THE EXCHANGE - Nico Di Angelo at Hogwarts

Five ; The Hogwarts Express pt I

Nico awoke to what sounded like screaming. He swung down from his top bunk and took his sword from its place on the bed. He turned to face the intruder and found an owl. 

It was dark grey, with huge eyes and little feathery horns. It stared at him, cocking its head to the side, disinterested. He recognised it as a screech owl, one of his father's sacred animals. 

A couple of campers (mostly Hermes and Iris kids, since they were the closest to the Hades cabin) burst through his cabin doors, awoken from the sound and searching for an attacker. They stared at the owl, and then him, and then left snickering. 

Butch stayed behind, crossing his arms but looking amused. "I didn't think that sounded like you. So what's up with the owl?" 

Nico inspected the creature, checking it's foot for letters. The wizards use owls as a sort of mail system, so he thought that maybe he was being sent a message from someone (although he had no clue who). It seemed to have none.

"I think it's a gift from my father." He replied. 

"Nice." The son of Iris scratched the owl's back, and it ruffled its feathers in pleasure. "I'll be going back now since it's about two in the morning. Good luck on your quest, whatever it is." 

"Thank you." He watched the bigger camper leave, closing the door softly behind him. He closed his eyes and inclined his head to the floor. "And thank you, father."

"How did I sleep through that? Apparently almost everyone was woken." Will frowned, pouting slightly. 

Nico grimaced. "Oh, I feel bad now. And you sleep like me when I'm in a coma, why are you so surprised?" 

"I'm not that bad!"

"I wake up earlier than you, and I'm a Hades kid."

"I like my beauty rest."

"You're already beautiful." He mumbled, looking at his cereal. 

Will grew a slight tinge of red to his cheeks. "What was that?" 

"You're a real bonehead," Nico replied, his mouth becoming dry, shoving his hands in his pockets. Will obviously was unconvinced but he distracted himself with feeding his new owl, who he had decided to call Sol, some crumbs.

"If they go full Wizard-of-Oz on you, I will not hesitate to storm that stupid castle and blow them all up." Coach hedge threatened through a Iris message. 

"Coach, you do know the story of the Wizard Of Oz, right?"

"No, I never watched the full movie, not enough action. But call me if they give you any trouble." He insisted. Nico chuckled a little, told his old friend to say hello to Mellie and his kid for him, and then waved through the transmission. 

"You ready to go?" Will approached him.

"Yeah, my stuff is at Thalia's tree. Then Jemma and I will leave with a Portkey to the station where I'll get onto my train. Then I just have to look out for Potter and I'll be set for the year." 

They had the traditional camp fire singalong, and he talked to a lot of the campers. Jason had hugged him tightly and made him promise to be careful. Piper gave him a kiss on his cheek and wished him good luck. A couple of the other campers ruffled his hair and patted him on the back, sending him off. 

Chiron gave him a smile and told him to keep his sword hidden, since most of the magical community could see through the mist. He took that advice and put the weapon in something he called a shadow vault, similar to the Duat that the Egyptians used to store supplies.