IcyFox17, thanks again. It helps a lot. My cat does not get along well with dogs. He chases them.
Guest, whoever you are, thanks for the support.
Keep reviewing! You guys are awesome.
Enjoy!
Nico
Nico leaned against the wall of Gryffindor Common Room, waiting for Percy to come down. Annabeth had gone up to wake him, while the rest of them remained downstairs. He was aware of the gawking, and it reminded him of the first Great Prophecy, when Kronos threatened to rise. Everyone at camp stared at the Son of Hades. The oddball. The child of the Underworld. The one with the freaky powers. He lifted his head to stare them back, and they averted their eyes, suddenly becoming interested in whatever was before them. At least he wasn't the only one being stared at. He could see a group of girls clustered together, gossiping and stealing glances at Jason. Percy received the same treatment. Boys eyed Piper like she was some sort of trophy, but she promptly ignored them. Her boyfriend stood protectively behind her. Thalia was giving everyone a keep-your-distence look, silently warning them not to mess with her.
Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, and Hazel all wore school robes, but Nico and Thalia stubbornly stuck to their own. The uniform was black, but he didn't want to go around trying not to trip. "What's taking so long?" Hazel murmured.
"Dunno." Frank said.
Right on cue, the boy's dormitories door swung opened to reveal a very uncomfortable Percy. His robes were creased in every manner, and he he wore neither hat or tie, like the rest of them. Annabeth trailed after him with an amused expression. "Finally." Jason muttered.
Hermione looked up from one of the chairs. "Oh, good. Your awake. We're just waiting for...Harry to join us." She sounded like she was expecting something from them. Everyone stared blankly at her, until Ron broke the silence.
"Oh, come on! Harry Potter! The Boy who Lived! Don't tell me you don't know him!"
Everybody still looked confused. "Er...no." Piper said. "Should we have?"
Ron started to speak, but Hermione broke in.
"Have you even heard of You-Know-Who?"
Thalia snorted. "You-Know-Who? What sort of name is You-Know-Who?"
"And we don't know who You-Know-Who is, so perhaps it should be 'We-Don't-Know-Who'. Percy added. "Could you explain, please?"
"Voldemort." Said a voice behind them.
They whirled. "That's Harry Potter." Said Hermione's voice. Harry Potter looked most unimpressive. He was a bit like Percy, with ruffled black hair and emerald green eyes, but the similarities ended there. Harry was slightly shorter, thinner, and with a pair of round glasses and a faint scar like a lightning bolt on his forehead.
"You're looking at the only known person to survive the killing curse." Ron told them this like he had been saying this for years.
"So who again is Voldy?" Percy asked, seeking to continue their discussion.
The three stared at each other like they couldn't find an answer. "Um...we'll tell you later." Hermione said. "Lets go get Breakfast."
So they followed the trio down to the Great Hall. Nico lingered at the back of the group, a little way from the rest of them, staring at anyone who paused to gawk. He didn't wan't to leave his room in the first place, all the attention made him uncomfortable. At the very front, Hermione, Ron, and Harry were talking amongst themselves, just out of ear-shot even for the ones at the front of the group. He had a feeling they were talking about the demigods. Nico felt someone watching watching him and turned just in time to see a ghost slip into a wall. So they were following him. For the past day, he had been seeing specters everywhere, watching him with keen interest. Perhaps they sensed his connection with the Underworld. Maybe they knew of his affinity with the dead. Whatever it was, they seemed to find him a curiosity. "Come out from the wall." He said, aware of everyone turning to stare. There was a pause before a medieval-looking ghost popped out. He was wearing a ruff higher than any Nico had ever seen, a red suit that was fashionable around five centuries ago, and a pair of breeches. He was unlike any ghost Nico had ever seen. The look of embarrassment was clear on his face. "Nearly-Headless Nick." Harry greeted.
Hazel winced. "Nearly-Headless Nick?"
The ghost huffed. "I would prefer to be call Sir Nicholas, you know."
"Then why are you called Nearly-Headless Nick?" Jason asked.
Nick frowned. "Because of this." He reached up and grabbed one ear, yanking his head. It fell with nothing connecting it to the rest of the body but one thin strand of sinew. Piper let out a horrified noise. Nico took a step back, his hand grasping the hilt of his sword. "Beheaded. Ghosts are bound to the place were they died. Which means his execution was carried out..."
"Right in this castle." Annabeth finished, a look of alarm on her face.
The demigods stepped together in an instant, each one of them glaring at the the students and the ghost with mistrust. "What have we walked into?" Hazel asked, horrified.
"I knew there was something wrong with this place." Thalia hissed. Her daggers were raised in a defensive position. Some of the spectators had drawn their wands, not quite gawking at them anymore. Thalia glared at them with fierce eyes, and many of them fluttered nervously, not quite sure what to do.
"Excuse me, but I was not beheaded at the castle! Hogwarts was a school long before I was alive! They wouldn't decapitate people in this place!" Nick drifted right through Hermione, who winced. He disappeared into the wall once again, muttering something about people these days having no common logic. Percy capped Riptide, but remained alert; and Thalia didn't sheath her daggers. The crowd remained there until Hermione shooed them away, telling them to put away their wands. Reluctantly, they hustled away, eyeing the demigods with interest and a certain level of wariness.
None of them really wanted to follow the trio, but they had no choice. They descended down the marble staircase and past the entrance hall, they came into the vast, cavernous Great Hall. It was big enough fit the Big House back at Camp. There were four tables, no doubt for the four houses, and at the very front was a high table with all the teachers assembled behind it. Nico sat down quietly next to Hazel. The table in front of him was piled high with toast, bacon, eggs, sausages, bottles of jam, jugs of milk and coffee, and for some reason, fried fish. Percy collapsed onto the stool next to Annabeth and loaded his plate with everything but the fish and started devouring his breakfast. Annabeth prodded the toast suspiciously, but deemed it edible. Frank piled on bacon and toast and started eating. Hazel tried out some of the fish, Piper tasted a little of everything but the meat, and Jason was eating just as much as Percy. Thalia rolled her eyes at the rest of them, refusing to eat anything and merely took to warding off boys. When Percy paused for a second, a ketchup mustache was plastered on his face and he had crumbs and spots of jam all over his face. He said, "It's not pizza, but it's good." and resumed his breakfast.
Annabeth seized a napkin. "For god's sake, Percy, use a napkin!"
"You really should." Piper agreed. "You look like a food bomb had exploded in your face."
Nico allowed himself a small smile. Sometimes, Percy seemed more juvenile than he was. He turned to select his own egg when a gray-eyed boy in Slythrin robes appeared behind him, followed by two brutish cronies. Nico turned. "Draco Malfoy." He greeted coolly.
"Nico di Angelo." He drawled. "You should join us at the Slytherin table. After all, that's the house you chose, right?" He raised his voice. "You really don't want to be hanging out with them. That red-head over there? His family is so poor they can't even afford the school books. Everything he has is second-handed and-"
"OI!" Ron yelled and jumped to his feet, his wand drawn.
"No, Ron!" Hermione said, grasping the collar of his shirt in an effort to restrain him. Thalia nocked, aimed, and fired before Draco could react. Her arrow whizzed past his head, nicking his ear, and thunked right into the far wall. Draco stumbled back, shocked and outraged. The hall suddenly became very quiet. All eyes turned to the Gryffindor table. Nico stood up and approached him, the air around him dropping in temperature. The Slytherin quailed away. "I don't think so, Draco."
At that moment, Mcgonagall rushed over, a furious look on her face. "Thalia! We do not shoot people here at Hogwarts!"
"It was just a warning shot!" Thalia protested.
Mcgonagall's nostrils flared."Have you heard of diplomacy, miss?"
Thalia looked her in the eye. "Yes. But you should do something, professor. He is a bully, and he must be stopped."
Mcagonagall glared at her. "If another Hogwarts student is threatened at your hands, I will personally attend to your issues with your temper!" She said tartly.
Thalia gritted her teeth."Fine."
The professor wheeled away. Draco scrambled to his feet, dusting his robes off. He shot Thalia a smug look, called to Crabbe and Goyle, and left for the Slytherin table. Hermione and Harry released Ron, who glared furiously after Draco. "If he makes one more crack about my family..."
Piper put a hand on his shoulder."I know. That was mean. We were all bullied at least once." She glanced around at the rest of them. "People made a lot of jokes because I was part Cherokee."
"We were all called freaks." Percy assured him. "Some of us..." He galnced guiltily at Nico. "Some of us were treated even worse."
That seemed to make Ron feel better. He opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a stream of owls flocking through the windows and into the Great Hall. Barn, elf, eagle-all the types he knew and a hundred more circling the hall, letters and packages in their talons and beak. Screech owls flocked around him, landing on the table and observing him with something like interest. Nico locked eyes with the one in front of him, an impressively big owl with his wings half spread. Delivery owls? He asked. The bird flinched and took a step back, hooting nervously, his wings flaring and knocking over a glass of milk. It took him a moment to answer. Post-Owls. He corrected. Nico tilted his head slightly. Interesting. "Uh...Nico?"Percy asked."Are you done having a staring contest with the owl?"
Nico broke the connection and the screech took off, hooting into the sky. "I was talking to it." He huffed.
Percy blinked."Like I can talk to horses and fish? Why would you be able to talk to screech owls?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "They're Hades' sacred animals, Percy!"
"Oh."
To his right, Harry murmured, "No mail." He looked disappointed, but he steeled himself. Hermione wasn't eating at all and was staring at them suspiciously. Nico knew they would have to be cautious around her. The others seemed to know, too, since they fell silent. He helped himself to some breakfast.
There tour began as soon as everyone finished eating. The moment they were out of the hall, Hermione whirled, crossing her arms."There's something different about you guys." She said.
"There is." Frank admitted. "But how can we trust you?"
That made her pause. "Of course you can trust me." She said at last. "I'm not going to harm you."
No one looked convinced."Hermione?" Ron asked. "What are you doing?"
Hermione let out an exasperated sigh."Honestly, your so thick sometimes. Don't you see it? There is obviously something different about them. They use bows and swords. The ghosts and the screech owls are taking a special interest in Nico. He can control the air temperature. Half of them have tattoos-SPQR. Senetus Populusqe Romanus. And have you ever seen eyes like Hazel's?"
"No." Ron admitted.
"Exactly!" She turned towards them. "You can trust us. We won't harm you guys."
Annabeth looked her in the eyes."Tell your own secrets. And we will share ours."
Harry stumbled back. Hermione blinked, and Ron bit his lip. There was a moments silence. Each were unwilling to trust the other. Finally, Hermione turned to Harry. "It's your choice, then." She said.
"Why is it my choice?"He asked."You should judge."
"But they're your secrets, Harry. You decide whether to tell them or not."
Harry looked at them curiously, cautiously."...Alright. But you can't tell them to anyone else, OK?"
"Only if you won't." Annabeth replied.
"Sure!" Ron said.
"It's settled, then." Nico decided. Everyone jumped, and he can't help but smile a little. After all this time, they still forget he was present. "We'll show you everything, ok?" Hermione said."We will tell you what we can after."
"Alright." Frank said.
The tour was long. The trio explained were the houses were situated, their classrooms for all their studies, the hospital wing, the bathrooms, and so many other places. Ron kept complaining over just how much homework they had, and how Snape was a big 'git', and that they hardly ever get a break. Percy looked nauseous after he saw a pile of homework on one of the teacher's desk, much to Annabeth's and Hermione's amusement. "Your just like Ron." She told him. With help, Harry recited all the classes they could take: Defense Against the Dark Arts, or DADA, as Percy pointed out, but Ron objected. "Snape teaches that subject. If I had a choice, I would-"
"Ron. Let Harry continue." Hermione interrupted.
"Right."
Harry when on."Potions is taught by Slughorn-"
They all burst out laughing, except Nico, who managed to control his amusement. "Slughorn? Really?" Percy asked.
In the end, it was nearly impossible for them not to interrupt. Hermione scowled at them."Just let me finish, ok?" They only explored the first floor before the trio brought them out onto the grounds next. The first thing Nico saw was the hut near the forest and the monster tied to the fence. It was stormy-gray and looked like a griffin, but with the back half of a horse."It's OK!" Harry said quickly."He won't attack."
Thalia stared at him hard."A decapitated ghost and a pet monster? That sounds like trouble."
"He would have found us a long time ago," Annabeth reasoned."We have three...with you, Percy, and Nico with us, he would have reacted already."
"Sounds reasonable to me." Percy said.
Hermione shook her head. "Look...maybe they are monsters were you come from, but Buckbeak...Wintherwings is perfectly trained. Just...here."
Hermione approached him and bowed low, then stared at him. He blinked fierce orange eyes and bowed back, spreading his wings slightly. Hermione walked over to him and patted him on the beak. "You see, you just need to show him respect. Never insult a hippogriff, if you do, it's likely the last thing you'll ever do."
"I doubt it." Frank muttered.
Ron turned to him."In our first Care of Magical Creatures class, Malfoy was attacked by Buckbeak, you know."
Piper raised an eyebrow."Have you battled cyclopses? Flocks of harpies? Dozens of hellhounds?"
"No," Ron replied, "but Harry battled a 50 foot dragon and a lake full of merepeople, and You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters."
"What about a manticore? A nemean lion? Kronos himself?" Thalia challenged.
"Hold on," Hermione said."Did you say Kronos? As in the Titan?"
"Yep." Percy said. "Plus Gaea and her giants."
Harry frowned."Gaea?"
"The earth goddess." Hazel supplied.
"That's it." Ron said. You guys really need to tell us were you came from."
"Later." Thalia said.
"You can't stall forever y'know" Harry replied.
"You were going to tell us later." Thalia shot back.
"We can tell you now." Ron replied.
"How?" Jason asked.
Harry flicked his wand, muttering,"Muffliato."
"What was that?" Annabeth asked immediately.
"Anyone listening in will have their ears full buzzing." Harry explained, while Hermione sniffed disapprovingly.
"Useful." Hazel said.
"You go first." Frank said, looking at the Gryffindors.
So Harry explained, from beginning to end. He told them of Voldemort's attack when he was a baby, how his killing curse rebounded and destroyed the caster, how he had clung to life, existing purely because of numerous dark experiments. He told them of his first fight with Voldemort, how the dark lord had bent Quirrel to his will and used his body in an attempt to steal the 'Sorcerer's Stone'. He told of his second year, and his third, all the way to the present-the sixth. He hesitated on many occasions. Annabeth listened intently, searching his eyes."Your leaving out parts." She said when he was done.
Harry didn't answer for a second. "There's some stuff strictly between Dumbledore, my friends, and me." He gestured towards Ron and Hermione. "It's sorta top secret. Dumbledore told me not to tell anyone else." He added apologetically.
Nico raised and eyebrow."Then we can leave out the important parts, if that is what you want."
Hermione hesitated."Alright."
So it was the demigod's turn. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico told them of the war with Kronos, leaving out specific details, like the location of the camp. Percy explained how the Greek/Roman gods existed, and how they sometimes had affairs with mortals that resulted in demigods. Half mortal, half god. He introduced himself as the son of Poseidon, Annabeth, Athena, Thalia, Zeus, Nico, Hades, Piper, Aphrodite, Jason, Jupiter, Frank, Mars, and Hazel, Pluto. He was only half-way through when Nico suddenly realized that the sun was already setting."It's getting late." Nico said.
Hermione looked up. "We should get back into the castle." She stared at them, partly awed, partly curious."We'll find time later."
They trooped into into the castled through the nearest gate. The trio guided them into the Great Hall, but stopped short. It was packed with people whispering to each other, squeezing through the crowd as if trying to get a better view. The demigods and wizards exchanged glances, then joined the mob. Nico squeezed his way through, sending people out of the way with stares. When he finally broke through the horde, the sight before him made him freeze. Dumbledore was making his way through the hall, using his wand to levitate a girl in Roman armor. Her ragged hair was braided down her shoulder, her face covered in blood and scratches. The imperial gold armor was gouged with claw marks. The only thing that remained in perfect condition was her cloak. The temperature around Nico dropped.
It was Reyna.
Did you enjoy?
About the screech owl-it's true it's Hades' sacred animal, and I figured it only made sense that Nico could communicate with it, just like Percy.
Thank you for reviewing guests, whoever and wherever you are in the world.
