Order of the Demigods chapter 9.

Can I just say, a lot of you are really good at guessing, but sadly none of you have quite got the right idea. Guest, you guessed pretty well, but next time could you sign off with a nickname or something so other guests don't get confused? Thanks. Also, SummerSpirit18 has a pretty good idea of what's going on.

Thanks for all the reviews and sorry if this chapter's a bit late.

Nico was excited about the upcoming event at Hogwarts. Peeves had spoken to him about this, after all. Peeves was like an overexcited fangirl with Nico- he thought he was some sort of celebrity. Fair enough, in the world of the dead, he was a celebrity.

Other ghosts had come to talk to Peeves about Nico- they knew he was something special, but they didn't quite know the extent of it, so they hadn't said too much.

The poltergeist had asked Nico for a favour. He wanted the Prince of Death to come to the Annual Ghost Reunion of Hogwarts, which was appropriately held on the winter solstice- December 21st. At this event, all the ghosts who had ever inhabited the castle joined together for a huge party. Peeves had said that if Nico was there, he could make sure the other ghosts had a good time and stayed in the dungeons; during previous get-togethers, they'd caused such a fuss in the castle that they were temporarily banned from the building. Peeves liked mischief though, but knew when to be cautious. Of course, it was hard to stop a ghost doing anything unless you had leverage.

It was no secret throughout the castle that the Ghost Reunion was happening tonight, but nobody wanted to go nonetheless.

Nico slipped out of bed-his watch red 12.16 am. Treading carefully, he put on his cloak and slowly walked to the door of the dormitory.

Hey! A voice said in his mind. He stumbled at this and almost-almost crashed to the floor. You're not going to leave me behind, are you? The voice said again. He spun on his heels, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. Not a soul in the dorm was awake- that he could feel with his death-soul-sense thingy. Then he turned to Corvus, who looked at him innocently.

You can talk to me inside my head? He thought-spoke to the bird. Said animal clacked his beak impatiently. Okay, fine. Hop on. He said, and the crow promptly flew onto his shoulder.

Since when could you talk? Nico asked the bird silently.

Well, would you have believed it? Came the reply. Nico sighed and headed out of the dormitory. He was almost there when Corvus spotted a rat and swooped down, cawing loudly.

"Corvus!" Nico hissed. "Well done," He looked around, expecting the whole dorm to have awakened. Luckily, it was only Ron that blinked his eyes blearily in response.

"Whaa?" He asked, his voice thick with sleep. Nico scowled- he would have to put him to sleep now, by slightly dimming his soul with his own. That usually used a lot of his energy. He concentrated and Ron's small shadow from the moonlight grew until it covered his whole body. He flopped back down, motionless.

Might've overdone it a bit there but…he'll wake up in about twelve to fourteen hours, Nico thought. With that, he crept out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. As he slipped out of the portrait-hole, he heard a whisper from behind him.

"Psst, Nico," The voice said. He whipped around and hit someone in the face. Apologizing, he took a closer look at the person. He was quite tall, with kind of long hair and a ruff around his neck. He was translucent-a ghost. Nico already knew of the Gryffindor ghost.

"You're Sir Nicolas de Mimsy-Porpington," He said. Sir Nick looked astonished that Nico knew his name.

"An honour to meet you, Nico." He said grandly. "I suppose you're going to the Reunion?" He asked.

"Yes." Nico replied. He liked Sir Nick, and wanted to call him by his proper title- it was respectful to the dead; you wouldn't call your dearly beloved deceased grandma 'old no-teeth', would you? "Let's go,"

And with that, the strange duo headed down the labyrinth of stairs and corridors to the dungeons.

When they walked down the final corridor, Nico could see glowing green torches lining the walls, and his death-sense was almost exploding.

"How many…" He trailed off as the double wooden doors opened to reveal hundreds, no, thousands of ghosts in a massive dungeon. There was slimy stuff trickling down the stone brick walls, and it was only just bright enough to find the way around.

A deceased orchestra played a fanfare as he walked into the room, and Nico was surprised to see Bertie walk (float/glide?) up to him and bow .

"Hey Bertie, long time no see!" He greeted him. The old poltergeist grinned lopsidedly back at him, and then Peeves floated in beside them.

"I'm so glad you came!" He chattered on as Nico wandered around.

There were ghosts everywhere, and all of them insisted on meeting Nico. He was passed around not unlike a pass-the-parcel present, and met several different spirits that he'd seen in the Underworld. All these ghosts looked thrilled to be recognised; there was Alneric the rebellious, an old gamekeeper who was killed by a mutated flobberworm; Repulsive Ropultus, a transfiguration professor who had half-transfigured himself into a giant slug; and Cassantra D'Arbr, a sweet little girl who had drowned in the lake.

Nico had seen Cassantra (He called her Cassie or Cass) wandering around Elysium, and had even befriended her for a bit before she'd suddenly disappeared without an explanation. She was nine years old physically, but two hundred and fifty years really. Cassie had (had) long platinum blonde hair and a pretty freckled face, with the bluest eyes. Nico knew this because in Elysium, people look exactly like they did in the happiest moment of their lives. She now had silver hair and dark grey eyes.

Nico made a small bouncy ball out of shadows for her and she looked delighted when he presented it to her. It was probably so long since she'd been given a present. Silvery tears of joy sprang up in her eyes and she quickly bounced the ball along the walls, playing with it. Corvus flew along too, eager to stretch his wings.

Nico chuckled and walked on, enjoying the friendly atmosphere. Before he knew it, it was 5.30 am.

He cursed in ancient Greek and hastily explained why he had to leave. His crow flew back to his perch on his shoulder. The ghosts looked very disappointed, but promised to catch up with him later. He shuddered nervously at the thought of his cover being blown by partying ghosts.

He quickly strode out of the dungeons, accompanied by tumultuous applause, and back up to the Gryffindor common room entrance. When he got there, however, his path was blocked by the Golden trio, accompanied by a very reluctant-looking Neville and Dean.

Ooh, Cliffie!

Thanks for reading!

-Supernerdette out.