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

Harry

Since the incident with the three headed dog school has been mostly uneventful. Until that is, Ron and Hermione got into a huge fight in charms class. Sure Hermione was a little snotty, but she was just trying to help Ron learn the spell.  But since their fight we haven't seen her. lavender brown told us she's in the dungeons crying in a stall. I can tell Ron feels bad and wants to go make up with her, but he's too proud to admit it so instead we're sitting in the great hall for the Halloween feast talking about the upcoming Gryffindor-Slytherin Qudditch match and how my training is going. Nico is sitting across from us swirling his spoon through his bowl of beef stew. Honestly the kid never seems to eat anything. He just scoops some into his little fire then picks at the rest. Then suddenly Nearly Headless Nick flies into the great hall with a panicked look on his face. He floats through half the Gryffindors causing students to shudder and curse in his wake. He goes right up to Nico and whispers urgently in his ear. suddenly Nico snaps to attention with a dangerous glint in his eye. "Show me", Nico commands. And he and Nick run out of the great hall without another word. Just as I'm about to ask Ron what he thinks about Nico's sudden departure, Professor Quirrell runs into the great hall screaming about a troll in the dungeons. Then promptly passes out on the floor.

Dumbledore orders all the students back to their common rooms and all the teachers to go to the dungeons. But I realize that Hermione is still in the girls bathroom, so Ron and I go to find her. Of corse thanks to our absolutely rotten luck we get to the girls bathroom just in time to see the troll walk inside. Ron and I look at each other. "Just once can we catch a break?" Ron asks. Then we hear the unmistakeable sound of a girls terrified scream. "I guess not." Then I turn and run towards the bathroom and hope that Ron is right behind me. The troll has smashed all the stalls. Hermione is hiding under the sinks. The troll is playing an oversized game of whack-a-mole. Smashing each sink as Hermione dodges to the next one. Then she reaches the wall. "She's done for", Ron notices unhelpfully. I look down and see pieces of the broken stalls all across the floor. I pick one up and chuck it at the trolls head. "What are you doing?" Ron asks me incredulously."I'm drawing its attention away from Hermione." I pick up another piece of wood and chuck it. Then the troll turns around and roars. "But now its just gonna kill us instead!" The terror is clear in his voice. The troll swings his club and we both jump aside. He swings again and this time a catch the club and start climbing up the trolls arm but it grabs me by the legs and dangles  me in front of it. Ron takes out his wand and prepares to do a spell but the troll notices and kicks him into the corner of the bathroom, then tosses me down next to him and raises his club. I've just accepted that I'm going to be flattened and I'm taking comfort in the fact that at least I'll never have to spend another day with the Dursleys, when suddenly the door bursts open. Standing in the door way looking determined and fearless is none other than Nico Di Angelo.

On his  arm is a large bronze shield with intricate carvings in concentric circles. His wand gripped firmly in his left hand. And in his right hand, a freaking sword! Three feet long, razor sharp, and black as death itself. It gives off a faint purple glow and some instinct tells me that this weapon can cause much worse than a nasty cut. Nico locks eyes with the troll and the troll roars in fury. Its almost as if the monster recognizes him. Nico doesn't flinch but instead he points his sword squarely at the trolls chest and speaks in a calm, cold and terrifying tone. "Back to the pit!" The troll charges. Nico reacts as quick as thought. He raises his wand, swishes and flickers, and yells "wingardium leviosa." The troll lifts into the air feet first Then Nico lunges forward and stabs his sword through the trolls face and it explodes in golden dust. Then he turns to Ron, Hermione, and me. "Have you three lost your damn minds?"

Before we have a chance to respond we hear the teachers rush down the hall and into the bathroom. Professor McGonogall takes in the carnage around the bathroom then fixes her eyes on us. "Would the four of you care to explain just what has happened here." Ron steps forward excitedly. "It was incredible Professor. Nico.." at this point Nico steps forward and interrupts Ron. "Harry and Ron distracted the troll and i used the levitating charm to drop its own club on its head", he says. That's when I notice that his sword and shield Have disappeared. . Ron and I glance at each other nervously. "That's Right", Hermione interjects. "These three came down here to save me. Ive read all about them and thought I could handle it. It turns out I was wrong." McGonogall then launches into a tirade about how foolish and irresponsible we are. And how we almost certainly could have been killed. At one point I think she compared our brains to owl droppings but I wasn't really paying attention. I was starring at Professor Snape's leg. It was covered in blood.  He  notices me starring and quickly wraps his robe around himself to hide the leg from my view. He glares at me with accusing eyes.

"Now",concludes McGonogall. "For your immeasurable stupidity Ms. Granger, I will be taking ten points from Gryffindor. And then I will aword five points to each of you for sheer dumb luck." Then she sweeps out of the bathroom followed by the rest of the teachers, then by us. When we get back to the common room we all turn to Nico and wait for him to explain himself. He simply raises an eyebrow. "What?" "What do you mean what you bloody twit?" Ron is shaking now. "Where in Merlin's beard did you get a sword?" "And what happened to it when the teachers arrived?" Hermione asks. "And why did Nearly Headless Nick come get you when the troll got in?" I include. Nico holds up his hand to silence us. "Listen. I just saved all your lives, so you guys owe me a favor. Drop it and leave it alone." Nico locks eyes with each of us in turn and we all come to a silent agreement. "Okay Nico, we'll forget about it." He relaxes a little bit. "Did anyone else notice Snape's leg?" He asks. "Yeah", I answer. "And I've got a theory about what happened to it." Hermione sighs. "You think Snape tried to get past that dog." I nod. "Harry, that's completely insane. Snape is a teacher after all", Hermione scolds. "So what if he's a teacher", Ron argues. "He's a creepy selfish git. Whatever that dog is guarding has to be beyond valuable. He wants it for himself I'm sure." Hermione looks like she ants to argue. But then Nico interrupts. "Whatever did or didn't happen to Snape's leg, we aren't going to figure it out tonight. All the same, Harry and Ron are right. It's very suspicious that Snape should turn up with an injured leg just as a mountain troll gets in the castle. We should keep an eye on him." We all nod. "Anyway", Nico continues, "we should get to bed. You harry have your first quditch match tomorrow." Oh crap. I completely forgot about qudditch.

Between my broomstick trying to kill me and nearly choking on the snitch, my first qudditch match was only slightly worse than I expected. And at least I won the game. Although I could do without a night in the hospital wing. The doors to the infirmary burst open and in rush Ron, Hermione, and Nico. "It was Snape" Ron gasps. "He jinxed your broom." My mouth drops open in disbelief. "Its true", Hermione insists. "A curse like that requires constant eye contact and Snape wasn't blinking. But as soon as I broke his focus you regained control of your broom." I grit my teeth. "On Halloween he saw that i noticed his injured leg. He must realize that I'm on to him, so he tried to kill me." Hermione frowns. "I suppose that makes sense. I only wonder what could be so valuable that Snape would murder you just because you know He's after it." "We need to talk to Hagrid", Nico decides. I look at Nico with confusion. "Hagrid? Why Hagrid?" He rolls his eyes at me. "The very same day that Hagrid empties vault 713 at gringots, someone tries to rob it. Now there's a dangerous and incredible rare three headed dog and Gods know what else guarding some unknown object. And Snape is trying to steal it." Hermione face palms. "Of course, I should have figured it out straight away. How could I be so stupid." Ron glances back and forth between the two of them. "Uhm, would you two care to explain just what the hell you're talking about." I bite my lip as suddenly the answer dawns on me. Nico fixes Ron with a piercing gaze. "Whatever Hagrid took out of gringots is now hidden somewhere under Hogwarts. And Snape is trying to steal it."

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