Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.

Nico's POV

I was really confused. I had boarded the train this morning, and entered an empty compartment. I was so exhausted from my transportation here, that I had fallen asleep, but… then I wasn't asleep, I was back with Minos. If I really focused I could see wisps of mist clinging to my body, but Minos didn't seem to be able to see it. It was as though my body was made of mist, but apart from that it was as though I had never been on that platform. Minos led me through part of the Labyrinth, just travelling, barely talking, and then I was back on the train, with my head against the window. Perhaps I was just dreaming of being back with Minos. I thought, trying to clear my head. The train was jolting under me, so we must already be heading to Hogwarts. I looked around and my eyes landed on a boy opposite me. He had black hair, green eyes and glasses. He also appeared to have some kind of scar under his fringe. Once again, I was confused. I thought this compartment was empty. I didn't know who he was or what to do. "Um, hi." I said. To the boy's left was a lanky, ginger boy with freckles and a long nose. I turned back to the boy opposite me.

"Hi," he said, matching my tone. "My name is Harry Potter." He looked a little sheepish, as though he was waiting for me to recall that name, and he didn't want me to. I didn't recall it. He looked relieved as I said. "Nico Di Angelo." That's when the ginger boy coughed to remind us of his presence. "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley." He had something on his nose, but I wasn't going to point it out, it was rather amusing. I silently checked my surroundings. There were several sweet wrappers sprawled around the two boys in the compartment, but when I looked closer I realised I didn't recognise any of them. I wasn't too surprised, after all I was born in 1932, so it wasn't like I recognised many sweets nowadays, but these seemed even more unusual. The boy with black hair, Harry, saw me looking and said, "You can have some if you'd like." I gave him a small smile and accepted the 'chocolate frog' he had handed me. He returned my smile before turning back to his pile of sweets, to find something new. I opened the small box and slowly ate the chocolate, giving Harry the card at the bottom. Harry opened a bag of 'Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans'. He offered one to me, but I quickly stopped when the ginger boy, Ron, warned, "You want to be careful with those. When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour - you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once." I scrunched up my nose in disgust. Ron picked up a green bean, looking at it carefully before biting into a corner.
"Bleaaargh- see? Sprouts." he said, going a little green. Harry laughed, but all I managed was an almost-smile. We sat eating the Every-Flavour Beans for a while. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine and was even brave enough to nibble the end of a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper. I got blueberry, green apple, soap, lemon and vomit. The countryside that was flying past our window was now becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone, replaced by woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills. I took to staring out the window while Harry and Ron continued to bond over the sweets. They'd soon learn I wasn't one to trust so easily. I was vaguely aware of a knock on the door of our compartment, but didn't look up until Harry tapped my shoulder. I turned to face him and he looked expectantly at me, and then a round-faced tearful boy who was standing in our compartment. When I just stared blankly, Ron let out an exasperated sigh and said, "This is Neville, he's looking for his toad." I continued to stare, so Ron tried again. "Have you seen it?" I shook my head and Harry tried to console him, "He'll turn up."

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…" he trailed off and left our compartment, leaving an awkward silence behind.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," Ron said, breaking the silence. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." Scabbers, who I assumed was Ron's rat, was sitting asleep on his lap. "He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," he said in disgust, "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…" I was at a loss to explain why anyone would want a brightly coloured rat, but to each his own, I'm not one to judge. Ron rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. "Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway-" He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy hair and rather large front teeth.

"We've already told him, we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then" She sat down and Ron looked taken aback.

"Er- all right." He cleared his throat and proceeded to recite a rather stupid poem that rivaled even Apollo's. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.

"Well, at least it rhymed…" I said, lifting my eyebrows. The girl jumped, as though she hadn't realised I was there. My bad mood returned and I sat quietly observing.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" she said, once she had gotten over the shock. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard- I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough- I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast, barely pausing for breath. Harry looked at Ron and I, and looked relieved to see our stunned faces: we hadn't learnt all the set books off by heart either.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Nico Di Angelo," I said in a slightly bored voice, a little over the conversation already.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course- I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century." That would explain why he thought I would know his name, he was famous amongst wizards. That's when I recognised his name. I remembered it from the mystery god's letter, he was the one who first defeated Voldemort.

"Am I?" Harry answered, sounding dazed. I could understand the feeling.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon." And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. He through his wand back into his trunk and muttered to himself, "Stupid spell- George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.

"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the house Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" I said, briefly remembering that wizards do not like to say his name: I mean, after all, Minos had always told me that names have power.

"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back onto his seat, looking depressed.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter." Harry said, trying to cheer Ron up, and take his mind off houses. "So, what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left anyway?" I had been wondering what a wizard or witch does once they've finished school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles - someone tried to rob a high-security vault." Harry and I stared.

"Really? What happened to them?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it." So, Voldemort could still be getting more active. This is great news, well for me anyways. The sooner I get his soul, the sooner I get to save Bianca. She means everything to me. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, I couldn't afford to cry, to look weak, especially not in front of my new… friends? Acquaintances? I don't even know. I turned back to the window and shut out their meaningless conversation, instead formulating plans. I wasn't entirely sure how I would retrieve Voldemort's soul, I just knew I had to. After a while the compartment door opened, yet again. It was getting rather annoying, but this time, it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or even Hermione the bossy Muggleborn…

A/N:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews.

Thank you for reading :)

-GazelleRLG