Chapter 12

It was a normal day for Hiccup, or as normal a day when living with your demonic girlfriend, a pet dragon, and a sassy cookie jar who is taking yodeling lessons. Hiccup was behind his computer, working on his latest design when his phone ringed. "Hello?" Hiccup answered as he picked up the receiver.

"Good day is this Mr. Haddock?" Came from the other end of the line.

"Yes this is." Hiccup answered. He wondered what this was about since he had no conference calls scheduled for today.

"I'm Principal Macril from Berk Elementary and I'm calling about your nephew Mr. Hofferson. We could not reach his parents and he gave us this number to call afterwards."

"Is he alright?" Hiccup asked immediately as his eyebrows shot up. He knew Astrid's little brother didn't exactly like him but they had warmed up to each other. He had been surprised to hear that Matthew was attending elementary school in the human world.

"He seems to have gotten into an altercation with a fellow student. We would appreciate it if you could come to the office so that we can talk about this." Came from the other side of the phone.

"Right, I'm on my way." Hiccup said and then he hung up before grabbing his coat. He still wondered why the school had called him and not Astrid's after they couldn't reach his parents. He was after all not technically his uncle,..... Yet.

Hiccup drove to the school in his small black Mini Cooper. He had left Cookie in charge of the house while he was gone and hoped the jar could keep an eye on Toothless who was in his curious stage. He made it in record time and parked before heading into the building and up to the Principal's office. After knocking he entered the office to see a sulking Matthew, a larger boy sporting a black eye as well as some scrapes and bruises, and four other adults in the room.

"Mr. Haddock, thank you for coming so quickly. I'm Principle Macril." The man introduced as he beckoned Hiccup inside. Hiccup took a seat next to Matthew and looked at the other occupants. "These are Mr. and Mrs. Meathead, the other boy's parents and this is Matthew's teacher Mr. Deranged who stopped the scuffle on the playground."

Hiccup looked at them all and raised his eyebrows when he recognized Dagur. Heather's brother had gone to a different High School than them because he had nearly send their principal careening into a vat of cornstarch. He had never thought he'd see the crazy guy again and was surprised to see him becoming an Elementary school teacher. Dagur gave no indication that he remembered Hiccup and before he or the principal could say anything else Mrs. Meathead started making demands. "I want that boy expelled! How dare he hurt my little Burt!!"

Hiccup looked at the boy with the black eye and saw him shooting glares at Matthew who was still sulking.

"Now there is no need for expulsion." Hiccup quickly said as he tried to get the woman to calm down. He had a good idea why Matthew hadn't called Astrid. She'd probably let her axe do the talking.

"That boy hit my baby!" She shouted while gesturing towards her son's black eye. His father meanwhile just sat there scowling at everyone. "Thuggory darling, tell them that the boy needs to be expelled." She now said while turning towards her husband who was dressed in an impeccable suit.

"Right you are dear." He agreed quickly.

Hiccup could see both the principal and teacher nod and he frowned. 'Were these people serious?' he thought to himself before saying "Now hold on a minute. You're actually agreeing to this?"

"Well.... Mr. and Mrs. Meathead have been top contributors to many of our school's sports programs." The Principal said as if that was the best reason.

"So you're agreeing with them because you don't want to loose any money?" Hiccup now asked as he shot a glare at them. "That is hardly a reason to expel someone. I get that fighting is against the rules but has anyone actually asked Matthew for his side of the story?"

He heard Mrs. Meathead huff while her husband looked uninterested. The principal and Dagur had sheepish looks on their faces. "I'll take that as a no."

"Isn't it obvious. That boy attacked my sweet baby! That boy is a little devil!" Mrs. Meathead whined. "I want him punished."

'You have no idea.' Hiccup thought and then asked "Matthew why don't you tell us your side of the story?"

"Would it really matter." Matthew huffed and then pointed to Burt "He told me that he'd never get in trouble because his daddy is some big hotshot manager."

"Why don't you start from the beginning." Hiccup told him and then shot Dagur a glare when he grumbled about troublemakers. "If you've so obviously made up your mind about this matter then I'd ask for you to shut up." He told the others. "I for one would like to know what actually happened." He then turned to Matthew who mumbled at first but then spoke up a bit.

"I was sitting at a table at recess and was about to eat my lunch when Burt came up like he does everyday to bully me."

"He bullies you?" Hiccup asked as he ignored the cry of outrage from Burt's mother. Matthew nodded and then said "It's usually about me getting better grades than him."

"So what happened at lunch?" Hiccup prodded.

"I took out my sandwich and Burt grabbed it from my hands before stomping on it." Matthew said as he shot the other boy a glare.

"Is that when the fight started?" Hiccup asked. Matthew however shook his head. "No....." The boy hesitated for a bit. "He then started teasing me about bringing my own lunch and that I was a momma's boy, but I tried to ignore him and that made him angry. He shoved me from my seat and called my mommy a mean name! No one calls my mommy names!"

"I see" Hiccup said as he looked at those in the room. He looked at the Principal and asked "So what would your verdict be?"

"Well...." The man said as he wiped his glasses clean. "I'm still leaning towards expulsion."

"Is that so." Hiccup muttered angrily as he saw the look of glee on Burt's parents' faces. "Well then I'm leaning towards pressing charges."

"Excuse me!!" The others all shouted shocked.

"What charges!!" Dagur sputtered.

"Let's see, Matthew was clearly provoked by his bully. I'm not saying that he shouldn't get off without punishment but your school does have an anti-bullying policy. So you also have to punish the other boy for his behavior. Since you've failed to do that then the charges would be.." He paused for effect and then pointed towards Matthew's bully "Assault" before pointing towards the principal "Negligence"

"You wouldn't dare!!" Thuggory now stood up and tried to intimidate Hiccup, who just rolled his eyes. In his opinion Camicazi was scarier. "Do you have any idea who I am?!"

Hiccup gave Thuggory a 'Do-you-think-I-care' look. "My father is a lawyer. I'm sure he can make the charges stick."

"Now now. Surely we can come to an understanding here." Dagur mumbled as he closed the slack-jawed mouth of his employer.

"How about a fair punishment?" Hiccup asked.

"And what would you suggest to be a fair punishment?" Was asked.

"One day suspension for both boys." Hiccup told them.

"But I don't wanna!!" Burt whined. The principal sighed. "Very well" He agreed as he didn't want a lawsuit on his hands.

Hiccup nodded and tried not to smirk as the Meatheads looked like they ate a few sour lemons. He indicated for Matthew to follow him and said after opening the door "I'm sure the won't be such a misunderstanding again. Now I'm going to take him to get some food since he had his destroyed." Hiccup then promptly closed the door, leaving several gaping faces on the other side.

Matthew was silent until they had reached Hiccup's car. "THAT WAS SO COOL!!" The boy exclaimed as he got strapped in. Hiccup actually blushed. "How about we go to get something to eat?" He asked to which Matthew eagerly nodded. They ended up at a nice cozy little restaurant and the boy was poking at his spaghetti when Hiccup asked "So you didn't call Astrid because she would clobber them all?"

Matthew looked up and then nodded slightly. "And because she'd also give me an earful."

"Right..." Hiccup mumbled. "You know you are still going to have to tell your parents about the suspension."

"I know but I just wish I could really teach them a lesson." The little boy stated.

"Is that such a good idea?" Hiccup asked.

"Mom and dad sent me to the human school to learn more about humans. Well humans play pranks on eachother right." Matthew asked innocently. Hiccup had to give the kid credit. The thought 'devil's advocate' crossed his mind but he shrugged.

"You have any ideas?" Matthew now asked as he looked at Hiccup all starry-eyed. Hiccup thought for a moment and then it clicked. A smirk adorned his face as he reached for his cellphone. "I might" He said before dialing a familiar number. The phone ringed and he then said when the other person picked up "Hi mom. Remember when you asked me if I knew of a good use for those things?"

The day passed without any problems and Matthew and Hiccup had a good time plotting. Valka promised to deliver the things the next day. When Hiccup got home however he found Cookie, upside down, screeching from the counter about sugar high dragons.

Since Matthew was suspended for the day Hiccup told Astrid's parents that he's be willing to watch the little devil. That afternoon they put their prank in motion. The following day Matthew poofed into Hiccup's apartment and told him all the juicy details of the day.

Hiccup had gotten several neon pink plastic flamingoes from his mother. His father had bought them as lawn ornaments but Valka refused to put the monstrosities up. Matthew had enchanted the things so that they would be invisible and follow the principal, Dagur and Burt around all day. No one else but the intended people would be able to see the flamingoes and others would think that they were crazy. Unbeknown to them Astrid had just come into the room and she listened in on the conversation.

"When did you two get so cozy?" She asked startling them. "And what's this I hear about flamingoes?"

Hiccup let out a nervous chuckle. "Well you see honey...."

AN:

Dragon1010: O_O

Vala: "Why so surprised? It was your idea."

Dragon1010: "I know but......"

Vala: "But what?"

Dragon1010: Could you please stop this flamingo from following me around everywhere? I was trying to take a shower."

Vala: "Hey I needed a guinea pig."

Dragon1010: -_-

Vala: "Don't give me that look." >_>