[Special] A Call from Home
There is something interesting about electrical devices in the magical world. When they get too close to magic, they start to fail; sparks jump, lights flicker, and everything turns unstable. That is why phones are such a strange sight at Hogwarts or anywhere heavily saturated with magic. But that does not mean there are no other ways to communicate. It is just that, on one hand, they are archaic, and on the other, frankly strange.
One of them, and the most normal one, is using messenger animals; owls, barn owls, even pigeons. Though the last ones are rare, since they cannot carry letters that are too heavy or packages like the others can. After all, they are not magical birds.
The other is using the fireplaces of the Floo Network. Instead of traveling to the other person's house, you simply stick your head into the fireplace and pull it out through the one belonging to whoever you want to talk to. And it is truly strange. Because on one side you are crouched over the fire with smoke in your face, and on the other side there is only your head emerging from the flames, speaking as if that were the most normal thing in the world.
Back then, Harry and Percy found it funny. Like a game of whack-a-mole. But when they accidentally punched Sirius while he was trying to contact them, they ended up being scolded by their mother for the entire afternoon.
Now, going back to calls and phones. At Hogwarts, obviously, they cannot be made. But at Camp Half-Blood it seems the same problem does not exist… though there is a worse one. Apparently, using phones or any object that transmits signals could allow certain special monsters to sense demigods. As if they were sending out a bright flare in the dark. And if a cellphone entered the camp, it could attract monsters from all over the world straight to it. That is why cellphones, telephones, and even radios were completely forbidden.
Fortunately for Harry and Percy, they had a way to communicate with their mother. And it was the two-way mirror their Aunt Mor had created long ago.
Thanks to that, they were able to talk even while at Hogwarts, and it helped quite a bit at camp as well. From the very first day, Harry or Percy would call to tell her about their daily lives. Normal things; no dangerous details.
Because, of course, they would never tell her that they were going on a possibly dangerous quest outside the camp where they had promised to stay until summer ended and then return home as if everything had been nothing more than an ordinary camp.
As the four children walked through the dark forest, the rain began to ease slightly, though a thin drizzle still fell over them. Drops slid down the leaves, the ground was damp, and the air carried that thick scent of wet earth.
Suddenly, from inside Harry's pouch, a faint sound began to echo. As if someone were gently tapping a finger against glass.
At the sound of that rhythmic and familiar knocking, both Harry and Percy froze at once, stopping in perfect unison. Their bodies went rigid in the exact same position.
Grover and Annabeth noticed and turned to look at them, puzzled.
"What is wrong with you?" Annabeth asked, frowning.
But Percy and Harry's faces filled with panic. Even more than when the Furies had appeared in front of them. And once again, the rhythmic sound came from Harry's bag.
"Oh no… what do we do?" Percy said immediately as he heard the familiar tapping again. "Quick, we need to build a Camp Half-Blood right now," he added, glancing around as if he could raise a wall with his bare hands.
Meanwhile, Harry clutched his head, turning in circles, searching for something. Maybe a place to hide. Maybe a miracle.
"What is wrong with them?" Annabeth asked again, this time looking at Grover, because it was clear she would not get a coherent answer from the brothers.
Grover frowned, trying to remember where he recognized that tapping from. Until he realized.
"Ah… it is that mirror, right?" he said, staring at the boys in complete chaos and panic. Then his expression shifted to concern as well. "Their mother is calling."
"What? Calling? Do they… have a cellphone?" Annabeth asked seriously, a little nervous, knowing what that implied.
"No, no. It is a special object. Kind of like Iris messaging, but through a mirror. They use it to talk to their mother," Grover explained quickly.
"Oh… then I suppose that is fine. Just answer it," she said casually.
"Are you stupid?" Percy blurted out instantly.
"Stupid? What did you just say, seaweed brain?" she shot back, offended by the insult.
"That you are…"
Before Percy could continue, Harry cut him off.
"This is not the time for your argument. We have to answer Mom or she will worry," Harry said urgently, grabbing the pouch at his waist as if it were a hot potato.
"Yes, of course. Let us answer right now, in the middle of a dark forest, with no possible signs of life around us, under the rain, in complete darkness, and with the possibility that a Fury might jump out and attack us at any second. That will worry her much less," Percy replied, staring at his brother in disbelief.
"Then what do you suggest?" Harry shouted.
They both seemed to be losing their minds, while Annabeth and Grover simply stared at them, completely confused.
…
Meanwhile, back at home, Sally was sitting on the living room sofa beside the fireplace. The fire crackled softly, bathing the room in warm light. Mor, who seemed to have arrived not long ago, was sipping a glass of wine after a rather busy day.
"Mmm… could they have gone to bed early?" Sally wondered aloud as she glanced at the clock on the wall.
There were two of them. One showed the time in England; the other the time in the United States, specifically where they were supposed to be at Camp Half-Blood.
"It should be around eight over there," Sally added, her expression slightly puzzled.
"Maybe they are simply having so much fun that they forgot to call," Mor said with a faint smile. Then she fell silent for a moment and let out a small amused laugh. "Yes, of course," she added, knowing perfectly well it would be impossible for those two mama's boys to forget to call home.
Sally shot her a sideways glance with a subtle smile at her words. But her eyes returned to the mirror in her hand before she gently tapped its center with her finger in a steady rhythm.
Her reflection began to tremble softly, as if the surface of the glass were turning liquid.
"Oh, there they are," Sally said when the faces of her beloved sons appeared.
But her expression shifted to mild confusion as she looked more closely.
Harry and Percy were there, smiling brightly. For some completely unknown reason, they were soaked. Covered in what looked like bark. Or more specifically… were they inside a tree trunk?
"Hi, Mom. How are you?" they both said with wide smiles, while the light from Harry's wand illuminated them from below, casting rather unconvincing shadows.
Sally stared at them.
"Where are you, and why are you completely drenched?" she asked first.
"Oh, this?" Percy said with forced calm while Harry kept his mouth firmly shut. "We are at camp, of course. It is just that we are in a… survival workshop," he added, as if the idea had come to him that very second. Which, clearly, it had.
"A survival workshop?" Sally repeated, studying them carefully. Especially Harry, who said nothing and was trying very hard not to meet her eyes.
"You know, they leave us in the forest and we have to find our own food and all that. But it started raining, so we are hiding here. The camp is not far," Percy explained quickly.
"Ohhh… is it? Show me," Sally said as her smile slowly faded, replaced by a more serious look that only made the two of them panic more.
"Uh… yes. Well. The thing is, if we step out now we will get even wetter, and you would not want us catching a cold, right? You know I like water, but Harry is not really a fan and he gets sick fast," Percy said, turning toward his brother and staring at him pointedly.
Harry had no idea what that look meant. Percy began making subtle gestures, while Harry silently mouthed that he had no idea what he was talking about. Until suddenly he seemed to understand the implication.
For a full second, no one spoke.
From the mirror, Sally continued watching them without saying a word.
"Cough, cough," Harry said. He actually said the words.
Percy stared at him in absolute confusion while Harry gave him a look that clearly said, what did you expect me to do?
Percy turned back toward the mirror, trying to sound as natural as possible.
"Well, you know… the magical world has magical illnesses. But camp has camp… illnesses," he improvised, stumbling slightly at the end.
Outside the hollow trunk, standing guard, were Grover and Annabeth. She glanced at Grover as if she could not decide whether Percy and Harry were real or simply some strange product of her imagination.
Grover, for his part, was making a heroic effort not to burst out laughing.
"Well, Mom, we have to keep… you know… surviving. So we will call later. You know we love you very much. Remember to eat well and not work too hard," Percy said quickly, noticing that his mother's gaze remained fixed on both of them.
"Yes, I love you very much too," she replied in a dry tone, not stopping them, while narrowing her eyes ever so slightly.
Percy quickly shoved the mirror back into Harry's pouch before Sally could say a single word more.
Then he turned to his brother.
"'Cough, cough'? Seriously?" he asked.
"Well… I got nervous. You know I don't like lying to Mom," Harry replied.
"Ahhh… I hope she believed that," Percy said.
But Harry chose to remain silent, because he was fairly certain she had not believed a single word.
Meanwhile, on Sally's side, once the boys vanished from the mirror, the room seemed to grow quieter.
The fire still crackled. But she did not move.
Her expression was completely serious.
"Their lying isn't getting any better," Mor commented, amused, taking another small sip from her glass.
"I need to call Adrien and the others," Sally said, rising from the sofa and walking quickly toward the phone.
"Oh, tell them to hurry up and catch them. Knowing those two, it will not take long before they are miles away from camp," Mor added calmly.
That only made Sally quicken her pace toward the phone in her office.
When Mor saw Sally leave, her expression changed. The smile disappeared completely, replaced by something far more serious. Almost annoyed.
"They were supposed to be safe at your camp… garbage," she muttered, this time without a trace of humor.
Then she sighed, staring into the flames of the fireplace.
"I had better speed everything up so they do not have to go back to that stupid camp," she added, the irritation in her voice no longer hidden at all.