AN: Alright, I finally finished this chapter. It's really short and not my favorite by a long shot but I needed it to transition to the next chapter. The next chapter is done so I should be back on track now. Also I realized that I have been referring to Pitch Black as Professor Pitch instead of Professor Black so I will be doing that from now on.

Their plan was implemented the next morning, with each of the main four talking to their head of house about their idea. Hiccup finally created an idea that would allow all of them to hang out together without the DA professor expelling them. At least not without clear evidence. While they had wanted to keep the room as their own secret hidey hole for a bit longer, it allowed not only them but also others to meet up with other houses. After showing the Hogwarts common room to Headmaster Clause, their 'club' was allowed. Their special room in the corner was kept a secret, not ready to reveal everything quite yet. Lucky for them, the door could only be opened by the four of them and so it remained locked when the other Professors tried to open it.

A few days later, signs were posted in each of the common rooms as well as the main hall.

Hogwarts Common Room

Third floor north hall

Behind the school crest

All houses are welcome to work on homework, talk and hang out with all houses

No judgement, no bullying, no exclusion

Breaking these rules will result in a ban from the school wide room

Most the students ignored the post, not noticing the small piece of parchment hidden amongst all of the other papers announcing choir practice, the new meeting time for the Gobstone club and what spell to prepare for charm club. It wasn't overly advertised, the location of said room transferred by word of mouth by those who dug deep enough to see the small notice. Even still, only a few came to visit the secret room.

Cepheus was invited to join their ever growing group but she declined, preferring to remain alone. Though she could often be found in the Hogwarts common room, her nose buried in her latest book or quietly talking to Hiccup. Jack still felt that she belonged in Ravenclaw more than Slytherin, though whenever he brought it up with Cepheus she would firmly shake her head and leave it at that. Other faces would come and go, some coming often and others just popping in to see the place only to prefer their houses common room. Through this, Jack was able to become familiar with several other students. And slowly, more and more came to learn about the small brown haired boy for who he was instead of the house he was placed in.

The best part of the entire scene was that there was nothing Professor Black could say. Every night there would be two or three students at the raised dais, doing homework while the soft hum of conversation came from the sofas. Headmaster Claus was excited to have somewhere for all of the houses the be together, a concept he had been trying to work on since he first took over the school. And since the four students from each of the houses were the ones to suggest it, if Professor Black tried to expel them it would be revoked almost immediately.

Ashley on the other hand was silently steaming at the idea. Though she didn't say anything, she made it very clear that any Gryffindor who visited the school common room would not be made welcome in the houses common room, something only a few of the second and third years took to heart. The first years started following the lead of their fellow first years while the older students found her frantic ravings and silent glares ineffective. Merida kept her distance with the blonde girl, not that it was hard when Merida could often be found in the school common room, Ashley refused to even step foot on the same floor as the hidden room. The group still remained on edge in case she tried to split them up once more.

While the larger common room was used mainly for hanging out and homework between houses, DA continued to meet in their usual empty classroom. Besides the common room, this was were the group could be found, with Jack being more accepted than before now that a few people actually met him outside of the other Slytherins. It was there the group was practicing the smokescreen spell, carefully creating small puffs of smoke in the air. And it was there that Ashley finally revealed her true thoughts.