No matter how sugarcoated Fishlegs made it sound, dragons weren't in any way intriguing to Hiccup. After that raid, the Vikings had recovered from the damages from these newer dragons. Some were captured to be analysed by the adults along with Fishlegs, but there was nothing new they found out. It didn't explain how these different dragons were able to fight together without an alpha nearby. Normally they'd attack with their own kind.
"These dragons were probably scared seeing how the Outcasts are now so determined. They must've done something to change the way they tamed these dragons—maybe something cruel," said Fishlegs packing his belongings in an empty sack.
"Well I wouldn't blame them for being so welcoming with their fangs," replied Hiccup.
"Hmm… Still not fond of them? I thought you were interested since you asked about Night Furies so many times during the break. Even when I wasn't around, I noticed you going through the Dragon Manual, staring at the blank page of the Night Fury." Fishlegs placed the last stack of books in front of him, leaning back up in the most polite posture towards Hiccup. "Care to enlighten me about that?"
Hiccup didn't reply. He stared back at the larger teenager and then continued to sort out his books for his third year at Hogwarts. "I don't plan on hunting them down if that's what you're wondering."
"And I hope you're telling the truth, Hiccup. Night Furies are nothing like dragons we know. They came to only do one thing and one thing only. Whatever I taught you about dragons doesn't apply to them." Fishlegs was probably assuming the questions asked was for Hiccup's desire to kill one after that fateful day years ago.
"I plan to train one," lied Hiccup. "If I want to make my mark, then I'll do the impossible."
Fishlegs was somehow relieved to hear that, even though he—the dragon-loving Viking—also had the same reasons as Berk to despise their kind. "That's very brave of you, but even the strongest Viking here wouldn't dare to try that. And I hate to break it to you, but Night Furies haven't been seen since that day."
"I know. You told me many times. Oh well, I guess that means I'll just keep looking for the right dragon then," lied Hiccup again as he bolted out Meade Hall, leaving his suitcase near the Portkey for next week.
Hiccup was becoming nosy that even the twins were onto him. The only thing Hiccup was trying to solve was the mysterious disappearance of Night Furies. Their scales were what the Dark Weapon were after, and yet none have been sighted in years. It was good news for Hiccup, but he still wasn't going to rest. Merida and Jack had been safe this holiday, keeping their precious 'ingredients' safe. Merida had kept her necklace with her at all times, trying to find the best place to hide it, but nowhere was. It was also best with her since it would protect her from Core Magic.
Jack was well informed by Hiccup to stay safe and to remain at the North Pole for as long as possible. Hiccup and his friends had concluded that another ingredient the Dark Weapon were after was Jack's Core Magic, as it was somehow tied to a special Semblance. Extra caution was advised for Jack, as if Merida was to fail, then she'd lose her necklace. But in Jack's case, he'd lose his life because Core Magic was essential to a wizard. It was the primary factor that differentiated wizards from Muggles.
Hiccup was so close to writing a letter to Yang, informing her of what he knew, but something kept him from doing so. He was also glad Gobber spoke to him about that, reaffirming that Hiccup's decision of trusting people mattered. He still hopes those few were busy too.
Hiccup waited for Rapunzel and Merida at the station. Rapunzel was quite early since she was more than prepared for Hogwarts. Merida arrived shortly after with her mother and greeted the two. It wasn't long until she left, leaving the three on their own with their luggage. It was just incomplete without Jack, who had no intentions of returning for his third year.
"So did you end up finding a place to hide it?" asked Hiccup as a response to her latest letter to him from about a week ago.
"No." Merida answered. She reached down her neck and pulled out the gemstone, still blindingly white in the light. "I guess we'll be safe at Hogwarts for now though. The danger will be at the Ministry around now."
"Yeah," replied Hiccup. "I'll talk more about it on the train."
Hiccup led the two on the train, helping them with their luggage. The empty compartment they found was rather odd. They felt an odd vibe in the atmosphere, most likely because they had to keep their conversations private. There was no telling who was eavesdropping.
"So long story short, the Outcasts teamed up with the Berserkers, Dagur's tribe, and plan to take down the Ministry to get back their dragons. While Berk has refused to join them, we're now enemies with the Berserkers."
"And Dagur's father died after their dragons were taken? Were the Ministry responsible for that?" asked Merida.
"In a way, yes. Dagur wanted to take his place. He was most likely reluctant to join Alvin." Hiccup explained. He saw Rapunzel and noticed something different. "Pascal's not with you?"
"No," she answered shaking her head. "I left him at the pet store. Natalia was so interested in chameleons because she had never seen one before. It's probably a good idea after what happened last year."
"You think something will happen this year?" asked Merida. "If anything, Dagur might deploy his army of dragons at the school."
"Hm, I didn't see him at King's Cross. I hope he isn't here, not because of him getting focused on attacking the Ministry is a good move, but I'll be able to walk around the school without the feeling of danger following."
"We'll be able to do our school work properly without any curse or Dusk Droid nearby. My father and the three from Hufflepuff's fathers are still scouting the area near Hogwarts to take out any stray creatures corrupted by Black Sand. So if a dragon does come, he'll let the Ministry know about it. And hopefully, the school will be notified before they arrive." Merida said.
"I'm still worried," said Rapunzel.
"What do you mean?" asked Hiccup.
"We haven't heard much news about the Dark Weapon. Mother's definitely told the Dark Weapon about those ingredients, and we've narrowed down exactly where two of them are. But nothing's happened to Jack or Merida. So the Dark Weapon must be after the other two ingredients." Rapunzel leaned forward to sound clearer. "If the Dark Weapon are after an ingredient, we still wouldn't have any control over the situation when it arrives at Hogwarts."
"Don't worry," assured Merida. "If something related to the Dark Weapon happens, the story would be on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Our main focus should now be on the Outcasts and Berserkers. Meanwhile, school is most important."
"Something is happening. If the Dark Weapon haven't been heard from, then they're waiting for something."
"What?" asked Merida.
"The invasion at the Ministry," answered Hiccup.
"It's a great opportunity for them. The Ministry must have rare objects guarded there. They just needed the diversion."
"I don't believe it," protested Merida. "Dagur may be unstable and untrustworthy, but he's on our side. He's a wizard… and owns dragons too. Last I checked, dragons belong to the list of magical creatures. There's no way he's being manipulated by the Dark Weapon."
"Mother is a witch," said Rapunzel. "Maybe they gave a Horcrux to Dagur, promising eternal life. That's something he'd consider."
"What's at the Ministry then? Corona's Potion is still undiscovered, considered a myth. Night Furies haven't been seen for a long time. But if the Dark Weapon are catching dragons, then maybe the chances of them having one is possible," said Hiccup.
"So how would we deal with this information?" asked Merida. "We're not going to the Ministry, right? It's not like we're able to take the train without getting caught. None of us can fly a dragon or Apparate. Not to mention that the Floo Network and Portkeys have been restricted."
"How about we tell a professor? They might be able to help." Rapunzel suggested.
"I don't know about that. After what happened last year, we should be careful about telling them." Hiccup knew what Gobber knew. The professors were as sketchy as Xander and Yang.
"That was Lunar, not all of them! Lunar thought he had things under control, but it all got out of hand. There are other professors we can trust, like Bunny, Tooth, and North. Mansnoozie… I'm not sure what goes through his head." Merida said.
"I'm sure explaining to any professor is a good idea," Hiccup said sarcastically. "It's not like we're keeping secrets from them, like the ingredients the Dark Weapon are after. If they did believe us, they still won't be able to leave to the Ministry. First, they need to teach their classes. And secondly, if they got to the Ministry, they'd have a lot of explaining to do. That wouldn't be good because the Ministry would think they don't trust them—which they don't. When that happened last year between the Ministry and Lunar, they added new rules which led to this."
Merida slowly slouched on her seat. Her hands covered her face as she let out a groan. "Planning these things are so hard."
Eventually, the three fell into a deep slumber while the sun was drawing near the horizon.
A jolt from the train woke everyone suddenly. Hiccup's eyes opened wide as he heard screaming from the end of the carriage. They were in the last carriage. He opened the sliding doors and saw students running past to the other compartments. Some students were injured, with wounds on their arms and head. Now Hiccup had to see what had happened to create an uproar.
Merida and Rapunzel followed, seeing Hiccup rushing to the back of the train. They weren't the only ones heading to danger. Others were also curious to see the problem. They got close the end and could feel the strong breeze blowing against their hair. Hiccup then made a sudden pause in the middle of the hallway as more students moved around them to escape from behind. Hiccup then turned immediately and ran through Merida and Rapunzel, heading the next compartments.
"I'll see what's happening. You should make sure Hiccup's okay," said Merida.
"Are you sure?" asked Rapunzel. "Be careful."
Merida winked. "I'm more ready for this." She had her bow and quiver in her hands just before they left the compartment. She put on the quiver and pulled out an arrow. If Hiccup was running away from something out of fear, it was going to be dragons they were facing.
After Rapunzel left the carriage, the door opened and Lily and Yang entered the carriage. They joined up with Merida to ask her what happened. Merida didn't tell them, as it was right in front of them.
The back of the carriage was gone. A gaping hole was left where they could see the dark scenery. Dragons were chasing them, around thirty of them. These dragons were unrecognisable in the dark, and they didn't seem normal at all. Something about their roars and wing movements made them appear berserk or feral. But this was no coincidence they were attacking the train.
"What do we do?!" asked Merida as she fired her first arrow. "Spells won't work on them. Where's Xander? His Core Magic will work."
"No can do. Taking out five of them will wear us down by a lot. There's too many of them!" said Yang.
"Then we should get everyone here to move to the next carriage. When we do, we should decouple this carriage. We can use the school cloaks to make it look like people are still on it so the dragons will be distracted for long enough."
"Good plan, Merida. Lily, you go first. Me and Merida will distract the dragons in the meantime."
Lily nodded and left, other people were following her. Yang then went around telling others to leave as well while Merida fired her arrows on dragons that got close.
"Yang!" called Lily. Her face was distraught as she stood by the door connecting to the next carriage. "It won't open!"
"No…" Yang shook her head in denial and ran through the crowd gathered away from the dragons. The door on their carriage was open with no problem, but it was the one on the other carriage. With the train moving at this speed, she worried the train would turn and make her fall since she between both carriages. She wrapped her hands around the handle and tried getting it to budge, but even her strength made no difference.
Yang then looked through the window and saw someone standing on the other side of the door. It was Dagur, who was doing nothing to help them. It was him all along who was responsible for this mess.
"Open the goddamn door!" Yang was now banging on the glass, trying to get it to break. She didn't care he got glass in his eyes when it shattered—in fact, she was hoping it would.
Dagur then moved aside and Yang saw Hans trying to help with the door. She then turned to see Merida struggling. Soon she was going to run out of arrows, and she'd be first on the dragons' menu. Yang glanced up into the sky, thinking she saw someone jump from between the carriages from the roofs. Help was probably on its way now.
"Lily!" The sudden outburst startled the Gryffindor. "Go help Merida. You have your potions with you, right?"
Lily nodded. "All the time."
Nod, MK, and Elsa waited in their compartment, anxious to hear what happened. Nod stayed close the windows, seeing a few dragons in the sky blocking out the stars. They were awake before this all happened, talking about their goals this year since it was their second last one.
Nod was only focussed on Quidditch last year after it was cancelled last year because of the White Death's Curse. Although this year was going to be different as MK wasn't planning to participate anymore. Her studies were falling behind as was the rest of her peers. OWLs was last year, and it was unforgiving.
Hans returned to the compartment, out of breath, hands clutching onto his chest like a drama queen. He slowly caught his breath and told them what had happened, about the dragons that destroyed a part of the last carriage.
"There are still people on that carriage?" questioned Elsa. "We need to get them out of it now!"
"She's right." MK got up from her seat to follow the Princess. Hans and Nod followed and made it all the way to the end, where Dagur was standing.
"What's he doing with the door?" asked Nod. He was about to do something about it, but Hans stopped him.
"I'll deal with Dagur. You guys should find a way up to the roof to slow down the dragons. Even spells would suffice as they'd divert the dragon's attention. And Nod, use your broomstick if you need to."
Nod, MK, and Elsa agreed to the plan. They watched Hans move Dagur aside with no hesitation. Surprisingly the third year Slytherin did not retaliate and observe Hans trying to bust the door open, but the handle was tampered with.
"This way," said Elsa as she pointed to a hatch to the roof. There was no ladder to provide height for them to reach the hatch, so MK provided a short boost for Nod after he returned with his broomstick as he flipped open the lid and pulled himself up.
"Here." Nod reached his hand down to pull the both of them up. If they were lucky, the train wouldn't stop, or else they'd fall off the roof. "Let's go!" he ordered.
"Nod, wait!" called MK. She was struggling to walk on the roof properly. The speed of the train was holding them back that even Elsa stumbled before getting caught by MK.
"C'mon, there's no time to waste!"
"It's your Semblance, Nod. You're able to walk up here easily because of Quick Burst."
Nod realised that MK was right. He forgot his Semblance gave him this skill, which was what made him advantageous during Quidditch as he was able to manoeuvre at high speeds. For once there was an inkling of resentment he felt towards his Semblance.
"Don't worry, Nod. We can still use our spells from here. You use your broomstick to distract some of them." Elsa said. The two already trusted Nod to dodge their spells if he was within range. He'd be able to see the spell with his Semblance as if it was in slow motion, and dodging it was not a problem for him.
Nod ran down the roof of the carriage and jumped to the last carriage, where the last quarter of the roof was missing. "Hey!" he shouted and fired several spells at the dragons to anger them.
Some of the dragons notice him and fly to him, but he dodged the dragons by simply sidestepping them. A larger dragon which he had never seen before—not even during Gobber's Care of Magical Creatures classes—swooped down to Nod. Its wingspan was huge that there was nowhere for him to hide. Nod allowed his body to fall to the side off the train, where he was going to rely on his broomstick.
The unidentifiable dragon continued its way above the train as it headed near Elsa and MK. Mk shielded her eyes as requested by Elsa. Elsa extended her left arm, holding her wand towards the dragon.
Light gathered from the tip of the wand and was fired to the dragon before it reached them. The ball of light spiralled its way directly to the dragon's eyes, creating a stronger flash upon impact. Elsa had the time to also cover her eyes. Her reasonings led to her believe these dragons were adjusted to the darkness, as this attack began almost immediately after the sun disappeared.
The dragon was dazed by the glare and directed itself off the train, narrowingly avoiding the two sixth years. MK then watched and saw Nod rising back into the sky with his broomstick, shooting spells at more dragons. Elsa and MK joined in from the distance as planned.
"Get back here. Are you crazy?!" yelled a student in the last carriage. Merida wasn't going to back down just yet. She kept her hand on the remaining arrows, counting them with her fingers.
"Four." There were too many dragons still, and none of her arrows had actually scared them off. Only a small group had left, following somebody on a broomstick. Merida could recognise it was Nod.
Other students had to help Merida. These dragons were firing their breaths at them, so they needed to deflect the fire with other spells and shields.
"Merida," said Lily in a gentle voice.
The Slytherin turned and saw Lily holding a potion, ringing like bells. It was an explosive potion. "What does it do?"
"Freeze Potion. It will slow them down like the Freezing Spell." Lily explained.
"Smart. Since spells like that won't work on the dragons, the potions might." Merida was then worried the worst might happen. "Are you sure potions work against dragons?"
Lily nodded. "Yang and Xander used potions on Dusk Droids after their first year. It works."
"So are you throwing it? Or do you consider yourself more of a catcher?" Merida wondered. She was looking at the dragons and they got closer, so she fired an arrow. Three arrows left in her quiver. There wasn't any good spot to throw the potion, and the chance it was going to break on impact was low. Lily would have to land a clean hit on at least one of the middle dragons. "How many of those potions do you have?"
"One," Lily replied in embarrassment. "I will throw it in the middle of the dragons. You will shoot the potion with an arrow at the right time, yes?"
"Do you need to ask me that? I'm all open for suggestions." Merida took out another arrow and was ready to fire it whenever Lily was ready.
The blue potion was thrown towards the dragons and Merida aimed for it. It was easy, considering it glowed an intense blue within the darkness. The sound it gave off also made tracking it easier. The arrow was already on its way to trigger the potion like a catalyst.
The explosion created a powerful blue fog that instantly disappeared, uncovering the dragons that were now frozen. The sound of the potion made after the activation was satisfying, like a pond freezing in the winter. The dragons were still suspended in the air, slowly flapping their wings like they were in slow motion.
Merida could see Nod approaching them from the distance. He made it to the last carriage, holding onto his broomstick and running to the door. Hans was on the other side and they were still trying to get the door open.
"Get back, Nod. I'm going to blast the door handle open. Get the everyone in a compartment in case I accidentally break the door in front of you all."
Nod agreed to the plan and instructed everyone to head to safety.
Merida and Lily remained at the end of the carriage, observing the growing distance between them and the dragons. Merida noticed the dragons getting faster, and there was nothing left to stop the dragons. When they were finally thawed out of the frost, they continued pursuing the train. Merida grabbed Lily and pulled her into a compartment, hoping the dragons wouldn't see them.
They felt a shake on the carriage and unbearably scorching heat in the compartment. More of the carriage was torn off by one of the larger dragons. There was nowhere left for them to run. The large dragon then latched onto the carriage with its long claws, searching for a human. Merida could see it through the glass of the sliding door.
Darkness filled the area as the train entered a tunnel. The other dragons stopped following the train, but the large one was still causing trouble.
The door finally busted open, and Merida heard students leaving their compartments to the next carriage. They were near the start of the carriage, so the dragon couldn't have seen them. Lily and Merida were the only ones left on the carriage, but they were on one of the end compartments, near the dragon.
"Lily," whispered Merida. "What potions do you have left?"
The blonde was shaking as looked through her potion supply. "Multiply, Flash, Jump, Blast, Dis—" Merida stopped her midway.
"That can help us in this situation?" Lily shook her head.
Conveniently, powerful green flames filled the entire hallway, engulfing the dragon. Merida and Lily stood up and got out of hiding. After opening the sliding doors, they saw the dragon limp on the ground after getting affected by Core Magic.
Xander was at the door with Yang, his wand smoking after the spell and his eyes reverting back to grey. "Everyone all right?" he asked.
Yang then stormed to Dagur, grabbing him by the collar and pinned him against the wall. "You're really asking for it. I'll kill you before the train gets to Hogwarts!"
"Yang, no," commanded Xander.
"What are you doing?! He did something to the door and those were his dragons!"
"You do not know he was responsible. He could have been just trying to open the door, and not all dragons belong to the Berserkers."
Yang sighed and released Dagur from her grip. She still felt like breaking something. Merida was also on Yang's side. She hated how easily Dagur was off the hook.
"We'll take it from here," announced Hans as his friends returned to him. They took care of the dragon as well as the damages. The last carriage was now off limits, now taken care by prefects and any professors that took the train.
Merida safely made it to the other carriages, no door handles jamming anymore. She was searching for the compartment with Rapunzel and Hiccup. She hoped they were okay after hearing reports that a few dragons attacked the other carriages from the windows.
There they were, on the carriage behind the prefect's carriage. Hiccup must've tried to be as far away from the dragons as possible. Although it was justified, Hiccup's fear of dragons was becoming a problem. Perhaps it was time for her to help him become brave.
The rest of the ride was uncomfortable, as there were two extra students in their compartment. With one carriage off limits, the other compartments had to have at least an extra student. Discussing anything about the Dark Weapon was now prohibited. At least she was able to explain what happened just then and speculate hypothetical reasons as to why Dagur attacked the train.