The Blessings of Hecate [Abandoned]

The Jet Lag Struggle Is Real

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Jet Lag Struggle Is Real
Nico's P.O.V.

WHY WAS THAT EVERY TIME  this year I had visited Camp Halfblood everything blurred by so quickly I  didn't even notice when I was back at Hogwarts wearing the stupid  uniform again? It was Sunday when I arrived back at the school... and as  soon as Piper, Leo, and I stepped foot back in the Common Room Percy  and Annabeth came up to us.

"How'd it go? Annabeth blurted out.

"It was an okay break. I spent a lot of time with Calypso," Leo nodded.

I snorted as Piper retorted, "A lot of time translates to every second of the whole week now, apparently."

"One of these days I'm going to magically glue your mouth shut," Leo turned to Piper.

Piper stuck her tongue out at him. Which led Percy and Annabeth to laugh.

"What happened here when we were gone?" I asked the two of them.

"Nothing much," Percy shrugged.

There was a moment of silence between the five of us before Piper spoke out again, "I'm kind of- actually no... I'm really tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Tired?" Annabeth asked, appalled. "It's only half past seven."

"Jet lag,"  she groaned, before starting towards the stairs. On the first step she  turned back to look at us once more. "We have classes tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah,"  Annabeth said. "And head's up... Sometime during this week McGonagall's  going to call you in for a session to talk about your career or  whatever after school."

"What?" The three of us asked at once.

"Apparently it's required for all fifth years," Percy shrugged.

"So you two don't have to do it," Leo realized.

"That's because we supposedly already took our OWLs," said Annabeth.

"Supposedly," Piper said, sighing.

"When are we supposed to know when to go to McGonagall?" I asked.

"It's posted on the notice board."

At  the same time, all three of us rushed over to the notice board and  found the list of names that consisted of all the Fifth Year  Gryffindors. I was due for the last slot on Tuesday right after Lavender  Brown. I would be in her office at half-past four, which meant I would  miss almost all of Herbology. That was my least favorite subject next to  DADA. It was amazing that Persephone hadn't killed me already in that  class.

But  the bad thing was even after I had skimmed the leaflet about career  choices, I still had no idea what I was going to say. All the job  examples were stupid stuff like Healer, Wand Maker, Potioneer, and how  was I even supposed to know what the Hades an Auror was? I guess my only  choice was to wing it. And no, I don't mean Owlery Keeper.

* * *

Yesterday,  DADA had been cancelled. Instead of enduring Umbridge's silenced  awkward reading, we watched Fred and George Weasley make their final  prank at Hogwarts. Even though I had never been close with them, it  strangely saddened me to see them leave the school. They had been the  only people left still willing to openly defy Umbridge when it came to  creating havoc in the school.

They had been cool.  Especially when it came to getting Peeves's respect. He wouldn't even  salute me. Maybe I should ask Dad to... no. I'll forget it.

But while everybody  else was talking about Fred and George, I had other things on my mind. I  had about only a few minutes left before I had to go talk to  McGonagall. Piper already had her talk. According to her it had gone  terrible and she and McGonagall had finally decided on Journalist.

"At least it's something non-magical," Leo reassured her as we left Care of Magical Creatures.

She rolled her eyes,  "Leo we're not actually going to do these jobs, you know that right?  We're due to leave in just a little over a month from now."

"Well I forget, okay," he said in defense.

"Sure Leo," I said.

"It's true."

"I'm sure it's very not true, but I have to leave for my stupid session with McGonagall now."

"Ha!" he said.

"Say what you want to, it'll be your turn tomorrow."

We parted ways as they  started down the trail to the Green Houses, while I continued up to the  castle. It took me maybe about ten minutes, but I eventually found  myself standing outside of McGonagall's office. I probably stood there  for three minutes before Lavender Brown came out, with a startled  expression on her face.

"H- hey Nico," she said before taking off down the hallway for Herbology.

"Come in Di Angelo," came McGonagall's voice from inside her office.

I  walked in, taking a seat across from the Professor. She moved a few  papers around before meeting my eyes. It felt weird for it to be only  the two of us, not a whole class to distract her from me sitting in the  back of the room.

"Well,  Di Angelo, this meeting is to talk over any career ideas you might  have, and to help you decide which subjects you should continue into  sixth and seventh years," said Professor McGonagall in a tone that made  the words sound rehearsed. "Have you had any thoughts about what you  would like to do after you leave Hogwarts?

"Not at all," I told her honestly. I wanted this to be over quickly. "I mean, I know what I don't want to do. But that's it."

"Not the easiest thing I can work with," she huffed. "But I can try."

She  picked up more papers and started browsing through them, "I would  suggest nothing requiring NEWTs for Divination, Care of Magical  Creatures, History of Magic, Herobology and Transfiguration. Your grades  in these subjects have decreased drastically this year."

"It's been a hard year I guess," I said.

"I would suggest something that has potions, charms, or an astonomer. They seem to be your best subjects."

"But what kind of job just has potions or charms?" I ask her.

"You  could become a potioneer," she suggested. "Or an astronomer. Or spell  inventor. Or you could even get a lower position in the Ministry. All of  those require at least an 'Acceptable' or an 'Exceeds Expectations' on  some of the subjects."

"Any  of those would be okay, I guess," I said, feeling something rise in my  stomach. This was starting to get uncomfortable. I wanted to leave.

McGonagall  looked at me one more time before marking something down on a piece of  parchment, "So I'll be removing Divination, Care of Magical Creatures,  History of Magic, and Herbology from your schedule for next year."

"What about Transfiguration?" I asked her.

"I believe that you could improve in my class, Di Angelo. Seeing as it isn't as low as the other four subjects."

"Er- alright I guess."

"And that concludes our career consultation," she shuffles the papers one more time. "You may return to class Nico."

As  I left her office, I noted that she called me by my first name instead  of last. At least she tried to help me with my future. For the first  time, I kind of felt bad that I had to leave before next year.

Me: I do not own any of the characters. All characters either belong to Rick Riordan or J.K. Rowling.
Nico: I just realized something.
Me: *sighs* What?
Nico: Moldy Shorts-
Me: Voldemort.
Nico: Yeah, yeah. Whatever his name is, his parents took the, 'I got your nose' game way too far.
Me: *awed silence* Nico you are a freaking Hades genius....

10/12/15