Chapter Twenty-Two:

Burst

BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

AGATHA WHITE HAS REPLACED MINERVA MCGONAGALL AS HEADMISTRESS OF HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.

#

The wild and untamed red hair seemed to float through the corridors. The girl would turn at the corners, dodge the doors and sprint through every possible group of people. The girl had the most daring look in her eyes, and the most rebellious attitude as she ran past the Grounds and down the gardens to Care of Magical Creatures.

"Mer," A sweet feminine voice rose up as she approached the group of students. "We're here." The girl said.

Merida had the stormiest look as she approached the voice. She neared a girl with the most dashing golden hair, long enough to form a tall beehive over her head and still leave enough to fall over her back. Her deep green eyes were so lively that they seemed to fill her surroundings in dizzying warmth. And as they fell on Merida, this ravishing girl immediately pouted, figuring this was going to be one of the hard days when Merida would be nearly hostile.

"Azel," Merida greeted, her voice lower than usual.

"Guessing you woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Said the girl.

"No, the bed woke up the wrong side of me." Came the reply, sang in a deep Northern accent. "How late am I?"

"Not much," Azel said, looking down at her parchment as she scribbled with her quill. "White is on a good mood today,"

"Ah guess takin' out the Headmistress would make her day." Merida smirked. "Any news from Professor Longbottom though?"

Azel shook her head with a disappointed sigh. "He only told me to stay alert."

"Ah wonder how long eet will take until he calls it." Then Merida looked up, searching for the teacher. "And Ah also wonder where the hell is that disgusting woman,"

"She quit the class now that she became Headmistress." Azel explained. "Now she can pester us full time."

Merida wondered on it. "Well, at least we won't have any tortured animals for a while."

Azel smirked.

#

There were deep stormy clouds floating over the castle's towers that afternoon. It seemed to spread inside the walls as well. The students walked quietly, too scared to call in any attention from the Aurors or professors or, God forbid, from White.

The days were dark. Everyone could feel it. The tension seemed to emanate from the walls, waiting to erupt violently.

Spread through the castle, voice channels would echo to the students:

"Any student organisation is now disbanded. Failure to comply will lead to immediate expulsion!"

"All third years must submit themselves to an interview in my office by five o'clock!"

"I wish these things weren't tracked." Jack spoke to Hiccup once, low enough only he could hear.

"What, so you could explode it or something?" He asked. Jack nodded.

"Or something." He mumbled.

Hiccup could feel this tension working up on the taller boy. He didn't like it one bit. "Hey," He called, nudging his shoulder. "What's up with you?" He asked.

Jack shrugged. "I guess I'm tired." He said simply.

"Oh, cut the bollocks," Hiccup retorted, and Jack breathed deeply. "I can tell something's bothering you. I just want to help."

Jack didn't respond, his eyes scanning the floor around the other boy until they reached up to his eyes. Then he remained quiet.

"Oh," Hiccup muttered. He knew what that meant.

"Yeah," Jack replied, brilliantly, he thought. The boys had started to walk again, this time in a much slower pace; the tension growing more awkwardly. Hiccup stared at his shoes as he walked, but the other's blue eyes roamed from the brunette boy to the nearly empty corridors around them and to the tapestries where man-sized chess pieces would stand against the walls. Hogwarts was full of these statues ornamenting the halls. How dusty can they be? Jack wondered before grabbing Hiccup by his wrist and pulling him with a sharp tug, both boys disappearing under the shadows behind the iron king piece. Jack pushed Hiccup backwards against the dark wall, the boy nearly losing balance before the pale hands held his neck and cheeks, slamming his lips with his own.

It took a moment before the shorter boy allowed himself to sink into the feeling that was Jack, his knees nearly giving in. Everything was so vicious about that moment, that Hiccup nearly forgot they could still be heard when a particularly loud moan escaped his mouth. Jack's pale hand almost slapped his mouth, holding itself back just enough not to be hurtful. Hiccup pushed it down.

"I thought we weren't going to do this." He panted, his eyelids half-closed, his mind foggy.

"Agh, don't ruin it." Jack replied, leaning his back against the iron statue while Hiccup held himself against the wall. They stood there, breathing heavily, the heat of the moment slowly undoing itself between them.

"How is it gonna be, Jack?" Hiccup asked between his breaths. "Are we gonna keep saying we can't do this and then just steal these moments?"

"It could be." Jack shot, but in truth he felt nearly attacked. But what was the pointing in hiding by then? "I like you so damn much."

The other boy only stared, smiling faintly. "I really like you too." He replied, equally breathless. Then he leaned over Jack, his hands holding down on his chest. "Let's just keep this to ourselves." He concluded. Jack agreed before recapturing his lips.

It became a recurring habit. Jack and Hiccup would meet in the quiet hours, sneaking in behind the library bookshelves, or behind the old statues that scattered around the school, and changed short words before one of them would end up making a move. Jack's lips were often dry after his make out sections with Hiccup.

There must have been a list with the strangest places they went to make out. Inside the broomsticks closet, against the window of the Seventh Floor, the empty classroom near the Headmistress's office. Once, Jack's hands held too tightly over the Hiccup's robes, and they heard a small burbling grunt before Hiccup nearly shout for Toothless. They made sure the dragon was never at the inside pocket over Hiccup's chest again.

After one of those times, sneaking behind the tapestry of the double headed witch, they saw it. Walking right out of the fifth floor corridor, Aster stumbled like a drunk man, his hands pressing an ice cube against his forehead. Right behind him, Astrid kept her hands around his shoulder, guiding him through the corridor until he collapsed on the nearest seat.

Hiccup slowly walked up to them, Jack on his toll. "What happened to him?" He said, gingerly.

Astrid jumped at the sudden voice, but immediately rolled her eyes in relief at the sight of their friends. "He just had the interview with White." She explained. Jack had his mouth open.

Hiccup kneeled near Aster, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. His eyes had deep dark circles around them, and his lips were dry. "What happened to you, mate?"

Aster hugged himself, shaking his head. "I can't remember." He said. "I can't remember-" he repeated, shaking now violently.

"It's okay," Astrid came closer, also kneeling next to the boy, holding him steady. By the corner of his eyes, Jack saw how Astrid's eyes were glassy.

"I don't want to go back there." Aster said. "She wants us," He started, now looking directly at Hiccup. "She wants the muggle-borns."

The three friends remained in silence. Just then, another student walked right out from where Aster came. This one alone, and like Aster, hugging his chest, sweat covering his frightened pale face. He stopped in front of the four teens.

"She did it to you too, didn't she?" He said with a weak voice. "She's going to have us all killed by the end of the year."

A thunder exploded in the sky, and the light bathed that corridor, illuminating them in ghostly looks. Steps echoed in the corridor, and for a moment, Jack feared it would be White, but he soon found relief when he saw Professor Longbottom walking towards the teens.

"You should be going now," Longbottom said, a careful look shadowing his features. "White is looking for any trouble she can find tonight."

#

The students didn't go quietly under White's ruling.

When Hiccup walked down the marble stairs that morning, entering the corridors for the third floor, he stopped dead on his tracks:

Just a couple steps away from his place, a small green lake merged from the stone floor, trees and bushes pointing up from the water. The smell of putrefaction rose up from the corridor and flooded his nostrils, and Hiccup covered his nose with his sleeves not to feel the horrific scent. He could hear other students gathering behind himself, and from the other side of the swamp, he saw more students joining and even laughing at the view.

That is when he looked up, his eyes opening wide. Tied from the tree by the neck, hanging above six feet, he saw a damaged wooden doll of a witch, crudely resembling White, the horn of a stag deeply sunk in her neck. A stripe was waving by tip of the arrow:

Purity will kill us all.

#

That night, when the castle was silent, it happened. The air shimmered and shook before the walls around the office in the third floor exploded. The dark mass formed and condensed into a raging beast that broke through the concrete, smashed the corridor all the way into the office door, where it slammed against the wooden surface. Golden lights erupted, a protective spell that cast out the Obscurus back towards the hall, and with a pained sound, it flew back towards the windows, smashing the glass and crossing the grounds into the woods.

#

"Gentleman, we are running out of time." The grand Obscurial spoke behind his mask.

Again, the Order of the six Obscurial wizards was gathered in front of the fire, burning the wooden snake under the starred sky. Red light bathed their features beneath their hoods, and they all had apprehensive smirks to their faces.

"Our agent in the castle still had no luck in capturing the Obscurus, but I have been told that the child might be coming to her."

"The Order is infiltrated in the castle," spoke Gothel, the woman with long curly hair and some sort of cruel beauty. "They are trying to delay the Ministry's intervention in the school."

"We cannot be held back by a patch of mudbloods," Spoke Gerbier in his thick accent. "The Order of the Phoenix is nothing but a small obstacle."

The lead wizard stared at the French Obscurus with amusement. "I fear you underestimate our enemies, Gerbier." He said. "As far as I can remember, they were the first defence line against Lord Voldemort not twenty years ago."

"Pure luck." Gerbier replied, but there were no approving cheers from anyone in the Dark Order.

"How is our search for the Box?" The wizard spoke again, and now McNair stepped ahead.

"The box is hidden in the Castle, master." He said. "Deeply guarded in the heart of magic. It is virtually inaccessible."

"Not without a distraction, I assume." The grand Obscurus spoke again. He stepped closer to the fire, and the wizards could now see his mask, a metallic raven that seemed to shimmer with the fire in front of them. "You were a faithful servant of Lord Voldemort, McNair."

The wizard smiled, proudly. "Yes, I was, master."

"You've been hiding your true magical self for eleven years. In this Order, you have held your chair for the shortest time. So tell me," he looked down, walking away from McNair. "Once we have reached our goal, once we possess the box, and it's curse has been released into the world, how would you like your duty as the executioner?"

McNair smiled. "If it honours you, master, I would like it very much."

Behind his mask, the grand Obscurial smirked. "The attack on the London Eye was a tremendous success, but still, the Ministry managed to hide their existence from the Muggles." He looked back at the fire, the flames dancing around the snake. "Start spreading the word, gentlemen. Lady," Gothel bowed. "It's time the muggles start fearing magic again. Let the war start."

#

Professor Neville walked quickly around the halls, his hands cold, grabbing the edge of his robes, dirty with the herbology class. He was a tired man, two wars were stealing most of his youthful looks. His beard had yet to be made and the bags under his eyes gave his features a dark expression. He looked around nervously, making sure that he could blend in among the mass of students in a hurry to get to class.

Jack kept fidgeting with his feather through Transfiguration. The woman at the end of the room scribbling furiously as the students wrote down four times what was written in the blackboard.

"I'm sorry, professor White," Hannah Miller rose her hand, timidly. "Aren't we supposed to learn how to transform the creatures back to their original form after we cast the spell?" She said, looking with pity at the small cup on her table that used to be a raven.

"Yes dear, but that was when Professor McGonagall gave the class." White said in her minimal and enthusiastic tone. "However, I as a new teacher, must follow the standard Ministry procedures that ensure that you are taught properly."

#

Neville Longbottom hurried in his steps, breathing heavily until he reached the History of Magic classroom. He knocked once before entering, nearly out of breath. "I'm sorry, Professor Bean, but I need to borrow Mister Haddock for a moment."

Hiccup looked at the doorway where Professor Neville was standing. Behind him, he distinguished the high blonde beehive from Azel's hair and the characteristically wild red curls of Merida.

#

"I must inform you, Miss Miller, that as an enemy of the Ministry, I highly doubt that there is any value to McGonagall's old lessons. In fact you should forget most of what you read."

"That's bollocks!" Another voice echoed, but no one could tell where this one came from. It was a boy, but Jack did not recognize it. It was as if emanated from the very walls.

"Who said that?" White demanded, taking her wand out of her dull brown robes. "Who was it?!" She insisted. Everyone stared at the walls in silence, until the first bang exploded.

This one came from outside the door, banging the wood, and from the corridors everyone heard the shouts, some of them scared, but in further notice they sounded more like laughter.

"Everyone, stay in your seats!" White nearly screamed, but there wasn't a single student sitting in its chair anymore. Everyone rushed to the door, swinging it open and then they saw it:

Fireworks lightened up the staircase to the Transfiguration classroom. The bright colours exploded and sparkled through the walls and flew at every direction over the students heads. While some people panicked and ducked, Jack swung his wand to his desk, commanding "Accio!" until his backpack flew to his hand. He barely saw White, screaming her lungs out as she was nearly buried under the teenagers before he saw the small fireworks flying inside the classroom. More screams rose, but those were filled with joy.

In the mess, Jack ran down the stairs, nearly tumbling on a few students until he reached the bottom, sparks shooting and exploding way above on the ceiling, but originating smaller sets of tiny fireworks around the wondered students. He saw that a new swamp had formed on the corridor. The fifth on the castle only that week.

"Anyone that do not return to the classroom immediately will face detention!" Jack heard White's voice trying to scream louder than the fireworks and the crowd that yelled along, but nobody really seemed to care or listen. The fireworks were exploding so loud above them that no one could blame them anyways.

Suddenly he felt something grabbing his right hand, and he looked down to see the reddish brown hair of Hiccup, a rushed expression as he tried to drag Jack away from the crowd.

"What are you doing here?" Jack nearly shouted, but Hiccup shushed him with a squeeze to his hand.

"Not here." He said. "Come, everyone is waiting."

"Waiting where-?!"

"Shush!" Hiccup ordered, and Jack went silent.

They ran up all the Great Staircase until they were at the seventh floor, all the time still hearing the fireworks' bangs on the lower floors. Hiccup guided the boy further through the corridors, and Jack was about to ask where they were going when Hiccup suddenly stopped.

"Hiccup, I-"

"Not now." Hiccup said, and the smaller boy furrowed his eyebrows in deep concentration. "Ugh, how do I get in again?"

For a moment Jack thought 'He lost it', when out of nowhere, a highly polished door materialised from the wall in front of them. The magic was so simple but so beautiful that Jack stared in awe.

"How…?" He started.

"Go on, get in-" Hiccup pushed him inside, and the heavy doors seemed so light that Jack wondered how they didn't fall from the portrait that held them. Jack was stunned to see a beautiful and spacious room, lit with a bluish-green light that seemed to irradiate from everywhere. He was about to start making questions when he realised that they were not alone.

Several students were spread through the room, waiting for him, and Professor Longbottom came up from between them: "Glad you two made it safely. Welcome, Jackson, to the Room of Requirement."


I hope you are all safe. Thank you so much for the comments! They've made my days. If I may dare to ask, please keep doing that. Your words are too powerful.
I hope you are all safe. I would like to give a special shout-out to all of you who right now are trapped in an abusive household. I can't stress how lonely you must be feeling. I'm with you.

Send me a private message if necessary - if you need an urgent reply, which I'll do my best to do so, open your message with '#Mars'.
Please, do stay busy. Stay strong. Stay sharp.