Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.

-C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Jack awoke to an annoying tapping sound. He got up and blindly headed to the noise. He guessed it was an owl and opened the window with a tired grumble. The bird swooped over him, hitting his head with its wing before dropped a newspaper on the still sleeping Hagrid.

"Ouch," Jack muttered. Harry sat up looking wide-eyed around the room before scrambling up. The owl fluttered to the ground and started attacking the jacket. This startled the still sleeping red head awake who shrieked at being attacked.

"Wat in the hills!" Merida shouted trying to shake the bird off her.

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted.

"Uh?" Jack asked

"Fer deliverin' the paper. Check the pockets."

"Which pocket?" Harry asked as he and Jack helped Merida. The youths pulled out keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabugs…Merida found one of the mice to her horror and Jack's amusement. Harry finally pulled out several coins from the depths of the fur.

"Give him five Knuts," Hagrid said sleepily.

"Knuts?" Harry asked.

Jack reached forward, "The little bronze ones," he lifted the coin to show it. The children separated out four more coins and placed them in the leather pouch attached to the owl's leg. It flew off through the window it had entered.

Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up and stretched. The paper fell to the floor.

"We best be off, lots ter do today, gotta get back ter London an' buy all yer things fer school."

"Oi, 'agrid, 'ow are we suppose tae pay fer all 'em," she mumbled sleepily, her accent more pronounced in her exhaustion and she jester to the coins in Harry's hand. "None o' us got these coins."

"Um…" Harry fidgeted uncomfortably, "I haven't got any money and you heard Uncle Vernon last night…he won't pay for me to go and learn magic." He sounded so worried and hopeless.

"Don't worry about that," Hagrid smiled and scratched the back of his head, "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"

"Um, ah, well, the house was destroyed wasn't it?"

"They didn't keep their gold in their house, boy! Nah, we'll be stoppin' at Gringotts first. Wizards' bank. Best eat up, that sausage is not bad cold. Could fancy some o' that birthday cake too."

"What are banks?" Hiccup peeked over the couch.

"Eh?" Hagrid looked over his shoulder, "ah, there yeh are Hiccup! Wondered where ya disappeared to. Um, a bank is a place people lock up their money and valuable things. It's safer then keepin' 'em in yer basement."

"Wizards have banks?" Jack asked wide-eyed.

"Just one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."

"Goblins!" Hiccup jumped and dropped his sausage. Vikings had plenty of stories about goblins and trolls. Most didn't end nicely. Of course if there was any tale that didn't end with the hero slaying or escaping, it was bad.

"Yeah, so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe, 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway." Merida gave him an interested look. "Fer Dumbledore." Hagrid continued, she kept her interested gaze silently asked for him to continue, "Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you all, gettin' things from Gringotts. Knows he can trust me, see."

The group got ready and made their way onto the rock.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked Jack. He smiled at the kid.

"We sailed over on…" Jack looked over to where their boat had been. There was no sign of it. "Well, I guess the storm took our boat."

"We flew o'er," Merida joked. Harry looked in between the two. Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Guess we'll just borrow this than," Hagrid said climbing into the other boat. It must have been the one the Muggles and Harry had come over on. He waved a hand and the water vanished from inside the vessel. He looked sheepishly at the children.

"I'm not s'pposed ter use magic now, but it seems a shame ter row." Hagrid cleared his throat, "if I were to speed things up a bit, you lot wouldn' mind not mentionin' anything at Hogwarts?" All the students chimed in their agreements. With that Hagrid raised his umbrella and tapped the side of the boat. It sped off to the mainland.

"Why would ye be mad tae try and rob Gringotts?" Merida asked as they headed in.

"Spells an' enchantments," said Hagrid, he unfolded his paper and began reading. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high-security vaults." He gave a subtle glance at Hiccup who kept his eyes on the water, "And then yeh gotta find yer way. Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see an' deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' tae get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."

Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, he fiddled with his fingers. These people used dragons, could his people do that? Could they?

Jack was looking at the Daily Prophet and the moving pictures on the front.

"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, rifting through the pages.

"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked.

"'Course, they wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so ol' Cornelius Fudge got the job. Now he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning fer advice."

"What dae they do?" Merida asked.

Hagrid thought for a moment, "well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' aroun' the world."

"Why?" Harry asked. He didn't notice Merida and Hiccup stiffen slightly.

"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems." He scoffed, "nah, best we be left alone." Hiccup shared a worried look with Merida. His clan definitely wanted him to solve their problems…if they even believed he really could do magic. Hiccup was unsure of what Merida's kingdom expected of her, knowing she's a witch and all. At that moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. The group disembarked and walked to town.

Hagrid drew a lot of attention to himself. Not only was his noticeable height but he would keep stopping and pointing out thing like parking meters or balloons, saying things like, "blimey! What will these Muggles dream up with next?" The really odd thing to Harry was the reaction of the other students. Merida and Hiccup seemed just as amazed at everything as Hagrid, if not more so. They seemed to take turns asking Jack and himself questions of really ordinary things. He struggled to explain what a clock was and how it knew time. Jack laughed explaining a light post to Merida. Since it seemed everything was open to question, Harry decided on one of his own.

"Hagrid, did you say that there are dragons at Gringotts?" he panted trying to keep up with the man. Hiccup also seemed out of breath next to him.

"Well, that's the rumor. Crikey I would love tae have a dragon." Hagrid smiled. Hiccup again cringed.

"You'd like one?" Harry looked to the other students. Merida shrugged and Jack twirled his finger beside his head with his usual half smile.

"Wanted one ever since I was a kid." Hagrid said cheerfully.

They reached a station, there was a train to London leaving in about five minutes. Hagrid grumbled and pulled out several bills from one of his pockets. "Can't make heads o' tails of is Muggle money," he muttered and handed it to Jack. Jack flipped through it and shrugged.

"Sorry, I don't get English money either," Jack chuckled. In the end Harry had to purchase their tickets. The crowd stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two sits and had Merida helping him knit what looked like a carney-yellow circus tent. She didn't look like she was enjoying herself in the least.

"Mind pullin' out yer letter, Harry?" Hagrid asked while counting stitches, "should have a list of everything yeh'll each need." Harry pulled out the second paper that came with the letter. It had a list of supplies. Harry scanned through it, Hiccup and Jack looking over his shoulders.

"How in the world are we going to get dragon hide protective gloves? And what's a crystal phials?" Hiccup asked.

"Why dae we want an owl er cat?" Merida chimed in.

"Why can't we have broomsticks? Come on! That's like half the fun of being magical in the first place!" Jack complained. Harry's mind was sent spinning once again. It was all very strange and exciting.

"Why,yeh have to learn to fly first!" Hagrid laughed, "Can't have yeh first 'ears crashin' into walls and windows yer first day now can we?" Both Merida and Hiccup looked really confused.

He decided to ask the question that bothered him most.

"Hagrid, can we really get all of this in London?"

"If yeh know where to look," he smiled.

The group quickly found their way into London. Hagrid seemed very uncomfortable with Muggle transportation. "Don't know how these Muggles manage without magic." He muttered.

"It's faster than when we had to walk through the forest." Hiccup griped. Hagrid only gave the boy an amused look. It didn't take long winding their way through the streets before they came to a rather simple hole in the wall.

"This is it," Hagrid stopped at its front, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."

It was a tiny, grimy looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't said anything, most of the children wouldn't have noticed it was even there. The people hurrying past didn't spare it a glance. Their eyes seemed to slide from the book shop on one side to the record shop on the other like the Leaky Cauldron wasn't even there. It gave the weird impression that they were the only ones to see the business. Hagrid ushered them in and for a famous place it sure was dark and shabby.

Hiccup pulled back a bit, taking in the room and people. A few old women sat in the corner, drinking from tiny glasses. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender. What had Hiccup draw back was the silencing of the chatter upon their entrance. Hiccup guessed that when you were Hagrid you couldn't help get the attention of everyone no matter where you went, still it unnerved the boy to have all the attention drawn like that to him. The only time this happened to him was when he really messed something up liking burning down the blacksmith shop…twice.

Everyone seemed to know the giant and greeted him with smiles and waves. "The usual, Hagrid?" The bartender asked pleasantly reaching for a glass.

"Can't Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," Hagrid said clapping a hand on Harry's shoulders. He nearly looked engulfed by the man's hand.

"Good Lord," the bartender said, peering at the boy, "this can't be."

The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and the silence was ringing. Hiccup's anxiety spiked to a new height after just barely relaxing in the new environment. Merida gazed around curiously at the reaction and Jack only raised an unassuming brow.

"Bless my soul, It's Harry Potter," Tom whispered. "What an honor." He hurried around the counter, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes. He nearly ran over Merida who sidestepped the last second and glared at the old man.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."

Harry looked utterly lost and baffled. Everyone was looking at him except the other students which continued to glance from the patrons to Harry and back. Hagrid was beaming at the lot.

There was a great scraping of chairs and in the next instant Harry found himself shaking hands with all people of the Leaky Cauldron. The other children found themselves pushed in a wave of bodies to the far side of the room.

Merida blinked in surprise, she had never before been so fully ignored. It was somewhat nice and confusing. "Wa.." she swallowed, "Wat just happening?"

Jack stared at the crowd, "fame took over. Poor Harry is at the mercy of his fans now. I hope they're nicer than what Hollywood stars go through." He chuckled. The other two didn't understand what he meant by that but it didn't take explaining for the children to figure that Harry was apparently that big of a name in the wizardry world. They watched as the boy was showered with praise and aw by the adults.

Some old man shouted, "He remembers!" when Harry seemed to recognize him. Jack wondered in the corner of his mind if he would receive similar treatment if they knew his story and relation. Sure it was his dad who was famous, but he thought people would still want to talk to him. It was almost tempting just to see who knew John and maybe learn a bit more about the man he was. Jack tried to shake the thought, since his family was still in hiding. He couldn't put his little sister and mom in danger like that.

Harry seemed to have to shake hands again and again. It wasn't until Hagrid shouted, "Professor Quirrell!" That the others perked up to listen in again on the conversations around Harry. "Harry, this is Professor Quirrell, he's one o' your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-P-Potter," he stammered weakly grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't tell you h-h-how pl-pleased I am to meet you."

"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor?" Jack muscled his way next to Harry.

"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," the man muttered, as though he'd rather not think about it.

"Oh, this is Jack Overland, he is another student coming in." Hagrid introduced, "and those over there are Hiccup Haddock and Merida DunBorch."

"P-Pleasure, I suppose you are all g-g-getting your equipment then? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-b-book on vampires m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought. Jack was taken aback at the man's manner toward his subject. Defense Against the Dark Arts was a class he was very excited for yet he couldn't imagine learning any spells from the trembling, pale man before him. Though Jack didn't know what to expect from the magic school, to be honest with himself, he was a bit disappointed about the manner of the teacher.

It took another grueling fifteen minutes to get Harry away from his new fans. With the boy finally free of the babble Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds. Hagrid grinned at Harry.

"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh."

"He looks like he's always tremblin'" Merida pointed out.

"Well…yes," Hagrid admitted.

"Is he always that nervous?" Jack asked.

"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience…" Hiccup and Jack shared a look. Hiccup looked shocked and a little horrified, his green eyes, wide. "They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag-never been the same since." Now all the students looked alarmed. "Scared of the students, scared of his own subject-now, where's me umbrella?"

"W-What's a vampire?" Hiccup whispered to Jack. Jack hesitated a moment before explaining as best he could. Hiccup seemed to get paler with each sentence.

"Oi, yeh holdin' up okay there Hiccup?" Merida put a hand on his shoulder. She looked a little unnerved by the explanation too. How did they not know what vampires were? Harry stared at them a little confused. He had thought they and Hagrid were weird for all the 'Muggle' things but Hagrid knew what vampires were…Harry shook off the thought.

"Uh? Me? Oh, I'm great, never better. Just wonderful." Hiccup muttered. Meanwhile Hagrid was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.

"Three up…two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back."

He tapped the wall three times with his umbrella, the bricks quivered and wiggled before rolling. The bricks folded over themselves creating a hole that continued to grow bigger. In a moment the group was facing an archway large enough for Hagrid opening to a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

They stepped through the archway that vanished behind them. The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons of all sizes were advertised. Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver, there was Self-Stirring, Collapsible and others.

"You'll be needin' one, but we gotta get yer money first."

The children all twisted and turned trying to take in all the sights. They looked like they all could get whiplash watching everything as the group made their way down the street: the people, the shops, the things outside them and so on. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…" Hiccup seemed to lean anyway as they passed her.

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Merida seemed like she wanted to head in to the shop to see the birds but stayed with Hagrid, fearing to be left behind. On the other hand Jack couldn't help joining several boys their age whom had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," one of them said to Jack, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand, I heard it's the fastest broom in the world." Hagrid dragged him away.

"Why?" he barely kept the whine out of his voice. "I can so master it in a week."

"Nae, ye'd be 'n a tree faster than mae arrow." Merida laughed. Jack looked unamused.

"Oh yeah? Well, how about a deal then. When the lessons come, first one to master their broom gets the loser to wear whatever they want for a day." Jack said. Merida stared at him.

"Tha sounds ridic-a-lous" Merida scrunched up her freckled nose. "Why would I agree tae somethin' like that?"

"What? Are you chicken?" Jack taunted. Merida just gave him a confused look. "I mean, you scared?"

"Scared? O' wat? You?" she lifted her nose in the air giving him a sideways look.

"Scared to lose?" Jack smirked. "I mean, I get it, I am pretty good at magic. I understand that a new kid like you would be-"
"Scared tae lose tae a post like ye? Ha!" Merida cut him off. "Fine, yer on. I'll make ye wish ye never challenged a DunBroch." She said.

"Heh," Jack chuckled. "Awesome."

There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments that only Jack seemed to recognize a few of them. There were windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moons…

"Gringotts," said Hagrid.

They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was-

Hiccup nearly jumped. "Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone step toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a leathery, clever face, a pointed beard and extremely long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside, Hiccup staying on the far side away from the goblin. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on stools behind longer counters towering over most people, Hagrid excepted. They scribbled in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of there. The group made for the counter.

"Morning," Hagrid said to a free goblin, the creature looked at him, blankly. "We've come to get some money outta Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Jack Overland's safes. Oh! And to exchange some money for Ms. Merida DunBroch and Mr. Hiccup Haddock. Best we get them safes as well, now that I think o' it." The goblin leaned forward to look down his long nose to the children. Merida stood straight and stiff under his beady gaze. Jack and Harry had the same stare and Hiccup felt his eye twitch with nerves.

"We can sort Ms. DunBroch and Mr. Haddock out here. Do Mr. Potter and Mr. Overland have their keys?"

"Got them here somewhere," Hagrid said emptying his many pockets onto the counter to the obvious displeasure of the goblin as moldy dog biscuits scattered over his book of numbers. Merida watched as balls of string, buttons, and other odds and ends came forth. Jack watched as a goblin the next table over was weighing rubies the size of coals. How much better off would his mom be with one of those?

"Ah, there we are," Hagrid said holding up one tiny gold key and one tiny silver one. The goblin took the keys and examined them closely. "An' I've got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, and squaring his shoulders, whispered. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

The goblin read the letter carefully. "Very well," he said handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to the vaults. Griphook!" He then turned his attention to the children, "And I will take care of your exchange Mr. Haddock and Ms. DunBroch."

Hiccup reached into his sack and pulled out his coin bag. It weighed heavily in his hands, more than he usually had on him to get supplies. He lifted it on to the counter. Hagrid, Harry, and Jack made to follow the other goblin to one of the many doors.

"Wait a minute. You're leaving us here?" Hiccup asked shifting his eyes to the other goblins and back to the group.

"We'll be back before ya know it Hiccup," Jack said over his shoulder. They were gone before he could further protest. Hiccup took a half step closer to Merida.

Meanwhile, Hagrid, Jack and Harry were led by Griphook into a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.

"Can't tell yeh that," Hagrid replied mysteriously, "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

Jack felt his curiosity perk at Hagrid's words. More than his job's worth? That sounded exciting.

They continued down, the path sloped steeply to a little railway track that ran across the floor. Griphook whistled and small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in- Hagrid struggling to fit- and they were off.

They hurtled through a maze of twisting passages, left, right, right, left, middle fork, left, right, and so on. Jack grinned at the rush. Cold air stung their eyes but he didn't mind, he never felt the cold. Harry notice Griphook wasn't steering and wondered if the cart knew where it was going.

The boys thought they saw a flash of fire at the end of a passage and tried to spot a dragon but sped by too quickly. They plunged deeper and deeper into the twisting underground passing a huge lake. Hagrid was slowly turning green until finally they stopped at a door in the wall of the passage. He stepped out and had to lean on a pillar for support until his legs stopped shacking.

"That was awesome, just like a rollercoaster! I love this bank," Jack grinned and jumped out as Griphook stepped up to the door and used the gold key to unlock it. Green smoke billowed out, and as it cleared the boys gasped. There were mounds of golden coins, columns of silver, and piles of bronze Knuts.

"All this is yours Harry," Hagrid grinned. Jack looked at the awed boy. Harry didn't seem to know what to do with himself. He had a fortune all to himself.

Hsgrid helped him fill a bag with his coins. "Now the gold ones are Galleons and silver is Sickles. Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle. Easy right?" Harry gave Hagrid an obvious lost look that he didn't seem to notice. Harry turned it to Jack who could only shrug, Harry would figure it out one day.

"Could we go slower?" Hagrid asked.

"One speed only," Griphook said back on the cart.

The group didn't have to go far to reach Jack's vault. He nervously waited as Griphook did the same for him with the silver key. Frosty mist rolled out of the chamber and as it cleared once again the boys gasped. Jack hadn't known what to expect. He had been surprised to discover he had a vault in his name, and that there was anything in it but this was completely ridiculous. Much like Harry's there was heaps and piles of coins, but there were also rubies and sapphires. Treasures, and armors, weapons, and precious artifacts in the back on shelves. It was huge collection a museum would be jealous of!

"Wow," Jack breathed stepping into the room.

"Yep, I would expect as much from John. He wanted you well off in life." Hagrid said looking around. Suddenly an image of Jack's mom, home late, exhausted, and pale swam to the front of his mind.

"Hagrid, why hasn't my mom gotten any of this treasure? Just one of these rubies would have helped make everything better!" Jack turned to the giant. Hagrid seemed surprised for a moment at the boys' sudden change of mood from awe to anxiety.

"Ah, oh, well, your mom is a Muggle and suppose to…so it wasn't like anyone in the Ministry would have someone to contact…they all think she's dead anyway…and yer technically not supposed to be…so," Hagrid grimaced being unable to come up with anything.

"So because my mom is a Muggle no one thought to help? Do you know how many years we have fought to get enough food on the table! To-To keep the lights on and the house working? I have been loaded this whole time and no one told me!" Jack didn't really know where this was coming from. This should be great news. His family didn't have to suffer anymore, he could give them the great comfortable life they deserved, but something just didn't feel right about this. Why had they suffered in the first place? Why hadn't they gotten this sooner?

"Mr. Overland, if I may?" Griphook spoke up. Jack blinked at the little goblin. He had forgotten he was with them. He wasn't doing such a good job at this secret thing if he couldn't remember who was in hearing distance. He nodded for the goblin to continue. "I don't really know your family situation but if your father is deceased and your mother is a Muggle she can't inherit anything from him. It would therefore be passed to you, so unless he had given a specific instruction such as an age limit or so on, you would have been notified immediately by owl. Since you were not and there was no instruction that we are aware of then something has gone amiss. I am sorry for the inconvenience, we will investigate the cause for this."

"Ah-No!" Jack said too loudly, "I-I mean, no, it's okay. I think I know what happened. But why can't Muggles inherit their families…um, wealth?"

"Mixin' with Muggles is dangerous Jack, can't have magical items in their hands, Ministry rules," Hagrid said. Jack scowled. They filled a bag and Jack took one of the rubies. He planned to get it exchanged for American currency and sending it home. It was stupid that his mom had to work so hard with her husbands' fortune collecting dust here. Jack felt anger churn in his stomach as they loaded up back on the cart.

They rattled deeper into the underground, the air getting colder, the cart going faster as they winded around tight corners. The shadows seemed to press into Jack, smothering him. Finally they stopped to Hagrid's relief and Griphook approached the keyless door. Vault seven hundred and thirteen was darker than the other two vaults they had visited, it almost seemed sinister.

"Step back," the goblin said importantly and stroked the door gently with one of his claw-like fingers. It simply melted away under the goblin's touch. "If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there." Griphook smirked.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.

"About once every ten years," Griphooks smirk turned into a nasty, sharp-toothed grin. Jack felt a shiver run down his spine. Yeah, no thievery here, not from this kid, never ever, Jack thought to himself.

The boys leaned forward, Jack almost falling on top of Harry, to try and catch a glimpse inside the top secret vault. Jack expected a skeleton. Harry expected something like Jack's vault, rubies and treasure, but to his disappointment there was no treasure. Instead, they only saw yawning emptiness, until Harry spotted a small dingy package wrapped in brown paper on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and buried it deep into one of his pockets. The boy's curiosity burned to know what it was.

"You're not going to say anything are you?" Jack shamelessly asked.

"You best forget this," Hagrid warned. Jack nodded like he hadn't anticipated anything else.

"Now come on, back on that infernal cart," Jack opened his mouth to speak, "and don't talk to me on the way back," Hagrid waved a finger at Jack, "its best I keep my mouth shut." Hagrid turned green at the very thought of the ride.

Back at the surface the group was met by a ruckus. Goblins were scurrying this way and that, some crawling on the floor.

"What happened?" Hagrid asked. One of the goblins on the floor answered. Harry noticed light shining in between his fingers.

"A spill of diamonds, it will only take a moment to clean up," he seemed extremely annoyed. The wizards looked for the last two of their group. Jack finally spotted them near the doors with three goblins surrounding them with sour looks on this faces. Merida also had her face scrunched up in anger.

"Yeh, can calm down, it was an accident and yeh know it. 'Course we werenae tryin' tae take nothin'" Merida had herself firmly planted in front of Hiccup. They were pressed up against the marble wall.

"What's goin' on here?" Hagrid asked as they approached.

"This boy knocked over a group of diamonds, we wish to check he didn't take any," a goblin said.

"An' I'm tellin' 'em it's hogwash! It was an accident! 'iccup wouldnae steal," Merida crossed her arms over her narrow chest.

"Hiccup," Hagrid said.

"It really was an accident! I didn't mean to hit it, I just…tripped," he muttered the last part embarrassed to have caused all this chaos. Again.

"Then let 'em check and let's be on our way. We have a lot to get," Hagrid said.

Hiccups sighed and stood as stiff as a rod as the creatures checked his bag, hands, hair, boots, pockets, clothes, and for some reason his ears for any diamonds. While he did so Jack went off the get his rubies taken care of. Once Hiccup was cleared and Jack was back the group left and stepped out into the bright sunlight.

After Class Speech

The doors opened and the crowd entered the spacious area. The place was covered in dust and cobwebs. The red curtains coated in the particles. Everyone dusted off the red, soft theater seats before sitting. The second floor even had a few people up there. The place soon filled with the excited voices of the readers until the lights dimmed. A hush fell over the audience and the curtains were pulled back. The familiar podium greeted them and an expectant hum filled the air with tension. In a poof the black clad author appeared. Cheers and applause cascaded down to the stage. The man bowed and grinned his shark-tooth grin. The rest of his face still hidden.

"Hello! Readers! It is so good to see you all again! Man I can't believe I made Harry and the others sleep that long," the applause hushed. "They must feel like sleeping beauty. Anyway, I have missed this. Two years is a long time, thank you so much for waiting and wanting this to continue. You are all amazing and an inspiration to a humble writer." He grinned again, "by the way, you, zoewinter1, you covered in dust and tears, I am sorry for the long wait. I can't believe you sat here so long. I made it long for you and I will update again soon. And Fox, you are awesome too for welcoming me back. I can't do this project without fans like you." Applause goes to those named.

"Now, why I was months late after being gone two whole years!" A few members in the audience pull out torches and pitchforks. The Critic chuckles nervously, "W-Well it's simple really. When I got back a wild fire broke out fifteen miles from my home, luckily it missed my house, then I had to go to New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, heck even Las Vegas on business and other things. Bad news, I brushed up against something in one of those places and had a horrible allergic reaction. Blisters, rash, swelling, and a lot of pain. Three weeks of that and now my arm is scarred forever. Oh well, I'm alive and can now type so I'm happy. Moral of the story allergies are no laughing matter. So yeah, I am sorry for not posting during the summer, but I literally had no control over my life there. Haha..." The author scratched the back of his head bashfully. "I don't need pity, or even forgiveness, just wanted to explain myself." The weapons were lowered with grumbles. Maybe next time he takes too long.

"Now, on to business, a lot of you are worried if Toothless will be joining the gang and I assure you the scaly half of Hiccup will come up. Promise. Now, another issue is where in the world will I house these troublemakers? I even got a death threat!" The Critic laughed, "That was awesome! Anywho, to answer that...well...you'll just have to read it, won't you? I could throw them all in Gryffindor or even Hufflepuff...Or I could break them up, which seems popular. We shall see! Finally some of you are missing our dear little golden flower girl. No worries! She will be here next chapter." Cheers go up from the crowd. The Critic waves. "Yes, we all have missed her. I am so excited to be back. Let me know what you think and I will see all of you again soon!"

With that the weird author disappears in shadow and leave the curtains to close on the stage. There was a lot of cleaning up to do, but he was finally back. Hopefully for good.