As Ernie Macmillan explained how to get into the common room, Percy found himself zoning out. 

Luke Castellan.

Luke Jefferson.

Blue eyes.

Sandy blonde hair.

Granted, Alive Luke's hair was curly, his skin was a shade of beige and Dead Luke's hair was straight, but other than that, he was exactly the same.

The scar running down his face proved it.

What if he acted like Dead Luke had, too? What if he was trying to kill Annabeth?

Percy had to know more.

So he did the dumbest possible thing a person could do.

He asked.

"Hi. Luke, right?"

The boy smiled in a way that spoke of flower fields in the warm afternoon, of butterflies landing on zinnias in the morning light, and of warm, sweet brownies, baked at just the right amount. It was the kind of smile that made you want to trust him, to tell him all of your secrets and be his best friend.

Luke hadn't had that smile at all.

"Yeah. Percy, right? It's so cool that you're American. What's your school like?"

"Well, we've got a bunch more groups than you Brits, and it's all modeled off of the Ancient Greek Gods. Uh, my girlfriend Annabeth-you saw her, right? She's in Athena. For wisdom and battle strategy."

"Why would you need-you know what, never mind."

...

Zara linked her elbow with Hazel's, and Kyla did the same on the other side. "So, Hazel, what Wizarding family do you come from?"

Hazel had practiced this backstory many times. "My mother was a recluse. She preferred to get away from No-Majs completely, so we lived in a small village in Canada. My father died when I was little, so I never knew him. Percy and I are cousins on his side, though. When I was thirteen, my mother and I were trapped in a collapsed cave. I got out, but she didn't. Percy's family took me in and I stay with them over summer break now."

Zara gasped, tears brimming in her eyes. "That sounds horrible. If there's anything we can do to help you honor or move on from them, please tell me."

Nylah pushed open a door and it opened into a room with six four-poster double beds, made with a different bedding for each. 

Zara's was a cloudlike comforter, adorned with silk sheets and an overabundance of pillows. 

Kyla's was a gray duvet, equipped with two pillows and a small, knitted throw blanket the color of the sky.

Nylah had a comforter with her zodiac sign on it, the constellation Capricorn. A single, battered pillow, looking pretty sad by itself, leaned against the headboard.

And Hazel had forgotten to bring bedding.

So she got the generic Slytherin snake bedding. 

Not soft, not cloudlike, not angelic, just...well, some pretty average bedding.

Still, it was comfortable, and the curtains did a good job keeping out the blue, flickering light of the underwater windows.

She drifted off thinking of how much Frank would love this school.

...

Annabeth had been accepted by Cho Chang and her group of friends, who complimented Annabeth's hair, eyes and figure like no one's business.

Marietta was currently gushing about how pretty Annabeth's hair was. 

"It's just so shiny! I mean, I thought Cho had pretty hair, but yours, Annabeth, like, wow."

Cho was too busy examining her acrylic nails to care.

Annabeth sank into her new bed and immediately fell asleep.