Magical Demigods

He mostly went about his morning as he usually would. Mostly.

He got changed in the bathroom and went to grab his things, going off to find Dawn, who was already with the rest of the group. Hermione was reading one of Lockhart's books.

"I swear I'm going to go burn my lot of them," Dawn said.

"Why don't you just, you know, donate them to a second hand shop?" Ron asked. Dawn was positively seething, glaring at the man that was trying to talk to Snape. His half brother saw Nico and looked right at him. His eyes flicked to Lockhart and then rolled.

"Because, Ron, he's a fraud and no one, literally no one, should even think about publishing it."

"That's a bit extreme, don't you think? Besides, you don't actually have proof, do you?" Hermione replied cooly.

"Watch, Hermione, or I'm going to tear your copies of his books to shreds," Dawn muttered.

"Have you eaten?" Draco asked. Dawn looked down at her empty plate. Then she sighed and grabbed some toast, buttering it and eating it like that.

Dawn confused Nico sometimes.

The teachers handed out the timetables, which the lot of them instantly compared. They only ever had one class together, but Nico was pleasantly surprised to see that he had double Herbology first up with the Gryffindors.

Unfortunately for Draco, he had History of Magic.

"I swear, I'm going to fall right asleep in that class and then read over the material for the rest of these seven years," he said as they left the Great Hall, Dawn's fourth piece of toast with nothing but butter and honey on it in her mouth.

"Good luck," Harry said. Draco poked his tongue out at Harry, who grinned. Dawn leaned in close to Nico.

"They're definitely flirting," she commented. She bit into her toast as Nico struggled not to laugh too hard.

They walked down to the greenhouses where the rest of their class was waiting. They weren't there for long before Professor Sprout came along with Lockhart trudging along behind her like a puppy who had no clue that he was not welcome.

"Oh, hello! Just been talking to Professor Sprout about Mandrakes-"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that you know anything about Mandrakes beyond the fact that their scream could kill," Dawn snapped. Lockhart looked taken aback at the fact that a student, no less a young girl, had just said that he was incompetent at something.

"Greenhouse three today, chaos," Sprout said. Ron and Dawn shared a look before linking their arms with Harry's and leading him to greenhouse three, effectively making it near impossible for someone to separate them.

They must have talked about it, then.

Professor Sprout gave them an approving look as they entered the greenhouse.

Nico looked at Lockhart who looked rather pissed. He changed the look for a tense smile when he caught Nico looking.

"A me e al mio amico non piaci affatto," he said. Then he entered the greenhouse, leaving a very baffled Lockhart outside.

Inside was a table that had earmuffs all over it, about twenty in total, enough for each of the students. There were pots - empty ones and ones that were full, all lined up.

"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of Mandrakes?"

Normally, when a question was asked, Hermione was the first to put her hand up. However, when it came to magical plants and their healing properties, that's when a child of Apollo could prove to be faster and more knowledgeable than the smartest witch in the year.

"Miss Soleil." Dawn shot Hermione an apologetic look before answering.

"The Mandrake, also known as Mandragora, is one of the most powerful restoratives. It's used to return people to their natural state, whether it be transfigured, cursed, or petrified by a creature with such powers," Dawn said. Hermione beamed at Dawn.

"Excellent. Ten points to Hufflepuff." Dawn smiled at that. "The Mandrake is an essential part of many antidotes. It is also, however, very dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Hermione's hand went up this time.

"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who heard it," she said. Deadly plants. Nico just loved them. Note the sarcasm.

"Precisely. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young." She pointed to the rows of pots that had plants in them. They looked normal. But normal was barely a thing in the Wizarding world. "Everyone grab some earmuffs." 

There was a flurry of activity as the students tried to grab a pair of earmuffs that weren't pink and fluffy. Except for Dawn, who grabbed the first pair of fluffy earmuffs that she could.

"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered. When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right, earmuffs on."

Nico put his pair on. The entire world around him went silent when they settled over his ears, which surprised him. Maybe there was a charm on them that made it impossible to hear sounds with them on. Except for the beating of his heart, but that was because it was a part of his body.

Professor Sprout made sure that they were all wearing their earmuffs correctly before she put on her own pink fluffy pair. Then, she grabbed one of the plants firmly, and pulled it out of the soil.

Nico could only compare the Mandrake to a really, really ugly Cupid. If the god were a pudgy earth baby with leaves for hair, sharp teeth and green mottled skin. And if he only ever bawled at the top of his lungs as if he was having a temper tantrum.

Professor Sprout took one of the larger, empty pots and put the Mandrake into it, burying it in the earth so that only its leaves were visible. She dusted off her hands, gave them the thumbs-up and removed her own earmuffs. She waited for everyone to remove theirs.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said with the same casualty as Artemis had when she'd turned that helicopter into a flock of very confused birds. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and I'm sure that none of you want to miss your first day back. Make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it's time to pack up."

'I can do that,' Nico thought.

"Right, four to a tray. There's a large supply of pots here. Compost sacks over there. And be careful of the Venomous Tentacula, it's teething." She wacked a giant plant, which had been sneaking over her shoulder. The plant retreated. Nico hoped that the whole thing of plants not really liking him would stop it from trying to eat him.

Nico and Dawn ended up working with Neville and Hannah, both of whom were quite happy to. They pulled out the ugly cupids out of their pots and put them in their new ones. Nico noticed Seamus poke his gloved hand in one, which tried to bite him. Nico just shook his head. That boy was always up to the strangest things.

Eventually, they ended up packing up and heading back to the castle. Dawn and Ron were back on their 'keep Lockhart away from Harry's duties, as they stood at either side of him, ready to pull Harry away if needed.

They had to go their separate ways, as they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. The room was mostly empty when they entered, except for the portraits of their teacher. 

Dawn chose a seat at the back of the room, where she would be mostly out of the way. Nico joined her.

Dawn stacked her books on the table and rested her head on her arms.

"I'm gonna sleep during class. Wake me up if he does something stupid or when class is over," she said. She took off her glasses. Some of the others looked at her.

"What's she doing?" Justin asked.

"Sleeping. She doesn't like Lockhart, so she's probably doing something that's much more productive for her," Nico answered. Dawn gave him a thumbs up.

Lockhart entered when they were all seated. Dawn sighed, grabbed her glasses and put them back on.

"He's so bloody loud," she whispered.

He hadn't even said anything.

The man in question picked up a book to show his own winking portrait on the front of it.

"Me," he said, pointing at the cover. 

"Oh, congratulations, you are as good at recognizing yourself in a picture as a one-year-old child. Real smart of ya, eh?" Nico had to try no to laugh.

"Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award - but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her." He smiled.

"Idiot. Athena would probably hate this man. Artemis would hate him. What animal would she turn him into?"

"An antelope or cantaloupe. I remember her saying she enjoyed turning men into one of those two," Nico answered. Dawn smirked.

"Nah, I think I'd rather see him get turned into a pig, like what Circe did to some of Odysseus's crew," Dawn said, nonchalantly. 

"I see that you've all bought complete sets of my books. Well done. I thought we'd start off class today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about. Just checking how well you've read these books, how much you've taken in." He handed out the quizzes as he talked. When Dawn got her one, she took one look at it and ripped it into pieces. Lockhart looked at her, gobsmacked.

"Um Miss... What's your name?" Dawn just looked at him blankly.

"I hate you," she said.

"Um..."

"Her name's Dawn Soleil. I apologize for her, she doesn't normally act like this," Nico said. Dawn scowled at him and wow, it was like the sun had gone behind a cloud.

"I'm Autistic," she simply said. She grabbed a random book from her bag and opened it to where she had read up to.

"You need to do this quiz-"

"Go on, then, give me another one. Watch me rip it up. Oh, and stay away from Harry. He doesn't care for the fame that comes with his parent's death." Nico sighed.

"I think it's best you just... Leave her alone. She'll warm up to you. Probably. Anche se né lei né io ci scalderemo con te, visto che sei così ossessionato da te stesso. Mi chiedo come si possa essere famosi in tutta onestà quando è così ovvio che non si sono mai fatte quelle cose." He looked at his quiz. "Oh, uh, I'm Dyslexic, which means I can't read. Could you translate this into Italian for me?" Lockhart smiled nervously.

"Oh, uh, I'm no good at translation charms," he said.

"More evidence for us, then," Dawn said. She took her wand and put it to Nico's paper and said the incantation to translate it to Italian. 

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. See how narcissistic he is? The questions aren't even about the subject!" Nico looked at his paper.

Qual è il colore preferito di Gilderoy Lockhart? What it Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?

Nico sighed.

"There is no reason for me to do this." He rested his head on the table. Dawn snorted, then reached for Nico's paper. She grabbed a quill and dipped it into ink. 

"The third one is asking about his greatest achievement, and what we think it is. I'm going to write 'becoming a teacher even though he's a fucking idiot." Yup, that was a rather astonishing achievement. Nico snorted himself and let dawn write passive-aggressive things on his paper. She translated it back to English and wrote in a language that he didn't know.

3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date? Kua noho tō whakatutukitanga tino nui hei kaiako ahakoa he pōrangi.

"What does that mean?" Nico asked.

"It's Maori. It says 'your greatest achievement is becoming a teacher despite being an idiot'." Nico smiled.

When Lockhart took in all of the tests, his one was filled with comments on Lockhart's IQ and how he was an idiot for presuming that anyone would really care about his favourite colour or what he wanted for his birthday (she did write 'to be smart and not an idiot and maybe to turn into a daffodil' for that one). Lockhart was extremely confused when he took in the test.

"I don't know any of the answers, so I let Dawn write on it. I'm sorry if you can't understand it, it's a language that Dawn made up," Nico lied. Okay, it was a white lie. He wasn't sorry if Lockhart couldn't understand it, and he knew that it wasn't made up.

Lockhart just looked at him and took his quiz away, silent.

"Do you think he's onto us?"

"I don't think so. Isn't he too dumb to be?"

"You've got a good point there."

"Now, let's see here..." The lesson went on. Luckily, he said that he didn't have his 'surprise' ready yet but guessed that he could let the next class he had deal with it. Dawn and Nico shared a look that said, 'oh no, he's got some stupid idea in his tiny brain, doesn't he?'

Luckily, they had lunch after that. They went and joined their friends at the Gryffindor table.

"He's an absolute idiot! A narcissist! His entire quiz was just about him and what he wants, not what he's said he's done and how he'd done it. It's stupid." Dawn ranted. Nico had a feeling that this was going to be her attitude for the rest of the year, especially towards Lockhart.

"Oh, come on, Dawn, he's done so many things!" Hermione said. Dawn stared at their friend, then grabbed one of her copies of Lockhart's books. She ripped out some of the pages.

"I don't give a shit as to what he's said he's done. I can see a person's emotions, I know who is lying to me because of that. His aura? It's a dirty yellow, that's the colour of dishonesty, Hermione. Trust me, my dad's literally the you-know-what of truth."

"You didn't have to rip the book!" Hermione said.

"Would you rather I burn it? Because I'd happily do that." And she began to rip up the pages further. "I have no respect for books written by someone who is a liar. I will not tolerate it. At fucking all. Nope, no sir, never. He can burn in the Fields of Punishment, as far as I'm concerned."

"Here, have a sandwich," Ron said, constructing a sandwich with chicken, lettuce and tomatoes in it. He handed it to Dawn, who took it and ate. At least it kept her from going on and on about Lockhart. 

Nico hoped that he never got on Dawn's bad side. Just seeing what happened when she thought that one person was the worst was bad enough.

"Hiya, Harry! I'm Colin Creevey, I'm a first year in Gryffindor. Do you think that it would be possible to get a picture?" A random Gryffindor asked.

"A picture?"

"Hey, Colin, let me tell you something, Harry doesn't care about the fame, so please don't set him apart as some sort of god or something. He's just a kid, okay? He doesn't do pictures... Though that camera is really cool," Dawn said. She'd noticed Colin's face falling as she talked, but mentioning his camera made him light up again.

"You really think so?" He asked. Dawn nodded.

"Yeah! You could probably do a bunch of practicing and then maybe you could be a journalist? You know, writing news articles and taking pictures for those things. Hey, that's an idea, we could start a school news paper!"

"A school newspaper? Why?" Draco asked.

"That's a good question," Nico agreed.

"It'll stop rumors from getting too out of hand. Ask McGonagall about that, and maybe we could get permission from Dumbledore to do it," Dawn told Colin.

"Yes! That's a great idea! I'll tell Professor McGonagall as soon as I can!" The kid ran off, camera in hand. Harry sighed.

"Thanks, Dawn. You really saved me there," he said.

"Yeah, by bringing down the kid then suggesting he start a school newspaper. Would you make students pay for it?" Draco said. Dawn shrugged.

"We'll work that out, though it's high time that we had one. We could stop rumors from getting too out of hand." Dawn continued to eat the sandwich Ron made her.

"It's not that bad of an idea," Nico admitted. Dawn grinned.

"Thanks. It was more of an impulse idea, but it's a beneficial one."

Sometimes Nico wondered how he ended up with these people as his friends, though he wasn't really complaining.