"Common Hiccup! Can't you show a little bit more excitement? We're finally going to wizarding school! And not just any wizarding school, it's Hogwarts!"

I sat on the edge of my seat and leaned against the window as I watched the flat grassy terrain pass by. The idea of a train that solely runs on magic was absolutely amazing. The train moved much faster than an average train which caused the occasional tree and farm animals to blur into the rich green background of the grass. The only obstacle that prevented me from enjoying the view was Hiccup's sour attitude.

"Sorry I'm not as eager as you are Merida. I wasn't exactly planning to attend some witchcraft school anyways."

I turned from my seat to face Hiccup. He was leaning back against the cushion seat of the train with his eyes glued to his book. I let out a loud sigh and waited to see if Hiccup would respond, but he ignored me and continued reading his book.

"Look, I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I know this whole deal with magic must be a huge shocker to you, but…"

Hiccup closed his book with a loud snap and turned his gaze to me.

"Yes. It is a huge shock. To find out that a distant relative from my mum's side is some… witch, and to think that I am one too. I never even knew my mother…"

I sat in silence as I listened to Hiccup rant. Hiccup rarely loses his composure which made me bite the inside of my cheek, a nervous tic I had while growing up. My stomach felt sick from guilt as I thought about Hiccup's family. Hiccup lived only with his dad for as long as I could remember. There were days where Hiccup would get upset and sad at the mention of his mother who, from what I was told, just… left suddenly when he was no older than a few months old. Hiccup sighed and pulled his hand up to his face to massage the spot between his eyebrows.

"It's fine Merida. Ultimately this is my choice too, so don't go feeling guilty."

I continued to bite the inside of my cheek while twirling a lock of my wild red curly hair.

"Hmm… but,"

"No buts Merida. I'm serious, It's fine."

I got up from my seat and sat next to Hiccup on his side of the couch to lean against his shoulder. Hiccup tried giving me a quick nudge, but his weak arms couldn't manage to push me off.

"Merida," he groaned, "this isn't like you. Stop feeling guilty, I said I was fine."

"I'm not guilty. My stomach just hurts from eating all that weird candy," I lied.

"Maybe eating mystery booger-flavored jelly beans wasn't the wisest choice then."

Hiccup let out a small chuckle along with a sigh and pushed away strands of my wild hair out of his face so that he could continue reading. My thoughts wandered while I rested against his shoulder. Hiccup and I are both 16 years old, which gets us a lot of stares due to the age difference. The typical first years were roughly 11 years old and at least a head shorter than us. I glanced over at the glass frame of our compartment and caught a pair of forest green eyes looking at our direction. The eyes belonged to a long haired blonde, who upon my notice, went away. Ugh, I hate this awkward feeling.

"Hmph." I huffed.

I was starting to get annoyed by the unwanted attention we were getting all because of our age. The returning students snickered at us while we stuck by the twelve-year-old newbies to figure out platform 'nine and three quarters'. It didn't help that we towered over them in height either. Remembering their ugly sneering faces filled me with the urge to punch them in the face, so I forced my eyes shut and attempted to clear my mind. I focused on the sound of flipped paged as Hiccup read and let myself drift to sleep.