Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. and Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus belong to Rick Riordan. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.

Warning: I've played around a little with the timelines. Harry Potter now occurs in the 2000s rather than the 1990s so that both series are simultaneous.

Fatal Half-Bloods

They hadn't expected this; they hadn't wanted this. Who would want to be captured by people who wielded wooden sticks and managed to use magic as well as a child of Hecate/Trivia and were utterly insane? They were being called "Muggles," for gods' sake. It was no wonder they wanted to escape from the dungeons they were being held captive in as other so-called Muggles were taken upstairs one-by-one, the sounds of screaming echoing down to the cells.

When Death Eaters had captured this group of particular Muggles, they had no idea what they were getting into.

…

"Never again," Nico swore as he rushed to step off the ship Percy had been controlling from Camp Half-Blood to England. The son of Hades' face had a green tinge to it, his sister Hazel looking no better as she followed her brother from the ship, having already thrown up multiple times on the three-day trip overseas.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Percy protested, having attempted to keep the ride as smooth as possible for his friends.

"Says you, Kelp Head," Thalia muttered as she followed the other two, though she didn't rush as they had. She hadn't gotten seasick, but everyone knew it had been a very near thing for both her and her brother Jason, who had also stepped off the ship. "There's a reason I've never been on a ship, you know."

Percy rolled his eyes as he repeated what he had been told multiple times by various people throughout the trip: "'I am a child of the Big Three, and travelling in another's domain is anything but fun.'" He sighed before he continued. "Yeah, yeah, I get it; I hate flying. My father approved this trip and even kept it smoother, though! It wasn't that bad. Believe me, it could have been a lot worse."

Before any of the four ill-looking teens could retort, Annabeth spoke up from next to Percy, "He's right, you know. The one time he flew on a plane, Zeus made the flight terrible, buffeting the plane even though he didn't blow it up. Poseidon appears to be the kindest of the gods when it comes to travelling in his domain." Thunder roared above them, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes. "It's true, you know," she stated as she glanced up at the sky, and her response was silence, which was answer enough.

"I don't care," Jason muttered. "At least the Argo II was common ground between Neptune and Jupiter; this ship wasn't." Not even Percy could disagree with that idea and only shrugged at the point brought up by the son of Jupiter.

"Well, if you four have regained your stomachs, maybe we can finally look around?" Leo suggested as he glanced around eagerly, Piper also appearing interested by their surroundings.

The group of demigods – ranging from children of both Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, with a Lieutenant of Artemis along for the ride – had been given permission from both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter to take a trip to England for a well-earned vacation after the chaos that was the battle with Gaia and the Giants. While only Percy, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and Annabeth had been part of the Great Prophecy, Thalia and Nico had been quite involved in their own ways yet again, and so had been included. It was hoped that, by being on a different continent from Olympus, they might actually have a monster-free time, at least for a little while.

"Let's get to the hotel and rest for the night, Leo," Piper said, glancing at the four teens. "It will give everyone a chance to recover and rest. We'll go exploring tomorrow."

"Fine," Leo sighed, sounding very put-upon as he pouted a little and stopped looking around like a little kid in a toy store. Instead, he reached into the tool belt around his waist and pulled out some random metal and nuts and bolts, his fingers unconsciously creating something to distract himself slightly.

The others, however, sent Piper grateful looks that she returned with a smile, knowing they were all tired after the voyage and in need of sleep before they could do anything more.

It didn't take long to gather their belongings and head off to the nearby hotel that had been pre-booked by Hermes. After eating, showering, and talking a little, the group quickly fell asleep in the various rooms, sleeping deeply.

…

Over the next three days, the demigods travelled west to London, before Annabeth took over and led them through many of the tourist attractions. Not only did they visit the obvious like Big Ben, the London Eye, the National Gallery, and the Tower of London, but they also saw Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the London Zoo, and at least three museums. Despite the fact that most of the trip so far had been educational and filled with random facts from the Daughter of Athena, none of the half-bloods could deny that it wasn't a wonderful break and interesting. However, that didn't stop the others from being grateful when Percy did what they believed was impossible and convinced his girlfriend to allow them to spend the fourth day at one of the numerous amusement parts London held.

As the plan was to spend only a week in London before moving onto another part of the United Kingdom, the others managed to convince Annabeth that they should spend the fifth day just walking around London. Oh how they could come to regret that decision…

…

"Come on, just one arcade!" Leo whined as he pointed to said building. However, three demigods would have none of it.

"Terrible memories of arcades, Leo," Percy stated, Annabeth and Nico nodding furiously in agreement as he did. Almost as one, they all glanced at the blinking lights of the games and turned away, shuddering as they recalled another building full of amazing games that had held them captive, one could say.

"But!" Leo began. He was interrupted, however, when Jason put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Let it go, man," Jason advised. "There are some funny things in our world, and not all of them leave pleasant memories." Leo stared at Jason for a moment before nodding, more somber than just moments before as he recalled what he had survived since finding out he was a demigod.

"Sorry," the son of Hephaestus muttered, but the three shook their heads.

"It's not your fault, Leo," Annabeth assured him. "We just had some bad times in Las Vegas in a casino that was full of video games." Leo's eyes lit up at the thought, but he stayed quiet, realizing that the fact that they never wanted to return meant he most likely wouldn't like the place.

"Why don't we go to Starbucks?" Piper suggested, pointing out the coffee store just down the road. At the unanimous agreement, they all headed down the road, and that was when things went bad.

Out of nowhere, people in black, hooded cloaks appeared, almost as if they had shadow-traveled. They wore silver masks that covered their faces except for their eyes. Having never seen anything like these people, the half-bloods froze in shock and fear, which only grew as the cloaked figures pulled out wooden sticks and began muttering in Latin – though it was too quiet for any of them to understand, only to recognize the language – making bursts of light leave the sticks. As the green lights hit people, they fell over, eyes glazed over in instant death. Some of the red lights set buildings on fire. All around, people were screaming in fear as they tried to run.

Nico, Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia came out of their shock fastest as they were reminded of Manhattan when Kronos invaded. Moving quickly, they shook the others, startling them out of their frozen states. Thalia went to pull a hunting knife from each sleeve of her jacket when she muttered a curse in Greek.

"They're mortal!" she exclaimed, fighting the urge to curse even more. Around her, the others recognized the problem and began their own muttered curses in either Latin or Greek, some even using both. The only weapons any of them had with them were Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold, neither of which affected mortals. Without a weapon to fight, they couldn't help.

"Percy, can you understand what they're saying?" Jason suddenly asked, his head turning to his right ear faced the figures to better hear. Nico, Percy, Frank, and Hazel all turned in the same direction Jason was facing, attempting to hear the Latin better. Out of the nine, the five of them understood the language best due to their time at Camp Jupiter; even Percy's short time there had adjusted his mind for the language better than it had been before.

"Some of it sounds like gibberish, but some of it…" Nico began, trailing off as he began to pale.

"No, it can't be," Frank breathed, worrying Leo, Piper, Thalia, and Annabeth as they watched the five pale just as much as Nico.

"What is it?" Annabeth and Thalia demanded together, Annabeth attempting to understand the Latin she had practiced over the years but having trouble.

"The way they're speaking, the words they're using…" Hazel couldn't finish her sentence, shaking her head in despair.

"They're talking like the children and descendants of Trivia did at Camp Jupiter, the children of Hecate," Percy finally reported, his expression pained. "We're dealing with magic."

At that statement, the demigods were silent. They had all personally seen what the powers of those demigods who descended from Hecate/Trivia could do, and they were scary when they wished to be. Able to freeze people, tie them up, levitate them, and even put them to sleep, those with magic could do a lot to others, and that wasn't even counting what they could do to non-animate objects.

Looking at these people with their wooden sticks, all nine half-bloods felt fear. They had faced down gods, Titans, Giants, and monsters between them, yet seeing the power of these people almost seemed worse, because they were more powerful than any half-blood with magic at either camp, and these people weren't under ancient laws that required a demigod challenge them before they could attack said demigod. And the teens couldn't fight them, because despite their magic, they weren't monsters by the definition of Olympus, even if they were monsters for killing so easily.

"They aren't half-bloods, are they?" Frank sighed, and the others shook their heads slowly. "I was afraid of that." They all had a feeling they weren't; they just knew.

"Not at that age without being in America at one of the camps," Thalia said.

"Chiron told me the gods find ways to get their children to the US so they can be found by satyrs or Lupa," Annabeth added. "However, they may be blessed by Hecate, what with their magic."

Unfortunately, she had said that last word just a little too loudly, because one of the masked figures turned and noticed them. As a group, the demigods began to back away as the figure moved towards them quickly, stick raised as he or she studied the teens carefully. None of the demigods knew how to get themselves out of this situation, and just as Percy was wondering if uncapping Riptide might get the person to leave them alone, said figure turned a little to find a comrade.

"Oi, Malfoy!" he called, obviously male by his voice. "Got a group of nine over here who know about our world!" Another figure turned at that, blond hair visible around the mask and inside the hood.

"Stun them and bring them," Malfoy replied. "The Dark Lord will be interested in this." Then he turned away and called out orders to the other figures. "Capture as many as you can, now! The Master wants Muggles to have some fun with. Leave once you have someone in your grasp." At that, the man spun on his heel and disappeared.

Before any of the demigods could react, red lights began to flash and hit them, knocking them unconscious one-by-one.

…

When they slowly awoke, they found themselves in a large cell in some sort of dungeon. Surprisingly, they had all regained consciousness within the same minute, and the next couple of minutes were spent checking themselves over. Other than a few bruises, no one was injured, and they all still had their weapons, most likely due to the Mist.

"Annabeth, are you sure they have the blessing of Trivia?" Jason questioned quietly once they had all settled down leaning against the cell walls. The daughter of Athena looked pained as she was forced to nod.

"As much as I don't understand how any of the gods could bless people like these, there isn't really another way for them to have magic," she admitted. "She most likely blessed their ancestors for some reason or another, and now she watches over this generation of magicians."

"Great," Percy, Thalia, Nico, and Piper muttered, frowning.

While they were talking, Leo knelt by the cell door, inspecting the lock and thinking. Reaching into his tool belt, which had been miraculously left alone, he pulled out lock picks and began fiddling with the lock, twisting and turning the pieces of metal until a click echoed slightly in the quiet dungeons. Smiling proudly, Leo turned to the others to find them looking pleased that he had worked so quickly, for they had all seen him pick locks before. However, Annabeth was frowning, and when Jason, Thalia, and Percy caught sight of her expression, understanding dawned on their faces before they, too, frowned a little.

"Nicely done, Leo, but you should probably lock the cell again," Annabeth told him quietly, surprising Leo. Before he could complain, she elaborated, "We can't let these people realize we can escape until we have a plan to get out of here." Nodding, Leo quickly locked the cell back up, slipping the lock picks back into his belt and settling down against the wall. Even if it had been ill-timed, at least they now knew he could get them out of the cell at any time; that was worth something.

"Do you have a plan, then, Wise Girl?" Percy asked, and Annabeth frowned a little. Before Annabeth had a chance to even open her mouth, a voice echoed around the dungeons.

"Hello, is someone else here?" a young, female voice called. Suddenly, the dungeon was alive with voices and noise as people began calling around. Many were trying to find out if loved ones were also there, while others were crying in fear and begging to know what was going to happen to them and what was going on. It was as if most of them had also been unconscious and had only just woken up, or perhaps they had been so afraid that they hadn't spoken until one person was brave enough to be heard by everyone. Either way, it was a shock for the demigods to realize just how many people were actually in the dungeons with them.

"We have to get them out of here," Hazel whispered, her face full of despair.

"I think we need to figure out how to get ourselves out first," Frank reminded her sadly, putting his arm around her shoulders as she leaned her head against his shoulder. She could only sigh and nod. The son of Mars looked up at Annabeth, both of them sharing an understanding look; they were the strategists of the group.

However, before anyone could say anything more, a door opened above them, and footsteps were heard almost stomping down the stairs. The person stopped a few cells down, and that door suddenly banged open.

"Up, you disgusting Muggles," the man sneered as if he was looking at the worst filth he had ever seen. "The Master would like to see you…" With that ominous statement, what sounded like five different people were shoved up the stairs by the man before the door was shut and locked audibly.

Silence rang in the dungeons for the next few minutes before the screaming began. Horrible, pain-filled screams echoed down into the dungeons as the people who had been taken upstairs were quite obviously tortured in some way. The demigods could only wince and shiver as they took in the yells, not wanting to know what could draw such noises from humans.

"Nico, see if you can shadow travel upstairs and see what's going on," Annabeth suggested so quietly she was barely audible, her voice strained. The son of Hades nodded and ran into the shadows, disappearing from the cell. He was back within a minute, his face even paler than almost anyone had seen him, his dark eyes wide in horror as he shook. Hazel ran over to him and put her arm around his waist, helping him stay upright as he took in many deep breaths.

"They – they're being tortured by magic from those wands," he reported in a hoarse voice. "The way they're twitching and screaming… A couple have already lost their minds, and two more are dead. The last is still being tortured. I think they're coming for more soon." Nico shuddered as the rest couldn't even imagine what he had seen. "And that's not even the worst part. These monsters are ENJOYING it!" he exclaimed, though his voice was still quiet. "They laugh and egg one another on, asking if they can have the next turn." Nico couldn't say anything more after that, too busy shuddering at the mental images this had created.

"We need to get rid of these people," Percy stated, his fist clenched around Riptide in pen form. He obviously wished he could uncap the sword so he could turn these monsters to dust, but just like with his first step-father, they were, by the loosest definition, mortal.

"Yes, but first, Nico, what else did you see up there?" Frank asked hurriedly.

"They're in a large, empty room that used to have a bunch of heavy furniture in it, I think," Nico said, finally standing on his own and looking slightly, very slightly, less shaky. "There were scrape marks all over the stone floor." He paled even more. "I could smell blood and death in the air, and the floor is stained red." The whole group shuddered at that. "The only piece of furniture in the room is a throne."

"A throne?" Thalia asked, an eyebrow raised. "Do you mean a throne like the gods', or…"

"A throne fit for a king, but not gigantic like the gods'," Nico replied. "Sitting on it was this really weird guy. His face looked like a snake's, and he had shining red eyes. Just like everyone else, he was wearing black robes, but he was unmasked. He was just sitting there easily, almost relaxed, a very thin smile on his lips. In his hands, he had this wand that he was rubbing a little as he watched. Really disturbing."

"Do you think he's a son of Hades or Pluto?" Jason had to ask, and Nico shook his head very quickly, looking quite ill at the thought.

"No, I can sense a child of my father if we're within half a mile of one another, and that – that monster most certainly isn't one," Nico stated vehemently. "I'm not even sure how human he is anymore. I don't normally sense this, but his soul… it's completely massacred, like he tore it into pieces and left them around Britain to keep himself from truly dying. Without a full soul, he would never make it into the Underworld, just float around up here without a body until all the pieces of his soul were released from whatever containers he's hidden them in."

It was hard not to be horrified at this news. Someone willing to tear apart his soul just so that he could not die? How could anyone be willing to do that?

"Do you think we could kill him with our weapons?" Piper quietly asked, and Nico shrugged. They all took that to mean he had no idea.

"We need a plan," Percy decided, looking at Annabeth and Frank desperately. They nodded and went into a corner of the cell together, whispering back and forth.

While they did that, the others grouped together and tried not to imagine what the people upstairs were doing as the door opened and more of these so-called Muggles – whatever they were – were taken upstairs and tortured just as the first group was. The screams grew so bad that Piper and Hazel actually threw up at one point, with Leo not far from it. It was only a long history of terrible events that kept the rest from doing the same, while strategy kept Frank from it.

Finally, the pair rejoined the others, looking like they had a plan. The next hour, with three cells being taken upstairs, was filled with discussion as the plan was hashed out between the group of demigods. No one could deny it was a good plan, but that didn't mean any of them enjoyed the situation at all.

Soon, a man came downstairs and stopped at their cell, a sneer on his unmasked face. "Well, well, it seems we've gotten to the Mudbloods, or are you Muggles just like the rest of them? I guess we'll find out. Get out here. The Dark Lord wishes to meet you." The door slammed open at a wave of the man's wand, and the demigods silently followed him up the stairs and into the room Nico had described.

Blood and death met their nostrils as they entered the room, the bodies of the people who had come in here before them piled into a corner of the room. At the opposite end from the large doors sat a throne where the man Nico had described watched them, red eyes glowing maliciously as he took them in.

They were shoved until they stood right before this man, before being told to "Kneel, filth," by the man behind them. As they knelt, they took in the masked men with black robes and hoods around the silver masks. Wands were visible in their hands, and their body stances spoke of anticipation. Most were quite eager and didn't even pretend to hide it, some even chuckling as they realized they were all teenagers.

"Well, well, well, you must be the Mudbloods, or do you perhaps have family who are witches and wizards?" the man who was obviously the leader asked in a soft, dangerous voice. Rather than replying, the demigods stayed silent, as they had planned. "Not talking? Perhaps this will loosen the tongue of one of you. Crucio." Nico, Hazel, Frank, Percy, and Jason looked up in horror as the beam of magic hit Piper, drawing the worst scream they had ever heard from her as she twitched terribly, hitting the ground hard.

Even as Piper screamed and the others in the room laughed, Percy used his senses to pick up on the water in the next room. Hazel was silently feeling all the jewelry these people were wearing, shocked at the amount even as she recognized the masks were truly silver and easy to control. A sudden, light wind began to blow in the room as the smell of ozone thickened. Leo began to let off smoke slightly while the ground began to shake, though it went unnoticed.

Finally, the curse was lifted, and Piper panted as she shook with aftershocks, eyes closed. Annabeth, who was closest to her, laid a hand on her arm, and Piper opened her eyes to see the worry in Annabeth's grey ones, smiling gently at the daughter of Athena. The daughter of Aphrodite turned enough to see Jason watching her with worry plain in his blue eyes, and then she recognized the signs of her friends' demigod powers building up in the air. Shaking her head slightly, she slowly pushed herself up from the ground and looked up at the man before them defiantly, showing she wouldn't be beaten.

"Now, speak up, or the youngest girl gets it next," the man ordered, gesturing towards Hazel, which made ground shake just a sliver more and the water pressure begin to rise.

"We are neither magical, nor do we know anyone magical," Annabeth stated clearly, her grey eyes hard as she looked around the room.

"No, we aren't, and now you will stop wishing to attack us," Piper added, an edge to her voice that entranced the people around them except for the leader on the throne. Wands were put away as this man's followers obeyed Piper's charmspeak, finding nothing unreasonable in her statement.

"No! Draw your wands! Attack them!" the man screamed, but Piper continued her words of, "Do not attack us, leave your wands in your pockets and robes, and leave us alone."

Furious at the lack of response from his followers, the man aimed his wand at Hazel and said, "Crucio!" yet again, but this time, a skeleton rose from a sudden crack the ground to take the spell for her. The man was utterly shocked as he took in more skeletons breaking free of the ground even as a huge crack appeared in the ground, quickly tearing apart the ground beneath his throne as the earth shook harshly, an earthquake making the entire building quiver. Just before his throne was completely engulfed by the fissure, the man jumped from it and to the side, where the skeletons awaited him.

Around the room, more skeletons appeared behind the masked people, grabbing them tightly even as their robes were lit on fire as Leo launched blasts of fire at them. Their masks began to change shape to cover their eyes and fit their faces even more, barely allowing them to breathe as the air holes by their noses shrunk in size, slowly but surely. Their necklaces and rings and other jewelry suddenly flew off their bodies and began to turn into manacles for their wrists and ankles up, tightening so as to not leave them any chance of escape.

Wind picked up in the room and lightning tore apart the ceiling as bolts began to hit the masked people, killing those hit instantly. Then, a huge wave destroyed the wall behind where the throne used to be, avoiding the demigods as it swept up the followers and allowed the lightning to shock them all over and over.

Percy uncapped Riptide and ran up to the leader, attempting to stab him through the heart, but the sword went straight through him just as it had once done to Rachel, and Percy muttered curses in both Greek and Latin. "Weapons won't work on him!" he called, and the others all heard and put their weapons away. As he jumped back from the man and capped Riptide, Percy waited for Nico to tell them what he had found out in the past few minutes.

"His soul pieces are connected to this one, but it's very thin," the boy reported. "I've sent skeletons to bring the objects here to us so we can destroy them along with the man. My father will deal with him. I'll even send him a message to be sure he gets the Field of Punishment along with all of his followers."

"Wait, Nico, this one is still alive, and while his soul is dark, he also shows signs of light. He doesn't deserve death," Hazel told him. "Come check. Perhaps he's a spy?"

While Jason, Thalia, and Percy continued to keep an eye on the leader as they controlled their electricity and water so that the other followers either died or remained unconscious, the others went over to where Hazel and Frank were standing. This man had a long, slightly hooked nose, and he obviously was among the followers, but both Hazel and Nico were looking at him curiously.

"He…" Nico paused and look a deep breath. "He reminds me of Luke, when I saw him in the Underworld." Those who had known Luke winced but stayed silent. "This man has had a hard life full of darkness, but he's tried to change for the better. Unfortunately, I think he was hit with the electricity in the water. He won't make it." Everyone was silent as they heard this, even as the man suddenly woke up with a pained moan.

"Sir, what's your name?" Piper asked him quietly, a little charmspeak in her voice so he would respond. No one had forgotten the leader, but Percy had surrounded him in a ball of water that he couldn't get out of while they waited on Nico's skeletons.

"Severus Snape," the man gasped through his pain, dark eyes taking them all in cautiously. "The – the Dark Lord?"

"As good as dead," Nico responded. "He'll be dead within the hour." Severus Snape nodded once.

"Use one of the owls upstairs," the dying man managed to get out, "write a letter to Albus Dumbledore and tell him Lord Voldemort is dead." The man paused before saying the name 'Voldemort,' but he got it out. "Tell him to go to Malfoy Manor. Then you must leave before someone finds you."

"We will," Annabeth promised, and the man nodded.

"You lived an honorable life, Severus Snape," Hazel whispered, and the man looked at her in disbelief, but she shook her head. "I did so much in my past I regret, just as you did, but it is what you do after your mistakes that shows the sort of person you are. My friends taught me that." She smiled slightly at those in the room. "You'll be honored in death; I can promise you that. If you know of Greek and Roman Mythology, you will go to Elysium, without a doubt. Nico and I will make certain of it."

Severus Snape gasped in pain and coughed up blood even as he nodded in acknowledgement, obviously knowing of the myths. His dark eyes appeared grateful. "Thank you," he whispered, and then he breathed his last, eyes closing as he did so.

All was silent in the room for a few moments before Nico's skeletons returned, breaking the trance. Nico and Hazel lightly touched the man's forehead before they each finished closing one of his eyelids. In a whisper, the demigods whispered prayers in Greek and Latin for the man.

Then, they returned to the leader standing before them. Around the room, the water had lowered, leaving the room in only ankle-deep water rather than the waist-high it had been before, though it still didn't touch them. The skeletons had placed a tiara – or a diadem, as Annabeth called it when she saw it – a cup that reminded them of some sort of trophy, a locket with a snake on it, a ring with a black stone, a snake, and a teenage boy who appeared to just barely be sixteen. The boy had black hair, a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, and was unconscious.

"How is a piece of soul in the boy?" Annabeth gasped, and Nico walked over to the boy, touching his scar lightly.

"It's in his scar, somehow," Nico sighed. "I'll have to use my sword to pull the soul out of it." Before anyone could stop him, Nico pulled his black sword from its sheath on his belt and pressed the tip of it to the boy's scar, slowly pulling it back so that they could all see a black mist being drawn out of the scar with it. Finally, the mist was completely out of the scar, and it dissipated with a scream. "Now, to destroy the rest…" Nico muttered, though they all heard him.

As the leader watched in horror, Nico touched the tip of his sword to each of the objects except the snake, repeating the process of drawing out the pieces of soul so they could dissipate with screams. The snake Nico just killed without mercy, chopping off its head.

"How did that work?" Piper quietly asked.

"Souls," Nico responded as he sheathed his sword again. "I might not be able to hurt mortals with my sword, but I can deal with souls when something is wrong with them, like in this situation. It's rare I can do it, though." No one had a response to that.

"What about this monster?" Thalia questioned, glaring at the leader, still stuck in Percy's water bubble. "Can it kill him as well?"

"Unfortunately not," Nico growled as he also glared at the man.

"Of course, if you ask Percy nicely, he might put a line of water on the man so you can electrocute the bubble and kill him," Frank told the furious Hunter. Said Hunter turned to her cousin expectantly, and Percy just stared at her.

"Fine…" she muttered darkly. "Percy, can you please make it so I can kill this bastard and get this over with?"

"Well, since you said please," Percy replied with a smirk as a tendril of water extended from the bubble and wrapped around the man – supposedly called Lord Voldemort – from neck to ankles. Thalia grinned maliciously as she and Jason both raised their hands to call down one final, large bolt of lightning, which hit the top of the bubble and ran through the entire thing, turning the so-called Dark Lord into dust.

"And there we go," Thalia stated, brushing her hands off. "That's how you kill idiots."

Even in the sad and terrible situation, the group couldn't help but snort quietly at her remark. However, the melancholy mood returned, and they all fell silent as they took in the destruction around them, bodies of the monster's followers lying on the floor, most dead with a handful just barely holding on. There wasn't really anything to say as they slowly began to pile the dead into piles around the edges of the large room and Percy willed away the water.

Once the room was cleaned up enough for them to move around, they made their way into the dungeons again and found some rocks had fallen from the ceiling, but they had all fallen in the middle of the dungeons rather than on any of the cells, though some appeared to have rolled off the cells as if they had protections on them. In any case, the mortals in the room were frightened and cowering in the corners of their cells. They even flinched away when the demigods came into sight, but Leo just worked on picking the locks on each cell while Piper used her charmspeak to calm them down.

Eventually, everyone was free from their cells, but most of the mortals remained in the dungeons, afraid of what could be awaiting them upstairs. Of the handful that went up there, only three returned and weren't sick from what they had seen, which didn't help the frightened ones.

With the mortals taken care of, the demigods remained together as they explored the manor and found parchment, ink, and quills, which seemed to be the only writing utensils in the entire place. It took even Annabeth a few tries to get used to them, but in the end, it was Frank who wrote the letter, since he was the only one of the group without any dyslexia to speak of. Then, they went to the top floor and found the room with five owls on perches, sleeping until the demigods entered and woke them up. A falcon took the letter once they told it who to send it to, flying out of a window that appeared to be closed and actually was when they tried to put a hand against it; it seemed either it or the birds were charmed, perhaps even both.

"This place is weird," Leo declared as they watched the falcon fly from sight, which was really saying something due to who was saying it, but no one could deny what he said.

"They seem so… old-fashion," Piper decided slowly. "Quills, parchment, torches – it's almost as if they haven't heard of electricity before."

"Maybe their magic doesn't work well around it," Annabeth suggested. "The Hecate children use magic, but it's in smaller amounts, not at all like this."

"I've noticed what electronics we have at camp sometimes flicker when the Hecate kids are there," Percy admitted, "but I hadn't really thought anything of it until now." As the rest thought about it, they realized Percy was right; perhaps there was something about magic and electricity that just didn't work well with one another.

"Well, whatever it is, we can discuss it later," Thalia stated, "because we need to get out of here before this Dumbledore guy comes and finds us here."

"What about the mortals?" Jason asked, and Thalia blinked before nodding.

"Meet me at the entrance in five minutes," she told them, rushing from the room and heading down to the dungeons before anyone could say anything. She had left the others no other choice but to hurry down to the entrance to the manor and wait for her. When she arrived, all she told them was, "The mortals remember a group of mortals who managed to fight these people and a lot of loud noises. They can't remember our faces at all. Some sort of magic opened their cells when the people up here died."

"How did she do that?" Leo whispered to Jason, who shrugged.

"She manipulated the Mist," Percy explained quietly to Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel, and Frank. "Chiron taught her before she became a Hunter."

With that, conversation died as they tried to figure out a way to leave in a hurry. In the end, Nico shadow travelled to Mrs. O'Leary and brought her back with him. She took them three at a time to the alley by their hotel, including Hazel, who still hadn't mastered shadow travel like her brother.

"We should Iris Message Chiron or our parents," Annabeth reminded the group as they went to their rooms, all of them ready to crash after the day they had had.

With a sigh, Nico pulled Hazel with him to the bathroom in his room to try and make a rainbow so they could talk to their father. Percy and Annabeth decided to try to reach his father so that he could pass along the news, and Leo, Jason, and Piper contacted Chiron for the group. This left Frank to surprise Reyna once again as he alone told her of what had occurred. These people all had to know just in case the witches and wizards managed to figure out what had happened and tried to find the demigods for some unknown reason. It would also allow the gods to take care of Hecate, or at least talk to her.

Finally done with all they needed to do, the demigods went to the hotel restaurant to eat a quick meal before they took turns showering and getting ready for bed. It wasn't even eight o'clock when they were all in bed, but they were too exhausted to care and fell into deep sleeps, some plagued with nightmares of what had happened. Then, there was Percy, who had the most news to tell in the morning when they all woke up thanks to his demigod dream.

…

Lord Hades himself appeared before the ghosts of the dead as they stood in lines, waiting to either be judged or enter the Fields of Asphodel. Before the ghosts could even react to his sudden appearance, the god of death had found a group of newly-dead and purposely rounded them up with his powers. He personally escorted him through the Underworld to his castle, settling down on his throne as he studied the group before him, all but one chained with ghostly chains he had put on them. Then, his eyes settled on the leader, who actually looked human and his age of just over fifty, black hair receding and graying, his face lined.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Lord Hades eventually said, and the man before him flinched. "Your life has been very violent and destructive, and there is only one place in my domain you deserve: The Fields of Punishment. Welcome to your afterlife of eternal punishment." With a wave of his hand, Lord Hades sent the man who had become a monster to a newly created punishment just for him.

"As for the rest of you," Lord Hades continued, glancing down at the rest of the chained ghosts, "for following that man and committing horrific crimes to both the magical and non-magical worlds, you will also spend the rest of eternity in the Fields of Punishment." Another wave of his hand, and Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters were sent to their punishments as Hades created another, lesser torture just for them, separate from their master.

Finally, he looked down at Severus Snape, the one Death Eater who had been left free. It was almost as if the god wasn't sure what to make of the man before him. Severus Snape didn't flinch or show any signs of distress, though, as he sat there and waited for his verdict. He felt he deserved whatever he was given, because he had committed some of the worst crimes imaginable, in his mind, sending the Dark Lord after his love so that she died. No matter what he had done afterwards, spying on said Dark Lord, Severus Snape felt he had never made up for his crimes, so he waited for his punishment.

"My daughter was not wrong," the god eventually said, his form changing slightly until he was Lord Pluto rather than Lord Hades. "Despite the crimes you committed, you did everything in your power to make up for those mistakes. You even risked your life every moment you were in the presence of Tom Riddle, and knowing this, you did it anyway. In your own way, you were a hero, Severus Snape, and as my children decreed, you have earned Elysium. Enjoy eternity in paradise." Lord Pluto raised his hand, but before he waved Severus Snape away, he added, "By the way, she's there and waiting for you. Try to play nice with her husband. The past is the past, and Lily would never forgive you if you continued to live in it now."

Before Severus Snape could say a thing, Lord Pluto waved his hand, and the man disappeared. Then, Lord Pluto turned to face the son of Poseidon whose presence he had noted the moment he appeared.

"It is done, son of Poseidon," the god stated, returning to Lord Hades. "Tell your friends of these events." With a wave of his hand, the presence disappeared.

…

Severus Snape was a tortured soul, but the moment he arrived on Elysium, he felt at peace for the first time in many years. Just moments after he arrived, another ghost appeared before him, red hair and emerald green eyes just as bright in death as they had been in life. The ghost of Lily Evans Potter took in her childhood friend carefully before a slow smile grew on her lips and she held out a hand to him. Without a spoken word, Severus accepted her hand and willingly followed her to where James Potter and Sirius Black awaited him, finally believing he could let bygones be bygones.

…

Throughout the Wizarding world, witches and wizards cheered and cried with happiness as they found out that Lord Voldemort was finally dead for good this time, for Albus Dumbledore declared it after finding his Horcruxes empty of the Dark Lord's soul.

One Harry Potter, returned before he could even wake up and be noted as missing, could only feel relief as he and his friends celebrated the fact that he hadn't had to fight Voldemort like the Prophecy had foretold, though they still didn't know why. Either way, he was free, and his parents' murderer was dead and gone. What more could he ask for?

…

In a London hotel room, a group of nine demigods couldn't help but smile happily as one of them spoke of what Lord Hades had done and how Severus Snape had been accepted at Elysium.

Everything had worked out in the end.

This idea was inspired by my (annoying) friend, who gave me the idea at the worst possible time. I hope you enjoyed it. It's staying as a one-shot, so don't bother asking.