Nico di Angelo and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 11: Dragons

Nico woke the following morning somewhat satisfied. Well, if you could call it the morning. He had developed a very bad sleep schedule, and thus had woken at around three in the morning. He'd had a very disturbing dream. There had been a boy with blond hair who fell into a pit then was vaporized. Nico shook his head to clear it. It wasn't like he meant anything to him.

Nico rolled out of bed and quietly put on his shoes then snuck out of the dormitory. He glanced at Harry before he closed the door. Nico was disturbed that he had been entered. After all, he was supposed to be protecting Harry. Well, entering the tournament didn't really help him protect Harry. But he'd somehow had a feeling that he needed to. Nico just followed that urge, and it turned out to be for the best, seeing as Harry was in the tournament, and he'd be able to help him much better this way.

Nico shadow-travelled to the Hogwarts library. He had taken to reading the books on potions, magical animals, and the likes. Personally, Nico was considering himself pretty disturbed. For one thing, he only knew facts until the start of the school, where he actually got memories. Another thing was that he was constantly lying and acting so as to not be suspicious. He thought he was doing an okay job, seeing as no one had suspected him yet.

Nico turned the page in a giant, slightly moldy book about mythology. If his father was Hades, was it possible that he had other children? So far Nico hadn't found any records past Ancient Greece. Nico flipped through the book, skimming. His elbow caught on the lantern he was using to see, and knocked it off the table. Nico froze as it hit the floor. The clanging rang through the room, echoing.

"STUDENTS SNEAKING AROUND!" Nico heard Peeves yell down the corridor. Nico cursed under his breath and curled his hand. There was no more sound. The walls warped around him, vanishing to a devastating black. Nico uncurled his fingers to reveal the poltergeist. Peeves realized that the student in question was Nico and froze, turning pearly white.

"You will never reveal me," Nico hissed, trying to look as menacing as possible.

Peeves nodded. "I apologize, my lord. I didn't know it was you."

Nico let out a breath. "What do you know about the tournament?" He didn't really care about how he got his information-Nico just wanted to stay alive.

Peeves looked relieved that he wasn't doomed to anything. "Dragons, lord. Dragons are the first task."

Nico arched his eyebrows. "Dragons?"

Peeves smirked. "Is that not what I said?" Nico scowled at him and the poltergeist quickly apologized.

"Dragons," Peeves said again. "They each guard an egg, which you must retrieve."

Nico nodded slowly. "Thank you." He waved his hand and they both returned to the castle, Nico to the Gryffindor common room, and Peeves to the Great Hall. It was already around seven in the morning, so Nico went down to the Hall as well for breakfast. Will would've nagged him to eat something, Nico thought wryly. Wait, Will? Who in the world was Will?

Nico sat down and started eating oatmeal. He was kind of bored, and mostly waiting for Harry to come down so he could tell him about the first task. Since he was supposed to protect Harry, even with his life, he had to focus all his efforts on getting Harry through the tournament.

Nico was just scraping the remainder of the oatmeal out of his bowl when Harry came down, who was looking pretty miserable. "How are you doing?" Nico asked, knowing the answer perfectly well.

"Spectacular," Harry replied sarcastically.

Nico smirked. "Well, I can dampen your mood. The first task is dragons."