When Myths Meet Magic || 4

29|| Nico

"Nico!" Nico felt a hand shaking him awake. "Nico, get up!"

Nico scowled and wrenched his eyes open. He turned to snap at his human alarm clock, only to come face-to-face with Harry.

"Whazgongon?" Nico mumbled thickly to no one in particular.

"How did you sleep through all the yelling?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Yelling?" The only adults in the room were Dumbledore, Chiron, and Mrs. Weasley. Nico wondered where Sirius and Bill went.

"Fudge came," Piper explained. Nico was glad for her presence. "And he and Dumbledore got in a little..." she glanced at Dumbledore. "... spat about Voldemort. But since Barty Crouch is dead, there's no evidence."

"Besides your and Harry's scars, Snape and Karkaroff's Dark Marks, and the words of Harry, Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall," Annabeth muttered waspishly.

Nico put his hand up. "Hold on. My scar? I have a magic scar like Harry?"

Thalia nodded and pointed her finger right below his ribcage. "This is where it hit you," she said. Nico lifted his shirt and spotted the scar, a long jagged line from his collarbone to the bottom of his ribcage.

Ron grimaced. "Put your shirt down, mate. Not all of us have a six-pack."

"Hm?" Nico glance at Ron. "Oh, okay."

"What I want to know," Mrs. Weasley said in an oddly subdued voice. "Is how you survived that killing curse."

Nico looked at Annabeth. Annabeth looked at Chiron. Chiron cleared his throat, and everyone else looked at him. Then Chiron looked at Dumbledore, who nodded.

"Nico isn't a wizard," Chiron stated bluntly. "And neither are Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Jason, Piper, Frank, or Hazel. They are half-gods. Half-bloods. Or, the most familiar term, demigods. The goddess of magic, Hecate, is actually the one who gave you wizards such powers. She blessed a group of mortals with the gift of sorcery, four of which came to found Hogwarts."

"There are, of course, direct children of Hecate here, who have proven to be some of the most talented wizards in the community." Dumbledore picked up. "Which just proved that, even with the blood of Hecate in our midst, Hermione is an extraordinarily talented witch."

Hermione flushed, then suddenly, she stiffened. Without warning, she pushed through Frank and Hazel by the window and slammed her hand down on the windowsill.

"Sorry!" She whispered. "Continue."

"In fact, a few teachers here are actually demigods," Dumbledore went on lightly. "I, for example, am not a direct child, but my grandmother was actually Hecate herself. Poppy here," he nodded at Madam Pomfrey. "Is a child of Apollo, god of Medicine and healing. Minerva is a child of Athena, goddess of wisdom."

"Nico is a child of Hades, lord of Death. This particular relationship may have also been a factor in keeping him alive when the curse was uttered, but the main key was that he, like the rest of the demigods-- the children, not the teachers, were blessed by Hecate before they came here. Their godly blood is also resistant to spells, so he fought the killing curse. Had he not fought it, he would have suffered a very slow and painful death," Chiron said.

Mrs. Weasley was a very good listener. She nodded twice, looking absolutely overwhelmed. Which was reasonable, considering she just found out about two whole new worlds.

"If that's done with," Chiron smiled at Mrs. Weasley. "Thank you so much for your hospitality for these young demigods. Annabeth tells me you have let them live with you over the summer."