disclaimer: I can't think of anything good to put but I'm not Rick or JK."I – I wasn't" the boy said. Nico had no reason to believe him. His senses were remarkably good and besides, there was something off about this boy that Nico had been able to sense for a while. He took a good look at his pursuer. He kind of looked like Percy with jet black hair and green eyes but a prominent lightning shaped scar ruled out any other thoughts like that.
"Who are you?"
"You, you don't know me? I'm Harry Potter."
Harry seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction, and sure enough, he got one. Nico jumped back and almost shouted,
"Potter? Son of Lily and James?"
"Well… yeah. That's not the reaction I was expecting…"
"Harry Potter. I know your parents well." Nico mumbled loud enough for Harry to hear.
"I'm sorry?"
Nico silently cursed himself. "Nothing. It's fine."
Harry frowned. Something was clearly not fine but he wasn't about to pry on some random stranger.
"Ah!" a serene voice sounded bringing both boys out of their stupor. "I see you have met Mr Potter, Nico. Well Harry, I am sure you will be seeing Nico again soon but I will have to drag him away from you now. We must get a room in the leaky cauldron. It is school tomorrow."
Harry paced down the train looking for somewhere to sit. He had said he'd meet Ron and Hermione in one of the compartments but which one, he had no idea. Just as he was going to give up and sit with Ginny, he tripped and fell into one of the compartments. Much to his surprise, his two friends were sitting there and as he raised his hand in welcome, Hermione gave him a warning look and pointed to a sleeping man.
On first sight, the guy looked normal. Shabby, maybe a bit poor but normal. Then, Harry noticed the scars.
There were scratches all down the mans face and probably more underneath his robes. Of course, the golden trio just had to have the worst luck because sitting across from professor R J Lupin as his suitcase said was another adult. This one didn't look much older than a seventh year and was still dressed in muggle clothing but carried himself with an air that made it impossible to be a student.
With a start, Harry recognised him from diagon alley. That strange man who ollivander called a half blood. What, Harry wondered, were cabins six and thirteen? And the boy's wand. Even Harry could tell it seemed more powerful than most. That was all Harry felt before a hopeless depressing feeling washed over him, filling his thoughts with despair and forcing him to relieve his worst memories. Then he fainted.
Lupin sat up with a start. A familiar feeling was seeping through him and he groaned. The werewolf really hated dementors. Two kids were sitting in his compartment staring at him while a third was on the floor, already succumbed to the dementors effects. the children looked as if they wanted Lupin to do something and that's when he remembered that he was a teacher. These were students. Remus whipped out his wand and reached in his mind for all those happy memories. Sirius and James 'studying' on the lawn, the day all the marauders became animagus' and even when James' son Harry was born.
"Expecto patron…" Lupin was stopped by a person he had failed to notice before.
"I can handle this." The mystery kid said. With that, he turned to the dementor. He seemed to be waiting for it to come closer and lupins heart skipped a beat. This guy looked like he was hardly affected by the monster. The horror leaned forward as if to begin to give the kiss and Lupin shuddered.
The boy stayed perfectly still and in a voice that was barely audible said, "Begone." What he lacked in volume, he made up for in presence. The temperature in the room had dropped even colder than it already was and the shadows surrounding the teen really helped create a sense of atmosphere. Oddly, Lupin wasn't suprised when the dementor shied back and floated away. He was surprised however when the feeling of death and despair stayed. And this was more. Lupin had fought dementors before. He was somewhat of an expert in them and knew exactly how to deal with the emotional stress they brought on but now he found himself relieving the day he was bitten and when he first went for a job. Nearly killing Severus… Lupin snapped out of his thoughts and remembered the children in the compartment who were currently cowering against the wall and looking at the one on the floor. I pulled him up and put him on the bench.
This student had onyx black hair.
Messy just like James.
His glasses: James' glasses.
When his eyes reached the lightning scar on his head, Lupin sagged. This must be Harry.
The werewolf remembered him from when he was only a baby at his christening. Sirius had been named godfather and he had stood there watching with a smile on his face. That had been before… well.
Let's just say Lupin hadn't seen James and Lily after that. He almost resented Harry for still being alive and he knew that was ridiculous. Anyway. Chocolate. Who was that boy?
"You were asking?" a quiet voice at Lupins shoulder said "Nico di Angelo. How are you Remus?"
Nico.
He should have known. It was only Nico who would be that dramatic yet creepy at the same time. Not to mention he was pretty sure Nico was the only person who could simply tell a dementor to go away.
"Nico. You look different…" He said. The last time Lupin had seen Nico, he was eleven.
Now that was a memory he didn't want to remember. He had been infiltrating a pack of werewolves. It was nearly the end of his mission and Lupin was making plans to sneak out unseen that night. These plans were stopped when a small boy had emerged out of the shadows. After beating up the whole pack (some of whom were in the middle of transformation) he had grabbed Lupin and disappeared. That was the story of how Lupin had first met Nico di Angelo.
So what was Nico doing here?
Harry sat in the great hall as the sorting hat commenced its sorting. He didn't really take any notice of the terrified first years and nearly missed Dumbledore's speech. This was mostly because he was still reeling from his time on the floor of the train compartment (Draco had teased him unmercifully about this although Harry had no idea how it had got out) but also because he was staring at the teachers table. In particular, the two new teachers. One of them Harry vaguely remembered feeding him chocolate. This man looked poor and shabby but kind and Harry thought he saw a familiar look of longing in his eyes. The other teacher (Harry assumed him to be this despite his young age) was still dressed in muggle clothes and Harry remembered him to be Nico di Angelo from Diagon Alley. His eyes seemed to hold buckets of pain. There was something about him that looked broken. Permanently.
The two spent most of the feast in deep discussion about something or other but Harry did notice that Nico, or professor di Angelo hardly ate anything. Harry was brought back from his daydreaming by Ron who was furiously shouting.
"Harry!"
"Yeah... What?"
"Did you hear a word I just said?"
"Um…"
"Ronald has been ranting about Dumbledore's decision to let the dementors of Azkaban come into this school." Hermione supplied. "Although I personally think there are better ways of expressing ones views." She added scornfully.
Harry was confused. "Dementors?" he asked.
"They guard Azkaban. They are what made you, you know… pass out on the train."
"Oh." Harry wasn't really listening and went back to staring at professor Lupin.
Then Dumbledore stood up and for the first time that evening, Harry concentrated.
"Now students. I know many of you will be outraged at the new security measures put in place this year but I assure you they are for a good cause. That is, until Sirius Black is caught, the dementors will stay. On a happier note, I am pleased to say we are joined by two new teachers this year."
Voices echoed round the hall:
"Two?
"But theres only the dada post!"
"I wonder what the new subject will be?"
"Silence please! Professor Lupin will be teaching defence against the dark arts and professor di Angelo will be teaching our new subject – Greek mythology. I expect you to treat both professors with the utmost respect. Now then. We have a busy day tomorrow so off to bed with you." Dumbledore waved his knobbly hand and the candles disappeared and lights dimmed.
That night, Nico had another nightmare and found himself wondering yet again why the fates couldn't just leave him alone. He had sensed ghosts in the castle and at the feast had tried to keep his head down but luckily the ghosts did not appear.
Nico was running through the desolate wasteland surrounded by high perilous cliffs and scalding pits of acid. He had just taken a sip from the Phlegethon and was trying to ignore the burning feeling making its way down his throat. He had nearly reached the doors by now but this was where the real challenge began. His meeting with misery had gone well… miserably and he was being chased by some empousai. After hours of this, they had stopped their pursuit but Nico knew better than to think they were bored. This could only mean there was a bigger threat. Sure enough a few hours or was it days later, Nico was reeling in pain. He stabbed his sword into an arai's stomach and braced himself, waiting for the next curse. He waited. And waited. Then, there was something so much worse than pain. "Bianca!" Nico gasped. Surely Bianca wouldn't have… but she did. "Your dear sister cursed you with the pain you caused her."
Gasping and sweating, Nico woke up and quickly scanned his surroundings. He appeared to be in a small bedroom with little decoration to hide the dreary grey walls. He would have to work on that later. However, for now, Nico simply got out of bed (a remarkable feat in itself) and got changed into a black shirt and jeans. He covered it with some of the robes he had brought from Diagon Alley and once again contemplated why wizards would want to immobilise themselves like this. It was pointless in a fight and besides. Wizards in robes. How stereotypical could you get?
Nico started to wander off to the great hall or whatever it was called. He'd been told there was breakfast and will made him promise to eat. This peacefulness didn't last long though because just down the corridor from his residence, was a distraction. This particular distraction was in the form of a poltergeist.
"Oooh! What do we have here? You're no student. A teacher? A new one, what fun!" peeves chuckled and then stopped short. "Master Nico. What in hades are you doing here?"
"Peeves." Nico regarded the Hogwarts trouble maker with cold eyes. "If you have any sense, you will keep away from me during my stay here."
"Peeves?" the gulping peeves seemed to try and make himself as small as possible. "What are you doing? Torturing a teacher?"
This new voice came from another ghost hovering disapprovingly at the end of the corridor.
"Oh." Nico said, slightly surprised. "Hello Patrick."
"Master. I hope peeves was not giving you any trouble?"
"No. you are known as the Bloody Baron here I believe?"
"Yes my lord."
"Could you show me to the hall then, Baron? I regret I do not know my own way." Nico asked. He actually found the formal voice he put on while talking to ghosts quite amusing. It always terrified most of them. After getting a few weird looks from students at arriving with the Slytherin ghost, Nico told him to keep the other ghosts away and picked up a piece of toast.
"Morning Mr di Angelo" a voice spoke softly from beside him. Nico cursed. He had just chosen to sit next to Dumbledore and that meant he would have to socialise. "I see you have met the Hogwarts ghosts. Now. After this, come to my office. Every person has to be sorted." Dumbledore said. Nico nodded in response and went back to his toast.
Over at the Gryffindor table harry was watching the new teacher. He had bothered to put on robes today, but you could still see the muggle clothing underneath. He glanced over at his two friends. Ron was intently shovelling sausage into his mouth and was blind to the world. Hermione on the other hand was staring at professor di Angelo with a disgusted look; he noticed that the older girls and a couple of boys were blushing. Harry had to admit. The guy was hot but he wasn't some exhibition. He was a teacher for Merlin's sake!
Harry was intrigued by Nico. He had this dark foreboding presence that was creepy enough but he also had a certain aura. So much power just waiting to come out. Harry hoped he would never see that.
He turned his attention back to his plate just long enough to pick up some bacon and then studied the other new professor. Lupin was looking just as tired as he had last night if not more. Looking at his schedule, Harry saw that he had professor di Angelo just after lunch for mythology and he was excited to see what would happen.
After breakfast, Nico, with the help of the Slytherin ghost who had apparently decided to adopt him, made his way to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore had told him the password - mint humbug - and once he had got in Nico craned his neck to look around.
He had no idea what most of the instruments around the cluttered room were or were used for but he recognised a pensive like the one his father sometimes used or indeed that he used - illegally of course. There was a bird perched on a bar and on closer inspection (Nico was intrigued when it didn't shy away from him) he realised it was a Phoenix.
"You're beautiful aren't you." He crooned softly.
The bird regarded him through fiery eyes, squawked loudly and burst into flames. Nico was enraptured. He had always liked Phoenixes because they, unlike any other animal weren't afraid of dead but he had never seen one being reborn up close.
"You have met Fawkes, I see."
Nico looked up from his daze to see Dumbledore had entered the room.
"He seems to like you." The aged man said. "There are not many humans a Phoenix likes. You must be special."
"Uh..." Nico stuttered
"I have brought you here so we can see which house you belong in. Do you know anything about our houses?"
"Yeah." Nico replied. "James said That Gryffindor was for the brave and the best house. He said Ravenclaw was for nerds, Hufflepuff for the kind and Slytherin for the evil. I don't think that's right though."
"James?" Dumbledore inquired.
"James Potter. He told me loads about this sch... oh yeah he's dead isn't he. I forgot."
"Mr Di Angelo. I don't know much about your kind but may I ask, who is your... godly parent?"
"It's Hades."
"Ah. I see. Does that entail talking to.. forgive me if I sound silly, ghosts?"
Nico paused, "It does. In my father's realm, I am known as the ghost king."
"Ah." Dumbledore said again. "Well then. Let's get you sorted then you are free to teach."
He gestured to a stool in the corner which had a tattered hat lying on it. Nico, assuming that was the right thing to do, put it on. That was obviously correct because as soon as he had, there was a booming voice inside his head and he jumped ten feet in the air. Dumbledore watched all this with an amused expression.
Nico really didn't like this man.
As any person would do when confronted with a voice in their head, Nico quickly put up his mental defences.
"A new teacher I see. Wait a sec, you didn't go to Hogwarts - I haven't sorted you before. Let's see. You're smart but I don't think Ravenclaw is for you. Hufflepuff, I can't tell. Oi! Put those defences down!" The hat screamed in his head.
"You really want to know?" Nico inquired
"Well if you don't, I'll just put you in Hufflepuff but I get the feeling that's not your type."
"Alright then." Don't say I didn't warn you. He thought. In one move, Nico lowered his barriers.
"AHHHGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The hat yelled, nearly deafening him. It was no longer just inside his head but echoing outside too.
"Calm down and sort me you stupid hat!" Nico said impatiently.
"Right. Right. So you're a demigod. Haven't seen one of those in centuries. A son of Hades! Just like Salazar. Now. Memories. Wow you've had a lot of pain haven't you! First your mother then your sister dying. Ooooh. I see we had a crush on a certain son of Poseidon! So you ran away and sulked... ok. Ooh destroying minos was brave then you fought against Kronos. Loyal but not too loyal. Oh wow!" The hat started its caterwauling again and Nico knew it had got to the... more recent memories.
"Can we please just skip over that?" He said angrily.
"Yes yes. Merlin's underpants. So after you were in a jar, you led the rest of the seven to Italy and admitted your homosexuality. Ok. I don't need to see anymore. You could be in Slytherin, in fact, you'd do well there but I'm going to put you in Gryffindor. Just one more thing. You got any special guys at home? Aaaah. Will Solace, son of Apollo. He's cute but I still think you'd do better with Jackson."
"Is a hat seriously giving me love advice?" Nico asked in disbelief "I got over Percy."
"Ok, ok. Jeez! I'm just trying to be helpful!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted out loud.
Throughout the day, Harry was shouted at by Snape (His glasses were cracked by Malfoy and he couldn't read the board properly, causing him to miss a step), given tons of homework by McGonagall and Flitwick and nearly killed himself in herbology. When it was time for mythology, the third year Gryffindors lined up outside the classroom with the Hufflepuffs. Professor di Angelo arrived with the Bloody Baron who quickly gave the questioning students death glares. Once they were all in the classroom, the teacher started to call out names in his weird American accent and then sat on his desk casually.
"Hi." He said in a low silky voice. "I'm Nico and I'm gonna be teaching you about greek mythology."
Like Snape, you could hear his voice echoing around the silent room despite its low volume.
"First of all, does anyone know any greek gods?"
True to form, Hermione put her hand up right away. Knowing her, she had proably read all the school books as well as any other ones she could get her hands on. Harry sighed and raised his hand too. He was actually quite interested in this sort of thing and had a basic knowledge from muggle school. Harry looked around the room and saw that almost all of the pureblood wizards had a look of confusion on their generally ugly faces.
"Yes miss…" Nico looked at Hermione
"Granger. The Greek gods were gods worshipped by the ancient greeks. While there were many deities, the main twelve were called the Olympians. They consisted of…"
"That's enough. Let someone else go." The professor said and Hermione looked sheepish.
"Potter?" harry realised Nico was speaking to him.
"Um… I know Zeus, Poseidon and Hades." He said and noticed the young teacher stiffened.
"Very good. Together, they were known as the big three – sons of Cronus and Rhea. As Miss Granger was telling us, the other ten Olympians were Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, Artemis, Apollo, Hera, Demeter and Dionysus. Hades was technically not one of the Olympians as he was kicked out and neglected by the other gods."
I really like Lupin and I feel like his character isn't given enough attention in the HP books so I decided to give him a more major role in this fanfic.