Disclaimer!

These characters do not belong to me nor do I make any money off this story. I am merely writing Fan Fiction. The characters belong to their respective author. I hope you enjoy Joining Forces.

Nico POV:

In a few moments, Lavender Brown was not outside. Snape had appeared in the storm and lead her back into the school. He only returned by the time the period was over. His greasy hair seemed to be even more slick from the rain outside, however, it wasn't as wet as I expected so it was likely that he stayed inside the school building for most of the time he was gone. "You'll have be writing a piece on 15 dark creatures of your choice from the ones we will continue to discuss." He said with his normal scowl-like appearance. "You'll be mentioning why they are categorized as a dark creature, their abilities, how to defend against them, along with notable events relating to them in the past and more. This should be finished in a week. Class dismissed."

Grumbling, many students exited the classroom already conversing on which creature they were interested in or simply complaining about the assignment altogether. Percy was one of the latter. "15 creatures! We haven't even gone through half today. I still haven't figured out what a Capricorn is actually called,"

Annabeth lightly nudged him with a smile. "We can work on it together later today."

"There is so much to do." Percy began counting his fingers. "I think Quidditch should be starting again soon. There's also the dueling club, and the Slug Club, I don't think I can back out of that one a lot. I also have a test on Ancient Runes soon. I'm pretty sure there might be a possibility that I might fail that class,"

"I think we also forgot that extra class that we have to teach," I chimed in. "Hopefully there aren't any more unexpecting events that pop up as well,"

That afternoon, the first group of students we had were the first year to fourth years wizards and witches from the Hufflepuff house. "So, battling is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it," Percy introduced, making some small hand gestures. "Um, Nico? Annabeth?"

"Sure," Annabeth grinned, hopping up from where she sat. "I'm fine with taking you up on your challenge,"

"Uh," Percy replied. "Okay,"

Annabeth was the first to strike. The two of them continuously traded blows with one another, neither gaining the upper hand so far. To the side, I made remarks from time to time commenting on different parts of their duel. The scene reminded me somewhat of a sports competition only with two people competing instead of teams, but still with a large audience and a commenter. However, the battle was incredibly fast paced so there wasn't much time to give a full on explanation for each move done so I mainly did the ones that were a little more notable.

When the duel was over, the three of us taught some more basic moves to the wizards and witches. From what Chiron told us there apparently was a secret program run by some of the students which taught them many different things. Additionally, the Battle of Hogwarts had only taken place last school year so there were also some students here that managed to survive through that. Their general skill from that was visible and they many basic pieces of knowledge or were able to learn quite quickly. It was the younger ones who we spent more of our time on. Overall, the class had a successful start.

"Your class turn out fine?" Another Slytherin student asked to my side as I wrote about a dark creature. I had started some of the work when Percy, Annabeth and I were studying together. Undoubtedly, there was still much left to do. "Yeah," I responded. "It was fine,"

"Do you get any special privileges from being a teacher?" She continued.

"No, besides more work,"

"Can you give me a pass? I'm not doing well in one of my classes and if I got a boosting grade it would help," She had also been writing a report of some kind, but at this moment stopped to look at me, genuinely waiting for a response.

"As long as you work on it, you'll do fine then you'll pass,"

"When is my next class on this subject?" She tapped the tip of her quill on the piece of parchment in front of her a few times before lifting it up with a smile. "Next Thursday, I think,"

"You're in the older category? I'm sorry, but I don't think I have seen you before much," I vaguely remember seeing her face from time to time, but she didn't appear at Hogwarts a lot recently.

"Yeah, I'm a 6th year student, Astoria Greengrass. I was brought back home briefly since my parents were worried about the virus,"

"Well, it's nice that you're back,"

"Yeah," She gave a stretch of her arms before glancing back down on what she wrote on her piece of parchment. Looking satisfied, she quickly gathered her items and began to head over to the girls dormitory. "You should rest early, you have a lot to do as well," She waved before leaving, still glancing back down on the parchment from time to time as she walked.

Deciding to take her suggestion, I gathered my stuff as well, going back to the boys dormitories. Inside, there weren't many other students since it was earlier in the night when I entered the common room. I put my quills and parchment into the trunk at the base of my bed before locking them in. Being friends with someone like Draco at school was definitely better than being enemies. I thought to myself listlessly as I wrapped myself under the covers. Slowly, I drifted into sleep. The rustling sounds from birds could still be heard outside as if they were flapping their wings a few times before going into the sky. Their shouts were like warning cries, entangling me into endless restlessness. Or perhaps it was something else that caused me to think of such a dreary place. An infinite amount of pain and suffering all encaged in one location, an entity in itself. Rushing rivers of fire that I knew felt as cold as ice. Air that I knew would suffocate me without any effort. Ground that I knew felt as if it were made from the broken pieces of glass like the broken souls imprisoned there for lifetimes, vying for freedom. I shuddered, my forehead dripping with sweat. Why would I dream of here?

Upon realizing where I was, my senses seemed to all spike as though I was waiting for an attack to defend against. Although the air didn't suffocate me, the ground didn't hurt me, I felt as if I was back in those days of walking through despair by myself. My mind immediately thought about the bugs and the virus at Hogwarts. Could it be that I was under it's influence again? If so, why am I in Tartarus? Who will I encounter?! Subconsciously, I already had my wand withdrawn.

"Nico,"

I looked around me, trying to hone in the direction of the voice. My fingers clenched around the wood, pointing it forwards. What was said next was unexpected.

"Help,"

For Astoria, I'm not really sure how her personality is like since there isn't too much on her. So this is my impression so far.

For those of you who have read the Tower of Nero, this probably is ringing bells in your mind. I'm trying to make this fanfiction's timeline matching most events Rick Riordan's novels since they were still ongoing, however, there might be a few changes during the fanfiction.

It's been a while. It might be some time before my next post since the school year is ending and I have some big tests coming up. However, I should be able to post chapters more frequently in the summer! :) Have a nice day!