They still had a week before the first task, but that still meant that it was getting closer. While Hiccup had some major breakthroughs Razor Neck, the dragon was still edgy and refused to trust Hiccup. It was becoming progressively worse during the day, when he would light the whole forest alight and thump around, but during night he would be perfectly comfortable around the Viking boy.
Hiccup couldn't help but feel bad for Razor Neck: he had plenty of reasons to be angry and weary towards the keepers, yet it made Hiccup feel bad too. He was the one allowing the keepers to keep the dragon in such small confines.
The other Vikings were doing well. So well, in fact, that they were able to take breaks for days at a time. This was one of those days. Hiccup and Toothless were the only ones down at the arena with the dragon and the other Vikings were having a lazy day inside, or possibly flying around the Forbidden Forest. The keepers were sitting in the stands, watching carefully as Hiccup advanced the Horntail.
Razor Neck eyed the boy suspiciously. Hiccup stepped forward cautiously, making sure to watch the wings of the dragon. Although he was strapped tightly to the ground, Hiccup had seen him nearly break the iron chain before. He wasn't going to let that happen again, it had scared the life out of him.
Toothless stood back and kept his eyes trained on his Viking. He didn't like that his Viking was risking his life constantly for these stupid wizards. He admired him too, because Hiccup's only reason for doing such things was to protect the lives of the dragons. Toothless was proud to have such a selfless Viking as his own.
Hiccup approached the dragon carefully, or rather approached the place the egg was hidden. He ducked behind a rock as Razor Neck shot a blast of fire at him. Hiccup sighed to himself as he regained his balance and headed back to the dragon. Razor Neck was slightly getting the hang of things now, knowing to only attack when Hiccup was moving for the egg, and not randomly.
Toothless rocked back warily, keeping his green eyes trained on Hiccup. He didn't like the training method at all. His Viking needed to be shot at in order to train the dragon. It just wasn't fair for Hiccup, and Toothless was forced to sit on the side and watch.
Razor Neck growled loudly and shot another fire blast towards Hiccup. The Viking groaned inwardly and lowered himself to the ground. He stood up quickly, losing his balance slightly. He righted himself and stepped closer to the dragon.
Surprisingly, Razor Neck did nothing. Hiccup stood up straight and took another step. The dragon didn't move. Hiccup cautiously took another step. Razor Neck clicked and stood up onto his legs, folding his wings and turning his head to the side.
Hiccup swallowed and took another step. The dragon stood up even straighter and watched Hiccup closely, following his every movement. Hiccup knew that this wouldn't end well for him; Razor Neck had done this sort of thing before, but not nearly to this extent.
He briefly tore his eyes away from Razor Neck to look back at Toothless. The Night Fury gave him a curious yet reassuring glance. Hiccup nodded as he turned back to Razor Neck. The Hungarian Horntail turned his head and eyed Hiccup knowingly. Hiccup took another step forward and watched as Razor Neck swung his tail around impatiently. He could tell that the dragon was just waiting for the right time to strike.
Hiccup gained his courage and stood up straight, reaching forwards with his hands. Instantly, Razor Neck reacted. Hiccup had been expecting it and leapt out of the way of his furious claws. The dragon lashed out and roared loudly. The wizards in the stands stood up as Hiccup leapt to the side and hid behind a rock. He was thankful that Toothless hadn't intervened yet, otherwise things would have gotten out of hand very quickly.
Razor Neck sprayed fire all over the stadium and Hiccup rolled his eyes. So much for his aim. He hopped out from behind the rock and dashed forward, knowing that Razor Neck was still out of control and wouldn't be focussing on him. He reached beneath the dragons large legs and grabbed the egg, clutching it close to him.
The moment that Razor Neck noticed Hiccup beneath his legs, he stopped and stood still, giving Hiccup a glare. Hiccup took several steps back, still holding the egg. He'd never actually gotten to touch the egg until now; the dragon had always gotten the better of him. This meant that things were improving, slightly.
Razor Neck lowered his head to Hiccup's level and bared his razor sharp teeth. Hiccup stepped back and put the egg on the ground. It wasn't his prize to get and he'd already proven to the dragon that nothing would happen if he did get the egg. That was his main goal for the moment.
Hiccup reached his hand out slightly towards the dragon. He hissed and Hiccup retracted quickly, trying not to threaten the dragon. He was beginning to get a strong sense of déjà vu, from when he first met Toothless and he allowed the Viking to touch him.
Razor Neck watched Hiccup closely as he turned around and reached his arm out again, opening his fingers and not looking at the dragon. It was a strong exercise of trust, but Hiccup didn't believe that the dragon would hurt him. He sought the best from the creature, not the worst.
After a moment, Razor Neck breathed his hot breath on Hiccup, before slowly pressing his nose into Hiccup's hand. Hiccup flinched at the contact, before turning up to look at Razor Neck. The dragon snorted again and opened his glowing eyes, blinking rapidly and turning away from Hiccup. He grinned and hopped out of the stadium. He would leave Razor Neck to himself for a while, just to think over what had happened.
It gave Hiccup hope for Razor Neck when he'd pressed his head against his hand, giving him the trust that Toothless had. Hiccup's relationship with Toothless had started much the same, but without the constant attempts to kill each other, of course.
Toothless met Hiccup just as he was exiting the arena. Hiccup grinned and tackled the dragon to the ground, rolling them onto the grass just outside the arena. Toothless grumbled happily and put his front legs either side of Hiccup's face, leaning down and giving him a long, slobbery lick along his face. Hiccup laughed and opened his eyes, bringing his arms up to Toothless front legs and batting them away.
The Night Fury growled playfully and batted Hiccup's hands away, standing up and getting into a defensive stance. Hiccup stood up too, and faced the dragon. Toothless took a step closer and Hiccup feigned a step back. Hiccup moved to the left, Toothless watching his movements closely.
Hiccup leaned forward and ran the short distance between them, wrapping his arms around Toothless's neck, using most of his weight to drag him to the ground. Toothless playfully followed him, allowing Hiccup to push him to the ground. He opened his mouth, showing his teeth, and snapped them at Hiccup.
Toothless didn't need to use much force to stand back up and knock Hiccup beneath him. Hiccup grumbled as he landed on his back and pushed the dragon away, rolling away just as Toothless fell to the ground, exactly where Hiccup had been.
Hiccup laughed and jumped onto his back, wrapping his thin arms around his neck. Toothless stood up vertically onto his hind legs and turned his head to Hiccup. The boy struggled to keep his grip on the dragon, slipping down the shiny scales. Toothless gave him a smug look, which Hiccup responded with a scowl. He slid down the dragon's body and onto the ground, just near his tail.
Toothless growled and flipped over, his teeth just above Hiccup. He collapsed his head onto Hiccup's chest, the winner of the fray. Hiccup laughed and scratched Toothless's chin, a sure fire way to get him off. Toothless grumbled happily and stood up straight, watching his Viking as he stood up and dusted himself off. Toothless himself shook his scales, and watched as tiny flecks of dirt came off his blue scales.
Hiccup laughed and scratched the dragon behind his ears. Toothless purred happily as he turned his head to the side for Hiccup to have more access. The two stood still as they heard the sounds of approaching people. Hiccup turned around on the spot as Charlie Weasley approached, followed by Ron. Toothless curled himself around Hiccup protectively, his tail waving around Hiccup's legs with his head just in front.
Charlie stopped a couple of metres away from Hiccup, not wanting to aggravate the dragon anymore. Ron stood beside his brother and watched with interest. He seemed to like Toothless, and Hiccup thought it a wonder that he hadn't shared the news with Harry yet.
"Congratulations on your progress with the Hungarian Horntail. We have decided to give you the night off tonight, so that you may enjoy some time with your friends. It is only necessary for you to come during the day now," Charlie informed Hiccup.
Hiccup nodded slowly, not really liking the idea of only coming during the day. Sure, it meant less time with the dragon, but Hiccup couldn't get as far with him during the day as he could in the night. Still, he didn't argue with him and decided it was best to keep quiet.
Toothless watched Charlie warily as he started to turn around, not having more to say. Hiccup could understand why he wouldn't stay, especially with the Night Fury in such a stance, but he felt that it was rude to leave so abruptly.
Ron watched his older brother leave, then turned to face Hiccup. "I watched you with that dragon. It was pretty cool," he said, a grin on his freckled face.
Hiccup laughed lightly, pushing Toothless' head slightly, making him give up his protective stance. "Yeah, finally. I just can't get through to him," he replied, muttering the last part to himself.
Ron chuckled and grinned. "Well, you've got that one, so I'm sure you'll be able to handle the Horntail. Compared to yours, he's a baby," he exclaimed.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. He could tell that Ron was in total awe of his best friend, which was fair enough since the Night Fury was a rare and dangerous dragon. Hiccup didn't think that the Hungarian Horntail actually registered on the same scale as Toothless, but Razor Neck was much harder to train. It didn't help that the keepers were keeping such a closer eye on him so he couldn't do anything on his own. He really didn't like how they were doing that. Trying to learn the secrets of the trade.
Ron looked at Toothless thoughtfully for a moment, Hiccup could see that he was also looking at the saddle and the red material tail. "Are you two going to go for a fly soon?" he asked curiously.
Hiccup shrugged, looking at Toothless. The dragon gave Hiccup hopeful eyes. Hiccup laughed and pushed his head away lightly. "Yeah, I suppose so. I've been trying to work out a way to go out with Razor Neck too, but nothing seems to be strong enough to keep him in line," he explained.
Ron nodded slowly, glancing back to where the Hungarian Horntail was sleeping in the arena. "You could always use a really long piece of metal, like the one he's chained to on the floor."
Hiccup shook his head, not liking the idea at all. He'd thought of it, of course, but he was quick to turn it down when he realised that Toothless would be carrying the weight and not him. He needed something light, yet strong. Something which Hiccup could use to control the other dragon, yet allow him some freedom. "I need something light since Toothless needs to be able to fly, too, you know," he explained.
Ron put his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "You could always use some magically reinforced leather. It would be strong, light and long enough for the dragon," he suggested.
Hiccup snapped his head up, liking the idea. But he also didn't like the idea of having something from the wizards near his best friend that could possibly be both dangerous and stupid. Toothless looked to Hiccup, wondering what he thought of the idea. Hiccup saw in his friend's eyes that he was alright with it, yet he could tell that Toothless didn't want anything to go wrong.
"Is there a way to make sure that nothing could go wrong?" he asked.
Ron nodded. "Of course. You'd have to ask Dumbledore, or one of the other professors, they'd be able to cast a spell strong enough to keep the dragon under control in the air. No one else would really have the power," he told the smaller boy lightly.
Hiccup cursed inwardly. The one person he strongly disliked was the only one who could help. Of course, Ron had said that the others could help, but he knew it would be best to ask the strongest wizard there. He knew he would have to face his enemies at some point, it just annoyed him that he would have to so soon. His father would be telling him that it's better now than later, and that putting things off just makes them worse. Hiccup knew he was right, but that didn't make it any easier.
"Thanks, Ron," Hiccup said, turning around.
Ron laughed and ran up behind them, to the front. Toothless grumbled to himself, not liking the guts of the red headed wizard. "After the tournament is over, mind showing me what's so awesome about the dragons?" he asked.
Hiccup shook his head. "You'd have to ask someone else. Toothless only flies for me," he said.
Ron looked down, sad to hear it, but beamed as he looked up. "Cool! What about Snotlout? He's got a pretty cool dragon."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and walked past Ron. "Yeah, we'll see how that works out for you. I've got to go." He hopped onto the saddle, clicked his leg into place and Toothless leapt into the air. He barely heard the whistle from Ron, but somehow it was loud enough. Hiccup laughed and leaned forward, focusing on his dragon in the sky.
Toothless roared loudly as they reached the clouds, shooting a plasma blast and separating several fluffy parts. He soared over the lake and over the castle, heading speedily towards the tower in which they were staying in. Hiccup leaned forward once more, allowing the dragon to pick up speed easily.
The two landed on the balcony lightly, Toothless stopping immediately and tucking his wings in. Hiccup hopped off and gave the dragon a hug, smiling as Toothless nudged him with his head. Hiccup looked around the room, noticing Astrid and Fishlegs who were seated by the fire, talking about something or other. He also saw the twins playing some form of board game...but the pieces appeared to be killing each other. He rolled his eyes, he'd heard of the game from Ron and his friends but had never played. Apparently it looked worse in a life like situation, whatever that meant.
Hiccup joined Fishlegs and Astrid's conversation, sitting beside Astrid. Toothless settled beside the fire, shoving Meatlug and Stormfly out of the way. Hiccup rolled his eyes before giving his full attention to the conversation between the Vikings.
"Hey, Hiccup. How was training?" Fishlegs asked.
Hiccup shrugged lightly. "It was alright. But I don't have to go in tonight...or ever again after dark, actually," he replied.
Astrid made small cheering sounds. "That's great! Did they say why?"
He shook his head. "No, they didn't. But I didn't really want to know why."
The other two Vikings nodded, before they continued their previous conversation. Apparently they had been invited to some activity in the Gryffindor Common Room, yet they weren't sure whether they should go or not. Hiccup wondered when they'd been offered, or if he was allowed to go.
"It could be a trap," Fishlegs said.
Astrid rolled her eyes. "A trap to get us to do what?" she asked snarkily.
Fishlegs paused for a moment. "Well, Harry's there. He could be trying to see if we can tell him more about the first task," he seemed pretty pleased with the answer too.
Hiccup laughed. "Well, I'd think that it would be Ron who would tell Harry first, you know. He does spend a lot of time with the dragons, especially because of his brother."
Astrid nodded, agreeing with Hiccup. "Fishlegs, face it, you're just nervous about being around the wizards. You don't think they would hurt you, do you?" she asked lightly in a teasing tone.
Fishlegs frowned and turned his head away, turning a shade of red that made Hiccup laugh. "No, not at all," he muttered unconvincingly.
Hiccup grinned and shook his head. "It's alright, Fishlegs. I think we should go, though," he added.
Astrid gave Hiccup a strange glance, wondering why he'd agreed to go. Surely he'd be the last one to want to hang around a bunch of wizards such as them? Especially around Harry, the one whom Dumbledore was making him train the dragons hardest for. She didn't say anything, though Hiccup knew that such thoughts would be passing through her head. They always were when it came to him.
Hiccup stood up suddenly, leaving Fishlegs and Astrid on the ground. Toothless lifted his head to watch Hiccup for a moment, before closing his eyes and hitting the floor again. Hiccup smiled at his best friend, before heading off to where he kept his belongings. He rummaged through his chest and grinned as he pulled out some supplies for random things which Hiccup would choose to make. He just wanted something to do, and this seemed like the perfect idea.
He walked over to the balcony, the spot which provided the most light. He pulled out the sketches and started to draw on the leather, sketching the shapes for the leash. He would make it before taking it to the headmaster for spell casting.
After a while, Hiccup felt the presence of a larger being. He turned around, looking into the green eyes of Toothless. The dragon looked at the leash for a moment, before curling up next to Hiccup. He grinned and turned back to his work, making sure that the leash would be able to fit with the saddle. He took the saddle off of Toothless, checking the points which he could actually tie the leash onto, and made sure there was no lasting damage to the saddle structure.
Once he was satisfied with the design, he began to make it, with the little supplies he had brought with him. Toothless made sounds every so often, though he was in his dream state, so they weren't directed at Hiccup. He found himself laughing as the dragon twitched, obviously having some sort of interesting dream.
Harry didn't know what to expect. He'd been looking up past Tournaments, but every single one was incredibly different from the last, not giving him any idea on what was to come. It didn't help that both Ron and Hermione knew what the first task was, yet they weren't saying anything. They were being incredibly cryptic about the whole thing, and Harry hated it. It was as though they wanted him to fail.
It wasn't just the Tournament that was bugging Harry, though. He was also worry about how his name could have ended up in the Goblet to begin with. Even though that was the least of his problems, it was still at the back of his mind. Part of his subconscious was telling him that the dreams of the snakes had something to do with it, and Voldemort.
He also couldn't stop thinking about a certain one legged Viking boy. Ever since he'd found out that Hiccup didn't kill dragons he'd been ecstatic, though they'd hardly seen each other. Hiccup always found some way or another not to be at the Great Hall. The other Vikings were always there, especially Fishlegs, who had his nose in wizard books most of the time. But never Hiccup. It was as though he was avoiding the wizards. Harry didn't like to think like that, though, maybe he was just busy.
The Gryffindor's had organised some sort of gathering, with Fred and George having the great idea to invite the Vikings. So of course, the wizards were all waiting anxiously to see if they would show. Harry sort of hoped they wouldn't - they could be pretty scary - but a small part of him hoped that Hiccup would show. It would be cool to see the Viking on his own terms, in his part of the tower.
Ron walked through the doors, making people in the room look up. They all went back to their activities, relaxing when they realised it was just Ron. Harry rolled his eyes and ran over to Ron happily, followed quickly by Hermione. The three sat beside the fire together, not saying much besides the usual polite greetings.
"I just saw Hiccup, they're going to the tower. Did you guys invite him here, or just the other Vikings?" Ron asked.
Hermione shrugged slightly. "The invitation was extended to all of the Vikings," she replied.
Ron nodded happily. "That's cool. Do you know when they should be here?" he asked.
Harry and Hermione both shook their heads. "Nope, just said before dinner today. They have time," Hermione told him.
The group moved their conversation from the Vikings and started to talk of their work load and school and such. Harry avoided bringing up the Tournament, knowing all too well that his friends would just veer the conversation away anyway. It was as though they just didn't want to talk about it, that they were worried. Harry needed to know why. What could make them act that way just by speaking about a task they weren't even taking part in?
"They give us too much work," Ron complained.
Hermione laughed. "When you want to do well, Ron, you'll understand that there isn't enough."
Ron and Harry groaned unhappily. "Only you, Hermione," Ron muttered.
"Well, it's my opinion, of course it's only me," she retorted.
Harry leaned back against the couch and gazed into the fire. Just a few nights ago he'd been talking to Sirius through it. Some of what he'd said had surprised him, some of it was pretty self-explanatory. The fact that someone had put his name in the Goblet for a specific reason was something he already knew. What he didn't know was that when Voldemort was at his peak, he'd had alliances with the Vikings. That meant that they were at the top of the suspect charts for a while. Harry had looked into it with Hermione and found that they only did it because Voldemort threatened to kill all the villages and their inhabitants.
"What's the matter, Harry?" Ron asked, changing the topic yet again.
Harry sighed and looked up at his friends. "Not much, just thinking of the tasks," he replied quietly.
Instantly Hermione and Ron paused. Harry glared at the ground, disliking their silence immensely. "I get that you guys can't tell me, but you don't have to be so awkward about it," he snapped.
Hermione paused for a moment, her emotions getting the best of her, Harry knew it. He didn't really care that he had hurt her with his words; that was just the way that he was. "Harry, we would love to tell you..." she trailed off quietly.
"But you can't. I know," Harry was irritated, his temper flaring. It wasn't that he was mad at his friends, he was just mad at his situation. He was too worried about the whole thing with Voldemort, the Vikings alliance, the task, and everything was just getting to him. It was all too much for the fourteen year old. Harry couldn't help but let some of the stress he'd been dealing with out on his friends. He would apologise later, of course.
Hermione looked down, Ron looked away. "We're doing our best here, Harry," Hermione whispered.
Harry sighed to himself. "I know. I just..." he trailed off to himself.
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock at the door. Harry could hear the Fat Lady painting talking to the visitors, so Harry knew it had to be the Vikings. None of the other wizards either knocked or talked to the Fat Lady.
Fred and George snickered to each other in the corner. Harry instantly wondered what they had planned for the unfortunate Vikings. He sat up and watched as a first year opened the door for the Vikings. There weren't as many as Harry had been hoping, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins. In saying that, he'd been hopping that Hiccup would tag along, but apparently not.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut ditched their friends and ran over to where the Weasley twins sat. Harry put his hand to hit forehead briefly. This just wouldn't end well for the Vikings. They clearly had no clue who the Weasley brothers were. It was unlikely that the two Vikings would come out unscathed.
Harry watched as Fishlegs stood awkwardly at the door, whilst Snotlout made his way towards some of the Quidditch team members. Harry noticed that they seemed to already know each other, and wondered how they'd gotten to that stage.
Astrid walked towards Harry and Hermione, her intent clear in her blue eyes. Harry watched as Fishlegs tagged behind her lazily, appearing to not know where to go.
"Hey, Hermione. How's things?" Astrid asked as she reached the couch they were sitting at.
Hermione smiled and hopped off the couch, standing at Astrid's level. The two exchanged greetings, as friends. Harry wondered when the two had managed to get so close, they barely saw each other.
"Going good, thanks, Astrid," Hermione replied happily.
Harry looked at Fishlegs, looking sort of out of place. He sighed and gestured for the Viking to take a seat. Fishlegs muttered something under his breath, Harry didn't understand it – it was in their native language.
"Where's Hiccup?" Harry asked Fishlegs.
Astrid appeared to be listening in, for she was the one who replied. "He's upstairs, working on something or other."
Ron laughed. "Of course he is..." he trailed off. Because apparently Ron knew Hiccup better than anyone else, Harry thought bitterly.
Astrid shrugged. "Yeah, well, he told me that he might come down later, depending on the weather," she explained.
"The weather?" Harry asked. What had the weather got to do with staying inside? These Vikings got weirder and weirder every day. He would have liked to have seen Hiccup too, but his chances weren't very good. It was likely that the one legged boy wouldn't show his face in the Common Room, too nervous and what not.
Astrid shrugged. "Yeah, he likes to be outdoors when the weather's nice," she explained, though Harry had already guessed that this was what she meant.
Ron grinned, as did Hermione. "Staying up there with anyone else?" Ron asked.
Fishlegs gave Astrid a wary glance. She ignored him, as usual. "Well, yeah, of course. Wouldn't want to leave him alone," she said, smirking. Apparently this was her way of making fun of someone when they weren't here. She was probably better at doing so when they were.
The turret was filled with an ear piercing screech suddenly, the sounds coming from outside. Several Gryffindor students hurried to the window to see what the commotion was, but Harry could tell from their faces that they hadn't seen anything. It was becoming progressively weirder around the Common Room: Harry had heard the same screeching sound nearly every day, though he hadn't a clue as to what it was.
Astrid grumbled under her breath, before straightening and turning back to Hermione. Harry wondered whether the Vikings were really hiding something, other than their knowledge of the first task was. Of course, he thought to himself, he knew they were hiding something before, but it was becoming more apparent to Harry that it was something big. He just couldn't figure it out.
A few minutes after the Vikings had settled into the Common Room, Fishlegs included, there were thudding sounds coming from the stairwell. Instantly, most of the Gryffindor who were sitting in the room hopped up to investigate. They swung the portrait door open, but there wasn't anything.
Harry pushed through the crowd to the outside, looking up the stairwell. As he couldn't see anything, he cursed under his breath. This would have been a perfect opportunity to get answers.
Just before Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor went back inside, Harry heard someone running down the stairs. He looked up just as someone collided with him, tumbling onto the plateau of the stairs. Harry clutched at the back of his head, now throbbing, and glared up at his attacker, who happened to be awkwardly lying on top of him.
Harry looked up, surprised to find that it was Hiccup. The thin Viking boy barely put any weight onto Harry, which surprised him further. Harry looked into Hiccup's green eyes for a moment, before the Viking mumbled an apology and struggled to his foot.
Hiccup leaned down and offered his hand to Harry. Harry himself was too stunned into silence that all he could do was accept the hand and take to his own shaky feet. There was some laughter behind Harry, and he knew that they were laughing because Hiccup had knocked down their champion, but Harry didn't care. He couldn't help but think of how nice it had been to have Hiccup near him, even by accident.
Before Harry could say anything, Astrid punched Hiccup hard in the arm and grinned. He rolled his eyes and allowed her to drag her inside the Common Room. Harry followed behind Hermione, who was trailing behind the Vikings. He couldn't help but smile as his memory and mind played little tricks on him.
The group sat beside the fire happily. Dinner would be ready soon, so Harry knew that he should enjoy the moment whilst it lasted. He knew that the Vikings would find some way to ditch them for the meal, they usually did. Well, Hiccup did.
"You decided to show up after all?" Astrid asked lightly.
Hiccup shrugged. He looked at Astrid for a moment, giving her some sort of look. Her face instantly became one of understanding, and Harry wanted to know what it was that they had just shared. He just wished that they would tell him something.
"Yeah, couldn't spend all my time with him. Besides, he wanted some alone time," he muttered the last part. Harry could hear it in his voice that he was upset about something, and it made him curious as to who this mysterious 'he' was. The one whom Hiccup seemed to be spending the majority of his time with.
Astrid laughed. "You don't sound all too happy about that. Did you do something?" she teased, dragging her finger in front of Hiccup's face in a you shouldn't have done that sort of way. Harry had seen it for him numerous times, because of his Aunt, if he could call her that.
Hiccup glared at her. "No. he just wanted out, but I wouldn't let him. I'm sure you would have heard it," he replied, snark lacing his voice. Astrid laughed and looked away, pretending to wipe her tears away. Harry looked at Hiccup, but his face was emotionless. Well, as emotionless as a Viking like him could be.
Hermione interjected in the conversation at this point. "So are you joining us for dinner? We're leaving shortly," she asked the Vikings in general.
Astrid looked to Hiccup briefly. "Well, I am. I don't know about him," she jutted her thumb at Hiccup.
Ron laughed, looking at Hiccup happily. "We'd be happy if you joined us, Hiccup. Wouldn't we, Harry?" he asked, pointedly looking at Harry.
Harry glanced up, surprised that he'd said anything to him. "What? Hmm? You said what?" he asked, completely unaware of the situation. He'd been more focussed on the fact that Hiccup was sitting so close to him, but he wasn't going to say anything about that. He'd been distracted by it, too far gone. He was aggravated that Ron had spoken to him at all, though he supposed that if he hadn't, he would have continued to stare at Hiccup until the Viking noticed. That would have been the tip of the iceberg of a perfect day.
Ron laughed. "I was just saying how it would be great if Hiccup joined us for dinner," he replied, laughing.
Harry nodded slowly, without thinking. "Um, yeah, it would be great..." he mumbled. His thoughts were racing amongst other things, completely unrelated to the dinner. Food was the last thing on his mind. He wouldn't be able to eat with Hiccup sitting right next to him.
Hiccup laughed, much to Harry's enjoyment. "Well, then, I suppose I can try to make it," he chuckled.
Without warning, something went bang beside the group, making them all look up. Harry wasn't surprised to find that Fred had black smoke surrounding him, with George shooting him a shocked expression. Beside them, the Viking twins were laughing their heads off, rolling on the ground. Harry briefly looked to Hiccup, noticing that he was rolling his eyes and laughing too.
"He fell for it!" Ruffnut yelled happily, wiping away her tears of laughter.
Tuffnut agreed wholeheartedly and laughed along with his sister. Harry wondered what it was that they had done. "I can't believe they were so silly!" he laughed.
Fred sent a glare towards Tuffnut, but it wasn't as effective as he would have hoped, what with the black powder covering his face. This made the Viking twins laugh even harder, if that were even possible. Harry wondered how they weren't choking by now.
George alternated between looking at Fred and the Viking twins with a mixture of shock, surprise, humour and a sense of wonder. Harry guessed that the later was because the Viking twins had managed to fool them, instead of the other way around.
Fred smirked as he wiped his face and gave the Vikings an evil grin. "Well, we're very good with payback," he said evilly.
Ruffnut laughed. "Yep, so are we. Just wait till Barf comes near ya," she smirked.
George laughed and patted his brother on the back. "I do believe we have met our match, dear brother," he said, but he gave Fred a knowing look. Harry felt it only fair to warn the Viking twins, but he also felt that they deserved a little payback. It would be sort of funny to watch too.
Hiccup stood up suddenly, walking towards the group of twins. Ruff and Tuff looked up, grinning, as Hiccup stopped in front of them. They instantly stood up and tried to stop laughing, much as it didn't work.
"What did you do?" Hiccup asked lightly, finding the situation only slightly funny. Harry himself was finding the situation hilarious. It wasn't every day that the Weasley twins were bested at their own game.
Tuffnut blinked for a moment, searching for the words. "Well, we may have convinced him that our fire cased rocks were sort of a tradition to Berk..."
"And they believed us!" Ruffnut laughed.
George sent a small smile towards her, but otherwise remained focused on his brother, coming up with different ways to get the twins back. Harry knew this was a cycle that would end up coming back to bite both parties on the butt...hard.
Hiccup laughed, rolling his eyes. "Of course they did...you realise, they aren't going to let you go without some form of payback?" he asked.
Tuffnut high fived Ruffnut happily, as though they'd won the lottery. Harry couldn't begin to understand how this set of twins worked. He barely understood the Weasley ones. "We're counting on it," Tuffnut said.
Astrid walked over to the twins and laughed as she took in the Weasley's appearance. "Well, you sure did a good job. Better than anything you've done to Snotlout," she remarked.
Ruffnut laughed. "Well, I think convincing him that he was dying was pretty good, myself."
Tuffnut nodded, agreeing with his sister. "Well, of course. I mean, come on, putting grass in his pants? Priceless!"
Harry had a feeling that this would go on for some time, but he didn't mind. It was funny to watch how the Vikings interacted with each other. They didn't seem worried about fitting in, or what the other Vikings would think of them. Especially not the twins. If anything, they wanted people to think badly of them. What was with that?
Hiccup couldn't believe that the twins had managed to trick the wizards. It was funny, hilarious even. He couldn't help but laugh as he sat down at the table ready to eat the feast with the wizards. He'd decided to tag along for this one, just because Harry had asked so nicely.
Just after they'd left the Common Room from the wizards, Hiccup had been up to see if Toothless had settled down any. He hadn't, which made Hiccup want to leave him to calm down that much more. The dragon just wanted to fly, but Hiccup knew that it was too dangerous in broad daylight. The dragon was having a bit of a hissy fit, and Hiccup knew it would take him a while to calm down. If he was still in the funk when he returned after the meal, he would think twice before taking the dragon out for a flight.
The meal commenced and Hiccup dug in happily. He watched as the twins replayed the events of the prank to Snotlout, over exaggerating the hand movements to make it seem better than it truly was, but none the less, it was accurate. Snotlout didn't find the story as funny as everyone else had, but the twins didn't seem to mind.
Hiccup focused on his meal, not really wanting to talk to anyone else. He did feel bad about leaving Toothless all on his own, but he was being a bit of a drama queen. It annoyed Hiccup when he acted like such a baby, but he was still his best friend, no matter what. Hiccup wouldn't change that for the world, and he didn't think that Toothless would either.
Feeling a tap on the shoulder, Hiccup turned around. Hermione, the one seated next to him, on the other side of Astrid, looked at him. "How's things going?" she asked curiously.
Hiccup had to admit, he didn't like her very much. She'd been nosy, always getting in the way of things. She hadn't met Toothless, but Hiccup knew that she knew he was there. It aggravated him that she knew about the dragons in general. He would have much rather have just kept it secret from her but Ron wasn't helping. Hiccup didn't mind Ron interfering, his brother worked with the dragons, but Hermione was just a nosy girl who couldn't keep anything to herself.
"It's going alright," Hiccup managed to reply, struggling for words. He couldn't explain anything about the dragons to her, Harry might have been listening, and Hiccup couldn't let him have the advantage of knowing what the first task was. That wouldn't be fair to the other champions.
Hermione nodded, seeming to understand that she wasn't getting anything out of Hiccup for the time being. She returned her attention to her food. Hiccup sighed deeply, happy that she had given up talking to him. It annoyed him that all she wanted to talk about was the dragons. That part aggravated him more than he would care to admit.
When the meal was finished, the Great Hall echoed loudly with a very certain high pitched scream. Hiccup put his hand on his head as he groaned, glaring at the table. Toothless wasn't getting any fish tonight, this behaviour was getting annoying. He understood that Toothless was a dragon, but Hiccup knew that Toothless knew that this was too important for him to blow his cover.
Hiccup glanced up, looking around the room. Some of the wizards were looking around curiously, as though the sound had come from inside the hall. Hiccup laughed inwardly at the people, but it was only because he knew where the sound had actually come from. A certain dragon which wasn't in his good books for the time being.
As he looked around, his eyes hit the angry ones of Dumbledore. He instantly knew that Dumbledore didn't appreciate having the dragon interrupt the dinner in such a way, and knew that nothing good would come out of it. Yet Hiccup couldn't bring himself to care. He grinned playfully at the headmaster, a teasing one, one that said come at me, bro, before turning towards a disapproving Astrid.
"What?" he asked.
She gave him a look, one that said, are you serious? "What? You're asking me 'what?'" she said, disbelieving.
Hiccup shrugged. "It's not a big deal," he said.
She gave him a shocked look. "And if someone actually heard where it came from?" she asked.
He rolled his eyes. "Then he wouldn't be very happy. He knows how to look after himself," he assured her.
Astrid gave him a pointed look. "Really?"
He sat up straight and stood up. "Right. Good point." He walked quickly out of the Great Hall.
Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by none other than Malfoy and his goons. Hiccup groaned and stepped around them, only to be pulled back. He fell to the floor heavily, earning a few snickers from the group.
"Right where you belong. At my feet," Malfoy sneered.
Hiccup glared at the ground as he rose to his feet shakily. The group of goons all laughed, egging him on. Only this time, Hiccup wouldn't be the one taking the bait. He had had enough of this group, enough of them picking on every single thing about him. Was it not enough that they constantly pushed him over? Seriously, that was the only thing they did, until they were shouting unkind words, which, as Hiccup thought, were similar to every other time they'd had a run in. Couldn't he come up with anything original?
"Well, it's better than staring constantly at the pimple on your neck. Oh, wait, sorry, that's your head," he said lightly, a smile playing at his lips. It wasn't a friendly smile, it was more of an I'm going to get you back sort of smile. Once the first task was over, Hiccup would show the whole school just how powerful the Vikings were and they would never think to aggravate them again.
Malfoy glared at him, Hiccup smiled sweetly. He turned on his heel and walked back to the Slytherin table, while Hiccup did a little cheer inside his head. He grinned and headed out of the Great Hall, walking down the corridor towards their room.
Along the way, Hiccup wasn't surprised to bump into Toothless. He was waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairwell. Upon closer inspection, however, it appeared that Toothless was having a stare off with a cat. Hiccup rolled his eyes and approached the dragon. Toothless barely looked away from the cat for a moment. Hiccup laughed slightly. This was always funny to watch.
Someone was walking down the corridor, and from the shape, Hiccup knew that it wasn't a student. He watched as the caretaker of the castle, Argus Filch, stopped and glared at Hiccup. He'd met Toothless before and didn't like him very much, but he tolerated him. Toothless, however, didn't like the caretaker at all.
"Your pet shouldn't be around the corridor," Filch spat nastily.
Hiccup shrugged. "He goes where he wants to," he said, a slight mummer coming from Toothless in agreement. So what if he was mad at the dragon? No one could stay mad at Toothless for very long, especially Hiccup.
Filch walked angrily towards Hiccup, his hand pointed and raised. Hiccup would have been nervous that he was going to use magic, but he'd heard that Filch couldn't use any. Apparently he was some squib, whatever that meant.
"Your pet isn't allowed out of the assigned room," Filch announced. Hiccup rolled his eyes. Because he could contain Toothless?
"Yeah, right. Have you ever tried to tell him what to do?" he asked, slightly amused.
Filch grinned, but it wasn't a nice one. Not the sort of smile that Hiccup liked. "No, but I'd bet that I would do a better job than you."
Hiccup stepped aside and gestured his hands towards Toothless. "Be my guest," he said.
Filch swallowed nervously and approached the near black but blue dragon. Hiccup laughed inside his head as the dragon lost concentration on the cat and snapped his eyes up to the caretaker. Filch was surprised by the sudden movement and leapt back. He glanced towards the cat, before sending a glare at Toothless.
"Mrs Norris! What have you done to my poor cat?" he asked, dashing towards the little cat. Well, little was a bit kind. The cat was fat.
Hiccup rolled his eyes and walked towards Toothless. The dragon looked up and gave Hiccup big eyes. "Maybe next time, Filch," he said, then gestured for Toothless to head up the stairs. Filch grumbled angrily as he ascended the stairs, causing Hiccup to laugh. This was going to be good.