Half-Bloods VS. Wizards: The Epic Standoff

Chapter One

An Evil Plot, a Solution, and a Pointless Journey

It all started with a threat; from the most evil organization to ever walk this Earth: the U.S. Postal Service. Yes, you heard right: the postal service. The mail men….or women….I guess. The people with the annoying bags that always make hellhounds go crazy. And that never ends well.

It began with a normal day in the life of the amazingly amazing Nico di Angelo. I was completely minding my own business, trying to get some decent sleep, actually, when I heard an ear-splitting scream. A female one. I jumped off of my bed in the Hades cabin and ran towards the scream. I ended up at the one cabin I'd sworn I'd never go into, not after the incident…. (awkward silence)…Anyway, I was at the Hecate cabin. The cabin of witchcraft and wizardry, as I like to call it. I knocked on the door, well aware that whoever opened it might just start screaming again, but when the door was opened, all I saw was an extremely scared and sad face looking at me.

"Oh my gods, Nico!" Cynthia cried out, hugging me. "Hi, Cynthia," I said nervously. "Are you okay?" I guessed that Cynthia had been the one screaming. "No Nico," she sobbed. "I am most definitely not okay. You will never guess what just happened to me." I looked up, desperately trying to guess. I noticed (since I am secretly a very observant person) that Cynthia was holding a crumpled, tear-stained piece of paper in her hand. "I'm guessing you got a letter," I said. Cynthia gasped and stared longingly at me. "How did you know?" she asked, amazed. I blinked, extremely confused. Even though I am a most observant person, I'm not the best at detecting sarcasm, so I wasn't sure if Cynthia was kidding or not, but I decided not to point out the letter in her hand anyway. "Uh…lucky guess?" I answered instead.

Cynthia nodded knowingly before a new set of tears ran down her cheeks. She was actually pretty cute when I thought about it. Her blonde hair stood in ringlets that bounced up and down when she nodded. Her brown eyes looked almost clear with the tears staining their beauty. I was knocked out of my reverie (how do I know that word?) when I realized Cynthia had said something else. "Who do the think the letter was from?" Cynthia asked hopefully. I took another wild guess. "A…person," I answered. Cynthia gasped again, this time hiccupping slightly. She hugged me again. "Oh, Nico; you're so smart." I was officially freaked out. Cynthia suddenly looked up and I had a feeling she was going to ask me another totally obvious question.

"What kind of person?" she asked. I had no idea what this was supposed to mean, so I took another one of my awesomely awesome guesses. "A person who's…..not….dead." Cynthia burst into tears again. "I cannot believe how smart you are!" she exclaimed. I cleared my throat awkwardly as Cynthia hugged me for a third time. "Uh, Cynthia? Can we discuss this somewhere else? Your cabin mates still hate me and Megan is giving me a death glare that I think even beats mine." Cynthia nodded, making her distractingly beautiful curls bounce again, and muttered, "Let's go to your place." I led the still crying daughter of Hecate back to Cabin 13. I was actually glad that I was talking to Cynthia and not someone else.

Cynthia, along with being the only child of Hecate who didn't still hate me after the incident, was also the only person in all of Camp Half-Blood who didn't mind being in my cabin. Everyone else thinks it's creepy, but for Cynthia, the radiation of death in my cabin is no different than the radiation of black magic in hers. So, Cynthia visits often….yeah, not really. "So…can I see the letter?" I asked once Cynthia and I were settled. Cynthia sniffed and handed me the paper. I squinted to read it, since the letters were faded from getting wet and the green curly writing was practically torture on my eyes. What I finally made out was this:

Dear Miss Sparksa,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

Headmistress

I handed Cynthia the letter back when I'd finished reading it. "Wow," I said. Cynthia nodded. "What do you think I should do?" she asked, surprising me in how much she seemed to trust me. I held out my hand and Cynthia gave me the letter again. I reread it about ten times before finally deciding, "This 'Hogwarts' place is obviously some kind of evil organization that recruits demigods by making them think the headquarters is a school and then works them all to death." Yes, I know that I was epically looking on the dark side right now, but I was tired and annoyed and I really just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Well what do I do?" Cynthia repeated. I thought about it. "You go to the place and bomb it." With that, I lay back against the wall and closed my eyes. Cynthia shook my shoulder, refusing to let me sleep. "Nico?" she whispered. I opened one eye. "I just had an idea," Cynthia continued. I nodded. "You should come with me." I jumped out of bed. "Uh uh! No way! Not gonna happen!" I screamed. "Oh, come on, Nico; it'll be fun." After a long winded argument, I finally agreed and Cynthia let me sleep. But instead, I just sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and closed my eyes. Girls.