"Hermione, I still don't get why you're studying if we haven't even gotten to school yet," Harry said, watching in amazement as his friend continued to take notes with her quill.
Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry was a great guy, but when it came to important things like studying, her friends never really understood her. "You can never be too prepared," she told him.
Ron was squirming uncomfortably in his seat. Something felt wrong. Very wrong. He felt as if they weren't alone, almost as if somebody was spying on them. But why would they? Still he couldn't manage to shake the horrible feeling off.
"You alright there, mate?" asked Harry.
Ron nodded. "Fine," he lied, turning back to glance out the window before Harry could figure out he wasn't being truthful. It seemed stupid, but the feeling was still creeping up on him, waiting to attack. Someone. Somewhere. Was spying on them.
And he was right, Nico Di Angelo pressed his ear against the side of his compartment. So far he had figured out that this train was leading to a boarding school of some sort, but that was basically it. He didn't think anything sounded all that suspicious to him. Still, he prayed no one would find him.
"What'cha doing?" a voice asked.
Nico jumped. He covered his mouth to stop himself from screaming. But, fortunately, he recognized the person, or rather, people. Nico saw Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, and Annabeth Chase looking at him curiously. He groaned in annoyance. "What are you guys doing here?" he demanded.
Percy smirked. "Well, Chiron didn't want you wandering around a continent all alone, so he told us to go with you. Grover sniffed you out!"
Nico scowled. "I don't need your help. I am perfectly capable of doing this alone."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Look, Nico, we're your friends. We just want to help."
"Well, you can start by being quiet!"
