!"
Percy got to his feet and blinked as Hecate tried to do back strokes on them singing a song that he didn't recognize. 'She is crazy drunk!'
"I love sunflowers! Do you think things live inside sunflowers? Like little pixies? Oh! I should make them!" Hecate snapped her fingers and suddenly bright balls of light emerged out of the flowers and danced around, Percy saw them and noticed that they had four tiny bug wings and one giant glowing body.
"Percy! Look at the pretty lights!" Hecate chuckled as she jumped to her feet. "I want to be pretty too!" She snapped her fingers again and suddenly exploded into a rainbow of lights. "Yay! Pretty!"
Percy blinked as he stared at the goddess of magic dancing around in a field of sunflowers. 'This is so random!' Percy slowly backed away to the stairs, He could still walk up the slide. Before he could try anything, Hecate noticed him and grinned.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Hecate chuckled. "You're staying with me cutie!" She snapped her fingers and suddenly Percy found himself much shorter than he normally was.
Percy looked down in horror and found his hands small hairy and fluffy. "NOOOO!" Percy squeezed as he stood at one-foot tall in the body of a pink fluffy bunny.
"Yay!" Hecate cheered as she ran to grab Percy. "You're so fluffy!"
Percy ran away as fast as his tiny paws could take him. "Get away from me you're crazy!" He jumped into the field of sunflowers and ran around in circles as Hecate ran stumbled to catch him.
"Come back here Percy! I'm want to hug you!"
"NO!" Percy squeaked when suddenly, Hecate snapped her fingers and Percy flew backward like a ball which Hecate caught.
"Yay! Fluffy bunny!" Hecate grinned as she squeezed him tightly and jumped onto the bed of sunflowers. "I'm never going to let you go!"
Percy struggled as he whipped around his tiny paws desperately. "Help me! Someone help! Dad! Mom! The Fates! Someone, please help me!"
But nobody came. Hecate soon dozed off and Percy tried and failed to get out of her death grip. Eventually, he got too tired to fight back and promptly fell asleep.
The next morning, Hecate woke up and looked around stunned. "Why am I sleeping on sunflowers? ...Why are there sunflowers?" She looked down and saw herself glowing in multiple lights. "Why am I glowing?"
Percy groaned awake as he looked around with his black bunny eyes, "Please Hecate, for the love of all that is good change me back."
Hecate looked at the bunny in her hands and blinked. "A bunny? When did I...Percy?! On gods no!"
She snapped her fingers and suddenly Percy was human again. He looked at his hands and cried in joy. "Yes! Yes! Thank you god! I hate being a bunny!"
"Oh gods Percy I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened! I-I'm kind of weird when I'm drunk."
"Gee you think?!" Percy yelled back. "From now on you don't drink! Like ever! Got it?! I don't think the fabrics of reality can hold together if you do!"
Hecate nodded quickly. "Right! I promise! No more drinking!"
"Good!" Percy looked around and grumbled. "Now please clean this up! And not one word of this to anyone, got it?"
Hecate agreed and they both swore never to speak of that time again.