Harry stared at the ceiling, his mind wandering. Thoughts he never wanted in his head were taking up a position at the front. He'd had another dream, one which had been reoccurring for a few nights now, but he wasn't going to share it with his friends; they already knew the basics.

Ron was already up and dressed for the day. Harry couldn't care less what he had to do, he just wanted to stay inside and away from people. But of course, that would never happen since he had to face the day at some point. And he was hungry. Food would be served soon, he hoped.

It was the weekend now, a long day off. That meant Harry had the whole day to do as he pleased with his friends, and to do absolutely nothing which involved seeing people other than them. He turned around in his bed and sighed as his muscles groaned. He was stiff from his previous days efforts, flying on the broomstick had never seemed so tedious and draining.

Harry stood up and stretched, clicking his joints into place. He proceeded to change into his robes and head into the Common Room. He wasn't surprised to find other Gryffindor students still inside, breakfast not being available for a while. Some looked up and congratulated Harry, others looked too tired to pay attention.

Fred and George Weasley came over to Harry and slapped him on the back, grinning like the fools they were. Harry had to admit, for fools, they were pretty cool. They were Harry's favourite members of the Weasley family, after Ron, of course. Ginny was his favourite sister from the family – she was the only girl. Pretty too, but she wouldn't notice him.

"Great work, Harry!" Fred cheered, his grin infectious and making Harry grin.

"Thanks guys," Harry said.

George laughed. "Have you opened the prize yet?" he asked, leaning in, curiosity taking the better of him.

Harry shook his head. "I'm going to wait for a while," he replied.

The twins both sighed and hung their heads for a moment, before returning to the grin. They could never be mad for long, or disappointed, as the case may be. "Don't forget to tell us what's inside," George said.

Harry nodded. "Of course. When I know what it means, of course."

"Of course," they agreed together, grinning and walking away, a skip in their step.

Harry shook his head, smiling. He liked the twins, they were always fun to talk to. Never a dull moment. And their inventions were pretty handy too, not that he'd really used them to get out of class. Sometimes the pranks had gotten the better of him, though.

Harry found Ron and Hermione sitting in the corner of the room, near the window. They were talking, but not about anything that Harry wasn't allowed to listen to – their voices didn't stop as Harry sat down.

"Morning, Harry," Hermione said as she turned to look at him.

Harry smiled at the two. "Morning, guys."

Ron nodded and said his greetings to his friend. "You feeling alright? You were out like a light last night and still sounded asleep when I woke up."

Harry chuckled lightly. "Yeah, just tired. Still tired now, but feeling better."

Hermione nodded. "That's good, Harry. A good night's rest was probably what you needed anyway."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Playing doctor now are we?" he grinned.

She turned away, embarrassed. Harry put his hand on her shoulder and turned her back around.

"It was a joke, Hermione. Don't worry about it," he said.

She blushed slightly, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "Oh. Of course."

Harry thought her reaction was strange, but said nothing of it. Perhaps she had wanted to become a doctor once, before finding out that she was a witch. Oh well, Harry didn't need to know. She was his friend, he trusted that she would tell him what he needed to know.

Hermione stood up abruptly, her previous embarrassment vanished. "Breakfast. Come on, we'll be late."

Harry grinned and stood up. They headed towards the hall for the meal happily, talking about pretty random things along the way. It was turning out to be a pretty good day, Harry thought.

Hiccup lounged about in his room the next morning. He'd watched Harry's round and decided that it would be alright to do absolutely nothing for a while. The keepers had claimed the victory of training the dragon, and Hiccup couldn't care less. He was just happy that all of it was over and he could relax for a while, before they would be heading back to Berk.

The other Vikings were doing pretty much the same thing as Hiccup, though they had left the room to go and have some lunch. Yeah, it was that late already. And all Hiccup had done in the morning was draw a picture of a lazy dragon. Toothless didn't mind any of it, but he had some ideas concerning flying later. Hiccup wanted to go out as well, but he didn't know if it was a good idea.

Hiccup sighed and leaned against the wall. Toothless lifted his head and looked him in the eye, wondering why he didn't sound happy. Hiccup smiled at Toothless, resting his head against the wall. He was exhausted; all the emotions were getting to him, the late nights of stress, the hard days at work with the dragon, and it was all catching up with him. Toothless seemed to understand, much to Hiccup's happiness, but the other Vikings did not. They had dragons which were easy to train and Hiccup got stuck with Razor Neck.

Toothless hopped up from beside the fire and walked over to the balcony window. Hiccup smiled and pushed himself off the floor, standing and walking towards the dragon. Toothless made some gestures towards the sky, and Hiccup looked at the ground. Everyone should still be eating their lunch or inside…

Without giving himself time to reconsider, Hiccup hopped into the saddle and Toothless took off powerfully into the sky. They played their famous weaving games, shot some of the clouds and glided low above the water of the lake. Hiccup bent down and ran his hand along the water, flicking Toothless with it.

Toothless grumbled and skimmed his good tail wing along the water, scooping it into the wing and then flicking it up at Hiccup. He made satisfied and smug sounds, looking up at Hiccup innocently as he wiped his face clean of the water.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play it?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless merely gave Hiccup the innocent eyes. 'I don't know what you're talking about' it said, making Hiccup laugh.

"Well, I hope you don't mind the cold!" he shouted as he stood up onto the saddle, causing Toothless to give him an odd look, as though wondering what he would do, then it clicked.

Hiccup laughed and jumped off the saddle and into the water. Toothless screamed as he plummeted towards the water and swam instantly back to the surface, using his large wings to stay afloat. He swam over to Hiccup and grumbled at him. Hiccup knew that Toothless didn't like the water, but it was funny to watch.

Toothless swam over to Hiccup, pulling the boy towards him with his front legs. Hiccup laughed and pushed the dragon away, swimming towards the shore. Toothless overtook Hiccup easily and glanced back, a smug twinkle in his green eyes.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and kicked strongly, the cold water starting to take effect. He shivered and looked ahead. Still at least another hundred metres. Hiccup sighed angrily to himself, why did he have to jump off the dragon? Genius.

Toothless pulled himself to shore and shook his scales, water spraying everywhere. He turned around, searching for Hiccup. He spotted him, close to the shore, and sat back on his hind legs, watching his Viking swim wildly in the water. Toothless thought that he looked sort of silly, flailing about in the water as he was.

Hiccup glared at Toothless slightly, pulling himself onto the bank of the river. Toothless gave him a smug, 'you deserved that' sort of look. Hiccup merely shrugged and rung out the bottom of his clothing. Toothless followed behind Hiccup as they made their way back towards the tower, the Viking in need of a change of clothes.

Harry sat in the Common Room, his friends the only other two in the room. Everyone else was enjoying the pleasant day outside, it being the weekend and all. Harry kept thinking of the dragon, the large Horntail he'd been facing mere hours ago. His friends were no help either, saying what a great job he did and how cool the dragon looked. Well, the latter came from Ron. Harry knew about his fascination with dragons, but he wasn't about to tell him he knew Hiccup's secret. What if they didn't know? Harry shook his head, of course they knew.

The egg in his lap, Harry stared at it. He hadn't opened it yet, afraid of what was inside. He didn't know what to expect, knowing the last task had involved dragons, surely the next task would involve something even more challenging.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Ron asked, looking up at him from his spot on the ground.

Harry shrugged. "Not much," he lied.

Hermione jerked her head up from her book. "You're lying, Harry, I can tell. What's bothering you?" she asked.

Harry sighed. "I just, I don't know how I'm going to make it through the second task," he admitted softly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and put her hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, you're a talented wizard. You just need to focus and you'll do fine," she assured him.

Harry nodded slowly, sort of unconvinced. "Thanks, Hermione," he said.

She pat his shoulder consolingly. "Why don't you open the egg?" she asked curiously, looking at the golden egg in Harry's lap.

Harry looked down nervously, the patterns on the egg making him nervous. He looked down at Ron, who gave him a nod, then pressed onto the clasp and twisted. Immediately, the egg opened and a golden glow poured into the room. Harry covered his ears when the egg started to make a horrible screeching sound. His two friends covered their ears and glared at the egg in disgust.

Harry hurried to close the egg back up, wanting the terrible sound gone. He sighed deeply when the sound disappeared and he was able to hear normally again. Hermione looked at the egg in annoyance, whilst Ron gave it a quizzical glance, strange for someone like him.

"Well. That was... interesting," Harry said.

Hermione shook her head, snapping out of her haze, before nodding. "Yeah. There must be a way for it to not shriek like that," she said thoughtfully.

Harry shook his head quickly, ridding his mind of the horrible sound. "Yeah, but we'd better figure it out soon. I would like some warning for the next task," he said pointedly.

"I had no choice! We weren't allowed to share the task with the champions!" Ron snapped.

Harry glanced down at him. "But you could have at least told me what type of challenge it was!"

Their voices were being raised during the argument, much to the point where Hermione couldn't figure out what was worse: the egg or her friends fighting. She sighed and interrupted the conversation before it could go any further. "Guys! We don't need to talk about this! It's done now."

Harry and Ron stopped instantly, looking down, ashamed. "Sorry, Hermione," Harry said.

Ron nodded. "Sorry, 'Mione."

Hermione nodded smugly. She hated her friends arguing in front of her.

"We don't have anything until dinner. Anyone up for a round of Wizard's Chess?" Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head and lifted her book up, gesturing she would rather just read. Harry nodded and beamed. "So long as my pieces don't try to kill me instead."

Ron laughed and hopped up from the floor. "Well, no promises," he said as they made their way to the chess board on the tables. They both set up their own pieces, Harry's a spare set borrowed from the kit, while Ron used his families. At least they liked him. It wasn't fair that Harry nearly always lost because his pieces would try to turn on him.

Harry sat opposite Ron, the black pieces waiting for his command. Ron grinned at Harry from across the board, the white pieces looking ahead at Harry's in a threatening manner. Harry still couldn't believe that the Wizard Chess pieces were pretty alive. It was pretty cool. Even though they couldn't move without their player telling them where to go, they were still full of attitude.

"Pawn to B5," Ron instructed clearly. Immediately, the white pawn on the B line moved forward two spots and stood still.

Harry looked down at his own pieces. "Knight to H6," he commanded. The black horse and rider moved over the pawn towards the empty spot, above the pawn of lane H.

The game continued as such, Ron taking numerous pieces. The first to go was his pawn, then his bishop. Harry took Ron's castle, followed by Ron taking Harry's own castle. Ron then proceeded to put Harry into check, which lost him his Queen. Harry didn't realise that by taking the Queen, he was putting himself into check mate. Yeah. His pieces weren't pleased with him at all. But he could understand it at least, they were all sore losers.

Ron and Harry shook hands, Harry admitting defeat to his friend. Ron grinned. He always won. Harry didn't mind; he just liked watching the pieces destroy each other.

Hermione hopped up from the couch and walked over. She looked at the graveyard of a chess board and then to Ron, giving him a congratulatory smile. "Good work, Ron, as always."

Ron grinned. "Why, thank you," he said.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Should we be getting ready soon?" he asked.

Hermione looked at her watch briefly. "We still have twenty minutes. But yes, then we can get a good seat."

Harry and Ron both gave her a pointed look.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"We sit in the same spot every dinner! It's not like we have anything to worry about," Harry replied, laughing gently.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sure. Anyway, I'm putting my robes on now. You guys should get ready too." Then she disappeared into the girl's dormitory.

Harry glanced at Ron, shrugging briefly, before they too left the room to get changed. Harry didn't realise that their chess game had gone on for such a long amount of time, but apparently, dinner was in twenty minutes.

Hiccup rested his chin on his hand, his elbow propped against the wooden table in the Great Hall. He and the rest of the Vikings were rather early for dinner, but none of them seemed to mind. Hiccup knew that the wizards would be coming in at the last minute, as seemed to be the gist of things around here.

The other Vikings were all talking about the things that they had done during the day, spending time with their dragons and racing in the Forbidden Forest. Hiccup wasn't about to tell them what he'd done, they'd probably think he was mad, jumping off Toothless into the freezing cold water. Astrid would have given him a stern talking too that was not something he needed.

"We totally beat you!" Snotlout yelled, bringing Hiccup out of his lonely thoughts.

Astrid scoffed. "Sure, and my name isn't Astrid Hofferson."

Snotlout scowled. "We did! Hookfang crossed the finishing line first," he insisted.

Fishlegs put his hands up, cutting in. "I saw the whole thing with my own eyes. Stormfly crossed the line first. She won."

Snotlout grumbled. "You're just saying that to get on her good side."

Astrid glared at Snotlout. She reached across the table and punched him, hard. Snotlout rubbed his arm, giving Astrid a look of disbelief, amongst other things.

Hiccup chuckled to himself. His cousin was such a moron sometimes. Yet, he couldn't help but think that Snotlout was a good member of the team, even if he did want to do things his way. His way was also the way that would get them all killed.

Hiccup watched as the hall slowly filled with students. He paid little mind as they sat in their seats, and continued listening to his friends. They had moved on from the race (it was decided that it was a draw) and Astrid wasn't happy, but at least she hadn't lost.

Once the hall was filled, Dumbledore announced the feast begin, causing loud chatter to sound throughout the room. The Vikings instantly filled their plates with the food in front of them, pleased with the generous amounts they'd been given. The other wizards didn't eat as much as they did, but then again, they didn't do as much work as they did. Hiccup knew that if even one of the wizards tried to do the work the Vikings did daily, they wouldn't survive. They were too weak, skinny, just bones and it wasn't a good thing.

Snotlout ripped a chunk of lamb off the bone and started chewing it loudly, making smacking sounds as his teeth covered the meet. Astrid glared and shook off the pieces that had landed on her, shooting him death glares. "Oh, sorry, did I get something on you?" he asked, his mouth still full of food.

Astrid smirked and grabbed at her carrots. "No, you didn't," she said before throwing her carrots at Snotlout, hitting him straight in the mouth. She grinned and fist pumped the air.

Carrots. Snotlout's worst nightmare. He hated carrots – loathed them, even – and he'd just inadvertently eaten one.

Snotlout grimaced and proceeded to spit out all his food onto the plate. Astrid laughed and flung another one at him. He dodged, the carrot hitting the ground behind him. "Gross! Ew, ew, ew!" he exclaimed, trying to get the taste off his tongue.

"Now you know how I feel," Astrid smirked.

"Like a carrot?" Ruffnut asked, confused.

Astrid sighed, pointedly shooting her a glare. "Yes. Like a carrot."

Tuffnut snickered. "And how do they feel? Seriously, I wanna know."

Astrid rolled her eyes and looked back at Snotlout. "But it's not like I shot food into your mouth!" he protested.

"No. but you showed me what was inside yours," she snapped.

He glared at her and tucked a piece of meat in his palm. He lifted it and threw it quickly at her, hitting her on the neck. "Bullseye."

"No, that's lamb," Ruffnut stated matter-of-factly.

Astrid chuckled to herself, pleased with Ruffnut's statement. She wiped the lamb off her neck and threw it back at Snotlout, hitting him in the eye. "Lamb's eye."

"More like moron's eye," Tuffnut snickered.

The twins high fived, laughing at Snotlout's expense. Snotlout scowled at them and flicked some more meat at both of them. This, of course, didn't have the desired effect and Snotlout ducked as a large potato was thrown his way, followed by several other unnamed vegetables. Hiccup ducked and placed his plate in front of him as a shield as his friends started to throw their food at each other.

Astrid scored some good ones at Snotlout, dumping her entire water glass over his head. It was enough to say that Snotlout was drenched to the core. Astrid was sitting back in her seat, laughing. The twins were still throwing things, but now just at each other. Hiccup was not surprised to see Fishlegs leaning as far away from the fight as possible.

Hiccup looked around the room, noticing that many of the students had turned around to watch the Vikings. Hiccup shrugged and turned back to his friends. It was a good thing that he wasn't hungry anymore. There wasn't any food left for him to eat. Shame.

The Vikings settled down, after there was nothing left to throw, and Astrid was done with throwing her water at Snotlout. Hiccup put his plate down and looked at his friends. Astrid had somehow managed to avoid the majority of the food, but her neck and top were splattered with grease stains. The twins looked as though they had bathed in food, numerous stains of different colours covering their clothes and the floor around them. Snotlout looked drenched and the food stuck to his top looked funny.

Hiccup shook his head and looked at the rest of the table. The wizards were still eating, they seemed to take forever to eat. The Vikings finished nearly fifteen minutes before them every day. It was tiring for Hiccup to have to sit there every meal, unable to leave without the headmaster's permission. And there was no way was he going to approach the headmaster and ask to leave early.

Hiccup looked up as he heard the sounds of the hall door opening slowly. He briefly looked out of the corner of his eye, checking who it was, before returning his eyes to the table. He heard gasps and screams throughout the hall, shocked sounds from the students.

Harry and his two friends jumped up from their seats and moved backwards slowly, trying to make slow movements. Hiccup looked up at them, giving them curious looks. They didn't even look at him, their eyes trained on the advancing dragon. Ron had met the dragon before, yet now he seemed so afraid. Hiccup couldn't help but be slightly amused.

Looking over at the Vikings, Astrid was giving Hiccup a disapproving look. The others were all laughing to themselves, something about 'their faces' and Hiccup could only assume they were laughing because of the wizard's reactions. Hiccup had to admit, he predicted panic, but not to this level. Most of the wizards were crowding to the walls and trying not to make any sounds.

Suddenly, Hiccup felt himself pushed to the ground and out of his chair. He faked a groan, only because Toothless had caught his fall. He would made sure that Hiccup wouldn't be hurt too badly.

Screams went around the room as the small Viking was pinned underneath the near black but blue dragon. Hiccup smiled up at the dragon. Toothless looked down, his eyes large, so Hiccup knew that Toothless was in complete control. The other students, of course, did not know. They thought the dragon was attacking Hiccup. That would be a sight to see, Hiccup thought.

Toothless bent down to Hiccup's face and bared his teeth, hissing slightly. Hiccup pretended to be afraid and shuffled along the floor. Toothless predicted this and pressed his front paw onto Hiccup's leg, his metal one of course, to avoid causing him pain.

Hiccup couldn't stop a small grin from rising to his face, but covered it instantly with a scared expression. He hoped that the wizards didn't notice. Knowing how frightened they would be right about now, he didn't think they'd care too much about facial expressions.

Toothless hopped up, flaring his wings and swishing his tail behind him. A moment later, he had Hiccup in his arms, his wings wrapped tightly around his body. Hiccup struggled slightly, keeping up the façade, but it was difficult while laughing. Toothless growled and stalked out of the great hall, Hiccup still tucked under his arms.

As they were leaving the hall, Hiccup could have sworn that he'd heard Malfoy's snickering voice say, "He deserved it." But he took pleasure in knowing that if Toothless had heard, Malfoy wouldn't be alive. Therefore, it probably meant that Hiccup hadn't heard correctly.

Hiccup stayed wrapped in Toothless' wings as he was carried into the courtyard near the Great Hall. It was far enough so Dumbledore wouldn't be able to tell him off, and the students wouldn't be able to see him.

Toothless released Hiccup and watched him, his wings limp by his side and his arms dangling loosely. Hiccup smiled and stood up, shaking the dust and kinks out from his clothes.

"Thanks, bud. That dinner was getting pretty boring," Hiccup said, giving the dragon a scratch behind the ears.

Toothless mumbled his appreciation and rolled his head, getting closer to his Viking. Hiccup chuckled and stepped up to him, rubbing behind Toothless' ears, then moving further to his wings. He knew that he would get itchy; he couldn't scratch very effectively behind his wings. Hiccup had to wonder how Toothless ever survived on his own. The silly dragon relied on Hiccup for a lot of things now.

Hearing sounds, a door opening and footsteps, Hiccup turned. He took a small step back, shocked and worried at who he saw. The headmaster was walking straight towards Hiccup, his stride purposeful and menacing. He stopped close to Hiccup, but not close enough that Toothless would be able to reach him right away.

Toothless curled his tail around Hiccup and bared his teeth, a hissing sound escaping his mouth. With his wings flared and his eyes small, he looked dangerous. Hiccup would have felt worried, but he was secure in the small circle the dragon had created around him.

"That performance was unacceptable!" Dumbledore snapped.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "They were going to learn about the dragons somehow," he said, completely at ease. Why shouldn't he be? He had a Night Fury protecting him.

Dumbledore glared heavily at Hiccup. "You could have been injured."

Hiccup stood up straight and looked Dumbledore in the eye. "You and I both know you wouldn't have cared about that," his voice was cold, strong, nothing like how he'd been talking to Toothless a moment ago.

The headmaster stood up straight and held his head proud, his eyes firm. "If your pet proves to be dangerous again, I will not come up with any more excuses as to why I let it on my property."

This was news to Hiccup. He perked his head up, his eyes holding the curiosity he felt. However, he also felt disdain and anger for Dumbledore's words. "He is a he, a dragon, and not my pet," Hiccup spat the word 'pet' as though it were vermin, a curse word. "Haven't you told people that you've been letting the Vikings stay with their dragons? Are you lying to them?" his voice was accusing, holding the accusation he'd wanted to ask for so long.

Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes holding a small glimmer of anger. Hiccup knew he was right. Dumbledore was lying, but not about the dragons. Then what about? "The professors all know now that you have brought your dragons and that they were staying in the tower."

"You should have told them when we first arrived here," Hiccup muttered.

Dumbledore nodded a small nod. "That may be so, young man, but not all the professors can be trusted. If Madam Maxime and Professor Karkaroff knew, they would have surely told their champions, creating an unfair advantage."

Hiccup nodded, understanding the logic. "It still doesn't make sense. What did they think we were doing here, if not helping for the tournament?"

Dumbledore looked away for a moment. Hiccup knew what that meant. He'd lied. Just like he lied to his students, like he'd lied to his fellow professors. Probably to anyone who asked him a probing question. But Hiccup wasn't going to let that stop him.

"You are here to help with the dragons - that is your job here," Dumbledore said at last, his voice forceful.

Hiccup held his tongue for a moment, fearful he'd say something he would regret. Finally, he came up with something. "And we've done it, we've fulfilled our part and the dragons don't need our help anymore. Our village does, though."

Dumbledore smiled, a small, creepy one. Toothless looked at Hiccup briefly before looking back at Dumbledore. "Young man, that may be so, but you are here now, to stay the year. We may have asked you for help with the first task, but now we require your assistance."

Hiccup looked up, his eyes full of worry. Dumbledore had never spoken quite like this. So darkly, as though every word a death sentence. Hiccup knew that for him, it probably was. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

"We realised how much we don't know about dragons. We'd like you to teach us. Well, the keepers would anyway," he said dismissively, as though he hadn't just asked Hiccup to give away the secrets of his island, their way of life, everything Hiccup had worked towards. Every piece of information the Vikings had worked so hard to keep a secret, Dumbledore was asking to expose. That was something Hiccup was not prepared to do.

Hiccup shook his head firmly. "I have worked hard to obtain the knowledge I have, it is more beneficial to learn it yourself." Though he didn't care if they ever got the information. He just didn't want them to get theirs. Hiccup wouldn't be able to cope if the wizards knew how to ride dragons. The world as they knew it would change forever.

Dumbledore looked grimly at Hiccup. "I don't think you understand, young man. You desert us, you desert the dragons."

"Why should I care?" Hiccup asked, his voice terribly cold. Toothless knew he didn't mean it, Hiccup cared more about the dragons than he would let on. Why else would he be in the horrible wizard school?

"Because if you don't, there is no reason to keep the dragons alive."

Hiccup hung his head and nodded. "Fine."

Toothless growled at Dumbledore and stepped forward, his teeth bared and a harsh, hissing sound escaping his mouth. Dumbledore watched for a moment, realised that Hiccup wasn't going to call him off, and returned to the school with a slight scowl. Hiccup sighed and called Toothless back to him.

"What are we going to do, bud? All our work, everything we've done is down the drain because I care too much," Hiccup mumbled, falling to the ground.

Toothless quickly caught Hiccup on his back, making him sit down. Hiccup smiled weakly at the dragon, sitting on the ground and against the dragon. Toothless looked worriedly at Hiccup, as though something would happen at any moment. He worried for Hiccup too much, he knew that, but at times like these, it paid off.

Hiccup sighed. "I just don't understand how he lives with it..." he whispered, the dragon nodding his head.

He smiled. "Guess nothing a nice flight won't fix." He grinned. Toothless hopped up and Hiccup followed, heading back to the dorm. Hiccup had taken off his saddle, only because he'd planned the whole incident in the Great Hall. What better way to show the wizards that Hiccup knew dragons than a great demonstration of the danger? He had a feeling that people wouldn't mess with him, coming out from the battle unscathed. What would they think if they knew that Toothless was Hiccup's friend? Wary of the dragon, he presumed.

Harry stared at the door in shock. He knew that Hiccup worked with dragons, he knew that. He just didn't think that the dragon would seek out Hiccup and attack him. He could still feel his heart racing, with fear of the dragon and fear for the small boy. Harry didn't know what was worse: facing the dragon for the First Task or seeing Hiccup being attacked by one.

The wizards were dismissed and able to go to bed. The majority of them scrambled out of their hiding places and dashed out of the room. They wouldn't have lasted a minute in the arena with the Horntail. Then again, the Horntail was relatively calm compared to the black beast that had entered their dining hall. What type of dragon would do that? Risk the exposure, the danger, all for one boy?

On their way out, Harry looked up at the dark sky. He heard the familiar whistling and searched for the black dragon. he'd become accustomed to seeing the dragon, since he'd seen Hiccup with the same one when he'd snuck in to see the First Task opponents. That got him thinking: was it the same black dragon in the hall, as the one beside him at the cages? If so, had the dragon changed its mind and tossed Hiccup aside?

"Nice ride." Harry was startled from his puzzled thoughts by Ron. He turned to look at him, and found him following the black dragon's path through the sky.

Hermione nodded. "Fast dragon," she agreed.

Harry followed the dragon's flight. He couldn't tell if there was a rider or not on the dragon, it was too dark and too far for him to tell. He guessed that there wasn't. How could someone as small as Hiccup fly a dragon like that? Something slower, maybe.

"What do you think of his performance in the hall?" Ron asked, the dragon going behind some trees.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It wasn't necessary. He could have introduced the dragon to the hall, instead of having everyone cower in fear of him," she said, annoyed.

Harry looked at them, confused. "What?" he asked.

Ron looked to Harry briefly. "Hiccup's dragon – the one that attacked him in the hall – it was a set up."

That explains some things, Harry thought, but not everything. Like, why would he have wanted everyone to see the dragon, but not bother to introduce him to them normally? Was he just trying to frighten them?

"It wasn't very nice, he didn't have to scare everyone," Hermione said angrily.

Ron shrugged. "Hiccup needed to prove that he had friends."

"All he proved was that he couldn't hold his own in a fight against a small dragon."

Harry shook his head. "Guys, this isn't worth fighting over."

Hermione sighed. "Harry, I just don't think he went about it the right way. He could have told people, it would have made more sense, and now people are going to be paranoid, afraid that they might be next."

Ron shrugged again, unfazed. Harry knew that Ron had known about Hiccup's dragon for a while. "It's nothing, Hermione, you're looking into it too much."

"I'm not, Ron. What if someone had attacked the dragon? Hiccup would have had no choice but to defend it. Something could have gone seriously wrong," Hermione's voice had gone from annoyed to worried.

Harry sighed. "Hermione, it's not any of our business what the Viking gets up to. He can do whatever he wants with his dragon."

Ron laughed. "That's rich, coming from you," he teased, his voice taunting.

Harry looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We've seen the way you look at him, Harry."

"It's the same way you look at Cho Chang," Ron added.

At Cho's name, Harry looked away, his face heating up.

Hermione and Ron chuckled. "Of course, you wouldn't admit to it, would you Harry?" they teased him.

Harry turned away and shook his head. He was glad that the conversation had turned away from Hiccup and his confusing performance in the dinner hall. He still wondered about what it all meant. Was Hiccup trying to show the wizards that he had a dragon, or was he trying to show them how dangerous he was? By the looks of things, very. But Harry knew that it took a lot more than a dragon to scare some wizards.

The whistling returned, but this time lower to the ground. Harry looked up as the black dragon shot straight to the ground, near where Harry himself stood. He stepped back, the air rushing around him as the dragon came to a furious halt.

Now that the dragon was close, Harry could see the rider. Hiccup looked at Harry, a smile on his freckled face. He hopped off the dragon and gave him a scratch behind the ears, something Harry never thought he'd see.

"Hey, guys," Hiccup said, a smile in his voice.

Hermione looked as though she was about to rage about his behaviour, but she held her tongue. Harry was glad for that, and he was sure that Hiccup would have been too.

"Hey, Hiccup. Been for a flight?" Ron asked, curious.

Hiccup nodded, looking at his dragon. "Yeah, Toothless needed it. He deserved it for not breaking the façade earlier."

"Toothless?" Harry spoke up, confused.

Hiccup looked at him. "Yeah." Then he turned to the dragon and gestured his arms. "Harry, this is Toothless. He's my best friend, the first dragon to be trained – if you can call him that – and the only Night Fury," he introduced.

'Toothless' looked at Harry, his eyes big and curious. Harry smiled weakly at the dragon. He looked powerful, strong, but he didn't seem dangerous, not around Hiccup. Not like he had in the hall. He realised the dragon was different around Hiccup, that he'd never hurt his rider. For whatever reason, there was a bond there.

Hiccup looked up at the golden trio. "So, what are you three doing out here, anyway?" he asked.

Hermione looked around. She'd been caught, though not by a teacher. The feeling was still unpleasant. "We were just taking a walk. Calming down. You scared the entire hall!" she said loudly.

Here we go again, Harry thought angrily to himself.

Hiccup sighed. "The idea wasn't to scare people," he shared a look with his dragon which told Harry that it had been part of the plan, "but simply to show them that we have dragons. Maybe now they'll take us seriously." He had said the last part bitterly, and Harry's mind went to Malfoy.

Hermione frowned. "Well, you've got their attention now. They think that you were being attacked! What better way to show how weak you are than to have a small dragon like yours tackle you without a fight?"

Hiccup looked at her, his eyes startled, yet his face passive. "That wasn't the idea," he said, his voice quiet. The dragon lifted his head towards him, his eyes round and large. Harry assumed the dragon was doing something to consolidate him.

"Well, whatever your intention was, Hiccup, I don't think it worked," Hermione said, lacing her words with anger.

Ron looked at her, confused. "Geez, 'Mione, what's gotten into you?"

Hermione glared at Ron for a moment before sighing. "Sorry, Hiccup. I'm just...concerned, is all," she mumbled.

Hiccup shrugged. "I copped it from Astrid already, so I don't mind. You apologised though," he said, a grin on his face. Harry thought that it must be something he was remembering, possibly about Astrid. Were they together or something?

Hermione smiled. "Well, she should. Its impolite not to," she said, matter-of-factly.

Ron and Harry both laughed. "Only you, Hermione," Harry teased.

She sent them a small frown, before turning her attention to Hiccup. Harry rolled his eyes and looked back to the Viking. The small dragon was still wary of the wizards, but Harry was more so. He didn't like the look of the dragon. Remembering the way he had stared him down, making him move away from the dragons at the site, it still sent shivers down his spine.

Hiccup stepped back and the dragon moved forward to meet him. Harry watched the two. They were so in sync, as though they knew everything the other would do before they did it. Harry was in awe of their bond. He had to wonder whether Hiccup was in control, or were they friends? It seemed crazy, but with everything that he'd witnessed, it was a possibility.

"You off?" Ron asked, sadness in his voice.

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. Toothless would probably like some dinner and a bit of a night flight," he replied. "Shouldn't you be in your dorms by now, anyway?"

Hermione looked at her watch and groaned. "Yeah, it's past curfew," she was annoyed, she hated being late back to the dorm since it meant they could be caught by Filch.

Hiccup grinned. "Well, I'll see you all tomorrow, then." He mounted the dragon and shot off into the sky, effortlessly taking flight.

Harry whistled lowly, in awe of the dragon's skill. How was it able to do all that? It was so small, yet Harry could tell the dragon was dangerous. Deadly, even. Why would anyone dare to challenge such a being?

Hermione hurried the three around and walked briskly to their dorm, making sure to keep her footsteps light to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Harry followed behind silently, not wanting to be caught either. It would be the last thing he needed; more attention.

Once inside, Hermione let out a breath. People in the room stared at her, thinking she was crazy. They knew who she was, the goody-two shoes. Harry chuckled internally. They didn't know half the things she did when they weren't around. Sneaking around the corridors, outside, helping Harry into town when he shouldn't have been. She wasn't the model student she liked to think she was.

"Night, Harry," Hermione said, ducking away through the crowd and towards the girl's dorm. Ron looked at Harry and they both agreed: time for bed.

The two went to their own dorm and removed their robes. They changed into comfortable sleepwear and shut their lamps off. Harry removed his glasses and closed his eyes, getting comfortable.