No matter how hard Tuffnut Junior tried, the feather on his desk did not respond to his demands. Hiccup had already managed to get his in the air several times and was now watching Tuffnut's futile attempt with mild interest.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Tuffnut cried. The feather wriggled a bit, but otherwise remained on the desk surface. Speedifist took pity and offered to help.

"Tuff, try saying it like this; WinGARdium LeviOsa."

"I did say that!

"Well, then. Maybe you're swishing your wand wrong?"

Tuffnut sighed loudly and tried again. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said blankly in the way Speedifist had instructed him. The feather lifted finally, rising about half a metre or so. "There. So I wasn't swishing it wrong." The feather dropped immediately and Tuffnut's face went red with either fury or embarrassment or both. The teacher must have noticed, because he went over to help him. His large patched coat blocked the scene from Hiccup's view and he turned, bored, to doodle in the margins of his book again. By now, the lines were overtaken by stick figures and swords and dragons.

He was nearly done perfecting the shading on the sword a smiling 'Me' held at Snotlout's chest when Fishlegs dropped his wand and there was a boom of a knock on the door.

"Oh! Come in, come in." Their professor tweaked Tuffnut's grip on his wand again and went back down to the front of the classroom to meet Gobber, who stood with a vicious-looking Snotlout by his arm.

"I'm here to collect Hiccup," Gobber said gruffly, planting his hand on Snotlout's shoulder.

"For?" their professor inquired, but answered his own question just as Gobber opened his mouth to respond, "Oh! That er…the family thing, correct? I forgot, silly me. Hiccup?"

Hiccup honestly felt as if all his organs had suddenly grown heavier and drooped inside him. Nevertheless, he swallowed and closed his book, the shading on the figure of himself half-finished. He could just not get up, couldn't he? But what would that mean for him? He'd be a disgrace; the fame he earned would disappear instantly. He distinctly heard his book plop into his bag. As he descended, he didn't dare look up at his classmates' faces. He wondered if he was shaking. Must be a sight.

Shame swirled like a snake in his gut. How pathetic he was.

And then there was the screech of wood against polished wood. "I'm coming too," said Fishlegs. Hiccup looked up to meet the eyes of his friend. Fishlegs looked very uncomfortable and positively terrified, but he was determined.

"Oh, all right," sighed Gobber, "But we need to go now. I've interrupted Ludwig enough."

"Thank you Gobber," he replied as Gobber herded the three boys out of the room, "All right, class. Now – "

And the door shut.

The hall was quiet for the most part. Only the faint voices of teachers from various classrooms could be heard. Hiccup's breathing was panicked as if his lungs would burst from overexertion. He avoided Snotlout's gaze and instead focused on Fishlegs' comforting presence beside him. Gobber paid no mind to the state of the two boys as he led them down, muttering about how he was sorry he couldn't go with them.

"A shame," he said to Snotlout, "A damn shame. Heaven knows how dedicated to you lots' family I am. Stoick asked me to come, you know, but I got responsibilities here. Can't leave me job at this time, sadly."

"It is a shame, professor," Snotlout agreed mournfully, "We could do with your expertise on that island. It's our loss."

Hiccup bristled. There was a reason his cousin was the unspoken favourite in the family. Snotlout had a silver tongue; whether he used it with malice or eloquence, it was almost always effective. The only people who knew him for what he was, Hiccup could count on one hand. Himself, Fishlegs and maybe Adelaide, but Hiccup didn't know Adelaide well enough.

Fishlegs grabbed onto his arm suddenly, and he turned to see his friend looking like he was about to break down. He let his own nerves clam for just a moment to loop his arm around Fishlegs, rubbing his back to calm him down.

"Breathe," he whispered, "Just breathe, Fishlegs."

His grip on Hiccup's arm went lax, and he sent a thankful glance his way and drew-himself up. His face gained colour.

"It'll all be done before we know it," Hiccup promised, then felt guilty. He couldn't quite believe that himself.

"We'll head to your dorms to grab your dragons before we leave," Gobber let them know, "You'll need 'em."


"It's a bit cold," Gobber observed, "Well, we're almost at Hogsmeade. No doubt you'll warm yourself up with a nice Butterbeer before we leave."

Well, that was some good news. Hiccup had never had a Butterbeer before and had always looked forward to trying one. He just hadn't anticipated such a dire day to be the day he would do that.

"You two haven't had the chance to visit Hogsmeade, now, have you?" Gobber turned his attention onto Hiccup and Fishlegs, "Snotlout's been there before, haven't you?"

"Of course," said Snotlout.

"Ah, you could show 'em around!"

"That-" Hiccup cried just as a horrifying look began to spread across Snotlout's face, "Won't be necessary, sir. I've been there before with Father. I can show Fishlegs around before we meet up."

Gobber looked a little miffed that he'd been interrupted. "Oh. Fine, then," he said, "And get that dragon of yours awake, Fishlegs! What use is a sleeping dragon when you're trying to sniff out treasure? Honestly…" He walked on, mumbling.

Fishlegs sighed and looked down at Horrorcow, who was blissfully unaware of anything happening around her, curled up into a ball in her master's arms.

"She looks like a cow," Hiccup remarked as they followed through past the school limits, "No offence, I think it's cute."

"I think it's terribly inconvenient," grumbled Fishlegs, adjusting his hold on her for the eleventh time that day, "But thanks, I guess. I can see how that could be a compliment."

Hiccup looked up at the grey-blue sky. Every few minutes, the dark outline of a hunting dragon zoomed up above in directions to-and-from Hogwarts. "I should be thanking you. You didn't have to come with me."

"Yes, I did."

"You really didn't, but I appreciate it anyway," Hiccup swallowed, and his throat felt dry as concrete, "It's nice to know I'm not alone."

"Well," Fishlegs said, "You've got Snotlout's comforting presence anyway, don't you? I'm sure he'd be up to protecting his little cousin from Scullions any day."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "More like actively trying to put me in the way of a Scullion for homicidal reasons."

"I still think it's ridiculous," Fishleg's voice grew angry, "We're eleven years old, and sure, we're wizards, but all this stuff we have to do would be most definitely illegal if we were Muggles."

"But we're not."

"But we treat them like they're so beneath us," Fishlegs huffed, "Well, at least they think twice about putting untrained kids into the path of certain doom."

Hiccup hummed in agreement. "That's food for thought. Though, Father's going to be supervising us while we're on the island, and I read up on it. The island's actually more of a Scullion conservation site, now. Doesn't mean it's not still dangerous, but there'll be wards put up around the place for sure."

"But what if they're broken?"

"I doubt they would be. I mean, Scullions are a public hazard. Apparently we had to get a permit just to explore the island at all."

Fishlegs paused, and then let out a pained sigh. "Hiccup, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Hiccup went a little red. "I forgot."

"You forgot?"

"Sorry."

Fishlegs became resigned. "No, it's fine. I'm just…Of course there are wards. I'm stupid."

"Hey," Hiccup squeezed his hand earnestly, "It's fine. I thought the same thing, didn't I?"

A delicious smell wafted their way. Hiccup's immediately perked up. It was a sweet aroma, and warm. Inviting it felt now, but it was that kind of smell that would make you sick if there was too much of it. The accumulated scent of multiple food vendors. They had reached Hogsmeade.

Gobber fell back a couple of steps to reach them and nudged them forward. Hiccup winced a little, the man didn't know his own strength or chose to ignore it. "We're almost there. Hurry up, would you? Can't afford to lose you."

Hiccup noticed he hadn't said 'you two'. He frowned and opened his mouth to politely remind Gobber of Fishlegs's presence, but was interrupted by a loud guffaw.

"If it ain't Gobber the Belch! Made it, did you? Didn't think I'd see you here!" A well-built wizard of generous size with a broad smile and round cheeks strode towards them with his arms outstretched.

Gobber guffawed. "Old Baggybum! Haven't seen you in ages!"

"You should visit sometime!" Baggybum the Beerbelly slapped his son's shoulder in acknowledgement and brought Gobber in for a short hug. He made no sign of having noticed the other two boys. "I don't even think Ade's met you yet. Can't allow that!"

"We can't!"

Hiccup took the chance to break away from the group. Hogsmeade was bustling with wizards from the area going about their business: commuting with friends, hitting the pub, buying food and gifts. It was a lovely place, filled with relics from days long past.

He searched for a familiar face among the crowd. He saw one of his aunts here, an uncle there. Aunt Freya recognised his face and came towards them, little Adelaide clutching her hand. Freya was pale and spindly, with thin dark hair and large eyes. She stood out among the Hooligans like a sore thumb, or a toothpick. Adelaide had inherited her colour, and also, unfortunately, her nostrils.

"Hiccup," she smiled wearily, "Long time, no see." Her voice was faint and held a haunting ring to it. Together with her frail appearance, she reminded him of a ghost. But still, she was kind to him, and he was fond of her for it.

"Hello, Aunt Freya," he smiled, and crouched down just a fraction to look his four-year-old cousin in the eye, "And hi, Adelaide!"

Adelaide narrowed her eyes at him and wriggled her fingers in what he assumed was a wave.

"Say 'Hello, Hiccup," said Freya softly.

"Allo Iccub," Adelaide repeated while biting her thumb and not looking at him.

"Are you excited for the hunt?" asked Freya with a conversational tone, "Your uncle hasn't stopped talking about it."

"Um, yes," he bit his lip, "It's really huge."

"Such a big moment for your family!" she swatted Ade's hand from her mouth, "I'm just surprised it took this long!"

"We didn't really know where it was until now," Hiccup explained, "And Professor Ogglebert only discovered it by chance when he got his hand snapped off my Grimbeard's coffin."

Adelaide widened her eyes and Freya sent him a warning look. "How unfortunate for him."

"Yeah."

He stood there fumblingly as his aunt lifted Adelaide up into her arms with difficultly and stood there fussing over her for a second. Adelaide began to grow restless, wriggling in her mother's grasp and saying "Down, down!" and Freya glanced at him pointedly as if to say, "Children!"

Fishlegs must have left Gobber's company as well, and he approached them slowly. He eyed Adelaide and then shifted his gaze to Hiccup questioningly. Hiccup shrugged.

"And who's this young man?" Freya asked brightly, setting a disgruntled Adelaide down again and grabbing her hand to stop her from running off.

"Fishlegs, Nice to meet you," said Fishlegs quietly.

"Mum! Dad wants to introduce Ade to Gobber," Snotlout called over, "Can you bring her?"

"Can you bring her, 'Please', Snotlout!" Freya scolded, but she led Adelaide down to her husband and a growing get-together of old friends. Snotlout sauntered towards Hiccup and Fishlegs, eyes gleaming. Hiccup gulped. At least they had safety in numbers.

"You seriously bringing Fishface along, cousin?" he snorted, "Fat lot of good he's going to do. He's even more pathetic than you are!"

"No, he's not!" Hiccup snapped.

Snotlout's mace morphed into one of mock pity. "Oooh, I'm so sorry, Hiccup," he crooned, his pitch raised an octave, "How could I have forgotten! Friendship is the most sacred thing of all!"

Hiccup breathed in deep to stop himself from blowing up. He glanced at Fishlegs, whose face was reddening in rage. Finding his friend's hand, he squeezed it reassuringly which made him seem to calm down a smidge. The nerves returned, however, when he felt Toothless's weight in his jumper pocket suddenly shift. He stepped back in surprise, which was a mistake because Snotlout took it as a chance to push him roughly so that he fell onto the hard brick floor.

"I'll be finding that treasure, do you hear me?" he snarled, "You might have won those idiots' respect with that stunt you pulled last year, but this time I'll show them all what a failure you really are."

Hiccup could only wince as Snotlout glowered at him, then stalked off in the direction of his parents and Gobber. Fishlegs offered to pull him back up and he accepted his hand gladly.

"Stupid old prick," Fishlegs spat at Snotlout's retreating back.


Hiccup eventually learned that the official meeting place was meant to have been at The Three Broomsticks. Indeed, as his uncle led them there, he could make out many more familiar faces surrounding the area. Gobber left at the door, regretfully shaking hands and butting heads with his old friends who made him promise to visit them that Summer.

Inside had been mostly cleared of non-Haddocks. A couple of hunting dragons brawled in the corner – one of them a huge, gnarled Gronkle and the other a ferocious but tiny Puggle, one of his Aunt Gladioli's 'little darlings' (presumably Tinkle). He found his father very quickly, and the elated old man laughed and patted him on the back and bought both of the boys large Butterbeers. Soon Hiccup found himself and Fishlegs a window seat as far away from most of the relatives as possible and sat down to sip their drinks. They would have been heavenly had it not been for the pit of pure dread in his stomach.

Some would describe it as that feeling of home. Hiccup's right arm curled around his left. But it wasn't exactly his home. Home was his house in Berk, with its old-fashioned wood fire and too-cold winters. The valley across the stream that belonged to no one, and so belonged to everyone. Dizzyingly high clifftops that elevated him to the clouds. A wind that felt like it was out to get him, pushing so hard he was sure he'd fall off if he got too close to the edge, down into the crashing waves that were deep in more ways than one, it seemed. Butterbeer smelled like none of those things. It smelled like home in the sense that it made you feel safe and comfortable. It was the temporary feeling of belonging, of gathering yourself together and feel not-so-broken for a moment. It was nice, but it wasn't home to him. Not really.

He glanced out the window, hoping for some solace. Instead, his view was soured by the figures of his extended family, rearing their hunting dragons and reminding him once again of why he was here. Great. Now he was homesick as well as the three-thousand other negative emotions he was feeling. So much for a 'good year', he thought cynically.

There was a sudden hush, alerting both the boys. Hiccup looked up towards the bar and sighed. His father's arm was looped around a smiling Alvin Ogglebert, who cleared his throat delicately as all eyes fell upon him.

"Hello and welcome, dear Haddock family! How wonderful it is to see you all here looking so eager! It is truly more than I could have hoped, truly!"

This earned grunts of approval from the crowd.

Stoick began to explain their plan. "We got the permission sorted out weeks ago and everything else is sorted. The Scullions aren't able to lay a finger on us 'cause of the wards and my friend Alvin here has set us up a Portkey which we'll be heading over to in about ten minutes! Finish yer drinks, ready your dragons and prepare yourselves! Remember, we're making history today!"

A triumphant roar rose up among the crowd.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Hiccup mumbled.

"You and me both," agreed Fishlegs.