Chapter 2

Nico hadn't been here for more than two hours, and he already knew that he would rather stay in the fields of punishment. Now he was sitting, in front of the entire school, everyone looking at him. While an old lady came toward him with a hat. He felt like he had seen this in a dream somewhere. He should have learned to trust his dreams more.

Dumbledore had tried to speak up for him, and enter him into the school quietly, but some woman, wearing way to much pink that it hurt Nico's eyes; disagreed, saying that would "ruin his Hogwarts experience by giving him special treatment." Nico wondered how long it would take him to suffocate her. Or maybe he could slip some poison into her drink. Dumbledore had already announced him as a transfer student for some special transfer student thing. Nico had zoned out halfway through. Now they were placing the sorting hat on his head.

At first nothing happened. Then the hat moaned itself awake, startling Nico, causing some of the student to giggle. "Aw, well then. Off to work then. AW! It's one of your kind here isn't it? We haven't had one of your kind here in a long time!" Nico wished that the hat would be a bit more discrete. Dumbledore had asked him to keep the whole thing about the Greeks and roman gods a secret, since most of the kids here knew nothing of it. "Hmm, well let's get you sorted, so I can go back to sleep. Hmmm." The hat hummed a bit, and Nico was starting to wonder if he had gone back to sleep before he started talking again. "Hmm, this will be a difficult one won't it? You have suffered a great deal, haven't you boy. I feel more suffering in you than I have in many years." Nico resisted the urge to rip the hat into two. "Hmm, where to place you, were to put you. You could go into almost any of these houses. You're more cunning then most I've seen, and are quiet wise for your age. Yet you have enormous bravery, and the loyalty of a true warrior. Hmm, and yet with your lineage." The hat hummed for a moment. "Slitherin!" the table surrounded with green cheered. Yet at the same time, the people from the other tables all looked at each other with fear. Nico didn't really care; he was used to people looking at him that way. It was refreshing that this time it was for a reason other than his father, even if he didn't understand it.

Nico was about to return to his seat, when one of the teacher raised her hand. It was the annoying one that looked like a dolled up pink poodle. "Excuse me, but I do not believe that he has a magical pet. No child can be allowed into this school without a magical pet." The woman grinned.

Dumbledore looked at Nico, and Nico could see the annoyance for that woman that the head Minister had been trying to hide. Nico was glad he was not alone in his hatred for the woman. "You are right. Mr. Di Angelo, do you have any magical pet?"

Nico frowned for a moment. "I have a dog, will that do?" Nico heard some chuckles from the crowd.

"Could you please bring him forward?" Nico shrugged. What the heck? He whistled a loud clear whistle that echoed throughout the hall. At first nothing happened, then suddenly, all the shadows started gathering in the middle of the room. Nico heard a bunch of girly squeals, and students jumped up on their seats. Then, out the shadow-portal that Nico had created, a large hellhound came out. I say large, but compared to most hellhounds, this one was rather small. It only went up to a bit above Nico's waist line. It had the shape of a Rottweiler, with large sharp teeth. He was actually only a puppy, only a year old. His father had given him to Nico on his 16th birthday, telling him that the dog would teach him discipline. Nico had named him Rex. It would make more sense once he grew to his full size.

Rex ran towards Nico and jumped up on him. Nico was lucky he was strong, or else the dog would have knocked him over. As it was, the dog put his front legs on Nico's shoulders, and licked his face. Nico just scratched him behind his ears and told him down.

"T...th...that dog will simply not do boy!" Nico looked over to the pink woman. He had noticed that she had been the first to jump onto her chair, even though Rex was far from her seat.

Nico frowned at her. "You asked for a magical animal. They don't get more magical then Rex here."

"Absolutely unacceptable." The woman persisted. Rex growled beside him. Nico decided to 'accidentally' let go of Rex's collar he was holding onto. Rex started barking, and ran towards the table. The woman yelped. "CALL HIM OFF! CALL BACK YOUR DOG BOY!" the entire student body howled with laughter at their teacher's discomfort. Nico grinned along with them. After a few minutes of nonstop laughter, the larger teacher; Nico heard someone call him Hagrid; walked around the table to Rex, and held out his hand to him. Rex sniffed it eagerly, and started wagging his tail, as Hagrid pet him.

"Aw this dogs no more dangerous than a mere pup, if you know how to handle him. You can get down from your chair Mrs. Umbridge Ma'am."

Mrs. Umbridge got down from standing on her chair, her face beating red, and she brushed herself off, trying to regain her sense of pride. "Well then, the dog must be at least put on a leash. I will not stand to have that, thing, running around the school. It is an enormous health hazard!"

"Very well Mrs. Umbridge." Nico looked at Mr. Dumbledore, and could have sworn he saw him struggling to hold back a laugh. "May you please keep your dog on a lease Mr. Di Angelo? It would save me a lot of trouble. I'll have one sent to your room tomorrow morning, for now just keep a good hold on him."

Nico nodded, as he whistled. Rex obediently ran over to his master. Nico scratched him behind his ears, as he pulled him by his collar. Rex barked, causing Mrs. Umbridge to squeal again.

Harry and the gang studied the new boy Nico, as he walked over to the farthest seat on the Slitherin table. Hermione was appalled at his complete disrespect for the dress code. Umbridge had tried to force him to wear the robe, but Nico had just made his dog bark and thrown it over his shoulder. Instead he continued to wear his black baggy jeans, (Harry was thankful he wasn't wearing skinny jeans.) and an aviators jacket. Harry thought that was strange. It looked almost brand new, but weren't those things from the Second World War? Even so, it wasn't his clothes that made him stand out to Harry. His skin was white pale, almost matching that of the ghosts in the hall. It brought out the dark shades of his hair, and the dark bags under his eyelids. He looked like someone who had seen too much, and even the smallest thing would send him falling over.

Nico grabbed some sausages, and fed them to his dog, before he started eating himself. "I'm a bit worried Harry." Hermione said beside him. "The hat said he's extremely talented, and he's going to Slitherin? He could be working for you-know-who!"

"Not everyone at Slitherin works for him Hermione!" Ron said, as he stuffed his face with muffins. "Just the ones that hang out with Malfoy."

"I don't think he's a bad guy." Harry added.

Hermione looked at him strangely. "Why do you think that Harry?"

"Yeah!" Ron added. "If he's a Slitherin, almost all of them end up in Alcatraz eventually."

Harry frowned. "Not everyone in Slitherin is evil Ron."

"Most are." Ron mumbled. Harry ignored him, as he watched Nico. He may look kind of weird, and sure he was Silitherin, but Harry couldn't bring himself to believe he was a bad person. The way he played with his dog, in an almost childlike fashion, just didn't seem like the actions of a mean person to him, and defiantly not someone who worked for Voldemort. Harry would never admit it, but he could almost feel some kind of connection with this new kid. They had both suffered far more than any boy their age should ever have to deal with, but they both still came out on top despite it.

"I agree with harry!" the trio jumped, as the turned to see Luna standing behind him.

"Luna!" Hermione said in surprise. "What are you doing here? You know you're not allowed to switch tables at dinner!"

Luna looked at her weirdly, probably wondering how one person could possibly be so obsessed with rules and still have time for friends. "Nico has a dog. That makes him ok."

"So because he has a puppy he's alright?" Ron asked doubtfully. "Honestly I don't think that dog is giving him any good points right now. It's massive! And didn't Hagrid call it a puppy? I don't want to be around when that thing grows to full height!" Ron shuddered, before grabbing another sandwich."

"I wonder if he'll be fast enough to catch a moon frog." Luna wondered thoughtfully.

Harry didn't take heed in her comment. He had known Luna for long enough to know when he shouldn't ask questions. Luna started walking off. "Luna were you going?" harry called.

Luna turned back and smiled. "To welcome him of course. The Slitherin welcome parties are such a bore really." Luna then turned and started skipping in the new boy's direction.

Ron and Hermione looked at her in shock. "What is she doing?" Ron whispered

"She's crazy! Bad enough skipping table, does she was to get caught by Umbridge?" Hermione whispered back.

"It's not like they call her Looney Lovegood for nothing." Ron mumbled. Hermione elbowed him for that. Harry watched after her, then, on impulse, got up and followed her.

"Harry!" Hermione called in astonishment, but Harry kept walking. He wanted to know more about this kid. Hey, maybe if he played his cards right, he would have a new ally against Voldemort!

Nico wished that he knew where his dorm room was exactly. If he did, he would have ditched the meal entirely. He felt over a thousand eyes all staring at him. It's not like he wasn't used to it. Even at places where people had tried to be his friends, he had always gotten weird stares, for some reason or another.

Nico watched as Rex hungrily gobbled through two full turkeys. Nico could help but grin at his dog. He only had Rex for a few months now, but he felt like he had known him forever. Rex had been his constant companion, always there to keep a smile on his face, and to annoy him constantly, especially when he went chasing cars, and actually caught them. He would never admit it, but he thought that might have been his father's intention. The children of Hades were usually loners, and didn't fit into many crowds, so his father instead gave him a dog to keep him company. Nico would never admit that he was grateful towards his father.

"Your dog sure has an appetite." Nico looked up in surprise. There was a young boy standing next to him. He wore the symbol of Gryffindor on his robe, with a matching yellow and red scarf. He had silk black hair, and long bangs, going to the edge of his glasses. Nico couldn't help thinking that if this guy had been born a few decades earlier; he wouldn't be able to go through the halls wearing those glasses.

Behind him stood the girl that had saved him earlier, Luna was her name. She grinned at Nico, before turning to Rex. "Puppy!" she bent over and started scratching him behind the ears.

Nico made a face. Did that girl just call his hellhound a puppy? No one called his dog a puppy. The fact that he was one by age was beside the point. The boy smiled at Nico. "Nice dog you have there. Not a big fan of dogs myself, prefer an owl." The boy raised his hand to Nico. "My names Harry, Harry Potter."

Nico was surprised at the mannerly gesture. Not many people in this time period at their age introduced themselves with a handshake. "Then again, I am in Britain." Nico thought. He shook Harry's hand. "Nico di Angelo, but if you forget it, you can just call me 'ghost kid' or whatever comes to mind."

Harry made a face as he released Nico's hand, but didn't comment. "So what brings you to Hogwarts?"

Nico shrugged. He was already becoming uncomfortable. "Let's just say I ticked off my dad one too many times, and he decided sending me away was better than having to deal with me."

Harry nodded. "So does that mean you were homeschooled before coming here?"

"Stop asking him questions Harry." Luna said, still preoccupied with Rex. "You're making him uncomfortable."

Nico frowned. Was it normal for people to get easily uncomfortable? He thought that was his own special gift. "No its ok I don't mind." Nico said.

"He's just lying to you to be polite harry don't believe him." Luna said, still scratching Rex behind the ears.

Nico frowned. It was bad enough that he was uncomfortable, but this Luna girl wasn't making it any better. Just then Rex moved out of Luna's reach and walked over to Nico, and started licking his hand, and whimpering at him. Nico frowned, looking at Rex. That wasn't normal, was there something about the girl scarring Rex.

"Hey Potter, why don't you and Looney here get away from our house member?" Nico turned towards the voice, and was immediately convinced that it was this guys over use of hair jell that was scaring Rex. He had snow white hair that was slicked back on his scalp. He wore this obnoxious grin on his face that really bugged Nico. He kind of reminded Nico of Octavian from Camp Jupiter.

"He hasn't been here for ten minutes and you're already poisoning his mind with your crazy ideas Looney Luna? At least give him time to prepare himself from your insanity." Luna ignored him.

"Draco leave her alone!" Harry said, standing abruptly in his seat. "We were just talking. You don't need to act like everyone in Slytherin is automatically your property."

"Shut up Potter!" Draco spat the name like it was poison. "And speaking of which, why are you here? What, are you looking for another reason to get in trouble with Mrs. Umbridge?"

Nico sat there and watched the bickering. These two had a history that was obvious, especially by the way no one even bothered with a second glance at the boring argument. He looked at Luna, though she didn't seem bothered by their argument or the insults that Draco had said to her earlier. She just sat there, her eyes drifting around the room, as if the argument was not even worth her attention.

Soon, Draco turned his attention to Luna. "And what are you still doing here? What did the moon frogs steal one of your shoes again?" he laughed.

"Or did one of your nargles steal your wand?" one of the other boys from Slytherin added in.

Harry tried to get them to shut up, but they kept laughing and poking fun at Luna. Nico looked at Luna. She was keeping a straight face, but Nico knew that look. It was just like him, when he was trying to mask some kind of pain. Nico felt his fist clench. He didn't know why, but for some reason it angered him to see that look on Luna's face. He immediately stood up, surprising the others.

Draco grinned, but it was easy to see that Nico scarred him. "Hey big guy, you gonna get your dog to chase this guy off or..."

Before he could continue, Nico grabbed him at his collar and lifted him to his feet. He and his friends all yelped in surprise. "Why don't you and your friends go back to stuffing your faces with Turkish food or whatever you British people eat before I make you wish that you had never been born."

The boy laughed stutteringly, like he was still trying to regain his sense of pride. "Oh and what gives you the right to talk to me like that?"

Nico mentally gave him points for standing up to him. Nico just looked at Rex, and whistled. Putting down Draco, Rex then immediately barked up at him, and snarled, managing to look threatening. "Because I'm the one with the hunting dog. And he's hunted bigger animals that you." The three boys turned and ran out of the hall. Nico smirked, as he, Harry and Luna laugh.

"Man I like you already!" Nico turned to see harry, a large grin on his face. "If you can make Draco go running out on your first day, you are going to make lots of friends here."

Any normal kid would find that as a complement. Not Nico. To Nico, friends equalled talking, talking equalled socializing, socializing equalled bad, and by bad he meant trapped between a gorgon and a fire breathing dragon bad. Nico swallowed hard. "Um thanks."

Just then Nico was so surprised he almost sent himself into the shadows. The girl Luna jumped up and hugged him happily. Nico immediately tensed up like a stone. The girl didn't seem to notice, and just continued to hug him. Soon she let go, and smile at him. "Thank you for that."

Nico couldn't speak, his mouth hanging open slightly. "I...Uh... sure." Luna smiled at him. Just then Rex barked and started chasing his tail. Nico sighed. "I better take him outside. If I'm going to have to keep him quiet in the dorm I'll have to bring him out for a while."

"Oh oh I'm coming to!" Luna said, not even asking for permission. She easily grabbed Rex's collar and gently lead him outside.

"Well I got to go." Harry said. "My friends are gonna want me back soon." Harry turned to return to his table. "Hey, welcome to Hogwarts! I know your gonna enjoy it here." Nico nodded as he walked away, and turned to follow Luna. The two of them walked beside each other outside, watching as Rex ran around.

"So what do you think of Hogwarts?" Luna asked. She swung her arms as she walked, showing how relaxed she felt, surprising Nico

"It's nice. Where are the weapons?"

"We don't have weapons here. We only use our magic."

"Oh." Nico said, gulping. This wasn't going to be fun.

"It's a lot different from camp Half-blood huh?" Luna said with a smile.

"Yeah I..." it took him a moment to process what he said. "wait, what?"

Luna smiled at him. "Dumbledore did tell you that there were some demigods here. Not many though, I'm pretty sure I'm the only direct demigod. I went to camp half-blood when I was young before I came here." Nico nodded. He was surprised he had met a demigod so fast, especially since there weren't supposed to be very many demigods here. "You're a son of Hades right?" again Nico was surprised

"Is it that obvious?" Nico asked.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out. You definitely look the part." Luna said. "Oh look!" Luna ran ahead to play with Rex.

"So she's ADHD" Nico thought, watching her. He couldn't help complementing the way her white hair seemed the cut through the dark of night.

Nico watched the two of them play, before he decided to head in. He called to Luna to ask if she wanted to come in. She nodded, and lead in Rex.

Luna pointed Nico towards his room, before saying goodbye. Nico found all his stuff packed into a corner, next to a bed. No one bothered him, afraid he would break their arms or something. That was just fine with Nico. He collapsed on his bed, Rex making himself comfortable at the foot of the bed. Nico fell asleep, though behind his eyes, he could still see Luna's hair against the dark sky, lighting up the fields like a moon.