Hey I just had like an illumination 'cuz like I kept asking myself ''why do we say 'Hicstrid' doesn't it sounds… weird?'' So I tried a new fusion of their names and it gave Ascup (Ass-cup… haha, see the pun?) My questioning period was over.

I learned that Vikings are originally from Norway sooooooooooo I decided to transplant this idea here. Berk is a tiny island close to Norway SO Hiccup and the others speak originally Norwegian.

''Normal Speech''

''Norwegian Speech''

Harry Potter and the Dragon Tournament

Chapter 4

Dragons and Feast

''Harry, wake up!''

Harry cracked his eyes open as he felt weight shaking his shoulders intensely. He blinked a few time and saw his best friend staring at him, his eyes wide open. He frowned. It was still dark outside and the clock near his nightstand was indicating that it was one in the morning.

''What is it Ron?'' grumbled the Boy-Who-Lived.

''D'you hear that?'' he asked. Harry stopped breathing for a second and his ears picked up a sound of growling coming from the common room. He sat up and looked at his red haired friend. He could have sworn it sounded inhumane… it sounded almost like a beast. He scanned the area and took notice that all the other boys were sleeping but only two beds were empty. The one of Ron and Hiccup. The two boys grabbed their wands – and glasses for Harry – and headed downstairs.

With each step they took, the growls became louder and louder. It quickly became evident to these two young wizards that whatever animal that was making the sound was on the couch in front of the fireplace. They exchanged a look and quickly walked around the said couch…

Only to find a snoring Hiccup

Harry and Ron relaxed and allowed themselves from breathing once more. The Heir of the tribe shifted on his 'bed' and sighed. It was strange how he looked less intimidating with all his armor taken off. He still had the stature of someone who worked out a lot but it was less built up without all the metal and leather on him.

''He sure can snore,'' muttered the red haired boy in disbelief. Harry rolled his eyes and shook the boy's shoulder.

''Tannløs, la meg søvn knopp…'' mumbled Hiccup in a foreign tongue. The two boys exchanged a confused look between each other. Who was Tannløs? Well, at least it sounded like a name to them, unless it was just a word in a sentence.

''It's Harry,'' the Boy-Who-Lived said and tried once more to shake him up, though more violently. This time it got his attention – slightly – and he opened his eyes. 'Hi,'' Harry said.

''Why are you sleeping on the couch?'' Ron asked.

''It felt like the bed would swallow me whole if I lied down on it,'' he said as he sat up and waited for the two teenagers to explain why they woke him up so soon. The red haired teen scratched his cheek as a frown grew on his features.

''What the heck d'you mean –''

''Well it's okay, I guess…'' cut Harry in a more diplomatic way. ''You can sleep here… if you prefer?'' He offered with a tiny smile. Hiccup nodded and rubbed his eyes, sleepiness still present in his brain.

''Greit,'' he yawned.

''Okay, so… we'll go back upstairs, g'night,'' Harry said. He grabbed his best friend's arm and directed him toward their room.

''Night guys,'' Hiccup mumbled before he hit the hay once more. The two boys looked at each other and they knew exactly what they were thinking.

That guy was the definition of bizarre.

-..~-..~-..~-..~-..~

The next morning was quite boring for Hiccup.

Like usual he woke up almost at the same time the sun started rising up. Though, unlike at Berk, he didn't went outside and flew with Toothless – wouldn't risk getting seeing before the tasks, right? He got himself comfortable on the couch, took out his traditional leather bound notebook and started doodling in it. Hiccup normally wouldn't draw in front of his friends – mostly his cousin Snoutlout who'd probably tease him about it until the end of the world happen – but he did a few times. For instance when he and the others started to work on the Dragon Manual for teaching the other Vikings how to train a dragon and they needed to know what the creature looked like. Or he usually designed new saddles and useful items for the riders. But outside that it was more personal. For example, now, he was completely wrapped into the portrait he was doing of Astrid. Maybe he could give it to her when he was done…? It was tempting but at the same time he felt that he should keep it. 'Meh, I'll think about it when I'll be done with it,' he thought as he continued to draw the hair. His mind slowly drifted off somewhere else while his pen kept defining the details.

The conversation he had yesterday night about who Harry Potter truly was not something he was expecting. A baby of six months old was able to fight off the most dangerous wizard they ever knew – the name was Voldysomething – seemed to be a story as far fetch as the tale of the Boneknapper Gobber told him. Though, the lightning scar on the Boy-Who-Lived's forehead was already a proof among others, apparently. 'They're wizards… I guess everything is possible with them,' he thought with a sigh. Hiccup looked at the window and took in note that he should talk to Dumbledore about the matter of feeding their dragons and where they could go. He couldn't keep them stuck inside a ship for Thor's knew for how long!

Though he didn't knew where the headmaster was located in the castle.

'Oh that's just great,' he thought bitterly. The boy would be lying if he said he was happy to the idea of being inside a huge castle filled up with hormonal teenagers. In fact, he would prefer much more to be at Berk with Toothless and the others, thank you very much. But here he was, inside Hogwarts, stuck on unknown grounds with people talking with a ridiculous accent and brandishing their wands everywhere whenever they could. He could understand their English or else he wouldn't be able to talk to the merchants who passed by Berk, but the way they spoke it here was completely new for him. Thus… there were foreign dragons here and it was killing him to not see them. So he was stuck to take part in taking care of a tournament if he wanted to see and learn about them.

Yay

''Wow, you're good at drawing!'' said a little voice behind him. The teen quickly closed the opened notebook resting on his laps and spun around. Hermione was looking over his shoulder at the leather book he had between his hands.

''I, huh… thanks?'' he said hesitantly. She skirted around the couch and sat beside him.

''You were drawing that girl from your group, Astrid, right?'' Hermione asked with a smile. Her eyes clearly screamed something along the lines of 'you like her, don't you?' Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek, and here he thought it was obvious the link going on between him and her.

''Well, yeah,'' he scratched the back of his neck as he felt slightly awkward. Not that he was ashamed of being in a relationship with Astrid, on the contrary, it was one of the best thing in his life but talking about relationships only reminded him of the conversation he got regularly with his father. Marriage. Marry soon a woman and become the chief of the tribe, that was the typical speech he would get but, hey: he didn't wanted to push anything. May Odin have a bit of patience with him! He still wanted to have a bit of freedom left before living up all the responsibilities and duties he had to stand up for. His green eyes scanned the area and spotted the girl they were just talking about.

''Good morning, milady,'' he said with his typical toothy smile.

''Morgen,'' the blond Viking sat beside Hiccup after greeting both of them and stuffed her hands in his hair.

''Ow! Could you not pull!'' Hiccup requested with a cringe on his features.

''Oh, stop whining,'' Astrid replied boldly as she separated a short lock of hair in three and started braiding it expertly. The boy frowned, he knew that whenever she came to see him and started braiding his hair it was because she was upset about something though he couldn't think why she would be at the moment.

''Something's on your mind?'' he asked in his natal language. The girl bit her lips and tied the first braid with a red leather band before starting another one under his right ear.

''I've been thinking all night and… I don't think it was a good idea to –'' Astrid quickly glanced at the bushy haired girl before continuing, ''-leave Stormfly and the others inside the ship.'' She said, they both knew that even though they were talking in another tongue, they had similarities for a few words with English – for example dragon in their language was drage though depending on how they said it would easily be heard as the English way. Which was making the work harder for them. She finished the second one and tapped softly the back of Hiccup, signaling him that she was done for now – it was a two braids problem. Meanwhile, Hermione was frowning, the gears in her head were spinning like no tomorrow to understand in what language the Vikings were speaking.

The bushy haired girl remembered reading a book when she was younger about the great Vikings, supposedly, their origin was from Norway, so of course it wouldn't be dumb to assume that they were speaking in Norwegian.

''You know, I've been thinking exactly the same thing but I don't know where we could let them be without... you know, spoil everything,'' Hiccup replied, his hand on Astrid's shoulder. He glanced at Hermione – who was studying them silently. 'Well, maybe she could help,' he wondered. ''Hermione, do you know where I have to go if I want to talk to Dumbledore?'' Hiccup asked. The said girl slightly jumped at the attention directed toward her but quickly recomposed herself.

''I – yes I do know. If you want, I'll show you where to go.'' Hermione said happily as she stood up. A few second later, Ron and Harry came down from the boy's dormitories, shortly followed by Snoutlout, Fishleg and Tuffnut – Ruffnut quickly joined the party in the common room afterward. The teens separated themselves, the two boys would join the Vikings while the bushy haired girl would take Hiccup and Astrid to Professor McGonagall who would direct them to the headmaster. Luckily for them, the teacher wasn't too hard to find since she was keeping an eye out on the students messing around the corridors.

''Professor McGonagall!'' called Hermione.

''Good morning, Mrs. Granger,'' the teacher said politely, her lips forming a tight line.

''Yes, hum, Hiccup wanted to talk to Professor Dumbledore and I thought it'd be better if it were you who showed him,'' she explained. Professor McGonagall slightly frowned at the familiarity the girl was showing to the Vikings but let the matter go. As long as she and her two friends didn't forced answers out of them about the tournament, she hoped.

''Very well,'' she said with a nod. ''You should join your friends, Miss Granger, I'll take the lead.'' Hermione quickly gave a thank you at the teacher and left. ''Follow me,'' Professor McGonagall said before leading them toward the office of Dumbledore. ''May I ask what is it you seek from the Headmaster?'' The two Vikings glanced around them, assuring themselves that no students was too near of them and might hear too much.

''It's about the dragons,'' Hiccup said. ''I just want to confirm a few things about their wellbeing before the tasks starts.'' The transfiguration teacher nodded silently and kept walking.

To say in the least, the inside of the school was something. The paintings were moving and talking – a potion could bring unanimated objects to life, apparently, from what Hermione explained the night before. The stairs moved and some were holes while others were invisible. The armors would twitch and move at few times, ghosts would pass through the walls and speak nonsense while gliding in the corridors. A little bit more and Hiccup would bet his armor that doors could appear and disappear whenever it felt like it. It was captivating but at the same time, the two Vikings would be lying if they didn't doubt if they had spent too much time around dragon nips a started hallucinating half of it. Though, the way that Professor McGonagall walked around, dodged the invisible stairs and holes and barely paid attention to how the paintings where moving, they came to the conclusion that maybe they weren't crazy.

Maybe

They ended up in front of a large statue representing a bird – probably an eagle, said Astrid – and they all waited for a second.

''Lemon drops,'' Professor McGonagall said suddenly, a grimace on her face. The duo frowned and shared a look. Why would she say something this random? Their question was quickly answered as a stairway appeared right where the statue was a few second ago. The teacher spun around, send them a look between politeness and bitterness, ''follow the stairs and you'll get to his office.'' She explained before bidding them a good day and left silently. The two Vikings exchanged a look before following the instruction she gave them. Hiccup knocked three times on the door and heard a calm 'come on in,' before opening the door.

The room was large and round. Multiple gadgets made of silver and other materials were displayed almost on every surface inside the room and an enormous quantity of books was resting in the bookshelves on the walls. At the center of the room, the old headmaster was sitting on a comfortable chair behind a large black desk. He was smiling at the duo who was taking in all the details of the room. Never in their life had they seen so many odd looking objects, everything was exotic and foreign. His hands twitched slightly, he so wanted to touch the objects and analyze the complexity of them – curse his blacksmiths bad habit! And he would never admit it in front of Astrid or anyone else, but he kind of liked everything that was made of silver – heck, everything he worked with at Gobber's workshop was made of iron and if he was lucky, it was sometime made of silver. So seeing so many gadgets made of the precious metal made him fell slightly excited.

Slightly

''May I help you with something?'' Dumbledore asked. Hiccup quickly got out of his little stupor and scratched the back of his neck.

''Yeah, ah, I wanted to know, for our dragons, you know… we can't just keep them under the roof of a ship, especially when it's made of wood. So where could we put our dragons without the students seeing them? And about the foreign ones, when will they be here?'' Dumbledore stayed silent for a while and stood up.

''Well, you could always bring them inside the forest, since it's out of bounds for the students, only you and the staffs could see them,'' proposed Dumbledore. The two Vikings nodded in approval, it seemed to be a good spot. It was vast enough for them and away of prying eyes. ''And the other dragons should be brought here in no longer than two days.''

''That's perfect, and one last question: where do we go for supplying their food?''

''For this you should go see Hagrid, he's the gamekeeper and the teacher of magical beasts. He should be at his cabin near the Forbidden Forest. He'll be more than happy to help you, Hiccup,'' the headmaster said. Just then the door opened and none other than Professor Moody entered the room, his traditional grumpy look on his face and his blue eye spun in every direction. Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a look after seeing the odd looking man. They had seen a lot of people with prosthetic and scars but never, ever in their life had they seen someone looking this disturbing. ''Ah, Alastor,'' Dumbledore said in a lighter note. ''You just arrived at the perfect time, I happen to be in need of a favor.'' The one legged man nodded, his eye analyzing the two Vikings in silence. He walked closer to the Headmaster, exchanged a few hushed words and they both send a glance at the two young adults. ''Professor Moody will accompany you for directing the dragons towards the forest. We don't want the students to see them, don't we?'' he added with a smile. Hiccup gave a thank before following Alastor outside of Dumbledore's office.

To say in the least, walking in the corridors with the wooden legged teacher was more than awkward. The man was ridiculously silent, his eyes kept scanning his environment, almost as if something would appear out of nowhere and attack him. And it was making the two Vikings incredibly uncomfortable. Though the feeling of uneasiness was quickly replaced when they heard a scream coming from the Great Hall. They all hurried to the doors, only to see Snoutlout panicking with a three meters tongue coming out of his mouth.

''Snoutoult?!'' Hiccup asked in disbelief. The said boy turned to see who called him and is eyes became wide open.

''ON' OOK A MEH!'' He screamed hysterically in a mix of English and Norwegian before running away, shortly followed by the two blond twins who were howling in laughter. The students inside the Great Hall were all snickering but quickly forced themselves to stop when they saw that the Viking Leader was standing just there, in complete confusion.

''Wh – ''

''Bloody teenagers,'' Alastor said roughly before he kept walking towards the ships. The duo exchanged a worried glance but said nothing as they kept following the odd man. They were wizards, maybe it was something normal? Well, at least they hoped or else they would be forever stuck with a three meters long tongued Snoutlout. When they got outside, the chilly wind of October met their skin and their breath came out as little puffs of steam. ''Quite the feat to conquer dragons, Mr. Haddock.'' Alastor said suddenly. Hiccup frowned at the mention of controlling these creatures. He chewed the inside of his cheek for a second, thinking how to formulate a reply that wouldn't sound too impolite in English.

''I don't conquer them, I train them,'' he corrected. He only got a grumble as an answer but he shrugged it off as they came in front of their biggest ships. ''Let's get to business,'' Hiccup muttered before he and Astrid got inside the biggest boat, shortly followed by Professor Moody. Astrid left Hiccup's side and walked with confidence towards a blue scaled dragon that oddly reminded the professor a parrot, with the beak similar to a bird. Though, it was if he didn't include the sharp teeth, the razor claws and the horn on its head. His electric blue eye scanned even more the beast and was abashed to see that even though it was already heavily armed, the tails was covered in spines, they were subtle but visible enough to intimidate someone easily. The girl softly petted the dragon with affection, a smile climbing her round face.

''Hey, girl,'' the Viking girl said affectionately. The parrot-like dragon made a sound strange mixed with a purr. ''You're not too hungry?'' it shook its head, its yellow eyes looking at her rider with adoration. The professor frowned, he didn't understood a single word they were saying. He was sure that all Vikings spoke English as their natal language, seemed like he was wrong. Professor Moody was about to ask the heir of Berk what she was saying but he didn't had time because a flash of black quickly moved in the shadow and jumped on the young man without making a sound. The ex Auror took out expertly his wand and pointed at the creature, in fear that it might have started eating the poor boy but he stopped aiming when the said victim started laughing.

''Hey there, bud! You missed me?'' Hiccup asked happily – mostly relieved to speak something less complicated – as he scratched affectionately the jet black scales of the dragon on top of him. It gave a purr of joy and closed its eyes, clearly happy with the scratches. ''Okay, Toothless, get off me.'' He ordered and the dragon stood up and let the one legged boy crawled away from him. The creature pushed its head against Hiccup's leg, a soft growl escaping its throat and green eyes opened wildly in expectation. ''Now's not the time to go fly, bud.'' Hiccup said with a cringe. He also wanted to go fly but he just couldn't right now. The dragon scoffed indignantly and pushed harder on the leg with the prosthetic – strongly enough to make him fall hard on his butt. The boy looked in disapproval at his dragon – who made a guttural sound that he clearly knew was Toothless' way of laughing – and crossed his arms. ''Fine! No fish for you!'' at this, the dragon growled menacingly at Hiccup and bare his teeth, his wings opened and he puffed his chest.

Professor Moody was feeling quite intimidated by the dark beast, though the boy was having none of it as he looked at his nails, completely not impressed.

''Mmh… If I take you out flying tonight, you won't complain? And add the fish,'' Hiccup offered to the dragon. The animal's demeanor changed rapidly; it folded its wings, sat on its rear and its green eyes stared at him in approval. A purr escaped its throat as the creature bumped its forehead on the one legged boy's one who laughed heartily at the affection from his best friend. ''Alright buddy, time to move, we got to change your spot to the forest.'' Hiccup send a sheepish smile at the confused professor, his hand kept scratching absently the chin of Toothless. ''They don't understand English,'' he explained before getting himself to work.

It took them most of the morning to get all the dragons inside the Forbidden Forest and feed them with the remaining supply of fish and chicken they had left aboard but eventually, the creatures were all comfortable and happy enough for the time being. The two Vikings gave their thanks to the Professor Against the Dark Arts and they parted away from him.

Hiccup and Astrid decided that with the remaining time left before the selection of the three champions, they would go see Hagrid and clarify the matter about feeding their dragons. When they got at the edge of the forest, they spotted easily the wooden hut. From what they had seen at the feast the night before, the half giant seemed to be a rather nice and soft person.

Hiccup knocked three times on the door and waited, hoping that the gamekeeper was there. Luckily for him Hagrid opened the door.

''Yer mus' be Hiccup, right?'' asked the large man with a smile. The said boy took a second to take in the height of the man but quickly shook it off.

''In the flesh,'' he said, ''ah, we wanted to ask you something about –'' Hiccup didn't get the time to finish his sentence since he and Astrid were rushed inside the man's hut and they came face to face with the Golden Trio.

''Come in! Come in! We were just about ter eat diner!'' Hagrid said joyfully his giant hands taking care of something that looked like a beef casserole. Hiccup send a look at Astrid, they both knew they just couldn't talk about dragons in front of students right now, but three awfully curious Hogwarts students were exactly sitting in front of them, eyeing them in confusion.

''You know, that is a great idea, but can we talk to you, Hagrid?'' Hiccup sent a glare at the three teenagers. ''… alone?'' he added. The half giant nodded and accompanied them outside. Meanwhile, the Golden Trio whispered between them.

''Why are they here?'' asked Hermione.

''And why couldn't they talk about it in front of us?'' Harry added.

''Do you think it might be about the tournament'' inquired Ron. They all exchanged a look and they all stood up, crept near the window and sharpen their ears.

''What… need…?'' asked Hagrid.

''It's for our… no supply… They need… fish and chicken… no eel though… hate it…'' Hiccup said, though the wind was raging and the trio could only hear snippets of the conversation but it was enough to bring confusion to them.

''Also… ship supplies… moved them… forest.'' Astrid added softly.

''For now today… okay… tomorrow?''

''A'yt, I'll see what I can do fer yeh,'' the voice became stronger. Harry, Hermione and Ron took it as their cue took rush back to their seat. The half giant man led the two Vikings inside the hut and resumed preparing plates.

''Thank you, Hagrid,'' Hiccup said sincerely and sat next to Harry, shortly followed by Astrid. ''Soooo.. Excited to the Tournament?'' Hiccup asked to the teenagers. The teens nodded vigorously, their eyes shining in excitement.

''You wait,'' Hagrid intervened with a large grin hidden under his massive beard. ''You jus' wait. Yer going ter see some stuff yeh've never seen before. Firs' task… ah but I'm not supposed ter say.''

''Go on, Hagrid!'' Harry, Hermione and Ron urged him, but he just shook his head, grinning.

''I don' want ter spoil it fer yeh,'' said Hagrid. ''But it's gonna be spectacular, I'll tell yeh that.''

''Thanks, we worked hard on it,'' said Hiccup with a smirk. The trio looked at the Viking and they frowned, it was true that they were special guests and they weren't participating in the tournament like the other schools but from what they had gathered, they were a big part of it that year. Though, they couldn't put their finger on how they were actually involved into the wizard's world.

''I'll tell yeh that. Them champions're going ter have their work cut out. Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!'' Hagrid added.

They ended up staying for diner with Hagrid and the students – though they didn't eat much, the food looked a bit too weird for their tastes. The Vikings enjoyed seeing the teenagers trying to find out what were the tasks were but the half giant would only shake his head and grin. They were also told that the two red haired twins had tried to enter their names into the goblet but they ended up with beards worthy of a Viking.

''Now that you mention it, we saw sooner Snoutlout running away with his tongue coming out of his mouth…'' Astrid said. ''What happened…?'' she asked. Harry and Ron started laughing and tried to explain about the candies the twins had been working on since summer time but they could only hold dear their ribs. Hermione scoffed.

''Fred and George gave to Ruffnut and Tuffnut magical candies and they pranked him.'' She explained, though a small crack of a smile appeared on her face. The man had been flirting a bit with her that morning and it had made her feel quite uncomfortable, she could sort of say that karma hit him hard that time. The Vikings looked at each other and they knew that if the trouble makers of Berk were to get armed with magical candies, their village would be doomed if they ever happened to hide some in their bags before leaving. ''But don't worry, it can be reversed, by now he probably went to the infirmary.'' The bushy haired girl added after she saw their look of pure worry.

''Hey, yesterday night, you said something in your sleep,'' started Harry, his green eyes locked on Hiccup. ''Before we woke you up.''

''I did?'' the Viking said, a frown climbing on his face. The red haired boy nodded vigorously, his mouth opening and closing by its own accord.

''Yeah, totally, it sounded like… huh… I don't remember all but you said something like 'Tanluss' or something like that?'' Ron said, a look of pure confusion.

'' You mean… tannløs?'' Hiccup corrected hesitantly. Harry snapped his fingers and pointed at him a grin on his face.

''Yeah, that was the word! What does it mean?''

''Huh…'' Hiccup looked at his girlfriend in distress, hoping she could save his ass that time, but she didn't. Her blue eyes clearly said 'you got in trouble, you solve it by yourself'! ''It means, ah… It means 'toothless'… it's the name of my pet… back home…?'' he lied. He forced himself to not cringe. He knew he was a bad liar but now it was a torture, he couldn't just tell a few teenagers before the tournament that his pet was a freaking dragon!

''What animal is it?'' asked Ron, his eyes shining with curiosity.

''It's a lizard, a big one!'' Hiccup said. Bam, in your face fate! He wasn't telling the truth but he wasn't lying either! The two boys stared excitedly at the Viking while Hermione shivered.

''You got a lizard?!'' she asked worriedly. Hiccup grinned, he sent a look at Astrid before returning his attention on the teens.

''Yeah! He got tons of them at Berk! Almost everyone has one!'' The girl shivered even more, definitely not the type for reptile, and her friends started poking fun out of it. It wasn't often they saw her disgusted so easily about something. They laughed at the tease and they kept talking afterward until Hermione invited Hagrid to join something called S.P.E.W. though he refused flatly. Harry explained shortly to the Vikings that it was about giving rights to the House Elves and such, though Hiccup and Astrid didn't knew if they should sympathize or not about the matter but it obviously got the heir of Berk's attention about magical creatures. The half giant and the one legged boy entered into a deep conversation about creatures and their wonders, leaving the trio abashed. Never, ever had they seen someone so into creatures like their giant friend before.

By half past five, it was getting dark and Ron, Harry and Hermione decided it was time to get back up to the castle for the feast – and more importantly, the announcement of the school champion.

''I'll come with yeh,'' said Hagrid, putting away his darning. ''Just give us a sec.''

The man got up, went across to the chest of drawers besides his bed and began searching for something inside it. They all didn't pay too much attention until a truly horrible smell reached their nostrils. The two Vikings stifled a cough but said nothing, only a grimace clear on Hiccup's and Astrid's features.

''Hagrid, what's that?'' Ron asked.

''Eh?'' Hagrid said, turning around with a large bottle in his hand. ''Don' yeh like it?''

''Is it aftershave?'' Hermione said in a slightly choked voice.

''Er – eau-de-Cologne,'' said a blushing Hagrid. ''Maybe it's a bit too much… I'll go take it off, hang on…'' He stumped out of the cabin, and they saw him washing himself vigorously in the water barrel outside the window.

''Eau-de-Cologne?'' said Hermione in amazement. ''Hagrid?''

''And what's with the hair and suit?'' added Harry in disbelief.

''Look!'' Ron said suddenly, pointing out of the window.

''Would you look at that,'' muttered Hiccup with a smirk, his green eyes looking outside.

Hagrid had just straighten up and turned round. If he had been blushing before, it was nothing compared to now. The trio cautiously got on their feet and peered through the window. They saw Madame Maxime and the Beauxbatons students had just emerged from their carriage, clearly about to set off for the feast too. They couldn't hear what Hagrid was saying, but he was talking to Madame Maxime with a rapt, misty-eyed expression Harry had only ever seen him wear once – when he had been looking at the baby dragon Norbert.

''He's going to the castle with her!'' Hermione said indignantly. ''I thought he was waiting for us!''

''He fancies her!'' Ron said incredulously and made another sarcastic remark before they all got up from their spot and left the wooden shack. Outside, they all saw the Durmstrang students leaving their ship and walked towards the warmth of the castle. The group weren't too far from them so they followed quietly – except Ron who was almost jumping up and down, his eyes glued once more on Viktor Krum.

When they got inside the candlelight Great Hall, it was almost full. The Goblet was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teacher's table. The Weasley twins were clean shaven and seemed to have well taken their disappointment for their tentative of being a champion. Snoutlout was once more normal, though now he was glancing at Ruffnut and Tuffnut with dirty looks while the two blonds look completely triumphant. And Gobber – who seemed to have vanished for the whole day – was sitting at the table beside Fishleg, his beady blue eyes glaring at the gliding candles with fascination. The Hiccup and Astrid joined their friends and waited for the Golden Trio to take a seat a bit further of them.

''We took care of the dragons,'' Hiccup said to the Vikings. ''Right now they're in the forest, and in two days the foreign ones should be there.'' The members of his group nodded in acknowledgement.

''Mr. Haddock?'' 'Mr. Filch asked from behing, his little eyes glaring at him.

''Ja?'' Hiccup said without thinking about translating as he spun to see his interlocutor. Though it didn't seem to faze the man.

''I am sorry to interrupt you from conversing but the Headmaster had asked for your presence at the Teacher's Table for the sorting of the champions,'' the caretaker said. The Heir of Berk nodded and took the same seat he had the day before, between Dumbledore and Madame Maxime.

The feast seemed to take longer than ever before. Mostly because it was their second feast in two days and it was slightly too much, but it was also because the atmosphere was almost unbearable. All the students were hurrying to eat as much as they could in little time in an attempt to shorten up the wait for the discovery of the champions. But the speed of the wait was chosen by none other than the Headmaster of Hogwarts who took his sweet time to enjoy a good talk with Madame Maxime and his meal.

And finally, the golden plates were cleaned and the last of the sweet deserts vanished of the tables. All the noises died at a ridiculously fast pace and all the eyes were glued to the headmaster who got up from his seat. Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime were very tensed and excited while Hiccup and playing with the little golden spoon in his hand, he just wanted the feast to be over and go fly with Toothless. He didn't care who would be the Champions, he barely knew anyone here except Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, in fact, he looked bored. Well, not as bored as Hiccup, but more stoically than the young leader.

''Well, the Goblet is almost ready to make its decision,'' said Dumbledore. ''I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' name are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber –'' he indicated the door behind the staff table. '' – where they will be receiving their first instructions.''

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them all into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than ever, almost blinding the sight of a few and suddenly, the blue flames turned red and sparks flew everywhere. The headmaster grabbed swiftly the parchment and read it under the now once again blue light.

''The champion for Durmstrang,'' he read in a strong and clear voice, ''will be Viktor Krum.''

A storm of applause and cheering exploded into the Great Hall as the said boy stood up, shook head with the headmaster and disappeared behind the door. The clapping and cheering quickly died down, all attention focused once more on the Goblet who turned once more red. A second piece of parchment shot out of it.

''The champion of Beauxbatons,'' said Dumbledore, ''is Fleur Delacour!''

Once more the cheering exploded though the other French students took the disappointment more than bitterly. Two charming ladies of the group even started crying because they weren't chosen. 'Wow, that's classy' Hiccup thought sarcastically. Fleur disappeared behind the door and the flames became again red. The Headmaster pulled out the third parchment.

''The Hogwarts champion,'' he called, ''is Cedric Diggory!''

Many students from Hogwarts were unhappy that a Hufflepuff was chosen but most of it was drowned by the whole noises. The boy, Cedric, grinned broadly at his friends and headed off towards the chamber like the two previous champions. The cheer went for so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

''Excellent!'' the headmaster called happily, as at last the tumult died down. ''Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster.''

'gee! Finish the speech!' thouch Hicup bitterly. 'I wanna go fly!'

''By cheering your champions on, you will contribute in a very real – ''

Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the Goblet had just turned red once more. Sparks were flying out of it and another piece of parchment flew off the fire. The Headmaster automatically reached out and grabbed the piece. His sparkly eyes only stared at the name written upon it. The students stayed oddly in silence, not wanting to bring the elderly man out of his stupor. Eventually, Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out -

''Harry Potter.''

WOO! Another chapter done (6 559 words HOLY BALLS)! Maaaaaaaaaaaan that one was pure TORTURE to write! Hope the little mischief was good enough… for now. I know it's not really original but I just got inspired by the beginning of the book so I told myself, why the fuck not?

Norwegiant helpy thingy:

Tannløs, la meg søvn knop_ Toothless, let me sleep

Greit _ Alright

Morgen_Morning

So yeah, next chapter: The Four Champions, Rita Skeeter putting her nose in the Vikings' business (maybe, tell me in the review if I should do and interaction between Hiccup and Rita, PLEASE), and maybe a bit more of Viking-ess involved.

Blah blah blah like & review if yeh liked blah blah blah