Chapter 15: Hiccup's POV

Hiccup gets a practical experience in the magic of music.


Reviews:

elocinthelost: I love it when you livetweet, have I ever told you? It's a thrilling experience.

Yes! He is real! The little beans' reunion was by far my favorite scene to write in this story yet.

Polyglot indeed lmao. There's a specific word I'm thinking of, and it's here for a big, biiiiig reason. (grin emoji)

I love that you mentioned the flower funeral. Rapunzel will remember it and the flower she buried for many, many years, bless her.

I'm so glad the psych evaluation went over well. And ABSOLUTELY RAVENCLAW APPRECIATION CHAPTER. HIGH FIVE! I've got more song recs for this House and the others on the way, and I'll be sure to post them somewhere when I'm done!

Reading your words honestly make me so happy. Happy that I can convey what I feel and it can reach someone else, happy that they can find something to empathise within it, too. I really do want to do a good job at this and give it as much care as I can, and I'm relieved beyond words that what I've come up with so far is going over so well with others. I wish I could give everyone who's found something to relate in this a big hug, just as I wish I could give hugs to these four characters. But in the end, I can at least write these stories about them and know that they might offer comfort and good things to other people, too.

A/N:

This is a short, filler-ish chapter but I hope it tides everyone over until the next update.

Also THIS STORY HAS CROSSED THE 100K MILESTONE WOOHOO


One thing no one talked about was that there were no rules stating whether or not students were allowed inside the Hogwarts kitchens. This was mainly because the kitchens resided in the domain of the castle's Imāris, and as such they were the ones who decided who or what was and was not allowed.

"... and now, slowly ... let them down ..." Hiccup said, carefully lowering his wand and allowing the tray to slide onto a drying contraption. Next to him, a hare, a weasel, and several larger than average mice did the same with their own trays, only while Hiccup used a wand, they used thin strands of magic channelled from their paws.

Runes lined the sides of the contraption. Hiccup found one in particular carved into a corner and touched his wand to it, reading it out loud. The rune lit up, the light spreading to all the others and the device rumbling to life. Now that he'd activated it, the rune circuit would continue to pull magical energy from its surroundings and sustain itself.

Hiccup turned to the other Imāris and clapped his hands together. "Now that the cakes are drying, they should take about 10 minutes to have the excess syrup removed from them, after which they can be taken out. It's okay if they're inside a little longer than that but they should not be taken out too early, or else they'll fall apart. Understood?"

There were a chorus of 'yes's from all around. After an exchange of 'thank you's between Hiccup and his little batch of kitchen staff, several of them parted to do other tasks while a few remained to monitor the cakes. It took about long enough for one of the Imāris to fetch one of the assistant head cooks, a portly raccoon wearing a frilly green apron and standing at a little above Hiccup's midriff when walking upright. On her arm hung a checkered cloth covered basket.

"Hullo, young master. Everything going well here?" She asked.

"Everything is fine, Miss Treaky. The cakes should be done soon."

"Excellent. We can have a taste test and see where we're at." She nodded to a few of the staff that were milling around. "Thank you for taking on the younger ones. It's very important that they get to practice their magic while it's developing."

"I'm happy to help. I hope you all enjoy the cakes."

She grinned a sharp, toothy grin up at him. "I'm sure we will. Not everyday we get to taste foreign recipes from a book. By the way, if you happen to find any classmates who know some Mediterranean recipes, be sure to send them here. We're running low on those this year. Always best for the newer ones to learn from those who know how it's done."

About a month into school, Hiccup found out that two of his books held recipes and various magical techniques related to them: the red covered book with the uncommon household spells, and the diary of the traveling witch. Curious to try them out and not knowing any other way to go about it, Hiccup had gone down to the kitchens to ask for assistance. He was thoroughly surprised when, upon hearing that he had recipes with him, they promptly dragged him inside and all but demanded he show those recipes to them so that they could learn alongside him.

The Imāris of Hogwarts, he learnt, had a revolving door of new trainees coming in every few years. Although those trainees had received basic training - things that a woodland creature with enough intelligence to communicate their thoughts and carry out simple instructions could do - it took some time for their bodies to grow enough to gain things like hight, speech, prehensile thumbs and such, and even longer for their individual magics to develop.

When they reached that stage in their growth, they were given specific instructions to interact very closely with the magically gifted humans, and to practice their magic as often as they could. Of the many ways of doing that one of the convenient ones was when students and staff went to the kitchens with requests for different foods (or, in Hiccup's case, concerns about dietary restrictions). This way the people taught the Imāris a variety of recipes, and the younger Imāris in turn got the opportunity to strengthen their abilities and further grow their magics.

These interactions usually earned Hiccup a small parcel of treats for him to eat later. In this case, a basket of assorted biscuits.

Miss Treaky gave it a final look before she handed the basket over to Hiccup. "One last thing. I have a request for you. Pip!" She hollered.

Immediately a red squirrel about knee hight popped into existence, its nondescript smock flaring out before gently falling to just above its feet. It dipped a quick bow to both of them.

"This is Pip. Pip, this is young master Hiccup." Miss Treaky introduced. "Pip has recently graduated to Apparation, but he still needs practice with it and several other skills. Please request for him if you want food, or if you wish for him to fulfil a small errand. He will be happy to help."

Pip bowed again to Hiccup, this time slightly deeper. "It is an honour to be of assistance, young master Hiccup!"

"Likewise." The thing was, Hiccup had already read through his school books. And there was something about what Miss Treaky said that, although he could guess the answer, he still wanted to ask about. "... Um, I have a question. When you say 'Apparation' ...?"

"What I mean is that Imāris do not follow human laws. Our customs are different, our magics are too. Which means," she turned to Pip, "that we each have to exercise our magic the way it best suits us and we must learn to do it well. Isn't that right, Pip?"

At her pointed look, the squirrel meekly nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. You have three other young masters and mistresses to give you tasks now, don't you? That much should do for you, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"See to it that you serve them well. Now off with you, you have chores to do. You as well, young master. Off you get."

Hiccup bid a hasty farewell and exited the kitchens, lest he get in Miss Treaky's way again and earn another evening of mending and scrubbing dishes. Apparently, he'd stuck around long enough for his clumsiness to introduce itself.

Besides, he had someplace to be. He'd requested the large basket he had for a reason.

Hiccup had never been there before so it took some wrong turns and asking for directions, but soon he was walking towards the Music Room. Up until the day before he hadn't even known there was a music club, let alone an official Music Room, but that's what happened when one of his roommates had helped untangle him from a somewhat sentient and (allegedly) very friendly plant in the Hufflepuff common room and Hiccup had stuck up the nerve to make small talk. Hiccup made a mental note to do that more often – the making small talk, that is, not getting caught by suspicious plants.

The end of his current corridor held a large painting of a sunny forest on one wall and a statue of a dancing, dainty creature with a lute on one hip and a missing leg. Directly ahead there stood a set of ornately carved, honey-coloured doors that gently curved to the ceiling.

... He couldn't hear any music coming from there. But then again, it's not like he'd find any other doors that looked like that. The directions had been very specific.

Hiccup hadn't landed more than one knock before the door easily swung open.

"... hello? Is this the Music Roo-aah!"

Hiccup's feet flew out from under him and suddenly the floor was a lot further than it should've been and gravity didn't make sense and sound was everywhere and oh gods he was going to die he was going to-

A strong pair of arms caught him. Laughter filtered through the clashing sounds and it took a minute for Hiccup to realise he'd squeezed his eyes shut.

He opened them. Cheerful brown eyes greeted his own.

Said eyes belonged to a light brown face surrounded by frizzy chestnut hair and split by a wide, beaming smile.

"Hello! Welcome to the Music Club! Sorry about that." The girl said.

Hiccup realised that he was currently cradled in her arms and his face heated up. The moment she set him down he stumbled back, the somehow still intact basket clutched desperately to his chest.

"I- I- um, I ... thanks. Sorry. Um."

She laughed, waving him off. "It's fine. I'm the one who should be apologising. My name is Sophia, by the way. Sophia Costa, fourth year."

Hiccup noticed her yellow tie and wondered how he couldn't remember seeing her before. He shook her hand. "I'm Haddock, well, my last name is – uh, I mean, you can ... call me Hiccup. First year."

"Hiccup? Oh! Are you Joao's roommate?"

... Oh, right. That's who he'd talked to the other day. "Yeah."

"I'm his sister. He talks about you. I'm happy to meet you."

"Same to you. Um, where did that sound ..." Hiccup took his first look around. The room was large and bright, with a vaulted ceiling and several curving windows. Most of the students were concentrated in the centre of the room but a few others milled about in small groups. But instead of noticing all that, Hiccup's immediate focus was instead taken up by the gargantuan instrument that towered before him.

That … didn't necessarily seem the right word for it. An instrument would be something like a flute, or a drum, or at the very least a lyre like the people in his village sometimes played. Something that made sense. Calling this thing a musical instrument would be like calling a dragon the size of a modest continent with wings and flames and talons and detachable venomous darts a "wee lil' beastie". Metal and wood twined around each other, connected together in a dizzying array of strings and levers and gears and who knew what else. About half of the thing defied gravity. There were students climbing on it to get to different parts of it. As he watched, one person nearly disappeared inside of it, the only visible part of them left being their shoes.

The strangest thing about it was that, if one only focused on small sections, then there was a sense that individual instruments did, in fact, reside within it and could be plucked out if they wanted to be. One bit of it looked like a harp. Another section held a bunch of giant spoons. Several trumpet horns sprouted out from the top. "... woah ..."

"That's what made that big sound just now."

"... what is it?"

"Don't know yet. We were trying to test it out to see what would happen right when you walked in. Interesting thing, isn't it?

"That's one word for it." Hiccup mumbled. Apparently, he wasn't as quiet as he'd thought because she snorted. Hiccup ducked his head.

Deciding to get on with things, he asked, "Do the instruments here often do that?"

"Not unless you want them to. I mean, they could, but when you get the hang of it, most of it really depends on what you want to happen and actually making sure to channel the right magic into the instrument. And also, if you were wondering, you don't just have to play them here to make something happen."

Hiccup thought about it. "... so playing an instrument is like casting a spell?" That sounded incredibly corny, if popular media was anything to go by.

"It is, but it's also … different." Sophia bit her lip. One of her hands came up to tap her chin. "... It's like - see, you know how a part of magic is about communication, right?"

He nodded, trying to ignore the parade of radio jingles that had happily marched into his brain.

"Well, take that concept and, like, make it into a conversation? Kind of like that. With music it's not just conveying one specific thing but usually a constant stream of communication and changing meanings and you have to be able to balance that and the magic you're using, too. And you have to be very sure of what you're trying to do before you go putting magic into it. Music is a powerful thing, you know."

So music could do things, could it? As long as it had intent and magic put into it? That ... opened a lot of doors for him. Doors that led to countless corridors for hundreds of rooms, all of which could have connecting rooms and alcoves and attachments and even balconies. Definitely more than could reasonably fit into a single building. Or a handful of notebooks.

The thought of it all was enough to summon a headache. As if he didn't have enough to deal with for him to not have already assigned permanent mental lodgings for headaches and stress and worry and the rest of that circus and yes he's the one who'd agreed to this and no he didn't have to go this far on what was at that point in time several dozen personal projects that wouldn't do anything for his studies at all. But he couldn't just drop everything and leave things like that, not when he'd already decided to see this through. Whatever "this" was.

Well, then. Fine. It was fine. He'd deal with it.

But getting back to the point, this "music magic" was quiet ... wilful, in a way. Certainly something that needed a lot of control, and a good deal of power. It was definitely strong enough to send him flying into the air. Hiccup involuntarily shivered.

"By the way, what's that?"

Seeing where Sophia was looking, he glanced down. "Oh, right." Clearing his throat, he held out the basket. "I brought snacks."

"Oooh did you? How nice! Let me see." She took the basket from him and uncovered it. "Hey! Everyone! Snack break!"

Needless to say, the biscuits went down spectacularly. Just as well that he'd insisted on bringing so much; the basket made at least two or three rounds before he held it again. By the time he left, it was with requests to visit again provided he brought more treats with him.

It was why he was so surprised when, later that evening, he found three sugar biscuits still nestled within the blanket. He fetched a handkerchief and went about wrapping them up, while nearby there came a series of clicking sounds.

He glanced up to see Nessi gazing disapprovingly at him.

"Don't worry, I have other snacks, too." She issued a scolding chitter and Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. I won't miss supper this time. I promise. Happy?" He held out his hand to her.

Evidently, she was, because she ran up his arm and hopped onto his shoulder. After seeing to a few more things, Hiccup made his way to his soon becoming favorite secret passage into the library. The lanterns were already lit when he got there.

In one hand he held his wand. In the other, one of the two "misbehaving" books. The book was a faded, splotchy grey that could have once been blue or green or yellow. It had no visible title, not on the cover, the spine, or the back. The pages held no words.

There wasn't much hope in him making any headway that evening, but at least now he knew something of what he was working with. Hopefully, it would be enough for him to start looking for answers.

He opened the book and the air filled with music.


Cast List:

Sophia Costa (Hufflepuff, 4th Year) : Original Sibling of Joao from The Book of Life

Joao Costa (Hufflepuff, 1st Year) : The Book of Life