Chapter Text
Percy loved riding the Hogwarts Express. He loved the way it vibrated under his feet and the way the hills seemed to roll by. He loved the way the huge locomotive seemed to glide its way through the jagged mountains. But, if he was being honest, the thing he loved the most about the red steam engine was...the snack trolley.
There were so many weird and quirky sweets he’d never seen before, and of course he bought them all. Pumpkin Pasties, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs...he even bought a few of something called Canary Creams. The label on the box read, Flavour: Custard Cream. Ingredients: Sugar, wheat flour, arnica root gel, palm oil, egg, knotgrass, salt. He was about to try one when a voice yelled, “Don’t!”
Percy dropped the egg-shaped cream in surprise...though a chirping sound was audible as it smashed. In the doorway was a girl with frizzy red hair, not yet dressed in her Hogwarts robes, even though they were an hour away. “Uh, hey. I’m Rachel.”
Percy nodded, raising his eyebrows. “Ah. And...why is my candy lying on the floor?”
Rachel bit her lip, scratching the table like she was drawing little pictures on it. “Sorry about that, but trust me. You don’t want to have any Canary Creams--oh, wait. That was a Canary Cream, right? Hopefully you won’t mind that much if it’s not? Because if it wasn’t--”
Percy laughed. “No, no, no, no...I mean--yes, it’s not--no, I...gah.” he shook his head, a fresh wave of awkwardness washing over the cramped room. “I don’t know. It’s fine,” he shrugged.
Rachel smiled. “I’ve had some pretty weird experiences with those.” Percy smirked, raising an eyebrow as shel continued. “You think you’ve seen it all, until your dad and seven other board members turn into canaries.”
Percy scrambled backwards, knocking the box off the table and listening to the chirping as the chocolate shattered. “That’s what they do?! Worst ten sickles I’ve ever spent!”
Rachel laughed, but it was cut off abruptly as the door opened again. A boy with stringy blonde hair leaned against the wall before waltzing into a seat. He cleared his throat, flashing Percy a quick grin. “Octavian.” He said the name as if Percy was supposed to get on his knees and switch religions to Octavianism.
“Octavian?” Rachel posed the question with utter disgust. Octavian wrinkled his nose as if she had some contagious disease.
“Rachel,” he muttered distastefully, “You buy your way in here? They couldn’t have possibly let you in without some sort of--”
“Oh, save it, scarecrow.” Rachel turned back to Percy, but he could see her face was flushed scarlet. Octavian clenched his fists, turning bright red as well. Percy realized what was going to happen a second before it happened, then Octavian and Rachel simultaneously whipped out their wands, points just under each other’s chin. There was a tense moment before Rachel shrugged, twirling her wand in her hand. Octavian smirked in triumph, but Rachel smiled just as widely. “Go back to your teddy bears, Octavian. This is so immature...wow, just like you!”
“I’ve already been here a year! That gives me superiority! I--”
Rachel shut the door of the train, and Octavian turned scarlet, marching off, to which she breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed on the seats as soon as he was out of sight. Percy twirled his hands awkwardly. “What’s all that about?”
She shook her head. “He’s a jerk. Thinks just ‘cuz he’s pure-blood that he can do whatever he wants. Now, I think I’d better find my real wand before he realizes that was just a painted chopstick.”
Leo Valdez was not happy.
(He was also, at the moment, a canary. Which did not help.)
A girl named Piper had asked him to try one, to make sure it was “safe”. Her friend, Jason, had seemed against it, but Leo had put it in his mouth without thinking.
Stupid magic.
He began to change back, coughing up feathers...gratefully, his clothes stayed with him. Despite the annoyance, he couldn’t help a smile looking at Piper’s tearing eyes and Jason’s repressed laughs. He wasn’t exactly sure what had made him come into the cabin in the first place, but…he was glad he had.
Leo placed his thoughts aside. “That was--well, beyond words, but safe to say, I have a new respect for all canaries.”
Piper and Jason were seated across from him, and they both simultaneously laughed, and Leo smiled thinly, trying a little too hard not to be a third wheel. “Do any of you have siblings?”
Jason nodded. “Yeah, I have a sister, Thalia. She’s a third year.”
“Oh. Cool.”
“...yeah.”
Leo coughed. “Anybody know any spells yet?”
Again, Jason shrugged nonchalantly. “I know, like, two. And my wand isn’t that interesting, anyways. It’s oak. Yaaaay…”
“Come on, let’s see it,” Piper urged.
Jason hesitated, taking his wand from his trunk. “All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Leo grinned. “You didn’t.”
“Baubillious!” he shouted, without an answer to Leo’s remark. A bolt of lightning shot out, hitting his shoe and making it fly off, a scorch mark on the tip. His blonde hair stuck up.
After a moment of silence, Piper let out a laugh. “You--ha! Nice going, Sparky!”
Jason turned red. “Heh--yeah.”
They looked at each other for a moment while Leo tapped the table awkwardly. “O-o-o-kay, I’m gonna go now. See yah.”
He stood up, sliding the door open, but didn’t get a chance before a hisss rang through the small cabin as the brakes awoke within the scarlet engine. From the window came a shout, and a figure hobbled towards them, shadows obscuring his body.
The first-years gasped as he brought a lantern towards his face, smiling tightly, and all stared rudely at his lower half.
“Welcome! If you are returning, welcome back. My name is Chiron. First years, follow me, second and up, get in one of the chariots!”
Jason grinned sheepishly. “Well...looks like I’m leaving without my shoe. That’ll...ahem...be interesting.” Everyone began to file out, and Jason flashed a quick yet model-worthy smile. “Good meeting you. I’ll see you at the Sorting?”
Leo nodded. “Sure, man,” he shrugged, blending into the crowd.
He ended up on a boat with three other kids, Connor, Travis, and Percy, all whom Leo got along with great. The four of them ended up going an extra ten miles an hour after Percy convinced the giant squid to help them out, Connor and Travis leaving behind a trail of neon green salamanders.
The screams of the other first years could be heard from a hundred feet away. Leo laughed as one of the salamanders tried to get on their boat, unable to keep its grasp and falling off the edge.
Percy turned to face them. “So, what house do you guys think you’ll end up in?”
Travis and Connor glanced at each other and grinned. “Probably Ravenclaw, you know? Crafty, sly, smart...all that. We’d get, like, a ton of homework and stuff, but we have ways around that.”
Percy shrugged halfheartedly. “Yeah, I guess...but there’s other stuff that’s important too, right? Like, Leo, what house do you want to be in?”
The question caught him off guard. “I’m not sure. Never really thought about it.”
The tiny rowboat thudded as it pulled out of the lake. Connor laughed. “Well you better start thinking. The Sorting’s next.
Chiron straight-up trotted out of his own boat, standing in front of large double-doors. “First years, form a line. In a couple of minutes, these doors will open, and we will enter the Great Hall.”
A couple of students snorted with laughter, and he felt a tap on his shoulder. “Only teachers call it the Great Hall,” Travis explained, “The students call it the Big House.”
Leo nodded, turning his attention back to the centaur.
“...Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. And, of course, no house is worse than the others.”
The doors opened, magically (of course).
Chiron sighed. “So soon? ...very well. The Sorting is about to begin.”
Leo followed the crowd of first years as they entered, the whole of Hogwarts staring at them as they entered. He felt a sort of jittery feeling in his stomach, as if the whole deal had suddenly begun to catch up with him.
The Big House was magnificent. Stars glittered on the ceiling, casting odd lights on the walls. Candles floated in midair, stuffed leopard heads adorned the walls, and the house tables had an odd amount of cheese dust.
“The Sorting will now begin.”
The houses hadn’t pay much attention as they filed in, but more heads turned when Chiron’s voice rang out from the front of the Big House.
“Chase, Annabeth.”
The Sorting Hat
Chase, Annabeth.
Ah, you are very pleased to be first, I see. Ambitious. Sometimes...overzealous. You would make a good Slytherin.
Not very happy at that? Do you--ah. Very well.
I see how it is.
Let it be…
RAVENCLAW.
Dare, Rachel.
Well, it’s hardly a choice. Your name says it all...but don’t worry. I judge differently for everyone.
Let it be…
GRYFFINDOR
Di Angelo, Nico.
Spiteful, strong, determined...powerful. I’ll keep my eye on you, di Angelo. Alas, it is as you predicted...but you know that already, don’t you.
Let it be…
SLYTHERIN
Grace, Jason.
A brave boy if I ever saw one. And yet you value loyalty, friendship, teamwork...and at the same time, knowledge. You believe you must be the best. That you are a natural leader.
It’s true. But it makes you reckless.
It’s tricky, this one. Where to put you, where to put you....my boy, I am stumped. I ask you one question.
Where would you like to be?
...very interesting. And yet your choice proves, once more--
You’ve changed your answer. I cannot argue.
Let it be…
GRYFFINDOR
Jackson, Percy.
Not a hard choice. Let it b--
No?
What do you mean, no?
It’s the perfect choice for you, dear boy! You would become powerful. Have a great life. Perhaps become an Auror one day, as I know you wish to.
You are quite the definition. And yet you...
Very well.
I-I don’t understand this, Percy Jackson, but I will grant your request.
I am intrigued.
Let it be…
HUFFLEPUFF
McLean, Piper.
Very outspoken, I see. Likeable, but not quite a Hufflepuff. Witty, but not quite a Ravenclaw.
Let it be...
GRYFFINDOR.
Ramirez-Arellano, Reyna.
Well, well, well. I am tempted to put you into Gryffindor, as I know it takes much courage to hide behind this...facade of yours every day. Alas, you will need allies around you when it breaks.
So let it be…
RAVENCLAW
Stoll, Connor
Stoll, Travis
I have disappointed many today. I hate, however, it would be you. But so much potential must not be wasted. You are crafty, intelligent, sly...a good Slytherin, but not enough ambition.
Calm down! Ambition is not a bad thing...but you definitely aren’t ready to be part of the Slytherin house! That leaves me with one choice.
Let it be…
RAVENCLAW
Solace, Will
You’ve known what house you were going to be placed in since the beginning, haven’t you.
And I suppose you’re not wrong.
Let it be…
HUFFLEPUFF
Valdez, Leo
I’ve been waiting for you.
Actually, it’s just a line. Although I have been curious as to what’s inside your head. I expected...well, something else. Certainly not this. You crave desire. Passion. And something else.
Oh…
I see.
I’m so sorry.
Let it be…
SLYTHERIN