Nico Di Angelo and the Goblet of Fire •Book one of the Two Dark Lords series•

Chapter Six

After my only friend so far, Victor, goes back to the ship to sleep, three students from gryffindor approach me. And I raise my eyebrows when two of them ask different questions at the same time.

"You know Victor Krum?!"

"You're Nico di Angelo, correct?"

I assume that the redhead who asked the first is Ronald Weasley and that the girl who asked the second is Hermione Granger. The one in the middle has to be Harry Potter. Anyways, both Harry and Hermione turn to glare at Ron who sighs and snaps his mouth shut. I decide to answer the girl's question.

"Yes, that would be me." I say. "And I'm guessing you three are Harry, Ron and Hermione?" They all nod and Ron asks.

"How do you know who we are? I mean you might have heard of Harry but-"

"I actually spent the days before I came here with your parents Ronald. And they told me an awful lot about you three." I say with an amused smirk. At this Harry and Ron turn beet red but Hermione just smiles politely. I can tell she's trying to hold back a laugh too. She finally speaks up and breaks the embarrassing and awkward silence.

"We can show you to the common room, if you'd like." She offers and I smile slightly and nod, following them down the corridors. We finally come to a stop in front of a portrait of a fat lady. I'm surprised and jump back when she speaks.

"Password?" She asks in a sweet voice which honestly makes me want to barf. She reminds me of Alecto... creepy!

"Balderdash." Says Hermione clearly and the portrait moves aside, revealing a doorway into what I assume is the Gryffindor common room. I step inside and look around at the red and gold furniture, and at the couches placed around the fire place. The common room isn't nearly as dark as my cabin back at camp, but it isn't too bright and has a homy feel to it. Cosy.

I suppose I won't hate it here.

The four of us decide that Harry and Ron will come and help me unpack and show me the boys'  dorm. We will meet Hermione back in the common room afterwards. So I find myself following Harry and Ron up a set of stairs and into a large room. A series of beds are pushed up against the wall, all around the room. There is one bed, against the far right wall which seems to be vacant.

"Blimey!" Exclaims Ron. "That wasn't here earlier, was it Harry?"

"I don't think so. One of the professors must have brought it in during classes." Harry muses and Ron nods in agreement. I however, simply walk up to it and throw my bag down. I don't see what the big deal is... It's a bed  for Hera's sake!

Harry offers to help but I decline. Being a demigod, its not like I have the time to go shopping. The only things I have to take out are a few robes, my books and my guitar. Then (well aware that Harry and Ron are watching me) I take my sword out and press the flat of the blade against my forehead, muttering έρχονται εμπρός , σύντροφος μου clearly. Then, I can feel a rush of darkness approaching and my little hellhound bounds toward me, knocking me over with a loud whoof!

Ron shrieks and Harry trips over his own feet in surprise which causes me to burst out laughing. With much effort, I sit up, my dog's paws still on my chest and his tail wagging playfully. His head is tilted slightly to the side and a big, pink tongue hangs out of his mouth.

"What is that?!" Ron shouts and my dog looks up at him in confusion. I grin at him and explain to both boys "This is my dog. He's about a year old and he definitely will get bigger... but I can't figure out a name for him yet." I frown as I finish the sentence. It's already been what, five days since I got him? Anyhow, I haven't been able to think of a good name for him yet. The subject has annoyed me to no end! 

I leave my sword on my bed and head down back to the common room with the boys and my hellhound. He has a sort of connection to me, so I can summon him when I want to. But when he isn't with me, he is allowed to stay in my dorm or wander around the forbidden forest  if he needs to burn off energy. Hagrid has even offered to watch him if I need him to. When Hermione sees my dog, she thankfully doesn't scream. "Is that a hellhound?" She asks curiously and I nod. I'm honestly surprised that wizards know of them, but then again... wizards are aware of centaurs and horcruxes too.

The trio and I talk for a good while and I tell them about my school (which Hades told me to call "Delphi school of magic") They tell me all about the triwizard tournament and quidditch. They talk an awful lot about quidditch. And when I finally doze off, I for once have a dreamless sleep.

I found a picture that I think fits Nico's pet's description pretty well (It was probably supposed to be of Mrs. O'Leary but oh well). And to those who were wondering, the greek phrase that Nico used to summon his hellhound translates to "Come forth, my companion."

P.S. Thanks to jerseygirl25 for helping me with the Gryffindor password!