It Might As Well Be Magic

Solangelo Is Forced Into A Quest Against Their Will

"Uh, could you repeat that? You want me to do what?!?"

Not even five minutes ago, Nico had been hanging out in the Hades cabin playing Mario Cart with his boyfriend, Will, when he was suddenly pulled into the shadows and transported to his Father's throne room, where he found not only Hades, but Hecate as well.

"Manners, son." Hades said in a clipped tone.

"No, it's alright," Hecate said warmly from her spot beside Hades' throne. "I understand that all of this is a lot to process." She gave Nico a soft smile and continued, "I need you to attend Hogwarts, a magical school for my descendants, and protect a boy named Harry Potter from an evil wizard named Voldemort."

Nico just stared at her with his mouth agape. "Wizards?!?" He cried. "You can't possibly be serious!" Normally, Nico was calm and collected, but this was getting ridiculous. Just five minutes ago he was sitting comfortably on the couch with his boyfriend playing Mario Cart, and now he was being dragged into going on a quest for a year, all the way in Scotland, and in the 90s?!?

"Deadly serious." Hades said, and Nico felt the air around him slightly chill at his Father's words. Now, to any regular demigod, it would seem as if Hades was pissed (which was kind of true), but in reality, Nico could tell that he was just eager to get Hecate out of his palace.

Probably interrupted his daily four hour nap, Nico thought miserably.

"Fine," Nico groaned. "I'll do it, but only because I don't want to have to sit through this uncomfortable conversation with the two of you any longer than I have to."

"The feeling's mutual." Hades said dryly.

Like father like son, Hecate thought, watching the exchange in amusement.

"Great!" She said cheerfully. "Now, this quest will involve time travel, so keep that in mind during your quest. I have arranged for you to stay with a man named Albus Dumbledore, a legacy of mine, as well as the headmaster of the school you'll be attending. You will also be staying with his associates at 12 Grimmauld place. When you get there, Harry will be arriving soon. I suggest trying to earn his trust early on, to make things easier for the both of you."

"Both of us?" Nico questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I will allow you to bring one other person for this quest." She answered.

"Isn't the lucky number three?"

Hecate just smiled an all-knowing smile at that question. "Don't worry, there will be someone else joining you along the way."

Nico wasn't fully satisfied with Hecate's cryptic response, but he stopped trying to understand the Gods a long time ago.

"So, Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, Ghost King, do you accept this quest?" Hecate asked, looking him dead in the eyes.

"I do." Nico said, with unwavering confidence in his tone. Even if he was being dragged into this whole mess, he was at least gonna do it right. "And I pick William Solace, son of Apollo, as my plus one."

"Excellent." Hecate said. "In two days, I will meet you on top of Half-Blood Hill with a portkey—" Nico raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, "—that will grant you and William Solace the standard wizarding knowledge for the average Hogwarts student in your year, and will transport you to where you will be staying while you're away from Hogwarts, 23 years in the past. Now, before I go, do you have any questions?"

Oh Nico had questions. Hell, he could probably fill up all the books in the Athena Cabin with his questions (and that's a lot of books), but he remained silent.

Hecate took his ongoing silence as a no. "Alright then," She said with a small smile. "I'll see you in two days."

As soon as Nico had shadow-traveled away Hecate turned to Hades with a suggestive smile.

"Those boys are so cute together, don't you agree?" She said winking.

"Hell no I don't! I don't want that filthy Apollo boy tainting my innocent son!" Hades yelled aggressively.

Hecate just laughed and then disappeared in a flash of light.

***

*Two days later*

Nico looked up at the sound of someone softly knocking on the door of the Hades cabin. He opened it and was immediately met with a bright smile and shining blue eyes.

"Hey babe," Will said, leaning down and planting a kiss on Nico's cheek. Nico blushed, still not used to the idea of having a boyfriend. "You almost done packing?"

Nico wasn't actually done packing. He hadn't started until fifteen minutes before Will showed up, avoiding packing his bags like it was the plague. But he knew that he needed to get it done before they left, so he dragged himself out of bed and grabbed a load of black T-shirts and skinny jeans. He shoved them haphazardly in his bag, not caring about folding them or trying to save space.

"Um," Nico bit his lip, looking back at the mess that was his cabin. "Not really."

Will laughed and stepped inside, rolling his eyes at the stray pieces of dirty laundry and the number of weapons strewn across the floor. "Here, let me help."

Will grabbed fistfuls of clothes and threw them into Nico's hamper, while Nico continued to pack, grabbing socks and underwear.

"Grab a scarf," Will said. "It's going to be a lot colder up there than it is here at camp."

Nico rummaged around in his dresser 'til he found a scarf, throwing it in the general direction of his bag. He also grabbed a thick coat and a spare pair of shoes, before zipping up his suitcase.

"All done," Nico declared throwing a smirk over at Will.

"Not really sure why you're so proud about it." Will teased.

Nico huffed. He threw on some boots, grabbed his bag and headed to the top of Half-Blood Hill, Will right on his tail.

Hecate was waiting for them when they got there. She smiled at the pair, but Nico didn't notice. He was too busy staring at the old, yellow rain boot the Goddess was holding.

"Glad to see you both made it." Hecate said softly. She held up the boot. "This is a portkey. As I mentioned before, it will transport you where you need to go and give you all the information you require to fit in at Hogwarts. But, before you go, let's go over your backstory, shall we? You two are both exchange students from Ilvermorny, a wizarding school here in America.

"The Headmaster is a man named Agilbert Fontaine, a name you will do well to remember if you want your story to check out. The evil wizard you are protecting Harry from is named Voldemort, and his supporters are called Death Eaters—"

She was interrupted by the sound of Nico's laughter. She glared at him sharply. "Sorry, sorry," The boy said, his laughter now dying down. "I was just imagining trying to eat Thanatos."

Hecate rolled her eyes and continued on as if nothing had happened. "—and the Headmaster at Hogwarts is the man I mentioned before, Albus Dumbledore. Anything else you may not know about there you can blame on the fact that you're from America. Your knowledge of magic itself will be provided by the portkey."

Hecate set the boot down on the ground and instructed both boys to grab hold of it.

As soon as Nico touched the thing, it felt like something was grappling onto him and pulling him up into oblivion. He felt lighter than air, and his body felt like it was being stretched into nothingness.

A mere millisecond later he was being spit back out and into the street. He and Will landed hard, probably looking anything but graceful. People gave them strange looks, but continued walking anyways.

They looked around and soon they saw it, a big, grimy building looming over them, labeled '12 Grimmauld Place'.