Will had just started on his pudding when the ghosts flew through him. Caught off-guard once again by the chill of death in his body, he spat out his food onto Justin.

"Sorry!" he said, trying to mop up the half-salivated chocolate with the sleeve of his robe.

"Hey!" said Nico's voice from behind him. Will turned around to see him standing up, angrily facing the ghost Will assumed just passed through him. "Watch where you're going!"

Nearly Headless Nick dipped his head in shame and it bobbed forward on its skin-hinge.

As Justin cleaned up his robes magically, with the normal disgruntled expression of one who just got pudding spat over his fresh clothes, Someone running by knocked his shoulder into Will causing yet another unfortunate dessert mishap in Justin's direction.

"Maybe this is a sign to eat less sweets," Will muttered as they quickly cleaned up the peppermint humbug bits and get Justin a new glass of pumpkin juice. But as Justin regained his composure and finally reached to finish his food, it vanished.

"The best of evenings to you!" said Dumbledore at the front, his voice echoing over Justin's swearing. He stood up and beamed, spreading his hands wide. As he did this, his sleeves slipped down and revealed his hand, withering and blackened like the decoration in Nico's cabin. A wave of whispering swept over the students, but Dumbledore merely smiled and shook his sleeve over his hand.

"Nothing to worry about," he said airily, but Will was very much concerned. What on earth had happened that could injure Dumbledore — Dumbledore, of all wizards, who had access to probably the largest variety of healing potion and spells, as well as ambrosia, nectar, and unicorn drought being a descendant of Hecate... what could possibly do that to him?

Or perhaps, Will thought as Dumbledore continued his speech, he simply hadn't the time to heal it himself. But he remained unconsoled by this thought as he tried to focus.

"... pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year," the headmaster was saying. "Professor Slughorn is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of potions master. Professor Snape, meanwhile, will be taking over his old post as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

There was another riple of whispering throughout the hall, and behind them in the Gryffindor table, someone loudly shouted, "No!"

Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly and the tables reluctantly silenced. "Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength."

Those who weren't silent fell so. "I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe," continued the Headmaster. "The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them — in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety."

There was a pause, then a smile.

"But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip."

As the benches screeched back on the unpolished stone floor, Will felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Don't forget, Acid Pops," whispered Hazel as she passed him. Then, in a louder voice, "First-years, first-years, this way!"

>>>•Percy•<<<

Percy approached the gargoyle, muttering to himself. The hall had long since been drained of the daytime heat but Percy's hands felt sweaty. He wiped them on his robes.

"You can do this," he whispered.

The statue loomed from the end of the hall, its shadow flickering in the torchlight.

"Password?" it growled, its voice like a grindstone.

Percy took a deep breath.

Acid pops, acid pops, he thought.

"La Croix," is what slipped out.

Thalia kicked the back of his knee, making his legs buckle. "Acid Pops, fool," she said.

The gargoyle leapt aside and revealed the staircase spiraling upward as ever.

Percy huffed. "I knew that," he said, arms crossed. "I was getting there."

"Thank the gods your future doesn't actually depend on your performance here," said Jason. "Otherwise you would be screwed."

The door swung open dramatically before Annabeth could turn the handle and revealed a pitch black room. Then a single candle flickered to life, revealing Dumbledore sitting placidly at his desk with his hands folded in front of him. His burned fingers intertwined with his healthy ones, creating a startling contrast. Cold light flashed like a thunderbolt as a distorted instrumental version of Michael Jackson's They Don't Care About Us played ominously from a music box.

Then proper light flooded the room. Dumbledore smiled and opened his hands. "Ah, I do enjoy these little theatrics," he chuckled. He lifted his hand and the music box stopped. "I have to say, while I do appreciate Lorcan d'Eath, Mister Michael Jackson did properly well on this new release. It is quite underrated."

"Sir, have I got a playlist for you," said Thalia.

Before she could elaborate, the door flung open again and Frank, Hazel, and Will burst through the door.

"There were grapes everywhere," said Frank, sounding mildly discombobulated. "Did we miss anything important?"

"No, no, not at all," said Professor Dumbledore mildly. "We were merely discussing the newest hip music culture."

"Oh, good," said Hazel.

"But thank you, Mister Zhang, for reminding me you all have your own situations to attend to," said Dumbledore. "I'm sure Miss McLean will be joining us shortly. I'm sure you are aware we are no longer in Kansas, Toto."

At the second baffling revelation that Dumbledore was cultured in the Wizard of Oz, the door burst open once more and Piper skidded to a halt inches from a delicate-looking sculpture that seemed to be reshaping itself every few moments.

"Am I late?" she asked breathlessly. "I was looking over Wesley's Defense Against the Dark Arts essay— Wesley's one of our fourth years— but I couldn't quite be sure it would be okay because there isn't really one teaching style for Defense, and Snape can be picky about chronology in our... potions essays... so, yeah."

She trailed off and smiled. "How are you, Professor Dumbledore?"

"Excellent!" replied Dumbledore. "However, I shouldn't keep you in a dull old man's presence longer than necessary. Now, you have all worked very hard here at Hogwarts. You've adapted the role as witches and wizards excellently and I haven't yet had to expel anyone."

"Thank you!" said Percy, flattered.

"However, I apologize that you will no longer be normal students. While you may still participate in your classes, attendance is not mandatory. In some cases, you will miss days at a time. When you go about normally, I expect you will all step up as leaders of Hogwarts because in regrettable times such as these, a little bravery can go a long way. "

"What will we be doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Protection," the Headmaster replied. "Securing the grounds, indirectly assisting the Order, training... I will alert you when something needs to be done. The Forbidden Forest is growing in dangers. Descendants such as myself do not draw attention to Greek monsters Hecate's boundaries cannot handle, but your aura is concentrated. I'm sure you have sensed an imbalance in the air. These have ripple effects. Lord Voldemort does not pose the only danger to Hogwarts."

"So all the monsters around here... that's our fault?" said Jason guiltily.

Dumbledore smiled gently. "You are not necessarily to blame," he replied. "It's merely a side effect of your existence."

"Cheery," muttered Nico.

"Remember this," said Dumbledore. "No matter what you do this year, there is nothing more important than keeping Hogwarts united. It is the spirit of the students that is the essence of our school. Morale and camaraderie are of the utmost importance. If you are to disregard everything else you hear this year, please retain this. I apologize for any inconvenience."

Percy grinned. "Apologize for what?" he asked. "Doesn't this mean we have a free no-class pass?"

"Seaweed Brain," mumbled Annabeth.

"Now, you really have endured my senile ambiguity for far too long." Dumbledore smiled. "Off to bed now, all of you."

"Sleep well, everyone," said Annabeth as they walked down the corridor. "We better start charging up for some serious social interaction."

Henlo frands! It's been too long but I'm going to try to update more now, or at least no year-long breaks anymore. I'm keeping my hiatus notice up because I still want your suggestions and as a warning, updates still won't be very frequent. But we back ^u^ thank you so much if you're still reading!