He did not have any time to catch his breath. The wicked storm was becoming intense with louder thunderstorms striking against the soil. The sun was now setting, but the layer of clouds obscured the marvellous view.

Each step he took down the steps was progressively difficult. It felt like an eternity getting down the tower and he had to avoid falling over. He didn't want to suffer any more injuries after what happened in his first Flying lesson, especially after seeing his sister outside in the rain.

There were barely any students in the hallways since most were heading to the Great Hall for dinner. Jack was nearly outside, but he encountered two girls who were already concerned about him. It was the look of fear and despair in his eyes.

"Can we help you?" asked the older one.

Jack slowed down in front of them and saw that it was MK and Yang. Two girls with nothing in common except for their house. He hadn't spoken to MK for a while.

"My sister is out there!" Jack wasn't asking for any permission to go outside. He knew they wouldn't believe him so he attempted to bolt past them.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy there." Yang grabbed Jack's arm to stop him. "How do you know she was there?"

"She's out there! I saw her!"

"You saw her? Was there anyone else with you to see it?" Yang waited for a response and Jack shook his head dejectedly. "Well good thing you will have a witness!"

Jack looked up with a spark of hope. He didn't know why but Yang's tone was full of confidence, almost like she was able to solve all his problems. He then considered the fact that she was a friend of Xander, so he still had to be wary.

"Emma Overland, five minutes back." The orb Yang took out began glowing, and MK was interested with what Yang was going to do. The orb flashed strange colours and displayed strange pictures of random objects. It was like a jigsaw puzzle of pictures and sounds that were difficult to decipher.

"How convenient. Sorry, but my Semblance needs a lot of polishing. It happens a lot."

"What does that mean, Yang?" asked MK.

"It means she can't help me, but I'm still going out to find her," answered Jack, walking past the Hufflepuffs.

Yang was deciding what to do with Jack. The flash of lightning reminded her to keep him indoors. Another accident today won't be good for anybody.

"You can't go out! You wouldn't last a few minutes in the storm. It's also getting dark!" Yang blocked his way and Jack was slowly losing his temper. The sound of his breathing was noticeable to both Yang and MK.

"Get out of my way or else!"

"No! You're so damn—" Jack pushed her out of the way before she could swear. She was resisting while he then pinned her against the wall.

"Hey! Let go of—"

"It's okay, MK. He has every right to." Yang remained calm. She was pumped from the idea of fighting Jack, but the anger she saw in his face told her otherwise. His teeth were showing like a snarling dog, and his eyes were as if they were turning red. If she had known better, she would've realised that she was currently in the same position as Xander last month. The bloodlust was the same.

"It's all right. Take a deep breath, Jack. If you're desperate, you can go outside, but not alone."

"Fine." Jack released Yang and couldn't believe he was about to attack another student again. If any professors found out, he would've been expelled. Where would he go after that? A boy with no home and no friends outside of Hogwarts wouldn't survive. He realised how cruel the world was. It wasn't made for children to live on their own, unless they got lucky.

"I should come too," suggested MK.

"No, you should see Jack's friends and tell them that Jack and I are going to do some exploring."

The two students ran out into the rain. There was nobody when they got to the place Jack saw his sister. Their clothes were now soaked and saturated with water, but they didn't care. What Yang was worried about was if lightning struck the same place twice.

Jack had told her that he saw her from the Astronomy Tower; it was a stretch to think he was able to see from all the way up there. He justified that he could recognise her face from far away. He even mentioned seeing a glinting necklace, which was something she never wore.

"Are you sure you weren't hallucinating?" asked Yang.

"How could I be hallucinating?" His eyes were darting everywhere in case he missed something.

"Did you drink a strange potion? Were you affected by a jinx? There are many causes of a hallucination like trauma, Jack!"

"Emma!" called Jack. He went ahead of Yang and headed near the only place she could've disappeared to, the Forbidden Forest.

"You even listening?! Stop! You know that place is out of bounds."

"I can't leave until I know that she didn't go hiding in the forest."

"This is the Forbidden Forest! There are monsters everywhere and it'll take weeks for a single student to trek the entire forest if you make it! And if you go in there, you'll be expelled!"

"What's with you and rules! Aren't you and Xander the ones breaking every single one?! Or have you gone soft? How do I know to trust you?!"

Yang was thinking for an answer. She had to play this right. "The Dark Weapon is back. Xander and I are part of it. They raised us and trained us into doing bad things. I was never Xander's friend before Hogwarts, and he's done horrible things because he had no guidance. At Hogwarts, we have been doing jobs for the Dark Weapon, and Xander wanted to do things the easy way, but I stopped him because those actions were wrong."

Jack was speechless. "You're one of them?! You killed my family?!"

"No… Yes—They did it thinking they'd eliminate all threats, and to test out their new artillery."

"What are you talking about?!" Jack clenched his fists and was ready to draw out his wand.

"I'm telling you the truth. But they didn't know the train was delayed, and missed."

"Missed?!"

"The target was you, as you were the perfect candidate for joining the Dark Weapon. But they never found you. So it was better that they destroyed you so you wouldn't be a threat."

"How could an eleven-year-old destroy them?"

"Your Core Magic. Muggles do not have them, and finding them in Muggle-borns are rare. They are rare, but powerful."

Jack didn't listen anymore. He was about to go into the forest despite Yang's warning.

"Jack! Stop! You aren't reporting me and Xander?"

"You tell me all this and now you want me to stop! It proves that Emma is in the forest. What did you expect anyway? Why would you even tell me this?!"

Yang was tense and she glanced to the side. After that, she was now calm and relaxed. "'Cause you're going to forget about this."

A spell hit Jack's hand and his wand fell out of his pocket before he was able to draw it. Yang then drew hers and aimed it at Jack.

"He thought you'd listen to me, maybe joined us to take them down too; he was wrong about you. Obliviate!"

Yang kept a focussed face because this was a delicate procedure. A green light came from Yang's wand and it landed on Jack.

Jack fell limp onto the ground and Yang grabbed his wand, hiding it back into his pocket before he woke up. Footsteps came closer to them and Yang was already aware that she wasn't alone.

"Worth a try?" asked Xander. The rain drenched his hair, but his cloak remained dry.

"You so failed! But it was interesting, although he couldn't cope with the truth."

"I guess it is best to keep it from him for a while. Did you really not like me at all before Hogwarts? Not even an inkling?" It was one of those rare moments when Xander joked with Yang. She was glad to have a friend like him.

"I was different. And yes to keeping the secret from Jack. Why did you want me to tell him the truth anyway? John and Lily deserve to know before Jack."

"Jackson is at his worst. If he listened and was able to understand, then anyone could. Since he did not, we should not tell anyone soon. It was good timing that Jackson left the tower as soon as we thought of a plan. And you had good timing with the truth. You thought he was going to report us, meaning he would not enter the forest, but that failed unfortunately. But what was that about his sister?"

"Dunno. It was unexpected and explains why he left the Astronomy Tower abruptly. She died, didn't she?"

"That was what we were told. That aside, do you really want to tell Lily and Jonathan the truth?"

"No, because if we fail, the Dark Weapon will look into our memories and see that John and Lily know about them. So they'll be captured or killed."

Xander walked towards Jack's body and thought of the conversation he had with Jack when the school had the snow fight. People were afraid of Xander, except for a few including Jack.

Those rumours about you are true, but it doesn't prove anything negative. I'm sure a lot of people are just not used to seeing new things.

That part of what Jack said stood out to Xander. "I would not have believed Yang about the truth, so why did you not believe her as well?"

Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Merida were with MK in the Great Hall, talking about what happened with Jack. They were the only ones not talking about John and his Dusk Weapon.

MK had filled them with all the details about Jack seeing his sister and almost attacking Yang. They were all becoming worried about Jack's approach towards people who got in his way.

"I honestly think Jack has every reason to do it, even if it's wrong. I've thought about it and it looks like Xander and Yang have been baiting him. It's either that or they're always at the wrong place at the wrong time, and so is Jack." Merida admitted.

Hiccup and Rapunzel didn't agree with Jack being aggressive. They felt he needed some guidance now that his family were gone.

"What were you doing with Yang anyway, MK?" asked Rapunzel.

"Yang spoke to me just before Jack came. She was asking me about Quidditch actually. I know a lot of people see her as the sketchy person because of her friendship with Xander. Even the people in my dormitory talk about them all the time. Next thing you know is that the Ministry will begin keeping a close eye on them."

"Let's hope so. If they are doing something bad then the Ministry can help," said Merida.

"That's not why the Ministry would want to do that. I'm sure all of you have seen the newspapers called the Daily Prophet. That company is very close with the Ministry, and if they find talent within wizards, they'd want to publish it."

"Doesn't sound like something the Ministry would do." Merida said.

"I guess not. My father is quite the conspiracy theorist. He believes that the Ministry of Magic would do it to show the Dark Weapon what the wizarding world is capable of—if they really do exist," explained MK.

Jack and Yang returned to the Great Hall and met up with the others at Ravenclaw table. Yang left Jack, leaving the Great Hall to presumably the dungeons.

"Did you have any luck?" asked Hiccup.

"How did you guys know?" asked Jack, looking at MK.

"Oh, I don't think you two have fully met—"

"We have. MK helped me and Nod cause that hail storm on Halloween."

"I don't think that's something I want to be remembered by, Jack," said MK while hiding her hands in her long sleeves. "So what did you two do anyway? You were gone for nearly twenty minutes."

"It felt shorter than that. I went outside with Yang to where I saw Emma, but she wasn't there. Everything else was where I remembered, so why was it my sister that had to be not there?"

"Maybe it's because you miss her," said Rapunzel.

"Is it possible for people to see things like that?"

"I don't know, Jack. But it does sound common in the Muggle world; it's like a hallucination," said Merida.

"Do they have doctors in the wizarding world?" asked Jack who sat next to Rapunzel.

"No idea. I live in London, Jack, in case you've forgotten."

"They don't," answered MK. "My dad's done his research even though he was a Muggle. You see… I lived with my mum when I was little. She and my dad had a fight about his crazy theories and obsession."

"Obsession?"

"He claimed that there was magic and so my mum left him. I went with my mum, thinking he was crazy too. I remembered when he showed me some old videos of magic, but I thought they were edited. He even had all these articles pinned on the walls of his house, explaining strange lights at several locations around the world, and little did I know that they were about Year X. I received a letter from Hogwarts, and showed it to my dad. He was ecstatic and was relieved I believed in him."

"So you were a Muggle-born and nothing happened to you?" asked Jack.

"Something did happen. My dad was about to share the news of the existence of the wizarding world, but there was news that made him stop. The town my mum was from—and where I used to live—was destroyed by a mining accident. The ground collapsed below them and my mum didn't make it."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Merida.

"Thank you. At least she was happy the last time I saw her. She thought I went to a boarding school, achieving my dreams of being a photographer. I'm with my dad now. We live near Moonhaven where it's protected from Muggles."

Rapunzel looked at Jack and could see that he was lost in thought. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was thinking. She then saw that Hiccup and Merida had the same expression.

"Where was this place?" asked Rapunzel.

"Moonhaven is in North America. The town where I lived with my mother was several miles—"

"So it's in North America too?" asked Hiccup, which MK nodded to.

"You never thought the possibility of the Dark Weapon?" asked Hiccup.

"I have, but many people say it was a mining accident."

"And it was a chemical leak from a plane that crashed," said Jack.

"What?"

"That's the Muggles' explanation. I'm sure that's where you heard about the mining accident too. I'm still breathing because a train was delayed, and you moved to your dad's because it was closer to Moonhaven. Nod told me that Moonhaven was one of the most secure locations outside of Europe, that's why nothing has happened to you. The Dark Weapon must've thought you were still with your mother." Jack said.

MK was speechless. For four years she had never obtained evidence of the annihilation of her previous hometown. "Tha—That sounds like a stretch. I don't know. Maybe I need to tell Nod about this." MK stood up and was in a rush. "Excuse me, and thank you. If what you say is true, I'll do everything in my power to stop the Dark Weapon from triumphing as well."

After MK left, the four began talking about Muggle-borns, such as Gertrude Dibra from Ravenclaw. According to Rapunzel, she was the best at casting spells in Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. Rapunzel noticed Jack feeling droopy, and she was getting worried.

"You okay, Jack?"

"Sure."

What Jack focussed on wasn't the voice of Rapunzel, but the face of his sister staring back at him from the window nearby. The translucent windows and the rain dripping from her head to toe distorted her figure. Emma did nothing but stand there to taunt him.

"I think I need to rest," said Jack, as he got up to head to his dormitory. The others couldn't protest to that.

"It's all in your head," thought Jack.

"So have you spoken to Jack yet?" asked Elsa.

"Only once when we got back after the break," said Nod.

"So that's a no then."

"Maybe MK is able to find out something," said Hans, pointing at Ravenclaw table where MK, Jack, and Jack's friends were visible.

Nod and his friends were in their fourth year, yet they didn't know as much as the first years. They had Elsa, who knew everything going on in the wizarding world because of her social status, but the first year had Anna for that.

"What's that face, Elsa?" asked Hans.

"What face?"

"The one you always show when you're guilty. Last time you showed it was when Anna came to you on her second day at Hogwarts."

Elsa exhaled for a moment before admitting the truth. "During the break, after hearing about Hawthorne, I did a bit of snooping and found out some horrible truths of Arendelle Corp."

"You've told us this already, Elsa. There was a drop in the Dusk Crystal stocks; the green ones particularly," said Hans.

"Wait what?!" exclaimed Nod.

"I haven't finished…" Elsa then gazed back at Nod, appearing as if what she was going to say next was directed to him specifically. "Four years ago there was a decrease of Orange Dusk Crystals."

"Meaning?"

"That same year, MK found out Gallant was wiped out, along with her mother." Elsa kept herself contained before continuing on. "I only spoke to MK recently about this, and she told me about a mineshaft collapsing, which I already knew. It was only recently when I investigated about Hawthorne, I found out about the drop in Orange Dusk Crystals. It can't be a coincidence. Orange Dusk Crystals have properties related to the earth."

"But that would mean Arendelle Corp are responsible, or someone stole the supply of Dusk," said Hans.

"That's impossible. I thought only the people with the Arendelle seal can withdraw Dusk," said Nod.

"That's correct, Nod, but only my mother and father have it. I get it next year and Anna gets hers in four years. My mother and father couldn't do such a thing!"

"Let's not jump into conclusions yet, Elsa. First, it could've been a third party who requested for the Dusk to be taken out. All they needed was the seal for permission on their letter," said Hans.

"But still, my mother or father signed it, twice now. It can't be a coincidence they happened on the same year as the genocides."

"How does the Green Dusk Crystals relate to Jack's case?" asked Nod.

"Green Dusk Crystals create plants. Plants come in different varieties. Some are beautiful and some are ugly. Some are gentle and some are deadly. I think the Green Dusk Crystals turned into Noxious Ferns and produced a deadly gas."

Noxious Ferns were plants of the wizarding world, contained in one area in the Ministry and a well-guarded section of Moonhaven. The three teens had learnt about this deadly plant from Professor Moonhaven last year in Herbology. The poison not only destroyed other plants, but it was the only known plant to create harmful blight for humans.

"Was it really that many plants that could destroy a town?" asked Nod.

"I heard there were other plants too, but most died by the poison. If there's a noticeable drop in Arendelle Corp's stocks, it meant enough to say goodbye to cities."

MK returned to her friends after talking to the first years. She had something to tell them judging by her reckless movements.

"So did you teach them something new?" asked Hans.

"The opposite," replied MK. "They taught me something. Is the Dark Weapon really back?"

During the hours beyond twilight, the students slept peacefully for another normal day coming up. The trees had rested as no sounds of winds interrupted their slumber, even after the storm.

Jack travelled through the dense forest after watching the whimsical sky. There was light everywhere, but no sign of the sun. He had climbed a few trees to see if it was setting, but still no luck. Even if the sun was setting, the sky would've turned orange.

He didn't know why he was treading through the woods alone, only that he was thinking of his sister, constantly calling out her name. He knew he was lost. Walking back and forth was no use. Even the trees became too tall for him to reach the branches to regain his bearings. If only he had something to guide him back out, or lead him to whatever he wanted to find.

"Emma!" His voice echoed, but his heartbeat dulled it out. He was panicking, fearing that he was all alone. He didn't want this. For once he wanted to be with his friends forever. Hiccup, Merida, and Rapunzel have helped him and he never thanked them for that.

Jack wasn't crying, even if he tried, it wouldn't work; he wanted the world to know how sorry he was.

"Jack!" called a voice. It was Emma's, which boomed louder than the beat of his heart. It didn't help when he followed it because his heart was still pounding through his chest.

There was a clearing, filled with a light haze to make things hard to distinguish. Jack saw a body on the ground, lifeless with a person standing nearby. Jack walked closer and saw that it was Emma who was the one on the ground. Jack didn't know what to do, until he heard her voice calling out to him. She was still alive.

"Emma!" Jack was finally smiling with tears streaming down his pale cheeks.

There was a loud crash that damaged his eardrums. He held onto his head and tried to recover, as he saw the figure nearby walking closer to him. It was Xander.

"I knew it." Jack said weakly.

"It wasn't me! I swear!" yelled Xander. For some reason Xander did not sound like himself at all. He was talking with Jack's voice instead. "Don't be angry! Don't be angry!"

"What are you talking about!" yelled Jack. The wind was kicking in and blowing the dead leaves around them.

"It's not me!" Xander's head was twitching; the twitching became twists in unnatural angles. When he stopped, it was somebody else. The new face was laughing at Jack with glowing yellow eyes. It was still Xander's face, but the eyes were different, and his gaunt face was colourless with black veins all over. "It is me."

The dark Xander vanished into the shadows and Jack was left with his sister. Jack didn't calm down; he knew something was about to happen.

Emma's body twitched, sharply getting up and breaking each limb. Her head was facing the wrong way, watching Jack with a smile. She was scaring him.

Jack ran away from the figure and hoped for the nightmare to end; it felt like running in quicksand. The figure of Emma crawled towards Jack at blinding speeds and managed to grab his leg. That was when he knew it was all over.

Jack woke up from his dream, clutching on his chest as he still felt pain all over. His vision was still blurry, like sand slowly pouring out of his eyes. The people in his dormitory were also awake, getting ready for breakfast.

Jack couldn't remember most of his nightmare. He could only recall the events taking place after seeing his sister and Xander in the forest.

Jack peeped outside the window and to his relief, Emma wasn't taunting him anymore. He observed the Forbidden Forest. It was large like Yang said. He hoped he didn't dream of the future, or else it would mean his sister was there with evil Xander.

It was Monday, so it was Potions first with Professor Black. Even though punctuality mattered to Black, Jack still had plenty of time to go outside and relax. A few seconds of fresh air would be enough for him.

He made his way down the spiral stairs and through the portrait, finding the closest exit out of the castle. The sky was ravishing; it was a beautiful blue tone. The pains in his chest lessened and his heartbeat slowed to the point where he couldn't feel it anymore. He watched the grass sway with the light gust, blowing his brown hair too.

Jack then waited for the sun to be visible, but it never came. He hoped it wasn't a bad omen. Maybe the odd clouds were blocking it—even if it didn't look like it.