***EDITED***

Sila's POV

This. Is. Amazing. Was all I could think as we walked towards the entrance to Hogwarts. We had taken the boats up with Hagrid and the first years, since we still had to be sorted. Annabeth was in a state of shock. After Diagon alley, the train station, and now Hogwarts, Annabeth had probably had a heart attack! I smirked at Percy, who's jaw was practically touching the ground. He glanced at my teasing smile, and quickly closed his mouth. We were lead through a small side entrance to a set of huge engraved door. A middle aged woman stepped out from the room behind them.

"Good evening students," she said. "I am Headmistress McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts! Behind these doors is the great hall. This is where you will spend your meal times. When you walk through these doors, you will be sorted into your houses. We will sort the first years first, and then our new exchange students. As the other students from America arrive, we will preform short sorting ceremonies. Any questions?" McGonagall finished. "Good," she said without waiting, and then turned and entered the great hall, closing the doors behind her.

Minutes went by. It felt like hours. Everyone was quiet and still, except for Annabeth, Percy, and I.

"Hold still Percy!" Annabeth hissed, making everyone jump.

"I could say the same to you!" he shot back.

I smirked at them.

They both looked down guiltily, and tried to hold still. Five minutes later, McGonagall came back, and gestured for us to follow her in. I gasped when I saw what was behind the large, wooden doors. It was the most magnificent dining hall that I had ever seen. There were four large tables running vertically down the hall, each bearing a different color. There was one horizontal table at the top of the hall. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky, and there were thousands of candles floating in the air. The walls were lined with candles, and old, but beautiful paintings. In the center of the hall, there was an old hat sitting on top of a stool. McGonagall was standing next to it, holding a long scroll. What surprised me most was that once everyone had crowded in, the hat began to chant. When it started, all of the first years jumped, earning snickers from us, along with the other older students. I guess the three of us have just seen too much crazy stuff to be scared by a talking hat.

"Bloomfield, Skye," the headmistress called out once the hat was finished with its song that I may or may not have been paying attention to. A tall first year with with dark brown, straight, shoulder length hair and freckles walked nervously up to the stool, and slowly sat down. McGonagall placed the old hat on her head, and it slid down over her eyes. After a few seconds of an eerie silence (or at least it was for her), the hat shouted:

"RAVENCLAW!" The table clad in blue stood up and applauded Skye as she moved to sit with them. McGonagall looked down at her list.

"Thornbottom, Emmaline," she announced. A tall girl with long, wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes approached the stool. We had to wait a bit longer for her house to be determined this time, but in the end, the hat decided on:

"HUFFLEPUFF!" it shouted. She approached the table draped in yellow, and sat down.

"Jacobs, Erin," McGonagall said. A short, brown haired hazel eyed girl walked confidently up to the hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. She strode over to the table in scarlet, and sat down. This continued in the same manner until all of the first years had been sorted into houses. Before the headmistress sorted us, she walked up to the front of the hall to make an announcement.

"ATTENTION STUDENTS!" She had to practically scream. "This year we will be welcoming 12 exchange students from America. They attend Hecate's school of magic! They have recently come out of two wars, so please treat them kindly. They will not back down from a fight."

She paused to glare at the green table.

"So lets please give them a warm Hogwarts welcome!"

Everyone in the hall applauded us while McGonagall returned to her list.

"Chase, Annabeth!" McGonagall shouted. Annabeth strode confidently up to the stool, and the hat was placed on her head. She appeared to be having a mental argument with the hat, but then visibly relaxed. One second later, Annabeth screamed, Percy ran up to her, and the hat shouted,

"GRYFFINDOR! I'M SO SORRY, YOU POOR GIRL! GRYFFINDOR GRYFFINDOR GRYFFINDOR! DON'T YOU DARE PUT ME ANY OF THE OTHERS, THEY'RE ALL GRYFFINDOR!"

The whole hall sat there in silence, and then there was an outburst of conversation. Annabeth shakily stood up, and the three of us slowly walked towards the Gryffindor table.

Once everyone had calmed down, McGonagall raised both of her hands and the hall went silent.

"Dig in!" she said. The empty gold platters in front of us were suddenly filled with food.

"Kind of like the plates at camp!" I said.

"Camp?" Ron said questioningly.

"I- I mean... Well, our school is run in more of a camp based manner," I said quickly. Ron nodded, accepting the lie.

"What was that about?" Ginny asked skeptically. Percy glared at her, a watered down glare of course, and then said,

"If you had just relived every battle you had been in, everything you've been through, everyone you've watched die, I think that you would've had the same reaction,"

"Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor!" Hermione said, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I'll be happy to show you to the common room and our dorms, Percy, and Hermione and Ginny can show Annabeth and Sila... I mean, if that's okay with you," he added quickly.

"Sounds great," I smiled warmly. He was obviously still flustered about his performance on the train, and was trying to make up for it.

Percy was staring at his food. "I wonder..." he muttered as he slowly put a piece of food in his mouth and bit down on it. He immediately spit it out and then threw up on the floor. Hermione wore a disgusted expression as she preformed a vanishing spell.

I sighed. "I'll take care of it," I told him, and walked over to the professors table.

"Uh... Professor McGonagall, could I have a word?" I asked. Since she was the only one that knew that we were demigods, she would probably understand. She gave a curt nod, and then motioned for me to exit the hall.

"Umm... So we are supposed to give our gods burnt offerings, but we can't do that without fire... and I was wondering if you could... uh..." I tried to explain. McGonagall smiled at my failed attempt.

"That can be arranged, Miss Estrella. We will make a small fire by each of your plates," she said.

"Thank y-," I was cut off by the roar of a basilisk.

I slowly turned around, only to see the Biggest. Basilisk. Ever.

"How the Hades is a basilisk this big!?" I exclaimed, very frustrated, as I pushed a bead on my bracelet. A little gift from Leo; he made something for everyone going on this quest that didn't have a weapon that would shrink into something small. For example, my bracelet was made of woven celestial bronze, two star beads, and one moon bead. The star beads turned into my sword and dagger, and the moon bead changed into my bow and arrows. In this situation, I decided that my sword would be best. I tapped the bead on the right, making it appear.

"Don't look into its eyes!" McGonagall shouted at me. Too late.

"Why mustn't I look into its eyes?" I said cautiously, as the snake and I studied one another.

"You... You aren't petrified? But... But.. H-how?" she stuttered. I didn't care. I charged at the beast and chopped its head off.

"That was too easy..." I said. Then I looked down and saw my whole arm covered in blood. "Whoops..." I muttered, and then collapsed onto the ground; blackness took over.