The Angel's Tournament

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Nico's POV

"Tell Ireland to shut up!" Nico roared, rudely awoken by screaming he could only assume was Ireland celebrating their victory.

"Nico, this isn't Ireland," Mr Weasley said, his voice tight, as he frantically woke up the rest of the Weasley family, as well as Harry and Hermione. "Get up! Ron- Harry- come on now, this is urgent! Bill, you're in charge of Ginny!"

Bill, Ron's eldest brother, left the tent to get Ginny, the only sister in the family. Nico got up from his bed and listened- it wasn't hard to tell that the screaming was no longer Ireland happily rubbing their win in Bulgaria's faces, it was people screaming in terror.

"Death Eaters," Hermione breathed as she slipped inside of the boys' tent. Nico choked- Thanatos Eaters? He imagined people dressed in black chomping on the god as he tried to wiggle away, and tried not to laugh.

"You lot- get into the woods, and stick together," Mr Weasley shouted over the noise, and Nico was torn. The Death Eaters were dangling poor mortals high up in the air by their ankles and he desperately wanted to help, but he also remembered his father and Hecate's request to protect Harry.

Go to Harry, Hecate's voice echoed in his head, and Nico narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

I will do what I can to help the mortals, Hecate insisted. Go to the Golden Trio, child of the underworld. They need you to keep them safe tonight. I will not be able to maintain this connection for much longer- your father is now trapped in his palace and my powers are slowly being sapped away, contained by powers greater than mine.

"Is Father alright?" Nico muttered as he ran to catch up to the Golden Trio. "What can I do to help- who can go and rescue him?"

Please, child, go! You could barely defeat Gaia, and this new enemy may be even worse. Kill the Dark Lord and dare to hope, child. Your friends at Camp Half-blood cannot help you- Iris and Hermes have been forbidden from helping you via Hermes Express or Iris Messages, Hecate barked. But to answer your question, he should be fine, just trapped. And as for who can help him... you should know, child. Think, and it will come to you.

"Who is the new enemy?" Nico begged as he ran, the Golden Trio disappearing into the forest as he tried to keep up.

Go and continue your quest. Please. For me. This may be the last time you hear from me for a while... my powers are being blocked. I will try to help the mortals.

The voice of Hecate vanished from the son of Hades's mind. Finally, he caught up to the Golden Trio.

"Tripped over a tree-root," Ron was saying angrily, followed by a lot of cursing. Nico grudgingly helped the boy up, and the wizard shot him a grateful look, before remembering they were supposed to be enemies.

"Look, Nico, I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot," Ron said nervously, lighting up his wand so that they could see. "I'm Ron Weasley."

He held out his free hand, clearly hoping for a truce.

"Nico," Nico nodded, though he didn't take the boy's hand.

"With feet your size, it's hard not to trip, isn't it?" An obnoxious, drawling voice said from behind them.

The four turned sharply to see a pale boy with blonde hair leaning against a tree and looking utterly relaxed. His hair reminded Nico slightly of some other campers at both Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, but the smug expression on his face and the fragility of his body made clear that he was far too weak to survive what demigods went through. Ron told the boy something Nico was sure he would never had said in front of his parents.