"What was that all about?" Rapunzel asked, letting go of the red heads hand though there was still a small glow.
"That was Ashley. She's one of the Gryffindor prefects and she despises Slytherins. She actually forbade any gryffindor from having any contact with them, and that we shouldn't talk to the other houses if we can help it. Most of the older students ignore her but the first and second years are terrified of the punishment she threatens to give to anyone who disobeys her. And she always acts sweet and innocent in from of professor Bunnymund so it's not like we can tell him that his perfect student is evil." Merida said, her hands in fists.
"Come on. We need to hurry if we want to eat lunch." Astrid said, though she didn't look excited at the thought of meeting up with the prefect again so soon. Jack noticed the uncertain look she wore, as well as the invisible steam coming out of Merida's ears.
"Hey Hiccup. You can do the Alohomora spell right?"
"Ya, why? What are you thinking?" the young boy responded.
"Do you think professor Tooth would mind if we used her classroom?"
"Probably not but won't it be locked?"
"That's why we need the unlocking spell. I know the spell but you are definitely better at it than I am. Just follow me." Jack said, leading the way down to the basement and ending up in front of the kitchen. He opened the doors to reveal a large kitchen with house elves running around, setting food on a long table only for it to disappear. A few words with the closets house elf, who seemed to know Jack, and the group had a pile of sandwiches. They walked over to the empty classroom, unlocked by Hiccup, and ate together.
Later that night, the group meet up with Professor Dreems. He appeared annoyed that he had to deal with detention he didn't give out but nonetheless he gave them jobs to do. He set them to work cleaning the ink spills from Peeves latest prank. They began their work, rubbing hard on the blackened walls.
"Hey Hiccup, check this out." Jack called, pouring the water all over the floor. Hiccup simply rolled his eyes, giving the small dragon on his shoulder a look. Toothless rolled his eyes back as they turned to watch the spectacle in front of them.
With a flourish of his water, Jack sent the soapy water running along the floor and up the walls, making quick work of their detention. Although none outside the group knew, the four students had found unique spells, ones they could each do without saying it out loud. Jack was able to manipulate water, Hiccup could creates rushes of air. Merida had had a few incidents with the fire balls she could pull out of thin air and Rapunzel's connection to earth ran deeper than the rest of the school knew. All of their powers were quickly followed by a soft glow.
"Wait Jack, stop." Rapunzel said. Jack, not understanding what the problem was, quickly stopped. Rapunzel walked towards one wall, the others finally noticing the thin line of black ink that wasn't moving with the water. Jack moved the water away, his green glow fading.
The group looked at the strange spot, Rapunzel tracing her hand along the line. Soon her hand began to glow bright, a stream of gold running along the pattern raised on the wall. This was when Hiccup noticed the school crest in the middle of the panel, Hufflepuff lighting up once the glow reached it. Jack glanced between the crest and Rapunzel, her hand still resting on the dark wood, and reached his own hand to touch the wall next to her. The bright emerald wove its way along a separate line, reaching his own house crest and producing a glow. Merida and Hiccup gave each other a nod and placed their own hands on the wall, Pure blue and fire red weaving past each other before resting within the lion and the eagle. A light click opened a panel and revealed a door handle, each looking nervously at the others before Rapunzel reached down and twisted the handle, pushing in slowly.
The room was dark when the group first glanced in. Everyone looked to Merida who nodded back and sent a fireball into the room with a flick of her wand, controlling its flight to see what was inside. It touched several large dark basins, lighting fires as it soared. Soon the group could see the entire room, Merida sending the fireball into the fire place they saw off to the side.
Walking in, the most notable feature was a large flag with the hogwarts crest hanging on the far wall. Several comfy sofas and chairs surrounded the room in groups, with two fireplaces on either wall. At the back in a raised dais sat a long wooden table, two tall chairs at the ends while long benches rested along the length. Two plain wooden door sat on the right of the dais, investigation revealing them to lead to bathrooms, while a heavy looking black iron door could be seen to the left. The group looked around while Fishlegs remained at the door, too nervous to enter.
"We shouldn't be in there. We don't know what that room is for, let's go before a teacher comes and gives us detention for being where we shouldn't." He pleaded to deaf ears, continually glancing between the room and the hall before sighing and entering.
The room had obviously not been used in a long time, a thick layer of dust covering everything. This was all ignored though in favor of investigating the black door. There was no handle, nothing that could help them determine how to open the door. They all looked at each other for ideas on how to open it when Hiccup stepped forward, a light glow indicating he had an idea.
"Maybe we don't need a handle. If the door opens inward, you wouldn't need a handle since you would only have to push." He said, reaching to do just that. The glow grew brighter, the push he gave the door, opening it with ease given the size.
Everyone entered the room slowly, a bright white glow emitting from a single large gem in the middle of a slone table. Four chairs sat on each side of the square table, each plain grey stone with one of the house crests in the center. A tall bookshelf stood off to the side, filled with books. Another shelf on the wall behind the Hufflepuff chair was overflowing with trinkets and bobbles.
"This is incredible. I wonder what this room is for." Rapunzel said with a smile on her face as she walked over to Hufflepuffs chair, running her hand along the side before sitting down. Almost instantly, the chair glowed yellow, covering the grey with a sheen of gold and drawing intricate designs of flowers and vines winding their way around the chair before dying down, leaving a now gold chair in its place. A single golden flower rested on top. Jack gave a grin and sat down in the Ravenclaw chair, looking behind to see the transformation. They all held their breath, only to let it out a moment later when nothing happened.
"Wait, Jack. Try the Slytherin chair." Hiccup directed, Merida moving to sit in the Gryffindor chair. Swapping places with Hiccup, Jack did as told and a few seconds later the once simple chairs were replaced. Merida's remained as stone, with rivers of fire falling down the sides and licking the arm rests. Jack's became pure crystal, snowflakes decorating the back, while Hiccups became a deep wooden chair with puffs of air dancing all around.
"Hey, you guys. Come look at this. According to this book on the History of Hogwarts, this is the Hogwarts common room. 'Commonly used by students of all houses to mingle, discuss homework questions, and plan school wide events.' Wait, that means all the houses used to get along? But I thought that Slytherin always hated the others because of who they accepted. Didn't Salazar leave just a few years after it was built? There is no mention of any kind of cordial relationship between him and the other houses ever." Fishlegs had taken a large book off of the shelf and began flipping through the pages.
Hiccup looked around the room once more, this time landing on the ancient clock on the far wall. He gasped, rising front the chair and hurrying to the bookshelf, grabbing several tomes. The others stared at his quick figure.
"Look at the time! The professor will come to check how much we've done." He explained. The others burst into action as well, all of them rushing to the door with Hiccup in the rear. Once in the hall, Hiccup flew the books up to the ceiling, hiding them from the teacher just as he came around the corner. Professor Dreems gave a quick glance around before nodding, dismissing them for the night. Before separating to their own houses they looked at each other, silently agreeing to look into the strange common room another day.