Chapter Twenty-Six:
Ardere
The following afternoon, Luka Southerland had been summoned to White's office. And not long after, was sent back to the Gryffindor common room with snow-pale skin, sulky eyes and dreadful shakes and chills. The owls had stopped sending anything that week, the only owls that managed to enter the castle brought the Daily Prophet – and then the poor animals rushed to leave before they could get shot down by stunning spells. More owls had been found injured at the school grounds, and Madam Pomfrey now complained how she only seemed to treat animals in her hospital wing.
Aster had stormed into the Library, searching for Hiccup, and as prophesied, he found the boy buried behind a heavy book named The Beasts of the Far-South Underworlds. But the boy hadn't noticed him yet, so he grabbed the parchment in his pocket and silently shot it over the book, spooking him as Hiccup yelped, kicking a chair and knocking the back of his head on the wall with a loud 'thump'.
"What was that for?!"
"You and snowflake ar' equal, nevah manage to take my pranks." Aster crossed his arms, smiling at the awkward position Hiccup was sitting.
Hiccup didn't respond, still glaring daggers at Aster when the taller boy gestured to the parchment on his lap. The boy opened it curiously, but wincing from the pain. As he read, though, his features went from confusion to utter disgust. "She's seriously doing this?"
"Who's gonna stop her now?" Aster's mocking held hopelessness. "I think it's better if we simply lay low right now… either we're getting kicked outta Hogwarts or we'll have to find our own way out."
"You're not getting kicked out," Hiccup said stubbornly. "And I'm not letting you out."
"Ah, you do care." He said, smiling half-heartedly. Hiccup gave him an unamused look, and it was all it took for Aster to give in, nodding as he sat down next to his friend. "Okay, now in all seriousness… You do understand what this means, right?"
Hiccup looked down. Of course he knew.
The Ardere Decree:
Any and all kinds of relationship between muggle-born students and pure-blooded students is now forbidden.
Muggle-Born students when inquired of suspicious illegal activities must submit themselves to the Headmistress or High-Inquisitor immediately.
Inspections after suspicious theft will now take effect, to guarantee that no pure-blooded wizard or witch is being stripped from their magic by muggle-borns.
THE HIGH INQUISITOR
"You do realise we're not going by any of her rules, right?" Hiccup spoke, crumbling the parchment and throwing it across the library's corridor.
"You know what this woman can do, Hiccup." Aster retorted. "You remember what she did to you… what she did to both of us."
"I remember…" Hiccup said, but then his voice seemed to drift off. "Wait… Tell me we're not the only ones pissed off about this." He looked at Aster then, who was shaking his head with a scowl. "Then maybe you and I don't have to lay low."
"Alright Aster, so make sure that she'll get you into detention as late as possible." Hiccup said, running through the plan for the tenth time. Both boys were crouched behind the statue of the one-eyed witch, ten minutes before White's Transfiguration class. "Getting into detention is easy for you, and we know she'll be targeting you, but also try not getting her too upset..." Hiccup's hands were shaking as he examined the Labyrinth again, Toothless resting on the Australian boy's palm as he examined Hiccup rummage through his papers, every detail of the plan carefully written on the parchment. "Also make sure that she targets you alone, don't get anyone else involved in whatever you do… Unless of course if they step in… which they probably won't anyway…"
"Bloody hell, Hiccup," Aster grabbed his friend's arm, making him focus again. "You do realise that you are way more nervous than I am, righ'?" He pointed, making Hiccup groan in frustration.
"I do know, but I don't want anyone to get face to face with that thing again, unprepared, and especially not you." Hiccup stated, running his fingers through his reddish-brown hair. "Once she sets your detention meeting…"
"I'll meet you back here and we'll set the rest of it." He said simply, knowing that Hiccup would only start rambling about every little detail again, and both boys grinned nervously. "I'll be fine, you are the one that seriously shouldn't have skipped breakfast."
"Oh, shut up, sorry for worrying." Hiccup beamed, and Aster laughed. As they got back on their feet, Hiccup made sure to follow Aster as much as he could in the corridors before it'd be suspicious. Aster laughed again.
"Stop snickering." Said Hiccup.
"It's gonna work, you tosser, if anyone can come up with strange mental plans here it's you." He said reassuringly. "Here." He lifted his hands, offering Toothless still curled in his small finger, and Hiccup gingerly took into his hands.
"Give her hell." He said, and Aster nodded before walking up to the Transfiguration classroom.
The chairs were still divided in strange corridors. That same pattern had repeated itself through all classrooms, where White made it mandatory to divide students between their blood status. Now, they were not only divided, but also White managed to hang a small sign written mudblood on the back of every chair. Aster frowned before sitting down along with the other couple muggle-borns in that class. Astrid showed up moments later, sending Aster a deep look of sorrow before slumping on her chair.
When White walked into class moments later with her usual "Good morning, children", Aster's stomach sank in despair of what he was about to do. "All the muggle-borns are in their proper seat, good…" She muttered as she circled her desk. "Please make sure to take notes of what's written on the board… What are you doing, Mr. Weiss? Get back to your table."
Aster stood still behind his desk, and a deadly silence fell on the room. White cleared out her throat, straightening her posture. "I won't tell you again-"
"I am not a mudblood." Aster spoke. All the students in that classroom shifted on their seats, some of them coughing. Astrid sent the boy a pleading look, her eyes wide open.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor." White said again, now forcing her throat. "And I will make sure to remind you that you are…"
"Incendio!" Aster flicked his wand toward his chair, so both the wood and the paper sign burst into wild flames, the word mudblood flickering into smoke, unrepairable. Around him, a tumult broke when people started cheering and clapping in ovation.
"One hundred points from Gryffindor!" She yelled, a loud crack echoing from her wand, making everyone sit down again before she stepped towards the boy. "And you, your insolent filthy…"
"Incendio!" Someone else screamed, and Aster noticed that another chair had burst into flames. "Stop! One hundred points from Hufflepuff as well-"
"Incendio!" The third student on his roll shouted, and more fire and a cheerful applause rose from the room. Soon, a Gryffindor set his wand to White's very table, and the whole class went wild when the legs won life, dancing to a non-existent music and throwing books, ink and feathers from the professor's desk while its legs shuffled on the wooden floor, everyone cheering with laughter as the teacher's skin turned scarlet in rage.
This went terribly wrong… Aster thought.
And indeed, much later, when most of the Transfiguration classroom had been sent to detention, Merida walked down the corridors of the Dungeons to her common room. She stopped dead on her tracks once she saw at least ten students hanging from their wrists on the cavernous ceiling, the deep green light that shimmered from the lake reflecting on their faces. The fierce and untameable red hair made Aster recognise her in an instant, and her utter look of shock was enough to make him grim even through the complete bizarreness of the scene before groaning:
"I know I'm handsome, Red, now would ya please stop starin' and get us out of here?"
"That's not what we planned!" Hiccup yelled once he met up with Aster by dinnertime, at the dungeons, one corridor before the kitchens. "How did you even manage to…?" The short boy gestured to Aster's wrists, still marked by the chains.
"Merida gave me some help." He simply shrugged. "Most of the class went bonkers after I stood up, and I know, I know," Hiccup sent him an exasperated look. "I know ya told me to get to her office, but seriously… Nobody could stand that woman, Hiccup! If anythin', more people takin' a stand means better chance of fightin' her off."
The shorter boy groaned as he leaned against a wall, sliding to the floor. "What do we do now?" He said.
"I was hopin' you would come up with a plan." Aster admitted, speaking more to himself. Hiccup sent him another dry stare.
"Don't look at me like that, I've just been hung by my wrists on the dungeon. You haven't had that yet." Hiccup rolled his eyes, but nodded apologetically.
He mumbled an apology, but Aster only nudged him as he sat down near the boy, grinning. Hiccup immediately took his nearest hand, his fingers gently running over the reddened area where the chains had strained the skin of his wrists. "I'm sorry I put you through this." He spoke as his fingers touched the aching skin. "I didn't mean to get you hurt."
"It's nothin' I wouldn't have done anyways." Aster whispered. "Seein' the look on that woman's face just made my week."
Hiccup looked at him before smiling back. "All out war?"
"All out war." Aster agreed, throwing his arm around the other boy's shoulders and giving him a squeeze before they heard steps, and suddenly Astrid launched herself at Aster, punching any inch of skin she could reach. Merida and Azel appeared next, entering the underground corridor for the kitchens, looks of complete shock plastered on their faces.
"You stupid-reckless-imbecile!" She punctuated every word with a hit, aiming her fists on Aster's chest. "You could have gotten yourself expelled!"
"Yeah, but I… didn't?-"
"Calm down, Astrid!" Hiccup's voice quivered with his raised hand towards the girl, but she paid him no mind.
"Don't you dare justify yourself!" Astrid was nearly screaming, to the point Azel had to remind her that someone could hear. "And you," She pointed at Hiccup, who gulped before stepping back. "I know this was your idea. I told you guys not to try anything just yet!"
"Oh, come on, let the boys rebel for a li-oh bit," Merida spoke, walking towards the kitchen entrance. "Some anarchy has never killed anyone before." She said, and then thought back. "At least not more' than modern monetary systems do anyways." And then she raised her fingers to tickle on the pear of the fruit-themed painting. The fruit giggled and twisted until a handle appeared, and all six teenagers found their way into an enormous, high-ceiling room, large as the great hall above it, with mounts of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stonewalls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end.
For the past few weeks, the group of teenagers barely went on the Great Hall to eat, another way of staying as far away from White as possible. The elves never stopped working, already used to the frequent presence of the students that ran from the gathering on the Hall above them. But even them seemed more sympathetic to the situation of the boys. To Hiccup specially, when the boy was very fond of the working creatures, thanking and even helping them with small gestures – inadvertently causing the elves to deem him as their favourite.
The five teenagers sat down on the table closest to the fireplace, where the warmth made up for the wetness of the environment, where the Elves kept moving and cleaning everything the teens touched. Azel sat next to Astrid – who kept sending angry/worried looks at Aster while the boy sat near Hiccup – who kept sending strange/questioning gazes at Azel as she and Merida smirked, digging into the mashed potatoes with green sauce that the elves placed in front of them.
"Why y'all took so long after all?" Aster asked as he bumped shoulders with Hiccup. "And where's Snowflake?"
Astrid cleared her throat as she replied. "That tosser was at the Common Room last time I saw him; said he wasn't hungry and was going to eat later." Hiccup swallowed drily, his alert expression fading. "I'm worried about those idiots from the Inquisitorial Squad," She explained. "They've been asking us why we weren't headed to the Great Hall like everyone else."
"Wee had ter pretend we were oll sick before they let us out. Finally those pukin' pastilles from the Weesleys were put to good use." Merida added as she chewed on her apple pie. It seemed like the more the boys ate, the more the elves put over their table, almost like they pitied the teenagers.
"I just wish I had used my wand on that Gladstone girl," Astrid continued, an annoyed expression on her features. "I'm dying to put a jinx on that stuck-up nose of hers… Wipe out that smug look of hers whenever she stares down at that badge White gave her."
"I wonder how come we never see the elves more often." Azel said finally, looking as the small creatures stumbled everywhere, always working. "There are certainly enough of them to fill up the entire castle!"
Hiccup sipped from his pumpkin juice. "Hogwarts a History explains that students weren't meant to see elves in the castle. Technically being here right now could be considered a felony."
"Another rule on the list of 'ignored'," Astrid smirked at him, and Aster gave another unamused look at the girl, trying to hide it behind his cup.
"Well, whatever the rules are, I'm startin' to warm up to these lads." Merida said joyfully as another pie was placed in front of her.
The teens walked out of the kitchens in a hurry, curving in themselves not to be seen. They rushed up the stairs out of the dungeons and Astrid peaks out first to signal them to move. In front of Hiccup, Aster scratched his hands, staring down, guilty. If the teenagers got caught, without him, they'd be yelled at, them dismissed. But they had Aster – a mudblood, from all people. Such sour mood didn't go unnoticed by Hiccup, though, who stepped up to him, nudging his arm with a smile.
"We're breaking all the rules, mate," Hiccup stated. "I thought you'd be the one to be more cheerful;"
Aster forced back a smirk of his own. "I just don't want any of you gettin' into any bigga' trouble because of me," He said lowly.
"Ack, don't mind that," Merida spoke in front of them, also stepping down to match their pace. "If anythin' I'd rather be kicked out while kickin' White's butt than bein' forbidden of doin' whatever I want with whoever I like."
Aster smiled, shaking his head as he laced both his friends' shoulders in a hug. "You are truly one of a kind, curly."
"Don't I know it?" Merida beamed cheekily.
The Room of Requirement was tinkling with silver flecks of spells as the students aimed their best attempts on the Patronus Charm, filling the room in wondrous warmth. The thin rays of silver reminded the teens of soft flames, burning freely in the air. More people had joined the Black Army, their numbers reaching nearly forty students. Most of them were muggle borns whose faces carried nasty shadowy looks from White's torturous detentions.
It was a joyful moment, and Hiccup rejoiced in the hopeful and rebellious spirit that stormed his friends. All of them but Jack, who had still not appeared.
"Chill out, Hiccup, he'll turn around soon." Astrid spoke next to her friend. "It's not the first time he goes all dark and twisty," She dodged a flying silver hedgehog that nearly slammed against her head. "He does that from time to time… then he walks up next morning like nothing ever happened."
Her words did nothing to comfort Hiccup, though. "I just don't want to be the reason why he's avoiding us."
Her Patronus ceased when she heard it, and she turned to him with a piteous look. That's when the doors stormed open, and Azel rushed into the Room of Requirement, her eyes reflecting complete shock and bewilderment. "What's goin' on, Azel?"
"Do we have a radio here? I have news."
"Oh bloody hell, no bad more news…" Aster started, his face already scrunching into a dreadful grimace when Azel smiled.
"Oh no, these are good news. They've found McGonagall."
