Hey there, sorry for the lack of updates but I've been busy, anyway I've written this chapter which will focus on Rapunzel this time. She's in Hufflepuff of course.
"Oy, Jack Frost!" An angry voice called out from behind him and he tried not to shake too much from secret laughter. While the voice in question sounded absolutely furious, it was hard to take such a high pitched and girly voice seriously, especially when the owner was tiny too.
He turned around to face the girl, failing to hide a cheeky smile as she glared up at him. Kamikaze's hair was more wild than usual due to an impressive layer of snow and frost slowly melting into it. Icy water was currently dripping down her face. It seemed she was one of the victims in his trap and she was perfectly aware that he was the culprit.
He decided to pretend she wasn't angry. "Hey, how's it going?" He asked lightly, inwardly proud that he avoided bursting into laughter.
"I'm your friend, you're supposed to let me in on your tricks, you are," she snapped. "Lucky for you, I'm a bog burglar and we bog burglars always land on our feet, we do."
Jack couldn't help but burst out laughing, seeing as how the snow in her hair was clearly visible. "Where- Where'd all that- all that ice come from then?"
"Oy, this isn't funny! How'd you coat the stairs in all that slippery ice anyway?" Kamikaze asked grumpily, crossing her arms.
Jack had thought it would be a fun little prank to ice over the Slytherin staircase so that no one would be able to walk up it without slipping and falling into the pile of snow he'd left at the bottom. The thought of telling Kamikaze hadn't even occurred to him as he'd done it on a whim when he'd realised that he'd woken up really early for some reason and had a bit of time to kill. He hadn't really expected anyone to attempt to run up the staircase as the big pile of snow was impossible to miss. Kamikaze was probably just the exception.
"You know my staff is really good at making things colder," Jack shrugged, wondering why no one else seemed to have accomplished similar feats. It brought his mind back to the frozen lake, where it had been really cold. It was the only time he really remembered being scared of the cold, and since discovering his magic, Jack had embraced all things chilly.
"But you actually conjured loads of ice! It takes a lot of ice to make a bog burglar lose her balance, it does," Kamikaze replied, never missing an opportunity to brag about her clan.
Jack rolled his eyes, though he had to grin and her ridiculous attitude. "Well it seems I succeeded in catching a bog burglar off guard."
Kamikaze was glaring at him again. "I think you must have cheated, that's the only way anyone could fall for your stupid tricks!"
"And how did I cheat?" He asked with no small amount of amusement.
"You did it too early, no one can expect to be alert in the morning, nobody!" Kamikaze sounded absolutely serious, which made her statement all the more hilarious.
"Well then next time I'll prank you at a more convenient time because that doesn't defeat the purpose at all," he said, deadpan delivery that no doubt went over Kamikaze's head.
"Your tricks are no match against the heir to the bog burglars, maybe you could prank Hiccup instead. You're his friend now, right?" Kamikaze replied, surprisingly amiably. Maybe she'd interpreted his sarcastic compromise as an apology.
They chattered a bit more on the way to charms class, but Jack's mind was no longer interested in the conversation, thinking back to the odd event he'd seen earlier. After Jack had iced the stairs for fun, he'd still had plenty of time before breakfast and had decided on wandering the school hallways to pass the time.
Hogwarts was a very exciting castle with all of its grand staircases and suits of armour and moving paintings that sometimes greeted students who passed by. Early in the morning it felt almost magically silent with no one else around and even Jack's very light footsteps felt jarringly loud in the expansive halls.
When he'd heard some voices conversing during his exploration, it had been a simple task to locate them and listen to their conversation whilst remaining out of sight. It probably wasn't a very good thing, but Jack had always had a rather curious nature and he had easily recognised his classmate Rapunzel by her long, blond hair. He wondered what she was discussing with a professor, the other voice he'd heard.
Jack became even more curious when he heard Rapunzel address the figure as "mother".
"-fitting in well so far mother, you worry too much," she was saying in an embarrassed but affectionate tone.
"I know, I know but you've grown up so much since school began. Have you made any good friends yet?" The professor replied.
Rapunzel paused before answering. "Oh, well everyone in my house has been really nice so far but my room mates all seem to have made friends with each other and what if they don't like me?" She confided in her mother.
"Now, now Rapunzel, you just need to keep your chin up and believe in yourself. Also do something about these robes, don't you want to look presentable?" Her mother said, lightly scolding her. Was that how all mothers were like? Jack didn't remember his mother at all.
"They're fine! But… I'm glad you're here," she replied softly. Jack couldn't see them from where he stood, but he imagined that they were hugging.
"I'm not letting you live in a castle by yourself – you're only eleven! Now would you sing for me darling?"
And then Rapunzel did actually begin singing to Jack's surprise. And she had a beautiful singing voice though he thought the glow coming from the hallway had to be his imagination.
Flower, gleam and glow,
Let your power shine,
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine,
What once was mine.
Jack hurried away after that, feeling guilty for listening in on such a personal conversation even if they were having it where anyone could hear them. Those lyrics clearly had a deeper meaning though he wasn't sure what that could possibly mean.
As Jack headed off to charms with Kamikaze he realised that he'd see Rapunzel there and wondered what to say to her. He had a few questions, mostly about who he mother was, seeing as she apparently taught here. It was probably best if he just owned up to spying on her as he'd never really been much good at keeping secrets. Plus she'd said she wanted to make friends with someone so she probably wouldn't want to get too mad at anyone.
This was why, when the two of them entered the charms classroom, Jack immediately sat down next to Rapunzel, whom had already arrived, as he'd done last lesson and started by thoughtfully moving some of her hair into a slightly neater pile though it was difficult when there was so much of it.
Kamikaze didn't seem to mind and she was probably still a little miffed about getting pranked earlier, so she happily sat with some other Slytherin girls. Meanwhile, Jack turned to Rapunzel, who smiled at him politely.
"I heard you singing to your mother this morning," Jack said in greeting, lightly.
Immediately, her eyes grew big and the smile froze on her face. It was clear she hadn't suspected his presence there at all. Jack kept up the unconcerned attitude as he patiently waited for her to process the information and respond.
"You heard me?" She repeated blankly.
"You have a really nice voice," he said. And a nice mother, he thought inwardly.
"Why were you listening? Are you after my hair? I thought I was safe here!" Rapunzel demanded in quick succession, looking horrified. She moved her chair away from his and roughly yanked her long hair off of his desk, pulling it all as far away from him as possible.
Jack watched her, bemused. "I don't want your hair."
Rapunzel continued to eye him with suspicion. "My mother is a powerful witch and she will destroy you if you come anywhere near me or my hair!" She threatened.
At this point Jack came to the conclusion that all girls at this school were at least a little crazy and it was probably best to just ignore the crazy bits. He felt glad he'd made friends with someone really normal like Hiccup.
"So what does your mother teach anyway?" Moving the conversation along was a fool-proof strategy.
"Muggle studies, this is her first year but she'll keep a close eye on boys like you, don't worry," she replied.
"So she came here to teach, just for you? That's really nice, I wish I had a mother," Jack said, immediately regretting his last words. He wasn't supposed to mention that! Oh well, he'd never been any good with secrets.
"Huh? You don't have a mother?" Rapunzel obviously asked the question that would make him most uncomfortable but at least her anger appeared momentarily forgotten.
"No, your mum seems really nice though," he answered awkwardly, wondering when class would start as this conversation was starting to be uncomfortable. At least no one else appeared to be listening.
"Yeah, she is…" Rapunzel muttered, looking thoughtful.
"So, is it true you're looking for friends?" Jack asked, keen to move the conversation to safer subjects.
Rapunzel frowned, looking down. "How much did you hear?" She asked with irritation.
Jack shrugged. "So if you want, I could eat breakfast with you?" He offered, ignoring her question.
"Why would I want that? You're weird and you listen in on private conversations," she replied, a little harshly in his opinion. "And I know you eat meals with that Ravenclaw boy, it causes enough commotion," she added.
"Does it?" Actually it didn't matter if it caused a commotion, what did matter was why Rapunzel wasn't interested in being his friend. "Never mind, and he never lets me eat breakfast with him as it's against the rules."
"Against the rules?"
"Yeah, I'm sure you won't mind if I break the rules for you, right?" Jack replied, moving the conversation forward once again.
Rapunzel sighed. "I'm looking for other friends, now don't talk to me during class."
Upon looking around, Jack discovered that the teacher had indeed finally arrived though he was at least a few minutes late. He reluctantly got out his magic quill and quietly whispered for it to begin writing for him. He'd been at school for a couple weeks now and it had so far been effective though the reading thing was still an issue.
Later he talked to Hiccup about Rapunzel but Hiccup seemed more interested in scolding him about his icy prank which had been rumoured about around the school though fortunately few people had linked it to him, thinking only older students would know how to conjure so much ice. Hiccup however had been fascinated by his powers and as a result, knew quite a bit about them through repeated demonstrations. Such a strict friend just cemented the idea of making a different friend who wouldn't care if he broke a few rules now and then; at least until Hiccup learned to relax and not worry so much. He was always worrying.
So the very next day, Jack walked over to eat breakfast at the Hufflepuff table, taking the seat right next to Rapunzel, to her extreme surprise and hopefully only slight displeasure.
That's it for now, more on Rapunzel next chapter and the focus will be on Merrida soon enough. There hasn't been a great deal of HP characters so far so if you'd like to see a bit more of then, please ask!
In Harry Potter canon, Professor Burbage is the muggle studies teacher but for this fic, I've taken the liberty of saying that Mother Gothel has gotten the job. Feel free to imagine her tricking Burbage or some other underhanded tactic to get the job in order to stay close to Rapunzel, who doesn't yet know her real parents. She's obviously a witch and belongs to the Slytherin house if you were curious.