Wow, all of todays chapters have been more than 2,000 words each. Hope you guys enjoy this last chapter of the triple update. I feel like I should warn you guys in advance that I will not be posting for a week. I will be away all week, and my marching band has a parade over the weekend as well. Sorry if this is last minute, but hopefully these chapters will sate your thirst for more updates. I'll see you all in a week, TheWorldGoesBoom.
Merida POV
"Today's lesson is going to be about animagi." Professor Toothiana announced. "Does anybody know what an animagus is?"
I had heard the term animagus before, when Hiccup was about to leave, Jack had called him one. I vaguely remembered one of my family members had been an animagi, though it was years ago. I remember my grandfather turning into a giant Clydesdale, insisting he was the strongest horse in all of Scotland. Only a few hands were raised, and one of them was Hiccup's. Though he didn't have to come to classes, and most of the teachers would rather he didn't, he insisted upon coming.
"Yes, Haddock." She said. I had a feeling that Prof. Toothiana didn't mind the fact that Hiccup had returned, she had always seemed to favor him.
"An animagus is someone who can transform into an animal, usually their patronus form, without the need of a spell." He recited, as though reading from a textbook.
Prof. Toothiana smiled. "Ten points to Ravenclaw. Now, who knows what the difference between transfiguration and animagi is?"
At this, less hands were raised, and the ones that were raised seemed less sure of themselves.
"Miss Singh?" Prof. Toothiana fluttered excitedly.
"The power of an animagus is an ability, while transfiguration is a spell." Singh replied.
"Very good, miss Singh!" Prof. Toothiana fluttered excitedly. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Anything else to add to this?"
The class remained silent and no hands were raised, until Hiccup's slowly went up. I frowned. Why did he know so much about animagi? Was it possible that Hiccup was an Animagus? Jack had called him one in November...
"An animagus also has an identifying mark on them after they transform." Hiccup stated.
Prof. Toothiana nodded and smiled. "Very good, Haddock. Does anyone here know an animagus?" She asked.
The class remained silent. Not a single hand rose in the air.
Prof. Toothiana smiled kindly. "That's because Animagi are rare. Lots of wizards and witches think that their time could be better spent elsewhere. I however, think it's a wonderful ability that not enough people take advantage of. It's near impossible to hear about animagi these days, let alone know one-" Prof. Toothiana paused and looked at me.
I realized I had raised my hand. I quickly dropped it, not knowing what I had been thinking. Hiccup turned to me, eyes open in surprise and I blushed slightly. What's wrong with me? I had only been suspicious of Hiccup, I didn't know for sure that he was an animagus. Yet, my gut had told me otherwise.
Thinking back to what he had said earlier, about animagi usually taking on the form of their patronuses, I remembered the dragon in the woods and how it had matched Hiccup's patronus. Not only that, but it had defended Toothless, Hiccup's dragon, from those shadows, which Hiccup had been battling for these past months.
The eyes. If that dragon really had been Hiccup, then his identifying trait would have been his eyes.
My suspicions of Hiccup being an animagus were all but assured in my mind. All I needed was a confession. And I had an idea on how to get one.
"Do you know an animagus personally, Miss Dun'Broch?" Prof. Toothiana asked. Her light and airy voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and brought me back into the present.
I nodded slightly.
"Who is it?" she asked, seeming very excited. Her wings buzzed more rapidly.
"My great-grandfather, MacGuire Dun'Broch." I said quickly. "He was an animagus."
"Incredible. What was his animagus form?" She asked.
"A Clydesdale horse. The strongest in all of Scotland." I said. It wasn't a lie, but I felt untruthful when I said it out loud. I didn't know why I had even considered telling her about Hiccup when there had been a legitimate answer I could have used. I don't know what my problem is today. Ever since...last night, my mind has been a little frazzled, my head not quite in the game.
Prof. Toothiana smiled again and continued the lesson. I sighed and sat back in my seat, not realizing why I was so tense. I saw Hiccup continuously shooting me sideways glances throughout the class, not seeming to be paying much attention to the lesson. I didn't mind them, as occasionally I shot him the same glances, trying to read his face while sorting through my own thoughts.
At one point, our eyes met, and we both blushed and looked away. I caught Punzie frowning at both of us from her table beside our own. She had gone to sit with another Ravenclaw this period, probably on purpose, so that Hiccup and I would have no choice but to sit next to each other.
I had to give her credit, she was a lot more cunning than she seemed. No wonder she got along well with Jack.
"Thank you class, I'll see you all tomorrow!" Prof. Toothiana fluttered higher into the air, trying to speak above the noise of students getting ready to leave for Charms with Prof. Sandy. "Don't forget, the first task begins after midday meal tomorrow. I expect you all to be there!"
I stood and grabbed my books, stuffing them into the messenger bag I used to carry my things from class to class. I walked over hurriedly to Punzie's side, avoiding any contact with Hiccup. I was still so confused about what had happened last night. I didn't know how to feel or what to think anymore, and it was driving me mad.
All three of us exited the classroom together, side by side with Punzie squished in the middle. We made our way into charms class silently, taking our normal seats four to a desk. I looked over to the far seat beside Punzie, the one that Jack had always occupied. I wondered if he would come to this week's classes.
Then again, this was Jack. I wouldn't put it past him to skip classes, I would do the same if given the choice.
Professor Sandy sat in his chair, dozing softly as more students began piling into the room. Quickly, the desks filled up until every seat was full, all but Jack's. Then, to my surprise, the doors banged open and in strode a familiar, but late, white-haired boy. The sound startled Prof. Sandy, because he sat up suddenly, and floated over to the center of the room.
"Let me guess." Hiccup said, not bothering to look up from his journal he was sketching in. "Frosti's back." He deadpanned.
Jack looked around the room quickly before noticing our table was the only one with a free seat. He strode over confidently, no longer holding that odd staff he had been carrying around with him. He sat down in the stiff wooden chair next to Punzie, who remained silent at the sight of him.
I rolled my eyes. "Welcome back, snowflake." I said dryly.
"Good to be back, Princess." Jack smirked.
I decided that Jack's smirk was much more infuriating than Hiccup's.
Prof. Sandy floated lazily across the room, taking his usual position in front of the chalkboard. He flashed a quick smile before picking up a piece of gold coloured chalk to write on the board. He wrote an incantation on the board, as well as how to pronounce it.
"Aguamenti." I heard Punzie mutter beside me.
Prof. Sandy continued wrriting on the board, including a quick drawing of water sprouting from the tip of a wand. Then, with a small smile he performed the spell himself. The water coursed from his wand in a quick spurt, heading straight towards the group of Gryffindors sitting in the middle. I heard a girl squeal and I snorted.
"It's just a wee bit of water, lassie." I whispered to Hiccup out of habit. "It's not going to hurt you."
Hiccup snorted and then tried to cover it up when Prof. Sandy shot us a look. He pointed at us and made a motion with his wand, prompting us to try the spell.
"You want us to try the spell?" I asked him.
The small golden man crossed his arms and gave a tight nod, watching us with careful eyes. He pointed at Hiccup and I and then pointed to the ground beside him. We both stood slowly and made our way down to the floor, ignoring the quiet chuckles of Jack from behind us. When we reached the ground, I looked to Hiccup.
"Not it." I said. I wasn't going first. Besides, maybe I could watch Hiccup do the spell and get some ideas on how to do it properly.
Hiccup groaned, but reluctantly turned to face Prof. Sandy, no wand in hand. What was he doing? He brought an arm up and pushed it away from his body, a stream of water copying his movements, appearing out of nowhere, moving forwards, in a strong torrent towards Prof. Sandy. Just before it could douse the awed teacher, Hiccup stopped it, making it split down the middle and disappear around the little man.
He smirked and turned to me. "You're turn, Higness."
"Showboat." I muttered. Why did he always have to be dramatic?
"Here it goes." I muttered to myself. "Aguamenti."
I waved my wand up, in a simple pattern, and to my surprise a thin stream of water sprouted from the tip. I grinned, proud of my ability to cast a spell I had been improvising on. The only problem was, I didn't know how to stop the water. So, the small stream came crashing down upon Prof. Sandy. To his credit, he barely moved when it struck him, as though he was used to being constantly doused by water charms.
"Sorry, Professor. Didn't mean to douse you." I told him.
Professor Sandy waved it off; literally. He waved a hand and the water disappeared, leaving him once again warm and dry. A golden symbol flashed above his head, a hand pointing to our seats above the floor. Hiccup and I returned to our chairs, a smile still lingering on my face.
"Good job, Merida." Hiccup whispered to me.
"None too bad yourself." I told him, smiling. "For a Viking." At least some of the awkwardness between us had disappeared and we were able to carry a casual conversation again.
"Scot." I heard him mutter, turning away from me so we wouldn't get caught by Prof. Sandy. Though Sandy was kind and gentle teacher, he was also stern and could appear intimidating when he wanted to be.
"Chief." I muttered.
"Princess."
"Horrendous."
"Her Majesty"
"Dragon boy."
"Dragon boy?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
I shrugged. "Thought I'd try something new."
Prof. Sandy gestured to the rest of the class to attempt the spell and by the end of it, only our table was dry, thanks to a quick charm from Hiccup. I was thankful for this, because at the end of the period, everyone around us was sopping wet, their robes hanging heavily from their shoulders, weighed down by the water.
"Reminds me of my first time here." Hiccup told me.
Punzie giggled and I laughed, remembering the day with fondness. Jack shot us questioning looks, but I ignored him, not fully trusting him anymore, not after what he had done. Hiccup had told me in secret about Jack, and his Norse identity as Jokul Frosti, the winter spirit. I knew about Jack being undercover for the Guardians, and so did Punzie. Jack just didn't know we knew.
With a faint tolling of the bell in the distance, we all stood with Prof. Sandy dismissing us with a wave goodbye. I stood and collected my things, only a quill and some ink I had placed on the table. My shoes squished along the soaked carpet of the classroom, stepping in puddles with my robes trailing in the water. Prof. Sandy had a lot of cleaning up to do. It was safe to say I didn't envy the little man.
As we walked out the door, I noticed that Punzie dropped back to walk alongside Jack. They talked quietly with each other, occasionally laughing. They seemed to have no problem reacquainting themselves with one another. It was like Jack had never left, and they managed to carry a normal, mundane conversation. Almost like the fact that we hadn't seen him betray us, then leave without an explanation only to return 18 months later had never happened. The scene was so normal it looked...absurd.
I noticed Hiccup staring absentmindedly off into the distance. I could tell he was thinking about something, probably a new idea he was mulling over in his mind. He was always thinking about something, there was a never a dull moment in that boys mind, but this looked like he was making a decision. He was warring with himself over something, and I wanted to know what it was.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.
"I'm not-nothing." He stammered.
I rolled my eyes. "You are the worst liar I've ever met."
"I'm not- I wasn't thinking about anything."
"Spill it Haddock." I told him, unimpressed by his feeble stammering.
"I just..." He trailed off. "Would you like to come with me, to ride Toothless?"