After escaping from both the Hermaphrodite and Circe, the kids watched as the police swarmed the place and rounded up the boys. Ron said, "And to think that everything in the world wants to tear you to pieces!"

"Or kill you," Percy added.

Jacquelyn shook her head, saying, "I just don't get why humans think they have to be the greatest. When I last checked, spellcasters and demigods were here long before humans were even created, and we'll still be here long after humanity dies out. God surely won't allow them to destroy the world he created for them any longer."

Annabeth said, "But what of those of us who interbreed with humans?"

"Who knows?" said Grover. "But I wonder if we have all the right tools?"

Ron took the hint and pulled out the POV gun, the wooden rosary beads, and the wand. Grover looked them over and said, "We have the gun and the wand, but I don't think that the beads were necessary."

"So you're saying that I nearly got myself killed for nothing?" Jacquelyn snapped as she tuned on Grover.

"No," said Grover nervously. "But I did find this in a book that was abandoned at the Arch." He pulled a book out of his pocket; this book was twelve and a half inches long, thirteen and a half inches wide, and two and a half inches thick. It was bound in bright orange leather and is in good shape. The cover was decorated in floral ornaments. The book contained many black and white illustrations.

The inside lining of the book read "This book is the property of Joanna Puckerman". Ron stared at the writings for a long time; they seemed to tell the story about a girl named Joanna, who was the disabled daughter of Betty and Gerald Puckerman. Joanna, who was loved by her parents, was teased mercilessly by scores of uncaring students and ignored by teachers. When she was just 15 years old, she was kidnapped by a well-meaning family friend, who took her to England. She eventually became pregnant and had a son, only to be slain by a witch who took her son from her.

Annabeth said, "Well, that answers so many of our questions, but I'm still confused. Why didn't anyone get out and search for this woman? How did they manage to sneak her out the country before anyone noticed? Who does stuff like this?"

"I don't know," said Percy. "In fact, who knows if this story is even real or not?"

"Mayhaps a trip to the hall of records ought to answer that question," said Grover.

They all walked down to the hall of records and slipped through an open window. But for some reason, they seemed to forget that Clarisse La Rue was among them, as she nearly tripped over a trash can, sending the can tumbling down the stairs.

The night janitor shouted, "Who is in here?" At the same time, everyone else hissed, "Clarisse???"

"Sorry," the girl in question hissed back as they quickly made their way to the hall.

Soon, it began to rain. Wait, scratch that. It was a downpour.

"I'm just glad we got here just in time," Annabeth said as the kids sat under a table. "We may be demigods, but we still need a place to stay just in case."

"They'll never find us here," Grover said. "Now, let's settle down so that we can get back to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow."

At the same time, Magnus began grilling Jacquelyn about Ron. "You mean to tell me that Ron isn't really a Weasley?" he snapped.

"Well, in a matter of speaking," Jacquelyn said.

"But how can he not be a wizard?" Magnus said.

"Well, if it turns out that you can't do wizard's magic, then you shouldn't be allowed to attending Wizarding School," said Jacquelyn. "It's a matter of truth. If you can't perform a spell, then you can't call yourself a wizard, or can you?"

"That may be you, but I don't understand Ron," said Magnus. "I mean, how can his family afford to go to a place such as Hogwarts when they're poorer than dirt? That doesn't even sound right. In the real world, children whose families don't have a lot of money usually get sent to public school."

"Maybe we should take that up with the school governors when we get back to London," said Jacquelyn. "As for Ron, when word gets out about his apparent muggle origins, Arthur and Molly Weasley will be forever shamed, if it hadn't already happened. The Weasley family will possibly be kicked out of the wizarding community and be forced to live with muggles. Not to mention what this is going to do to Dumbledore's reputation when it's implied that he may have a hand in Ron's upbringing."

"Shame on him," said Magnus.

Jacquelyn stood up and walked around the place, thinking to herself for some odd reason, I'm beginning to wonder what really happened to Ron's mom to make her end up on the wrong side of the wizarding would. How did she even end up becoming a witch's victim when the Puckerman family didn't have anything to do with wizards at all? Or did the person who kidnapped Joanna have a connection with certain wizards?

The Hermaphrodite, far from giving up, was watching his prey as she walked around the hall of records. He smiled, knowing that this was his only chance to steal the girl without her friends interfering. This time, Jacquelyn-Claire Ulrich wouldn't be able to fight back.

-----

The next day, Ron woke up to a pile of papers on the table where he was at, along with a message: I have Jacquelyn. If you want to see her again, you know where to go.

Ron woke up and alerted the others, knowing that unless they moved quickly, they would never see their spellcaster again.