Everyone was leaning over Harry nervously as the train rattled back on track. Harry let out a great, shuddering breath and opened his eyes. A breath of relief escaped Piper-- she'd been worried he'd died.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously, hovering over him.

"Who screamed?" Harry asked.

"No one screamed," Frank said.

"But I heard screaming--"

A loud snap made them jump, which ended in more than one person falling over each other. Harry was dogpiled, which couldn't have been good for the state he was in.

"Gerroff me" Harry groaned.

"Here, eat this." Professor Lupin handed Harry a large slab of chocolate. "It will help."

Harry took the chocolate without looking at it. "What was that thing?"

"A dementor," Professor Lupin said, breaking smaller slabs of chocolate and handing them to everyone else. "One of the guards of Azkaban."

Everyone stared at him. Professor Lupin looked at them all with amusement in his eyes. "It will help," He promised again. "I haven't poisoned it, you know."

Frank looked down at his. "Uhm, I'm lactose intolerant."

The professor shrugged. "It won't affect you. Magic ingredients and whatnot."

"Did you feel how cold it got?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I felt weird, like I'd never be happy again," Hermione said.

"Well, you know what does make you happy? Eating this stuff." Piper turned and saw Percy's chocolate was gone, and he had a massive goofy grin on his face. "Try it, it really does help."

Piper nibbled at hers and shivered, but not from cold-- from the rush of warmth that so suddenly spread through her.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Professor Lupin said. "Are you all right, Harry?"

"I'm fine," Harry muttered, clearly embarrassed. "None of you fell out of your seats though?"

"No. Ginny was shaking like mad though," Ron said, giving a side glance to Ginny. Ginny glared at him. "Oh, like you didn't go white as a sheet either, Ron."

The rest of the ride went by quickly, and when they got out, it was pouring rain. Piper shivered again, this time from cold. Jason put an arm around her, though she noticed her thirteen year old self was taller than Jason's thirteen year old self. The thought cheered her up somewhat.

"What?" Jason asked, noticing Piper's grin. Piper shook her head. "Nothing."

"Seaweed Brain, someone will notice," Piper heard Annabeth mutter. She glanced over and saw that Percy and Annabeth were completely dry, though it was hard to see through the thickly pouring rain.

"Fine, then." They were instantly soaked. "Is that better?"

"Smart aleck," Annabeth muttered, and Percy's face split into an enormous grin.

"Did Wise Girl just call me smart?" He danced around in the rain like a little kid.

"Oh, hush and get to the carriages," Annabeth said, though her lips pursed to hide her own smile. "And don't talk to the horses for too long."

"Horses?" Ron stopped to peer curiously at them. "The carriages are pulled on their own."

The demigods looked at him like he was crazy. "Don't tell me you don't see them. black, skeletal, bat-winged horses? Two per carriage?"

Hermione looked at the carriages closer. "There's nothing there."

Piper watched as Percy walked up to them, murmuring under his breath. The ones closest to him bowed their heads, then neighed. Percy nodded in understanding, though most wizards looked at him like he was insane.

"Hey, Nico! Hazel!" Percy called through the rain. "C'mere for a sec."

Piper watched as the children of Hades/Pluto walked over. The horses bowed to them too, their eerie skeletal eye sockets glowing.

Then they were pushed into moldy-smelling carriages.

"You can only see them if you've seen death," Hazel explained to Piper, Jason, Frank, Ron, and Harry. "That's what they said."

"You can talk to horses too, Hazel?" Jason said. "I thought Percy could because he's a son of Poseidon and horses are like, his thaang."

"Why did you pronounce thing so weirdly?" Piper muttered to Jason. He shrugged.

"You saw how skeletal they were, right?" Hazel asked. "Well, technically they're like, undead horses, and Pluto is like the god of the underworld, so-- Oh, I don't know. Why don't you just ask the horses yourselves?"

"Because we can't see them," Harry said in a duh voice.

"But shouldn't you be able to see them, Harry?" Ron asked. "You know, because of... You-Know-Who?"

Harry nodded, puzzled. "Yeah, you would think."

Hazel shrugged. "Again, ask the horses. Oh, we're here."

Piper glanced at the window and took in the sight of Hogwarts. Even though she'd lived there for a year, the castle didn't fail to take her breath away.

They filed out one by one. Piper, who was last to get out, waited patiently for Ron to stumble out. Then she heard a familiar voice, though it wasn't as friendly as she usually heard it in the common room.

"You fainted Potter? You actually fainted?" Piper sighed at Draco's overly gleeful tone at Harry's sudden seizure in the train.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Hazel's voice was colder than Nico on a bad day.

"Oh, did the Hufflepuff faint too?" Draco sneered. "And maybe wittle Weasel too."

"Dear gods, Draco, is that really necessary?" Piper exclaimed in an exasperated tone as she climbed out. Draco glanced at her, his pale eyes narrowing at the sight of her company.

"Is there a problem?" A mild voice said. Piper turned and saw Professor Lupin, walking up to them with his battered case. Draco glanced at him and sneered. "No, sir." he said mockingly. Piper inwardly chuckled, waiting to see his reaction when he saw Professor Lupin was a professor.

As Piper walked to the Slytherin table, she could hear Professor Flitwick talking to the first years through a door to the side. She smiled as she sat down, excited to see the sorting again.

"What was that?" Draco asked Piper coldly. She snapped out of her daze of counting every single candle floating on the ceiling.

"What was what?"

"What was that? That, on the train and just outside?"

"Oh," Piper said, though she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Why are you siding with the Gryffindors?" Draco raised his voice, just enough to be heard a few seats down. Pansy Parkinson forward, across from Piper.

"Yeah, where were you on the train?"

"I was hanging out with my American friends," Piper said.

"You mean the ones that got expelled from Ilvermorny?"

"If I recall, we left Ilvermorny." Piper crossed her arms over her chest, with extra emphasis on we and left.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Still, you're a Slytherin now. You're a part of our group too."

What an honor, Piper thought dryly. Pansy took her silence as an agreement.

"Anyways, the Sorting's going on."

>>>•O•<<<

After everyone finished sorting, Albus-- er, Professor Dumbledore stood up, looking as if he hadn't changed a bit. Granted, one summer mustn't be long compared to how long he'd lived, but still.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast." Dumbledore paused and looked at them all, the candlelight twinkling on his glasses. Piper was suddenly reminded of the charmed glasses Annabeth was working on.

"You think it best, old man?" Draco said sarcastically under his breath. "I'm surprised you can still even think, let alone decide what's best."

Dumbledore continued on. "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

"Who told you about Harry's seizure in the train?" Piper asked in a low voice. Draco turned his pale eyes to her.

"Well, let's just say that little Weasel girl was talking to that Ravenclaw girl about it," he said casually, his eyes glinting. Piper huffed, then realized Dumbledore was still talking.

"It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you.

"On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was some scattered, weak applause. Piper heard the other demigods clapping loudly, and she joined them, glancing sideways at Draco's expression. His eyes had widened in complete shock, realizing he had disrespected a professor. Across the room, Jason caught Piper's eye and grinned, subtly jerking his head to Draco. Piper grinned right back.

"Secondly, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

There was a slightly more positive cheer from the tables, excluding the Slytherins. Piper cheered with the Gryffindors, not caring that Pansy was elbowing her to be quiet.

"Oh my god," Draco muttered. "Dumbledore's gone fully insane. What's he thinking, putting that oaf in charge of one of our classes?" He sullenly stabbed at a steak-and-kidney pie. Piper shrugged and joined in on the feast, excited to be back at Hogwarts again.