He answered the group's questions, and asked some of his own although he already knew most of the answers. They told him a first account of what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup and the disaster that immediately followed. Nico found the circumstances very suspicious.

A couple of the trio's friends popped in, one sporting a green badge that feebly emmited names that were probably to do with Quidditch. It seemed that this broomstick game was very important to Wizards, since it was all Harry and Ron talked about. He engaged in a light conversation with Hermione, who seemed ecstatic that she wasn't the only one who read the school textbooks.

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley." The same drawling voice from earlier said. A boy, probably the trio's age, with platinum blonde hair and a greasy smirk stood at the door of the compartment, flanked with two goons. He immediately disliked him.

"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry stopped his conversation and replied coolly. 

"Weasley... What is that?" Draco sneered, grabbing the material covering the redhead's owl (that he had introduced as 'Pig', a strange name for such a tiny bird). He spread it out and laughed. "Look at this! Weasley, you weren't thinking ofwearing these, were you? I mean- they were very fashionable inabout eighteen ninety..."

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" Ron yelled, his face and ears going bright red. 

""So ... going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, youknow...  you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won..."

Malfoy kept up the patronising act, boasting his father's rank and gleefully watching the others in the carriage's expressions. Nico was fed up with this kid. 

He stood up, and looked the boy straight in the eye, trying to look as intimidating as possible. He was a little taller than him, which helped. What also helped was Nico knew he could be terrifying if he wanted to be. 

"You'll get out of here if you know what's good for you." Nico said quietly. 

"Is that- is that a threat?"  The blonde boy gave a forced laugh, involuntarily stepping back. "Who even are you? Don't you know who I-,"

He cut him off. "Nico Di Angelo. And I honestly don't care. I've seen a lot worse than an insecure child with a rich daddy." 

"This isn't over." The bully and his two goons left, going at a bit of a pace. 

"That was bloody incredible, mate!" Ron laughed, his voice still shaky from anger but seemed to have mellowed a little. 

Hermione grinned. "I love seeing Malfoy scared like that." 

They all chatted together for the rest of the ride, discussing what this secret event could be. He was starting to become as curious as the others were. They changed into their robes and got their trunks ready.

When they finally arrived at the train station, he couldn't even see the castle with the pouring rain. Harry pointed out where it would be, but he couldn't squint for too long or his eyes would become blurry with rain. 

He put Sol's cage under a spare sweater, and followed the other three to a carriage. They stopped to talk to an enormous man who introduced himself as Hagrid, who was the Care Of Magical Creatures teacher as well as the keeper of keys and the grounds at Hogwarts. He seemed nice enough, with an obvious affection for the trio. 

At the front of the carriage, pulling it, were strange horse-like creatures. They were skeletal, pitch black and had big, bat wings. He stopped for a bit, watching them in awe. They must be Thestrals, but he thought they were very rare and almost impossible to tame. 

When he made it to the warmth of the slightly crowded small room, Hermione looked at him strangely. "What were you looking at?"

"The Thestrals, I've never seen one before." He replied truthfully. The group looked at him strangely, except for Neville, who nodded. 

"What are you talking about? There was a Thestral out in this weather? I didn't think there were any near Hogwarts." Hermione frowned. 

"They pull the carriages. Smart idea, unless you can see them. They can be a little off putting for anyone who doesn't know what they are." 

"Yeah, it freaked me out in first year." Neville agreed, shivering slightly. 

"Wait," Harry said in confusion. "What are Thestrals?"

"They're a magical creature. They look like a skeleton horse with wings." Hermione listed off. "Native to British Isles and Ireland, very rare, and very dangerous."

"And they're only seen by people who've watched someone die." Nico finished, feeling the other's eyes on him.

"You've seen someone die?" Ron asked incredulously. 

"Yes. It's a long story though, and it's not quite the time." Nico changed the subject. "So what house are you guys in?"

Harry answered this time. "All of us are in Griffindor. So are you going to be sorted or something? How does your exchange work?" 

"To be honest, I have no idea." Nico continued talked to the group, trying to ignore the thunderstorm raging outside. He flinched slightly every time lightning struck, trying not to show too much of a reaction. He didn't have to deal with storms like this very much, since camp always had perfect weather all year round. 

Once they got close enough, they all hurried from their carriage, trying to get to the castle as quickly as they could. Nico's hair was wet and he was freezing and he hated lightning. He just wanted to be back home in Will's arms, but he pushed through and made it too the large doors. 

"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak —ARRGH!"

The redhead was cut off by a large, red balloon exploding on his head, drenching him even more. An influx of water balloons came crashing down, narrowing missing them. Nico looked up and saw a ghost floating above them. He growled slightly and made direct eye contact. 

He saw the ghost's facial expression turn slightly terrified, and when a voice yelled for him to leave, he bolted. 

An older woman with tightly bound hair and spectacles came skidding across the floor, holding onto Hermione to regain her balance. "Ouch, sorry Ms Granger." She looked at the roof where the ghost was before. "Usually he doesn't leave so easily."

She looked around the group and spotted him. "Oh, you must be Mr Di Angelo. You can come with me." She nodded, and then addressed the other students still in the large room. "Well, move along, then! Into the Great Hall, come on!"

He followed her, putting his trunk in the huge pile. The others waved to him and he nodded back. She lead him into the dining hall, which was huge with a replica of the rainy night's sky on the roof. Hundreds of floating candles lit up the room. He felt himself warming up already, as the temperature was higher in this room. There were four long benches and a staff table at the very end. Most people were already seated by this time, shivering and complaining about the weather. 

He felt many eyes following him as he was put on a seat against the wall, in front of the staff table. He swallowed and sat down, trying not to feel anxious about being so singled out and the sorting that he would soon go through.