Hiccup had to sit at the main table, Gobber at the Gryffindor one with the rest of the Vikings. He felt so out of place, sitting next to Professor Snape and Professor Sprout. The shorter garden teacher made Hiccup feel slightly better. But the potions teacher was grim as ever. Hiccup was sure that he was plotting someone's death.
The room was alive with sound. The breakfast meal over, everyone waited for the names to be called out. Hiccup was just hoping that the people looked like they wouldn't hurt the dragons. He couldn't bear it if they were injured more than they were in the cages. It just made him feel sad.
When the Goblet was transported inside the room, everyone turned silent. Hiccup could almost hear a pin drop. Not that he'd want to, of course. The teachers all stood and Hiccup felt the need to stand as well. When they sat, he almost fell into the chair. He wasn't used to this sort of thing.
Dumbledore and Barty Crouch stepped forwards. Barty spoke about how the chosen would participate in the tournament no matter what objections they had. The Goblet was a permanent thing. What was pulled out stayed. Dumbledore waited for the Ministry member to retake his seat before he watched the flame on the Goblet.
Hiccup noticed that the flame turned into a different colour, a bright blue, before a paper flew out of it. The flame returned to its normal colour. Dumbledore opened the singed paper and called the name out loudly. "Fleur Deleclour of Beauxbaxton."
The young girl stood up and bowed to her fellow friends from school. She headed towards the front and into the directed room. Hiccup didn't think that he had to worry too badly about her. She seemed like the kind of girl who wouldn't want to harm anyone.
The flame changed again and a rougher piece of parchment flew out. Dumbledore didn't seem surprised as he read out the name of the Durmstrung boy. "Viktor Krum." He announced clearly. The guy stood up and high fived his friends. They all beamed at him. Hiccup didn't like this one. He did look like the type to harm the dragon.
Dumbledore grabbed the last piece and read out the Hogwarts student. "Cedric Diggory." He read. The Hufflepuff beamed and stood. He seemed too much of a pretty boy to really try to fight the dragons, Hiccup thought. That was a safe one.
The three champions headed towards their designated area for speaking to. The flame changed again and it shocked everyone, including Dumbledore. Hiccup turned his head slightly to look at the teachers. Only one of them looked slightly less shocked than the others. Professor Moody, Hiccup thought his name was. He seemed slightly smug.
"Harry Potter?" Dumbledore read out quietly, shocked. Harry stood up shakily and walked forwards. Hiccup knew that this boy hadn't put his name in the Goblet. He wasn't stupid enough. He wouldn't have risked his life like this. There was something behind it. Dumbledore seemed shocked and angry. Hiccup didn't like it.
The school hall was quiet as Harry headed into the room. Hiccup followed as all the teachers followed Dumbledore to talk to Harry. How could he have entered himself into the competition? It just wasn't possible. Hiccup knew the rules were quite clear. Three champions. Not four. Never four. So why? Why? And why Harry? What was so special about that boy?
Hiccup heard Dumbledore demand an answer out of the boy. Harry hadn't entered his name into the Goblet. Hiccup didn't need to hear Harry's answer to know that he hadn't. It was obvious. What did the boy get out of doing such a tournament, anyway? Apart from nearly dying, not much.
The two other headmasters were extremely unhappy by the new entry from Hogwarts. How could Dumbledore let the student enter? But the rules were quite clear. Harry was now an official champion for the Tri Wizard Tournament. Hiccup felt bad for the boy.
Dumbledore sighed angrily and looked over to Hiccup. He pulled him aside whilst Professor Moody spoke to Harry and the other members. It was about something which had to have been really powerful to hoodwink the Goblet. Of course, Hiccup began to wonder how that guy would have known that, under such short circumstances.
Hiccup waited for Dumbledore to speak. And when he did, it was hushed and Hiccup barely heard it. "You are going to train those dragons so that nothing happens to Harry." He warned.
The Viking shrugged. "It's not up to me." He exclaimed, but it was only light. He didn't want anything to happen to Harry almost as much as he didn't want anything to happen to the dragons. Possibly more. But he wasn't going to let Dumbledore know of this.
Dumbledore nodded his head and frowned. "Well, you'd better hope that it is. Because if something happens to Harry in this first task, it's on you." He warned in a deadly serious voice.
Hiccup held his hands up and rolled his eyes. "Right. Because clearly letting some Vikings here was the smartest thing to do. You know, we are Vikings? We can't be trusted." He smirked. This was a silly game and he knew it, but he wasn't going to let the headmaster get away with telling the chiefs son what to do.
Dumbledore scowled. "You'd better hope on the lives of those dragons that you can."
Hiccup lost his smirk and scowled deeper than the headmaster. "You know, if you want me to get the dragons to attack you, all you had to do was ask." And without waiting for a reply, he left. He wasn't going to let the headmaster say anything else. He'd said enough. Threatening dragons was one sure fire way to get Hiccup to hate you. And Hiccup hated almost no one.
The great hall was empty, apart from Hiccup's friends. They were all still eating and talking about the tournament. Hiccup walked towards them and sat down, ready for something to eat. He put some fish onto a plate for the dragon back in the tower.
Astrid noticed Hiccup's scowl and knew that something had gone wrong. Of course. "What happened this time?" she asked, as though bored of Dumbledore's antics.
Hiccup frowned as he ate some bread. "Well, we have to make sure that the dragons are all extremely well behaved. If something happens to Harry the dragons all die. How is that fair? They're dragons. If you didn't want them to harm anyone, you should have prepared a different task!" he rambled.
The Vikings all sighed. Astrid looked down at the food. "Well, I suppose we should get started soon."
Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. But we aren't bringing our own dragons there yet. I don't want the keepers to see them." He explained.
Everyone nodded and they finished their food quickly. Hiccup went up the stairs and told his Vikings that he would meet them in the forest. He took the fish to Toothless, who hurriedly ate them and grumbled in appreciation. Hiccup sighed and hugged the Night Fury sadly.
Toothless mumbled and pushed Hiccup towards the balcony. Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "We can't, bud. Its broad daylight. And I have something that I need to do first." Toothless groaned and shook his head angrily. He didn't like being left alone inside all day. Hiccup knew this, but there wasn't a better solution. "I'm sorry, bud. Truly. Next time you're coming with me though." He promised. Toothless nodded his head and watched Hiccup leave the room.
Hiccup headed back down and towards the Forbidden Forest. The other Vikings were already there, talking to the dragon keepers. Hiccup noticed that Charlie Wesley was having some problems trying to feed the same Monstrous Nightmare. Couldn't they just follow Hiccup's example? The wands weren't helping.
Kingsley and Jeremy were standing with the Vikings, probably giving them instructions. Hiccup walked over to them. Kingsley immediately glared at Hiccup. He shrugged it off. "Where were you? You were supposed to be here five minutes ago." Kingsley snapped.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Oh. I didn't tell you? I'm notorious for being late. And I was with Toothless. You wouldn't like me if I hadn't been there first." He retorted.
Snickers went around the group of Vikings. Astrid punched Hiccup on the shoulder again. She had a habit of doing that and it almost annoyed Hiccup. Almost. The twins and Snotlout all snickered and started imitating what would happen if Hiccup got mad. Yeah, because they were so correct, Hiccup thought dryly.
Kingsley frowned. "I'm sure your pet cat can wait. We've got dragons that you need to help us train."
Astrid smirked but said nothing. The rest of the group, aside Hiccup, fell about laughing. Hiccup rolled his eyes. They were so mature sometimes.
"Oh, don't worry. Toothless will be coming here soon." He shrugged. The Vikings sobered quickly and waited for Hiccup to do something. "But if I am to help with these dragons, they are not to be inside their cadges." He informed.
Kingsley exchanged worried glances with Jeremy. "We can't do that. They will escape. They stay in their respective cages." Kingsley said.
Hiccup sighed and nodded. "Alright. Well, let's get started gang."
Without another word, Hiccup went straight to a dragon which he'd never encounter before. The rest of the Vikings went to the more familiar of the dragon species. Except for Fishlegs, who was always eager? He went to a silky green one. Hiccup's was a thorny brown dragon.
Charlie walked over to Hiccup and stood behind him. He told Hiccup that the dragon was of the Hungarian Horntail. Hiccup didn't much like the name, but he shrugged it off. The dragon snorted and walked furiously around the cage. The confines didn't seem to be worrying him too much as he shot fire straight through the gaps of the cage.
Hiccup clicked his tongue, getting the attention. The dragon clicked his own tongue and imitated Hiccup as he bent his huge horned head to Hiccup's level. Hiccup smiled and stepped forwards. He liked the dragons which imitated the people. They were fun to train, not that he didn't like training Toothless or anything, just that these were his favourites after Toothless.
The dragon snorted, its breath steaming out of his mouth. Hiccup reached forwards, allowing the dragon to step back if it needed to. The dragon's eyes stayed focussed on Hiccup's, making sure that the boy wasn't going to hurt him. He realised that Hiccup wouldn't and allowed him to touch his nose briefly. Hiccup smiled as he pulled his hand back. The dragon was surprised when Hiccup didn't continue to touch him. He smiled and gave him some food. The Horntail ate it speedily, eyeing off Hiccup as though asking for more.
Hiccup looked behind at Charlie, who was shocked. "That's our most dangerous dragon here." He muttered, confused and shocked. Well, all dragons were no match for Hiccup's kind ways. Well, that's what the twins said about him at least. Hiccup didn't mind either.
The young Viking merely shrugged. He had a way with the dragons. He knew that. They listened to him. He looked around to the others. They were having mild troubles with the dragons. Hiccup looked to a black dragon, who was pacing furiously. He was clearly mad. Angry. Hiccup walked over to it. Charlie explained that it was a Chinese Firebalt. Hiccup didn't know what the first word meant, but he liked the second one.
It took a while, but Hiccup went through each dragon which he didn't recognise. There was the Swedish Short Snout, which Fishlegs was next to and the Welsh Green. They were quite cool, but none compared to Toothless. Hopefully the Night fury wouldn't be too mad with Hiccup for leaving him alone and going to see other dangerous dragons.
The keepers all gave the Vikings a huge thankyou and told them that they were looking forwards to working with them soon. Hiccup could tell that they were lying. Of course they were. What dragon keepers wanted to be bested by a few Vikings who were younger than they were? None. Hiccup knew that they were jealous, but they would be more so once they saw the dragons which the Vikings rode.
Hiccup dragged behind his friends. Astrid hung back and started to talk to Hiccup. She could tell that Hiccup wasn't happy about the way the dragon keepers were acting, but there wasn't anything that she could do. Nothing seemed to cheer Hiccup up like Toothless, and she respected that, but she wished that Hiccup would talk to her as well.
"Hey, you know we are here for you, right?" Astrid said quietly.
Hiccup nodded. "I do. And I'm thankful. I am. It's just..." he trailed off sadly, looking into the forest. He didn't have the words and Astrid respected that. Hiccup was thankful that she did, but he didn't feel like talking. That's one of the things he liked about Toothless: he didn't need to talk for the dragon to understand that Hiccup needed comforting. The dragon could just tell.
Astrid sighed. "I know Hiccup. And I believe that you will tell us when you're ready. But you need to understand, we can't help if you don't tell us how."
Hiccup smiled and hugged her. His mind was on Toothless and he couldn't think of how nice the hug actually was. He really did like Astrid - had the biggest crush on her - but his mind was racing with jumbled thoughts on the other dragons and his own. He wanted Toothless to go and see the dragons. Wanted the keepers to see his dragon. For them to realise that he wasn't completely new to this whole thing.
Astrid smiled as well. She liked Hiccup, too much for her own good. She was a strong, independent woman. She wasn't going to just let a guy walk all over her. But she got the sense that Hiccup wouldn't be the type to do so. She knew that he wasn't strong like that. He liked to let people do what they knew felt right.
Hiccup laughed and pushed her off. She blushed when she realised she'd been holding him for longer than need be. The couple spread apart and Hiccup chuckled as she walked back to the rest of the group, embarrassed. He found it funny how she could act like she had and then be all embarrassed. She was a pretty funny girl, but Hiccup loved her none the less. He got the sense that she was strong, and he liked that. He needed someone strong to handle his weaknesses, even when they weren't as dramatic as they used to be.
The group headed to their tower, generally in silence. There were a few moments when the twins would make random comments on how their exercise had been... the one where they blew up all the flags. Yeah, that one. Hiccup had laughed so hard when he'd heard of the outcome. The teachers... they hadn't been too impressed with their flags being blasted into pieces. Toughnut got most of the blame, as usual, with Roughnut playing the innocent one. But she'd been the one to actually aim, after all, she did have the head with the gas. So to speak, but also literally.
Hiccup talked to Astrid once they were back in the tower. They sat down on the couch, looking at the fire, both their dragons sleeping by it. Astrid started to add details in her own miniature copy of the Book of Dragons, except hers was one on the Deadly Nadda. Hiccup figured that they could copy some parts for the dragon keepers here to have, so that they could learn the ways of the Berk trainers. Only enough so they didn't have to cage the dragons, of course.
Fishlegs walked back into the room, followed by the pattering of a Gronkle. Hiccup took one glance at his face and knew that something was troubling him. He hopped up, startling the Night Fury and Nadda on the stone floor, and went over to the emotionally challenged Viking.
Hiccup stood next to Fishlegs, stopping him in his tracks. Meatlug thumped lazily over to where Toothless and Stormfly were, joining their little slumber party. Toothless sent Hiccup a slight glare, one that told him off for waking him up, before falling back to sleep himself.
"Hey Hiccup." Fishlegs said, his cheery smile only half present. Hiccup nodded, gesturing with his arms to explain. He didn't need to say anything, Fishlegs got the picture. "I was just thinking... There were four dragons there... we didn't know what any of them were. How many other dragon species are there that we don't know about?" he wondered curiously.
Hiccup nodded. "I don't know, Fishlegs. Maybe we'll have to look into that." He said thoughtfully. Truthfully, the thought had crossed Hiccup's mind already. But hearing Fishlegs say it confirmed his earlier suspicions. Well, hearing the book worm of the Vikings admit that he didn't know something, it shocked Hiccup, but it intrigued him as well.
Fishlegs beamed. "Well, I'm heading off to the library. I heard from Hermione that there are some pretty great books there." he announced, loud enough for Astrid to hear as well. She shrugged her shoulders, not really caring, and Fishlegs rolled his eyes. Her lack of interest in Fishlegs' hobby was pretty funny.
Hiccup waved Fishlegs out and shook his head, smiling. He had some pretty crazy friends. The book crazy nerdy one, the one who turned to violence, the vein one, and the two who liked to blow everything up. It was pretty silly, but Hiccup liked how all his friends were different, yet they still managed to get along.
Harry kept to his room for most of the day. Dumbledore had given the champions the day off, and that included him. He still couldn't believe it. He didn't know whether he was happy or sad, worried or overjoyed. He was definitely worried. Which of the champions wasn't? Well, maybe not Viktor, he seemed pretty mad to be going against the fourteen year old boy, but it wasn't Harry's fault. He wished that Ron could see that. They'd had a bit of a falling out, just because Ron was jealous.
The school was still alive with activity, classes still running, nothing seemed to have stopped. None of the students seemed to really care that one of the more 'important' of the students had been selected for the tournament. Harry thought that it was incredibly suspicious that he was put into it, but he wasn't going to say anything. He didn't have a chance.
Harry walked out of the Gryffindor dorm and almost bumped into someone. He apologised quickly, before looking up at who it was. It was one of the Vikings, Fishlegs. Harry remembered him from the times that he'd met him. Hermione had taken a certain liking to him, apparently he was into books as well.
"Oh, sorry, Harry. I didn't see you there." Fishlegs muttered quickly.
Harry shook his head and shrugged. "That's all fine, Fishlegs. Where are you off to, anyway?" he asked. He wanted to know where they snuck off during the day, it was curious that they were never there when they had classes. They obviously didn't have their own classes... so what was it that they were doing?
Fishlegs looked down and twiddled with his fingers. Whatever he was going to say, Harry could tell that it was embarrassing him. "To the library. Though I admit... I don't know where it is." he said sheepishly.
Harry rolled his eyes and smiled. "I'll show you the way. Come on." He said happily. That would give him something to do. Something to keep his mind off the impending doom. The first task was still at least a month away, but that didn't make Harry any less nervous. He would have to start preparing... but how do you prepare for a task you haven't got a clue as to what the objective is?
Fishlegs walked closely to Harry as they headed around the numerous corridors, all looking similar, to the library. Harry had spent ages roaming the halls with his invisibility cloak, not that he told anyone, and knew most pathways and secret ones. Of course, having a map which provided such things made it that much easier.
Harry couldn't help it, after a while of walking with the Viking, his mind instantly wandered over to Hiccup. He was an odd character, full of spirit, yet not showing much, hiding himself away to the world. Harry could tell that it was only his friends which really knew him, and maybe not even them. Hiccup was just a strange one, one in which Harry didn't know if he liked or not. Of course, he liked Hiccup, as a person, but he didn't know whether he liked him as a friend. Did Hiccup even want friends?
Fishlegs started muttering to himself in Norse and Harry found himself curious. Who wouldn't? Learning a new language, or just hearing it, could be pretty exciting. He found himself speaking up, making Fishlegs snap his head towards him and blush slightly.
"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry Harry." Fishlegs hurriedly said, but Harry could tell that something was bothering him. It was just a matter of what.
Harry nodded slowly, his eyes looking at a painting in front of them. "I wasn't. I was just curious." Harry said lightly. He wanted to have a conversation. Something which could take his mind off everything. The tournament, the Vikings, Voldemort. There were so many things which could go wrong and that most likely would go wrong...
Fishlegs rolled his eyes and smiled. "Well, you wouldn't understand anyway. It has to do with our friends." He explained, his tone implying something which only they would understand.
Harry wondered what they were hiding. Fishlegs was in on it, that much was obvious. Maybe all Hermione needed to do was to talk to Fishlegs... he seemed the gullible type, one to talk under stressful situations. Not that that was a good trait to have, but Fishlegs seemed to have it.
The rest of the walk was silent. Harry's mind wandered over several things, all ending back with the numerous questions that he had for the Vikings. Namely one of them, of course, being Hiccup. He was so small, yet he seemed strong. There was just something about him that Harry admired. The way that he stood up to Malfoy was pretty cool, however worried he might have been for the small boy. Hiccup couldn't have been much older than Harry, yet Harry got the sense that he'd already been through more than a fair share of fights, maybe seen some deaths.
After a while, they reached the library. Fishlegs thanked Harry and headed inside, mumbling to himself happily in his own language. Harry chuckled to himself and strolled back to the dormitory. On his way, he changed his mind, as young boys generally do. He headed into the courtyard, near the entrance of the school, and sat by one of the benches on the stone floor, leaning against the pillars.
Harry looked up at the numerous turrets surrounding the school, the Gryffindor tower being amongst them. He wondered what the Vikings were doing during the school hours. Surely, they would tell the school students eventually, but Harry didn't want to have to wait for the information. He wanted to know now... but how would he? He couldn't very well just ask them what they were doing here at Hogwarts. They might be doing something for the tournament – undoubtedly – and couldn't tell Harry because he was one of the four champions.
That made Harry's thoughts stutter to a halt. He was one of the champions. Not only would he have the chance of a lifetime to compete, he was with three other people. His chances were pretty slim at winning, let alone surviving. Hopefully the challenges wouldn't be too hard.
Harry sighed as he looked up to the bright blue sky. There weren't very many clouds dotted along them, but there were a few over different parts of the school. Harry blinked as he saw a black shape dart quickly through the sky, sure that he was imagining things. He heard a whistling sound as it came back and he knew he wasn't dreaming. Harry stood up and tried to catch another glimpse of the black creature, but it was too late, it was gone. Harry grumbled as he sat back down on the stone floor.
With his mind creating worst case scenarios, Harry almost missed the shape flying back over the school. Did Dumbledore know that there was something black in the school? A huge shape, creature was inside the protective boundaries. Surely Dumbledore would have known that. But, nothing came to stop the black creature. It seemed to circle the Gryffindor Turret before disappearing around the side. Harry rolled his eyes. Now he knew he was seeing things. His thoughts were focussing on the Vikings so much that he was imagining them having creatures, massive black ones. That just wouldn't happen. Even the wizards wouldn't see that sort of thing every day.
Harry's mind went to Voldemort. Maybe the Vikings weren't here solely for Dumbledore. Maybe they were also here because of Voldemort. Maybe they were working for him, to somehow manage to bring him back to his former self. Harry paled at that thought. But Hiccup didn't seem like the type to do such a thing. He didn't look like the sort of boy who could kill anything. He was just a twig, no muscle and no weight. He was short, but he was also pretty cute, in the sense where he was small.
Standing up, Harry decided to go back to the dorm. It was almost lunchtime and he needed to put his robes back on. He couldn't go for lunch without them on, it was against school policy. The only reason he'd been allowed to take them off was to show that he wasn't supposed to be in class. That rarely happened anyway.
On his way to the tower, Harry ran into someone. They were still outside, in the courtyard – Harry hadn't walked very far. Harry glanced at the person as he apologised, only slightly shocked to see that it was Hiccup. He looked far more shocked than Harry did, but he covered it up quickly, making Harry wonder.
"Oh, hey Hiccup." Harry said, smiling fondly.
Hiccup waved slightly. He looked awkward, slightly shorter than Harry. "You were out here this whole time?" he asked, slightly nervous.
Harry shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Well, I don't have to go to class today. Privileges and such of being a champion."
At the mention of champions, Hiccup scowled briefly, before smiling and nodding, as though nothing was wrong. Harry knew that something was wrong now. "Oh. Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat... I have somewhere I need to be." He said slowly.
Harry nodded and watched the one legged boy limp slightly away and out of the school. Harry was about to turn and go back to the tower when he saw Hiccup stop. The Viking looked directly up at the Gryffindor tower, before shaking his head and walking away. Whatever that was, Harry was sure that it wasn't a bad thing. It couldn't. Hiccup didn't seem like the type to be mean.
Shaking his head, Harry speedily headed towards the tower. Things were getting a bit too strange for his liking. He wanted to know all about the Vikings, but at the same time, he respected their privacy. He couldn't just ask them why there was a huge black shape in their part of the tower.
The classes ended just as Harry reached the tower. He quickly changed into his robes and then headed to the hall, awaiting the arrival of his two friends. When Ron just walked straight past Harry, he sighed. Of course he would be like that. It wasn't his fault he'd been entered in the competition. He'd been entered by someone else for some reason or another. But Harry just couldn't tell Ron, he'd never believe his own best friend. What did that tell him about his friends? He hoped that Hermione wasn't too mad either. They had had a bit of a fight before.
Hermione joined Harry and smiled. She sat next to Hiccup and Harry, with Ginny Weasley on the other side. They'd become pretty good friends recently. Harry wondered what it was about Ginny, but then, she was pretty cute. And she was only a year younger than they were...
Hiccup started to talk to his own friends, so Harry decided that now wasn't the time for answers. He turned to Hermione, who looked like she wanted to ask something. Harry sighed and gave her the pointed glance that told her to share.
"I was over hearing something in the courtyard this morning... it was about you being one of the champions." She whispered to Harry.
He sighed and nodded his head slowly. "I figured something like this would come up eventually." He admitted. It was more to himself than to others, but he still felt the need to say it.
Hermione nodded and smiled sadly. She gave Harry a comforting look and put her hand on his shoulder. "Harry, you're a great wizard. You'll be fine in the Tasks." Harry noticed that Hiccup snapped his head up at the mention of the Task, but didn't look over.
Harry sighed again, this time deeper. "I know that you think that... but, Hermione, I don't know if I can. I can't use many spells and the Tasks are going to be extremely difficult." Harry noticed Hiccup's heavy sigh, which had nothing to do with their own conversation.
Ron turned in his seat, three people away from Harry, and called across to him. "Hey, Harry, how's it feel to be a Champion?" it was angry and Harry decided it was best to just say nothing.
Hermione sent Ron a glare before snapping, "Leave him out of it, Ron."
Ron laughed and turned back to his twin brothers. Harry sighed and looked down, playing with his food. He didn't particularly feel like eating anything. He was too nervous, and the first Task wasn't for at least a month. That meant that he could get very skinny during that month. He needed to do something to calm those nerves.
A new voice joined the conversation, shocking Harry to no extent. "Don't listen to him, Harry. I'm sure that you'll do fine." Hiccup said.
Harry snapped his head towards the young Viking, catching his comforting smile. Harry had to smile back. How could he not, when it was such an irresistible smile to resist. Hermione nudged Harry briefly and she laughed. Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Thanks, Hiccup. But I don't know. I don't even know what the first task is, let alone how I can prepare for it."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly. "Yeah, well. You won't need much, I can assure you on that." Then he looked to his friends for a moment. Astrid gave him the go ahead look and he nodded to her. "You know what always calms my nerves down? Going for a fly." And then he turned back to his friends, leaving Harry wondering what the heck he was talking about.
Lunch ended and Harry sighed. Maybe Hiccup had a point though. Being on his broomstick in the air always cheered him up. It was a shame that the Quidditch cup couldn't be held this year. Stupid Tri Wizard Tournament. He still couldn't believe that he had somehow entered the tournament.
An idea hit Harry and he decided to head down to see Hagrid. He was one of his oldest friends, the one who had told Harry of the existence of wizards, taken him away from his horrible family in the Muggle world. Hagrid had a thing for strange magical creatures, dragons and screwts to name a couple of the more dangerous ones, but he was still a pretty cool friend.
Harry stalked away from Ron, who barely got the chance to glare at him. He started to cheer up as he headed towards the path down to Hagrid's hut. It was near the edge of the forbidden forest, making it easier for him to go about his jobs inside it. And it also helped because Hagrid himself wasn't allowed to actually do magic. That was for the wizards who weren't expelled. But that was a story for another time.
The hut had a plume of smoke rising from the chimney steadily, informing Harry that Hagrid was in fact home. He knocked on the wooden door and heard the sounds of a heavy man walking towards it. He waved to Hagrid as he opened the door and engulfed Harry into a tight hug.
"Harry, m'boy!" Hagrid greeted the wizard.
Harry laughed and hugged him back, before getting put back onto his own feet. "Hello Hagrid. How's things?" he asked, genuinely interested. He loved to learn about his life, if only because of how dangerous it could be. He remembered how he'd once been given a dragon egg... that hadn't ended too well. The little Norwegian Ridgeback had grown too quickly to keep up with Hagrid, and the ministry had been notified, the little dragon had been taken away and Hagrid had never really been the same since. He'd been crazier, going after even more deadly creatures.
Hagrid laughed and headed back inside. "I'm pretty good. I hear you've been entered into the tournament?" Hagrid asked, even though he knew the answer. Everyone in school did. Everyone in the wizarding world knew that Harry was entered as one the four champions. Besides, Hagrid had been there to witness the names being pulled out of the goblet.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I know. I don't even know... what am I supposed to do?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly. He was nervous... the task was ages away, yet he knew nothing of what he could do to prepare for it, to help his chances of surviving through it.
Hagrid nodded slowly. "Harry, between you and me, I don't think that you will need to do much. There's something in action to... help..." he drawled.
Harry gave him a questioning glance. It told him to spill. But Hagrid held firm... for once. Harry had to admit, he was quite proud of Hagrid for not spilling everything. He usually did.
The door opened and Harry turned his head. He was shocked to see two Vikings standing at the door. It was Hiccup and Astrid, they were both standing there as though they owned the place. Well, fair enough, seeing as they were here on some sort of business, but not from Hagrid. What were they here for, anyway?
"Ah, Hiccup. What a pleasure it is to see you again." Hagrid greeted calmly, although it was excited which wasn't unusual for Hagrid.
Hiccup beamed and stepped into the room, his metal leg barley missing the step on the door. Astrid followed behind him and they sat down in front of the fire. Hagrid gave them something to drink as they sat.
"What brings you lot here today?" Hagrid asked cheerfully, unaware of how tense the room actually was. Harry could feel it, the feeling that he shouldn't be there. The feeling that Hiccup didn't want him there. That hurt more than he thought that it would.
Hiccup suddenly decided to smile. "We were just coming to see how you were doing. We didn't see you earlier and thought that something might be up. Charlie didn't think that you would deliberately miss that." He replied cheerfully. Astrid gave the Viking a scornful look before looking at Hagrid too.
Hagrid looked away for a moment, his eyes sort of sad. "Something came up. But I won't miss it again... I couldn't." he said forcefully, his accent making it difficult for Harry to understand, as per usual. The Vikings didn't seem to have any difficulties with it, of course, being so similar to their own.
Hiccup nodded happily. "Of course. Tomorrow we're going to be bringing more though." He said, giving Hagrid the knowing look. This made Harry angry. They were obviously leaving him in the dark. He noticed Hiccup sending him a sly glance, one that told him to ask later. So the Viking knew. He knew. Harry didn't know whether to be happy or not... he'd have to tell Hermione.
At this, Hagrid's head perked up and he beamed, one of the happiest that Harry had seen him in a long time. "Really? Oh, I'll be there! Oh, this is going to be great!" he cheered happily. Harry rolled his eyes at his giant friend and leant back against his chair.
Hiccup chuckled softly and glanced at Harry. "He's been waiting to meet our friends for quite some time now." He chuckled.
Astrid elbowed Hiccup in the ribs and he breathed heavily. Harry hoped that he was alright, not knowing how much pain tolerance the small Viking could have. Surely more than Harry himself, but he couldn't be sure. Hiccup glared at Astrid as she smirked down at his cramped position. She sent him a knowing glance though, and Harry wondered what Hiccup had done wrong.
"Will we be meeting your friends?" Harry asked.
Astrid smirked and sent Hiccup the world famous you got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out look. Hiccup sighed and looked back up at Harry. "Well, yeah. I guess... probably later though. I wouldn't want them to scare you..." he said, making Harry wonder how bad their friends could be that they were hiding them from the Slytherin.
Harry decided that it was time to head back. He stood up and thanked Hagrid for letting him stay. Hiccup waved good bye, with Astrid barely glancing up from her position staring at the fire. Harry rolled his eyes as he headed out the door and back to the castle.
As he was walking, Harry glanced up at the turrets of the school. A habit he found himself doing frequently recently. As he moved his eyes over the Gryffindor turret, he could have sworn that he saw a black thing look in his direction and then head inside... but his eye sight wasn't that great, hence the glasses. He sighed, shook his head, and focussed his mind on the tasks ahead. Like not dying.
Hiccup couldn't stop laughing. Astrid rolled her eyes and told him to shut up or she'd... well, she'd give him a good punch. Toothless growled at her threateningly and she held her hands up, but the smirk told all of them that she didn't' really care. Which was fair enough...
The twins walked into the common room and seemed quite pleased with themselves. Hiccup stopped laughing for a moment to ask what they were so happy about. They instantly gave another reason for the one legged Viking to resume laughing.
"We were hanging out with that Ron boy's brothers." Toughnut explained.
Roughnut snickered. "Yeah. They're totally like us."
"But they make people sick."
"Instead of blowing them up." Roughnut finished.
Hiccup clutched his stomach as he wiped a tear from his eyes. Astrid rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder. He blinked rapidly and glared up at her. She gave him an innocent look, received by a sharp growl from the Night Fury. She didn't even bother to apologise. Hiccup glared at her.
Fishlegs entered the room with a serious face. Hiccup knew that he'd been at the library again. He seemed to be there a lot recently. "I just saw Harry. He's looking for you, Hiccup."
Hiccup chuckled to himself, his earlier laughter rising back to the surface. A glare from Astrid and a glance from Toothless quickly shut him up. "Oh. Yeah. I kind of... maybe... let him know a bit about our dragons..." he said slowly.
Fishlegs dropped the books that he was holding in shock. "You did what?!" he asked, shocked. Of all the people, Hiccup wouldn't be the one to betray their trust. That was the twins or Snotlout's job.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. Toothless stood in front of him protectively and grumbled at the other teens in the room. "Not really. I just let him know that we were definitely hiding something. He doesn't know anything other than that. And besides... he's not really smart enough to figure out about the dragons." He remarked, defending his honour.
Fishlegs nodded and calmed down, reaching down to pick up his books. "That's better. Anyway, I was looking for some facts on their dragons... you'll never guess what, Hiccup."
"What?" he asked, slightly curious?
"They have some history on Berk. More to the point, they have history on our dragon killing ways." He said the last part quietly so that the dragons in the room wouldn't get upset. Toothless didn't mind, because his rider had never killed a dragon. Couldn't, he was too small. Toothless didn't know whether to be happy or not about it. But the other dragons were sensitive.
Hiccup nodded slowly. "What's it say, Fishlegs?"
He rolled his eyes. "Not much, actually. Just that we killed them. In fact, it says nothing about how we don't any more, which I find strange..."
Hiccup nodded, catching on. "How did Dumbledore know that we don't kill them anymore?"