Hiccup grabbed his head, trying to stifle the pain he suddenly felt. The other two would have questioned the small black creature that crawled out from within his black cloak had they not been experiencing the same thing. For a moment nothing happened, the four tweens bowing their heads in pain. Then, finally, the pain slowly faded away allowing the group to raise their heads. They looked at each other in shock, unsure what had happened.
The silence was broken by Rapunzel with another loud gasp, who stared at her hands. Glancing over her shoulder, Hiccup saw the glowing yellow symbol on the palm of her right hand. A line ran along the bottom of her palm with two more leading up from the first line. All of the lines were slightly curved.
He quickly looked at his own hands, revealing what looked like a sideways five, and arrow head tracing the top, all in pure blue. Looking over at the remaining two occupants of their car, two more symbols appeared. Jack had two glowing green lines, one straight while the other curved away from the first, while Merida's was a bright red curved lightning bolt.
The train slowed to a stop, startling the four out of their awe. They rush to grab their belongings and hurry off the train. Following the voice calling the first years, they all board a boat and join their new classmates in their trip to the beautiful castle.
Once they reach a set of giant doors, the group stops and the four get their first look at one of their new teachers. She had short colorful hair, hints of pink and blue showing through the bright turquoise. Her bright robe matched her hair and Jack swore it shimmered as she spun to face the young group.
"Hello! Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Toothia Fae. I just need to tell you what will happen, then we will enter the great hall and you will all be sorted into your houses. When your name is called, just come up and the sorting hat will be placed on your head. The hat will announce which house you will belong to during your 7 years in hogwarts." The cheery professor explained, a giant smile on her face. She quickly turned and threw open the doors. The rest of the first years followed behind as she led the way between the long tables. Finally they reached the raised dais, where a wooden stool and an old hat sat. The room was impossibly quiet given the number of students. The reason became apparent when a seam opened up like a mouth and the hat started to sing.
Hello hello
Welcome once more
Time to start a new year
And open a new door
So i'll sort you out
And place you soon
To divided houses
From which, love will bloom
Though be careful, beware
Be cautious, take care
For the evil now gone
Is not the only one there
Four keys
Four locks
Four elements
One box
Bravery and intelligence
Loyalty and cunning
Each will be needed
Don't you dare think i'm bluffing
These houses have last
for a very long time
And though you have your heads
It's time for the guardians to shine
Two wizards
two witches
Four elements
Four houses
Now I will let you go
And start the sorting
But remember all, and don't forget
Voldemort's not the only evil existing
Once again there was silence, but now it was deafening. Everyone still remembered the terrible tragedies that came with He Who Shall Not Be Named, as well as the heroics of Harry Potter. Though it had been well over 40 years since the event, no one was likely to forget what had happened, with the exception of Jack, a muggle born who seemed confused at the mention of a wizarding event. The fact that the sorting hat would mention that there was more evil like Voldemort was not a good sign. Then the muttering started, everyone trying to figure out what might be coming, as well as who the four guardians were.
"Silence!" a booming voice called out, quickly eliminating the conversations. Hiccup glanced at the other three next to him and as one they turned to face the dais, revealing a chubby man in a bright red robe. He had rosy cheeks and a large white beard.
"The professors will discuss this later. At the moment, the sorting must be done." the man said, turning to Toothia. She nodded and began calling out names. It wasn't long before Merida was called up.
"Hmm, I see. I am not needed here. You have already been placed in a house. I wonder which house Gryffindor will join. Well, no matter. I wish you luck, guardian of GRYFFINDOR." the last words were said out loud by the sorting hat. As he called out the house, Merida felt her palm getting warm. Looking down at her hand revealed the same red glow as earlier slowly fading from view.
One by one the first years sat on the wooden stool, and were sorted into their houses by the talking hat. Sometimes it took a few moments for the hat to decide where the student should go, others took only second. The only constants were the four students with the glowing symbols. All received the same message from the legend that was placed on their head. Hiccups blue glow placed him with the intelligent Ravenclaws, the pure emerald of Slytherin calling to Jack and the honey yellow connecting Rapunzel to the badgers. Finally all the students were sorted and settled into their seats and looked towards the red man once more.
"Welcome students, both old and new. It's time to start learning once more. Quick introductions for all the bright new students, though the teachers will introduce themselves in full later on. I am the headmaster, Professor Clause. Head of Gryffindor is Professor Easter, he teaches herbology." The headmaster says, nodding to the grey cloaked man next to him. He was fairly tall standing next to the large professor, with long light grey hair.
"Next is the head of Hufflepuff, Professor Towers, she covers divination in later years." A young looking women with large curly black hair and pure blue eyes. She gave a strange laugh when she was introduced, causing Rapunzel to lock eyes with Merida, who was just across from her at the next table, and mouthing 'save me'. Merida laughed, hiding it behind her hand.
"Sandy, sorry Professor Dreems, in the head of Ravenclaw."Professor Easter nudged the small man next to him, waking him up. The short man was wearing a bright yellow robe that matched his spiky pale yellow hair perfectly. After a few moments, he gave a small, cheerful wave.
"Finally Gothi over there is the head of Slytherin. Ahh, don't hit me women. Fine, Professor Terr" The women was even shorter than Professor Dreems, wearing a dark brown and gray robe and carrying a tall staff, which she used to hit the Head master. Evidently this was a natural occurrence as most of the room laughed at the headmaster's reaction. She smiled at the correction, gave a small nod to the room and sat down once more.
"The others you will learn in time but now it is time to eat." With a flourish of his arms, the tables were soon covered in food, ranging from hearty stews to strawberry pastries and everything in between. Everyone was quickly grabbing something, filling their stomachs as some of the older students talked about the school to the younger ones.
"So, I heard there was a dragon in the forest at one point." Hiccup began, discreetly glancing down.
"Yep, during the triwizard tournament. There were actually four there. And two of the students from here had to face them. Harry Potter was one of them. He was able to beat the toughest dragon there was!" A short black haired fourth year said, evidently a fan.
"I think you mean the secret dragon egg that the old groundskeeper had, right? My grandfather is Ron Weasley. He told me about how Harry and Hermione had to get the egg to someone within the grounds so that it could be free. Not a lot of people know about that story though. How did you hear about it?" The same bright red haired girl from the train but in.
"Uhh ya, that one. My great grandmother was actually the one who took the dragon in. Charlie Weasley brought the dragon to the island I live on, since my family has the best knowledge of dragons." Hiccup explained, feeling slightly awkward from the girl leaning over.
"That's so cool! I'm Glow by the way, Glow Weasley. Probably could tell by the hair. I'm a fifth year. There are a bunch of us around here. I think the youngest here is in third year. That would be my youngest brother Glint. And my sister is here too, her name Shimmer. I know weird names right? Who knows what my dad was thinking. Pretty much all my cousins are here too. If you see red hair they are probably related to me. I swear there are too many of us. But what are you going to do. Do you have any siblings?" Glow said, speaking faster than a train. When she finally took a breath, Hiccup quickly turned to the boy next to him, trying to engage in a conversation that went a little slower.
"Soooooo…" Hiccup said, uncertain what to say but knowing his head would end up spinning if Glow kept up the conversation. Thankfully he didn't have to worry about thinking up a topic, as a ghost quickly came and sat down next to him. The large boy squeaked at the sudden coldness and moved over a bit to giver her space.
"Hello there. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Helena Ravenclaw, known to most as the gray lady." She said, glancing quickly at Hiccup's hand before looking around the table. Hiccup slowly moved his hand under the table, hoping no one had seen where her eyes trailed.
"Helena ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw founder of Ravenclaw house. Extremely intelligent. Loved by the bloody baron. Friends with Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood. Considered quiet and shy. Stole her mother's diadem to become more intelligent." The large boy began quickly reciting facts, as though he were reading it off of a page.
"Yes, although I do regret that. It is not something I like to remember." She said gently, with her eyes downcast. Soon thought the conversation turned lively once more as he asked her a long stream of questions on every subject matter, Hiccup occasionally adding to the conversation.