Nico sat on a hill in England, looking up sadly at the sky, wondering what America was like right now. He hadn't been there in a few months, ever since the Titans had won the 2nd Titan war. And then, all his friends had died. The only reason he got out safely was that Mrs. O' Learly came and saved him at the last minute. As for everyone else… as far as he knew, they were dead.

Not all the Greek Gods were dead he was fairly sure. Some had joined the Titans, others were kept around like pets, and Zeus now held up the sky. Nico had since then traveled the world, going wherever he felt death. Why he was in London of all places, Nico didn't really know, he hadn't found any ghosts or anything.

Finally, he fell asleep, which really was a bad decision on his part. He should have known that a god or goddess was behind this.

In his dream, he was standing on Mt. Olympus, and standing next to him was a girl with black hair and eyes. She was wearing a formal Greek dress and was smiling slightly at him.

"Hecate." He addressed her, not bothering to be formal. "What do you want?"

"I have a quest for you, young hero!" She said in a sing-song voice. "I'm sure you've heard of Hogwarts from your father. I want you to go there and keep an eye on Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter, isn't he one of those two people that cheated death? And why should I help you, you betrayed the Gods." Nico folded his arms, angry.

"If you go, I will make sure that none of the Titans find you while you are there." Nico thought about it for a second. If Hogwarts was what he was thinking about, he'd be safe for about a year. A momentarily permanent home, even if just for a year, where he relax and stop running.

Nico put his hand out.

"You've got yourself a deal." Hecate grinned and shook it.

When Nico woke up, he found that he was still on the hillside. Next to him were a wand, a book, and a note. Pocketing the wand, Nico picked up the note.

Dear Nico,

All your things for the school year will be in your room when you arrive at Hogwarts. Also when you get there the Headmaster will want to talk to you. Your wand is made out of Blackthorn with a Thestral tail hair as a core. As soon as you can, grab the book and don't put it down. In a couple minutes you'll get a surprise! Have fun!

~Hecate

Nico inspected the book in his hand. It was written in Ancient Greek and the title said Hogwarts: A History. Nico ran his hand along the spine before opening it and staring at the Greek text for a moment. He had even begun to read the beginning of the book, about the four founders and their quest to create a school of magic for young wizards and witches, when he found out what the surprise was.

The book started to spin, Nico holding onto it tightly, before seeming to start to shadow travel, but with a slightly different feel. Nico made sure to hang on, not knowing what would happen if he let go.

"…Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be... prohibited." Harry thought the toad's talk would never end. The entire hall practically sighed in relief when she finally sighed with relief and Dumbledore stood back up.

"Thank you Professor Umbridge. Now, we have one more teacher coming. He doesn't seem to be here yet… ah, here he comes now." As Dumbledore said this, a light opened above the Gryffindor table near Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Out of the light came a boy, who landed among the still empty plates. The boy then promptly stood up and looked around him, giving Harry a good look at the new kid.

The kid must have been 14 or 15 with pitch-black unruly hair. He wore old, beaten clothes. The jeans had rips by the knees and the shirt had a skull design on it. His skin was a pale olive color, and when Harry caught his eyes, he was greeted by dark brown eyes that bordered on black. They seemed to be broken, cracked, like they had seen too much and were just waiting to be done with the world. On his hand glinted a white skull ring, its ruby eyes glinting.

"Please meet Nico Di Angelo. One day every month he will teach a lesson of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now Nico, why don't you come up here, we're going to sort you into a house." Nico walked across the table, every eye on him.

"Sit on the stool." Professor McGonagall instructed Nico, who did so and had the Sorting Hat draped on his head, leaving the entire school in silence as they waited to hear where the strange, new boy would go. With the entire school quiet, you could hear what the hat was saying.

"Hm, where to put you… why not delve into those memories of yours?" Nico seemed a bit shocked about the hat talking, but then his face became unreadable as the hat searched through his memories. "Ah, used to be so innocent. What a pity about your sister. You certainly are cunning and powerful. You lacked in loyalty at first, but you grew a bit there at the end… you're smart in your own field, a genius in fact. Bravery is always strong in your kind. Yes, yes, I think I'll do that. It'll make it much easier for you. GRYFFINDOR!"