Author's Note: Hey guys! I am back! I have finally returned having conquered the dreaded beasts known as Finals! I have missed you guys terribly and hope you have missed me as well. Since it has been such a long time, I am giving you guys a long chapter. This isn't necessarily my favourite chapter, but it has some major plot points. Also, now that it is Christmas break (hallelujah) I am planning on updating as much as humanly possible between now and Jan. 5th. Now to the long awaited chapter...

(Disclaimer: Hmm...wait let me check,...yep, still don't own anything go other than the plot)

Chapter 10

Unrest in the Air

As Jack made his way down to Care of Magical Creatures the next morning he could feel the chill of winter begin to make its way into the air. Winter, being Jack's favorite time of year, should have made him feel better, but there was something about this particular chill that was unsettling. The grey clouds promised rain that had yet to fall and just seemed to add to eerie mood of the whole week. He couldn't help but think back to everything that had happened last night. First the game, then a dragon, and then…whatever that creature that was that attacked them. His first thought had been that it was a dementor, and that is what he wanted it to be. Because if it was a dementor, as scary of a thought as that would be, they would at least know what it was and how to deal with it. But something about this creature gave Jack the gut feeling that it was much worse somehow. He nearly wound up tripping himself on the slopping hill path only to find himself steadied by a hand. Jack turned to see Hiccup helping him straighten out.

"And I thought I was the clumsy one." Hiccup laughed.

Jack tried his best to reply with a sly grin, but it fell short somewhere between a grin and a grimace.

"Sorry," he said, "I was just thinking…"

"Be careful," Hiccup warned jokingly, "don't want to lose you 'devil may care' cred."

"I'm serious," Jack replied, "doesn't anything about what happened last bother you at all."

"Of course it did," Hiccup sighed, "but I'm not about to broadcast it to the world. You have to be careful Jack, we don't know who or what's behind all this. In fact, we don't' even know what's really going on. If we don't keep acting like nothing's going on, whomever or whatever is doing this might get suspicious."

"Yeah," Jack argued, "but why us in the first place? I mean, no offense, but what's so special about any of us?"

Hiccup shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"I mean, you guys I kind of get, there are the two princesses, and you're the next chief of Berk, not to mention a secret Dragon Trainer…"

"Do you have to say that part so loudly?"

"But, I'm not exactly special."

"Really?" Hiccup asked with an arched eyebrow.

"What?"

"Jack you have seriously strong and natural magical abilities."

"What?! No I don't."

"Are you kidding? What about that thing in Pitch's classroom?"

"That was just a prank."

"Jack," Hiccup said stopping him for a second, "don't underestimate yourself. I've only seen you do that kind of magic a couple of times, but not even some of the most advanced wizards could do it as easily as you. You're definitely a lot stronger than you think."

After a few moments of silence, Jack asked, "How's your chest by the way?"

Hiccup offered a small smile, "Not even a bruise," then he frowned, "I'm more worried that that thing attacked us while we were with…well, you know."

"You mean the dragon your hiding in the forest."

Hiccup glared at him, "I'm going to regret telling you all about this aren't I."

"Hiccup, don't worry," Jack said his smile returning, as they reached the spot where rest of the class was gathered "no one's going to find out about Toothless. I promise."

"Overland, Haddock," said a voice from behind them, making them both jump about a foot in the air, "we need to talk. Now."

They both turned to see Pr. Bunnymund standing behind them placing a hand on each of their shoulders. He quickly addressed the rest of the class, informing them that lessons were cancelled due to the high chance of rain. The students cheered and quickly dispersed and after they were gone, Bunnymund ordered the two remaining students to follow him into the forest. Both boys shared a nervous glance before following the professor.

"Professor," said Hiccup nervously as they followed him deeper into the forest, "do you mind telling us where it is we're going?"

"You'll see when we're there Mr. Haddock."

Jack didn't like the sound of that and quickly began to calculate the possibility of a teacher taking them out in the forbidden forest to kill them. Before he knew it, they had arrived at the exact spot that the group had been at last night.

"Professor," he asked the older man, "what are we doing here?"

"Just how long did you think you were going to get away with this?"

Both boys shared another look, this time a slightly panicked one.

"I don't know what you're…" Hiccup started, but was quickly interrupted.

"Save the excuses Mr. Haddock," the Australian professor said sternly, "I don't appreciate being lied to. So I'll ask again, how long did you think you could get away with hiding a dragon, a Nightfury no less, in my forest."

Jack's mind reeled trying to come up with excuses as he was sure Hiccup was doing as well. Everything he was coming up with though, was weak and would get them deeper in this hole they were in. Just when it looked like Hiccup was about to start begging for mercy, a dark shape tackled the stern teacher to the ground.

"Toothless no!" Hiccup cried out.

Jack could only stand in shock for a moment, before realizing that Toothless was not growling or threatening the teacher, unless you counted licking him to death.

"Alright ya bloody show pony," the teacher said laughing and pushing the dragon off, then standing up he wiped the slobber off of himself and glared at the dragon, "ya couldn't have given me a few more seconds to make em squirm could ya?"

Toothless simply smiled, waiting patiently for something.

"Alright here ya go then." He said pulling a cod fish out of his robe and throwing it to him.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Hiccup, "back up here for a second, you're not going to turn us in to the headmaster or the ministry or…"

"Mr. Haddock, please take a breath before you pass out," the professor said turning back to his students, "no, I wouldn't report such a fantastic creature to the ministry for them to argue for an hour about how to kill him. As for North,…well, I think it's safest to leave him in the dark for a moment."

Jack couldn't help but laugh at the situation, "So you brought us out here, making us think we were in trouble the whole time. That's pretty good Professor."

Pr. Bunnymund gave a wry smile, "Hold on Frost, you're not off the hook yet, there will be a consequence, but only because you all didn't come to me about this sooner."

"Sorry professor," Hiccup sighed, "I just didn't know who to trust."

"Just remember this, both of you," Bunnymund replied with a smile, "there's not much that goes on in this forest that I don't know about."

Then motioning them to follow him back he added, "Now, come on, there's a whole herd of thestrals that haven't been fed."

"Nice Professor," Jack said, "real nice."

"I do try Frost. I try."

****************************Magic********************************************

Merida had not gotten a single wink of sleep that night. She kept checking the shadows expecting Mordu to come out and attack her. Or worse, that he was hiding in Slytherin house waiting to get the boys. So she wound up falling asleep with the lamp on her bedside table on. Something she hadn't done since she was a tiny girl. And if that weren't embarrassing enough, she had overslept and was forced to run to class, completely disheveled and arrived late. So now she was in the great hall picking slightly at her lunch. She hadn't even been paying attention when her mother's messenger hawk landed on the table and began to eat her sausage.

"Umm Mer?"

"Merida?"

"Earth to big sister?"

Merida was snapped out of her stupor by Harris gently poking her arm with a fork. She quickly shooed the hawk after taking the letter from its talons. The boys gathered beside her to read it.

"My Dear Sweet Children,

I am glad to hear that the year has been going well for you all, especially after having such a rough start. I'm sorry to hear that you lost your important Quidditch game Merida, but I am extremely pleased to hear that the four of you are staying out of trouble."

"Can you imagine what she would say if she knew about Hiccup and Toothless?" Hubert laughed.

"Aye," Merida laughed, then clearing her throat she began to imitate her mother, "a princess does not associate herself with those who break the law, let alone a Viking with such a dangerous beast for a pet."

Though Merida and the boys laughed, Merida had been serious. She couldn't truly imagine how angry her mother would be if she found out that Merida was helping to hide a dragon in the forbidden forest. The four continued to read the letter full of goings on in the castle back home, making Merida crave an apple pastry more than ever. Just thinking of the flaky crust with the powdered sugar on top with the apple and cinnamon inside, made her drool a little bit.

"Hey look," said Hamish pointing toward the double doors of the great hall, "there's Jack and Hiccup."

The triplets waved the two boys over and they both sat down, seemingly too exhausted to pay attention to the glares they were getting from most of the Gryfindor table.

"What happened to ye two?" Merida asked.

"Well, Pr. Bunnymund found our friend in the forest," said Jack, laying his head on the table, "and he's not going to tell on us, but he is however, making Hiccup and I take care of the entire class's thestrals. Including mucking out the stalls."

"That's not so bad," said Merida shrugging, "I do it for my horse Angus all the time, and he's twice the size of those things."

"Where do you even get a pitchfork big enough for that?" Jack asked.

"Hey what are we missing out on over here?"

The group turned to see Rapunzel, Eugene, Emma, Jamie, and the other Viking teens (minus Fishlegs) move to sit next to the rest of them. Jack and Hiccup began to fill them in. Merida noticed the uncomfortable amount of glares from the rest the hall as well as the annoying gapes from the Scottish boys at first, but then decided to just shrug it off and listen to the conversation in front of her. She found herself being able to forget all about last night and her nightmares as Jack, the triplets, the twins, and Eugene began to share tips on practical jokes.

"Hey Merida, don't forget we have that emergency practice tonight." Astrid said from her spot beside Hiccup.

"That's right," Merida said, mentally face palming for having forgotten, then smirking she added "'cause after a game it's not like our fearless captain could give us a break or anything, could she?"

"Nope," said Astrid smiling at Merida's pointed remark, "I couldn't. Not when we've got the semi-finals in less than two weeks."

"I don't suppose now would be a good time to pick that strategic brain of yours Astrid." Said Eugene going into "team captain" mode.

"Why?" Astrid asked with a sly grin, "I thought ye already had a strategy of relying solely on Jackson to catch the snitch at the last second?"

"Hey," said Eugene, "true, but still, hey!"

"Too bad it never works for ye though." Merida replied.

"You're just jealous that you've got dingbat Dingwald for your seeker." Jack replied grinning.

"Better than having a seeker who's reckless and misses the snitch entirely."

"You fly past the stupid thing one time and no one lets it go!" Jack groaned

The talk began to move into other Quidditch talk and Merida found herself putting in her input on more than one occasion. Though they all had different views, it was the most interesting and fun conversation Merida had ever had at the lunch table. In years past, she had just wound up sitting with the other Scottish teens, and being their princess, they all pretty much agreed with everything she said as if they were going to lose their heads if they didn't. Strange as it sounded, it was nice and refreshing to be able to argue with someone. Arguments at home were either cut of quickly by her mother or rose to a high boiling point. This was more of a fun meeting of different opinions. After laughing at something Astrid said about Jack, Merida found her gaze drifting to the teachers' table. It may have just been a trick of the light, but Merida could have sworn that the professors were watching them, and that Pr. Toothiana even winked at her. But she noticed an empty seat at the Headmasters spot. She was about to ask if anyone knew where the jolly Headmaster was when an out of breath voice shouted from the entrance of the great hall,

"Hiccup!"

The group turned to see a panting Fishlegs running frantically toward them violently waving a copy of the "Daily Prophet". He tripped on Ruffnutt's leg before picking himself up and panting,

"H-hiccup…gasp….he-he's…escaped!"

"Fishlegs what are you talking about?" Hiccup asked.

Fishlegs shoved the paper in front of their faces. A man Merida didn't recognize was on the front page. He was obviously a Viking, big and bulky with an unruly black beard to match. The thing that really threw her was the crazy expression in his eyes as he scowled and laughed in way Merida could only imagine being manically.

"Alvin the Treacherous has escaped!" Fishlegs said now that he had breath again.

"That's not possible," Hiccup said taking the paper from Fishlegs and frantically began reading the article, "they said there was no way he would get out when we put him there this summer."

"Who is this guy?" Jack asked, "And what do you mean that you put him in Azkaban?"

"He's only the most feared Viking in the whole Archipelago," Fishlegs babbled frantically, "He's Hiccup's dad's rival and wants Hiccup to train dra…"

"Fishlegs." Warned Astrid.

"Right sorry, he wants Hiccup to err…help him take over Berk with a certain type of species." Fishlegs said whispering.

Merida saw a similar look in Hiccup's expression as she knew she had had on last night seeing Mordu. She was about to ask him if he was alright when a large and familiar cleared his throat behind them. Pr. North stood with an unfamiliar look of worry and concern on his face as he placed a gentle hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"Mr. Haddock, we need to speak in my office."

Hiccup nodded and followed him out of the great hall leaving the whole hall in a stunned silence. After a few moments Jack asked, "So we gonna follow or not?"

Merida nodded, "Aye, we are."

The whole group stood up and moved to follow after the pair.

****************************Magic********************************************

Hiccup sat in a large red chair that nearly swallowed the small Viking whole. With his head in his hands, praying that this wasn't actually happening and that he was having a nightmare, Hiccup waited in the Headmasters office where Pr. North had left him. He began to try and calm his paranoid thoughts and tried to reason with himself. There was no way that Alvin would be stupid enough to come after Hiccup here at Hogwarts. It was too well guarded and the teachers were some of the best wizards and witches in all the realms. No, Alvin might not be the brightest Viking to set sail, but he was devilishly sly and had seemingly no moral reservations. And that was what worried Hiccup the most. The fact that Alvin wanted him badly enough but that he was too smart to attack him here, would mean that Alvin would strike him where he was weakest.

The door to the headmaster's office opened suddenly and Hiccup stood to see Pr. North, Pr. Bunnymund, Pr. Toothiana, Pr. Sandy, Pr. Black, and Gobber sauntering through the door. Gobber's peg leg drug against the carpet as he greeted Hiccup.

"Gobber," Hiccup ran up to greet the older Viking, "where's dad?"

Gobber looked like he was struggling to find the right thing to say.

"Gobber what's wrong?"

"Unfortunately, Mr. Haddock, " said Pr. Black before Gobber could open his mouth, "your father is now fighting off a series of Outcast attacks and therefore unable to join us."

"Is he all right?" Hiccup asked Gobber.

"Please, " Gobber scoffed, "you know your father better than that. A couple of mongrels attack the shore and Stoic gets paranoid. You know how overprotective he can be."

Hiccup was almost too familiar with how overprotective his father was about both Hiccup and Berk.

"Here," said Gobber a little more sober like. He carefully handed a folded and sealed piece of parchment to Hiccup, "he told me to give this to you."

Hiccup quickly tore off the seal and began to furiously read it. By the time he finished, he had to sit down and re read another three times before he could speak.

"He wants me to stay here?" Hiccup asked unbelieving.

"Your father thinks it would be safer if you stayed here through the winter break." Replied Pr. North calmly, "At least until the fighting and attacks have died down. And we are all in agreement with him."

"Personally," said Pr. Toothiana, "I think you should stay here until Alvin has been recaptured."

"No disrespect professor, but none of you know him like I do." Said Hiccup

"It does seem odd though," commented Black, "that this man, though it is clear that he is more than unhinged, would escape Azkaban, just to go after a boy who is not even a third of his size."

Hiccup knew that Black was trying to probe for the reason Alvin was after him, but Hiccup had no idea how to respond. As it was, his head felt like it was going to implode, and then explode for good measure. Before Hiccup could come up with a sarcastic response, Pr. Bunnymund came to his rescue.

"Mr. Haddock is the only son of Stoic the vast, heir to Berk. And if what Mr. err..."

"Gobber's just fine."

"Mr. Gobber then, said is correct, this Alvin has more than an unpleasant history with Stoic."

"My dad banished him from Berk." Hiccup added, finally finding his voice again, "nothing would make Alvin happier than getting revenge on him."

This wasn't untrue. The main reason Alvin wanted to learn how to ride the dragons was so that he could take over Berk. It just made things even better for him that the person who could tell him was the only son of his arch nemesis.

"Very well then," said Black, "I will make sure that security around the castle has been doubled, and I will alert the nearby witches and wizards in the villages to be on the look out."

As Black passed Hiccup, he had a look in his eye as he passed. It wasn't the usual snide look, and it wasn't angry or disappointed either. It was an unfamiliar look of pity that he gave Hiccup and it made the student feel even more uncomfortable than when he was angry.

"Oh and Pitchner," said North addressing the teacher by his first name, "will you let the eavesdroppers in on your way out."

Black nodded and Hiccup watched as he opened the door, allowing a small crowd of students to file, or rather fall in through the door. Hiccup shook his head, but smiled. He was secretly glad that they had followed him, but just wish they were a little better at not getting caught.

As the group of ragtag students made their way to the adults and Hiccup, a nervous looking Emma asked the professors,

"Are we in trouble."

"We were just worried about Hiccup." said Jamie.

"We weren't trying to be disobedient." said Hubert.

"Promise." said Harris.

Pr. North laughed and Pr. Bunnymund just rolled his eyes.

"Settle down ya gumbys." the Aussie said with a slightly annoyed tone, "You're not in trouble."

"As it is," said Pr. Toothinia , "I think it's good that you all are here. You all can look out for Hiccup."

"I can take care of myself professor." said Hiccup

Pr. North choose to ignore this comment and asked Pr. Toothiana and Pr. Sandy to escort the younger students to their classes while he spoke with the older ones. Once the first years had left he began to fill in the older students. Hiccup was slightly put out by this. Not only did he dislike being told that he had to stay here instead of going home to Berk during the break, but now they were talking about him as if he weren't there. As if he was some weakling that needed to be constantly watched over. Hiccup had thought that he had proved that wrong this summer. But then again, it's not like he could just flat out tell Pr. North,

"It's fine, I took down Alvin many times this summer with the help of my best friend, who happens to be one of the most deadly types of dragons."

After the others agreed that they would do their best to help, Pr. North gave them all a warm smile and told them to go back to class and that he would be informing their professors as to their absence. After leaving North's office the whole group seemed to let out a mental sigh. Rapunzel then straightened up, and told everyone to meet her in the Huffulepuff commons after classes let out. The students began to disperse, but Hiccup went in the opposite direction of his class. He didn't make it very far before a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"And just where do ye think ye're goin'?"

Hiccup was surprised to see Merida having stopped him, but then remembered that Ravenclaw and Gryfidnor had charms together.

"I need to go check on Toothless." Hiccup said firmly shaking the hand off.

"We can do that after class fishbone." Said Merida with an arched eyebrow. "So where were ye really headed to?"

Hiccup groaned rolling his eyes.

"Look," said Merida, in a tone a soft tone that surprised Hiccup, "I know ye're worried about you're family."

Hiccup opened his mouth to argue but found himself quickly cut off by a hand.

"Nope." She said, "Right now, ye just get to listen kay?"

Hiccup sighed, but nodded and the hand was removed.

"I also know what it's like to be underestimated." She said with a smile, "They think that we can't handle ourselves, when nothing could be farther from the truth. But the truth is, they know we can handle ourselves, and that's what scares them. They know that we could go running headfirst into danger ourselves. So they do their best to protect us while they still can."

Hiccup stood slightly stunned, not only at Merida's sudden use of wisdom and logic, but also that he hadn't seen it sooner.

"So, "said Merida, "let's go to charms. Then we'll go check on that beast of yours and then see what 'Punzel's got up her sleeve. Alright Fishbone?"

Hiccup sighed then slowly nodded, "Thanks Merida, for talking some sense into me."

Merida nodded, "Just don't make me do it again, 'cause next time, I'll just use force."

Hiccup laughed holding up his hands in surrender. "I wouldn't want to make you angry."

"Darn right."

Hiccup followed her. She was right. There wasn't much he could do right now, besides doing exactly what his dad was trying to keep him from doing. So for now, Hiccup would just listen, but the second things looked bad, he and Toothless would head straight for Berk.

***********************************Magic*************************************

Rapunzel waited until Eugene had dimmed all the lights and had the fireplace roaring at a perfect temperature. The other students had already found their way to possibly the warmest room in the castle. The Hufflepuff common room had a round hearth that radiated a heat that radiated to the gold color in the walls and the banners, while the floor was actually made of the greenest grass possible and students were actually encouraged to take their shoes off at the entrance. It was the room Rapunzel felt most comfortable in. Jack had been more than eager to take off his shoes when he Jamie and Emma had arrived. Then Merida and the triplets had followed in suit. The last to arrive, unsurprisingly, were the Viking teens. Rapunzel saw Hiccup making an effort to act like he was fine, but she could tell that worry was weighing heavily on his smaller frame. That was what had inspired this little get together in the first place. Many of the other Hufflepuffs had moved onto their bedrooms, a little uncomfortable by the larger crowd of students from the other houses. Rapunzel was a little disappointed that they were not as willing to join in, but shook it off as she pulled out the objet she had been dying to use. She placed a small plain lantern in the middle of the room and the others settled into an awkward circle around it.

"This lantern is special," said Rapunzel mumrming a quick charm that let the lantern and it's candle float almost to the ceiling, "it has certain magical qualities."

The candle in the lantern lit on it's own and as it did, shadows began to dance around the room. Different people and places began to paly on the walls. Eugene began to tell stories of Flynn Rider and as he did, the shadows began to portray the story around him. The other students watched in amazement and smiles began to light everyone's faces. After Eugene, Fishlegs took it up and began to tell stories of their adventures on Berk with the dragon academy. The triplets, Emma, and Jamie watched in amazement, and Rapunzel saw the older students relaxing. She truly realized he goal had succeeded as even Hiccup took his turn and told the story of how he met Toothless. They all found themselves relaxing with each other and Rapunzel even found herself drifting to sleep against Eugene's shoulder. Before long, the older students recognized that it was nearly past curfew. As the other students filed out, Hiccup stopped for a moment to talk to Rapunzel.

"Thanks Rapunzel, "he said, "I think I needed that."

Rapunzel smiled, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "We all did. I think Jack knows better than any of us, that sometimes, we just need to have a little fun."

Hiccup looked like he was about to respond when his hair was ruffled. Eugene made his way to Rapunzel's side.

"You better get going before you're late."

Hiccup sighed, fixing his hair, then waived the older students goodbye.

Eugene moved to stand by Rapunzel, "Why do I suddenly feel like an concerned parent?" He asked her.

"Beacause we came about them, anc you're worried."

"Yeah well, I definitely don't like the sounds of this Alvin character."

"Don't worry," said Rapunzel with a smile, "You heard Pr. North, he can handle it."

Eugene seemed to bite his lip, as if sitting on a thought.

"What is it?" Rapunzel asked concerned.

"Well," he replied, "...it's not that I don't trust North or anything,but I mean he didn't see past Gothel and..."

Rapunzeal stopped him by taking one of his hands in hers, "Eugene," she said softly, "that was diffrent, besides Hiccup also has all off us looking out for him as well. Everything will be fine."

Eugene sighed, then smiled, "You're probably right as usual."

With that, Eugene kissed Rapunzel on then forehead and told her goodnight. As he dissapeared through the common room door, Rapunzel found herself worrying. Eugene had been right In that he hadn't seen past Gothel's disguise of a concerned mother. Then again, neither had she. But it made Rapunzel concerned as to whether or not the jolly headmaster was up to facing the darkness ahead. Rather than retiring to her bed, Rapunzel found herself falling asleep in front of the fire, hoping that then bright flames would chase away the shadows of doubt that were creeping in on her thoughts.

A.N: So like I said, not my favourite chapter but alot needed to happen so. Reviews please! Prepare yourselves for the next chapter though because we've got icy frost angst with some emotional flurries headed your way! Also, feel free to check out a me of my other new stuff. Review Review Review!