THE EXCHANGE - Nico Di Angelo at Hogwarts

Seven ; The Sorting

Nico let his eyes wander over the dining hall, taking in all of the faces. He noticed that there were even more ghosts hovering over tables, talking amongst themselves or with the students. He could tell they hadn't noticed him yet.

He found what must have been the Griffindor table, where Harry met his eyes and gave him a thumbs up. He seemed to be trying to escape from a conversation with a smaller, excited looking boy.

He felt himself becoming restless, waiting for the first years to arrive. He had read that it was a tradition for them to go by boat, which must have been a disaster in this weather. He watched the doors finally open and the group of drenched children. One was even draped in a large coat looking thing that Nico guessed was Hagrid's. They all looked on the verge of hypothermia, he could literally hear all of their chattering teeth.

The woman who had led him to his current spot, who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, placed a chair in front of the staff table and placed an old and patchy wizard's hat upon it.

It's flaps moved to reveal a kind of face, and it broke into song.

A thousand years or more ago,
When I was newly sewn,
There lived four wizards of renown,
Whose name are still well-known:
Bold Gryffindor from wild moor,
Fair Ravlenclaw from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin from fen.
They share a wish, a hope, a dream,
They hatched a daring plan,
To educate young sorcerers,
Thus Hogwarts school began.
Now each of these four founders
Formed their own house, for each
Did value different virtues,
In the ones they had to teach.
By Gryffindor, the bravest were
Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hardworkers were
Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divide
Their favourates from the throng,
Yet how to pick the worthy ones
When they were dead and gone?
'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug around your ears,
I've never yet been wrong,
I'll have alook inside your mind
And tell where you belong!

Everyone broke into applause, and Nico joined in a little apprehensively. He watched as an ancient-looking man with a very long, silver beard and half-moon spectacles approached the podium. The hall became deathly silent, waiting for him to speak.

"To the new students, I say welcome to Hogwarts. And for those back from the holidays, I'm very happy to see your faces again. This year, we would like to welcome an exchange student, from the American school Ilvermorny. I wanted a student from another school to experience what may be one of the most exciting years in Hogwart's history. Please put your hands together for Nico Di Angelo!" He announced and motioned him to come over to him.

The son of Hades approached the chair, ignoring the eruption of chatter. He was very curious about this 'event' but pushing it out of his mind. Professor McGonagall whispered to him what to do, and he sat, pulling the dusty hat over his head.

"A demigod? Don't see them very often in this part of the world." A voice announced in his head.

"So you can read my mind?" He thought, trying to communicate.

A laugh rang out. "In a sense. I'm just looking through your memories to see which house would be compatible for you."

"Uh, I don't know if I can do this, but can you put me in Griffindor? I'm here on a quest to protect Harry Potter."

"You know, not many people specifically request to be put in a house. The last one to do so was, in fact, Potter. I probably would have chosen you for Griffindor anyway. You are brave, and daring, to the point of recklessness." It said and then yelled aloud. "Griffindor!"

He took it off and made his way to sit with Harry and the others, letting loose a little smile as his new house cheered for him. Ron shook his hand, and then went back to complaining about his stomach. A couple of other people he didn't recognise patted him on the back, and he thanked his father that he was alright with skinship now. He only flinched minusculely at every touch.

The first years all got sorted, and quite a few joined their table. When they were finished, even he was hungry and was glad when the headmaster Albus Dumbledore told them they could eat.

He watched as a pile of food appeared in front of him, and copied everyone by piling his plate up with his favourite things. He looked across as Ron's plate in amusement, which had enough food for a family. He took a goblet from the table, and got his lighter from his shadow vault. He picked the best part of the chicken and a little potato and put it in. No one seemed to notice as he burned it under the table, as they were too engrossed in their meal.

A ghost dressed in period clothes and a ridiculous ruffle around his neck stared, wide-eyed at him. "Oh, my. You're- you're-,"

"Not interested. Go tell all your other ghost friends to leave me alone. I don't want to have to deal with them while I'm here."

The dead man zoomed away, going around to the other ghosts, telling them something, and then turning invisible. They all stared at him with varying degrees of panic and followed suit.

Half of the Griffindor table looked at him in confusion. "Bloody hell, what was that?" the boy from the train with the talking pin asked.

Nico felt his hands go clammy, and he shoved them under the table. "Long story, they're indebted to someone I know, in a way." He told a half-truth. His father and Thanatos would probably riot if they learned that there were this many ghosts on the surface. They had good reason to be afraid of the son of Hades.

That seemed to be a good enough answer for most of them, or perhaps they were just too hungry to ask any more questions because everyone just went back to the feast. Hermione gave him a look that implied that she would have more questions later, but he tried to ignore it and continue with his food.