Beep Beep.

Beep Boop.

Ka-Boom!

Nico, readied his joystick, ready to bring down the last wave. Wave Two-Hundred and Fifty Five.

Aim.

Hold.

Fire.

Repeat.

The final boss, had finally lowered on the screen in front of him, its turrets, bright red clusters of pixels.

'You are going down, do you get- Oh No, you don't! Here take this- Ah ha! Down till halfway... Last Ten Percent-"

"KA-BOOM!!"

"You. Win."

"New Highscore. Enter U-Name?

_ _ _"

"N D A"

"Name successfully added to UserBoard.

64 points added to user 'Nico Woo Ha!' "

As Nico readied to insert one more token into the arcade machine, he was interrupted, by a tap on the shoulder.

A well dressed middle-aged man, holding a letter addressed, "My apologies to interrupt you, Mr. Di Angelo, but we have a letter for you. It is quite urgent, I am afraid."

Nico, slowly opened up the envelope, and began reading, his eyebrows slowly scrunching up.

Finally, "Is this some sort of trick that you guys are pulling up?"

"No. That is against The Casino's policies."

"I think, that I should leave, and go to sleep in early. Maybe, I had too many snacks..."

The man, gave a small bow, and went away.

Nico, stepped into the Elevator, and pressed the button, for Floor Seven.

He began, toying with the keychain to his room. It was black on all sides, with a skull on one side, and his room number, Three, written boldly on the other side.

Nico really liked the design, for some reason. Everything about this place, felt rather beautiful.

As he closed the door behind him, he noticed something strange.

Sitting on the bed, there was a bearded man, in startling red hair.

"You are a wizard, Mister Di Angelo. I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, but you can call me Albus. Or, Dumbledore. Hope you pardon me, for having a few of these delicious cookies, I have always had a sweet tooth, especially for muggle candy."

After a long drawn out moment of silence, Nico, finally replied, "What?!"

*

**

"So, what you are saying, is that, one of my 'Parents', none of whom I remember by the way, happened to be a wizard, or if it was my mother, a witch. And, so I too happen to be a Wizard..." Nico pondered out loud, his hands fiddling with his keychain.

"We are not sure ourselves, how one has the ability to be able to perform magic, though most of wizard-kind, accepts that the ability to perform magic, is a gift, passed down from parent to child, and so on down the generations." Albus replied.

"How are you so sure, that I have magic?"

Albus thought for a moment, before replying, "We have complex ways to determine, whether someone is magical, or not, and you have passed those tests, successfully."

Nico looked carefully at Dumbledore, and noticed that he was being slightly hesitant. Catching his eye, Dumbledore sighed, "In your case, there also happens to be a rather strong, sense of magic, quite unlike anything I have seen before. It is very powerful, and I am sure you will be a great wizard, once given the proper training."

Noticing the slight disbelief, still present in Nico's eyes, Dumbledore asked, "Would you like to see me perform some magic?"

Nico quickly answered,"I don't believe that you are lying. At least, I don't think so. However, I still don't think that I am a wizard. I don't even remember anything from my past, like who I am, or who even are my parents. Do all wizards, lose their memories?"

Dumbledore, gave a small laugh, "No. Usually, it is due to a Forgetfulness Potion, which you will learn by the end of this year, or simply due to old age. Like my dear friend Flamel, you would never believe, that he once- Sorry, I am digressing. What I mean to say, is that, no you happen to be somewhat of an exception, in that case."

Glancing at a strange watch with stars, which Dumbledore pulled out of his pocket, said, "It's getting late, I believe we should get going. So, do you have to bid your farewells to anyone?"

Nico looked confused, and in slight pain, as he answered, "I don't know, I feel that I do, but I don't remember..."

Dumbledore patted Nico with a sad smile, "It's okay. You can begin a new life. A new beginning at Hogwarts."

As Nico packed his bags, with what little he owned, a paper fell off on the ground. It was a Triangle, cut in half, with a Circle in between

Intrigued, Dumbledore picked it up. With some amount of interest, he asked, "Where did you find this?"

Nico looked at it, and replied, "Oh, I made it back with my Sister-"

He suddenly stopped, with wide eyes, "I have a sister. Sir, I have a sister! I cannot leave without her! We have to find her!"

Dumbledore looked at him, "Do you remember her name?"

"No."

"Then, I am afraid, that we cannot find her, for the time being." Dumbledore looked at him with sadness, "I am sorry."

*

**

As Nico finished his cup of tea, waiting for the First of September to arrive, he pulled out his drawing , gazing at it, trying to remember something else of his past self.

So far, he had accomplished nothing.

Suddenly, a hand slammed down on the middle of his table, "What'd' ya think you ha' got there, lad?"

Nico quickly stuffed the drawing into his bag, " It's just something I drew."

"If Professor Dumbledore, hadn' dropped ya himself, lad, I would ha' thrown ya out by now. Don' go wavin' that thin' around. Understood?" Tom the barkeep replied. He shook his head, and went back, muttering to himself.

Nico sighed, and decided to go for a fresh breath of air in Diagon Alley.

The world he had found himself into, was intriguing. He had also, come across a tale, that he found a tale, in a book, probably meant for small children, by, Beedle The Bard...

*
**

'There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding
road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too
dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical
arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across
the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path
blocked by a hooded figure.
"'And Death spoke to them-"'

From here on, the tale described how Death, gave the brothers, so called 'Gifts'-

'So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more
powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its
owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed
to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that
hung there, and gave it to the older brother.
"'Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted
to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from
Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second
brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the
dead.
"'And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like.
The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and
he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to
go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most
unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility."'

*
**

Nico, was less interested, in obtaining the objects, rather...

Rather, he felt, some strange reason, to favour Death, despite the fact, how it was later revealed, that, the first and second brother had been killed, due to the attainment, of these so called 'Gifts'.

Nico, felt, that the brothers should have not tried to cheat Death, as he felt, that, death, is what gave life meaning.

For, if you are not afraid of death, what is there to stop you from becoming and doing the worst?

Nico, could not get the story of the Three Brothers, out of his head.

He sighed again, and decided to move on, and explore more of the alley.

*

**

As Nico, got off the train, he noticed carriages pulled by strange horses. The interesting thing about these carriages were, that they were pulled by emanciated, dark, winged horses.

While other people, might call them hideous or scary, Nico could not help but be enamored by them.

As he reached out of the crowd of first-years, to stroke the horses on their muzzle, he heard shouting from the gamekeeper, Ogg, he thought.

Nico ignored him and didn't move back.

He instead, went up and stroked the skeletal horses, and at last he felt, at peace.

*

**