▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER NINE ▬▬▬▬▬

ESMERELDA WAS DREAMING OF HER father again. Like usual, she couldn't see what he looked like. In fact, he seemed to get blurrier and blurrier the more she dreamed of him. Now he was nothing but a form of a misty haze. A foggy blob that was a combination of neutral colors. His voice was no longer muffled and faraway, it sounded like complete static to her.

She was standing in her crib, grasping the wooden bars and waiting for her father to come and pick her up.

He approached her, his form darkening the closer he got. A terrible icy dread filled her veins as she felt herself get picked up.

Put me down, she thought. Her body was frozen with terror.

The floor of her nursery split apart, the edges crumbling like dirt. She thought they were about to be swallowed by the ground, but nothing happened. Instead, she watched as the ground was split down to the very center of the earth and they stayed standing.

"Daughter of Hecate," a deep and evil voice called out to her. It was coming from the black mist that was holding her. "I have been waiting so long..."

I want to wake up now! She yelled in her head. Wake up! Gods, please let me wake up!

"You were promised to me long ago... and I have been waiting ever so patiently." This voice sounded nothing like her father. It didn't even sound human! Nobody could have a voice so deep... so sinister sounding. "Let me take over, little hero."

Her mouth opened and a baby-ish wail escaped her lips. Oh yeah. She was still in infant form. How unfortunate. She tried to force her legs to kick out, but whatever control she had had left her body. She felt drained and all she had managed to do was cry.

The arms that were holding her tightened, making it harder for her to breath. It was like this person was trying to absorb her into them...

"Give me your body, Esmerelda." It said, and she woke up with a fright.

"Whoa!" Ethan jumped back as she suddenly sat straight up. "Are you okay? Were you having a nightmare?"

Breathing heavily, she looked around as if trying to make sure she was really safe. The black misty form was nowhere to be seen. She let out a sigh of relief, but her heart was still pounding. She looked back at Ethan and saw that he was still awaiting an answer.

"Uh, yeah... It was... something like that." She said breathlessly, wiping the cold sweat off her face. "What time it is?"

"An hour before breakfast starts. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her again.

"I'm fine," she lied, getting up on her feet. She had never experienced such a terrifying dream before. So far, for the past two months since she had been claimed, she had only dreamed of her father, but the more she dreamed of him, the more obscured he was. And now today he had become that weird black blob...

What were her dreams trying to tell her? That her father was evil? But the voice sounded nothing like her father usually did...

Just forget about it and get on with your day, she advised herself. She told Ethan that she'd meet him at breakfast and went off to hit the showers. On the way there she kept hearing some campers murmur to each other about a newbie defeating the Minotaur.

After her shower, she went to the pavilion and asked Ethan about it.

"Oh yeah," he said as if just remembering it. "Last night we gained a new camper. Some kid... Perry or something, I think. Anyways, he, his mom, and his Keeper, Grover, came running over here. Turns out they were being hunted down by the Minotaur. He defeated it by stabbing it with his horn, but his mom..."

Her eyes widened. "You mean... she didn't make it?"

He nodded, a grim expression on his face. "That's what I'm hearing."

"That poor guy," she whispered. "He must be devastated. Where is he now?"

"Still in the infirmary," he pointed his fork towards the direction of the Big House. "Everyone's talking about how he might be a child of one of the Big Three."

She rose a brow, unimpressed. "Because of the Minotaur?"

"Mmhmm."

"And didn't everyone think the same thing about me because of the Chimera?"

"Yep. So either he's a child of the Big Three, or he's another half god half wizard kid."

She grimaced. "For his sake, I hope he's neither."

He nodded in agreement. "Me too, but Essie... He was chased by the Minotaur... No normal demigod gets hunted down by that."

"Maybe the Minotaur just stumbled upon him," she said, but her argument was weak. She just didn't like the thought of another innocent child being the result of a broken oath. If he was... then good luck to him.

A few hours passed and she was just finishing up with her wall climbing class. After months of climbing it, she became somewhat of a pro, but she only made it to the top at fast speeds because she didn't want to get burned by the lava. It was a really good motivator.

She met up with Ethan back in their cabin and she noticed that he was holding up a familiar yellowish envelope.

She gasped. "Oh, that's my letter! Where'd you find it?"

"It fell out from one of your sleeping bag pockets. What is it?"

"It's a school letter," she replied, then began explaining about her peculiar meeting with Professor Diakos and the things she had given her. She had completely forgotten about all of that because she was so worried about being killed by the gods.

Ethan was gaping at her like he couldn't believe her stupidity. "How in the Hades did you forget about something like this? How'd that lady even get there? And Hogwarts...? Dude, is that really the name of the school you're going to?"

"Unfortunately yes." She replied.

He snorted and handed the letter back to her. She opened it and saw that the note Professor Diakos gave her and the empty coin purse had been stuffed in there as well. "The problem is that I can't read any of it though."

"It's all in cursive, isn't it?" He said knowingly.

She nodded and showed him the letter. He squinted. "Is that even English? I can't tell under all those loops."

"I'm 95% sure that it's English." She said unsurely.

"Have one of the nymphs or satyrs translate it for you." He suggested.

Her eyes lit up. "Ooh, that's a good idea! Why didn't I think of that sooner?!"

He gave her an amused look. "No offense, but you're kinda scatterbrained."

"Oh shut up," she shoved his shoulder. "I'm going to go look for Basil and ask him for help. I'll see you in a bit."

"I'll be here napping." He called out to her as she exited the cabin.

She found Basil near the edges of the strawberry fields and for some reason, he looked pale and worried.

"Are you okay?" She asked right away. She had only seen him like this once before and that was when everyone thought the gods were going execute her.

"I'm okay," he said in a voice that showed that he wasn't okay in the slightest. "It's just that... one of my friend's, Grover, is in a lot of trouble with the Council of Cloven Elders."

The Council of Cloven Elders was a council made up of honorary satyr members. They were basically in charge of the satyrs' search for the god, Pan. They deemed satyrs worthy or unworthy of a searcher's license which allowed them to look for Pan. It was a hard mission though. For centuries satyrs have been searching and none of them could find the lost god. Even worse, most of them end up dying.

"That name sounds familiar," Esmerelda muttered. "Isn't he the one who found that boy, Perry?"

"Percy Jackson," he corrected. "And yes, he was. But a mortal woman died and well... That was his second chance."

They shared winces. Esmerelda didn't know what happened in Grover's first search, but she knew it was bad enough to earn him a spot on the Council of Cloven Elders' shit list.

"He's not going to be killed, is he?" She asked worryingly.

He shrugged hopelessly. "Who knows? Anyways, was there something you needed from me?"

"Er, well I needed some help..." She trailed off.

"What is it?" He asked eagerly. "I need a good distraction from everything, so what do you need?"

She handed him the letter and note. "I kind of need help translating all this. It's in English and even worse, cursive."

"Ah, cursive. The bane of every demigods' existence." He said knowingly, taking the papers from her. They walked over to the arts and crafts station where he nabbed a pen and some paper. He dutifully translated every word while occasionally muttering something like "is this even a real word?" or "the heck's a 'mugwump'?" and so forth.

"Your school's pretty unique," was all he could say to her before he handed her the translations and original copy. "Lots of books required though. Good luck with that."

"Ugh," she scowled at the mention of books. She hated reading in any language that wasn't Ancient Greek.

They parted ways and she returned to her cabin only to find Ethan napping on the floor as he had promised. Heartlessly, she shook him awake and they began reading the translated letter together in the back corner of the cabin.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Esmerelda,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

"Did I read that right? 'Supreme Mugwump'?" Ethan said aloud. "It sounds like a disease."

"Shush, I'm reading." She muttered, eyes never straying from the paper.

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scalesStudents may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Esmerelda gulped. "That's... That's a lot of reading."

Ethan patted her shoulder. "I do not envy you."

The amount of books that were listed made her very nervous. It didn't help that all the subjects were completely new to her, which meant that she wouldn't even be able to guess whichever term she would be struggling to read.

"How about the note Diakos gave you? She said it was instructions, right?" Ethan asked.

She unfurled the slip of paper and placed it in front of them.

Esmerelda, in order to get all your school supplies, you need to go to Diagon Alley. It's a shopping area located in London, England behind a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Don't worry, you won't be needing to travel via airplane. Instead, I've set up a portkey for you to send you to London. It's located in Sweetie's Ice Cream Factory—yes the abandoned one in Southampton and no, it's not haunted so don't worry. All you have to do is look for the polecat statuette and touch it. It'll transport you directly to England. After that, just look for the Leaky Cauldron and ask the owner Tom to open the way to Diagon Alley. Once you're done with your purchases, you can use the polecat statuette to transport you back.

Additionally, you'll have to go to King's Cross Station for the train to Hogwarts. It's in London as well so it won't be that hard for you to find. Just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock.

PS: Don't forget the coin purse I gave you.

—Professor Diakos

"A polecat statuette?" She repeated. "Funny. That's one of mom's sacred animals."

"Wizards and witches probably worship her. She did create them after all," Ethan guessed. "So when are you going to buy your supplies?"

"Er, um, I dunno..." She mumbled. "To be honest, I don't even know if I should attend. I'm starting to get second thoughts." She admitted.

"What? Why? You're going to a magical school, Essie!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, but I never really did okay in schools," she pointed out, and he quieted down in understanding. "I've been expelled four times. Plus, I always did poorly in school... I probably won't last a week in there before they decide to get rid of me."

"It won't hurt to try." He insisted. "Plus, this could be your one chance to go here. It sounds like a cool school. You get to learn a bunch of spells and potions and stuff."

"And if I get attacked by a monster?"

"Okay, but dude, you defeated the Chimera. I'm pretty sure you can handle whatever monster gets in your way." He reminded her. "Come on, don't you wanna learn more magic?"

"I'm already learning enough magic. My siblings teach me well."

"I know they are," he agreed. "But don't you want to know more? The magic these witches and wizards have is slightly more different compared to you and your siblings."

"Well... I am a little curious." She said.

He grinned at his success. "And?" He pressed on.

"Oh alright," she sighed. "I'll attend. But you're going with me to Diagon Alley on Saturday. There's no way I can carry all these supplies by myself."

"Sure," he shrugged. He wanted to see how witches and wizards worked anyways.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin opened and they saw Chiron standing outside. Automatically, everyone bowed in respect. Even Esmerelda and Ethan got off the floor to bow to him.

"No need for that, children," he said, smiling warmly. "I'm just here to bring Percy in." He stepped to the side a little so everyone could view the young boy at his side. He had soft looking black hair and green-blue eyes that reminded Esmerelda of the sea. In his hand was the severed Minotaur horn. Annabeth was standing next to him, avoiding looking at Luke.

"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."

He galloped away toward the archery range.

The boy—Percy Jackson—didn't do anything at first, which left Esmerelda enough time to size him up. With all the talk of him defeating the Minotaur, she truly expected to see a tall, buff teenager. Not a boy who looked maybe a year older than her.

Then again, I defeated the Chimera and I don't look anything special. She thought.

"Well?" Annabeth prompted him. "Go on."

He stepped forward and immediately tripped, making a couple of the campers snicker under their breaths.

Annabeth rolled her grey eyes and announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."

"Regular or undetermined?" Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes, asked.

"Undetermined." She replied.

Everybody groaned.

"I really hope he gets claimed soon. We need all the space we can get." Esmerelda whispered to Ethan, who shared the sentiment.

Luke stepped forward and lightly chastised the campers. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." He pointed to the area adjacent to Lyra.

"This is Luke," Annabeth introduced, trying her hardest not to blush. "He's your counselor for now."

"For now?" Percy asked.

"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."

Percy looked at the tiny section of floor he was given and glanced back down at his Minotaur horn, as if knowing it'd be stolen one day.

"How long will I be here?" He asked.

"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."

And then Percy asked a question that Esmerelda couldn't help but laugh at.

"How long will that take?"

She wasn't the only one couldn't hold her laughter in. Everybody else was laughing at him too.

"Come on," Annabeth said. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I've already seen it." He told her

"Come on." She grabbed his wrist and started dragging him outside. The door slammed shut, but people kept on laughing.

"Was I that innocent when I first came here?" Esmerelda wondered aloud.

"Oh definitely," Ethan snorted. "I could see it in your eyes. But that faded away soon enough."

"Poor guy, though," she sympathized. "I really hope he gets claimed soon."

"He might pull an Essie and get claimed two years later."

"Hey!" She swatted his arm. "What do you mean 'pull an Essie'? You know I had no control over that!"

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

A few days passed since Percy's arrival. Even though he didn't look strong, Esmerelda learned rather quickly not to judge a book by it's cover. One day, during Percy's very first sword-fighting lesson, he had been able to disarm Luke on his first try. That was almost as impressive as him defeating the Minotaur.

Everyone was obsessively analyzing him, wondering who his godly parent was. It grew even worse when rumors about him attacking Clarisse la Rue with toilet water when she tried to dunk his head in a toilet spread around. People whispered about him being the son of minor river gods, but Esmerelda had a sinking feeling in her stomach that he was the son of Poseidon.

Gods, please let it be another god. She hoped. He would be yet another child of broken oath. If the gods didn't punish him, the Fates surely would.

"Hey," Alabaster nudged her. "Pay attention to your surroundings, would you? We're in the middle of a game."

Oh right. Today was Friday and they were currently playing capture the flag.

"Sorry," she muttered, tightening her grip on her labrys. Annabeth had decided that since there were so many Hecate kids, they'd guard the east side of the creek. They're number one goal was to make sure nobody went passed them and somehow find a way to alert their allies that the enemies have reached the creek.

Glinda and Evanora came running towards the clearing, having returned from a brief scouting mission.

"We spotted them," Glinda said.

"They're just a few meters away from here." Evanora finished.

"Good, we'll attack them discreetly." Alabaster said.

"But we also need to alert the others that they're close." Aiden reminded him.

"I got that figured out, don't worry. Come on, let's hide. Wait for them to enter the clearing."

And with that, they all spread out to find hiding spots. Esmerelda sufficed with a high enough branch on a tree. After a few brief minutes, a bunch of Ares campers came storming into the clearing where they once stood. There red plumed helmets could be spotted a mile away.

"Incantare: Gelu Semita!" She heard Alabaster shout. She recognized the enchantment. It was a spell that only Alabaster had managed to do and it required a lot of magical energy. It allowed the caster to make a path for themselves and ice was the method of travel which allowed them to obscure their location. It made the opponent unable to attack or anticipate an attack. It also made everything go cold.

Once the enchantment left Alabaster's mouth, the temperature started to drop at least thirty degrees. Hail began to fall. Esmerelda grinned. This was the signal to their allies.

"Ow!" One of the Ares campers yelped. A particularly large piece of hail hit his helmet.

All at once, the children of Hecate came out of their hiding places and attacked. Esmerelda, not wanting her dessert privileges to be taken away, simply whacked an enemy camper across the head with the flat end of her labrys. He was knocked out cold.

One by one the other campers dropped to the ground, unconscious.

The cold mist finally faded away.

"Excellent!" Alabaster beamed. His green eyes were still glowing from the magic he had used. "Come on guys, let's drag there over there."

For the past ten minutes, nobody else tried to come through their end of the creek which was good for Alabaster because he looked a little drained after performing such a spell.

More moments passed and they all began to hear yelling. But it wasn't yells of terror or anything like that. They sounded elated, and the seventeen children looked over to the boundary line to see Luke sprinting for it in impossible speeds. He was holding the red team's banner and was being flanked by a few of his half-siblings. Behind them were some Apollo kids trying to fight off enemy campers—children of Hephaestus.

A bunch of dazed Ares kids came stumbling out of some trees and tried to catch Luke, but it was no use. He had made it into friendly territory and the red banner shimmered and turned silver.

"We won!" Esmerelda cheered.

Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. Through all the celebration, Esmerelda was able to see Annabeth and Percy having an important looking conversation. Behind them, she saw a pair of gleaming red eyes.

Esmerelda opened her mouth to scream. "PERCY! ANNABETH!"

There was a loud snarl that halted everybody's cheers. Annabeth and Percy whirled around but it was too late. As Annabeth drew her sword, the hellhound emerged from the trees and leaped over her and lunged at Percy. It's razor sharp claws was ripping through his armor effortlessly. Chiron and the Apollo campers shot arrows at it's neck and it finally fell dead. It didn't explode in a cloud of golden dust though.

"Oh my gods...!" Someone whimpered once Percy's chest came into view. The armor was completely shredded and all Esmerelda could see was blood and opened flesh.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth gasped. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron stated grimly. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke came running over, his win now totally forgotten.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her as he watched the hellhound's corpse finally melted into the shadows

"You're wounded," Annabeth said quickly to a dazed Percy. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay." He groaned.

"No, you're not," she snapped. "Chiron, watch this."

Percy groaned in pain as he forced himself up on his feet. Nobody helped him as he staggered into the creek. Everyone was too busy watching the scene in pure amazement. The cuts on his chest started to close up.

The water's healing him, Esmerelda thought, feeling relieved and devastated at the same time.

Then the worst thing happened. He was claimed. A green glowing hologram of a trident floated above his head.

"Look, I-I don't know why," he tried to apologize, not noticing the symbol over him. "I'm sorry...."

"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."

He finally looked up and saw the hologram. It was slowly fading away now, but the trident could still be seen.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good." "

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

Slowly, everyone dropped to a kneel.

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.

"Poseidon," Chiron stated. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Another broken oath, Esmerelda thought grimly.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

The next day, it began to storm.

"This isn't good." Esmerelda muttered to herself as she stared up at the darkening skies. "It's just like last time."

"You mean it's happened before?"

The new voice made her jump. She whirled around and saw the son of Poseidon himself, holding a newspaper over his head to protect himself from the rain. Given his godly parent, she highly doubted that he needed to do such a thing.

She motioned for him to join her under the tree.

"The storm—this kind of thing's happened before?" He asked again.

She nodded, memories of two months ago resurfacing her mind. "It was, well... It was because of me."

His eyes widened. "Are you saying that you're also a child of the Big Three?" He asked in a low whisper.

"No, but I am a child of a broken oath." She clarified.

"Your mom's Hecate right? Doesn't she have like, twenty kids?" He asked.

"Seventeen," she corrected. "It's not my mom that's the problem, per say. It's my dad. He's um, well, has anyone told you about the mortals my mom blessed centuries ago?"

He looked up, racking through his brain for the information. "I think Annabeth mentioned it once. Witches and wizards, right? Something about how she wanted to share her magic with the mortals..."

She nodded in confirmation. "Mom had a son, Merlin, a few centuries back. Because he was the son of a wizard and the literal embodiment of magic, he was really powerful. The gods felt threatened by him so they killed him."

He blinked. "Oh. Wow. Um, I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "It's fine."

"Right, so, uh, shouldn't you be dead too?"

"Oh yes, definitely," she replied seriously. "But the gods had a vote. Nine of them wanted to me to live so Lord Zeus had no choice but to let me go. Anyways, when my mom finally claimed me—after two agonizing years, by the way—the gods realized what I was and caused a huge storm to enter camp. All events had to be cancelled and everything. It was pretty bad. It happened two months ago, I didn't think I'd happen again so soon..."

"Sorry for storm I guess," he mumbled, looking up at the angry skies.

"It's not your fault," she assured. "So how's living in cabin three?"

"It's pretty lonely." He admitted sheepishly. "Part of me wishes I was back sleeping on the floor of the Hermes cabin again."

"Oh," she chuckled. "Well, I envy you. I love my cabin-mates, but I'm stuck sleeping beside Ethan and Lyra. Ethan snores and Lyra—"

"—Kicks a lot?" He finished for her, grinning in amusement. He had to sleep adjacent to the red head so he knew exactly what she was talking about. "I feel you. And that other kid—Ethan—I've heard him snore. He's loud. How does nobody hear him?"

"I know right?!" She burst out. "Two years sleeping next to the guy and I'm still not used to it!"

"Why doesn't Hecate have her own cabin?" He suddenly asked.

"Oh," her voice became slightly bitter. "My mom's a minor goddess. Only Olympian gods get cabins for their kids."

He frowned deeply. "Sounds unfair..."

"That's just how it works, I guess." She shrugged.

"Essie, get out of the rain," Ethan appeared and no surprise, he was already scolding her.

Rather than replying to him, she jumped up to her feet and brightly introduced him to the son of Poseidon. "Percy! This is my friend, Ethan!"

Ethan scowled. "I'm not your friend," he grumbled.

She giggled. "Ignore him."

"Nice to meet you, man." Percy said, but his smile faltered when all Ethan did was glare at him.

Grover, Percy's Keeper, came trotting forward. His furry goat legs were soaked from the rain.

"Percy! There you are!" He exclaimed, then became very nervous. "Mr. D wants to see you."

She could hear Percy gulp before warily asking: "Why?"

"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."

Esmerelda and Percy shared dreaded looks before the noirette rose to his feet. "I'll see you later, Percy." She said, smiling in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

He only grimaced. "You too... I hope." He gave her one last wave before walking over to the Big House. Grover followed behind him, looking like he needed a box of tissues for him to cry on.

"Yeah, he's doomed." Ethan said unhelpfully.

— author's note —

NEXT CHAPTER: Essie is finally introduced to the Wizarding World (and with Ethan too!)