Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! :)The first two chapter names have been oriented around the Percy Jackson characters. I have decided to alternate chapter title styles for every three chapters. What do you guys think?

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter :(

Chapter 3: A Hat Decides our Fate

HARRY POV

After the encounter with Malfoy, the train stopped and we all got up. One by one, everybody filed out of their compartments and onto the platform. We started to walk forward until a group of carriages appeared in front of us, blocking our paths. Strange-looking creatures were leading the carriages and I didn't know what to make of them. Reddish-brown, delicate-looking skin covered their skeletal bodies. Sorrow filled their eyes and I felt a strange feeling of grief when I looked at them. They suddenly made me think of Sirius, and I quickly brushed away any thoughts of him. It hurt too much. I looked around and saw Hermione beckoning me to sit with her, Ron, and the four new students in a carriage. I hastily got into the carriage and looked at my friend's faces, looking for any signs of recognition of these peculiar animals. Hermione and Ron looked like nothing had ever happened, but when my eyes grazed over Percy and his friends, a slight hint of satisfaction hit me.

"Can you see them?" I asked them, careful to be quiet so that Hermione couldn't hear. Percy's solemn face slowly nodded and Thalia and Annabeth quickly repeated his motion.

Nico quickly said, "Of course I can see them!" but immediately looked as if he shouldn't have.

"What do you mean? Is it not uncommon to see them?" I asked, curious to know more about these things.

"Those creatures are called thestrals. They can only be seen by people who have witnessed and accepted death. I could see them easily because….well…..I've been around a lot of death," he admitted, looking unsure on whether or not it was a good idea to say that.

NICO POV

While the topic of death was still on my mind, I was interrupted by Annabeth's squeal of joy.

"Here she goes again," Percy quietly muttered, while Thalia snickered at her.

We were all used to Annabeth's obsession, to say the least, with architecture. One of her favorite types of structures was, you guessed it, castles.

"It's so beautiful! I wonder when it was built. Probably around 990. Look at those windows! And the tower!" Annabeth jabbered on, excited by her newest discovery.

I have to admit, Hogwarts was beautiful. It had a majestic personality to itself, but there was something else. I could feel the death radiating off of the castle and I suddenly didn't like the school as much anymore. The carriages stopped at the entrance of the building and we piled out and on to the school grounds. Standing in front of the intricately designed and well-protected door was an older witch. She was tall and wearing emerald-colored robes. Her stern face was observing all the students at once, as if she wanted to pick one and scold them for something. I made a mental note to myself not to cross her path.

"First years over here! Everyone else, walk to the Great Hall. Do not run like a bunch of starving hooligans! That means you, Ronald!"

I jogged up to her and quickly remembered to use my manners.

"Excuse me, madam? My name is Nico Di Angelo and my friends and I are from the Hecate Academy of Magic. Headmaster Dumbledore sent a letter to our..er...principal Chiron."

She looked bored until I said the name Chiron, when she sharply looked at me with a questionable expression.

"Chiron sent you and your friends?" she said, slightly taken aback.

I felt hurt, until I looked back at my friends and lightly groaned. Annabeth had her head buried in one of the thickest books I've ever seen, Thalia was picking at her fingernails, and Percy was using his wand as an effective back-scratcher.

"Yes ma'am. We are Olympus's finest heroes," I struggled to say.

She didn't look fully convinced, but she eventually said, "If Dumbledore believes that you will help us, then I do too. And please, call me Professor McGonagall. Collect your friends and follow me to Dumbledore's office."

I admired her loyalty to this Dumbledore guy. He must be trustworthy, unlike a lot of people I know. Cough cough, you know who you are. Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, and I followed Professpr McGonagall in to Hogwarts and the inside was even more astonishing than the outside. She led us down a long hallway until we reached two gargoyle statues, blocking the staircase that led to Dumbledore's office.

"Sleeping Dragon," she clearly said.

The ugly statues sprung to life and moved aside. The long, winding staircase led to a large and sophisticated door.

Professor McGonagall firmly knocked on the door twice and an old but clear voice ordered, "Come in."

Professor McGonagall nodded to us and left. I pushed the door open and was immediately transported back to Chiron's office. Although Professor Dumbledore's was much bigger, it still had paintings all over the walls, not with drunk centaurs, but with very sophisticated-looking men. And the strangest part was that they were all moving! I closed my eyes and opened them again, thinking that it was a trick of light, but now they were pointing and gawking at me.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, young demigods. I truly thank you for coming in such dark times," Professor Dumbledore said, addressing us all.

Annabeth stepped forward and said, "We are glad to be here. Hogwarts is very beautiful."

"Who's Voldemort?" Percy blurted out, a clear sign of his ADHD kicking in.

Instead of scolding Percy, Professor Dumbledore warmly smiled and said, "You must be Percy Jackson. I have heard a lot about you, young man. Now, let me tell you all a story. Pay attention."

"There once was a young man named Tom Riddle. He was invited to Hogwarts to learn about magic and how to control it, like many other children. He was Sorted in to the Slytherin House and was a very intelligent boy. He excelled in all his classes and graduated with full marks. Soon after his departure from Hogwarts, he adopted the name "Lord Voldemort". Having embraced the Dark Arts early on, he recruited many followers and dark creatures to help him with his cause. For many years, he caused the type of violence across Britain that the world had never seen before. He learned of prophecy that singled out one person that could destroy him, so he set out to kill that person. The person that could destroy Voldemort was Harry Potter."

At that moment, Thalia raised her eyebrows and said, "The boy with the lightning scar and messy hair? Him?"

Professor Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes. Voldemort killed both his parents, Lily and James Potter. When he tried to kill little Harry, the spell backfired and his body was destroyed. However, his soul was still in-tact, and after many years of waiting to regain a body, the Dark Lord rose again, vowing to kill Harry Potter once and for all."

"And I thought Kronos was bad," I muttered.

A few seconds went by and then I said, "Do you know that you are dying, Professor?"

Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia all gasped, but Dumbledore remained perfectly calm.

"I take it that you are the son of Lord Hades? Yes, I know that I am dying, but that is another story for another time. Now, we have something very important to do!" Dumbledore said, reaching for an old and wrinkly hat.

"You must be Sorted into your houses. Now, usually we do this in the Great Hall, but since you are demigods and technically not first-years, we can just Sort you here. Please, come this way," he said, gesturing for us to sit on individual stools.

The hat was placed on me and I heard a voice talking to me. Ahh a demigod! Well I haven't Sorted one in a very long time. Now let's see where I should put you. Hmm...you are definitely smart..quite loyal, but only to those who you trust your life with, which is not many people. You have a hard time not holding a grudge against people...surprisingly insecure..feel a need to prove yourself...has good intentions, but they don't always go as you plan..Hmm..I think I'll put you in...SLYTHERIN!

I was glad that the hat was finally taken off of my head, but a huge lump had formed in my throat. What did Harry say about Slytherin? That only the darkest wizards were Sorted in to it? I looked up at Dumbledore, looking for any signs of disappointment or disgust, but instead, I was met with a wide smile, almost proud.

"Is it true that only bad wizards are Sorted into Slytherin?" I tentatively asked the old Professor.

"It is true that some wizards that have been Sorted into Slytherin intend to do bad things, but I will make this clear, the Slytherin House is not bad. Yes, it's traditional values might not be well accepted today, but this is your chance to prove to everyone that good can come out of Slytherin as well," the Professor told me.

The uneasiness in my stomach was no longer there, and I turned my attention to the Sorting of my friends. Percy was almost immediately Sorted into Gryffindor and Annabeth was eventually Sorted into Ravenclaw, but Thalia's Sorting took almost longer than mine. She soon joined Percy in Gryffindor and Professor Dumbledore quickly led us to the Great Hall.

"Welcome, witches and wizards, to another great year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Please join me in welcoming Professor Horace Slughorn, who will be returning to his old post as Potions Master."

This caused some murmuring among the students, but Dumbledore carried on, "Meanwhile, Professor Snape will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

This caused even more chatter and I could hear a faint cry of disagreement, in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Professor Dumbledore quickly quieted the crowd.

"Students! Please help me in welcoming the newest students to Hogwarts: Mr. Percy Jackson, Ms. Annabeth Chase, Ms. Thalia Grace, and Mr. Nico Di Angelo." At the mention of her last name, Thalia glared in Professor Dumbledore's direction. "They have traveled all the way from The Hecate Academy of Magic, in New have been Sorted into their respective Houses and will stay with us for the entire school year. Let's make this year a memorable one. May the feast begin!"

I started to walk towards the Slytherin table, met with mostly curious faces, but one stood out to me the most. I was staring at the furious face of Draco Malfoy. I smirked and walked straight to him.

Time to make some new friends.