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Harry Potter
Harry was exhausted. Ginny had insisted on dragging him to the States, muttering something about relaxation and taking a break. Stepping out into wizarding Britain always meant dealing with crowds—fueled by the fame that had skyrocketed after the war. To navigate his daily life, Harry had become adept at glamour charms, his only way to accomplish anything without being mobbed.
The past few years had been a whirlwind of public events, one after another. On top of that, he had chosen to join the Auror Corps, making his life even more chaotic. Hectic was an understatement.
Ginny wasn’t faring much better. As the new Seeker for Puddlemere United, her schedule was packed. Add to that being Harry Potter’s girlfriend and a prominent leader during the war against Voldemort, and she faced just as much public scrutiny as he did.
To escape it all, Ginny had organized this impromptu trip to the States, hoping they could finally relax. It was just the two of them—Ron and Hermione were busy with their baby daughter and hadn’t been able to join.
While Ginny lounged in their hotel suite, Harry, restless as ever, decided to step out. He wandered into the first café he found and ordered a coffee. Choosing a seat in the far back, he made sure it offered a clear view of the entire store and was near the back exit—years of living by Moody’s “constant vigilance” mantra left their mark.
Sipping his coffee, Harry observed the other patrons, feeling a pang of envy at their seemingly ordinary lives. But his attention was drawn to a trio seated nearby.
One of them had something shimmering faintly around him. Harry squinted, focusing, and the illusion fell away. What he saw left him stunned. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.
The man had horns.
Not large ones, but unmistakably horns. Strangely, no one else seemed to notice, meaning magic was likely at play. Perhaps a notice-me-not charm? Harry speculated the man might be the victim of a spell or experiment gone wrong.
Shaking his head, Harry decided to ignore it. He was here to relax, not get involved in another magical mess. Determined to finish his coffee quickly and return to Ginny, he forced his attention elsewhere.
---
Percy Jackson
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had finally managed to meet up. It had been ages since they’d seen each other—life was just too busy. They were catching up in a cozy downtown café when Annabeth suddenly tensed beside Percy.
“Something wrong, Wise Girl?” Percy asked.
“The guy at the far table,” she said quietly, “don’t look, Grover, but he’s staring at us. Specifically at Grover.”
Percy stole a glance and saw the man staring wide-eyed at Grover’s horns. “Clear-sighted,” Percy muttered. “Let’s just keep talking. If he has questions, he’ll come to us.”
Grover resumed his story, recounting how Juniper had gifted him a new reed pipe. But before he could finish, he froze.
“Uh… cyclopes. Big group,” he stammered.
Percy and Annabeth turned to see five or six cyclopes storming into the café.
“Not again,” Percy groaned. “Can we have one day without this?”
The leader bellowed dramatically, “We’ve come to end you, puny half-bloods!”
Annabeth hissed, “We need to move. We can’t fight here.”
Percy nodded. “Back door. Now. They’ll follow.”
The trio darted toward the exit, passing the clear-sighted man, who now looked utterly bewildered. Percy noted that the guy could clearly see the cyclopes.
The back door opened into an alleyway, a dead end but mercifully deserted. The three prepared for a fight, backs against the wall.
“There are more of them than we thought,” Annabeth murmured, counting ten cyclopes.
“What’s the plan, Wise Girl?” Percy asked grimly.
“Fight. What else can we do?”
As the cyclopes closed in, Percy noticed the man from the café had followed them.
“Hey, you need to get out of here! It’s dangerous!” Percy yelled.
The man didn’t listen. Instead, he pulled out… a stick?
“What’s he doing?” Percy muttered. But there was no time to dwell on it. The cyclopes charged, and Percy turned his attention to the fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw flashes of light—red and green—coming from the man’s direction.
When the dust settled, Percy was shocked to see the man still standing, surrounded by piles of monster ash.
“Who are you?” Annabeth asked warily.
The man hesitated before replying, “Harry Potter.”
Annabeth frowned. “What are you, and how did you kill those cyclopes?”
Harry blinked, surprised. “You don’t know me?”
“No,” Percy said flatly. “Should we?”
Harry sighed. “Never mind. I’m a wizard.”
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. “Wizard? As in pointy hats and cauldrons?”
Harry chuckled. “Not quite. But yes, I use magic—wands, spells, all that. Those flashes you saw earlier? Spells.”
Percy shook his head. “Great. Another thing to add to the list of weird. First Greek gods, then Romans, now wizards. Next, it’ll be aliens.”
(Elsewhere, Thanos sneezed, interrupting an important meeting about world domination.)
“So why did you act like we’d recognize you?” Annabeth pressed.
Harry hesitated. “I’m… famous in my world. I defeated a dark wizard. People tend to know my name.”
Percy snorted. “Join the club, dude. I’ve fought Kronos and Gaia. Every day is chaos for us.”
Harry sighed. “I came here to relax, not deal with another pantheon of monsters. Do you think those cyclopes will come after me now?”
Annabeth shook her head. “Probably not. They were after us. You should be fine.”
Harry sighed again. “Good. I’ll take my chances. I should go—my girlfriend’s waiting. It was… interesting meeting you.”
The trio waved him off, bemused by the encounter.
---
Later
Back at the hotel, Harry recounted the bizarre meeting to Ginny.
The next day, they packed up and returned to Britain. “Relaxation” wasn’t in the cards, and home suddenly seemed far more appealing.