When Nico's not at camp (book the first)

Ron

"That wasn't so bad. Fred and George said the sorting hurt a lot." Hermione looks at me disbelievingly. "And you believed them? Ronald obviously they were playing a joke on you?" I frown. "Well that's what I thought at first but then that Nico kid went up and... well you saw how he reacted. And you harry. You looked like you were about ready to cry." Harry pales. "Oh, no that was nothing. I was just... worried about what house the hat was going to put me in." "Yeah", I reply. "I know what you mean. My whole family has been in Gryffindor for over a century. Mother would absolutely murder me if I broke the streak."

Fred And George plop down on either side of me each with a more devious smirk than the other. "Oh, was wittle wonniekins scared of the big bad sorting hat?" "Shut up Fred", I snap. "Oh come on Ron", George replies. "As your older brothers we are honor bound mess with your head from time time time". I snort. " Hey, I saw you two  talking to that Di Angelo kid. Did he tell You why he freaked out at the sorting hat?" They shrug in perfect symmetry. " It happens sometimes", Fred begins. " the hat pokes around a little too much",George continues. "And brings up something unpleasant", they finish in unison. "Although I've never seen anyone  try to take the hat off in the middle of their sorting before", Fred comments. "I suppose that's why he went to bed so early", George interjects. I look around the common room and sure enough Nico Di Angelo is nowhere to be seen. Huh, the hat must have said something that really messed him up.

"Well I still think he's strange. I mean why was he burning food"? Hermione rolls her eyes. Why is she always rolling her eyes at me? " obviously it was some kind of religious practice Ronald. honestly do you have any brains at all?" now I get angry. "How was I supposed to know his religion requires him to burn food? He wouldn't even stop reading his news paper long enough to tell me his name. And what was with that newspaper anyway?" Who reads in a foreign language?" Hermione rolls her eyes yet again. Honestly, she's going to give herself motion sickness. "Clearly", she draws out the word to twice its normal length, "He's bilingual. Maybe his family is from Greece." "Well I agree with Ron." Harry interjects. "When we went to diagon alley, I asked him about his dad and he got all defensive and secretive. And he had to slice his hand open and rub the blood on the door to get into his vault." "That's not the weirdest of it friends." Fred and George announce. "When Harry's name got called he asked if you were famous." My jaw hits the floor. "He didn't know who Harry was? What rock has he been hiding under?" The twins beam. "That's exactly what we asked", they say together. "Do you know what he said?" Asks Fred. "He said Las Vegas." George answers. Hermione stands up in a huff. "How can all boys be so dense about everything all the time? You four are so busy judging Nico that you don't even realize you haven't even given yourself a chance to get to know the poor boy, and you'll probably miss out on a friendship because of it!" Then she storms off to the girls dormitory. I frown at Harry. "Well that was a bit rude." Harry sighs. " I guess she's kind of right." I shrug. "I think he's odd and I'm not going to apologize for that." "Come on. We should go to bed, we have class tomorrow", Harry says.

I meet Harry and Hermione in the common room and we walk down to the great hall for breakfast. We see Nico sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table with his little cereal bowl of fire in front of him and his black cat, on the table Pringle's contently as he pets it. But what's odd is that several ghosts are hovering around and he seems to be whispering. We decide to go sit by him, and as we approach we hear the end of what he's saying. "And then Rachael threw her blue plastic hair brush at it hit him square in the face. Then I summoned a spire of rock to block his path and that's how we escaped." At this point he notices us coming. "Anyways that's the story." The ghost all float off whispering to them selves and we sit down. " Hello Nico", Hermione says cheerfully. "Hello", he replies. Hermione glares at me and Harry. Harry speaks first. "So Nico, Did you sleep well?" He shrugs. "Well enough. How about you? " Oh yeah, fine thanks." Now Hermione elbows me in the ribs. I try to think of something to say. "Why did you decide to get a cat instead of like an owl?" I ask finally. He smirks at me, clearly amused by the fact that Hermione is forcing me to try to be friends with him. "When I went into the pet store Ajax liked me the most, so I bought him." I frown. "Why would you name a cat Ejects", I ask. Nico narrows his eyes and studies me carefully. Now I know what Harry meant when he said Nico could read your soul like a book. Finally he speaks. "Are you trying to insult me, or are you just plain stupid?" My jaw drops at the same time that Harry and Hermione fall on the ground laughing.

"Ronald", Hermione scolds. "Ajax, not Ejects, was one of the great heroes of the Trojan war." I'm about to say something to defend myself when professor McGonnogall walks over to our end of the table. "Ah, just the students I'm looking for. Mr. Di Angelo, before I hand you your class schedule would you kind explaining why exactly you have half the Hogwarts ghost in a flurry?" Nico blushes slightly. "Oh I was just telling them the story of a trip i went on with a few of my cousins over the summer. I got quite exciting at points." "I see" she looks like she wants to question him further but apparently decides against it and hands us our schedules. Nico frowns at his. then squints. Then pulls his schedule right up to his face as if trying to read each letter individually. McGonnogall raises an eyebrow. "Is there a problem Mr. Di Angelo?" "Uhm, I'm severely dyslexic. I don't suppose you know a spell that could translate this to Greek. That's my native language so its not as bad. Understanding dawns on McGonnogalls face. "Ah I see. Yes, pay attention, you can use the same spell on your school books. While McGonnogall teaches Nico the translation spell Hermione pulls out a parchment and quill and starts taking notes as well. 'Why are you taking notes", I ask. "You don't need to translate your books." She rolls her eyes at me. Again with the eye rolling from her. "The point of school is to learn as much as you can. Just because its not a formal lesson doesn't mean you shouldn't try to learn." McGonnogall finishes the spell and Nico smiles. He's clearly still having some trouble with the schedule but it seems much better.

After McGonnogall walks away the mail arrives and Harry borrows my copy of the daily prophet. He gasps. "Listen to this." He reads us a story about Gringots being robbed. "Nico vault 713 is the vault that hagrid emptied when we were with him wasn't it?' I look up to see Nico with a deadly snarl on his face. "There is no such thing as a coincidence." He growls. "This is very bad news." All three of us nod our agreement. After that our first week of school was fairly uneventful except the tongue lashing snaps gave Harry for no apparent reason. But in the second week professor McGonnogall announces that we are starting flying lessons, except Nico who is apparently exempt.