=Astrid's POV=

{Thursday, October 14, 2021-1:45 pm}

(Archian Preparatory)

All-day today; I've wondered if Hiccup is alright. I checked with all my friends if they'd seen Hiccup in their classes because I know I didn't see him in Language Arts, Health, Lunch, or now, Science. Our course was almost over, and I'm sadly assuming that Hiccup is too injured to come to school. Which is actually really bad overall. Hiccup's friends have been casting us dirty looks every time we pass one another, and I felt like that meant they knew Hiccup's condition and it was anything but okay. I was on edge, so were my friends. We talked about it at lunch but were careful with Hiccup's friends sitting so close to us. I heard the ding of the PA system off as we turned our attention to the speaker near the clock on the wall over the door.

"Excuse me, Mr. Farmer. May we have Heather Bazirk, Astrid Hofferson, Nadia Warrier, Gruffnut Thorston, and Fishlegs Ingerman to the main office, please?" the voice asked.

"All four are on their way now," Bucket Farmer, the Science teacher replied. Quietly, we rounded up things into our bags, then left the classroom.

"I wonder what this is all about," Nadia wondered.

"Oh, I could only imagine," Heather stated harshly while walking beside Fishlegs. Yeah, I didn't like this, and I had a strong feeling I knew what this had to do with.

. . .

{1:48 pm}

(Main Office Conference Room)

Upon reaching the office; I confirmed that this had to do with yesterday on the dragon training field. It wasn't just Fishlegs, Heather, Gruffnut, Nadia, and I that were called down. The others were too; Eret, Thuggory, Camicazi, Snotlout, Ragna, Minden, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut. The secretary led us to a large conference room, and we understood that what happened was a going to be a big deal. The first clue was Dagur being there, then all of our parents, and finally…The authorities. I felt nervous, but this is why I didn't want to take part in what went down. Now, I was involved somehow.

"Come right in, students," Mogadon invited. We all moved into the room and were able to see Stoick Haddock near the window. Slowly, we took our seats close to our parents. For me, both of my parents were present, but it didn't appear to be the same for everyone. Mogadon closed the door, then stood in front of it. "This is all of Mr. Haddock's Dragon Training students for last period," he informed.

"Thank you, Mr. Meatsen," came the voice of Spitelout Jorgenson; he was Snotlout and Adelaide Jorgenson's father and the Police Chief. Also, their mother was a lawyer, but it didn't appear she was present. There were two other officers there, one of them was Alvin Ogglebert-Ingerman, Fishleg's father. I didn't know who the third was. Thuggory's mother wasn't here, but that didn't matter when his father was the principal. The rest were either one or the other, or both.

"Now, I'm sure you've all figured out why you've been summoned down here. First priority, though," Alvin looked at Stoick sympathetically. "How is Hiccup doing, Stoick?"

"Currently, at home resting from yesterday's incident," Stoick emphasized cooly, and vividly not happy about his son getting hurt at school.

"How badly is he wounded, brother?" Spitelout inquired.

"Hiccup sustained numerous injuries from his scuffle with the Monstrous Nightmare. Scratches and slight burns to his back, burning to his hands, little bruising, Slightly tweaked wrist, minor concussion. Hiccup was unconscious for about an hour, maybe a bit over. Everything should heal within a few days to a week," Dagur stated. "I was there when the doctor explained since Stoick and Valka hadn't come yet,"

"I see. Will he be out of school long?" Mogadon inquired.

"He should be back Monday but will come in late. Re-check with his physician on how he's healing at 9:15 am," Stoick informed, arms crossed over his chest. Then his phone rang. "Hi, Val," A pause. "No, we haven't found out what happened. We just finished discussing Hiccup's injuries and when he'll be returning to school," he stopped. "Val, for the love of Odin; we'll figure out what went wrong in training yesterday. Just go check on Hiccup, or take Cloudjumper for a fly," he hung up.

"I take it Mrs. Haddock is not happy," Alvin inquired.

"That's an understatement," Stoick sighed. "Alright, let's get this done because if she doesn't find out what went down; she'll show up,"

"And nobody wants Valka Haddock here in Mama Bear mode," Spitelout remarked. "Now, I know wild dragon attacks are possible…But the dragon from yesterday wasn't wild, and already trained by Hiccup himself. All the dragons you've worked with since September were trained,"

"And once a dragon is trained, they do not attack without command unless provoked to do so," Alvin added. "So what happened yesterday?"

Nobody spoke.

"Well, don't all speak at once," Stoick huffed.

"I don't know who did it, but I can tell you what happened," Heather informed.

"Please, continue," Spitelout motioned.

"We were all working with the Nightmare, and Astrid was up last. She was doing fine, then Nadia tripped and pushed me over. Dagur came to help me, then the Nightmare just wigged out and almost blasted Astrid, but Hiccup pushed her down, and that's when the fire hit his back. Hiccup tried to calm it down, almost got bit, then tail-whipped into the stables," Heather began.

"Hiccup jumped over another tail swipe, then the Nightmare slammed into his front; his back hitting the stables. This happened three more times before Hiccup managed to hold the horns and drag them to the ground. The Nightmare calmed down, then Hiccup passed out," Snotlout finished the story.

"I caught him and phoned an ambulance," Dagur added.

"And not to be that guy…" Tuffnut started.

"But you, Mr. Haddock, know that we're Hiccup's closest friends and would never do anything that would endanger his life like that," Fishlegs stated gently.

"Aye, that I do," Stoick nodded.

"So, they are just off the hook?" Thuggory motioned.

"My son knows better," Spitelout said.

"As does mine," Alvin nodded.

"So do we," Ruffnut said, Tuffnut and Minden agreeing.

"That leaves all of you, who have been overly jealous of Hiccup since the 1st," Heather crossed her arms over her chest.

"Now, let's not go passing blame," Colby Hofferson said.

"It wasn't us; we're Hiccup's best friends," Minden said gently.

"The dragon could have just been having a moment," Eret shrugged.

"That doesn't happen, not with trained dragons," Alvin reminded. "Come on now, none of us want to be here all day trying to figure this out. Whoever did it; just confess,"

Again; nobody said anything.

"It wasn't me; I was in Home Ec. I don't take Dragon Training," Gruffnut stated.

"That is actually correct. Gruffnut wasn't on the field," Mogadon confirmed.

"That still leaves the remaining six," Spitelout responded.

"If I can, Dad…All three of the males have been giving Hiccup a hard time since the beginning of October," Snotlout informed.

"Trouble? Such as?" Spitelout insisted.

"Shoving him out of their way, into lockers or knocking his books out of his hands," Tuffnut stated.

"They all give us trouble every day, but more Hiccup this past week and a half because they don't like the Hiccup won't join their rich and popular crew," Fishlegs interjected.

"None of that matters to me. I want to know who is responsible for my son ending up in the hospital," Stoick glared. His phone rang again, and he grumbled. "Val, we're in the middle of-," Stoick stopped, listening. "Good to know. How is he?" a pause. "That's to be expected. Let him go flying; you know his dragon won't let anything happen to him, and I doubt we can stop him. He gets his temper from me, so let him cool off in the air. I'll inform Spitelout about the recent changes. See you soon,"

"Not much keeps that boy down, does it?" Alvin chuckled.

"No, not really," Stoick muttered. "Anyway, interesting development. Hiccup has a camera set up to watch the courses; he said he ran it by you, Mogadon,"

"Ah, yes! Hiccup said it would be helpful for when the students go to review for the midterms, or seeing their mistakes," Mogadon nodded.

"Apparently, Hiccup has the foot-," Stoick began, then the door opened as Hiccup walked in. "tage…" he finished. "Son, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"They won't come clean on their own, so I figured I'd come and bring this," Hiccup held up a tape, then he slid it down to Spitelout. "I know who did it, and lucky him; I'm feeling generous and won't be pressing charges…But if it happens again…No mercy will be given. See you at home, Dad," Hiccup then exited the room slowly. Mogadon took the tape, loading it into the VCR and fast-forwarding to the end when everything happened. Then, clear as day; they could see when Nadia purposely moved to push into Heather and get Dagur to stop walking around and watching them. Eret lifted the slingshot up, and it couldn't be seen what he fired off, but as the Nightmare got pissed off and riled up; it was evident that it was he who caused the problem.

"Mr. Trapp, as my punishment; you are suspended for a week for your actions," Mogadon stated right away.

"Hey! It wasn't all me! Yeah, I riled the dragon up, but all of these guys were in on it!" Eret said quickly.

"Don't you include me in this, Eret. I told you it was a stupid idea," I scoffed angrily. I wasn't going down for this.

"As far as I'm concerned; you're all guilty. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but Eret's right. He might have ticked off the Nightmare, but the others were plotting," Heather said.

"She's correct. Why did you want him to get hurt?" Spitelout asked.

"We didn't…They wanted him removed as the trainer because they don't think it's fair he's their age and knows so much," Gruffnut stated.

"So you admit that you all planned to try and get his position revoked, but Eret did the dirty work?" Alvin inquired.

"I didn't plan this; I told them not to," I defended quickly.

"But you still knew what they were doing, and you could have warned Hiccup, Astrid. For Odin's sake; he saved your life, getting hurt in the process!" Heather screeched. "Your boyfriend endangered you, and Hiccup, as much of a bitch you are to him, saved you!"

"Enough," Mogadon silenced everyone.

"As Hiccup has decided not to press charges…No legal action will be taken. Mr. Meatsen has decided Eret is to be suspended," Spitelout said.

"Thuggory; you are grounded for a week," Mogadon informed.

"Yes, father," Thuggory responded, though; he was pissed about it.

"And the rest of you, for conspiring against Hiccup…Detention until Wednesday of next week," Mogadon remarked. "Astrid, you may have known about the situation, but as you warned them not to, and stayed out of it…I will not punish you,"

"Yes, sir," we nodded to him.

"And I believe a formal apology should be given to Hiccup," Dagur mentioned. "He's one of the best trainers on the island, and he's kind enough to share that knowledge with you; it's not right you're trying to get rid of him just because you don't like that he wouldn't join your group or whatever,"

"Mr. Bazirk is right. And Astrid; you will be joining them. Your mother and I raised you to do the right thing, and if you had spoken up with what you knew, perhaps Mr. Haddock would not have been harmed," Colden said.

"Yes, Daddy," I replied to him. Already, I felt my friends and boyfriend staring at me for getting off with nothing more than having to apologize to Hiccup.

"I'll take care of the dragon training in Hiccup's absence, Mr. Meatsen," Dagur informed.

"Acceptable," Mogadon nodded. "Now, let's dismiss for the remainder of the day. Eret, your suspension starts on Monday, and you may return the following one. You are responsible for doing any work you miss," Eret didn't answer, but he nodded understanding. Not long after, the room cleared out of students, leaving the adults to talk. Dagur was with us because we had Dragon Training for last period. That was awful, and I hoped it never had to happen again. All I can be grateful for in that whole thing is that I'm damn lucky to not be in the same position as the others. I did the right thing, and I'm a little proud of myself for it.