Oh gods, it's been forever since I've updated! I am so, so sorry for the huge wait! I feel terrible. But, the good news is I got some serious writing done, and...get this... I've begun a new ROTBTD story. Now, it's not posted yet, I'm still finishing writing it, but it's on it's way! It's an interesting AU, something amazing and rare, I promise. For now, please enjoy this really long, dramatic 33rd chapter of The Old Norse Scroll.

P.S. I'll update sooner, I promise!

Merida POV

We sat in Gryffindor common room on the various plush chairs and couches that surrounded the fire. We had all just returned from our varying adventures, all of us happy and bright with joy. I had wondered what Jack and Punzie had been up to, and if it had been as amazing as what Hiccup and I had done.

"Where did you two go?" Punzie asked Hiccup and I. We sat on a large couch, the same one we had sat on only three nights ago.

"I could ask the same of you, Punzie." I replied, evading her question.

Punzie blushed slightly. "We were playing a prank on the Slytherins."

"Punzie, playing a prank?" I smiled. "That's great! Who did you pull it on?"

"Malum Puer." Jack said, grinning.

"Malum Puer?" Hiccup asked from behind me quietly.

"Yeah." Jack said. "Punzie wanted revenge on him for something."

"Punzie wanted vengeance?" I asked. "He must have done something truly terrible to deserve that."

Hiccup nodded mutely beside me.

"So what did you do to the poor lad?" I asked, eager to hear about it.

"It was amazing." Jack laughed. "He didn't even see it coming. I nailed him and his goonies with a snowball-"

"Then he started chasing Jack." Punzie cut in.

"They stood at the top of the hill and all I had to do was make a path of ice-"

"And they slid straight into the lake!" Punzie finished. "There was a huge splash and everything!"

"Where are they now?" Hiccup asked.

Jack shrugged. "We left them in the lake."

"Great." Hiccup muttered.

"So why did you want revenge, Punz?" I asked her. "Did he kick a puppy?"

"She said something about a mudblood friend." Jack frowned.

"A mudblood friend?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah." Jack said, leaning back comfortably in his chair. "What is a mudblood, anyways?"

"It's a nasty word stuck up, pretentious-"

"Merida..." Punzie warned.

"People use to describe a muggle-born wizard or witch." I finished, looking to Punzie pointedly. "It's a disgusting insult that no one deserves."

Jack nodded slowly and turned to Rapunzel. "So who was this 'mudblood friend' you wanted revenge for?"

"It was no one specific." Punzie said quietly. "I got lost in the moment and...reacted."

I took a closer look at her. She was lying and we all knew it.

"You can tell us Punz." I told her gently. "We're not mad at you. I thought it was bloody brilliant."

Punzie's eyes flickered momentarily to Hiccup's, who sat beside me quietly.

"Come on Punz." Jack prompted, sitting forward in his seat.

"I really shouldn't say..." She hesitated.

"If you don't tell us, then we'll find out ourselves." I warned.

"We'll go ask Malum and his goons." Jack said.

"I'd advise against that." Hiccup said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they will retaliate. On all of you." He explained.

"Don't you want to know?" Jack asked.

"I already do." He explained.

I stared at him, baffled. "How do you always know so much? Do you have a house elf alliance or something?" I asked him.

"A house elf alliance." He paused. "That may not actually be a bad idea. I bet-"

"Forget I said anything." I said, seeing the gears already turning in his head. "But how do you know who she's talking about?"

"Because it was him." Punzie muttered quietly. Hiccup stared at the fire, silent.

"Wait a second, Malum called you a mudblood?" Jack asked.

Hiccup shot a look at Punzie and she nodded quietly.

"That good for nothing, blood-boiling-" I began.

"Calm down Merida." Hiccup soothed. "It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't matter!" I said. I was absolutely teeming with rage. "When exactly did this happen, and why didn't you tell us?" I asked him.

"I told Rapunzel not to tell anyone because I knew you two would react like this." He explained calmly.

I looked over to Jack, who appeared mad, though not as angry as I was.

"You're a bloody idiot." I told him. "When did this happen?" I asked him.

At this Hiccup shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Rapunzel fiddled with her braid silently, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"When did that low-life call you a mudblood, Hiccup?" Jack asked behind me.

Hiccup threw up his hands. "Wha-why does it matter?"

"Because you're my friend, and if you're not gonna bewitch that troll, then I bloody will." I told him.

"You promise not to react?" He asked me.

I huffed. "We'll see."

"Merida..." Punzie warned.

"Fine! I promise. Now spill it, when did he call you a mudblood?"

Hiccup scrutinized my face, looking or any signs that I was lying. I was a skilled fibber, however, with years of practice of hiding things from Mum. I kept an expression of neutral anger, and crossed my arms.

"It was long ago." He muttered, breaking eye contact with me. "Around the time I...left."

"He's lying." Punzie almost whispered.

Jack and I both looked at Punzie, who now seemed to be on our side.

"It was Care of Magical Creatures, this afternoon." She said.

Hiccup sighed beside me.

"This afternoon!" I nearly yelled. "I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna bloody murder that-"

"Merida. You said you wouldn't react." Hiccup told me, grabbing my arm to keep me from standing up.

"Well if you're not going to react, then I will." I told him.

Jack stood alongside me. "Why didn't you do anything?"

Hiccup opened his mouth to say something, but Punzie cut him off.

"We're not going to stoop to his level." She said, determined. "Hiccup's right. Just don't react."

Jack and I stood. It was the Ravenclaws against the Gryffindors. The wise and intelligent against the brave and daring. I thought for a moment. I really wanted to run up to Malum and punch his face in, but Punzie and Hiccup's words rang with wisdom.

I huffed. "Fine. I won't do anything to him."

"Good." Hiccup sighed. I took a swing at his shoulder, my fist connecting with the part of his armor covered only by soft leather.

"Ow! What-"

"That was for being an idiot." I told him.

"Can I punch Hiccup?" Jack asked, sitting down heavily. He looked disappointed he wouldn't get to lob more snowballs at Malum.

"You already have." Hiccup muttered. Jack shrugged.

"You punched Hiccup?" Punzie asked him.

"He started it." Jack said, pointing at a still recovering Hiccup.

"What? I didn't start it. I was just trying to talk to you!" Hiccup looked incredulous.

"What are you talking about?" I asked them.

"The Arctic circle." Jack said.

"Thanks, Frost. Cause I was there." I rolled my eyes.

Jack grinned and leaned forwards, ready to tell his story. "I caught up to him and his overgrown lizard-"

"Toothless." Hiccup cut in.

"When my staff-"

"Stick." Hiccup coughed.

"Went flying from my hands" Jack continued, ignoring Hiccup. "Horrendous over here had it and I went to get it back."

"By punching me in the face." Hiccup deadpanned sarcastically. "You should become a diplomat, with your impressive negotiation skills."

I grinned at Hiccup's dry wit.

"Sounds like you two really..." Punzie began.

"Hated each other." Jack and Hiccup mused. The two turned to look at each other, with small frowns on their faces.

"Had some crazy adventures." Punzie finished, eyeing Hiccup and Jack warily.

"What did you do next?" I asked.

"Hiccup flew off." Jack explained.

Hiccup pursed his lips looking like he wanted to say something more when a piercing shriek could be heard in the corridor. It was unnatural and eerie, silencing everyone.

"Hiccup..." I whispered.

"No, no, no. Not the school." I heard Hiccup mutter. He muttered something unintelligible under his breath. (Was that Norse?) He leapt up from the couch and drew his flaming sword, instantly lighting it as the blade extended.

"I knew this would happen. I knew it." He muttered. Then with wide eyes he turned to us. "Don't leave this room."

"Hiccup-" Punzie said.

"Don't. Leave." He looked to me. "Keep them here, Merida." I nodded mutely and he ran off into the corridor.

"Come on, we have to go-" Jack said.

"No." I told them, grabbing Jack's arm as he stood from the chair. "We can't fight these."

"Fight what?" Punzie asked. "Merida, we have to go help Hiccup, he could be in trouble-"

"No Punzie." I told her. "We'd only be holding him back."

"I don't care." Jack said. "I have to get out there."

"Jack, you're not leaving this room." I told him, with more force behind my words.

"What's going on? Merida please-"

"Stop arguing with me!" I said. "Hiccup knows what he's doing, so trust him. Now sit down and don't go out there!" I ordered them, my mother's lessons on projection coming back to me. Maybe they weren't completely useless...

Another shrill screech pierced the air, and we all froze, the inhuman sound paralyzing us with fear. The only reassurance I had was that the sound was muffled, meaning it had come from outside. I searched the door desperately, hoping to see a familiar head poking their head through that door, announcing all is fine.

We all continued standing there, eyes trained fearfully on the door as we strained our ears for any more sounds. Minutes passed, almost ten, when the door swung open. I breathed a sigh of relief as a metal contraption poked it's way into the common room, with the lanky body of my friend attached to it.

"Hiccup." I said, it was barely a sigh of relief as it passed through my lips. I walked up to him quickly, searching him for any injuries. He looked very awake and energized, like he had just returned from a flight with Toothless. With a jolt, my suspicions as to what the creature had been raced through my body.

"I'm fine." He muttered. "But they got-they got someone earlier, not a student, but-" He stopped and swallowed. "It's gone." He said with finality.

Jack and Punzie approached slowly, still in shock.

"What was that?" Jack asked.

I backed up slowly, unaware of how close I had been leaning in to examine Hiccup's face. He looked defeated, and distressed. Though his eyes sparked with surplus amounts of energy, his face held emotions of horror and sadness. He had explained to me what it meant when he defeated a shadow, and I knew he hated it.

"It was a, uh, shadow...creature...thingy." He said.

"A shadow creature?" Punzie squeaked. "The thing that just screeched was a shadow?"

"What aren't you telling us?" Jack asked. His wand was drawn and I had the suspicion that he wanted to extend it into his staff.

"You did this, didn't you?" Jack said. True to my suspicions, his wand grew into his staff, the one with the curved top that resembled a sheperds crook. "I knew we shouldn't have let you back in. The scroll-"

"Jack, I didn't do anything-" Hiccup said.

"Then explain, Haddock." Jack ordered. "Or I'll tell North and he 'breaks rules'."

I saw Hiccup's eyes flit nervously to mine. He was asking for help, he was unsure how to go about this.

"I-I need to go-" He said.

Jack pointed his staff at his chest. Hiccup stared at him, betrayal flashing through his eyes. He quickly covered it with a look of stubborness, refusing to let Jack see the hurt in his eyes.

"Explain, Haddock." Jack ordered again.

Hiccup set his jaw. "I need to-I have to go check on Toothless."

Jack said nothing, only continued staring at Hiccup with his staff held rigidly in front of him.

"Jokul." Hiccup muttered, clearly impatient. I feared that the energy he had absorbed from the shadow was addling with his thoughts, because Hiccup was acting oddly, not quite himself.

"Explain, Haddock." Jack repeated. "Last chance."

"Jack..." I began, not knowing what else to say.

Why was Jack always at Hiccup's throat? It was like there was no trust for him anymore. Hiccup seemed to have whole-heartedly forgiven everyone. Jack wasn't quite ready to do so.

"I'm not explaining until I know Toothless is safe." Hiccup said. Suddenly his hand shot out and he grabbed Jack's staff. Jack, already terse was ready and pulled back. Hiccup let go and Jack fell back onto the ground. Hiccup turned and ran out the door.

"Real classy, Haddock." Jack muttered under his breath. Then he stood and ran out the door silently.

"Should we follow them?" Punzie asked quietly.

I nodded. "That would be a good idea."