AN; Sorry for the delay in posting. I hope everyone is having a happy holidays and a very merry Christmas. The group was unable to check out the room for several months, being too busy with all of the work the professors gave, as well as the extra spells some of the prefects taught the small group in secret, seeing their natural abilities pass the spells from class. Soon christmas had come and gone, with everyone bringing back presents and treats to share. Having all returned early, they decided to trade presents in the Hogwarts common room, certain that no one would bother them, especially since Hiccup said he had news. Hiccup made a swishing movement with his wand and the dust was dispelled from a group of sofas. Merida light the fireplaces and the group settled down. Rapunzel had made them each a painting. Hiccup's had Toothless, who had been introduced to the group a few weeks before the room discovery, tilting his head with his eyes wide. Merida and Jack both received scenery paintings, deep green woods and wide open night sky respectively. Merida brought some christmas cookies made by her brothers nanny while Jack turned the room into a winter wonderland for a few minutes, starting a snowball fight that Merida soon had gotten each of them a notebook, charmed with the help of his friend Goober from Berk so they could send messages to each other in secret. Astrid, Fishlegs and Kristoff, who had become a part of the group before the holidays and told about the secret room, were also there. They passed around their own gifts of new quills, parchment and every flavor beans and chocolate to each of their friends. "Hey listen, I was reading one of the books I grabbed from here and I found something about the marks on our hands." Hiccup began, the laughter dying down. "You mean like what they mean or why we have them? Because that would be some useful information." Jack said, looking down at his hand. "Sort of. Do you remember what the sorting hat said?" "Ya, something about the four houses and how it was time for 'the guardian's', right?"Merida cut in. Rapunzel leaned in to, curious as to what he had found. "That's right. It talked about how 'it's time for the guardian's to shine', or something like that. Also when it said 'two witches, two wizards, four elements, four houses', I think it was talking about us, or at least the 'guardian's'. This part here" Hiccup said, pointing to a page in the book he pulled out. "This part says that the reason there are elements associated with the houses is because the four founders actually had the power to manipulate them. These marks were on their hands, which they then passed down to the best students and trained them personally. No one knew exactly what they were taught or why but each received the same mark on their hands. It also notes here that the four students were taken somewhere in the castle by the founders and when they returned, they would work hard to perfect spells and complete extra work given by the heads. While the students were often top of the class, apparently it relates more to how they connect to the attributes of their houses." "So like, someone from Gryffindor was really brave? That sounds like all gryffindors." Merida said, a little confused. "Not quite. See, there were some who held these traits more than the rest. Not just the trait but the meaning of the trait. An example could be…..her." Hiccup said, showing Merida a picture of a young blond girl with swirling grey eyes. "Her name was Lily Swells and she got her mark when she stood up to a teacher. She knew she was going against a teacher, at the time the professor she went against was Professor Slytherin himself, but she was still brave enough to stick to what was right, even when she took the consequences of her actions." "Wait, then what about Slytherin? Was their trait being stuck up snobs?" Jack asked, half joking but the group could tell he felt uncertain. Slytherins were known for their obsession with ancestry, to the point that most believed their house trait was being a pure blood and power hungry. With Jack as a muggle born, this would be an unusual choice. "Not quite. Actually, the Slytherin house trait is their resourcefulness. Their determination and means they often use to obtain power is what sets them apart." "That makes sense then. Jack, do you remember when some Slytherins knocked my homework into the lake? And I had to hand it in next period? And I couldn't control my fire balls that well yet so you got Hiccup to blow air through my fireball and push the hot air over my parchment to dry it without bringing the fire near it." Merida reminded the boy. He gave her a smile. "So why did we get our marks on the train, before we even got sorted? I thought the whole reason these people got their marks were because of their showen abilities."Rapunzel asked. "I'm not sure yet. I'm going to keep reading though, and try and find out. What I want to know is what exactly they learned. But it was a secret, no one knew but those who learned it. I want to check out the other books in the room, to see if they say anything." Hiccup said, his nose in the book, reading intently. "What about the whole elements part?" Jack asked, having just remembered about Hiccups epiphany in flying class. "Right. About that. I thought I had seen the symbols on our hands before and I was right. They're in the great hall back at my village. Each of the symbols represent an element. I did some research and found out that each of the houses also represent an element as well as an animal and colors. And each of the elements of our houses matches the element we can control." Hiccup explained. "I wonder what exactly connects everything." Rapunzel mused, while Merida and Jack simply shrugged.