Chapter 2: Sorting

The next day, Hiccup and Astrid woke up bright and early and loaded up all of their belongings onto trolleys as they made their way to the train station.

They both run through the wall between platforms 9 and 10, leading to Platform 9 ¾, where the black and red Hogwarts Express was waiting for them.

They load their things onto the train and made their way to their seats, middle row of the third car from the engine.

As soon as they sat down, the train began moving and heading off to Hogwarts. While the train was moving, Hiccup and Astrid talk amongst themselves a bit about how excited they are about starting school when the door to their seats open up and from the corner comes a blond haired fat boy. "Um, is it alright? Everywhere else is full."

Hiccup and Astrid exchange glances, figuring that he seems to mean well, so Astrid replies, "Sure, but, you're gonna have to give us a piece of that candy bar." She gestures to the bar of chocolate in the boy's hand.

The boy smiles. "It's a deal!" He sits beside Hiccup as he breaks off a square of the chocolate to give to the other two. The boy says, "I'm Fishlegs Ingerman, by the way. I'm a first year at Hogwarts too."

Having finished her chocolate square, Astrid replies, "So are we! I'm Astrid, Astrid Hofferson."

Hiccup replies, "Yeah, and I'm…Hiccup." He didn't want to give away his full name, thinking about his mother, hoping neither would notice.

Fishlegs raises a brow. "Hiccup…who?"

Hiccup looked to Fishlegs then back to Astrid as they did seem genuinely curious. Figuring there would be no point in hiding it, he replies, "Hiccup…Haddock."

Astrid gasps to that. "Haddock? As in…Valka Haddock? The one who might be working for-"

"Yes, the same Haddock." Hiccup interrupts. "But all of that are just rumours…at least I'm sure they are, I still don't know, but I am not like that, ok? I'm a good person, I promise!"

Astrid and Fishlegs exchange glances before Astrid replies, "I…believe you."

Fishlegs adds, "Yeah, me too."

Hiccup's eyes widen. "Y-you do?"

Astrid replies, "Yes! I mean, I've only known you for half a day, but you do seem kind hearted. And, It's like you said, it could all just be rumours."

Fishlegs nods. "I agree. I like to believe there's a bit of good in everyone. Well, that is except for…"

Hiccup replies, "Ok, we can stop talking about this right now."

Hours later, the train arrives at the front gate to Hogwarts where a very large, black haired man with a giant black beard was standing there, holding a lantern. "First years, right this way! Come now, quickly!" Once all the first years were gathered, the man says, "'Ello, students! My name is Rubeus Hagrid, I am the groundskeeper, here at Hogwarts. If ya will follow me, we shall head to the boats!"

Everyone follows Hagrid to the boats that were waiting for them as they are rowed to a massive castle on top of a cliff, full of various towers, windows, gargoyles and more.

Once they head up the many stairs from the docks, the students stand in front of the massive, brown front door which opens up as an old lady wearing a green dress and wizard hat walks out before saying, "Good evening, students. I am Professor McGonagall, Transfiguation Professor and right hand lady to our great Headmaster. If you will follow me."

She turns around and leads the students into the massive grand hall, filled with tables that were divided into four rows, each table full of students wearing black robes that had stripes of either green, yellow, red or blue on them.

In the far back of the hall, was a group of older people of different clothing and attires.

There was a black haired man wearing black robes, a large woman wearing tan robes, a white bearded man wearing purple robes sat in a gold encrusted chair, a short man wearing a fancy suit, and a thin man wearing a purple silk around his head.

The new students make their way to the area with all of these people as McGonagall says, "As I said before, welcome to Hogwarts! Where you will learn everything about the art of magic, potion making, broom flying, and much more.

Now, in just a moment you will all be sorted into one of four houses, this is part of Hogwarts tradition and dates back centuries. These houses cannot be swapped or exchanged, and will remain your house for the entire time you attend Hogwarts.

Your main goal while attending Hogwarts is to gain as many house points as you can for a chance to win the House Cup at the end of the year, you can do this by exceeding in your classroom or show great promise outside the class. Delinquent behavior and failure in the class can lead to your house losing points, so be careful.

The four Hogwarts houses are..."

She points to a red banner with a gold lion. "…Gryffindor, for the brave and bold…" a yellow banner with a gold badger, "…Hufflepuff, for the loyal and fair…" a blue banner with a silver raven, "…Ravenclaw, for the witted and intelligent," and a green banner with a silver snake, "…and Slytherin, for the cunning and resourceful."

McGonagall then stands next to a chair, picks up a brown hat with a face and unfurls a scroll. "Now, when I call your name, you will come up and sit here. I will place the Sorting Hat onto your head, and it will determine which house you will belong to. I wish you luck in getting the house that you hoped for…Astrid Hofferson?"

Astrid looks to everyone else in the room before taking a deep breath and walking up the steps to the large chair, sitting down and having McGonagall put the hat on her head. However, as soon as the hat was on, the sound of snoring could be heard from close by. McGonagall looks and sees that it is the hat that is asleep. "Hat." She says, trying to wake it up, to no avail. "HAT!"

This causes the hat to jolt awake. "Huh? What? Oh, right, it's that time again."

McGonagall rolls her eyes. "Honestly, the one thing we ask you to do around here."

The hat nods. "Yeah, yeah, alright." The had stretches the edges of its rim a bit before saying, "Ok, here we go again…GRYFFINDOR!" Astrid smiles as everyone else claps and she goes to sit with the other, older red robed students.

McGonagall looks at the list and says, "Snotlout Jorgenson?"

The black haired kid who made fun of Astrid the other day steps up and sits in the chair. Both Hiccup and Astrid give him glares as he sits there, wide smile on his face. The hat scoffs. "Well, and here I thought this would be the year I'd be given a challenge. SLYTHERIN!"

Snotlout nods as he gets up and sits with the older green robed students.

Fishlegs whispers to Hiccup, "Yeah, I pretty much saw that coming from a mile away."

McGonagall then says, "Ruffnut Thorston?"

A blonde haired girl then steps up, sits in the chair and the hat is put on her head. The hat replies, "Heh, this is easier than that boy. HUFFLEPUFF!"

The girl stands and goes to sit with the older yellow robed students as McGonagall says, "Tuffnut Thorston?"

A blonde haired boy who looks just like the previous girl steps up and sits before the hat is placed on his head. The hat raises an eye. "What's this? This one is the exact same as the last girl. It's like you're identical or something."

The boy replies, "Uh, yeah, we're twins."

The hat nods. "I see. Well then, no questions here, HUFFLEPUFF!"

Ruffnut stands and says, "I gotta be in the same house as HIM?!"

Tuffnut adds, "I gotta be in the same house as HER?!"

Fishlegs comments to Hiccup, "Pretty sure they've been in the same house all their lives."

With Tuffnut sitting down, McGonagall then announces, "Fishlegs Ingerman?"

Fishlegs takes a deep breath himself as he walks up to the chair and sits down, where the hat was placed on his head. The hat scoffs. "Heh, quite the chubby one are we? Surprised one house can even fit you."

Fishlegs looks down in shame as McGonagall says, "Now, Hat, there is no need for that."

The hat replies, "Hey, I only do this once a year, gotta have fun while I can…oh!" The hat's eye holes widen. "Oh, that is interesting. Well then…RAVENCLAW!"

Fishlegs's eyes widen in shock as he stands and walks over to the older blue robed students.

McGonagall then says, "Hiccup Haddock?"

The very name caused a small stir in everyone in the room as all eyes turn to him. Figuring this would happen, Hiccup sighs and nervously steps up to sit and have the hat placed on his head.

The hat ponders a bit. "Hmm…interesting, very interesting. I'm getting all sorts of things here…Slyth- no that's not right…Could really go any way here…" Hiccup started to get concerned that this was taking as long as it was. He then looks over to the Gryffindor table where Astrid was just as concerned then to Slytherin table where Snotlout was leaning in, hoping that his house was called.

Knowing that he didn't want to be in the same house as that kid, Hiccup closes his eyes and concentrates for a few seconds before the hat says, "Ah! Yes, there it is. It's clear to me now. GRYFFINDOR!"

Everyone except for Snotlout cheers as Hiccup stands up and makes his way to sit with Astrid and the other red robbed students.

Once everyone else was sorted out, Professor McGonagall announces, "Now, with the Sorting complete, our great Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, would like to say a few words. Albus?"

Everyone gives a round of applause as the white bearded man approaches the owl podium and says, "Thank you, Minerva. First off, a warm welcome to all newcomers and a welcome back to any returning students! I can already feel that this year will be filled with wonder and excitement, just like any year, here at Hogwarts.

Before we begin out opening feast, I have a few quick announcements to make. First and foremost, it is in dark times like these when we must look to any glimmers of light that we can. I am pleased to announce that Harry Potter has been safely brought to his new home and will be starting school here, come the next decade.

One more thing, not to cause alarm but word has it that a few species of dragon have been spotted in areas high with magic, none have been seen near Hogwarts but I wouldn't count that out entirely. Now, I don't need to tell you how dangerous and deadly dragons can be, for even just the slightest wrong move can lead to you being burned to a crisp.

Should a dragon be spotted near school grounds, we will take the necessary steps to keep you all safe. I also encourage you all to not think about that too much and instead focus on your studies and make sure to have fun while here at Hogwarts.

That is all, let the feast begin!"

Suddenly, a giant spread of food appears on all the tables in the room and all of the hungry students and professors begin to dig in.

While eating, Fishlegs talks to the black haired girl who defended Hiccup and Astrid from Snotlout's trash talk and also was placed into Ravenclaw saying, "Yeah, I mean, Ravenclaw? I…did not expect that. I thought I'd be in Gryffindor for sure."

The girl shrugs. "Well, the Hat probably saw something you didn't. I'm sure that, with time, you'll find yourself to be a perfect fit!"

Fishlegs smiles and nods. "Yeah…maybe…I'm Fishlegs Ingerman by the way."

The girl replies, "Heather. Just…call me Heather."

Fishlegs smiles wider. "Heather…It's, uh, nice to meet you." he says before stuffing his face with more food.

At the Gryffindor table, Hiccup whispers to Astrid between bites, "So, you think those dragons could come here?"

Astrid replies, "I don't know, and I don't even know if we could be ready should they come, but what I do know is that, no matter the circumstances, this will certainly be a year to remember." Hiccup and Astrid clang water chalices together and take a big glug.

Once the feast was over, all the students made their way to their respective common rooms and dormitories where they unpacked their bags and turned in for the night, excited to get their lessons started.

Thank you for reading this chapter, I do hope you enjoyed it, if you did then please let me know by Following and/or Favoriting this story. Also, let me know what you thought of my sorting for the gang, I feel like I did them all justice based on their personalities.

Take care and I'll see you next time!