The Flight

The next few days passed in a blur. Classes began to pile on the homework leaving the children very little free time. Hiccup would often join Jack for lunch in the kitchen and Rapunzel alternated between sitting with her Ravenclaw friends and sitting with Jack and, best of all, the other Slytherins were so busy they didn't have time to bother him.

Merida still gave him the cold shoulder in Potions and Transfiguration but even she was too busy to put a damper on his mood. In Transfiguration they actually got to start casting spells; it was a simple 'match into needle' but it temporarily took his mind off Merida.

By the end of class, Jack had managed to make the match head develop an eye. Not a great success, but better than Merida's. Her match appeared to turn into a needle, but then caught fire. Jack could not stop laughing to see a metal needle burning calmly and steadily as bright as her hair. Professor Bunnymund had to put it out before it burned her notes.

Most of his other classes still involved only taking notes or practicing wand movements, but Jack didn't care. He was pleased to have learned at least one spell. And it was a useful spell. Think of how happy his mother would be if her needle broke and she didn't have to go to the store to buy a new one.

But the thing Jack was most excited about was the flying lessons that would start on Wednesday. Yes, they were with Gryffindor, but he doubted that they'd be put into pairs or have to share desks. In fact the schedule specifically said lessons would be outside. Jack couldn't wait, he loved being outdoors.

That Wednesday Jack could hardly contain himself through the day. Potions class seemed to last an eternity, even Merida seemed to be looking forward to the flying lessons too much to insult him. As soon as class was over he darted out of the dungeons and up to the library, though he was much too excited to actually attempt homework. The flying lessons weren't until after lunch and Jack had no other classes to distract himself. Jack perched on the wide ledge under the window, passing the time tracing his fingers on the window, pretending that what he drew would appear.

Jack soon lost track of time as he imagined all the things he could be painting on the window. As he pretended to sketch, he listened in on the quite conversations going on. For a library, there sure was a lot of talking. Most of it was mundane:

'How do you think you did on that test?'

'Do you remember the wand movement for that summoning charm?'

'I might skip class later today'

'Why didn't you write me over summer?'

'What do you mean you want to break up?'

Jack chuckled at some of the more hilarious conversations, such as a girl trying to convince her friend that copying wasn't cheating as long as they both got the right answers. Or a conversation from a boy who had apparently incinerated every book that started with the letter P.

Jack was pulled from his fun as he heard a voice he recognized. Glancing up, Jack saw it was Flynn Rider talking to the librarian. Jack hadn't seen Flynn since classes started, mostly because he was avoiding the Slytherin common room and dining table.

Jack watched as the librarian went into the restricted section to get Flynn a book. For a moment Jack considered confronting Flynn, but Jack couldn't move. Flynn had abandoned him, but not before warning him that this could happen. In the end Jack decided he didn't blame Flynn, if he had listened to Flynn's advice they would be friends, but he had ignored it. Giving a sigh Jack went back to tracing the window, pretending he hadn't seen Flynn.

The librarian returned and gave Flynn the book. Jack looked up once more as Flynn was leaving. Their eyes locked for a moment before Flynn shook his head and left the library. Jack pulled his knees up to his chest. He listened in on more conversations, but they didn't seem entertaining anymore. Tuning out the voices, Jack instead chose to look out the window at the ground below. Watching the wind blowing through the trees outside, Jack soon forgot all about seeing Flynn. It was a nice day so many of the older students who didn't have classes were roaming about. Jack watched as the wind grabbed a girl's hat and blew it to the outskirts of the forest.

"Hey," a familiar voice said. Jack nearly jumped out of his skin as Hiccup sat down next to him, "Been here long?"

"I guess," Jack said turning away from the window. "Where have you been?"

"Just got out of Herbology, after the flying lesson."

"You had flying? How was it? Was it awesome?"

"Awesome? No. I couldn't get my broom off the ground."

"Oh," Jack said with a sigh.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll do better. Maybe I just made the broom wrong, Rapunzel's broom worked, though she only got three feet off the ground."

"Wait, you make your own brooms?"

"Yeah, up until about a century ago everyone made their own brooms. I guess the school hasn't changed their curriculum. It's becoming more common to buy them from a broom maker but wizards who live in rural areas find it easier to make their own. I don't know. I think I'm happy I didn't fly. The comfort charm we put on the brooms didn't appear too comfortable, just more tolerable than sitting on a stick."

"I don't care how comfortable it is, just the feeling of being up off the ground and in the wind; it must be incredible." Jack closed his eyes imagining he was dancing with the wind over the trees, "Okay, so tell me everything!"

Hiccup and Jack passed the rest of the morning, lunch and the first part of the afternoon with Hiccup describing in excruciating detail everything they did to make the brooms. Jack hung on every word. Hiccup also explained that even though his entire village was comprised of wizards and witches they rarely flew because the trees that grew on the island weren't suitable for flying. Flying also wasn't popular because of the dragon attacks. It was one thing to have your house, or unluckily yourself, catch fire on the ground surrounded by ocean and wells, but if your broom caught fire and you were 50 feet above ground, you're dead.

By the time the boys split up for their three o'clock classes, Jack was feeling very confidant about flying. He marched down to the open field reserved for flying. To his surprise he was not the first student in class despite being over ten minutes early. It seemed the other students were just as excited to fly.

As they waited for the professor to show up, the students chatted about their past flying experiences. Jack halfheartedly listened to the Slytherins brag until Derek gave him an evil look and said loudly, "My friends and I were always chasing out muggles on our brooms, serves those losers right."

Jack balled his fists, wishing Hiccup had taught him how to cast a real curse instead of just focusing on the counter curses. Turning away from the cluster of Slytherins, Jack decided to listen to the Gryffindors. Their talk was much the same, though none of them seemed to be targeting muggles. To his surprise Merida wasn't talking much. She seemed like the type who would be bragging, though he vaguely remembered one of the Slytherins mentioning her parents were muggles so he supposed she didn't have any stories to brag about.

Soon the chatter was interrupted by the arrival of the professor, Wilhelm Grimm. The professor introduced himself, mentioning his brother Jacob taught Charms.

"Are you all ready to fly?" the professor asked. The students responded enthusiastically as Wilhelm led them to a pile of wood. He turned to address the class, "Step one, picking your wood. I have mahogany and oak. There are other broom woods; however, I do not have any with me."

He stepped aside and the students picked out their broom bases. Jack raced with the other students for the best broom. Every time he reached out for one another student got to it first. His hands finally locked around a stick, he started to pull it out of the pile only to realize Merida had the other end. Jack let go. Merida gave him an odd look. Jack just shook his head as he reached for the only stick left.

It was easy to see why no one had picked this stick, the end of it curved around; almost in the shape of a G. All in all it looked more like a shepherd's crook than a broomstick. Jack wondered if the odd end would affect it's flight pattern. What ever happened, it would be fun.

"Alright," Professor Wilhelm said after everyone had their sticks, "I have already soaked the wood in a potion overnight to ensure that what we do today will stick, but before we can begin casting the charms that will enable the brooms to fly, you need to attach twigs. The twigs are very important because the twigs are what make it a broom. I have hazel twigs with me, if you decide to pursue flying as more than just transportation you may wish to look into other twigs."

The professor handed each student a handful of twigs and a bit of twine. The students went to work. Jack surveyed his staff. It was hard to decide if the curve should be on the bottom or top. In the end he decided it would be difficult to attach the twigs to the curved end so the G became the top.

When everyone had finished preparing their brooms the professor showed them how to perform the basic charms to make the brooms fly. Each student attempted to cast the spells: one for go, one for stop, one for up, one for down, one for speed, one for slow, and one to make it turn around. And the last charm, a charm for comfort.

Professor Wilhelm had every student attempt the spells. As Jack cast the spells he felt a tingle in his broom. Before being allowed to take off, the professor checked everyone's brooms, double checking that all the spells had been applied properly.

Very few of the students had actually cast spells before, so it came as no surprise that Professor Wilhelm had to recast the spells on most of the brooms. Some students had managed to cast one or two spells but not the rest. Jack couldn't help laughing as the professor informed Derek that the only spells he'd cast successfully were down and stop. Merida's broom wasn't much better. She had enchanted it with the spells for speeding up, and going up, as well as stop, leaving out the ability to slow down or come down. In fact, it seemed like everyone had missed at least one charm, if not all of them.

When Jack handed his broom to Professor Wilhelm, Wilhelm examined it with pleasure, announcing to the class that Jack was the only student to have cast all eight spells successfully. Jack beamed; Derek and Merida's glares just made his victory all the sweeter.

The second half of the class consisted of the actual flying lesson. Professor Wilhelm instructed them to lay their brooms down on the right side. He gave a brief lecture on broom safety before letting the kids try to call their brooms. The word 'up' was barely out of his mouth before Jack's broom was in his hand. Jack watched as the other brooms jumped into their owner's hands. Merida's broom flew up fairly quickly, but Derek's didn't seem to want to join him, doing somersaults on the ground. Jack chuckled.

Everyone mounted their brooms, with the professor correcting each student's posture and grip. As soon as he was sure no one would fall he gave the signal to take flight.

Jack's broom took off, the wind rushing through his hair, his feet off the ground. Even though he was only a few feet up, it was the most fun Jack had ever had.

They weren't supposed to go high. They were supposed to practice starting and stopping, playing with speed only when they became comfortable with sitting on the broom without falling off.

It started small. Jack's broom hovered an inch above the other students. Merida inched her broom up so she was the highest. Never one to back down from a game, Jack was quick to regain the advantage. Merida smirked at him as she rose five more inches. Jack leaned back, pulling above her by an inch. She clenched her teeth and zoomed up, nearly 10 feet. Jack pulled back on his broom intending to surpass her.

"Get down here this instant or you're both out of this class!" Professor Wilhelm shouted. Jack stopped in mid-air and turned to go back down. As his feet grazed the ground he glanced back at Merida. Her broom was still going up.

"GET BACK DOWN HERE!" the professor shouted again. Merida made no move to come down. Focusing his eyes, Jack realized her broom wasn't moving in the controlled smooth pattern it had closer to the ground. It was jerking around, bucking wildly. As he watched, a strong breeze came and tousled his hair. But what was just a gentle breeze on the ground was a gale for Merida. Jack watched in horror as she lost her grip on the broom as it flipped over. The broom zoomed off as Merida fell toward the earth below.

Instinct took over. Jack ignored the cries of other students as he zoomed up with a speed he never knew was possible. Keeping one hand on his broom he reached out and caught Merida around her waist before she had even fallen three feet.

For one brief moment he was very pleased with himself. But the sudden addition of seventy pounds threw his broomstick out of balance, causing it to tumble and turn in the wind. Still Jack managed to hang on, keeping his grip on Merida as the strong wind blew the broom over the school. Amid the chaos of falling, Jack managed to tilt the broom down, but he had lost all sense of direction. It wasn't long before the two students crashed into the forest adjacent to the school.

Jack slowed the broom down before the landing, but not enough, apparently. As they fell through the trees his broom snapped in half. As soon as it broke all flying power ceased, letting the children fall the rest of the way down, crashing into nearly every branch of the pine they landed in.

Slowly Jack stood up, testing every limb. He would have some bruising and cuts from the fall, but nothing felt broken. Sure that he was fine, Jack laughed softly. He was wrong about flying being the funnest thing ever; blowing uncontrollably in the wind was way better.

Glancing around, Jack found Merida lying still a few feet away in the dark forest. He ran to her. Relief flooded through him when he saw her chest moving up and down slowly. She was breathing. Despite their ongoing battle he would never wish her dead. Gently Jack shook her shoulder. Merida stirred.

"Mum?" she mumbled. Jack chuckled.

"I don't think so, princess." Her eyes flashed open and she scrambled back.

"What's th' idea? Watchin' me sleep?" she shouted.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to check if you were alive. Remind me not to save you next time."

"Oh, I would have been fine!"

"Yeah, sure, because everyone survives 50 foot falls," Jack said sarcastically as he scanned the forest, taking in their surroundings. Thick trees surrounded them with no obvious paths back to the castle. "You didn't happen to catch which way the castle was as we were falling, did you?"

"How could I notice th' castle wi' th' way you were flying!" she snapped.

"The way I was flying? How about the way you were flying? At least I didn't fall off my broom!"

"No, you had ta' go an' break yer broom, strandin' us in the middle of th' forest!"

"Hey! You threw off my flight pattern!"

"Right, of course th' high winds had nothing ta do wi' it!" Merida shouted.

"I was doing fine!" Jack yelled, his voiced getting louder with each word, "If you hadn't -"

Jack was interrupted as a low growl emitted from the bushes. The students froze, for the first time noticing the creeping shadows surrounding them.

"Mor'du," she whispered stepping closer to Jack.

"What?" Jack said as he closed the distance between them.

"Th' renegade bear. Took my da' leg clean off."

The growl emitted again, followed by a strange pounding sound. Jack paused. The noise sounded oddly familiar.

"I don't think that's any bear."

Another sound emitted a high pitch whinny.

"And I suppose ya'd be an expert," Merida said, her voice trembling in fright. More of the pounding sound which Jack finally recognized as hoof beats.

"Bears don't have hooves, do they?" As he said it a dark shape darted out of the trees. It was not a bear.

It took all of Jack's effort not to scream in the face of the big black horse. Its wild golden eyes bore into the children. It took Jack a moment to notice the horse's teeth were bared because even they were pitch black. The horse circled them, its mane and tail leaving whips of sand. This was no ordinary horse.

Merida screamed and the horse lunged at her. Jack and Merida jumped out of the way just in time. The horse snarled and reared up posing to strike again.

"Ruuun!" Jack shouted grabbing Merida's hand and pulling her through the trees. Merida didn't need to be told twice. She gathered her skirt in one hand and the students took off.

Jack jumped through trees, over roots, and under low branches with ease. Merida trailed a bit behind but didn't seem terribly hindered by the pace or the trees. The only reason she wasn't ahead of Jack was because the back of her skirt kept getting caught on loose branches.

They ran until they couldn't hear the terrible neighing of the nightmarish horse behind them. Jack and Merida braced themselves against the trees as they caught their breath.

"Wh-what was tha'?" Merida asked when she had recovered.

"That has got to be the scariest horse I've ever seen," Jack said panting.

"That couldn't have been a horse. It wasn't anything like Angus. It had no hair, it was all shiny and sandy, and I've never seen a horse with glowin' eyes. When it looked at me…it was like a nightmare."

"We can figure out what it was later. Right now I'd like to focus on getting out of here before it catches up." Merida nodded. The first time they'd agreed on anything. Jack looked around at the unfamiliar trees, "Do you have any ideas?"

"The castle is west of the forest, right?" Merida said slowly.

"I think so, not that I ever paid that much attention," Jack answered.

"Let's assume that it is, then all we have to do is figure out which way is west and keep going in a straight line."

Jack looked around. There was no moss growing on the trees to indicate a direction so he turned to the shadows. Even in mid afternoon they were long and dark, creeping up around the children. It was hard to tell which direction they were pointing.

"I could climb the tree until I see which way the light is coming from," Jack suggested. Merida scanned the shadows and trees as she nodded.

Jack scrambled up the nearest tree. He'd done this many times before, though never when there was any real danger like that horse. Most of the time it was just for fun; part of a game he played with his sister.

Jack had to climb halfway up before he felt the light touching his skin. Even so Jack kept climbing until he could see over the trees. Looking to the west Jack could just make out the outline of the castle.

Merida was right. Jack was about to scramble down and tell her when he saw something else in the skies over the forest. Shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand he could just make out the outline of a man on a broom. It must be Professor Wilhelm!

Jack called down to Merida, telling her to climb up, then tried to get the professor's attention. It took several minutes of jumping around wildly on the branch and waving his arms before the broom turned and zoomed towards Jack.

Merida had just finished climbing up when the professor came into clear view. Jack was pleased to see another broom tethered to the teacher's broom. Professor Wilhelm pulled Merida up onto his broom letting Jack climb aboard the spare broom.

Silently the three flew back to the field. The rest of the class was gone. Merida and Jack dismounted as Professor Wilhelm began his lecture.

"What do you think you were doing?!" he hissed. Jack stared at his feet. "I specifically told you to come down!"

"I couldn't hear you," Merida said.

"I did come down," Jack said.

"You didn't stay down," Wilhelm reprimanded.

"I saw her fall; I was only trying to help," Jack said.

"Mr. Frost, I know it may seem shocking to you, but I happen to know a great many spells, including several that would have enabled me to catch Miss Dunbroch without the need for a trip to the Dark Forest!"

"Oh," Jack said softly. The thought that there might be a spell to catch her had not even occurred to him.

"And Miss Dunbroch, not being able to hear me is a poor excuse when I told you at the start of class not to attempt heights," Professor Wilhelm scolded. "Besides injuring yourselves, you caused me to dismiss the class early, and we lost both your brooms."

"Wait…you lost my broom?" Merida asked.

"It went flying off the second you let go."

"We have to go get it back!" Merida said.

"Get it back? I don't think so. I have half a mind not to let either of you near a broom again." Merida and Jack stared in shock. Now that Jack had felt the wind blowing through his hair he didn't think he'd ever want to come down again.

"Isn't there another way?" Jack pleaded. "We could ... I don't know ... help keep the field clean or something? Maybe polish all the brooms?"

Professor Wilhelm thought for a moment, "Hmph, I do hate to ground someone with so much raw potential. But you're still in trouble. Ten points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. You'll both have to stay after class each day to perform broom maintenance. And if there is any further mischief, you will be kicked out of the class without a second thought."

Jack nodded. Losing a few points and helping with the brooms didn't sound terrible. In fact Jack was glad for the opportunity to work more with brooms. It would be the first time he had a legitimate reason for not hanging out with the other Slytherins, even if it did mean he'd be stuck with Merida.

Professor Wilhelm dismissed the children, ordering them to stop by the infirmary before going up to dinner. Slowly Jack and Merida walked together in silence, neither sure which way the infirmary was.

Jack looked at Merida, for the first time noticing a tear in her sleeve stained dark with blood. Come to think of it her whole arm was drooping a little. He wondered if it was from the fall or the chase.

He had to hand it her, she'd been much better at running through the forest, climbing trees, and fighting evil horses than he would expect from a stuck-up spoiled princess. Not that he would ever say that out loud. He gave her a sly smile as they reached the infirmary. Maybe Merida wasn't so bad.

The Nurse immediately diagnosed Merida as having a dislocated shoulder and some cuts and bruises, injuries easily fixed with a wave of the wand. As soon as the nurse released her, Merida raced down to the Great Hall, not waiting to see Jack's prognosis.

He had to be fine. After all, he wasn't the one knocked unconscious from the fall. Besides, from the way he ran through that forest you'd think he lived in a tree. But that's ridiculous. From the way the other Gryffindors talked about Slytherins she was under the impression that they were all rich snobs.

As soon as she sat down at the Gryffindor dinner table she was besieged with questions about the Dark Forest. Even the older students who had heard of the missing girl leaned in to hear the story.

"Merida! How far in the forest did you get?"

"What was it like being that high on the broom?"

"How did you find your way out?"

"Did you see any centaurs?"

"Were you stuck with the Slytherin the whole time?"

"Aye," Merida answered.

"I'll bet he was scared he'd get expelled if he ditched you," a first year boy said.

"Serves him right. You shoulda tried to ditch him," a second year said. Merida said nothing as the conversation turned to trying to expel Slytherins.

It was true she was no fan of them, that boy in particular, but as much of a jerk as he was, it's not like he was trying to knock her into the forest. In fact if he had dropped her he might have been able to keep his broom from crashing, and breaking. He hadn't even tried to push the blame on her when they got in trouble like she had expected.

No, her friends were right. He was only trying to save himself. It must not have occurred to him to put the blame on her or he would have. He was evil, all Slytherins were.

As dinner wrapped up, Merida scanned the other tables. Rapunzel was laughing with some of the other Ravenclaws. Hiccup was actually at the Hufflepuff table. He didn't seem to be enjoying the other Huffepuffs' company though. In fact, he hardly seemed to notice as they filed out. He kept his eyes trained on the Slytherin table.

Merida followed his line of vision. She was surprised when she didn't recognize any of the faces. Jack was not among the Slytherins. But what surprised her more was Hiccup's actions. He waited until most of students had left the Great Hall before getting up and marching over to a young Slytherin boy. Merida couldn't hear what they were saying but Hiccup looked angry. He and the boy continued their conversation for a while before the Slytherin pointed to her.

Merida immediately dropped her gaze, her face flushing. Hiccup walked around the hall and stood directly opposite her. Merida looked up, wondering if he thought she was eavesdropping.

"Merida, where's Jack?" Hiccup demanded. The forcefulness in his voice surprised her. He seemed so easy going and wimpy before.

"How should I know? I'm not th' numpty's keeper," Merida said avoiding Hiccup's gaze. "Besides, he never eats here anyway."

"He usually eats with me but he didn't show up tonight. Look, I know you don't like him, but the other Slytherins said he was last seen with you in the Dark Forest. Is he still stranded out there?"

"Why should you care? He's a no-good Slytherin. You shouldn't trust him!"

"Well, I do. And if you won't tell me where he is I suppose I'll have to go out to the forest and look for him myself."

"You're crazy. Tha' forest is nigh but danger. It was scary even in th' daytime. I'd hate to be there at night. Besides, he's not out there. I left him with the nurse in the infirmary." Hiccup glared at her before storming off, presumably to the infirmary.

As Merida sank into bed that night she couldn't stop thinking about the adventure in the forest. Why didn't Jack abandon her when the horse attacked? It was only going after her. From the way he dashed around the forest it was clear he could have outrun the monster, yet he waited for her, helped her even.

She hadn't thanked him for that. She hadn't even thanked him for catching her when she fell. As she drifted into an uneasy sleep, her thoughts turned to the monstrous horse. As the night wore on Merida found herself in a nightmare where the horse turned into Mor'du.

The next morning Hiccup refused to speak to Merida during their Charms lesson. By the time he had gotten to the infirmary, Jack had already left. Hiccup had scoured the school, from the kitchens all the way up to the empty classroom Jack liked to practice in. Jack wasn't anywhere to be found.

If it weren't for the fact that the nurse had said Jack had been there, Hiccup might have gone out looking for him in the Dark Forest. Hiccup had interrogated the other Slytherin boys at breakfast, hoping they would know where Jack was, but either they lied to him or they had no clue. Even the house elves in the kitchen hadn't seen Jack.

As soon as Charms was dismissed Hiccup raced to the History of Magic classroom. To his immense relief Jack was there, propped up in his usual chair looking a little tired but no worse for wear. Hiccup casually strolled over.

"Hey, Hiccup," Jack said cheerily.

"Jack, where have you been? Nobody could find you."

"Huh? Oh, I got stuck in the infirmary overnight. No big deal."

"I checked with the infirmary when you didn't come down for dinner, the nurse said you weren't hurt."

"I wasn't, well, except for a few bruises. She had a magic salve that cleared those right up, even my black eye." Jack pointed to his now normal colored brown eye, "I kinda asked her if I could stay. I saw the beds and I was tired. I just didn't feel like facing the other Slytherins."

"I wonder why she didn't tell me?" Hiccup said more to himself than to Jack.

"You…you came looking for me?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"Of course. When you didn't show up for dinner in the kitchens I thought…well, I thought maybe your roommates had locked you in another cabinet, or worse."

"I didn't think anyone would notice if I was missing," Jack said softly. "I didn't think anyone cared."

"We're friends. Of course I care." Jack smiled a little as Professor Toothiana arrived and started class.