{Ellie's POV}

All of us were left in confusion when Harvey got a phone call from Heather at the end of class last week. All we knew is that he was leaving for a few days and called in a favor from a man named Thaxter Shaw, the son of Harvey's old boss at DSS. Upon hearing the call with Thaxter, it seemed he was just as lost about the sudden situation but with only a few words from Harvey, Thaxter understood and said he would be right there. We left the indoor arena and put our dragons away then went to our other classes. The next day, we met Thaxter and still didn't know what was going on with Heather to cause Harvey to take off. The week continued onto Thursday night at dinner when Dominic's father showed up in the cafeteria saying that they had to leave for the City, Friday morning for a funeral. When Dominic inquired as to who passed away, his father said; your mother.

That had been a little shocking, from what I understood as told by Ashlyn, Ford, Tyler, Rylee, and Syrus, Dominic moved to Berk from Berserker in Freshman year of High School. Also, Dominic's parents divorced when he was a newborn, and he has never met his mother. Now the guy was hearing he had to go to her funeral? Couldn't have been easy to deal with, but Dominic had said plenty of times that he didn't care about his mom because she didn't love him enough to fight harder to get to see him or be in his life. Understandable I guessed, so Dominic left with his father that night after speaking to the headmaster about the situation and Dominic was excused from his classes but required back on Monday.

Now here we were on Tuesday, Dominic was back but no sign of Harvey and we had the midterm in his class tomorrow. I hoped Harvey was okay, it must have been something bad for him to be gone this long. Not even Thaxter had heard from him yet. Something else that was odd, Dominic had been exceptionally quiet since returning from Arc City. We asked if he was okay and all he said was that he didn't want to talk about it right now. We backed off and gave him his space, he was probably mourning a little. Dragon Training was our next class, another day where Thaxter would likely be reviewing with us.

(DT Feild)

Thankfully, the snow had melted so we could be outside today and it was a little warm too but still needed a jacket. As expected, we saw Thaxter standing there with his Skrill, Bolt. Yes, Thaxter had a Skrill and one that Harvey used to work with a lot as the Strike-class trainer at DSS. Thaxter told us a few stories about Harvey's training days but never anything more than that. Something I did notice however, was that Courtney never made eye contact with Thaxter and it made me wonder if they knew one another. Courtney had lived in the city for almost two years, it was possible they could have met. But this seemed like something more; I guess it was none of my business but curiosity remained.

As always, we got our dragons and lined up before him then got started on talking about how the midterm would go for us. A written exam with fifty or so questions and then one on demonstrating certain things with our dragons for the teacher. It seemed at this point, that teacher would be Thaxter. Thirty minutes into class, a familiar roar was heard as we looked up to see a Night Fury fly over us and then whip around for a landing beside Thaxter. Seeing the mask and tail rig, we knew it was Harvey and Toothless. I didn't see Karina but assumed Harvey dropped her off at the daycare before coming here.

"Welcome back my friend," Thaxter greeted him when Harvey got off Toothless and walked over to shake the man's hand.

"Thanks. I was supposed to be back last night but you know I can't fly Toothless in a storm," Harvey smiled to him.

"Eh, don't worry about it. How's Heather?" Thaxter inquired.

"Better than last week but you know how it goes, Thax," Harvey shrugged.

"Yeah, she'll be okay. Heather has you, Kari, and all of us at DSS for support," Thaxter told him.

"She knows that I told her. How have things been here?" Harvey asked.

"Good. We were just going over midterms, well what they should expect tomorrow at least," Thaxter replied.

"Great, I knew I could count on you. I trust they didn't give you any trouble?" Harvey arched a brow.

"Not at all. Mr. DeRange missed Friday's class, family emergency from what I understand," Thaxter informed calmly.

Of course, Harvey knew about that whole thing since he saw Dominic at the funeral. "Well, I'm sure it was excused, and Dominic does well in this class, I'm not worried that his missed anything vital," Harvey stated.

"So, when's Heather due back?" Thaxter asked.

"She told me before I left forty-five minutes ago that she would be returning today but didn't confirm if she was ready to get back to work yet," Harvey answered.

"Well, I'll be around until 7 or so. Dad has some things he wants me to do here in Berk for him. Mind if I leave Bolt with you while I run errands?" Thaxter questioned.

"It's fine with me. Thanks again for coming when you did, Thax. I guess I owe you now," Harvey laughed a little.

"Oh, hush up, Harv. We're even, and we're friends, if you or Kari ever need anything, you call. You're like a brother to me, and I'll have your back any day, anytime," Thaxter grinned as Harvey and him connected hands, then brought it in for a hug. After that was over, "Be good for Harvey, Bolt," Thaxter called while heading off the field.

"He won't give me any trouble, will ya boy?" Harvey chuckled as he scratched under the Skrill's chin.

"Welcome back, Mr. H," I smiled.

{Regular POV}

"Thank you, Ellie. Nice to be back. All right, let's get to work because tomorrow is your midterm with me. How much did Thaxter tell you about it?" Harvey asked.

"That we'd be getting a written exam, then something about one on one demonstrating," Rylee replied.

"So, how will tomorrow work?" Andrew inquired.

"It will be the same two hours as any other class. The first half which is about forty-five minutes will be a written exam with fifty multiple choice questions, then five written explanations on certain aspects of training. The remainder will be each of you coming to me and asked to demonstrate certain things, just a few. When your exam is finished, you will put your dragon away and free to return to your dorm until the time when you go to your next location," Harvey stated.

"When will we get our grades?" Dominic questioned.

"I will have them uploaded to your online accounts by Friday. The fourth years take their exam on Thursday. Everything will be up on Friday night at the latest. Your one on one demonstrations are graded as you go, it's the written exams that take the longest to go through," Harvey explained.

"What happens if we don't do well?" Courtney asked.

"If you aren't happy with your grade, then you have the option to come see me, and I will arrange a retest. And the test will not be the same as your first," Harvey replied. "Oh, and retests need to be done before the end of next week to count towards your first-semester grade. If you do not retake the test, your grade remains as is but bear in mind that it could affect your chances of getting your permits,"

"Why would it affect us getting our permits?" Ford wondered.

"If you cannot pass the midterm with just training aspects, the board will not see you are ready to take the final which is a full demonstration of everything you've learned here in your third year. So, if you get a bad grade on the midterm. I highly advise you to see me about retesting. I will give you a day or two for studying, and then I will give you the exam," Harvey said.

"I don't understand," Tyler mumbled.

"Let me put it this way. Midterms cover everything you have learned the first semester. Finals are all second semester, which is all the flying. Now pay attention, because there are two tests at the end of the year. The first is your final exam for the class, covering all you learned in second semester. The second test is both semesters. You will be going before the board of dragon affairs for your permits, and the trainer permits for those of you who are going into dragon training. The reason your grade is so important is because your midterm and final grade will be combined together and divided by two for the average of them. If that grade is below an eighty which is a B, you will not qualify to take the permit tests. So I would highly advise you to retest if you get a bad grade," Harvey encouraged.

"What happens if we end up not qualifying?" Dominic questioned next.

"In truth, the board will give you one chance over the summer to do better. However, that means you have two and a half months to be taught the areas you did the worst in. Then the end of August, you will be given one test. If you pass, you can go before the board. If you fail, you repeat third-year dragon training with me in September," Harvey told him.

"What would be considered bad grade?" Ashlyn inquired.

"Anything below an eighty wouldn't be good for you. Do the math. Say you get a seventy-five on your midterm, seems good. Then you get an eighty on your final, that's great too. Then they take both of those grades and add them together, would give you one hundred and fifty-five. However, then they divide it by two, and your overall average grade becomes a seventy-seven. Below passing and no longer qualified for the permit tests," Harvey stated as an example.

"I get it. You say eighty because if both exams have at least a score of that and divided by two, you meet the necessary passing score. Eighty plus eighty is one-sixty divided by two is still eighty. Anything lower and the grade would be less than eighty," Ellie smiled.

"Bingo," Harvey nodded.

"What should we expect from the big test with the board?" Andrew asked now.

"That is a grand culmination of everything learned in the third year. Training and riding," Harvey replied.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard then. Our dragons listen to us," Syrus grinned, and Harvey chuckled a little.

"You don't get to use your dragons before the board. You will use semi-trained ones," Harvey enlightened as his student's faces dropped.

"We can't use our dragons?" Courtney asked.

"Nope. The board will have dragons picked out for you to use, and they will not pair you up with the dragon you have. Your job will be to earn the dragon's trust, then demonstrate certain aspects of the training and riding you learned during this year. If you pass then you will receive your flying permits and have to abide by those rules, and trainers will earn an instructor permit as well their flying one," Harvey informed.

"And that's why it's so important that we've trained with each other's dragons, to know how to handle others. I assume then for the permit test; they will have dragons picked out that we've used here and have been taught to work with?" Sydney looked at him.

"Correct. The dragons you face will be the ones you know here in class. Nightmares, Nadders, Razorwhips, Changewings, Gronckles, and Zipplebacks and they will be semi-trained. Meaning they are somewhat wild still but trained to the point of being used to humans. It will be your job to show the board how you earn trust, do a few training commands, and then finally to fly. They will tell you what you have to do exactly, I can't say for sure because it changes all the time," Harvey shrugged.

"What about the licensing test?" Ellie inquired now.

"Same thing, except the fact you will be facing off against wild dragons. Ones that aren't bonded aren't used to people and have not been trained. If you haven't figured it out yet, that is what fourth year training is. Still dragon training, against different species of wild dragons. To do anything dragon related, you need to know everything about them," Harvey reminded.

"So next year is going to be the hardest?" Dominic stated.

"You'll be fine," Harvey told them.

"How do you know?" Ford muttered.

"Because you have me to teach you," Harvey replied.

"Real convincing coming from the guy who bailed on us in 2016 and still without a word as to why." Tyler looked off to the side and closed his eyes.

"I have my reasons for doing what I did. All that aside, it has no bearing on the fact I am your teacher and will do my job," Harvey sighed.

"How hard was it for you when you took them?" Andrew questioned.

"Me? Mine was a breeze. I've been around dragons from the time I could walk because of my parents always working with them. Plus, I trained a dragon that hasn't been seen in a hundred years and built him a prosthetic tail that I control so he can fly again. I was able to provide a lot more information about Night Furies that even the board didn't know, Toothless taught me," Harvey responded.

"How can a dragon teach you things?" Rylee blinked.

"Learning on the job. I was seventeen when I met Toothless, the workers at DSS were going to put him down and called him untrainable as well he couldn't fly anymore. Toothless would growl and snap at them, and they were afraid to get hurt. One day, Toothless broke out of his cage and pinned me down growling. Oddly enough, I wasn't afraid of him. I promised him that if he trusted me, I would help him. Toothless got off and I gave him my trust so he gave me his and we've been best friends ever since. I learned of the retractable teeth, echolocation, speed, wing span, behavior, habitat, food, likes and dislikes just by hanging out with him on our walked around the sanctuary. Every day was something different and I worked on the tail too. That's what got the board involved, they were there the day I tested out the final version. They gave me a chance to take the exams and I passed and was given the job of Strike-class trainer," Harvey told them.

"What was your passing score on the exams?" Ford asked.

"Written exam, one hundred. Demonstration of training and riding skills, one hundred. I never got a permit; I went straight to license because I taught myself how to train Toothless and fly him. And working with other dragons in the sanctuary was simple. I watched the other trainers work in those classes, and I knew a lot from my parents too. I learn by observing and trying," Harvey smiled.

"So you're licensed to train dragons and ride Toothless?" Syrus inquired.

"No. I'm licensed to train, treat, race, and ride dragons," Harvey informed as their mouths dropped open. "Why does that shock you?"

"It takes...years to learn all that. Right now in the third year, I take six classes just to go into racing," Ashlyn stated.

"I take five," Ford nodded, "for a doctor," he added.

"And we take seven for trainers," Sydney blinked.

"Not accurate. You take all those classes as a whole. When you split them up by career choice, it's not that many. Anyway, all that is divided up over four years, how were you able to do it all in such a short amount of time?" Dominic questioned.

"Well, I worked in a place that did it all. The sanctuary was a hospital and training facility, and the racing I just picked up on from books or research. I have somewhat of a photographic memory, I only need to see something once or twice, and I don't forget it. I proved that to the board, and I guess it paid off," Harvey said. Before another thing could be asked, Toothless nudged against Harvey and then looked towards the sky, Harvey looked up and saw Windshear and Heather riding on her back. After a minute or two, Windshear landed, and Heather climbed off slowly while Harvey walked up to her. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing I guess. Don't know how I should feel after everything the last few days," Heather replied looking down.

"It's going to be okay," Harvey lifted her chin up and saw the unshed tears in her eyes.

"I don't like feeling like this, Harvey. I feel so lost and alone like I don't know what to with myself anymore," Heather lowered her head again.

"You are never alone. I know I'm not family, but I will always be here for you and Karina too," Harvey reminded.

"I know. Everything is still so fresh," Heather sniffled a bit.

"It will be for a while, but you're going to be okay. I won't let you fall, just as did for me. You look like you haven't slept in days, why don't you go lay down in your dorm? I'll check on you after I get Karina," Harvey offered.

"I-I don't want to sleep right now. Would you mind if I picked Kari up early? I just want to hold her," Heather asked.

"I don't mind. Here," Harvey said as he pulled out the keycard from his pocket and handed it to her, then gave her a twenty from his wallet. "Go get Kari, then take your car and get some ice cream. On me, all right? I'll see you two around 5,"

"A-Are you sure?" Heather inquired.

"Yes, now go. I'll call the daycare and tell them you are coming to get her," Harvey smiled at her. Without warning, Heather wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," Heather replied, "You're the best, and I don't know where I'd be without you," she added as Harvey hugged her back and then what shocked everyone was Harvey leaning down and kissed Heather right on the lips for a brief moment before he pulled back. Courtney couldn't believe it, Harvey kissed Heather in front of them and didn't even care. Heather smiled a little now, "Meet you at your dorm later?" she asked.

"You have the key to it?" Harvey asked.

"Yeah, it's on my key ring," Heather nodded.

"Then I'll meet you there after 5 pm. We can all eat dinner together," Harvey suggested.

"Can't wait. Would you mind if I stayed tonight? I just...like having the comfort," Heather inquired nervously.

"That's fine with me; I rather enjoy it too. Now go on, I'll catch you later," Harvey told her as Heather and him released from the hug, and she headed off the field towards the school. Harvey pulled out his phone and dialed a number while placing it to his ear, "Yes, hi. This is Harvey Haddock, Karina's father. Heather Lanvik is on her way to pick up Kari; she has my keycard to get in. Just wanted to give you a heads up," a slight pause, "Yes, Heather is on the pickup list. Thank you," then Harvey put the phone away. "Let's get back to work and not a word from any of you," Harvey warned. Without having much choice, they all prepared for another day of review in dragon training.