For once, the students had a peaceful hour to Hogwarts. Too many problems were arising to the professors, especially Lunar. Covering the problem was inevitable, hidden tracks dusted. While the small band of students from the third year knew what was going on, another lie was going to be announced to the ignorant. The ride on the Thestral carriages was like last year, but the boats for the first years were heavily reduced.
A lot of first years remained at Hogsmeade, ready to be sent back home. This accident at the train raised too many red flags. They dismissed those rumours of the White Death's Curse and thought they'd be able to tolerate the 'inconveniences'. The best ending was granted to these first years. They were spared from heartbreak and broken friendships they were meant to share in their future years at Hogwarts.
The Hogwarts Express was beyond dangerous for the departing students to use. The Ministry had been notified as to avoid another childish complaint. Several Aurors who had the ability to Apparate were sent over to manage both the train and the transportation the students needed back to London.
Nobody worried about their method returning home. None of these current first years lived outside of England, as the ones who were never got the chance to get to the United Kingdom in time before the train. Free of charge services such as the Floo Network and Portkeys were limited with the Ministry's new law, and the ones who weren't aware of this change never got the chance to ask the Ministry. There was no magic in their area to reach out to them. These were one of the reasons Lunar never fully entrusted his faith to the Ministry.
A meeting via the Floo Network was initiated between Lunar and Ignis, the Minister for Magic. There was a plan thought up by Ignis, and Lunar had no reason to refuse it.
"Ignis, I do believe our meeting isn't casual."
"It never was, Tsar Lunar," replied the old man. "What on earth happened?"
"The Hogwarts Express was attacked by a large group of dragons. These dragons were unidentifiable and we believe the Berserkers and Outcasts were responsible."
"The Berserkers and Outcasts?" Ignis was lost in thought, deciding whether or not the accusation was viable. "Is there any chance it was the Dark Weapon? I do not see how the two tribes were able to find already exotic creatures."
Lunar nodded. "While it is strange how the tribes were able to incite these rare dragons to attack the train, we've heard rumours that Dagur Vestarson—now the leader of the Berserkers—had sabotaged one of the doors to cause the demise of several students when the dragons attacked."
"And the students? What is the state of them now?"
"Only the first years who were on the last carriage decided to not attend Hogwarts. They are still shaken up while they wait at Hogsmeade Station. What do you want to do about the train?" asked Lunar.
"The Hogwarts Express has served the wizarding world well for centuries. I think it's about time we upgraded to something… innovative."
"What do you propose?" Lunar listened carefully to see if he was able to read the Minister's mind.
"The train is going to be replaced with a new train. It will be faster and durable than the previous. The extra strength of the train will be cancelled out with additional carriages to carry supplies from Corona and Arendelle. While the students are at Hogwarts, more storage will be available, accelerating the development of New Hogsmeade."
"I'm listening. And how do you propose we acquire this train?"
Ignis then smirked, which was rare. "I have contacted Arendelle Corp of this project, and the request is still pending as we speak. Surely you understand the Ministry is allowed to commence these things without your permission."
"Of course, Minister Ignis. I am nothing but the Headmaster of Hogwarts. I control Hogwarts while you control the wizarding world. We have to keep things professional at the very least."
"Indeed. This concludes our meeting. I only wanted to inform you of our plans." Ignis' face in the fires disappeared, leaving nothing but cinders in the fireplace.
Lunar waited several minutes until Moonhaven arrived to tell him the Start-of-Term Feast and Sorting ceremony were beginning. A paper plane was then headed his way after entering through the open window. It unfolded and neatly placed itself in front of Lunar.
Lunar picked up the envelope, seeing the seal from Arendelle. He broke the wax seal and read the letter. He already knew it was regarding the new train in development.
Tsar Lunar
This is a notice about the Minister for Magic, Michael Ignis. We have reason to believe he is plotting things behind your back as a way to regain order over the wizarding world. We are sure the Ministry share a common enemy, the Dark Weapon, but both Arendelle Corp and the Kingdom of Corona trust you as our leader as we have all these years.
Ignis has written to us recently, detailing his interests to replace the Hogwarts Express with a new train made by our technology. We have nothing against this idea, but we do not see a reason for it in the first place. We have informed Frederic and Arianna of Corona about this change given the fact the track makes a complete halt at Corona, but they haven't replied since.
Construction of the train has already begun, but we are more than willing to halt Ignis' plans if you are not pleased with how this is unfolding. Simply telling the Ministry that these plans were unrealistic will definitely thwart Ignis' plans for leadership. We expect a letter detailing how you want this to play out.
Agnarr Arendelle and Iduna Arendelle
Chief Executive Officers of Arendelle Corp
King and Queen of Arendelle
Lunar was pleased to have seen this message. Despite the Ministry's attempts to gain power, they have failed to gain the trust and loyalty of both Resource Kingdoms: Corona and Arendelle. There were also the Military Kingdoms with powerful arsenals: Dunbroch and Moonhaven, who would stand by his side no matter what the Ministry wanted.
Though, one faction was about to be lost. If issues about the Berserkers and Outcasts persisted, Berk might eventually fall with these enhanced dragons. Surely Dunbroch and Moonhaven's forces were enough to hold off a powerful army, but Berk's dragons were the trump cards, as the enemies would not suspect Berk to be threats since they were not considered a 'kingdom'. Lunar's affiliation with the village elder, Gothi, ensured the loyalty of Berk.
That might've been another intention Ignis wanted when registering owned dragons. Now that a list was compiled, he might consider using Berk as a valuable asset against the Dark Weapon, but the problem was if he'd use them too early. Lunar, on the other hand, preferred a surprise attack to throw the Dark Weapon off their tracks.
Lunar wrote his reply to Arendelle, confirming that he wanted Ignis' plans to continue—so long as Lunar was the one with all the factions on his side.
Students were gathered in the Great Hall, seated beside members in their house. The shortest Sorting ceremony had concluded, with only twenty-five first years—much less than the quantity in Merida's year.
Professor Lunar made a speech before the feast, informing the students about the new 'Dusk Train', as nicknamed by the students during the feast. Speculations were also heard by curious ears. There was a theory about the Hogwarts Express being powered by magic, but due to the decline of the magical essence, the train was no longer going to function. The best solution for that complication was to replace it with a more reliable source of energy: Dusk.
At least another dragon attack at Hogwarts was unlikely. Anyone on the Hogwarts grounds would be able to spot a threat miles away in contrast to last year, where the fog prevented people from seeing any noticeable threats.
Merida remained at her table. Today and the End-of-Term feast were times when she felt like she had to sit with her own house. She kept a stable conversation with Heather, but the girl was edgy that night. Heather knew as much as they did about the dragon attack. She explained to Merida that she had no idea they'd be used to attack the train.
"Dagur's getting all the dragons he can. He went to my village during the holiday, hoarding all the dragons the Ministry left behind. He's building an army. Something big is coming and he's going to force me to be part of it."
"And you're not refusing?" asked Merida.
Heather shook her head. "He'll kill whoever defies him. Oliver from Ravenclaw already told me to choose the safest and wisest option. And I do think the Ministry is wrong for taking our dragons."
"How many are with Dagur?" asked Merida, knowing Berk was not going to involve themselves in this feud.
"Me, Oliver, and Holly. She's not from my island, but is still from a village that was taken over by the Berserkers long before her parents existed."
Holly was a few seats away from Merida, conversing with Bryan, one of the Stabbington Brothers. It had occurred to Merida that Bryan's twin, Bryce, was in Ravenclaw, even though they were twins and hard to tell apart. The Thorston Twins were both in Gryffindor, so why weren't Bryan and Bryce in the same house? Merida shouldn't have found that as odd. Both her parents were from Gryffindor while she wasn't.
"Holly was Vanessa's friend, right? But now she left after the curse."
"Yeah, Cacklestare was quite fearless, which Holly admired. I guess Bryan's got a few topics she'd be interested in since he'd spent these two years with his twin and Dagur."
"What do you mean?" asked Merida.
"She looks up to Dagur, unlike me. She feels as if Dagur freed her village from a weak leader. I guess we all have different opinions on the matter."
Merida squinted her eyes, looking for Dagur, but he was nowhere to be found. Normally searching for people was Merida's skill, so if she couldn't find Dagur, he wasn't in the Great Hall.
"Hey," called a familiar voice.
Merida stirred and turned herself to look behind. "Yang? Are you looking for someone?"
"I was actually looking for you," replied the Hufflepuff. "I'm here to thank you for last year. You were able to stop Gothel and the White Death."
"Wasn't it Professor Black who stopped her?" questioned Merida.
"I guess I'm not being specific. I'm thanking you for that deal we made. If you didn't crack the puzzle to the temple, Xander would get involved. I told him that I trusted that you guys would be able to. He didn't think of me as a strategic planner. So when you and your friends opened the temple, it showed that he was wrong, and I was right." Yang gave Merida one of the brightest grins ever.
"And besides," she continued, "You did stop the White Death. You don't need to be so modest. I have proof." Yang held out her Prophecy Record.
"So is that all," asked Merida to avoid the awkward silence.
"Oh—here." Yang pulled something out of her pocket with her other hand. "This is for you." A pale yellow potion was presented.
"A potion?" Merida grabbed it with both her hands, shaking slightly to see if it was an explosive one made by Lily. No sound was heard but the bubbles of the liquid.
"Lily tried to make Corona's Potion, but so far no results. She gave this to me… I have no idea when I'd need to use it and I can't be bothered carrying it around!"
"So it heals?"
Yang nodded. "It should, otherwise I'd be telling Lily to find a new hobby. Most potions take several minutes for its effects to heal, but this one is almost instant. And the bonus… It recovers anyone under the effects of Core Magic. How cool is that?"
"Why'd Lily add that to the potion?" asked Merida. "Are you saying Lily and Xander don't get along?"
Yang looked to her right, seeing if Xander was listening to them. "Just between you and me, they look like they're about to tear each other apart."
"So what if I don't want the potion?"
"Well you better take it. It's also your birthday in a few weeks, right? You're like the first birthday every time school begins. You can thank Nessa for making me remember. Everyone was so confused to find a cake for you at the Slytherin table."
Merida wished everyone forgot about that day. She was Nessa O'Reilly's first birthday victim, and to this day, nobody still figured out how Nessa knew everyone's date of birth.
When the feast ended, Hiccup followed his group to the common room. They were one of the last groups to leave after the first years. The seventh year prefect had led them to make sure none of them strayed from the group, but she was too preoccupied in her thoughts, worried about the last year of Hogwarts, bringing Hiccup to wonder if anything happened to the school before Hiccup joined. Surely something eventful like the White Death's Curse would've been shared to Berk.
A hand had grabbed onto Hiccup's hood, stopping him on his tracks and pulling him away from the prefect's sight. Nobody saw it happen—luckily. Hiccup grabbed the hand to resist the pull, but it was Merida who had been trying to gather her friends together.
"Merida? What are you doing?" he asked and saw Rapunzel behind the red-haired Slytherin.
Merida kept her finger on her lips, begging him to keep quiet. They waited while moving slowly until nobody was heard nearby. Merida finally let go of Hiccup's robe, which she was only aware of when they were near the library.
"Dagur wasn't there at the Great Hall. If he was on the Hogwarts Express, then he's somewhere where he shouldn't be."
"And you think looking for him is the best option? We'll say goodbye to Hogwarts the moment we're caught."
"That's not true, Hiccup," said Rapunzel. "So many students left last year, and barely any first years joined this year. I think the professors are eager to keep as many students here at Hogwarts."
"They were so willing to allow us to leave last year. How're three more students leaving any different to them?" Hiccup argued.
"Hiccup. Do you want to find out what Dagur's up to or not?" Merida asked with a serious tone.
Hiccup nodded defeatedly. "But where would he be?"
"Not sure. We should look around first and see if anything's out of the ordinary. If we're out of luck, you know what the last resort is."
Hiccup hoped he wasn't sharing the same idea as them. The Forbidden Forest more dangerous than ever, since there were still creatures affected by Corruption last year. There was also no confirmation that all the Fearlings were eliminated last year either.
Again in the forest, where nobody could help them, the three third years were prepared. Merida had her bow, which she always hid in the bushes after the Thestral ride. Hiccup and Rapunzel used their spells to illuminate the path before them, hoping the only one to notice the light was Dagur. At least then they'd be able to figure out his plans.
"We're not going far into the Forbidden Forest, are we?" asked Rapunzel.
"Not tonight, unless we see a wisp." Merida replied.
"Oh… no." Hiccup added. "Even if we saw a wisp, we'd head back inside. Don't you remember what happened the last time we saw it last year?"
"It led us to a witch's temple?" answered Merida.
"Before that. The curse started the moment we got to the Callanish Stones." Hiccup corrected. They were several trees into the forest, but they knew their way back. The warm light from the school was visible.
Only ten minutes passed and they all eventually gave up on their wild goose chase. Hiccup was first to act on their failure by turning around, shining his wand over the path that led them back. Rapunzel waited for Merida to accept that they were nowhere near finding Dagur. With a sigh, Merida followed the two back.
It was then when Merida noticed something at the corner of her sight. The moment she turned, something was out of place. The princess made a pause, waiting to confirm her suspicions. The sound then gave it away. Someone was nearby, headed their direction. It could've been an innocent wanderer, but who'd be innocent enough to venture through one of the most dangerous places in Scotland full of dark creatures?
"Expelliarmus!" The red spell headed to the figure, which Rapunzel and Hiccup spotted afterwards. The red light was coming close to the victim, but nothing happened when the spell made contact.
Hiccup and Rapunzel's light came together to expose the person's figure. It was a male wearing a hooded cloak, quite familiar too. The figure pulled back his hood, revealing to be Xander. They remembered that cloak being big on him, but now it seemed to fit a little better.
"Xander?" Hiccup aimed his wand at the Slytherin, darting his head back and forth to see if they weren't alone. Merida did the same, admiring Hiccup's paranoia. "What are you doing here?"
Xander gave them a fake smile, smug as one would describe, annoying Hiccup. "I could ask you the same thing." Xander slowly paced, walking around them like a predator circling its prey.
"Stop the act. We know you're stalling," said Merida. She felt her insides turn as if she was going to snap. She couldn't believe she was already losing her patience.
"Not a stall at all. I am just here to look for Dagur. Although it would appear that you three are already doing it for me."
"Why are you looking for Dagur, Xander? We know Dagur's plans don't involve you," said Rapunzel. Only she didn't have her wand up, for she knew he meant to harm to them. If he never wanted to be found out, they would've already been hit by a Memory Charm. There's no doubt he'd know that spell as well.
"Unfortunately plans always change. I was in charge of making the plans during our first year; last year was Yang. We trusted John to give it a go this year, but his laziness and lack of wit made us take over."
"Us? So you and Yang are now plotting things like you always do?" asked Merida.
"That is correct, and Dagur's army is the solution to these plans."
"You've known about these plans for a while, haven't you? You had Yang spy on them." Hiccup's arm slowly lowered without him being aware. "Were you responsible for those dragons that attacked the Hogwarts Express?"
"Do not make me laugh. I am not a fan of defective allies. Yang and I are just here to lend the Outcasts a hand. Whether or not they attacked the Hogwarts Express does not concern us."
"Why do you want to help? The Ministry are the good guys. They want the Dark Weapon stopped as much as we do!" complained Hiccup.
"The Ministry are indeed the 'good guys', but their existence is needless. They created so many complications that simply wiping them out would benefit us all. Think who has been in charge all this time after Year X."
"Lunar…" replied Rapunzel.
"A shame we did not find you before Jack did, Rapunzel. You would have been extremely helpful." Xander's wand lowered too. "I promise nobody from this school will get hurt, and that includes Dagur, Heather, Oliver, and Holly. Dagur will reclaim his dragon, and so will Alvin the Treacherous. What they decide to do with them does not concern me. The defeat of the Ministry will be a great humiliation. They might even reconsider making these absurd laws. My advice: Stay out of the crossfire."
"And if we don't?" challenged Merida.
"You and your friends will hurt yourselves. How about I tell you this: After I stopped Yang from attacking Dagur on the train, I told her to check Dagur's history, showing if he ever tampered with the door handle. The result: An innocent boy."
"So the door handle just conveniently malfunctioned?" asked Hiccup.
Xander shook his head. "Somebody else was responsible for it, and they must have known about the dragon attack."
"I don't believe any of this! If Dagur planned that dragon attack, then he'd be responsible for that door. If Yang didn't see Dagur do it, then he made someone else do it for him, someone like Holly," explained Merida.
"Or somebody saw it as an opportunity to get the others hurt by the dragons. Again, you cannot prove those dragons Dagur sent belonged to him. Yang also cannot look up everyone's past. There are simply too many names to remember."
Xander was first to leave, not deciding to stay with those three in the forest. They had extra planning to do if they were thinking of spying on Dagur. Of course, he was helping them last year, so they considered trusting him. This night, nobody was successful in finding Dagur.
Only Hiccup was not trusting towards Xander. Merida somehow trusted Yang, who trusted Xander. Rapunzel felt like she could see where Xander was coming from, but he mentioned something about John which bothered her. He was apparently meant to be making all the plans this year, but so far his friends weren't impressed. Did that mean John wasn't friends with Xander, Yang, and Lily anymore?
"Merida, if you're going to trust Xander, does that mean you're going to give up on breaking the rules to see what Dagur was up to? You were the one who had the idea of heading out here to look for him."
Merida felt defeated until another idea sparked into her head. "Hiccup, we're not going to break the rules to find out what's going on. Xander already gave us a few hints if we want to investigate. He mentioned Holly, Oliver, and Heather. Dagur may have not been at the feast, but those three were. We can observe them during class, and Dagur is most likely going to class too. If he was to be absent most of the time, the professors would wonder too."
"How are we supposed to get close to them to find out?" asked Hiccup.
"We don't need to talk to them. We just have to see where they go during the breaks. If a plan is being hatched, they'd need to all meet up to discuss it. And if all of them are absent, that's when we know they're having that meeting."