Chapter Twenty-Six
Jack Frost-
Jack followed his three friends towards the dark mass of trees that made up the Forbidden Forest. Merida had brought her bow, as usual. Hiccup was using his wand to light the way, and Rapunzel walked next to Jack. He felt a stir of satisfaction to have her next to him and not Liam, but he pushed it away. Of course Rapunzel is with me and not Liam! We're going to see Toothless and Simpion after all. She would never miss out on that!
"Make sure your quiet, I think Mr. Cinders is still awake," Hiccup whispered. Jack followed his gaze to the Gamekeeper's house. Sure enough golden light filled the window and pooled on the ground below.
Silently they slipped by his house and into the safety, well relative safety, of the shadows. Hiccup took up the lead again and started through the woods. Merida moved to the back of the group so Jack and Rapunzel were in the middle.
"You know the last time we were in here was when we defeated the shadow," Rapunzel mussed.
"Feels like it was years ago," Merida muttered.
"Actually it's only been a few months, considering that happened at the end of last year and it's only the beginning of this year," Hiccup pointed out.
"Well, yeah if you want to be exact about it," Merida said. Hiccup chuckled and walked on through the forest. Twigs snapped under their feet and leaves rustled gently in the slight breeze. Most of them were still green, but a few had already turned gold and brown. Soon they'd fall and it would be winter, Jack's favorite time of the year.
"Do you think Toothless will still be in the clearing?" Rapunzel asked.
"I'd assume so. He wouldn't leave without me," Hiccup answered. Jack hoped he was right. It would be just his luck that they had to trek through the forest and find that the dragon was gone.
"What about Simpion? Will he be there?" Merida questioned.
"I hope not," Jack snapped. They glanced at him. "Just saying. I mean you guys seem to trust him more than Alex and I don't think that's fair. Alex is my guardian now and I live with him. I know he's trustworthy, but you would still rather put your faith in a horse than him."
"Simpion is a centaur, not a horse," Hiccup corrected him.
"I know. I was just being mean," Jack rolled his eyes. In the darkness nobody saw it.
"Oh come on Jack. Simpion is really nice," Rapunzel tugged at his sleeve. He was in a plain grey shirt with blue jeans. Hiccup was wearing a brown shirt with blue jeans. Merida was in a white t-shirt with tight black pants and Rapunzel wore a pink shirt with skinny jeans.
"Alex is nice too," Jack insisted.
"Just drop it Jackie. Simpion approached us first about the shadow and we're going to see him now. Maybe we'll go to Alex later," Merida silenced him. Jack glared at the ginger, but didn't argue with her.
"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed as he pushed through the trees and into the small clearing where his dragon lived. Rapunzel and Jack followed him.
"Greetings young Hogwarts students," Simpion dipped his head to them in a slight bow. Jack turned his glare to the silver centaur. He blinked at him then turned to the others. Rapunzel smiled brightly at him then ran to see Toothless. Merida approached Simpion.
"Did you hear about the spider attack on the school?" she asked. Jack waited to hear Simpion's reply.
"I did," he nodded. "The acromantulas were forced upon your school by the same force that has called the werewolves to these woods." They froze.
"What did you say?" Hiccup demanded from where he stood with Toothless. His hand lay unmoving on the ebony dragon's neck. Toothless gently nudged him, but Hiccup was focused on Simpion.
"There has been a multitude of werewolves arriving in these woods every day, along with a number of other beings, some better left unnamed," Simpion explained.
"Why?" Rapunzel asked. Her voice shook slightly as she spoke.
"I don't know for sure, but I have reason to believe it must do with the master. I can feel his presence in the school like a dark shadow passing through my heart. The whole forest echoes with his darkness," Simpion shook his head sadly.
"Do you think he's recruiting the werewolves?" Merida asked. Simpion nodded.
"What about the acromantulas?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Simpion answered. Rapunzel and Hiccup opened their mouths to ask more questions, but Simpion stopped them. "I can tell this is now why you've come to visit me," he said.
"No sir," Merida admitted. "We need more practice in fighting and defending ourselves against the darkness within the school."
"We're learning stuff in Defense Against the Dark-Arts, but we agree that you can teach us more," Hiccup added. Jack bit his tongue to keep from shouting at them that he had never agreed to such a thing. He still believed they should seek help from Alex, not Simpion.
"I will continue to train you," Simpion said solemnly. "But only if you truly believe you are ready."
"We do," Merida nodded enthusiastically.
"For your own sakes, I hope you're right," Simpion sighed.
Merida-
Merida aimed her bow again. The acorn Simpion had first instructed her to shoot at still hung, undisturbed, in the very same tree, just as she had left it. She aligned her arrow with the acorn, narrowed her eyes, took a deep breath then let it go just as she exhaled.
There was a whizzing sound as the arrow soared through the air. Then a slight thunk as it nicked the side of the acorn. The arrow fell to the ground and the acorn swayed slightly. Merida held her breath, waiting for it to fall. After a few moments it stilled again and continued to hang from the tree branch.
"Argh," she grumbled.
Jack glanced up from where he was testing ice spells on the small pond in the clearing. Simpion looked at her too. Rapunzel and Hiccup had flown away with Toothless. Merida felt a slight sting inside of her. Am I jealous? She pushed the thought away. There was no way she was jealous of Rapunzel. It wasn't like she liked Hiccup or anything.
"Something wrong Gryffindor?" Jack asked.
"I can't hit the stupid acorn. No one can, it's impossible," she snapped. Angry with herself and the others she stomped over to a tree and sunk to the ground, leaning her back against its ruff trunk. Simpion leaned down and whispered something to Jack. The young wizard nodded and returned to the pond. The silver centaur approached Merida. She pretended she didn't noticed and picked at the grass on the ground.
"It is not impossible," he said softly. Merida sighed.
"But why can't I hit it?" she asked. "I was really good at archery in school, I won every competition!"
"This is not a competition."
"I know, but that shouldn't have anything to do with my archery skills."
"Perhaps you think that you need an audience to do well. You live to show off and to win. Now that there's no trophy you can not reach the goal I have set. Maybe the problem doesn't lie in your archery skills, but instead, lies in your own mind," Simpion suggested. Merida prepared a witty comeback, but stopped herself. What he said made good sense. Maybe she was too caught up in the idea of showing off and being the best.
"But how can I fix that?" she asked.
"You must convince yourself that an adoring audience does not make you a winner," Simpion said.
"But how?"
"Think back. Try to remember sometime when you made a great accomplishment with no one watching. Sometime when you made yourself proud, only yourself."
Simpion left her to watch Jack. Merida watched him trot across the clearing, silver hooves gleaming in the moonlight. His glossy coat shimmered like it was strands of light woven together, not strands of hair.
After he reached Jack Merida leaned back her head and sighed again. She closed her eyes and tried to do as Simpion said. She thought of every award she had ever won. Her track medals, her soccer trophies, her basketball games, and everything. Every idea she come up with always ended with the cheering of her fans.
"I never do anything on my own," she muttered. Opening her eyes she glanced at Jack and Simpion. They had left the pond and moved on to one of the trees. Jack knelt at its roots, his eyes closed in concentration. Simpion watched him intently. Curious, Merida left her tree and approached them. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Jack is attempting to freeze the roots of the tree without being able to see them. then he must work his way up the roots and work on the inside of the tree. The ice will work its way to the outer edge of the tree on its own, turning the tree to ice," Simpion explained.
Merida watched in fascination as Jack worked his magic. At first there was no visible change in the tree, but soon very faint silver lines began to form over the bark. They grew larger and started to connect. It was then Merida realized that they weren't covering the bark, they were the bark. Slowly the tree was turning from wood to ice. After about half an hour the entire tree, leaves included, was sparkling with frost. Jack collapsed to the ground and groaned.
"That was too much work, I'm tired," he moaned.
"You did well," Simpion praised him. "Your work shows the superior skill you have in the art of manipulating ice and snow."
"It's pretty too," Merida studied the tree.
"So why was that necessary?" Jack held himself up on his elbows and looked at Simpion.
"If you can learn to work faster this would be a very effective spell against your enemies. They'd have no way to block it or deflect it since you don't use your wand or words, but only your mind," Simpion explained.
"But how can I learn to go faster?" Jack asked.
"Practice," Simpion answered. "Freeze that tree too." Jack groaned again, but he got up and moved over to the tree Simpion had indicated. The centaur followed him. Merida returned to her tree and sat back down.
From there she was able to watch the silver lines run up the tree and slowly turn it to ice. It still took a painstakingly long time, and Jack fell to the ground in exhaustion after it was done.
"No more," he pleaded.
"You may have a short break," Simpion nodded. Jack let out a content sigh and closed his eyes. Merida giggled. Now that Jack was out Simpion approached her. "Do you think you're ready to hit the acorn?" he asked.
"Not really," Merida admitted.
"Then perhaps it is time we move on," he suggested. "We may return to this later."
"What will we be moving on to?" Merida asked curiously.
"You've got a wand don't you?"
"Yes, but-"
"It's time you learned how to use it!"
"I already know how to use it," Merida argued.
"In the most basic of ways, yes. But there is much about using magic you still don't know and you won't be taught in school until they think you are the proper age. I can teach you it now," Simpion said.
"Oh," was all Merida could say.
Hiccup-
Hiccup let Toothless land in the middle of the clearing. The dragon shook out his body then folded his wings and settled down. Rapunzel slid off of his back before Hiccup and stumbled onto the grass.
"That was so much fun Toothless. You are such a good boy," she scratched him under the chin. Toothless purred contentedly. Hiccup grinned at his dragon friend. Swinging his leg over his saddle he slid down from his back and into the clearing. Jack looked up at him from where he was stretched out over the ground.
"Finally, you're back," he smirked. Hiccup raised his eyebrows at him.
"What are you doing on the ground?" he asked.
"Resting," Jack answered. "I had to exhaust my talent to create two ice trees while you two were off gallivanting through the skies," he sighed dramatically.
Rapunzel put her hands on her hips and looked down at him. "Do you even know what gallivanting is?" she demanded.
"Please, I'm lazy, not dumb." Rapunzel giggled and Jack closed his eyes again.
"Where's Merida and Simpion?" Hiccup turned to the rest of the clearing. Before Jack could answer a blast of light shot through the clearing and blasted into a tree. It was then that he noticed a target sign had been stuck over the trunk of the tree.
"Simpion is teaching Merida the proper way to use a wand," Jack explained. "Something about standing right and focusing. Not really my thing." Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"Merida? Simpion?" he approached the place where the light had appeared, leaving Rapunzel to deal with Jack.
"Hiccup?" Merida stepped out of the shadows. "Yes! Now I've got an actual person to work with," she exclaimed. Hiccup gulped nervously.
"What?" Simpion followed Merida out of the shadows and glanced at Hiccup.
"Don't worry, you won't be harmed. You may only use light spells and charm, not real ones," he comforted him. Hiccup let out a breath of relief.
"Do you wanna fight Hiccup?" Merida asked.
"I guess," Hiccup shrugged. Simpion directed him to a place in the clearing then moved Merida to stand behind him, back to back. He ordered them to walk forward a number of paces then announced it was time to begin. Before Hiccup fully turned around Merida sent a blue light his way.
Hiccup intercepted it with a yellow light and they let out a small explosion then disappeared. Merida sent another light, but Hiccup dodged it then sent his own. Merida blocked it with her own light and Hiccup blasted another one at her. All the while Simpion watched them critically. Every now and then he corrected their stance and directed their movements. He even moved their hand on their wand to let them get the best effect of the spell.
By the end of the round Hiccup felt more efficient, like he would actually be useful in a fight. His thoughts went back to their first fight with Gowthur, Deb, Gabby, and Jasper their first year. He had been a little more than helpless and really hadn't down much to defeat the bullies. Now he felt like he might actually be able to win in a duel.
"If Gowthur new I spent my nights training with a centaur he probably wouldn't bully me so much," Hiccup relayed his thoughts to his friends. Jack snickered.
"I can just picture is face all bunched up in fear and shock. Like a toad that just ate a bad fly," Jack teased. They laughed and then each tried to picture it. Hiccup was reminded of the story of Harry Potter. One of the women who worked for the ministry was described to look like a toad. He briefly wondered if it was some kind of omen. Was the master some kind of Voldemort? Impossible, Harry killed Voldemort. Hiccup argued with himself.
"I bet Jasper and Gabby would leave us alone too," Rapunzel added.
"Wounds heavenly," Merida grinned.
"Maybe we should let it slip sometime," Jack suggested.
"No!" Simpion shouted. "You must never reveal our secret meetings. If word reaches the master's ears it will mean a fate worse for death for us all," he said darkly. "You must keep it a secret."
"We'll keep it a secret," Rapunzel promised.
"We won't tell anyone," Hiccup agreed. No matter how much he was scared of Gowthur and Deb, Simpion frightened him even more so.
Rapunzel-
Rapunzel collapsed onto her bed and burrowed down in her covers. Training had left her feeling drained and all she really wanted to do was go to sleep. She felt a rush of relief that it was Saturday tomorrow and she didn't have to get up for school. More sleep, she thought happily. Using her wand she unbraided her hair and let t flow around her bed and off the sides. By now it was about twenty feet long.
She yawned tiredly and sank into her mattress. Humming softly to herself she drifted to sleep.
A warm dream greeted her unconscious mind. A boy stood in front of her. He took her hand and led her across the bright green grass in the castle's front yard. Ahead of them the Blake Lake shone in the sunlight, looking more blue than black. As soon as they reached the water's edge the sky darkened to black and stars appeared.
A small boat awaited them. The boy stepped inside then helped Rapunzel in. He untied the boat from the dock and pushed off. Using two oars he paddled to the middle of the lake then paused.
"What happens now?" Rapunzel asked. The boy didn't answer. Instead he gazed across the lake at another boat floating nearby.
Rapunzel followed his gaze. She recognized bright ginger and dark auburn hair. They sat across from each other, lost in conversation. "Merida, Hiccup," Rapunzel tried to call their names. They don't acknowledge her. As she watches them the boat and its two passengers fade away.
"Where did they go?" she asked the boy. Again he doesn't answer. This time he looks at the castle. Rapunzel turns towards Hogwarts.
She gasps in surprise at the gorgeous sight. Rising out of the courtyard and into the sky is a multitude of flaming lanterns. They twinkle and shine like the stars in the sky. Slowly, like a lazy summer breeze, they drift over the lake. As if drawn to the little boat they start to encircle it. Rapunzel watches them with fascination, captivated by their beauty. She reaches out to touch one, but the boy takes her hand back. She turns towards him, but he's gone.
Rapunzel blinks awake. She rubs her eyes free of sleep and sits up in bed. The girls in the Hufflepuff dormitory sleep soundly around her.
"What a weird dream," she breathed. "I wonder who that boy was." He first thought was Jack. She would be lying if she said she didn't like him. There was no hiding the attraction she had to the Slytherin boy. As she thought about it another idea popped into her head.
Liam? She briefly wondered if it could be the Gryffindor boy. Despite her feelings for Jack, Rapunzel did feel at least a little excited at the idea that Liam liked her. He was cute and sweet. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. I bet it was Liam. Merida said he liked me last year, I wonder if he still does! Rapunzel smiled at the idea. "Maybe I'll see him tomorrow," she yawned sleepily.
Happy with herself Rapunzel lay back down. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into unconsciousness.
A/N:
Ohhhhhhh. Liam is moving innnnn. Look out Jack! Btw in the next chapter it's Quiditch tryouts. Merida goes for a Gryffindor chaser and Jack tries for the Slytherin seeker. Keep your fingers crossed to see if they get in! I guess I'm not too disappointed in this chapter. I like this training session better than the one their first year. FYI there will be more training chapters like this one this year and a lot more in Escaping Magic. They also gather more members in Escaping Magic. I think that might be my favorite book for this series. I'm just finishing up the plotline and I really like it. There's lots of action and just a bunch of stuff going on. The worst part is that half way through it one of the…never mind, wouldn't want to spoil it for ya ;) I also love the end of this book. Hiccup is like so awesome! Hehe. Well anyways, here's the voting results so far. Strong: 0 Creativity: 3 Lock Down: 2ish. You can still vote if you didn't get the chance before! Now thanks to changeofheart505, mandamichelle, ImagineDragonz7, KairiaB, and WinterRainbow for reviewing! Please keep up the good work!