The Journey to Hogwarts
The thing about packing a trunk is that despite how much room you might think you have, there is still never enough room for everything. It’s sitting open on Nico’s floor, books strewn around inside it and clothes shoved in every corner. He’d even shoved his socks inside rolls of parchment in order to make more room. He groaned in frustration.
Nico had been attempting to pack his trunk for almost two hours now. No matter how he tried to fit it all, there just didn’t seem to be enough room. The trunk itself was huge- if Nico were to lay down beside it, with the top of his head at the top of the trunk, the bottom of it came to about his shins. Nico wasn’t short for his age, but he wasn’t tall either, so he considered this to be a very big trunk indeed. No, the lack of physical space was not the problem here. The problem was that he had so much stuff. He had his clothes, his books, his supplies, his shoes, and extra things to have for fun. There just wasn’t enough room for it all.
Glancing at his soon to be new Charms textbook, he got an idea. Maybe he could expand it with magic! He started sifting through the pages excitedly, almost getting a papercut from turning the pages so fast. But his heart sank as he scanned the table of contents. He had no idea how to do any magic. There was no way he’d be able to find that spell, let alone properly execute it. He didn’t even know if there was a spell for that purpose, anyway. The fact that he didn’t even have a wand was beside the point.
He looked outside. The sun that had been rising all throughout his frustrating morning seemed to hang just above the tops of the trees, looking very much like it had stopped to just watch his lack of progress. Nico could almost hear it jeering at him. Look at how little progress this tiny boy is making, it seemed to say. Look at how behind he is, while I continue my glorious journey across the sky.
“Yeah, well you can stuff it, sunshine.” Nico muttered angrily to himself.
“Who can stuff it?” Nico heard a soft voice behind him say. He spun himself around.
“What does stuff it even mean?” Hazel’s golden eyes were wide and innocent. She was twisting her hands together distractedly, like she was trying to wash them in midair.
“No it’s just-“Nico looked back out the window. He felt a bit silly knowing Hazel had heard him mocking the sun. “Never mind. Do you need anything? I’m trying to pack.”
“More like failing to pack.” She plopped down to sit beside him. “How are you going to find anything in this mess?”
Nico groaned again, setting his head against his knees and running his fingers through his short dark hair. “I can’t seem to make everything fit! There’s just too much stuff. Look, look at this. Do I even need four robes? Tell me that’s too many robes. Please. Also, it’s so unsanitary! I don’t want my potion ingredients sitting right next to my underwear! What if it breaks when being unloaded or something? Everything’s a disaster!” His voice rose as he grew more passionate, collapsing onto the ground.
Hazel snickered at him, not unkindly. She was still lightly chuckling as she began to take all of his robes out of the trunk, folding them neatly. The folded robes were at least half the size of the wadded up robes. They fit snugly in one corner, while the potion ingredients were cushioned by socks in the opposite corner, the remaining space between them filled up with textbooks, quills and cauldrons. Nico gazed on in awe.
“Where on earth did you learn that? Did Mama teach you that? Can you teach me?”
Hazel laughed again, eyes twinkling. “No way! You know Mum’s rubbish at folding clothes. That’s why I do it. And have you ever even noticed our rooms? Yours is always a sty, and mine is always neat. I can’t stand the mess.” She pulled a pair of socks from the last scroll of parchment and tucked both objects in. “There.”
Nico tackle hugged her, yelling out his thanks profusely. She just shook her head, smiling, and pushed him off of her.
“Mum says to be downstairs by 11. She wants us all to have lunch, and then she wants to check again that both yours and Bianca’s robes fit.”
Nico promised her he’d be there, and she left the room quietly. Nico gazed proudly at his completely packed trunk. It was real. He was ready for Hogwarts.
Well, almost ready. Struck by a sudden thought, Nico moved quickly across the room, digging through his chest of toys for one specific thing… Aha! There it is! Nico tucked the final thing, the original 125 Mythomagic card deck into his truck. Now he was ready for anything.
***
Nico wasn’t ready for this.
He stood next to his parents in the crowded station of Platform 9 ¾. Smoky air filtered in between passing figures, all frantically piling trunks into the train or racing to say goodbye to their loved ones. Nico was constantly bumped in the shoulders by people’s elbows, as he was at a height where he generally was half of a person’s size. Despite the constant pushing and pulling and turning around, nothing stopped him from taking in the beautiful train in front of him.
It was a brilliant scarlet color, with black and gold details scattered about. Nico personally felt like the train was a bit Gryffindor looking, if what Bianca had told him was true. Smoke erupted from the pointed whistle atop the train with a shrill shriek- the five minute warning. Nico was seized by fear.
It was everything he had ever wanted, right there on silver train tracks. A path to freedom, a path to magic. But standing there, a mere twenty feet away, all Nico could think about was how much he was going to miss his parents, and how much he was going to miss Hazel. A small hand rested lightly on his shoulder, and he turned to face it.
Hazel smiled at him, a huge happy smile despite the obvious tears she had in her eyes. She pulled him in close and whispered, “Have fun Nico. Make some friends. Enjoy yourself. I expect to hear all about in the letters okay?” Nico nodded numbly. His parents hugged him next, quickly, for they were afraid he would miss the train.
He barely had time to kiss them on both cheeks before they were hugging Bianca and he was suddenly on a train, clutching Bianca’s hand. He looked up at her.
“It’s really happening, isn’t it?” He said to her.
She squeezed his hand. “It sure is buddy.”
Nico peeked down the long carpet hallway, gripping the pole at the edge of a carriage for support as the train hit a slight bump. The hallway was filled with people of all sizes, switching between carriages for the opportunity to see all their friends. The air was full of illegal sparks of magic, from all of those underage wizards packed into a single train. Nico felt where his wand was tucked into his belt. He was one of them now.
He looked back at Bianca, who was watching him carefully. She asked, “Do you want to sit with me?” And Nico was so relieved it was all he could do to nod his head.
She led him through the corridor, maneuvering their trunks past two boys who were wrestling good-naturedly on the floor, and squeezing past a group of chattering boys and girls so big that it not only filled the compartment, but also spilled into the next one. Nico shuddered slightly. He’d never been around to many people in such a small space.
Finally they came to one of the compartments near the end of the train, where the people were more scarce and the compartments were emptier. Bianca stopped in front of one, a huge smile growing on her face, and she threw the door open with a loud cry of “Annabeth!”
‘Annabeth’, or the person Nico assumed was Annabeth stood up, with a laugh, catching an excited Bianca in a large hug. They embraced and let go, each with huge smiles on their faces.
“Gosh, Bianca how have you been? Did you have a good holiday?” the blonde asked.
“It was good! I had a lot of downtime, which was nice. I missed having time to read.” Bianca said as she lugged her suitcase and Nico’s inside, storing them in the overhead compartment. “Also, guys, this is my little brother Nico. He’s a first year, go easy on him.” She sent him a teasing smile.
Nico, who was wavering on the edge of the door and the hallway, blushed slightly at the teasing remark, but felt his face warm even more when everyone in the compartment smiled and motioned him inside. He sat down between Bianca and one of the boys, the one with the curly black hair. The new boy stuck his hand out to Nico, and Nico noticed that he had about ten or so bracelets dangling on one arm.
“Hi Nico! I’m Percy. Welcome to Hogwarts, you’ll love it. Any idea what house you’ll be in?” The boy’s eyes, a shocking bright green, smiled happily. Nico shook his head.
“Ah, that’s alright. No one really knows til Sorting. I wouldn’t be worried about it. No matter where you go, you’re bound to make friends.” Percy patted Nico on the shoulder, who jumped a little at the contact. He eyed him sideways and gave a slightly grateful smile.
“Course, you were scared out of your wits the first day, Perce. You nearly wet yourself on the way in, I remember.” Piped up the boy in the other corner of the room. He was leaning back calmly against the window, fiddling with what appeared to be a Rasta cap.
“Was not! You’re just remembering that you tripped me getting out of the boats and I fell in the water. “Wet myself”, yeah right!” Percy growled jokingly. He leaned across and stole the hat from the boy’s hands, ignoring the outraged cry from the brown haired boy. Percy jammed the hat on his own head, and knocked Nico in the side in his haste to get away from the hat-boys groping hands.
“C’mon Grover, you’ve got to try a bit harder than that!” Percy laughed, jumping over to steal Grover’s old seat.
“Children, children, calm down! We have guests.” Annabeth said. Her face was schooled to be admonishing, but she was holding back a smile.
Grover and Percy sat down in their seats quickly, sending her bright smiles. “Yes, Mother Annabeth.” They chorused sweetly. There was a perfect silence for about five seconds before the three of them burst out laughing.
Nico looked over to Bianca, chuckling slightly at the kid’s antics, and noticed how fondly she was smiling at them. There was such a happy glint in her eye, a glint Nico had only seen when she was hanging out with their old childhood friends. She must really like these people.
Nico leaned back and let himself relax. He was in good company.
***
“What’s that in your hand, Nico?”
Nico looked up at Grover, who was grinning good-naturedly at him. He looked back down at the card in his hands. It had been an hour or so since they had boarded the train. Since then, he’d grown somewhat bored with listening to his sister and her friends catch up about what they’d done over the summer, and had taken to absentmindedly shuffling through his Mythomagic cards.
“It’s a card from a game I play, called Mythomagic. Have you ever heard of it?” Nico asked. Grover shook his head, but Annabeth jumped a little and turned to watch the conversation.
“I’ve played that game before. It really is quite fun.” Annabeth jumped in. Nico smiled at her.
“Well,” Nico continued, “It’s basically a card game where you and your opponent have a hand of cards. All the cards relate somehow to Greek Mythology, whether it be a monster, god, demigod or-“
Percy interrupted him, cocking his head to one side, “What’s a demigod?”
“It’s when a god has a child with a mortal. Er, a human. They’re generally the source of all the old Greek tragedies. They didn’t usually have happy lives, constantly plagued with torture and quests and stuff. Not very pretty.” Nico answered.
Percy made a disgusted face. “That sounds horrible. Glad I don’t have to go through that, am I right?” Everyone in the compartment made noises of agreement.
“Anyway,” Nico pushed on, “It’s just a really fun game. You can attack or defend or do whatever you want. Do you want to play?”
So the five of them sat cross-legged facing the center of the compartment. Annabeth pulled down a few of the trunks to create a makeshift table, where Nico placed the rest of the deck of cards. They took turns going in a circle, the game growing increasingly heated as the stakes grew higher and higher.
“Take that Grover! Your woodland goat man is no match for the tide of Poseidon!” Percy yelled, throwing his card down. Grover groaned in frustration.
“Well, uh, take this! Dryads have an attack of 400, and uh, use nature power to control the plants, and uh…? Alright I can honestly admit, I don’t really know how to counteract that. Can I skip?” Nico shook his head at him, and Grover groaned again, softer, and gazed angrily at his cards. “Fine. I use ambrosia on myself, and restore 350 health points. Your turn Annabeth.”
The game continued in such fashion, Grover being the first to get out (“No fair! Why does nature magic have no effect on practically everything?). Then Percy was defeated with a clever move from Annabeth, counteracting Percy’s Poseidon card with her Athena, and effectively kicking him out of Athens, so to speak. Nico apologetically defeated his sister, who accepted in graciously. She was far too used to being beaten at Mythomagic. Finally, it was just a tournament between Nico and Annabeth.
The three who had already been beaten watched avidly, their eyes flickering back and forth like they were watching a tennis match. They weighed their options- who would win? Nico, the seasoned player, the never before beaten first-year? Or Annabeth, a seasoned strategist, renowned at school for her fail-proof plans and master pranks?
It ended up a draw. Each of them only had one card left, and they were nervously eyeing each other. Nico felt a rush of adrenaline. He had never been beaten before, and he didn’t want to start now, on the first day of school. Annabeth faced a similar, but different dilemma. She sort of didn’t want to beat Nico. He was a sweet kid. She didn’t want them to get off on the wrong foot. She smiled nervously at Nico.
“Turn them over at the same time?”
Nico hiccupped in response. Trembling, both of their hands found the corners of their cards, and flipped them over with a flourish.
Resounding yells rang out through the entire cabin as everyone stared at the cards in disbelief. Somehow, they both had the same card, one of the power-up cards used in every deck. They both had ones for wisdom. They smiled at each other and shook hands, as Percy, Grover and Bianca continued to clap loudly.
“Good game,” Nico shouted slightly, to be heard over the noise.
“You too. Hey, maybe it’s a sign you’ll be in Ravenclaw. That’d be cool, huh?” Annabeth said as everyone quieted down.
“You think so? What about you guys, what houses are you all in?” Nico asked curiously.
“Well, Percy and I are both in Hufflepuff. He’s got the loyalty, I’ve got the good-looking.” Grover said jokingly, slinging an arm around Percy’s shoulders.
“Hey!” Percy said laughing, pushing Grover slightly, “It’s good-hearted, not good-looking. If it was about being attractive there’d be no way you’d be there.” He stuck his tongue out teasingly, and Grover pushed him lightly, letting out an offended “Hey!”
“So yeah, those buffoons room together, which must be a nightmare for the other two in their dorm. Luckily, I room with my main gal Bianca here in Ravenclaw, so we get to mess things up on our end too.” Annabeth also slung her arm over Bianca, pulling her into a tight hug, where Bianca laughed lightly.
Nico grinned at everyone’s goofiness. “Well, wherever I end up, I hope I have as much fun as you all seem to be having.”
“Aw yeah Nico! I’m sure everything will be great. You seem like a good kid. Any house would be lucky to have you.” Grover said sincerely. Nico hoped he wasn’t blushing.
“Thanks I-“But he was cut off by the sudden feeling of the train slowing to a halt, and a voice from the corridor alerting all the students that they had arrived. Whoever it was was making their way down the train, rapping on doors, as Nico could hear the voice growing louder with each passing moment, and the indignant squawks of student surprised by the oncoming fist.
“We’re here already?” Bianca asked, surprised. The train ride had gone by very quickly. But a look out the window informed everyone that they had indeed made it into the Hogwarts station. A sharp rap at the door made everyone’s head shoot to look at it. A gangly boy several years older than all of them smiled in. He practically glowed with pleasantness and repressed mischief, the handsomeness of his face only deterred from the long scar adorned on his cheek. A shiny badge on his chest read “Gryffindor Prefect”.
“Hey guys! Good to see you! Wanted to let you know we’re at Hogwarts, but I guess you know that. Hey Annabeth! Your hair looks nice! Percy, that a new bracelet? G-man, sweet cap! Bianca, wow look how many freckles you have!” The tall stranger made his way through the room, exchanging happy hugs and compliments with everyone. Eventually, he stopped in front of Nico.
“Well, I don’t think I’ve met you! What’s your name kid?”
Nico looked up at him, craning his neck slightly to be able to look him in the eye. Dang, this guy was tall. He stuck out his own tiny hand nonetheless.
“I’m Nico Di Angelo.” He said.
The boy beamed at him. “Nice to meet you Nico! Bianca’s told us a lot about you. I’m Luke. I’m Gryffindor prefect this year, so whether you get put in Gryffindor or not, you ever have a question, just come ask me!” He moved towards the door, clapping Annabeth on the shoulder once more on his way out.
“I’d best continue making my messages. Have fun at the feast!” He left the room. It seemed a lot emptier than it had before. That guy had a presence like none other, had filled up the room.
“He seemed nice.” Nico supplied.
That broke the stupor. Everyone laughed a little and started heading towards the doors.
“Hey guys shouldn’t we get our trunks and stuff?” Nico asked, noticing that they were leaving all of their possessions behind.
“Nah, those will be brought up to the school later and put in your room. Besides, you especially don’t want to take yours. It’s hard enough to get across the lake dry as it is.” Percy said jokingly, hand on the door.
Nico nodded and then stopped suddenly when the words sunk in.
“Wait… across the lake?”
***
Nico hated boats. Absolutely despised them. He never even liked being in water either, steadfastly refusing to learn how to swim, despite his families protests that it could save his life someday. He hated water, especially large bodies of water- hated their glossy surfaces, hated the way they hid things in their depths, hated the way they got darker the deeper they got. And he hated gliding across it, even if the view from the boat was spectacular.
He was gripping his ropes so tight that his entire fists had turned white, and he was pretty sure his face had turned to match it too. Either that, or his face had turned green. The other boy who had climbed into the boat with him turned around to express his delight in how cool the castle was surely, but he laughed slightly when catching sight of Nico’s face.
“Aw man, are you sea sick? If you puke, just don’t get it on me, alright?” The boy grinned, but it was pretty hard to see much about him other than that in the dark light. Was his hair curly? Was it dark or light? Nico couldn’t really tell.
The boy stuck his hand out to Nico. “I’m Cecil by the way. What’s your name?”
Nico unclenched one hand and weakly returned the gesture. “Nico.”
“Pleasure to meet you Nico. Now tell me, do you just dislike boats in general or is it just this one?”
“Just don’t like water.” Nico gasped. “For boats, don’t like the way they move.”
“So if I were to like, start rocking back and forth-“
“Please,” Nico interrupted, closing his eyes, “Dear God, do not start rocking back and forth.”
“I’m just messing with you man. Look, we’re almost here anyways! That wasn’t so bad was it?”
Nico opened his eyes. Cecil was right- their boat was beginning to pull itself up onto the gravelly shore. He let out a soft sigh of relief. He’s made it. Thank the dear lord. Cecil giggled a bit at the relieved look on his face and got out of the boat, before reaching out and offering a hand to Nico. He accepted, and shakily stepped out. Now that he was on solid ground, he looked up in wonder at the massive building looming over them. It was monstrous- huge turrets and arches, with huge beautiful circular windows, and various bridges and gargoyles to boot. Nico was pretty sure his jaw was on the ground.
“Beau’iful innit? Every time I see it, swear it gets prettier.” A gruff voice said from beside. It was the man that had led them across the lake, with the wild hair and the lantern three times bigger than Nico’s head. Nico looked over at him- no, over wasn’t the right word. It was more like Nico looked up at him- if he had thought Luke was tall, well this man was at least twice the height of Luke. Nico just nodded, now impressed by the size of both the castle and the man.
A hand the size of a dustpan swooped down and patted Nico comfortingly on the back. Well that’s probably what he meant to do. It felt more like we was being repeatedly pushed over. “You’ll get used t’ it eventually. Don’ worry, you’ll have the best years o’ your life in there.” The man smiled warmly down at him, his eyes crinkled by both years and kindness. Nico felt a rush of affection.
“T-thanks.” He stuttered out.
Everyone looked up at orange light spilled out onto the lawn. One of the doors at the base of the huge stone building was opened now, and a figure stood against the blinding light.
“Come in,” the figure called out, “It is time for you to be Sorted,”