Jack sat alone in his cabin on the train. He'd flown to the train station alone. Emma wanted to come with him and his mother said she would go, but after seeing the guards at Diagon Alley, he decided not to bring them into his world. He didn't want them to get hurt. He found Merida and Rapunzel fairly quickly, but since they were prefects, they had to go in the prefects' car.

His friends promised they'd join him soon but Jack had no clue how long their meeting would last. Jack pulled his knees up to his chest as he looked out the window at the rolling landscape. He hated being alone.

Suddenly a knock came on the cabin door. Jack looked up as a first year girl stepped in.

"Can I join you? Everywhere else is full," the girl said. Jack nodded and the girl sat down.

She pulled out a book. Jack noted that it was muggle book, Death by Dragon, Monsters and Wizards. What's Beyond Life for the Righteous?

"Thanks for letting me in," the girl said. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find a seat."

"No prob. First years always have trouble," Jack said, feeling like he'd heard that somewhere before.

"Why?" the girl asked.

"Lack of friends, I guess. Unless you come from a wizard family, most first years don't know anyone. But don't worry. By the return trip, you'll have lots of friends."

"Are there a lot of wizard families?" the girl asked, perching on the edge of her seat.

"Depends on your definition," Jack said. "If you count only the purebloods, then no. If you include the half-bloods … then, yeah, there's a lot. Probably two thirds, then one third muggleborns. I take it you're a muggleborn?"

"No. But I am an orphan," the girl said. "I live in a muggle orphanage. I used to live with my grandfather ... he died three years ago. He told me about our family ... but he didn't like to mingle with other wizards, even though we lived in Godric's Hollow. I think one of the others stole something from him once. After he died, everyone I knew was gone. Since we weren't on speaking terms with the other wizards, the muggles took me to their orphanage."

The girl fingered her book, her hand circling the word 'death'.

"Oh," Jack said. Her story sounded a lot like Flynn's. Jack wondered if Flynn had a mentor when he started. "Well, if you need any help ... any advice, any tips to get the sorting hat to tell you what house you'll be in-"

"I already know what house I'll be in," the girl said blankly. "Everyone in my family is in Slytherin. "

"Cool, me too," Jack said. Then he thought back to how much of a pariah he was. "Actually, you might not want to be seen around me. I'm not particularly popular in Slytherin house."

Just as he said that, a knock came upon the cabin door. A fourth year Slytherin girl stepped in.

"Can I sit with you?" she asked, smiling shyly.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. She nodded and sat right next to Jack, touching his arm.

"Oh, uh, Priscilla, this is -"

"Iolanthe," the first year introduced herself. "Iolanthe Peverell."

The little girl went to shake hands with Priscilla, but Priscilla was too busy staring at Jack to pay her any attention. And it wasn't a negative stare, either. It reminded him of the way all the girls in his village had started to look at him … that couldn't be good.

Over the course of the train ride, other girls migrated to Jack's cabin. He wasn't about to dismiss them. He loved being popular. This was the life for him!


Merida scowled as she rested her head on her fist. Just when she got rid of the long lectures from her mum, she had to listen to the lectures from the seventeen-year-old head boy and girl. Not that they thought of it as lectures. As far as they were concerned, they were simply instructing the newbies. But Merida was used to this kind of instruction and found it tedious. Rapunzel on the other hand sat at attention, noting every word. To Merida's utter shock, Hiccup wasn't paying attention. At all. Instead, he kept glancing up, out the window.

It wasn't the only odd behavior coming from him. He'd been late to the meeting. She and Rapunzel almost missed the train trying to wait for him. Finally, ten minutes after the train started going, Hiccup popped up right beside them, acting like he'd been there the whole time. She supposed he was just hiding from questions about his missing leg.

Finally, the head boy and girl dismissed them to patrol the train.

Hiccup quickly took off towards the engine, leaving Rapunzel and Merida to wander the populated train cars. Rapunzel stopped to break up a pair of first year siblings who were fighting over the snacks their mother packed for them, leaving Merida to patrol on her own.

As Merida marched up and down the cars, she noticed an unusual number of students, mostly girls, running back and forth. Merida hadn't been paying much attention to the corridor before, but this seemed suspicious.

Merida followed some of the girls to a cabin at the end of the train. The closer to the end they got, the thicker the crowd got. Merida overheard some of their comments.

"Are you sure it's him?"

"But I heard he was so cold-"

"No, he's definitely hot-"

"My dad would kill me if I kissed a mudblood. But that just makes it more tempting."

As Merida neared the offending cabin, she started to get a feel for what was going on. Sure enough, when she opened the cabin door, she found Jack Frost, surrounded by girls.

"Alright, break it up," Merida commanded.

"Hey! They lined up like that all on their own," Jack said, as many of the girls retreated to their own cabins. "You can't make them leave just 'cause you're jealous."

Merida scowled, "Yeah right, I am not. It's a … uh, fire hazard … to have that many people in one cabin."

"Fire? me?" Jack said, twisting his staff around, making some of the girls giggle. "Come on, Princess. Everyone knows that's more your style."

Merida's face flushed, "Well ... You need to save a place for Rapunzel and Hiccup. I'm sure once they finish patrolling they'll come back here."

Merida glanced down the corridor and spotted Rapunzel. As Rapunzel pushed her way through the crowd, the other girls started to dissipate. At least they respected the prefect's power, even if Jack didn't.

"Done with my section of the train," Rapunzel said. "Where's Hiccup?"


Hiccup looked to his left and right. He saw no one. This was his chance. Hiccup reached up and opened the skylight, pulling himself on top of the train. Toothless immediately licked his face.

"I know, I missed you, too," Hiccup said, mounting his dragon. They'd only been apart for the length of the meeting, of course. Hiccup flew Toothless to London and landed him on top of the moving Hogwarts Express.

He didn't know if there was another way to bring Toothless to school. He still reeked at practical transfiguration, and Toothless couldn't fly on his own, and there was no way he was going to let his dad fly Toothless. They'd already gone through a bit of that at home, which ended with his dad getting a thunderdrum that would be used to keep the wild dragons at bay.

Hiccup shuddered to think what Berk would look like when he got back.

The boy guided Toothless along the top of the train. Every time they passed a skylight, he would check in to see if the students were behaving. Satisfied that he didn't need to drop in and police anyone, Hiccup found his friends. He found a skylight near their cabin and dropped in just as they were getting settled. Metal clanked above. Toothless walking on the roof, no doubt, but his friends didn't notice the noise.

"Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked. "Where have you been?"

"Oh .. uh patrolling," Hiccup said. Technically it was true, just not inside. "Just … trying to make a good impression."

His friends stared at him, but let it go. Hiccup sat down with them in the cabin. Jack introduced him to a first year girl. The girl briefly said hi, then went back to her book, ignoring the four teenagers. He squirmed every time the roof clanged, but his friends didn't notice as they chattered on about their summers.

"It's so great to be popular," Jack Frost said as he leaned back putting his hands behind his head. Hiccup chuckled nervously. He could tell them a thing or two about being popular. Since killing the Red Death, he was Berk's most famous Viking, in a good way for once.

On the roof overhead there arose such a clatter that Hiccup sprang from his seat to see what was the matter.

"Um … excuse me... I should … probably check that out," Hiccup said with a stammer.

"Sit down," Merida commanded, grabbing his arm. Hiccup couldn't think of a good excuse, so he complied with her order.

Hiccup sighed with relief as the Hogwarts Express finally pulled into Hogsmeade Station. Before the others could stop him, he was up and off the train, taking Toothless into the forest, away from prying eyes. The other prefects could handle guiding the first and second years. He was on a mission.


Rapunzel took her normal seat with the Ravenclaws. She kept scanning the room for Hiccup. He'd disappeared shortly before they got out. It was bizarre. But somehow, he made it back to the Great Hall before the sorting began, though he kept looking around. Rapunzel clapped whenever a new student joined her table.

Finally, it came time for Headmaster Ombric's Start of Term Announcements.

"Professor Manny Lunoff has retired," Ombric started, introducing the new professor. Ombric didn't say that Manny was really the Man in the Moon, or that he'd left to go back to live on the moon, watching for Pitch Black. But Rapunzel and her friends were allowed to know the truth now that they were honorary Guardians.

Rapunzel looked up at the ceiling. The night sky shown above the floating candles. So many nights in her tower she'd stared out the window, charting the stars. She knew them all now. All the constellations and the stars. But none of that could compare to the beauty of the floating lanterns.

Despite a whole summer of pleading, Rapunzel was nowhere close to getting Mother to take her to see the Floating Lights. But maybe, just maybe, if she was good all year, this would be the year. After all, next summer she was turning sixteen. Wasn't that supposed to be the magical age? Maybe Mother would take her then. She would just have to be really good.

The announcements continued. After a few safety reminders, like warning the students to avoid the dark forest, not to sneak out in the middle of the night, and to beware strange shadows, he turned to a more unusual announcement.

"Now, some of you may have noticed a certain … tension … building in our world." Was it Rapunzel's imagination, or did his eyes linger on Jack? "Anyway, after a long discussion, we have decided that in this time of fear we must stand united. And so, I am please to inform you, that this year Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament!"

There was an excited murmuring of voices. Rapunzel didn't know what a Triwizard Tournament was but it sounded exciting. Apparently, she wasn't the only one confused, because Ombric kept explaining.

"We will be inviting our friends from two other wizarding schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. One student from each school will then be selected to represent that school in the competition. To the winner of the competition, eternal fame and glory, along with a cash prize, of course."

Instantly, Rapunzel's friends started talking amongst themselves. Some of them were already convinced that they would be the next champion. Rapunzel shrank back. She had no intention of entering the contest. She didn't need fame or glory. If she wanted that, all she'd have to do was let down her hair.

She didn't need the cash, either. The only thing the contest could possibly grant her was proving herself to Mother. But that could never happen. She was too weak and fragile, as Mother often said. Even if she managed to get picked for the competition, she would just screw everything up.

As Ombric kept talking about the kinds of dangers that the champion must face, Rapunzel knew she would never be the Hogwarts champion. She was perfectly fine with that.


If Jack wasn't so shocked that the two Slytherin girls in his year had chosen to sit next to him, he might have been more worried about the visitors from Durmstrang. Ever since Camicazi left Hogwarts, he'd been trying to pay attention to news about the Eastern school, and what he heard wasn't good.

Camicazi herself, in one of her letters, told him that she was leading a hunt to drive elves from the forest near her school. He didn't tell her he was half elf. He didn't know if he could take her rejection.

Jack glanced at the other Slytherins. A few of the girls clung to his side. All the boys were glaring at him. They all knew he was an ice elf. If Camicazi came, she was bound to hear about it. Jack heaved a sigh. Looking past his table, he could see Merida boasting to her friends. No doubt she wanted to be the champion, too. Rapunzel shyly stroked her hair. Hiccup. Hiccup looked nervous. No wonder. Most his tribe went to Durmstrang.

That explained his weird behavior. His tribe must have known about the competition. He was probably worried about falling flat on his face. Jack didn't get to spend too much time with Hiccup's tribe the summer that they visited, but he got the impression that they didn't like Hiccup much. Poor kid.

The meal soon ended and Jack followed his house down to the Slytherin Dungeons. Fiona and Sara, the two Fifth year Slytherin girls, stayed close to him. Jack was a little nervous. In his past four years, being the center of attention in Slytherin house was rarely a good thing. While Sara and Fiona hadn't gone out of their way to bully him like the boys in his year, they also hadn't stuck up for him. And they did participate when the others were throwing his old shoes around. Part of that mob mentality, Jack supposed.

"Are you going to put your name in the cup?" Fiona asked.

"What cup?" Jack asked as they stepped through the door.

"Weren't you listening?" Sara asked. "Ombric said the students who want to be the Hogwarts champion have to put their name in the Goblet of Fire."

"Oh. Guess I spaced out," Jack said.

"If you think a mudblood could ever be our champion, you're daft," Derek said, butting into their conversation. Jack might have said something, but Fiona beat him to it.

"No one asked you," she said with such coldness that Jack wondered if his ice magic was rubbing off.

"Sassy, aren't you?" Derek scoffed. "I'd say you earned a detention."

"You can't give a detention to another prefect," Sara said snidely. Derek scowled.

"Maybe not, but I can give it to him," Derek said, pointing to Jack.

"For what?" Fiona demanded.

"Endangering us all by being an elf. Ruining the reputation of Salazar Slytherin by being a mudblood."

"You're lucky that you're a prefect or I'd take points from you for saying that," Fiona said defensively. "Now run along, or I'll tell Professor Pitchiner about your behavior. And while I can't give a prefect a detention or take points, she can."

Derek glared at Jack, like it was his fault, and skulked away. Finally, Jack broke the silence.

"You don't care that I'm muggleborn?" Jack asked.

"Are you, though?" Sara asked. "I mean, how can you be an elf and a mudblood?"

"Yeah," Fiona added, "mudbloods have only muggle relatives, but if you're an elf ... ?"

"My dad was an ice elf. But I didn't think anyone liked them, either," Jack confessed, still a little bewildered that the girls were not only talking to him, but defending him from Derek.

"Who cares?" Sara said. "I mean, it's not like you look like a house elf or anything."

"You aren't afraid that I'll freeze you or anything?" Jack tried.

"I like snow. Especially those cool ice pictures you drew on the castle last year," Fiona said. "Besides, it's fun to do what my parents would forbid. I like being a rebel."

She whispered the last word in his ear. Jack pulled away a little. He was relieved when he noticed Professor Emily Jane glaring at him across the room.

"A word Jack?" she said.

Quickly detaching himself from the girls, he went into the professor's office.

She closed the door.

"Am I in trouble?" Jack asked, trying to think of what he might have done. He hadn't pulled a prank since he left home, almost twelve whole hours ago.

"No," she said, "but considering your powers, and your relationship with the other students in this house, I wanted to make sure you were okay, especially now that your roommate is a prefect."

"If I could handle myself when your dad was the Head of House, I can handle Derek as a prefect. Though I have to ask, why did you pick him?"

"First off, Ombric picked him, not I. As Head of House, I only recommend students to the headmaster. As for why I recommended Derek, it all comes down to family. His father wrote me, and I assume Ombric as well, demanding that his son become a prefect or he would cease making donations to Hogwarts."

"So he bought it," Jack said. He wasn't sure if he should feel angry or relieved that the professor wasn't playing favorites.

"You should be grateful for it," Emily Jane said. "It is donations like his that go into the Hogwarts fund for pauper students. You use that, do you not?"

Jack nodded, hating being poor. If his stepfather hadn't abandoned them … but no. He shouldn't think bad things about the past like that. He was here now. He should be grateful for what he had.

"Anyway. Even though Derek is a prefect, I do not want him abusing his position, especially around you."

"So … you'll undo any punishment he gives me?"

Emily Jane leaned back in her chair, "And give you the power to openly defy house rules with no fear of punishment? No. But I will undo any unjust punishment he gives you. Like what almost happened. I was watching. I am always watching. If I see him giving you a punishment when you've done nothing, I will undo it. But if you have done something, I will not intervene, even if his choice of punishment seems harsh for your offense."

"Why not?" Jack asked.

"Hmm, let's see, why shouldn't I let the school's biggest troublemaker openly defy an authority figure?"

"Point taken," Jack said.

"Jack, I just want to be fair. To be neutral. You and Derek will have to find your own solution to your problems, all I am trying to do is level the playing field a little. Go out and settle in. And send Derek in here, too. I need to issue him a similar warning."

Jack left the office and sent Derek in. Again, the girls of all ages were looking. Jack felt a little uncomfortable. He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, "Wanna play a game?"

A bunch of girls nodded. Jack focused on a little girl, the first year he'd met on the train. Iolanthe. She was smiling up at him. He tried to imagine her as his sister.

He drew his hand back, summoning a snowball. He blew on it, infusing it with the cheering charm before hurling it into the crowd. Soon everyone was laughing and playing in the snow that Jack made and all the awkwardness was gone.


Merida looked out of her dorm room. It was after midnight, but she was wide awake. Instead of getting settled in like everyone else, she had to stop some kids from fighting. Who knew being a prefect would come with so many responsibilities? She was starting to wonder which was harder, being a princess or being a prefect?

As Merida looked at the sky, a strange purple light flashed from the forest. As Merida looked down at the forest, she thought she saw a lone figure running into the woods. That was … odd. Who would be running into the forest?

Merida bit her lip. She should tell someone. What if that was Pitch Black's accomplice? The person who let the Monkey King into the school last year?

Merida looked at the figure again. Was it just her imagination, or did his gangling walk look a little familiar. She found she couldn't turn away. She kept watching. About a half-hour later, the figure came out of the forest. This time, Merida was paying attention. Another flash of light came out of the forest. Merida got a good look at the figure. This time, there was no mistaking the unusual gait that could only be caused by a peg leg. And there was only one person at Hogwarts with a peg leg. It must be Hiccup.