Disclaimer: Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners, namely J.K. Rowling and DreamWorks.
The Forbidden Forest, Hogwarts Grounds, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scottish Highlands, Scotland, United Kingdom.
10th November, 1994.
It had been three days, since Hiccup Haddock first met Charlie Weasley, and things had gone well between the two of them.
Hiccup and Charlie, along with the other dragon riders, were working together in preparation for the arrival of the dragon keepers.
They were due to arrive on the 17th of November, because the dragon keepers were apparently traveling under the cover of darkness, away from "the Muggles".
Hiccup, having gotten up from his resting position in his tent, pulled away the blanket he used as a bed cover for his makeshift bed in his tent, and put on his leather armor over his red tunic, then fitted on his fake leg.
Getting up, Hiccup walked out of the tent, and decided to walk around for a bit on this Thursday morning.
Charlie was out, apparently still handling a few details in preparation for the dragon keepers' arrival. But he told Hiccup the day before, that he'd be in for the afternoon.
Hiccup was definitely looking forward to it, for he found quite a kindred spirit in Charlie, who was not just interested in all sorts of dragons, but magical creatures as a whole.
Charlie's enthusiasm for dragons seemed to match Hiccup's, which delighted him and Fishlegs (who seemed to get along well with Charlie as well).
But for now, Hiccup had to settle for venturing the Hogwarts grounds (and not deep into the Forbidden Forest, for he had been told that the Forbidden Forest was not called that for nothing, so being not as familiar with the wizarding world that he was, Hiccup complied with this).
Hiccup was now laying his eyes on what seemed to be a herd, of what seemed to be, the most strangest animals he had laid across before.
They looked like horses, but apart from having the body of a horse, they had the head of an eagle (a bird of prey that Hiccup had seen in distant lands within the Archipelago), a pair of wings and front legs that looked like it belonged to an really oversized eagle, with talons that put a Deadly Nadder's to shame.
"Whoa..."
"Magnificent, arn't they"?
The voice made Hiccup jump. That sort of voice, very jolly and rough, sounded like it fitted right at home at Berk, and when he turned to look at the owner of that voice, his suspicions confirmed it.
In fact, the, well, man, who spoke, was about as big as a Viking, and had a dark beard that would make him at home on Berk, but the one thing that made him really stand out, was that this man was taller than his father, and that was saying something.
Hiccup's mouth, gaping wide open, then felt compelled to respond.
"Urr, sure, urm..."
The big man replied, "Ah, yeh mus' be Hiccup! Name's Rubeus Hagrid. But yeh can call me Hagrid".
The big man, Hagrid as he was apparently called, then offered one of his hands to shake, which when Hiccup returned the gesture, he noticed that his hand was completely engulfed by the giant man's hand!
And furthermore, despite the fact that Hiccup was sort of used to bear-crushing hugs from his father, who'd forget his own strength in regards to his son, Hiccup was completely not used to this strong grip from Hagrid and had to curtly avoid yelling in pain, and instead let out a squeak and said awkwardly, "Yeah, nice to meet you too, Hagrid. Yeah, the name's Hiccup. So what are you doing here"?
"Oh, ahem, jus' bout to tend to the Hippogriff herd".
Hiccup was initially confused and asked, "Hippogriffs"?, before his gaze fell on the winged horse-eagle things and he came to the realisation and went, "oh, right, those things over there, they're Hippogriffs, am I right"?
"Yeah. Wanna see em up close"?
Intrigued about the possibility of getting to know more about a magical creature, Hiccup smiled and simply said, "Lead the way".
Moving up to the enormous pen, surrounding the Hippogriff herd (even though Hiccup reckoned that without a roof, a pen surely wasn't gonna be enough to stop them from flying away), Hiccup was close enough to get a very good look at the Hippogriffs and some distinct features and details.
Apart from their orange eyes, each Hippogriff had distinct colours, that made them stand out from one another.
One had pale brown, the other had chocolate brown, another charcoal grey and another jet black.
"So, what yeh reckon, Hiccup"?
Looking over at the giant man, Hiccup could only say, "Amazing..."
"Yes, they definitely are, arn't they, Hiccup"?
Turning around, Hiccup and Hagrid saw the owner of that familiar voice.
Hiccup smiled, "Charlie! I thought you'd be here this afternoon".
"Yeah, I finished sooner than expected. My fellow dragonologists are apparently stuck outside of Leeds. They needed to stop and wait or get spotted by Muggles. A few more days and they'll need to be past Newcastle before they arrive on the 17th, provided there be no more incidents enroute. Anyways, so how are you, Hagrid"?
Hagrid smiled and said, "Charlie! Great to see yeh. Sorry I haven't been able to see yeh, been a bit busy".
"Nah, that's okay, Hagrid, believe me, I've been busy also. So, introducing Hiccup to the Hippogriffs, are you, Hagrid"?
"Yeh, though he might like to see them".
A chuckle and Charlie then asked Hiccup, "So Hiccup, would you like to learn more about Hippogriffs? I could show you the basics on how to do so".
Taking a look at the Hippogriffs, and then looking back at Charlie, Hiccup then smiled, "I've got some time to kill, so why not"?
"Okay now, Hiccup. First things first. In order to approach a Hippogriff, you've got to treat it with respect. A bit like approaching your dragons, but a little different. You sure you'll listen to every word I'll be saying"?
Even though nervous, Hiccup tried to project some calm into his voice and said, "Yeah".
Nodding his head, Charlie then asked Hagrid, "So which Hippogriff have you got for us, Hagrid"?
The groundskeeper, already in the midst of the Hippogriff herd, brought out a Hippogriff, this one a dark brown colour.
"This fella ere's Hooftip. Not the eldest, but not the youngest".
Charlie then started guiding Hiccup through, in his first steps in Hippogriff etiquette.
"Alright Hiccup, first things first, you have to be really careful in how you approach a Hippogriff. They're very proud and easily offended, so never insult them in any way, not unless you want to be ripped to shreds".
With that statement, Hiccup raised an eyebrow, and muttered sarcastically, "That's very reassuring advice".
And as if he hadn't heard that, Charlie continued on, "You need to bow first, but always maintain eye contact without blinking. Without blinking, do you understand"?
Proceeding to do so, Hiccup dryly said, "Okay, maintaining eye contact, without blinking. Okay, I'll turn off my eyelids while I'm at it..."
Bowing, but maintaining a blinkless eye contact with Hooftip, Hiccup stood in place and Charlie went on, "Good. Now, wait for Hooftip to make the first move. Wait until he bows".
"Urm, okay..."
Awaiting a response from the now curious Hippogriff, Hiccup then tried to fight to keep his eyes from blinking and directly looking at the Hippogriff's eyes, and Charlie noticed this, telling Hiccup to keep eye contact, when Hooftip bowed.
As Hiccup sighed in relief, Charlie then said that it was okay to approach and to touch him, slowly and carefully, though.
Hooftip started approaching as well, thus closing the distance between the young Viking heir and the curious Hippogriff.
And once they were close enough, Hiccup put out his hands to stroke Hooftip's face.
The Hippogriff seemed to like this, and Hiccup smiled as he started feeling a bit more at ease, being around the Hippogriff.
After Charlie also came in to interact with Hooftip for a few minutes, the two decided to take their leave, leaving Hagrid to his other duties for the day.
Hiccup and Charlie were now heading back to the dragon riders' camp site.
"So, the dragonologists will be arriving with their dragons on the 17th"?
"Yes, barring any potential incidents enroute".
Nodding his head, Hiccup continued walking on in silence, until Hiccup suddenly said, "You know, Charlie, I can't wait until Toothless gets to meet Hooftip. I have a feeling they'd get along just fine".
Despite his initial fears about the Hippogriff, or the others in the Herd, not reacting well to a dragon, especially one from Berk, Charlie only smiled and said, "I'm sure they will, Hiccup", as the two continued onwards to the camp site.
Well, sorry for the delay everyone but I was having difficulty in figuring out what the focus of the next chapter should be. Initially, I had planned it to be Hiccup meeting Luna and the Thestrals, but I reckoned that was way too complicated and a bit too soon, because for one thing, Luna's a bit of a tricky character to do, I hear, and also, I was figuring out on whenever Hiccup or any of the dragon riders could actually see Thestrals, which is not as straightforward as it seems, because if you remember, Harry didn't immediately start seeing Thestrals until the start of fifth year, a bit of a while after Cedric's death, so it's not as straightforward as "Thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen death", so I reckoned that it requires a bit more than just that.
But no worries, I actually am not saying no to a future 'Hiccup meets Luna' part, it just needs a bit more time to figure out. And also, I need to work out on where to place it (timeline wise).
And good news, I am planning for Hiccup and the other dragon riders to meet the Trio!
Regardless, I hope I did Hagrid okay, because his way of speaking makes him a bit of a tricky character for me to get down.
Also, let me know on any ideas or suggestions for new chapters that you have, provided that you provide some details like their dates from any date within the 1994-1995 school year and a brief summary of what the scene should be about.
And I am planning chapters on the First Task, the Yule Ball, the Second Task and the Third Task, so don't worry about that, but still any suggestions on what'd you like to see in those chapters would be welcome!
So anyways, don't forget to leave a review whenever you can and see you next time!
