Okay, so hi. I'M BACK! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry this took so long...boredom issues but anyway, I'll strike a deal with you okay? So the thing is, the more you vote and comment, the more chapters! So touch that shiny vote button over to the left! Oh pweaasssseee! And thank you for your disclaimer ideas! This chapter is kinda serious but...

DISCLAIMER-

Me- *dragging Nico with me*

Stops behind a counter and gives him the death glare.

Me- After all this is over, I'll give you a makeover!

Nico- *gulp* but...but...NO!O!O!O!

Me- *turns towards the readers* Readers, I am naming this a temporary disaster zone. Guess why? Because a certain idiot son of Hades *smacks Nico's head* decided to start...wait for it...A PRANK WAR!

*Flashback*

Fred and George to one side. Stoll brothers to the other side. Nico in the middle.

Nico- Hey, I was wondering, which one of you two are better pranksters?

All say at once- WE ARE!

Fred and George- What did you say!?

Travis and Connor- What did YOU say!?

Fred and George- We asked you first!

Travis and Connor- Well, we asked you next!

Fred and George- Uh...fine, you want some, KIDS!?

Travis and Connor- Well, you want some OLDIES!?

All at once- WHAT DID YOU SAY!? THE PRANK WAR HAS BEGUN!

All of them stomp off in different directions.

Nico, who was admiring his reflection all the while looks up.

Nico- *winks at random fan girl* Call me!

*end of flashback*

Nico- *pouts* you didn't have to include that last part!

Me- Had to to show everyone your bloated head.

Nico- Wha-? HEY!

Me- Shhhhhhhhhhh! You want HER to come!?

Suddenly door slams open, thunder rumbling behind a short, meancing toad-like monster...sorry...creature in a menacing pink cardigan.

Short menacing toad-like creature- Hem hem. Why hello there.

Me- NO! It's so...so...PINK! My eyes! They burn! *shields face*

Nico- Mine too! 

Me- *smacks his head* It's all your fault that created this monstrosity!

*Flashback*

Fred and George sneakily go humming the Mission Impossible theme and keep some coffee on the table and run out.

Next, Travis and Connor sneakily come in humming the Mission Impossible theme and keep some highly sugar-coated doughnuts on the table and run out.

Suddenly, the soon going to be monstrosity enters. UMBRIDGE!

Umbridge- *drinks the coffee* *eats the doughnuts* Hem hem. That was a *hiccup* lot of *hiccup* sugar *hiccup* and caffeine *hiccup* Little do they know..*hiccup* I react very strongly to it *hiccup* *smiles evil smile* AHAHA AHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! Let the retardedness BEGIN!

*end of flashback*

Umbridge the Monstrosity- There you are! FRIEEENNNNDDDDSSS! *claps hands* *giggles maniacally* *charges*

Me- *looks around* *gulps* Time for Plan Sacrifice!

Nico- Huh?

Me- *turns towards Nico with an evil smile* You know Nico, forget a makeover, I got a better thing for you!

Nico- Uh-oh.

Pushes Umbridge and Nico into a room.

Me- AHAHAHAHAHA! Torturing characters is FUNNNN!

Throws sugar through the window.

Me- Go toad-like monstrosity, be FREE!

Inside, Nico wailing. 

Nico- NOO!O!O!O! Why me!? It's so PINK over here! And are those...KITTENS! I'm allergic to CATS! AUGH!

Me- *smirks* who ever said I wasn't evil was nuts. AHAHA AHAHAHA HAHAHAHAAHAHAAAA! I don't own PJO because Nico isn't allergic to cats and I don't own HP because I despise Umbridge with a passion and would give her sugar first chance I got. Tee-hee. And then lock her up with centaurs. Double Tee-hee. Boi Boi.

Harry POV-

“Who is THAT!?” all the demigods said in unison.

Hermione sniffled as she wiped her face dry. “The cruelest wizard that ever lived…”

“Yeah, I mean,” Thalia said, “Professor McGonagall did mention that guy. He, like, tried to take over…Hogwarts?”

“Not just Hogwarts,” Ginny corrected, “But pretty much the entire wizarding world! Hogwarts is not the only wizarding school there is, you know…”

“Wow, really?” Annabeth asked, surprised.

“There are other schools, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and such but anyway, Voldemort was a wicked wizard. Very horrible. He seeked immortality you see…”

I saw Percy exchange a look with Annabeth at that.

“But of course, he did it in the cruelest way possible.”

“How?” Rachel asked.

“By murder.” Hermione said in a small voice.

Everybody’s expressions became horrified at that. There was uncomfortable silence for a long while and I decided to break it.

“We’ll tell them later. There is other work to do…we’ve got to alert the Ministry and…” I trailed off. And what? How were we supposed to fight him?

“It isn’t completely confirmed yet, is it? We don’t want to send people to a panic. And what if the same thing happened again like in your fifth year?” Professor McGonagall said.

We grimaced at that memory. Not a good one.

“Anyway, I’ll send a precautionary owl. Maybe he isn’t back…” she trailed off.

“You don’t get it!” Rachel suddenly exclaimed. She looked angry. “Voldemort, or whoever this guy is, he IS back! I’ve been having visions! They…they always come true! Try to understand!”

“But girl,” Professor said, sounding taken aback, “We can’t treat such a serious issue without care and take rash measures!”

“Rash measures!?” Rachel yelled, “This guy seems like a huge threat! TAKE rash measures! You want this to end badly? For all of us!?”

Nico kept a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, Rachel.”

Professor McGonagall held up her head. “I’ll see what I can do…until then, you all can gather as much information about the matter as possible. Then we’ll see…”

Both our groups nodded. Professor gazed at us and turned her back to us. “And yes,” she said, “You half-bloods will be required to do a Hogwarts tradition.”

All of us showed confused and blank expressions.

“Demigods…you’ll be required to be sorted into Houses.”

Percy POV-

“WHAT!?” all of us exclaimed.

But of course Professor McGonagall had, after giving instructions to Hermione Granger, strode off towards the castle.

Hermione turned towards us and gave a half-smile. There were still tear stains on her cheeks. And believe me, one thing I’m scared of more than monsters is women crying. Mental shudder…

“So, what is this sorting thing?” Clarisse asked.

We were trailing after the wizards by then who were holding all these creepy grim expressions. Harry’s face was a combination of angry, scared and brooding. A really weird combination.

“Actually,” Hermione said, her voice reminding me very much of Annabeth’s usual matter-of-fact tone, “Hogwarts has these houses, see,”

“Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Named after the four founders- Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin.” Ginny said.

“Weren’t those the ones whose corpses Nico summoned today?” I quipped up, suddenly remembering.

Ron shuddered at that. “Wow, that was creepy mate…”

We unknowingly found ourselves agreeing. Nico just smirked at that. Normally, I’m okay with Nico’s creepiness but his summoning of ghosts and such still freaked me out.

“So…what’s up about sorting US into those houses?” Thalia asked.

“Will we have to fight?” Clarisse asked, eyes shining expectantly.

We rolled our eyes and sighed but knew better than to retort. Knowing Clarisse and her very, very, very short temper, our heads would be found on a spear by the end of the day if we remarked on her great desire to fight always. Hm, must be some kid-of-Ares thing. Wait a minute. What am I talking about? Those guys look like they’re practically born to wear Greek armor.

“Not exactly ‘fight’” Hermione said, “But…well, you’ll soon find out.” She exchanged glances with her friends and a tiny snicker escaped Ron’s mouth. That immediately made all of us nervous.

What was going to happen?

Harry POV-

The demigods trailed behind us. Neither of us bothered to talk, we were still shook by this recent development. I didn’t know who this ‘new enemy’ of the half-bloods was but judging by their expressions, it couldn’t be good. But I had more pressing matters to worry about.

Voldemort is back.

He is back.

I’d spent all this time happily, worry-free. The war seemed distant, like just a gruesome memory which was long past and would never happen again. For the first time, I hoped for a happy ending. With Ginny, Ron and Hermione. The Weasleys. My other friends.

But this new discovery shattered all my hopes. How could he be back!? I’d myself killed him, with the elder wand. We’d ensured that his body was sealed and kept away from this world.

But somehow, I felt myself believing Rachel. Even though I couldn’t accept the fact, the feeling was still there.

But we’d destroyed Voldemort’s horcruxes. Maybe it would be easier to defeat him now. But, if he was coming back from the dead, then how were we supposed to kill him…again!? I made a mental note to talk to Dumbledore’s portrait in Professor McGonagall’s office but I didn’t think it would do any good. Was I going to get lucky…again?

I rubbed my scar. It hadn’t even twitched since that fateful day but right then, I had a tiny sensation, very tiny but still there.

The scar was tingling.

Not the throbbing like it used to but a tiny tingling. And right then, it turned into prickling.

I didn’t know if my mind was overworking but there was no mistaking that sensation. I turned towards my friends who were walking while gazing at the ground.

Hermione stared at me and said, her voice higher than usual, “What is it Harry?”

Ginny and Ron looked up.

I hoped the panic wasn’t evident in my eyes. I just pointed numbly at the lightning-shaped scar.

All three’s eyes widened immediately.

“I-It’s not hurting is it?” Ginny said, her voice trembling.

The demigods were listening in by then.

I nodded, still numb.

“This…is really, really not good…he IS back…” Ron started shaking his head.

Ginny smacked his head. “You THINK!?” she yelled.

We would’ve laughed normally but this situation was too serious for any humor.

I gazed at Hermione who was standing there with a blank expression. For a moment, I was scared she would burst out in tears again but thankfully, she didn’t. I don’t like it when women cry. It’s scary.

“This is serious,” she said in an emotionless voice and that was enough to freak me out. Her emotionless-ness was not very Hermione. “But we’ll tell this to Professor McGonagall later.” She gestured towards the demigods who were standing to the side with part curious part confused expressions. “We have to take them to sorting, don’t we?”

We nodded and gestured for the group to follow us and started walking. Their expressions became annoyed at that.

Somebody suddenly appeared next to me. The boy, Percy.

“Hey,” he told me, “What was that about?”

“Nothing.” I said.

He rolled his eyes, “Look, we may not be from around here but that was definitely not ‘nothing’. Stop leaving us in the dark, okay? I think we are supposed to be in this together. We both have bad guys to fight!”

I shook my head. “You won’t understand.”

“Oh yeah, I will,” he challenged.

I sighed. “I don’t think you’ve had it has hard as me.”

Percy’s eyes hardened at that. “I think I have.”

I was taken aback for a second and then it was replaced by anger.

“You will never understand it! Nobody can!” I said angrily, “Why does everybody act like they can understand what I went through!? What I’m going through!? You don’t even know me!”

I didn’t want to get angry at Percy but it couldn’t be stopped.

However, Percy seemed unfazed by my anger.

“I can understand you.” Percy said quietly, “Because we are so alike, it hurts.”

I widened my eyes at that.

“Just this year, August 18th, my birthday, I was almost destined to die,” he said quietly, “You know what it’s like, don’t you? Having the entire weight of the world on your shoulders? Everybody counting on you to make the right choice?”

I was in shock. I truly was. Were we both the same? What had he gone through?

“When I was twelve, I found out I was a demigod. My mother was almost snatched away from me when I fought my second monster, the Minotaur. Part-bull, part-human. My first monster was a Fury, Hades’ torturers. You know the Big Three Gods? Zeus, Poseidon and Hades? Well, after World War II, they actually made a pact not to have any more demigod kids with mortals,”

I raised my eyebrows in confusion, “But then-?”

“Let me explain,” Percy interrupted. And then he told me the craziest story I’d ever heard, maybe only rivaled by my life. My shock and guilt at getting angry at Percy only increased by every word he said. He was right. He really did have it as bad as me!

When he finished, I was struck by how similar we were. He was right again. We really were so alike, it almost hurt!

“Wow…” I mumbled, “You were right…sorry for losing my temper with you…” I looked down.

“No, it’s okay,” Percy smiled.

“Hey, by the way,” I looked up sharply, “You’re sixteen!?”

He nodded, looking a little confused.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Percy somehow looked…older…

And it wasn’t just physical appearance or height. His eyes…

I realized with a start that his eyes reminded me completely of mine. They were the same…

Not counting the different shades, they had the same glint that showed that the person had gone through every misery in the world, only this one was for real. Poor us.

I shook my head.

“So what about your story?” Percy asked.

I sighed. “It’s very, very long.”

He grinned and held out his arms wide. “Well, we have all the time in the world!”

We’d reached the entrance to the Great Hall by then, the chatter of hundreds of students evident even from outside.

Percy scratched the back of his head. “Or maybe not.”

I smiled. The great oak doors opened automatically with a great swoop.

Percy and his friends eyes immediately went to the ceiling.

“Oh wow!” they gasped together.

Comment and vote or...or I'll lock you up in a room with a sugar high Umbridge. Heh heh. Oh, the horror. :P