Hades Caster | Nico di Angelo at Hogwarts

Pitiful | Chapter Seven

Pitiful. Really pitiful of you, Di Angelo. Nico stopped, the sudden stomp of his feet echoing off of the walls. Nico looked over at Hermione. Her face was scrunched, her eyebrows furrowed and her nose crinkled. Nico debated on what it was from, pain, confusion, or both. It wouldn't be hard, after all, she had literally just met him. She was nice, never the less. Well, she was less skeptical than the others. So technically, he thought to himself, she was a tad bit nicer. Clearing his head, he took a deep breath and remained stoic.

"Granger, welcome back to the world." He hesitantly took a step near her, attempting to avoid suspicion. Technically, he was the one that caused her injury in the first place – though if she just would've MOVED – so he had to... apologize. Her chocolate eyes stared straight through Nico. Hermione groaned and lay back down, mumbling something along the lines of "...this happened last time..."

Nico shifted side to side, a weight of awkwardness floating on top of him. No, he wasn't a people person. He scoffed in his mind. That was a lie. He had friends, Percy, Will, Lou, Piper, Jason (damn, the only reason he even was friends with that hot-shot was because he... well, he found out. He still wanted to make sure that Jason and the Seven only found out...) Hazel had...is... Hazel IS his friend, and most importantly, his sister. Nico coughed awkwardly, attempting to get a reaction out of Hermione. Sheesh, if she couldn't remember NOW, then he would be slightly more afraid of the Stupefy spell than he initially thought.

"What spell was that?" Her voice was hoarse and strained, as if it hadn't been used in decades.

He raised his eyebrow, his memories coursing back towards him. "Stupefy, I guess..."

"What? That couldn't be..." Her voice faded off, making Nico shift awkwardly again.

"That wasn't what I meant, Nicolas."

Nico twitched in annoyance. -God, his BIRTH NAME was NICO, not NICOLAS- "It's Nico. You must know a different Nicolas."

Hermione smiled apologetically. The nerve. "Sorry. I guess my memory is a bit fuddled. But, that wasn't what I meant to ask you."

Oh. Oh, that question. He was hoping to avoid that. Nico attempted to avoid the conversation, his brain quickly drilling words out of his mouth. "What are you talking about? Did you hit your head so hard that you lost a few brain cells, too?" Nico winced at his words. That was a little harsh, but he had to keep his cover. No point in exposing who he really was now. That'd be a Leo-Percy move. He was leaning towards Percy, that guy would want to be friends with everybody...

Her brown eyes narrowed at his insult. "Look, I wasn't trying to be rude here, but that spell was definitely not in the spell books. And it looked exactly like the Dark Arts." She sat up, and tapped her fingers against the wood. "So tell me, Nico, what was that?"

There went his idea of avoiding the conversation. Of course, he had one last card to play, if push comes to shove. "Doesn't matter, Granger. Now will you let me leave in peace?"

The witch glared at him intensely. "No."

Plan B. He sharply turned forward and headed towards the door. Ignore her, Ignore her, Ignore h-

"Wait!" Nico paused, instantly regretting stopping. This was the second time he literally let him be stopped by some witch. Pitiful, really.

"You saved us. Why?" Her words were glazed with curiosity, but there were remnants of anger in her tone.

He scoffed, and grabbed his wand. "I'm not a murderer, Granger. I'm not goin' to let some innocents die." Nico opened the door, already fading into the dark. "Even if they are all idiots."

-

Gryffindor, he recalled. That was apparently the place he was sorted into. He could remember Hecate burning information into his head.

Gryffindor is for the brave, Slytherin for the cunning, Ravenclaw for the intelligent, Hufflepuff for the loyal.

Oh yeah, when he first heard that, he knew he was so going to be placed into Hufflepuff. When he pulled that stunt in the Titan War, he was definitely loyal. Scoffing, Nico blended in with the shadowed walls of Hogwarts. He needed to keep a low profile. If someone spotted him before he managed to get to the Headmaster's Office, he was surely doomed. Unlike a lot of other wizards and witches, he couldn't conjure a forgetting spell. Then again, he wasn't really like the other wizards. He took in a deep breath and smoothed himself against the shadows, becoming barely humanlike. The inky pall he had become so accustomed to, wrapped around him, incasing him in a suffocating darkness. The only light were around his eyes. He didn't really want to stumble around, blind. Nico hadn't mastered seeing in the dark. Only when he was in a difficult situation could he actually be able to navigate. The Hades Caster lightly took steps forward, peering around every single corner. He continued forward, going onto a narrow hallway.

Nico let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. There, in front of him, was the hidden staircase to the Head Master's office. Sucking in a large breath, he sunk fully into the shadows. If he had known the right code for the staircase, he would've used it. But since he truly didn't know... well... that left him with very few options. With a whir of adrenaline, he felt he shadows grasp at his body. A familiar cold blast incased his every move, spinning around him like a funnel. His senses heightened and his mind took in more detail than he ever knew before. In a few seconds, he opened his eyes to feel the shadows expelling from his body. With the shadows smoking off his body, he sighed in relief when he saw he was in the Headmaster's office. Or should he say, Dumbledore's. The said wizard was sitting in his chair. His eyes gleamed at Nico with fascination. Then the thought struck him.

Did Hecate tell Dumbledore? With all of the surprises, he couldn't remember. So, with a stream of Italian curses, he thought to himself...

Pitiful, Di Angelo. Really pitiful.