Chapter Two: Sorting

The platform was crowded with people in a hurry to get nowhere.

The carriage being pushed by the small boy was not steady enough by his sweaty shaky hands. The auburn hair fell over his eyes, and his freckles were hidden in the blush of his cheeks. Not for self-embarrassment, but nobody around would stop staring the large hulking man behind him. Stoick would not stop complaining about how the muggle transportation was unpractical, how the people were too fragile these days or how much he wished he never left Berk that morning. Not that he despised Hiccup (his wife just a few steps ahead of him would never let him get those thoughts loose). But today was First of September. Hiccup's first time at Platform Nine and Three-quarters.

Hiccup's thoughts were wandering around his… peers back home, some of which were also going to their first year at Hogwarts, to all of his found pets back on the woods behind his house, and especially if that actually meant a new beginning as he was promised.

He always knew he had magical blood. Ever since he could remember, some unexplained disaster would happen near him whenever he tried to do something unusually… odd. Peculiar – his mother would say, - disastrous – his father would say. But that was the way Hiccup was. Different. Something unexpected as his own name indicated.

"…Just think about it, son, when you get sorted into Gryffindor." Hiccup could almost feel that dreamful look in his father's expression.

"Stoick." Valka hissed beneath her breath. "What did we talk about pressure?"

"Oh that's right, I'm sorry luv'," Stoick swallowed his own voice, searching for better words to say. "Doesn't matter which house you end up, of course I'd luv' it if you ended up at Gryffindor…" Valka hissed again. "But Hufflepuf wouldn't be so bad…"

"Oh come on dad, seriously?" Hiccup complained as he rolled his eyes to his dad's cluelessness.

"Or even Slytherin!" He tried to correct himself. "Just not Ravenclaw, these folks were so weird…" Valka hissed again, this time making sure of sending an incredulous glance at her husband direction. "Oh please, luv', those 'goody-two-shoes' dressed in blue and talking nonsense all the time, they are just odd."

"It doesn't matter where you end up, sweetie, your father and I will be proud for you just as much." She said finally.

Yeah, right, Hiccup thought. His dad was the Quidditch team captain at Gryffindor, all the medals, all the honour (and legacy), and so did his mother. Of course that the similarity between Hiccup and Stoick was non-existent. While Stoick was all muscles and manliness strength, Hiccup was a stick with a mouth and a sharp brain.

"Just go for it… son." Stoick tried to instruct him, but Hiccup was already half-way into the wall, crossing the magical boundary and entering platform 9/5. Stoick smiled proudly for a moment.

That kind of craziness did not really scare Hiccup, things like running into magical things, doing things his own way (messy, but definitely intuitive) or just breaking the rules sometimes. Which, sadly enough was one of the reasons why Stoick was so strongly sure he'd end up at Gryffindor.

The platform was crowded with people, but instead of boring suits and rushed appointments, they wore bright coloured robes, they all covered in thick white steam coming from the Hogwarts Express. Hundreds of carriages with owls, bags and things Hiccup still hadn't seen his entire life, all of it blooming with colour and magic.

"Mom," He whispered, but he knew she would hear. "What if I am not sorted into Gryffindor?" He asked what was actually consuming his mind that entire month.

His mom was a gentle witch; she bent down to him, her hand brushed his cheeks once.

"Then you will find out something wonderful about yourself." She told him. "Don't let your father's words reach you, just let things happen naturally. You can get surprised."

Hiccup gasped. "But what if I am sorted, let's say, into Ravenclaw?"

Deep down, he knew that could happen. Hiccup was smart, that was for sure. But also brave. And ambitious and kind. But Gryffindor and Ravenclaw still stood out the most.

"Then Ravenclaw will have the bravest wizard it has ever know, just as much as Gryffindor would have one of its brightest students."

To that, Hiccup actually felt a bit relieved. His mom would know what to say whenever he needed to.

"Not as bright as the Minister." He said. His mom simply smiled, kissing his cheeks once before the train made a loud sound, warning the students to finally get into the train.

He gave his mom a long hug; his dad an awkward one, and after all the 'yes, I'll write you', 'no, I did not forget it', Hiccup Haddock climbed into the Hogwarts express.

"He is going to be fine." Valka reassured her proud husband.

Stoick was still waving, even though the train had gone too far for Hiccup to see.

"I really hope so." He planted a soft kiss on her forehead.


Hiccup wandered through the wagons, his heavy trunk being dragged behind him as the older teens laughed and giggled around, filling the compartments one by one. That fear started to rise on him again, what if nobody wanted to sit next to him? What if he had to stand up all the way to Hogwarts? Would he ever make friends once he got to the school?

Eventually, after a few more minutes marching through the train, he reached an empty compartment. He preferred it that way. Whenever he would try to get in a conversation with someone, he would find his way to stumble at his words, stutter and choke out incomprehensible things. He would rather be left alone.

After trying (key work try) to lift his trunk to the wooden support above his head, he finally sank on the seat. He stared at the trees outside through the window. He did not know where he was going, but he hoped it was better than the place he was leaving behind. On his backpack, he found his old books (the ones he insisted on not putting into his trunk).

It passed half an hour into his old heavy books when the door to his compartment slid open, and before he could even acknowledge it, a boy with spiky white hair slipped into his compartment, shutting the door behind him, then jumping over his trunk and bent down beneath it, concealing himself completely near Hiccup's legs.

Yes, Hiccup's trunk was that big.

"Excuse me." Hiccup stuttered a bit at the shock.

"Shush." The boy said, and he could not see his face. "I am not here."

And just as he finished saying it, a group of third years walked through the halls, stumbling on their steps as they crashed into one another. Of the boys, the tallest of them, lifted his wand, waving it once before the compartment door slid back open.

"Oi', did you see a white haired guy running around here?"

Hiccup's stomach sank, and he gulped before he felt cold sly fingers holding the base of his leg. Immediately, he remembered all the times someone that were not his parents ever touched him, nearly always to bully him somehow. He still had a faint bruise from the last time he got beat up. But those fingers did not feel like that. He quickly shook his head no.

"I think I heard steps running ahead on the corridor." He lied. Hiccup was good at lying.

The boy nodded at him, waving his head once before disappearing with his friends. After they were gone, the boy behind his trunk lifted his head gingerly, then rising to his feet, taking careful steps towards the door before he shut it back, locking it.

"Thank you." He said. He had a playful but alert tone on his voice, mischief clearly distinguishable.

"What did you do to those guys?" Hiccup finally found back his voice.

The boy smirked once.

"That kid Hopper was making everybody sick already with that stupid girlfriend of his. Like, bloody hell, they simply wouldn't stop snogging around even when everybody was looking at them." The boy said all of that very quickly, but that glint of mischief never left his voice. His hands dared forwards to the curtains that covered the door, closing them. "I guess that'll do the trick. Need some help with that trunk, by the way?"

Hiccup took his time to realize that his enormous trunk was still occupying half the room in that compartment. He waved his head, setting his book aside.

"Yes, please." He said, already standing up to help the boy to grab his trunk.

When he stood up, he realized that the other boy could not be much older than him. Even though he was nearly a foot taller. They helped each other stuffing the trunk in its place, almost letting it drop at Hiccup's head.

"Thank you." The brown haired boy asked.

"You're welcome." He said with a kind smile, right before offering his hand to shake. "I'm Jack, by the way. Jackson Overland."

Hiccup took his hand, his grip much lighter than Jack's.

"My name is Hiccup," He let his voice die before the name could be heard, though.

"I beg your pardon?" Jack asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"It's Hiccup…" However, the name still sounded muffled.

"You should try speaking it to the outside," Jack actually smiled. Hiccup only blushed.

"Name's Hiccup." He said it a bit too fast, but he would not say it again. Jack's eyes went wide for a while, before his mouth shut in a tight line. "You can laugh, not going to blame you."

But Hiccup's tone was clearly hurt, and Jack noticed it. But he knew that it wasn't Jack that was upsetting him. And immediately the laughter was gone, leaving a caring tone instead.

"Hiccup." He repeated. "It is…"

"Stupid." Hiccup finished it for him.

"I would say different." Jack corrected. "Much more different than Jack, if you think about it."

It was Hiccup's turn to grin.


The great hall was shining with the candles that floated ten feet above the students. Even though Hiccup had heard of it a hundred times before, it still was amazingly beautiful, the way the sky mixed up with the roof into a wonderful mess of stars, galaxies and architecture.

All the first years gathered in front of the farthest table in the Hall, where a tall witch with green robes and a pointy hat held a roll of parchment in her hands. The Sorting Hat right behind her, still asleep before he had to sing his annual poetry.

Jack stood next to Hiccup all the way until there, both of chatting excitedly about random subjects. None of them mentioned their families though. Moreover, Jack, just like Hiccup, had absolutely no idea which house he was going. However, unlike Hiccup, he did not care.

Hiccup's mind was wandering around the houses when he finally realised that many students had been sorted into their houses. Astrid Hofferson made it to Gryffindor, along with another two of his village. Steven Jorgenson was sent to Slytherin. Only when the name Hiccup Horrendous Haddock echoed through the walls, and a deadly silence made its presence, that he gulped in fear.

He looked for Jack only once, fearing for recognition to his name, or anything, but found only an encouraging grin directed to him. But as he stepped forwards, he heard the whispers.

"Horrendous? Stoick's son?"

"He doesn't look like him at all."

"Hiccup? What the hell of name is that?" Laughter was heard around the Hall.

Hiccup sank in the seat, the sorting hat being gingerly put on his head.

'A Haddock?' A small voice echoed inside the darkness of the hat. 'I had a few of you. What is inside this head of yours? I see bravery, oh yes. And a huge tendency for witness too. Ambition? Clearly lots of it, and nothing short of fairness, but now, where do I put you?'

Hiccup's mind flooded with a million thoughts. They all leaded back to Stoick's words.

'Oh, so you have a legacy here, don't you boy?' The voice said. 'Are you going to keep up living your father's dream or start to live your own life? In this case, I have no doubt in my mind when I send you to-'

"RAVENCLAW!"


A deadly silence filled the Hall as Stoick's nightmare became true.

"Ravenclaw?" The voices echoed through the Great Hall when the students took in what had just happened. A Haddock that was not sent to Gryffindor.

"It would have surprised me if he was sent to it. He's so small!"

"He looks like a toothpick!"

"He really is a Haddock, but only the fishbone of it." Laughter followed.

Hiccup was already sinking among his new peers from Ravenclaw when Jack's name was heard. If not proudly enough, the name Gryffindor roared across the Hall. Jack's eyes met Hiccup's one last time before he disappeared into his new house.

Hiccup's only coherent thought was "You are screwed now."