Harry stared angrily at the egg. He was beginning to get fed up with the stupid sounds it insisted on making, and the shiny, tempting button that made it so easy to open. His friends were annoyed as well. The number of times they'd tried to open it without it making horrible sounds was crazy. It was safe to say they weren't allowed to open the egg in the dormitory, the library, the common room, the Great Hall, the courtyard or the hallways anymore. The only safe place was near Hagrid's hut, where they were sitting at that moment.
Hermione rolled over onto her stomach, the book in her hands. Unfortunately, it was a history book, and not one that told them how to open the egg without severely damaging the eardrums of anyone in the vicinity. She was looking up the past tasks, to see if they would have any insights on the next one. Harry sighed and looked at the egg. He tossed it to the side, watching the gold shine as it rolled down the hill slowly. Ron stood up and caught it, frowning at Harry for being so childish.
"Ugh! This is so irritating!" Harry said, his frustration finally getting the better of him.
Ron and Hermione sat up, looking at him with sympathy. With the second task only four days away, things were getting pretty tight. They needed to find out what was inside the egg, and soon. Harry's life almost depended on it.
Hermione patted Harry lightly on the back. "We're going to find out, Harry. Don't worry," she said. Though her voice sounded comforting, it only made Harry feel worse. He clutched his head with his hands, angrily pulling at strands of his brown hair.
Ron rolled his eyes and pulled Harry's hands from his face. "Come on, Harry. Since when do you give up?"
Harry smiled, his lips barely turning up. Ron and Hermione grinned, knowing it was working.
"Anyway, we still have to do Snape's homework," Ron said, a slight scowl on his face. He really didn't like Professor Snape, for no real reason either. Well, Professor Snape did pick on the Gryffindor, favour the Slytherin and hate Harry with a passion, but other than that, they were sure he wasn't that bad of a guy. Sarcasm.
Hermione groaned. "You haven't done it?" Of course she had, Harry thought bitterly. The girl would be top of the class if they didn't have Snape as a teacher. She always did her work the minute she got it, maybe sooner if she had the time turner.
Harry watched Ron get progressively irritated at Hermione's nagging. "Hermione, since you've finished, perhaps you could help me."
Hermione nodded. "Because I don't do that anyway?" She was annoyed, as usual. She always helped the two boys with their homework, Potions class especially. She never seemed to really mind, though, which was why they continued getting her help for things.
"Yes," Ron said.
Hermione smiled and lay back onto the ground. They didn't have their books with them, so they would have to wait for a little while, before they went back to the common room to help with the work. That wasn't such a bad thing, really. It gave them time to rest before diving into the wonderful world of healing potions.
They lay in silence for a short time, before they were interrupted by someone standing above them. Harry looked up, recognising the person as Cedric Diggory, another of the four champions and of Hufflepuff house. They had also gone to the Quidditch World Cup with him and his father, before they had been rudely interrupted by the Death Eaters. What a night.
Harry stood up and faced the taller student. Cedric smiled. He was one of the few students that didn't hate Harry for being a part of the Tournament. Harry had also told him what the first task would be about, with the dragons and all.
"Hey, Cedric," Harry greeted. He hoped the seventh year wasn't there to see if he'd cracked the egg (literally) because he would be sorely disappointed.
Cedric nodded to Ron and Hermione, then nodded to Harry. "Hey. How you going?" he asked casually.
Harry shrugged. "Could be doing better," he replied.
Cedric smiled. "You know, the Prefect bathroom on fifth floor is a nice place to take a bath. You should take you egg up there to have a look," he said, leaning in to whisper it to him. Harry gave him a curious look, wondering what he was talking about.
Harry moved back slightly, looking into his green eyes. Cedric shrugged and smiled. "I'll see you around, Harry. Have a good one." Wow, that was one strange guy, Harry thought.
He waved farewell before Cedric turned around and left, going back to the Hufflepuff dorms. Harry turned to his friends. Hermione looked calculating while Ron just looked stunned.
"You just got invited into the Prefect bathroom!" he said. Of course, that was the thing Ron chose to focus on, Harry thought, his manner sarcastic. He didn't really mind Ron's attitude, the redhead just had a strange way of viewing the world, was all.
Harry rolled his eyes and sat back down. "Yeah. Guess I did," he agreed. He lifted the large egg into his lap and stared at it. Would Cedric have been giving him advice? Maybe, because Harry'd told him about the first task, he was giving him a hint to what the second was? Harry could only hope. Maybe the egg just needed to be around water or something...that wouldn't be strange or anything.
"Are you going to listen to his suggestion?" Hermione asked curiously, although there was disbelief and caution laced between her words. She clearly thought Cedric wouldn't want to help the fellow champion.
Harry sighed. "Hermione, what choice do I have? Honestly, this is the best bet. I'll try this, if it doesn't work, we'll go back to reading." He shuddered at the words, disliking the way it felt on his tongue. She grimaced at him, disliking the way he said it too. She was too much of a book worm.
Hermione nodded. "Alright, Harry, we'll try it your way," she said resentfully. She obviously had no hope that Cedric's suggestion would help anything and Harry didn't have much either, but he was willing to try anything at this point.
Ron scoffed. "Hermione, you can't go into the bathroom, it's a men's room," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't want to see Harry like that, anyway. Gross." She shivered, causing Harry to laugh.
"Good to know," he said lightly.
"Sorry, Harry, but you know what I mean," she quickly amended.
Harry laughed, as did Ron. "It's alright, Hermione," Harry said, accepting her apology.
She smiled happily. "Well, if that's all, we should probably start with this assignment," she said, pointedly looking at Ron. He sighed exasperatedly, not wanting to look at his Potions work. He wanted to have a day where they didn't think about the stupid subject. Of course, life didn't exactly work that way.
Kingsley stared at Razor Neck in surprise. Over the three days after Hiccup had taken the dragon for his first flight, the once dangerous and fierce dragon had changed almost completely. He would let people near him without immediately charging, allow Hiccup to touch him without getting angry, and he was also much calmer. The other keepers were extremely happy about this turn of events, and they wanted to learn everything from Hiccup.
"How did you do this?" Kingsley muttered.
Hiccup shrugged as he stretched a hand between the cage bars. Razor Neck clicked his tongue and looked at Hiccup, his eyes shining with excitement. The small cage seemed to bother the large dragon less now days, with other things to focus on. He was clearly happier than he'd been in a while because of the short flights the three would go on. Astrid had joined them as well, but Razor Neck hadn't changed his opinion of her too much.
Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Magic."
Kingsley shook his head, a small smile on his face. "Are you taking him for another flight soon?" he asked curiously.
Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. You don't mind, do you?" he asked. He didn't really care if they allowed him to or not, because he would be going anyway. Razor Neck was benefiting far too much to stop, and Toothless didn't seem to mind, either. They had thrashed Astrid in a race the previous day – it was hilarious to watch her lose.
Kingsley stepped away and looked at Hiccup. "I'll go and get the ropes," he said, turning completely to find where they had left the ropes. Hiccup knew where they were hiding them, but humoured the wizards in thinking he didn't. They didn't want him to know because they thought he would fly off with Razor Neck, which wouldn't happen unless they had all the other dragons with them as well.
Hiccup looked at Toothless, laying in the shade near Razor Neck's cage. He'd become more lenient with having Hiccup around the cage. He was still on edge, but he didn't feel the need to be in front of the boy all the time. Hiccup was very happy to know his dragon wasn't always going to be so protective over him.
Kingsley came back with the three ropes and Toothless stood up. Hiccup thanked him and watched as the rope latched onto Toothless's saddle, then joined to the large one. Razor Neck was up, already anticipating the third rope joining around his neck.
The gate of Razor Neck's cage was opened once Hiccup was sitting on his own dragon, allowing Razor Neck to take a couple of steps into the open space. He waited patiently for Hiccup to be ready, not moving an inch where he knew he wasn't supposed to. He wasn't impatient – he knew he'd be able to go for a fly in the very near future. Hiccup smiled and turned in the saddle, looking at his Viking friends. They were all sitting astride their dragons, waiting for Hiccup's command. They would be joining today's flight.
"Let's go then, gang," he said happily, leaning forward and clicking Toothless into the sky. Razor Neck shot upwards after Hiccup, not wanting to be left behind. Once they were above the trees, they waited for the other dragons to show their faces before doing their warm up laps of the forest and school. They did this every flight before a race and some fast paced work.
Astrid flew up beside Hiccup, watching Razor Neck carefully. The dragon looked so innocent in the air, watching everything with large and curious eyes. It was nothing like the dragon they'd first encountered, the one Hiccup and Toothless had both disliked with such passion. This one was a pleasure to have around, almost more so than the other dragons in the cages.
Hiccup grinned and Toothless flew forward, Razor Neck in line with their flight. The others flew several beats behind, ready to leap forward if something went wrong. Hiccup looked around as they circled the forest, seeing the animals he'd never heard of before moving below. Of course, being in the Forbidden Forest so constantly, he knew the majority of the animals, he'd just never personally met one.
Snotlout flew up to the other side of Hiccup, Hookfang shooting his hot breath as he flew. The dragon watched Razor Neck warily, having never properly met him before. "When are getting to the real stuff?" he asked, his voice as annoying as ever.
Hiccup sighed and looked to Razor Neck. "Snotlout, we've been over this. We have a warm up, have a race, then some fast work. That's the routine I would like us to get into."
Snotlout started babbling to himself about the injustice of this whole situation and flew back to where the twins and Fishlegs were seated. Astrid flew alongside Hiccup, not wanting Snotlout to come back and change the plans of the flight.
The teens finished two warm up laps and went towards the Black Lake, hovering over it. Meatlug started in front, having the unfair disadvantage of being on the slowest dragon there. Hiccup started close to the back, knowing him and Razor Neck could win easily. The only issue was Snotlout – he didn't play fair. The twins were laughing about something or other – probably relating to some sort of explosion – so Hiccup had a feeling they weren't really a part of the competition.
"Ready, set, GO!" Astrid shouted.
Everyone launched from their flight still and into their fastest speed. Toothless shot off towards the lead, easily navigating through the other dragons. Razor Neck growled loudly, manovouring his way above the others to avoid collision. Hiccup grinned as they flew nearly directly underneath the larger dragon, the others a long way back. They kept moving forward, rounding a bend.
Just like with their first race, and every race after, Razor Neck lost a small pocket of speed at the bend. He wasn't the best with tight turns. Astrid was able to shoot past, taking the lead. Hiccup squinted and leaned forward, egging his best friend on. Razor Neck didn't need the encouragement, he glared at the Nadder and leapt forwards through the air, pushing hard and gaining more speed. Toothless kept effortlessly up with the Hungarian Horntail, loving the exhilarating feel of nearly beating Astrid once again.
They rounded another corner and Razor Neck held his speed. Stormfly slowed, giving a wide berth for Hiccup to fly straight through. Just as he was about to cross the finish line, a breath of fire shot past them, catching on Toothless' tail. Hiccup yelled as the fire spread on the tail fin, burning it quickly. They could just finish the race, Hiccup thought, seeing the land in sight.
With the race being over water, it wouldn't be a very smart idea to crash there. Razor Neck watched cautiously as the Night Fury lost speed, wondering as to why it was. Hiccup looked up, then looked to where the land was. They were almost there, just a few more wing beats...
Hiccup knew the tail was out when they started to make a dive towards the land. Razor Neck was one step ahead of them and used his strength to pick the small dragon and carry much of his weight towards the land, which wasn't that far. As soon as they were over it, Toothless crashed heavily onto the ground, Razor Neck landing gently beside them.
Astrid landed near the fallen dragon and quickly jumped off, running towards Hiccup. She lifted him up, gently trying to pry him from his seat. His metal leg was clipped into the strips, proving hard to pull out of the saddle. She looked at Hiccup, who looked pretty beat up, even though he hadn't really touched the ground.
Hiccup groaned and opened his eyes, not having realised he'd closed them. Toothless lay in a heap on the ground, his red tail fin burnt off. He groaned again. That would take a while to fix and they still needed to fly Razor Neck. Toothless looked at Hiccup as he sat on the ground, the both of them straightening themselves up. Hiccup groaned as he looked at the numerous bumps and scratches on his arms and felt them on his face. Toothless didn't look too bad, his scales looking dusty but otherwise unharmed. He looked at his prosthetic leg, noting no damage done. He looked over to Astrid, sitting right beside him.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
He nodded. "I've had worse," he said.
Razor Neck walked over to Hiccup, leaning down to see if he was alright. He probably guessed there wouldn't be much of a flight now, but he didn't seem angry. However, he didn't look at Toothless, pointedly ignoring the small dragon.
Hiccup stood up, dusting his clothes off. "What happened anyway?"
Astrid stood as well, turning to glare at Snotlout. He stood on the ground, leaning against Hookfang's neck, innocent as ever. Well, that was what he was trying to look like. It wasn't working. "Snotlout didn't like you winning so Hookfang shot at your tail," she said angrily.
Hiccup shook his head, looking disappointedly at Snotlout. "You can do that kind of thing back on Berk, Snotlout, but here? With Razor Neck? We were trying for a nice routine, not a rescue!" He was getting worked up with his cousin, the one who always managed to push his buttons.
Snotlout stood up straight. "Oh, so now it's my fault?" he asked.
Astrid glared at him. "Of course it is! Your dragon shot fire directly at his tail!"
"And whose fault is it that he doesn't have a tail?" Snotlout sneered.
"Seriously? You're going there?" Hiccup asked incredulously. Toothless turned around to hiss at him, Razor Neck growling. Hiccup smirked inwardly; having the protection of two dragons was pretty neat.
Snotlout frowned. "I wouldn't have to if you weren't making such a big deal about this."
Astrid scowled. "We wouldn't have to if you refrained from nearly killing him!" she shouted.
Hiccup sighed and looked to Toothless. However annoyed he was at Snotlout, they were both fine and unharmed, which meant there was no real point to this argument. "Guys, please. We just need to figure out how we're going to get Toothless home now."
Astrid turned soft and looked at Hiccup. "We could always bring a boat around?" she suggested.
Snotlout scoffed. "A little walk isn't going to hurt him, Hiccup. Toughen up."
Astrid scowled. She was about to open her mouth when Hiccup put his hand up to stop them. "As much fun as it is to listen to you guys argue, night fall is coming soon, and I don't know about you guys, but I don't really want to miss dinner."
The twins groaned. "Snotlout!" Ruffnut moaned, stamping her foot angrily.
"Yeah, how could you do this to us?" Tuffnut agreed, his voice covered in disbelieving anger.
Hiccup rolled his eyes at the twins before looking up to Razor Neck curiously.
Astrid shook her head. "Uh, no. Hiccup, too dangerous. No way," she said firmly.
Hiccup looked at her. "What? What's the harm in trying? Astrid, come on. He's strong enough, large enough, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind," he said.
Astrid shook her head again. "I'm not letting you do it. It's too dangerous." She put more force behind her words this time.
Toothless looked at the exchange, still not understanding what they were arguing about. If something was risky for his Viking, he wanted to know, but he couldn't see anything around them that could present much of an issue, unless you counted Razor Neck, but that was different now.
Hiccup sighed. "Astrid, it's the only way to get back to the forest quickly."
Astrid shook her head once again. "We'll find another way, please, just don't." This time she was pleading.
Hiccup looked to Razor Neck. "Astrid, nothing will happen, I'll have you right beside me," he said.
Astrid looked at him, as though he'd grown another head. "You can't seriously want to do this. Please, it's too dangerous."
"Astrid, Razor Neck is the only way to get back. Maybe if I fly him, we'll get back in time," Hiccup said exasperatedly.
"Hiccup, you want to have Toothless ride on the very dragon he loathes, do you really think this wise?" she asked.
The twins looked up immediately. "You want your dragon to ride that one?" Tuffnut asked.
Ruffnut grinned. "I call dibs on the Night Fury when Hiccup falls and dies."
Hiccup shook his head, looking at everyone. "Look, it's the only way, and I'm not dying," he said pointedly towards the twins. They looked down, but rock, paper, scissored it anyway. He rolled his eyes and looked back to Astrid.
She waved her hands angrily in the air. "Fine. Fine. But I'm not cleaning up the remains," she said angrily.
Hiccup grinned and walked over to Toothless. He was looking uneasily at Hiccup, wondering exactly what the plan was. He wasn't too sure it was a smart idea, but he did trust his Viking. He had to.
"It's alright, bud, I would never let anything happen to you," Hiccup whispered, making Toothless whine. He smiled and gently scratched his head.
Hiccup walked over to Razor Neck slowly. The large dragon dropped his head to Hiccup, wondering what the holdup was. The boy reached his hand up to the dragon, meeting half way at his head. Toothless watched warily as Razor Neck rested his head under Hiccup's gentle hand. Hiccup smiled and moved his hand along the body of the large dragon, resting under his wing. Razor Neck watched curiously as he gently put pressure on the spot where he would sit. The dragon did nothing, except look curiously and watch what he was doing.
Eventually, after seemingly forever, Hiccup stepped back and allowed the dragon to have a break. Razor Neck stood patiently as Hiccup moved back towards Toothless. Astrid walked over to Hiccup, her frown present on her face. She still didn't agree with this idea, but what choice did they have? It was the only way for Hiccup to get back with Toothless safely. They couldn't very well run the way; there were too many trees and other things which blocked their way, not to mention they didn't know which way to go.
"Alright, Hiccup. We'd best get going then," Astrid said at last.
Hiccup nodded and walked back to Razor Neck. He ran his hand gently along his scales and looked into the dragons eyes briefly, before jumping carefully onto his back. Razor Neck barely made a move, already used to having a rider. Hiccup smiled and gently patted his neck, allowing him to get comfortable. He didn't seem to mind, not having anything to complain about. Hiccup wasn't being harsh, and he was letting him adjust.
Toothless whined. Hiccup looked down and realised how high up he already was and nearly paled. He was so thankful at that moment for how short Toothless really was. Hiccup watched as Toothless walked carefully towards Razor Neck, making sure not to make any sudden movements. He didn't want Hiccup getting injured.
Hiccup gently tapped Razor Neck, giving him a look. The dragon seemed to understand and walked towards Toothless. The movement startled Hiccup, not realising how smooth a ride Toothless really was. He rolled his eyes to himself, holding onto one of the many horns the Horntail had. Toothless stood still, wings closed into his body, as Razor Neck picked him up with his sharp claws, resting the small near black but blue dragon carefully in his talons. Hiccup smiled. Neither would like this very much, but it was the only way.
Razor Neck launched into the air, causing Hiccup to lean back slightly. Toothless watched Hiccup the entire way, making sure he stayed put on the back of the dragon. Astrid flew dutifully next to Hiccup, with Fishlegs flying close to Toothless. Razor Neck made happy sounds from his mouth as they finished their cool down lap of the school and headed back to the Forbidden Forest. Hiccup kept talking to both Toothless and Razor Neck, making sure they understood nothing bad would happen.
Astrid looked pale as a ghost as they made their way back. Hiccup knew she would only feel better once he was off the dragon and on the ground with Toothless, but Hiccup didn't feel insecure at all, no matter how tall the dragon was or how dangerous he had been. Now he was a dragon with needs, just like all the others. He was special too, and Hiccup would never forget him.
As they landed in the clearing, Razor Neck dropped Toothless before landing. Toothless scurried away from the large claws, glad to be free. The Horntail landed heavily on the ground, a jolt moving through Hiccup. He smiled and stayed still for a second, allowing the dragon to get used to the feeling, before sliding carefully down his scales and onto the ground.
Razor Neck stood patiently as Hiccup released the rope and led him back to his cage. He went inside, knowing dinner would be next. Hiccup blatantly ignored the rest of the teens, not wanting to talk to them. They would all just say how incredibly stupid the whole ordeal had been, but Hiccup couldn't really care less.
Toothless sat next to Hiccup once they'd fed the large dragon and then demanded some attention. Hiccup laughed and hugged him, surprising the small dragon. "I'll fix your tail. I promise you won't have to go through that again," he swore.
Astrid walked over to Hiccup, a disapproving look on her face. "I can't believe you just did that."
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Astrid, I'm alive, aren't I?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips.
Astrid scowled. "That's beside the point."
She didn't get to say anything else as two keepers walked over to them – Kingsley and Charlie. Hiccup looked at the shocked faces and knew they were in for it. All they needed now was for Dumbledore to find out he had been flying on the dragon and they were good to go.
Charlie scowled at Hiccup. "What was that?" he asked, his voice a mix of anger and shock. It was most likely he was surprised the tiny Viking had ridden such a large dragon, and let his own be carried in the claws of the same one.
Hiccup shrugged as Astrid stepped forward, fully prepared to answer. "That was Hiccup averting a crisis," she said.
Charlie shook his head and then his fist angrily towards Razor Neck. "You're supposed to train it, not ride it like your pet!"
Hiccup looked towards Razor Neck, then to Toothless. He didn't seem to like being called a pet, much less being compared to Razor Neck. "I was simply getting home. Toothless's tail fin was burnt," he sent a shooting glare at Snotlout, "so we had no way of getting back."
Charlie scowled. It seemed like all this guy ever did was scowl. "You should have asked for assistance, and we would have helped you get back."
Hiccup laughed. "That's rich! You would have just left Toothless there and hurt Razor Neck. I don't care what you say. Neither of them were harmed, Toothless didn't have to work, and Razor Neck is now calmer than before. As I see it, you should be thanking me."
"Thanking you? Thanking you? What have you done here to help?" Charlie demanded, stepping dangerously closer to Hiccup. Toothless snarled and walked forwards, baring his teeth and hissing. However, this did not deter the wizard.
"Other than taking care of this dragon and helping you with the dragon tournament? Everything," Hiccup retorted. Ok, so he might have been a bit dramatic, but his meaning was clear. They had done so much to help around the place and they weren't receiving anything for their work.
Charlie took another step forwards, now directly in front of Hiccup. He was much taller than him, glaring down into Hiccup's green eyes with distaste evident in them. "Please. We could have done it on our own."
A loud and ferocious yell stopped him in his tracks, making him flinch. Hiccup turned in surprise to see a fully battle ready Razor Neck standing in his cage. Hiccup looked to Toothless, who was looking much the same way. Razor Neck flared his wings and pressed his bared teeth against the bars.
Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, you seemed to be doing just fine when I first came here."
Charlie glared more forcefully at Hiccup, a smirk present on his face. "If I recall, you had some issues as well."
"Because he didn't trust me because of the way you treated him," Hiccup shouted, losing his temper. How dare he put the blame on him? Hiccup was only there to save the lives of the dragons, not to mess his own up more.
Astrid stepped forwards, Stormfly following suit. Hiccup knew the Nadder wasn't going to help, Astrid could handle things on her own. "You're just selfish. You take all the credit for our work without thinking about how we feel."
Charlie smirked again, regaining his cool gaze. "It is us who look after the dragons when you are not here, which is more often than not."
Hiccup looked to Astrid as she snorted. "Yeah, because you do such a great job, too."
Charlie scowled and Kingsley stepped forwards. "Look, everyone just calm down," he said, raising his hands to stop the verbal war.
Snotlout stepped forwards. "Easy for you to say, you're just as bad as him." He gestured his thumb towards Charlie who snorted indignantly.
Hiccup sighed. "Guys, enough. It doesn't matter. We have a few months left and then we're out of here. We can put up with them for a little longer," he said exasperatedly.
Astrid looked at him, confused. "Few more months?" she asked, surprised and angry at the same time.
Charlie was the one who answered, in a way of not really answering at all. "So Dumbledore told you what we wanted from you?" he asked.
Hiccup scowled and stepped back towards Toothless and Razor Neck. "Yes, he told me. I will not show you everything I worked hard to learn, but I guess some can be shown," he said, looking at Toothless and turning his back on the wizards.
Astrid walked over to Hiccup, confused. "What?" she asked.
Hiccup looked down and looked at her. "He asked me to teach the wizards everything we know about the dragons."
She glared at the ground. "And you agreed?"
"Astrid, what choice did I have? Seriously, tell me?" he asked.
She sighed. "You're right. But we can always give them false techniques and information," she suggested, an idea forming in her head. Hiccup smiled.
Hiccup turned back to the keepers. "Right. Now that this is resolved, we'll be going to dinner."
"Finally! I thought we'd never leave!" Ruffnut whined, stomping off towards the castle. Hiccup laughed at her.
Astrid waited for Hiccup to say his farewell to Razor Neck, before she left with him and Stormfly. Toothless lagged behind, attention completely focused on the keepers. He wanted to make sure they didn't try anything as they left, and Hiccup was pleased to see such a reaction out of his weary best friend.
Harry grinned at his friends, finishing his relation of the story of the egg. It hadn't been false, it was a trick. He replayed the scene happily in his head. Of course, now there was the bigger issue of how to breathe under water. For an hour. His friends were sure that would be the easy part, and Harry thought so too. If he hadn't taken the tip from Cedric, he might never have found out what it was all about.
Harry sat down in the warm water, bubbles swirling around his midsection. The golden egg sat on the side of the bath, watching him. Harry glared at it, annoyed. He'd tried opening it again, but it didn't work. Maybe Cedric had just been playing with him. Harry sighed.
"Try putting it in the water," a girl's voice startled Harry, making him jump. The voice giggled and Harry looked around, recognising the ghostly form of Moaning Myrtle.
"What are you doing here?" he stuttered, trying to cover his body with as many bubbles as he feasibly could. Myrtle laughed, a high pitched squeaky sound, and flew towards the statue in the bath. She circled it for a minute before looking at Harry.
"Aren't you going to try it?" she asked.
Harry looked confused. "Try what?" he asked.
She laughed and flew closer, making Harry move away, trying to seem subtle. It was hard with the ghost trying to press her transparent form closer to him with every move either made.
"Putting it in the water. That's what that other boy did," she said.
"Cedric?" he asked, surprised.
She nodded and giggled again. Harry looked at the egg thoughtfully. It was worth a shot, really. He was willing to try anything at this point.
Harry moved away from Myrtle to grab the egg, then held it over the water. He dipped it in and opened it, watching as a gold glow emanated from within. He was pleased that there wasn't any screaming, so he dipped his head under and was immediately engulfed in the pretty sound of singing. It was certainly pleasant compared to the other sounds the golden egg tended to make.
'Come and seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
But apast an hour, the prospects black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'
Harry popped back to the surface, breathing deeply. He looked at the egg as he closed it, confused. What had it all meant? The only thing he could think of was swimming.
"Myrtle, are there mermaids in the black lake?" he asked, completely genuine.
Myrtle giggled. "Very good, took the other boy ages to figure it out," she said, floating closer to Harry. He looked to her, a smile on his face, then back to the egg. Now the only problem was breathing for an hour.
Hermione grinned as she talked to Harry. They were all happy they'd found the mystery of the egg. Now it was really up to her, for reading and figuring out a spell which would allow him to breathe for an hour underwater was her area of expertise. Surely it wouldn't be too hard?
The large doors to the Great Hall opened and the golden trio looked up. The Vikings strolled in, all looking very tired, rather late for their dinner. The twins immediately sat down and started eating, with Snotlout not far behind. Harry looked away from them, towards the Hufflepuff table, coincidently at the same time Cho Chang turned her head. He blushed and looked away, back to his friends.
Hiccup sat down and leant against Astrid, sighing deeply. Harry looked at him, wondering what the matter was. He sat next to Hiccup, with Hermione on the other side of the table across from Harry. Ron sat next to Harry, looking at the Vikings as well.
"What happened?" Harry asked, confused and curious.
Hiccup sighed and sat up straight, after a shove from Astrid of course. "It's nothing. We were having a race and someone burnt Toothless's tail, so we crashed. And you know, Charlie got angry. It wasn't really our fault, though."
Ron looked up. "That's Charlie for you; he's pretty protective of family," he said, as though that explained everything.
Hiccup looked to Astrid. "Ron, brother or not, they're being very rude to us, and we won't tolerate such feats," she said.
Hermione looked at her and smiled. "That's a good attitude to have, so long as you're not retaliating or causing it yourself."
"How? We didn't even know wizards existed until a few months ago. So you know, it's not actually our fault," Astrid said.
Fishlegs looked up from his books and shook his head. "There have been several mentions of wizards in the past few years, you just have to read the right books," he said, matter-of-factly.
Hiccup and Astrid turned their heads, shocked. "What?"
Fishlegs swallowed the food, ready to explain. "Well, there have been books – they were hard to find, too – about a group of wizards who wanted our help to kill others. Apparently, in exchange for our help, they would kill the dragons. That was about the time when your grandfather was chief, Hiccup."
Hiccup looked down. "You knew this, and you didn't think to tell us?" he asked, shock and anger leaking into his voice.
Fishlegs nodded, not seeing what the issue was. "Yeah. Well, according to the books, the alliance has gone, but it can always come back if the one who initiated it states so. Apparently he is the most powerful dark wizard, but I can't remember his name. vole mould?" he said, trailing off into a haze as he tried to remember what the name had been.
"Voldemort?" Hermione suggested.
Fishlegs nodded and pointed his finger triumphantly. "Yeah, that one – wait, how do you know?" he asked, pausing.
Hermione looked to Harry. He sighed. "He's the darkest wizard. He killed my parents and gave me this." He gestured towards his lightning scar. All the Vikings gasped, the twins marvelling at the scar and not registering what the wizard had just said. Harry rolled his eyes and continued. "Anyway, he supposedly died, but I don't think he ever did."
Hiccup looked worriedly towards Astrid and Fishlegs. "If he comes back, he could make us kill people," he said dejectedly.
"And now we've got dragons..." Astrid trailed off.
"There's no telling how many wizards we could kill!" Fishlegs concluded, worried.
Hiccup shook his head, finally seeing it, finally knowing the truth. He understood why Dumbledore was acting the way he was, why he had kept them here for the rest of the year, why he was watching them like a hawk, how he knew they didn't fight the dragons, and even why he'd brought dragons into the first task. It was all part of his plan to make sure they weren't going to help Voldemort.
"The contract...it's not up to us, is it?" he asked.
Fishlegs shook his head. "No, it never was. In one of the texts, it mentions that Haddock was forced, some of his dear ones killed. The contract will never become invalid...well, there was one way, but that's too stupid," he said slowly.
"Fishlegs, we can't kill wizards, dragons or people. And we certainly can't let any of our own men die because of this stupid contract and one silly dark wizard," Astrid said.
Hermione looked at them. "He's not silly. He's the most powerful dark wizard of all time, someone you shouldn't mess with."
Astrid shook her head. "I refuse to believe there isn't anything we can do."
"What's the way to stop it, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked, ignoring the girls' argument.
Fishlegs looked down. "I don't know, the page cut off. It only said that there was a way to stop it, but it didn't say how."
Hermione perked up. She grinned and looked towards her friends, then to the Vikings. "We might have a copy of the book. We have nearly every book in the library here, maybe even yours. We can help!" she said happily.
Harry shook his head slowly. "Can we at least wait until after the second task, please? I don't want to drown."
Hermione looked apologetically at the Vikings. "Of course. The priority at the moment is Harry."
"Library huh? Need some help?" Fishlegs asked.
"You good with books?"
All the Vikings started to laugh. Snotlout pretended to roll a tear away with his finger, finding the question hilarious. Harry looked to Hermione curiously, wondering what it was all about. Fishlegs looked to Hermione, the first to calm down.
"Sorry. Back at Berk, its standard knowledge that I've read most of the texts and can remember almost all of it. Hiccup comes a close second of course," he said quickly, looking towards Hiccup.
Hermione smiled. "Well, we have to find a spell that will allow Harry to breathe underwater. Are you up for it?" she asked.
He grinned. "Always."
Ruffnut and Tuffnut glared at them. "Keep your flirting to a minimum please," Tuffnut groaned.
Hermione blushed as everyone else laughed.
The conversation they'd had previously apparently forgotten, they enjoyed their dinner. Harry couldn't help but worry for the safety of the small Viking, the one who would have to worry more about the contract than they had. It seemed as though it was all the beginning of a very dangerous road, one which wizards and Vikings would have to work together to escape alive.