Nico and I are given extra homework
HARRY: *back to Nico's visit, a few hours earlier.*
It wasn't often I was the only one in my dormitory. Dean and Seamus were probably having fun, catching up on each other's summers in the common room. Ron and Hermione were still, I presumed, in the place I'd left them when I stormed off. It was likely that Neville was in the Herbology classroom, examining how the plants had done during our summer break.
During the first night, most people went to their dorms at least a few minutes past curfew so they could catch up in the common room, and I had a while to wait. I wasn't complaining though, I wanted to be alone.
Sirius and I had written back and forth as much as we could this summer. He'd warned me many times: "the last thing you should do is isolate yourself, Harry. Remember who your true friends are, and keep them close."
It was helpful advice, I suppose. But that was my problem. Ever since the tournament, ever since "Moody" had been an imposter right under our noses, I don't know who my true friends are. To me, everybody was seen as a possible threat. Everybody could be a spy. Peter Pettigrew had been my dad's friend the entirety of his time at Hogwarts and he hadn't even noticed the rat's dirty little secret. My worst fears were, what if Ron, Hermione, or any one of my school friends were just the same?
It hurt me to think these things about the people I loved, but I did it to keep them safe. If one of my friends was actually a villain, they wouldn't attack me directly, they would try to find what I love and use it against me to make me vulnerable. For example, if Ron ended up being a death eater, he would likely use Hermione as a way to make me listen to him.
To know your villain, you need to think like one. I'd been thinking like a villain this entire summer. My biggest worry was if you think like a villain, do you end up becoming that villain?
In other words, my worst fear what: what if I am the villain? What if I'm no better than the man who gave me this very scar, all those years ago?
What if the more I think about him, the more I become him?
I had to shake this thought aside as the door opened. Funnily enough, it shut without anybody walking in. I was curious, had Ron borrowed my invisibility cloak without asking?
My guess was close, but I was way off. It wasn't Ron who had taken my cloak. For when the person presented their self, I recognized him to be Nico. Strangest of all, it wasn't my cloak he had taken. In his hand, he had a navy blue hat with a strange symbol on the front.
"Please, contain your excitement," Nico grumbled. He sat on Ron's bed across from me and stared.
He just stared.
"Slytherins not treating you right?" I asked.
"Yes and no. Yes as in, I hate the house and a majority of the people so far. No, as in, it's not me they're treating unfair, but that's another story." He waved the hat in his hand before me. He seemed to be trying to reference something that I wasn't quite getting.
"You have an invisibility cap? Where'd you get that?" I questioned.
He narrowed his eyes accusingly.
"As if you don't know." I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. His face fell. "You're saying you don't know. As in, you really don't know?"
I shrugged once more, because really, what else do you do in this situation?
"I'm a bit confused," I admitted. "Mind filling me in?"
Nico sighed so heavily, you'd have thought I'd asked him to battle a dragon.
"Introductions. You: Harry Potter, powerful enough wizard, well-known, and dark forces love nothing more than to mess with your life. Me: Nico Di Angelo." He paused. "Though, you already knew that didn't you?"
I felt my face redden. He couldn't have known about my vision. I hardly even remembered the kid. All I remembered was a prophecy, his name, and the name of another boy he was within the vision. They were all scattered and detached pieces to a puzzle that wouldn't end any time soon.
"You had a vision about me," Nico stated as if reading my mind. "I could tell you recognized me from the moment you stepped foot into Mrs. Weasley's living room."
"You could tell that because you recognized me," I said back. "I knew we'd recognized each other. What was your vision about?" I asked.
Just two teenage boys having a casual conversation about predicting the future and looking into different people's lives. Nothing to see here.
"All I remember is your name. A source continued to tell me to find you, it was a woman's voice. She wouldn't shut up. I don't remember the rest of the dream completely. What do you remember?" Nico asked.
"Your name," I recalled. "Your name, a boy's name, and a prophecy."
Nico sat up suddenly.
"A prophecy, you remember an entire Prophecy and you just forgot to mention it?" Nico said accusingly.
"In my defense, how exactly do you start a conversation along those lines? 'Hello, Nico. I know you're new here and all, so welcome to Hogwarts! By the way, I had a dream about you and a prophecy was included! Have a nice school year!' Do you really think that would have gone over well? Half of the world thinks I'm already losing my sanity. I didn't want you to be the person to confirm that rumor." Nico tapped his foot impatiently. He was tense, agitated, and looked exhausted beyond words. I didn't want to push his buttons further, but I was all of those things too. We were similar in that way, and I think we were about to discover our other similarities.
"Whatever. Just tell me the prophecy."
"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked, which was true. He'd just arrived in our lives out of nowhere, and at the worst possible time. Not only was the return of Voldemort soon going to be upon us, but now I had a boy who was having visions about my life. I didn't like this one bit, but complaining wasn't going to get me any closer to figuring out what in Merlin's name is going on.
"You can't, same as I can't know if I can trust you. I suggest we both just go out on a whim here, because I don't see either of us having any other options. I have a feeling your friends won't respond well if you tell them about your dreams. You're stuck with me, and I'm stuck with you until we figure this all out. Is that reason enough?"
He had me at a loss for words. I couldn't find a way out of this. I was stuck. Unfortunately, Nico was my only way out. Not that I had anything against him, but I just wished I knew more about him to trust him. It's the whole villain instinct I was referring to, I see everything as a potential threat.
"Okay, I guess I can trust you." I looked under my bed and pulled out my trunk. Out of my trunk, I took out a piece of parchment paper, a quill, and some new ink.
I wrote down the lines of the prophecy and read them aloud to Nico.
"Mother has angered magic, she's gone back on her word.
Half-Bloods are welcomed to a new, magical world.
The man in black is a villain, gone weak
Immortality is what he will seek
Light and dark listen in; not part of the plan.
Extinguished to a new, foreign land.
Seven half-bloods shall appear at the sight.
To wood or metal, they shall fight.
An oath is broken, and minds are changed.
All that is certain, is that things will never be the same."
Nico said nothing. He stared at me. His eyes were filled with frustration and disbelief. Something was wrong.
"What?" I asked.
"I had the same dream as you, Harry. The second you spoke the prophecy, I remembered." He mumbled.
"We both had the same vision, and we both only remember bits and pieces. If we continue to share our bits and pieces with each other, perhaps we could figure out more?" I questioned. "But, what does this all mean? Also, why is it me and you, of all people?"
Nico shook his head.
"I have to tell you something. I don't know why I'm trusting you, but like we said, we both have no other choice. Harry, I'm not from here."
Surprisingly, I wasn't surprised. Ironic, isn't it?
"You're from someplace else, a camp of some sort."
Nico mumbled to himself.
"Camp Half-Blood." We both remembered simultaneously.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"I have no clue."
"Okay, continue explaining. What do you remember about yourself?"
"All I remember is that I'm not part of this family who passed in a fire, I'm not some chosen one. My mother was named Maria Di Angelo. My father...I don't know. I'm not part of your world. Someone placed me here, and I need to get back. Soon."
"Let me write all of this down." I examined the prophecy on the paper.
"We'll go through each line, and if this means anything to you, say something."
"Only a few lines make even a minuscule amount of sense to me. The seven half-bloods line...It's familiar, but I understand. Seven people like me were taken from their world, and I believe we were all placed in this school. Light and dark listen in; not part of the plan. I think that's where I come in. I don't think I was supposed to be part of this, and I think someone else wasn't either, but he was sent here too."
"Nine total people are here that are from your world then." I understood. "And I understand one fraction, I remember--"
"Light and dark. I'm dark. Light...Light has to be the boy I recognized during the feast."
We only had a fraction of this mystery solved, but it was a start.
"You remember someone?"
"We have a mission," Nico answered. "We need to find these eight others and see how this all connects. The first boy we need to find, his name is Will Solace."
I hesitated for a moment. I remembered him. I could easily picture him. He was tall, blonde, and tan. Kind of the opposite of Nico.
"He's a Hufflepuff. I saw him at the tables this morning," Nico continued. "I need to try to talk with him, I'll figure out how. In the meantime, we have seven other half-bloods to find and they may not even be your type of half-blood."
I nodded. "I understand, but it seems that the others don't remember much either. Since you weren't part of the plan, whatever it was, do you think that you're the only one who knows you don't belong here?" I questioned.
"I hope not." He shuddered at the thought. "One other thing. The sorting hat acted strangely during my sorting. It told me, "you have to find them." And, "you have to find them, and free her."
"I don't know what all of this means, but it has to have something to do with the torches and the muggle attacks. Our homework is to research all of this. We need to find the people, and we must find out the meaning of half-blood, and the torches. Sound like a plan?"
Nico nodded. "Of course."
I stuck out my hand.
"For now, we're not friends or enemies. Can we consider ourselves acquaintances?" I asked.
"More like allies. We have an agreement." He stared at my hand like it had offended him. "And I'm not a fan of physical contact, you'll come to find out."
My hand fell to my side.
"We have ourselves a deal. But really, you need to lighten up a bit."
He stuffed his things back into his cloak.
"I'm not the light, that's Will's job." He mumbled. "When will our next meeting be?"
"Saturday. After Quidditch tryouts. Bring your hat, meet me in the library."
"Sounds like a plan."
He left without another word.