Nico di Angelo was gently awakened to the soft touch of a hand on his forehead. Sighing, he sat up in the infirmary bed to look into the eyes of none other than Will Solace. Judging by the pale light and contented snores in the rest of the infirmary, Nico guessed that it was only a little after dawn. Yawning he waited for the doctor to enlighten him as to why he would wake him at such an early time. Shaking his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes, Will began to explain about how Chiron had conversed with Artemis late last night. She had a message from Apollo, which she passed on to Chiron. He'd immediately sent for Will to come to the Big House to be briefed on what was to happen.
"Alright Solace just get to the point," Nico snapped tiredly, wishing he was asleep.
"Well Death Boy, you're in a -"
"Do not, I repeat DO NOT call me Death Boy!"
"Fine, Nico." Will rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"Anyway, I have to go on a quest. Something horrible happened in England, at a school. Apollo still cannot see the future but even so any fool can predict that horrible things will happen on an even greater scale now that this…. this wizard has um, come back from the dead," Will finished.
"Ah, Lord Voldemort. My dad - um Hades that is, uh mentioned Thanatos not being too pleased with a man who split his soul into seven pieces. Anyway, why tell me?" Nico watched as Will fiddled with the hem of his orange Camp Half-Blood shirt.
"Nico… your three days in the infirmary are up and seeing as this uh Lord Vold- dude is directly working with matters of death and you're a son of Hades… if you promise to not strain yourself and continue to follow doctor's orders then you can come with me. I'm also taking Percy, Annabeth, and Piper, - well the original Seven minus Leo. Jason, Frank, and Hazel will join us as soon as possible which should be in a couple of months. Chiron didn't know exactly what we'd encounter and so he suggested a rather larger group for this quest, especially because of one very important detail."
"Which is…" Nico egged Will on, wanting to hear the rest of the details about this strange quest.
"No one knows how long it will take. We could be there for a few months or a few years. All I know is that we're going to this school because of that Lord Something guy and what will happen. We have to protect the students when we can but our true quest is to protect and help a boy named Harry Potter and his two friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. We leave today to go to London and from there, figure things out. We have to find our way to school by September first. Today is August 28th so we have three days. Pack up and I'll meet you on Half-Blood Hill in half an hour," Will explained, rising from Nico's bed as he did so.
Groaning, Nico rolled out of bed, slipped quietly out of the infirmary, and headed for the Hades Cabin. Sunlight was just beginning to filter through the windows and he heard small rustling sounds that meant Hazel was awake. Either Will had zipped around camp telling everyone about the quest or… maybe he told me last, thinking I was too weak and everyone else knew last night when Chiron told him Nico mused as he opened the cabin's black obsidian door. Well at least he got some extra sleep.
"Nico!" Hazel squealed, her curly cinnamon hair pulled back into a cute messy ponytail.
"I assume you heard about the quest," Nico asked briskly.
"Yes. Yes I did. Are you coming?"
"Of course. Although why would Will ask me to come if we already have an extremely capable daughter of Hades going as well," Nico wondered as the thought struck him rather suddenly.
"Oh my silly brother! You're more of the death side of Pluto- I mean Hades, than me," Hazel smiled, the look in her eyes almost saying that Nico hadn't quite figured it all out.
"Oh… uh you have a point there," Nico teased his younger half sister.
"Well hurry up and pack! We haven't got all day you know. Fifteen minutes to be exact," Hazel chided her cabinmate.
Quickly throwing some clothes in a sack, Nico threw in a water bottle and a little ambrosia as well. He shoved a small sack of silver drachmas in his boot and grabbed his sword made of Stygian iron. Opening the door for Hazel, the two half siblings headed up Half-Blood Hill to where Will, Piper, Annabeth, and Percy were waiting with Chiron and Lou Ellen.
"What's Lou Ellen doing here," Nico asked as he set his clothes sack on the dewy grass.
"She will be performing some magic to transport you all to London," Chiron quickly explained.
Nico grabbed his sack again, repositioning it over his shoulder. Grabbing Hazel and Will's hands, he moved closer to the other demigods as Lou Ellen began to chant in ancient Greek. Slowly at first, and then more quickly, Nico felt himself dissolving on the spot as the daughter of Hecate's magic washed over him. Hardly after processing the fact, he landed hard on a cobblestone street in downtown London, his hands still holding on to Will and Hazel. Detangling himself from the other two demigods, Nico got up and quickly brushed himself off, looking for the others. Thankfully Piper, Annabeth, and Percy were only a few feet away, slightly bruised but otherwise unharmed. Within a few seconds everyone had come into a small huddle on the side of the street, anxiously watching cars drive by, fearing a monster attack at any moment.
"Alright Will, do you know where we start," Piper asked as her fingers braided her away from her face.
"No I- Chiron did not have many details to give me," Will admitted, blushing a deep scarlet.
"Hey it's okay," Nico defended Will unexpectedly, his eyes almost daring Piper to say something. Her hands up in defense, Nico blushed as well, wondering where this protective feeling for Will had come from but he couldn't worry about that now.
"Well I've been thinking," Annabeth piped up, the entire group looking at her to indicate that she should continue.
"Well if Chiron is sending us to help a school then they can't be regular mortals can they? I mean since when has anyone been on a quest where we've had to interact directly with a large number of mortals? No one right? Right. So if these aren't normal mortals then maybe we should start looking for something that no one else can see except for us and these "irregular" mortals."
"But what could it be," Hazel asked, absentmindedly playing with her cavalry sword.
"I don't know," Annabeth admitted, looking almost as embarrassed as Will had moments earlier.
"Well it's a start," Piper smiled, trying to encourage the group.
"What's our plan? Just wander around London for until we see something that screams 'weird people' at us," Nico asked, trying to make a joke.
"Actually that sounds like a good plan. Although maybe we should split up- no, we'd have no way to find each other. We'll stick together as a group and um going exploring for lack of a better term if that is okay with everyone," Will suggested. When everyone nodded their consent, he began to lead the others down the street.
After quite a bit of walking, Nico was beginning to feel hungry. Okay, scratch that, he was starving. Nudging Will's arm, Nico mumbled that he was hungry. Trying to not roll his eyes, Will began to explain that they couldn't really do anything about it now when the younger boy cut him off.
"Look Will! The Leaky Cauldron! I bet they have foo- Wait a minute! Look at how the mortals are hurrying past it! I don't think they know it's there. And cauldron! That's a wizard word isn't?!"
"Gods of Olympus you're right," Will whispered to Nico. Raising his voice slightly he told the other demigods of what Nico had seen.
"I'll write down the address from across the street. Once we are at the school we can Iris-message Frank and Jason so that we can tell them where it is and to look for the Leaky Cauldron across the street," Annabeth said as she pulled a scrap of paper and pen out of her backpack. Once she was finished the six demigods cautiously approached the door to the Leaky Cauldron.
Piper being the charming one opened the door and walked in first, ready to charmspeak at a moment's notice. Nico, Percy and Annabeth slipped in after her; they gave an all clear signal for Will and Hazel to come in as well. So far not a single person had noticed them, yet as Hazel pointed out, not many "irregular mortals" were present at the pub. Suddenly an old toothless man approached them, asking if they wanted anything to drink and introducing himself as Tom.
"Um no thank you. However, are you able to tell us anything about the Leaky Cauldron? We're a bit new in London," Piper smiled at the old man, praying to Aphrodite that he wasn't some terrible monster.
"Why sure thing beautiful! You see the Leaky Cauldron is the entrance to Diagon Alley, the greatest assortment of wizarding shops anywhere," Tom explained to the six demigods.
"And um is there some sort of wizarding school in Diagon Alley," Piper inquired, trying not to show her nervousness. Her only experience with magic had been when Hazel defeated Pasiphaë in the Labyrinth.
"Oh wow you're really a bunch of newcomers ain't you?! No no there is no school in Diagon Alley; the wizarding school is Hogwarts," Tom laughed kindly.
"Would a boy by the name of Harry Potter go there by any chance," Piper pressed, fiddling with her chocolate brown hair to look innocent.
"Why of course! Ah, I'd've thought that even Americans such as yourselves would've known - Ah, of course," Tom's voice dropped to a knowing murmur at the last three words, causing a worried look to pass between the demigods.
"Well here. I have instructions for how to get on to the platform and a school list. This is all the help I can give you because Chiron could not tell me anymore. Oh and head towards the back, suspect the wall will give way 'specially for you six. Good luck demigods." And with that Tom handed them two slips of curled parchment and disappeared, going off to wait on a pair of witches with saggy purple cloaks.
"He knew us because of Chiron… wonder how he knew to contact Tom," Percy mused quietly.
"We should get going. The stuff on this list could take a while," Hazel pointed out.
"Alright, guys, we'll um head out towards the back and uh deal with the wall," Will suggested awkwardly, not used to being in the lead.
Nico led the way out, carefully winding his way through assorted chairs and tables in the dim pub. When he came to the back of the room, he pushed open a little door that opened out into a sunny yet tiny courtyard that barely held the six demigods. Almost at once the red bricks began to turn and twist, revealing an opening to a lively street packed with wizards and witches of all kinds hurrying about or gazing into the windows of shops that housed colorful displays. Will took a few cautious steps forward, secretly relieved when everyone else followed suit. Pulling out the list of school supplies, Piper read it aloud to her companions; they were all thrown for a loop when she got to the part about the wands.
"Well the other stuff is pretty simple. We should do that first and then I guess we'll just have to look for a magic wand shop," Will said, looking around at Diagon Alley and wondering how in the world they'd ever find anything.
"Also, seeing as we're in a smaller space than mortal London I think we can split up into three and three," Nico suggested.
"I like that idea," Will smiled shyly at the younger Italian boy.
"Alright Piper, it's you, me, and Hazel if that's okay with Will," Annabeth asked.
"I'll take Nico and Percy then," Will responded in agreement.
"So we meet back here in roughly an hour and a half," Hazel clarified.
"First we find the bank and then after that yes. Meet back here in an hour and a half," Nico teased his sister.
"Where's the bank then," Hazel joked back.
"I think that Gringotts is the place you're looking for," a random witch called out over her shoulder.
All six demigods looked up the crowded street to see a huge white marbled building with Gringotts written above the double door in gold lettering. With Hazel leading the way the climbed up the steps, entering with cautious unease. A long row of mean-looking little creatures sat at a wooden counter; some weighed gold while other counted blood-red rubies. Approaching one such creature ,Will cleared his throat nervously while sharing a look with the others. Be ready his eyes said.
"Excuse me but we've come to exchange some money," Will stated clearly, trying hard not to show his nerves.
"Ah yes. And what will you be exchanging, Mr….?" the creature sounded bored, almost implying that these foreigners weren't worth his time.
"Solace. Will Solace. Uh, we have some uh drachmas," Will mumbled quietly.
"Drachmas? Very well. Griphook," the creature called out, his interest in the demigods increasing.
"Annabeth, what are those things," Percy whispered quietly as he held her hand.
"Goblins I think," she replied with a small, reassuring squeeze.
"Goblins?! I've never even imagined-" Will began, only to be cut off when Griphook arrived.
It turned out that drachmas from the gods themselves were worth quite a bit in the wizarding world; for once only having a few here and there turned out to not be a problem. Percy figured that from the way the goblins looked at him and his friends they knew that they had weapons. If a drachma was worth so much gold then what would Celestial bronze be worth? Annabeth had managed to whisper to the rest of the group to keep their weapons as best concealed as possible due to the fact that goblins could be rather greedy with such items. No one thought that Griphook would try to mug them but not a single one of the six could lie and say that they weren't happy to finally be out of Gringotts. Standing back in the warm sunlight, Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel went to go get books and potions supplies while the boys bought parchment, quills, and an owl in case they needed to send letters. Holding the cage of pure black owl, Nico walked over to Madam Malkin's with Percy and Will to wait for the girls. Not a minute later they came hurrying down the crowded street, loaded down with all sorts of strange looking books.
"Time for robes now, should be pretty simple. And um, that's a lot of reading material," Will commented, raising a single eyebrow at the books in question.
"Oh hush now Will," Piper joked, walking into the store with Hazel and Annabeth.
Sighing, Nico followed with the other two boys, glad that the robes came in all black. At least the school ones did. The three girls were already being helped by a kind plump witch; almost at once a young wizard came hurrying over to help the boys get fitted and spoke directly to Nico.
Admittedly the young Italian hadn't been paying too much attention but when he finally looked up his jaw dropped. A gorgeous wizard aged about sixteen or seventeen stood before him, his pale gray eyes giving Nico a once-over as his blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight filtered in from the large storefront window. Unable to do more than nod, Nico tore his gaze from the intense look and turned bright red. Damn that was one mighty fine wizard and Nico hadn't even started on the guy's body that seemed to be very toned but not in an overly bulky way. All he could think was dayuuuum! Suddenly Will appeared at Nico's side, doing all the talking about how they needed basic school robes and such.
"Ah foreign exchanges to Hogwarts eh? Well you lot seem to be a bit- how would they say it in America? Up a creek without a paddle yes? My name's Draco. Draco Malfoy," the young wizard introduced himself.
"Well… we are in bit of sticky situation," Will admitted.
"Yes?"
"The- the due date to be at this - Hogwarts is it? - is um September first. We know how to get onto the platform but nothing else and we haven't a place to stay. Is there somewhere in Diagon Alley where we can rest for two days," Will asked.
"Why the Leaky Cauldron of course would take you. However do you even know how to find King's Cross," Draco drawled, almost expecting a no from these Americans.
"What's King's Cross," Percy piped up.
"Ah so you don't know and even if you did how would you get there…" Draco mused to himself, eyes looking over at the three demigods.
"Tell you what. Come stay with me at Malfoy Manor until we leave for King's Cross on September first. Some of you look like you'd be in my House if you know what I mean." Draco's last few words seemed to be pointing directly at Nico who of course did not know what this young wizard meant.
"That's very kind of you. Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel are with us so…." Percy's voice trailed off as he looked over at the girls who were now paying for their robes.
"I can assure you that it will be no problem if you wish to stay. My family and I have plenty of room," Draco answered the unspoken question.
"Thank you Draco," Will and Percy said as they went up to the front counter to pay for their robes.
Alone with Draco, Nico shuffled his feet, not used to being hit on so directly. Draco gave the young Italian a small smile that was hesitantly returned. The wizard felt something fluttering in the bottom of his stomach but he pushed it away.
"What's your name? You've not spoken a word to me since I came over here," Draco joked.
"I- uh… My name is Nico. Nico di Angelo," Nico mumbled.
"Nico. I hope you enjoy your stay at Malfoy Manor and Hogwarts as well," Draco drawled quietly; with a tiny wink he strode off to help another customer.
Feeling completely confused, Nico wandered over to the front counter, paid for his robes, and walked out with the other five demigods. As they were sitting down outside Florence's Ice Cream PWill was excitedly telling the others about how Draco had offered them a place to stay at his Manor until it was time to go to King's Cross and board the Hogwarts Express from platform 9 ¾.
"Wait we board a train called the Hogwarts Express," Nico cried out in mock alarm as he finally pulled back into the conversation.
"Yeah, weren't you paying attention to what Draco was telling us," Percy asked jokingly.
"I um… not exactly," Nico mumbled while praying to Hades that his blushing cheeks wouldn't give him away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Annabeth and Piper exchange knowing looks. The young Italian turned his gaze away from the two girls only to find Will looking slightly hurt.
"So um we have all of our goods… Draco said that he would meet us here in a few minutes and take us to the Manor," Will informed everyone, looking around as if to make sure that everyone had all of their bags.
"Alright sounds good," Hazel commented quietly, letting the group fall into comfortable silence as they waited.
Leaning back against the seat Will closed his eyes and let the constant babble of voices drift over him. If not for the British accents and strange conversation topics it could have been a normal day at Camp Half-Blood with warm sunshine and excited campers. But it wasn't camp; seeing Nico's reaction to Draco had been proof enough of that. At camp Will had almost been sure that Nico- yet now he was questioning that. If only Nico had - Stop it Solace. You have a quest to lead. Worrying about stupid feelings won't get you anywhere, Will mentally chided himself. Suddenly his train of thought was broken off when a cool, drawling voice interrupted. Opening his eyes Will saw none other than Draco Malfoy standing underneath the multicolored umbrella that shaded the little wooden table.
"Ah Draco," Will got up and shook the other teen's hand, trying not to show his slight displeasure.
"Will. I was just talking with your mates; if you're ready to go then we can leave now," Draco stated simply.
"Everyone good?" Will quickly cast his baby blue eyes around at the fellow demigods.
"Yeah we're cool," Percy answered after sharing a look with Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel.
"Definitely ready," Nico mumbled under his breath, hoping that no one would hear him.
"Well come on then," Draco smiled at the six Americans.
Following Draco through the crowds at Diagon Alley Annabeth wondered about the mysterious wizard in front of her. During her many quests (and due to just being a demigod in general) she'd learned early on that people were not always what they seemed to be. Like Luke, the people you once trusted with your life could be working to destroy everything you live for just like that. If Draco turned out to be some type of monster… especially now that they were in the wizarding world… things could get nasty quickly. Turning to Piper and Hazel, Annabeth shared her concerns with them. Smiling grimly, Hazel promised that she was ready to cover up any monster attacks with the Mist if she needed to.
"Wizards. What if they don't need the Mist? Think about all the strange things that we've seen here today. Mortals would have such trouble seeing that; the Mist would be woven very thick to keep them from seeing. The way only witches and wizards could see the Leaky Cauldron… what if they are more like demigods than we originally imagined? It's certainly possible," Hazel whispered in response to Annabeth's concerns. Brushing her curly cinnamon hair out of her face, she silently wondered where a monster attack would rank on the level of severity but didn't dare say it out loud even though she knew the exact same thoughts were going through Piper and Annabeth's mind. No one wanted to be the one to bring it up.