Hey there, sorry if the updates can be a little sporadic but here's another chapter, I hope you like it! There's more Hiccup as I quite like writing conversation between him and Jack so I hope it sounds okay.
Lessons were over for the day and he'd spent the last few hours in a general panic. If Jack were to describe himself then he'd probably use words such as relaxed, fun and easy-going but there were some problems that he simply wasn't able to ignore. He could ignore his homework and slack off (quite easily, probably) but then what? School was for the literate and he was illiterate. Sooner or later everyone would discover this as he didn't have any way to hide it.
Jack decided to head over to the school library, something he wouldn't have ever imagined himself doing but where else could he go if he wanted to learn how to write? Still, he felt quite out of place when he discovered only a few students had come here on the first day of school and they all seemed to be hard at work or reading in the corner. In fact he didn't even see anyone who appeared to be in his year.
He was becoming more frantic; Jack soon noticed and tried to calm himself down. The only thing he could do at this point was start trying to learn until he was could read and write fluently, preferably before anyone noticed his deficiency. Of course he had no idea how to start. Still he could be creative when he wanted to be and he thought he was sufficiently determined at this point-
Just then, the solution to his problems walked in the door, enabling him to delay trying to learn anything.
Merrida didn't notice him as she headed to an empty table in a rather cosy looking corner of the library. At first Jack didn't pay the red-headed girl much mind either until he realised that it was the same girl he'd spoken to in Diagon alley. Then he watched her quietly, whilst thinking about his own problems. He wondered why she'd come here as she really didn't seem the bookish type though.
As he watched, she drew out an acid green feather quill from her bag and placed the tip delicately on her sheet of parchment as if to begin writing. However she let go of it and the quill continued to float seemingly of its own accord. It was… like magic. She had a magic quill?
And just like that, Jack had a solution to his problems that did not require hard work or learning; what he needed was a magic quill that would do the work for him. It was simple yet brilliant and he made a mental note to himself to look into what else magic could do. His first impressions of it being related to icy spells was apparently far too narrow as it so far seemed to be able to do anything.
Jack considered speaking to the girl but decided against it. She looked comfortable in her little corner and it made sense for her to come her if she wanted to work alone in peace. Just her presence had given him an idea for a solution but he liked to think of himself independent and wanted to puzzle the rest through himself.
Someday though, he had to talk to her as there seemed to be more to her than a just brave and outspoken girl. Jack would never deny his curiosity.
It was only when he returned to his common room that Jack realised he hadn't the faintest idea of how to obtain a magic quill and ought to have just asked Merrida where she got hers from as instead he had to get into another conversation with Kamikaze, who was only too willing and eager to help.
"You need a quill by tomorrow? Didn't ye think you'd need one before you came to school, Jack?" She asked, looking at him with amusement.
"I just need one that will write everything for me, I've got normal ones," he replied rather defensively. Inwardly, he did wonder how he'd managed to purchase books and writing utensils without working out that he'd have to know how to read and write when he got to school.
"Ooh, I think those might be against the rules!" Kamikaze didn't look horrified as Jack imagined that boy Hiccup might've from what he'd observed, she looked excited. "You know, I think I might like one of those for meself, I would," she added thoughtfully.
Of course they'd be against the rules, it was impossible for anything to have a simple solution. Oh well. The two of them were sitting next to each, in the corner of the massive common room. Kamikaze proved to be energetic at all hours of the day, and was absently tapping her fingers as the two of them talked.
"Do you think you could get a pair of them then?"
"There ain't nothing that us bog burglars can't get our hands on," Kamikaze stated matter-of-factly.
"Great then," Jack smiled happily, maybe she'd be a good friend after all.
"I'm not guaranteeing anything, mind! My owl will have to travel a long way and he doesn't like the rain."
Jack looked up to the only window in the Slytherin common room, which happened to be located in the dungeons. "It's not raining," he noted, giving his friend an uncertain look.
"But you never know when the rain will appear, it's very sneaky, the weather," Kamikaze protested, looking strangely serious.
Jack couldn't help but laugh. Kamikaze was funny when she was being completely serious, not just when the topic was absurd but also when she spoke about herself. She seemed to have the highest opinion of her abilities and yet she was so small and energetic.
"If you're just gonna laugh then my owl will definitely be at least a day late with your quill," she threatened, huffing in annoyance.
The two of them headed over to the great hall for dinner, lightly bickering with each other. Of course, Jack had to enter the grand room alone while Kamikaze rushed over to the owlery to mail order some magical quills despite her teasing words about delaying due to non-existent rain.
As he stood in the entrance, watching people sit down to eat, he wondered where he ought to go; his own house's table was downright unwelcoming, filled with judgemental pure-blooded wizards. However it was against the rules to go anywhere else even if people didn't seem to care very much.
He spotted the strange girl Luna and considered sitting by her though she seemed rather content sitting alone and she was a few years older than him besides. He hadn't connected well with any of the other Slytherin first-years so far and they had this really high sense of propriety; they'd probably consider it improper or something if he sat with without being invited. Jack didn't know that for certain or anything but he couldn't totally imagine one of them saying it.
That left either complete strangers or a first-year from another house. Well, he could also stand here until Kamikaze reappeared but he didn't know how long she'd take and he felt like an idiot just standing around. He spotted Rapunzel's long hair but she was conversing with what may well have been her entire year and he'd never spoken to her for very long anyway. The only other person was Hiccup from the awesome dragon tribe then.
Jack grinned, it had been fun talking to him in the morning as Hiccup had been getting easily flustered at just a slight disregard for the rules. Kamikaze would probably be happy to sit with them too as she'd said that they were friends. So with that thought in mind, he raced through the hall, deftly avoiding any person in his way and eased himself into the seat beside the serious Ravenclaw boy.
Hiccup immediately turned to look at him and shot him a slightly horrified expression. "Why- why are you sitting here again?" He asked, surprised and frustrated.
Jack shot him a relaxed grin, grabbing a plate of hot pasta, which he carefully cooled with some cold magic. "Well, we're friends now, aren't we?"
Hiccup blinked a bit in confusion. "When did I agree to become your friend?" He said this with a slightly ironic tone.
"When you agreed to get me a frost dragon," Jack answered easily, already enjoying sitting at the Ravenclaw table.
Hiccup sighed. "I don't know what that girl told you but I really don't think they exist – dragons breathe fire, not ice which would be ridiculous."
"Ridiculously awesome maybe," Jack muttered. He then swung his wooden staff in an arc until the curved end hit Hiccup's glass of water, which immediately froze- as did everything else within a foot of it.
"I really need to work on control," Jack frowned at the now iced patch of table, lowering his staff again.
Hiccup also stared at the table, in shock. "That shouldn't be possible… how did you do that?"
He shrugged, wondering why people were so impressed with such small displays of magic. "I've always been good at freezing things, I guess."
"You didn't use an incantation or anything…"
Hiccup chose such odd things to be fascinated by. "Yeah, so can I eat with you every day?" Jack asked casually, not understanding why Hiccup would be so interested in his magic. It wasn't even big magic; Jack was sure that he could freeze the entire room if he wanted.
That got Hiccup to turn away from the frosty table. "You really want to sit with me? I'm not that great at magic and I'm in a different house you know," he said, suddenly sounding timid.
For the first time, Jack realised that Hiccup hadn't been sitting with anyone before he'd turned up and had been keeping to himself. They'd had Herbology together as well and Jack didn't recall him working with anyone else. It was only the first day but still, it didn't look like Hiccup had made any friends so far.
"Sure, you don't seem too strange, it feels like everyone else I've met has been sort of crazy," Jack replied, thinking about Kamikaze, Luna's oddness, Rapunzel and her super-long hair and those mean Slytherin sisters.
Hiccup snorted. "You've got to be the craziest person I've met – but I don't mind, everyone I've met has been almost boring."
"Well I hope to make your life more fun and exciting as your friend then!" Jack injected some excitement into his voice.
Hiccup looked quite
thoughtful, and ate some of his meal to give himself time in which to consider his next words before replying. "I'd like a strong and steady friendship," he said, shyly yet again. He also gave Jack a small smile.
After that, they both focused on eating their food, though Hiccup did complain to him about how cold it had gotten and that he had been irresponsible with his icy magic. Jack had lightly warned him not to push as he could only make it colder. But overall they had both enjoyed eating together, and Jack concluded that school houses were utterly irrelevant.
"You know, I thought you said it was against the rules for me to sit here, isn't that a problem now?" Jack asked as he about to get up and head back to the common room.
Hiccup snorted. "It's only against the rules at breakfast for some reason, it'd be silly to enforce it at lunch and dinner," he explained.
Jack didn't know what to say to that, the whole system seemed a little arbitrary to him and he could not see any benefit it such an inconsistent arrangement. He half-expected Hiccup to say that he had been making it up except that didn't really sound like Hiccup so far. "Right," he settled on for his reply.
"See you tomorrow Jack, it was nice meeting you today," Hiccup said, getting up to leave.
"Bye!" He made sure to make his reply cheerful
Thanks for reading! Also thanks for all the reviews so far as they've been very encouraging, I'll try to update again soon though I'm concerned I don't have enough plot yet, my ideas are annoyingly vague in my mind.
Do you think Kamikaze has been fine so far as I know she's not a main character so do tell me if you want her to be downplayed or anything. Any comments you have on her or any of the other characters would be greatly appreciated – not sure if Jack sounds realistic or not.