Disclaimer: I do not own any of the properties of JK Rowling's Harry Potter nor Dreamwork's How To Train Your Dragon. I am merely playing in their sandboxes yet any new spells or items are created by me.

Here it is. The moment you've been waiting for.

Hiccup wakes up.

Enjoy.

Chapter 7: That Wizard, Realizing Prt. 1

He was awake.

Well, he wasn't really awake. He eyes were closed so all he could see was darkness. But he was conscious that he was sure of. Was he dead? He was sure of that, until a wave of pain washed over him; every bone, every muscle in his body seemed to groan and voice their discomfort to him. The pain overwhelmed him slightly, causing him to grimace (which showed only slightly on his face). However, after a moment, the pain ebbed away, leaving Hiccup with a groan that got caught in his throat and was stifled, so that only the smallest groan escaped.

Hiccup then knew that he was alive but certainly not well. That was clear as a second wave of pain engulfed his entire body; on the other hand, the pain was much more bearable this time. He tried to prise his eyes open but he couldn't; he felt as if his eyelids were stuck together. Furthermore, the air stung his momentarily exposed sliver of his eyes and the light harassed his eyes as they had been accustomed to the gloom.

Hiccup attempted to remember the events that preceded his blackout but nothing came out; his short-term memory was foggy and incoherent and he couldn't recall anything. Only the most basic things came to his mind: his name was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, a really great name to have; he was a Hairy Hooligan, one of the inhabitants of the Isle of Berk; he was friends with a Night Fury, whom he named Toothless...

Toothless...

The first friend that Hiccup ever had, who (ironically) was not only one of the most deadly and dangerous species of dragon to ever walk the earth, but his kind were enemies with the people of Berk. It was only with Toothless that Hiccup could actually be himself, not pretend or try to be someone else that he wasn't. He felt that his friend was even more of a family to him than his father ever was.

His father...

Hiccup knew that his father was Stoick the Vast; yet, Gobber felt more of a father to him than his own father ever did. His father always viewed him as a disappointment and a failure of a son and Heir, even more so when he discovered his connection with Toothless. He must have been a disgrace and a humiliation to him, his village and his ancestry. Or was he? The last time he saw him, there was not disdain nor disappointment in his eyes when they looked at him; they were replaced with regret, shame yet most of all pride as he looked at his son flying towards Astrid and the other teens.

Astrid...

Did Astrid like him? It would seem unlikely when you compared him to Snotlout, a muscle beefcake. However, the only form of affection she ever gave him was a few scowls and an occasional punch. Yes, he too was also punched, however, right after that, Astrid gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. Moreover, as they were flying through the night sky on Toothless, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder, completely relaxed and in silent awe and wonder.

As far as he knew, he was the only one – besides her own mother and father – to receive a hug from her, much less a kiss of any kind from her. How would Astrid react when she found out he woke up? Probably, she'd punch him first before giving him a hug. Maybe, just maybe, she could give a small kiss. No, probably not. The odds of that are pretty low but it is nice to dream.

The monster, the true enemy of Berk and even the enemy of the dragons. It was the reason why there was conflict and death between. It was funny, even ironic, that he (the Hiccup of the Berk, the one who refused to kill dragons) killed the largest one ever. He beat the Queen, not the brute strength and brawn, but with speed of hand and The death of this monster would never have been possible for the Vikings of Berk to accomplish. He just hoped that his people and the other teenagers were safe.

How would the rest of the village treat though? Would they treat him like a hero, the Viking who saved them from certain death before the Queen? Or would they still treat him with disgust, scorn and contempt? Would they still see him a failure, a Hiccup and a traitor? Hiccup knew that not all of the warriors on Berk went to the Nest. The younger warriors were left in the village whilst the veteran warriors went on the mission.

What would happen when he woke up?

He just wanted to wake up!

A huff of hot air flew into his face, which was succeeded with an excited and delighted coo. Hiccup had an inking who was responsible for this and as a result, he felt energy flow throughout his body. Hiccup found it difficult to open his eyes, as they had been stuck together for quite a while. However, they finally opened with a flutter and gave Hiccup a blurry and shadowy window to the world. Hiccup blinked a few times before his vision became clear and focused, free of the darkness that haunted him.

Ironically, the first thing he saw was black. Darker than midnight, with emerald eyes shining like precious stones, the familiar and welcome form wriggled in front of him in excitement. A small smile formed on Hiccup's face as the Night Fury's wide and pointed head nuzzled against his face affectionately. "Hey Toothless," said Hiccup, his voice hoarse and croaky for the lack of use. He raised his hand towards Toothless' face with great effort and gave a small chuckle; in response, Toothless began to nuzzle him with more affection and more frequency.

Hiccup gave another, more audible chuckle; the feeling of Toothless' comforting warmth radiating into his skin and the smooth yet slightly bumpy texture of Toothless' scales against his skin pushed the anxiousness in Hiccup's heart and replaced it with a soothing warmth. Toothless, overjoyed at seeing his human finally awake, started clambering into Hiccup's bed, nudging his head affectionately into Hiccup's. "Hey, I'm happy to see you too, bud," Hiccup said as he chuckled.

Suddenly, Hiccup shot up into a sitting position in his bed and groaned, "AUGH!". Toothless, overjoyed to see Hiccup wake again, had been climbing into his bed and had unintentionally shoved his massive paw into Hiccup's stomach. Huffing, he opened his eyes again, which were screwed shut from the pain, and he gasped as he took in his surroundings for the first time.

The room he was in was massive; the walls, the ceilings and the floor were comprised of multiple stone slabs pieced together to make a semi-smooth surface. The ceiling had open beams and were a deep, rich, dark-brown hue. This room wasn't as bug as the Great Hall on Berk but it was bigger than any of the other rooms found throughout the houses and buildings of Berk. There were windows that looked open at first until Hiccup realised that they were fitted with glass; the windows were positioned behind him and allowed the room to be filled with light from the sun.

There were beds that were identical to the one he was laying in on the wall opposite him and they were in a line parallel to the wall, facing towards him. There were other beds too that were lined on both the sides of his bed. On the far-left side of the room, there was a large set of double doors and on the other far side of the room, there was a small room with a few windows and a door on its side with another door adjacent to the smaller room.

The wall opposite Hiccup had many paintings but they were different to the ones on Berk. On Berk, the majority of the paintings were painted on shields and depicted the previous chiefs and their families; the colours used there were dull and often limited in hues. Yet here the paintings were more advanced: the colours were more varied and much more vibrant, the portraits were painted (from what Hiccup could tell) on some really white parchment, they were framed with intricately carved wooden frames and the pictures captured various landscapes as well as one oddly-clothed lady with such immaculate depth, precision and detail that they look like they moved.

Where they were, Hiccup did not know; what he did know was that this wasn't Berk; the building that he was in was far too advanced for a village the size of Berk. Where were they? Did his Dad bring them here? If so, then why? Were his injuries so bad that they had to bring him here to recover? If so, the people here have done an excellent job, as far as he was concerned. After looking at his surroundings and examining for a while in silence, he said, "I'm... inside a building?".

He looked towards Toothless, who was sitting at the front of his bed, wriggling around and twitching erratically, his patience slowly being crumbled by his growing excitement. Hiccup's eyes widened as realisation hit him; Toothless was inside the same building. "You're inside the same building?!" Hiccup stated, slightly panicked. Toothless had reached his limit and started bounding around, shoving the beds aside without care, creating a sonorous cacophony. "Did the people here allowed you to be here?" asked Hiccup uselessly to Toothless.

So focused Hiccup was on Toothless (rightfully so) that he failed to notice that the woman in the portrait with the silver ringlets had rushed out of her picture and ran through each of the portraits on her side of the room, disappearing through one side of the portrait before appearing on the adjacent side of the adjacent portrait.

The Night Fury bounded back towards Hiccup, staring into his eyes and sniffing as to reassure himself that his human was actually awake. Hiccup attempted to calm his buddy down with his hands raised in a placating manner and by saying, "Okay. Okay," but to no avail. Toothless then turned and walked away from his human; he then jumped up onto the exposed ceiling beams - with Hiccup saying, "Toothless, no, no," - and began scrambling to get a footing on the beam. "Toothless!" chastised Hiccup, prompting him to start scrambling out of his bed, "Aww, come on-"

He stopped cold.

Hiccup's focus shifted from Toothless towards his legs. He couldn't feel anything on his left foot. He thought it was just asleep. When he moved, he felt something touching him just below the knee. He shouldn't have felt something below the knee.

Hiccup had a hope that his leg was just asleep, and his body was just sensing things incorrectly after waking up and moving for the first in a while. His hope slowly faded away as he saw what was concealed underneath the sheets. Toothless dropped down from the ceiling beam silently and looked at his human observantly. When what he saw did not change, he was forced to conclude that this was not a hallucination. With a sigh, he turned his body around, swung his legs off the bed and placed them on the floor.

Correction: leg.

His right leg was healthy (well, as healthy as it can be for remaining immobile for a while): the bare foot had a subtle amount of colour on it, a pale pinkish colour; when it touched the stone floor, it detected the cool surface of the stone slabs; and the toes on his foot wiggled at his command, albeit a bit stiffly.

However, his left foot ended just below his knee. The rest of his leg was replaced with an interesting prosthetic that created a squeak as it pressed against the floor; it was metallic, containing a spring mechanism within the prosthetic and the ending of the prosthesis was comprised of one metal rod looped to mimic the outline of his foot and had a rubbery layer underneath the metal foot.

Toothless moved his head forward to give the prosthetic a sniff before raising his head to face Hiccup's. On the Night Fury's face was an expression that clearly asked Hiccup "Hey, how is it? How are you taking it?". Hiccup responded with an expression that obviously stated "Is this real?". When Toothless gave him a coo, Hiccup inhaled and exhaled deeply as he prepared himself to take his first steps with his prosthetic.

Using the metallic post of the bed to support him as he stood up (which was strange as it was impractical to use metal for bed making), Hiccup managed to stand up whilst leaning heavily on his right foot. Hiccup then took his first step with his left leg. The pressure and pain exerted on Hiccup's stump caused him to stumble for a moment and gasp in pain before he caught himself with his right leg. Hiccup looked at Toothless, who gave his human a look of encouragement.

Hiccup, strengthened by his buddy's look of support, gathered himself with one deep breath, then he took a second step with his left leg. The pressure and pain became too much for Hiccup's leg as it caused his knee to buckle and fall down a yell of pain. Hiccup fell towards the floor only to collide with something else softly as he felt warm, smooth scales instead of hard, cold stone. Hiccup opened his eyes to find Toothless' below him, the latter giving a worried expression that changed into one of relief as Hiccup smiled at his buddy.

Toothless turned around to face the direction where Hiccup was facing; the young boy then wrapped his arm around his surrogate brother's neck and said, "Thanks bud." Thus, both boy and dragon began walking towards the large double doors, with Hiccup's prosthetic creating a squeak with every step. It was slightly difficult for Hiccup to walk, having been immobile for so long and losing his left foot. Nevertheless, with each step, the pain and the weakness in his body was gradually replaced with strength; it also didn't hurt that Hiccup had Toothless by his side, supporting him.

As they approached the doors, Hiccup could catch faint whispers through the wooden doors, however, he couldn't make heads or tails of the conversation; either it was because the doors muffled the sound or that the language was different. If the latter was true, then he was definitely not on Berk. Hiccup decided to open the door, however that meant he had to do it without his arms around Toothless. Both boy and dragon took one look at each other before Hiccup released his grip on Toothless. For a moment, he stood for a moment before took a step forward.

It wasn't as bad as the first two had been but it certainly was still painful enough to cause Hiccup to hiss in pain. It took another two aching steps with his prosthetic before he managed to reach the door; either he had gotten slightly used to the aching pain or the soreness had reduced somewhat. Now, there was the problem of opening the door; Hiccup quickly found out that neither pushing on the door nor pulling on the door knob would open it. He stood there thinking about how to open it when it quickly came to him to twist the door knob.

He was just reaching for it when the door suddenly slammed into him.

Hiccup flew back, attempting to regain his balance but his prosthetic had been caught on Toothless' tail and he fell back, smacking against the floor hard. Winded and with his eyes screwed shut with in agony, Hiccup struggled to get up until a set of hands wrapped around his waist and lifted him up. Hiccup gave a gasp as he was raised up. Warm scales were felt in his left hand and arm as Toothless nudges his head into Hiccup, worried for Hiccup; as Hiccup wrapped his arm around Toothless for support, a foreign voice said, "Are. You. Alright?"

"Yes, I'm-"responded Hiccup but he stopped he had a good look at his helper.

The man in front of him was very, very peculiar. He was much older than the Goethi in his village yet he somehow looked as if he had a lot of youthful energy in the multitude of lines and wrinkles in his face, though his face had an anxious and regretful expression on it. He was tall, almost as tall as his father yet, unlike his father, the old man was very slender, slim and spindly. His hair and beard was even longer than Stoick's, so much so that they were both long enough to be tucked into his belt; they were the colour of silvery-white and when it was accompanied with the man's bizarre, shimmering, sea-blue robes, it made him look as if he wearing waves of the sea on his body. On the man's face were a thinly wired set of goggles or glasses that were shaped into half-moons and behind them were piercing, electric-blue eyes, surveying his form intently.

Hiccup stood in silence, staring at the unusual man until the man broke the silence after he analysed Hiccup by saying, "Are. You. Hurt?" in a very foreign accent.

Hiccup blinked a few times before he responded, "No, not really."

"I'm. Very. Sorry. For. Knocking. You. Over," apologised the old man.

"No, it's fine. It's fine," answered Hiccup.

"Let's. Get. You. To. Your. Bed," said the elderly man.

So, the three of them walked back to Hiccup's bed, with the boy supported by Toothless. Once they were there, Hiccup sat down his bed whilst the old man sat on the bed adjacent to Hiccup's, facing him. Toothless curved his form around the bed and lowered his head upon Hiccup's lap, as a beloved dog would. The elderly then inquired, "Shall. I. Get. You. Something?"

As if to answer his question, Hiccup's stomach growled (or rather roared) so loudly that Hiccup looked at Toothless; when Hiccup saw that Toothless looked smug, he was confused before clarity and embarrassment finally hit him as a second, weaker growl emanated from his stomach. Hiccup wrapped his arms around his waist as his face flushed in colour; he turned his face to see the mild shock on the elder's face transform into amusement and realization.

"I. Fortunately. Brought. Some. Food. With. Me. Do. You. Want. Me. To. Bring. It. For. You?" the elderly man asked shrewdly.

Hiccup, not facing him in mortification, gave him a nod and the ancient man stood and walked out of the room. As he was walking away, Hiccup heard a snigger to his right and saw Toothless with his face fashioned in a jeering manner. "What are you laughing at?" asked Hiccup, causing Toothless to snicker more loudly. "Shut up, you stupid lizard," Hiccup grumbled, though a sliver of a smile was creeping up his lips.

The door opened and in came the ancient man, this pushing a cart in front of him. On top was a tray with legs, on top of which were two dishes, each covered with a silver, domed lid; A silver pitcher and a silver goblet accompanied the tray. "This place must be rich if they used dishes, goblets and utensils made with silver," Hiccup thought to himself. The old man removed the smaller dish from the tray before he placed it on Hiccup's lap; the silver legs stood on the bed, so that Hiccup did not have to balance the tray on his lap (which Hiccup thought was ingenious). The wizened, old man poured water from the pitcher in to the goblet and placed the goblet on the tray. Hiccup said his thanks, after which the man took off the lid.

Inside was a ceramic pot, where the top was covered with a golden-brown, crusty pie crust; along side it was a generous helping of roasted potatoes (perfectly browned and covered with chopped herbs, creating a gorgeous smell) and a side of crisp, leafy greens. Hiccup grabbed the knife and spoon that was given along side the tray and he cut through the crusty lid of the pot; it emitted crackle as the knife pierced it and cut a small circle, which Hiccup fished out of the pot. The crust was more flaky than any pie crust Hiccup had ever seen.

Then Hiccup caught a heavenly waft of the filling inside the pie. It was filled with pieces of chicken, potatoes, peas and carrots, slathered in a delectable light brown sauce. Hiccup had never seen anything like this and was thus a little bit apprehensive as he scooped out some of the filling and put it in his mouth. Light flashed from his eyes as he tasted the rich, savoury, flavourful sauce coating the perfectly cooked, tender, juicy chicken; the carrots gave an earthy sweetness and the peas sent bursts of sweet freshness in his mouth.

The boy then turned his attention to the other food items on his tray: the pie crust was flaky, creating a crunch as Hiccup bit into it, and it tasted so buttery; the potatoes were perfectly and evenly seasoned, and it had a crispy exterior and a fluffy interior; and the leafy greens tasted fresh, crisp and bitter, perfectly cutting though the decadence of the pie. Hiccup wasn't alone in eating with relish.

Toothless was also eating with satisfaction as well, as Dumbledore on unloaded a bucket brimming with fish onto the floor and Toothless pounced on it, gulping down the fish noisily. Both boy and dragon were so enamoured by their food, they paid no attention to each other. Dumbledore watched with satisfaction as Hiccup devoured the food in front of him. He did not shove as much food as his mouth could fit but he took his time eating the food with modulation and quiet enjoyment, savouring every piece and only taking a break to sip his water.

Dumbledore raised his hand and thought of the incantation "coniungero nostris linguis" before flicking his hand with his fingers outstretched towards Hiccup. As Hiccup ate, he felt something whoosh over his eyes, ears, tongue and hands gently. He stopped for a moment before resuming his consumption of his delicious food. Finally, Hiccup leaned back slightly with his hand against his stomach, his hunger completely satiated. A lapping sound was now heard and both men turn to see Toothless had finished eating his basket of fish and was licking his lips.

Hiccup then looked at the wizened, old man and, remembering, said, "Thank you."

"Oh, it's my pleasure," replied the man.

Something was different, Hiccup realized. The man's speech had no accent nor did he have any trouble stringing his words in a sentence. Also, when the man was speaking, it was clearly Norse; however, after paying close attention to the words as they came out of the man's mouth, it was evident that they were in a alternate dialect. Furthermore, when he gave his thanks, Hiccup clearly said it in Norse; yet, a second after it came out of his mouth, it morphed into another dialect. Something strange was definitely happening.

Hiccup looked at the old man. Of all the questions that were firing off like Zippleback explosions in his head, he asked, "Who are you?" "Ah, forgive my discourtesy," apologised the elderly man, "My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am the Head of Hogwarts School. May I ask your name?" Hiccup found it strange that an elderly old man has the head of a school. He wasn't built like the Vikings, but his physique was obviously like Hiccup's. Maybe, he was agile and swift on his feet and probably good with swords, though Hiccup couldn't see the hilt of one on his side. Hiccup, after pondering these things for a moment, answered, "Hiccup. That's my name." "Thank you, Hiccup," thanked Dumbledore.

Hiccup asked, "Why am I here?"

"To be honest," replied Dumbledore, "I, myself, am not sure."

"Was it because I was badly injured?" Hiccup questioned.

"That maybe part of the reason," answered Dumbledore, "but I think there is another reason."

"What is it?" probed Hiccup.

Dumbledore paused for a moment before answering, "You are special."

Hiccup flinched; nobody before had called him special before. They all called him useless.

"How am I?!" asked Hiccup, "I don't have any muscles or strength or any useful talent…"

"But you do," countered Dumbledore, "you really do. Your mere presence here proves that you are special and gifted. Only people who have what you have are able to be here, in this building and the area that surrounds the castle."

The questions inside Hiccup's head exploded had multiple, so much so that he they were mixing and jumbling up together, further exacerbating his confusion. When the confusion simmered down, Hiccup said, with a little bit of sarcasm, "What's my gift then? Being skinny?"

"No, that's not it," replied Dumbledore simply.

Hiccup was a bit surprised that Dumbledore was not at the least troubled at his sarcasm, then focused on qualities that he had. The only two things that he could come up with that he was gifted at was running and inventing. Or intelligence maybe.

"Umm, intelligence?" asked Hiccup, respectfully this time.

Dumbledore's eyes lit up and he pointed his hand at Hiccup as he said, "Close, but that is not it. However, you're right. Intelligence is something that is valued in this school."

"What is it? I have no idea," said Hiccup, curious for the answer. The answers was not he was expecting.

"Magic. It courses though you veins like blood. That is what brought you here to this school."

"Wait, what?! I have magic in me?!" shouted Hiccup, "How?! What is this place?!"

"This place," began Dumbledore, unperturbed by Hiccup's outburst, "is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is a place where young wizards and witches come to learn how to control and use their magic properly."

"Well, I don't have magic coursing in my veins," denied Hiccup.

"Ah, my dear Hiccup. As I have told you, your mere presence proves that you are a wizard," Dumbledore responded.

"How?" questioned Hiccup.

"You see, Hiccup," began Dumbledore, "this place is enchanted so that nobody who does not have magic in them cannot enter these walls nor the area around them."

Comprehension filled Hiccup as the truth finally dawned on him, no matter how hard he tried to dispel it. No, no. It's impossible. How is it possible?

"Hiccup," Dumbledore started as Hiccup's face filled with disbelief.

"You're a wizard."

Coniungero nostris linguis - (connect our languages) Short-term Language Charm.

Intra corpus uideo - (I see inside the body) X-ray Charm

What do you think of Hiccup waking up? Do you think I captured his thoughts and feelings accurately? I kind of feel that his reactions with Dumbledore telling him that he is a wizard is inaccurate. But what do you think?

By the way, many people have been saying which House Hiccup should or could been. However, I will not reveal where I have placed Hiccup when he goes to summer school as there is no point when none of the other students are there.

At the end of the next chapter, I will discuss reasons for where Hiccup should go. Please review this chapter if you have the time and say which House Hiccup should be in and why.

Next Chapter Title: That Wizard, Realizing Prt. 2