Yes, I am back! Please excuse me for the long date, I have school, and life problems to deal with and… yeah. Anyways, sorry for the long wait…
1 One Piece Fan: Of course. I've lost inspiration for one or two of my stories, but I'll make sure I'll hopefully not abandon this story. And yeah, my writing skills are a bit rusty, but I hope I get better at this. A LOT. Thank you for your review!
Sakura Lisel: Thanks for pointing that out. And thanks for saying you love my story! I was happy! And for the speaking and reading English… *scratches head* no offence, but like most writers, I don't pay attention to that. Sumimasen (sorry). Thing is, for this story, they can SPEAK English, but Dumbledore's put a charm that translates English to Norse. He'll have to put a charm on Hic and Astrid when they got Hogwarts, so they can read English during school lessons. The charm takes a long time to wear off, perhaps a month, so…. yeah. Thanks for bringing that up, and yes, you are right in saying Dumbledore will put in translator spells. And as for modern technology… oh gods, I have been giving this quite a think, because in my two other stories, HTTYD and HP are set in different timelines, so my best saying is that the Vikings are doing stuff the 'Viking way', so they aren't bothered to use much tech. They're happy anyways like that. I think that covers everything - arigato gozaimasu (thank you) for the review!
MollyHooper (guest): Thank you SO much for your review and the fact you like this story! I hope I can keep you gripped onto it! (No guarantee or promises, though! ;)
Ender Princess Faeron: Yup, there'll be more, don't worry. It's just taking a while for me to update the chapters, which so much stuff in my life going on, but… yeah. Thanks for the review!
I've done my best to put in a huge chapter for you… so… ENJOY!
Chapter 3 - The Boy Who Lived
Mrs Weasley, being the nice, caring housewife she was, let Hiccup have extra servings of dinner ("Come on, Hiccup, you look sickly thin, you might get ill because of your weight, have some more…" "But Mrs Weasley, I couldn't, it's alright…" "Nonsense, dearest, eat lots, I cooked plenty, I'll always make some more if we run out…") so Hiccup was feeling extremely full.
Well, that was yesterday. Hiccup yawned, rubbing his eyes and stretching his eyes, noticing a small cobweb hanging like a thin piece of string on the ceiling. He rubbed the window to see clearer through it, and looked out. He saw Toothless's tail, but the rest of him was hidden ("Best to keep the dragons out o' sight for a while, might cause the wizards panic…" Mad-Eye had said); then the tail disappeared.
"Morning," yawned Ron, from the bed opposite Hiccup's, stretching his arms sideways. "What time is it?"
"Dunno," Hiccup replied absentmindedly.
"What are ya lookin' at?" Ron asked.
"No… nothing. Just… just trying to accustom myself into a life of wizards."
Ron smirked. He gave Hiccup a thumbs up. "Hey, man, don't worry. You'll be fine. And if you need help, you can ask me. But if it's for educational stuff, give Hermione a holler." He pointed at her, still asleep, and next to her were a group of books. "You can also talk to Harry too - I mean, you have to protect him, right?"
Hiccup sighed. At least they were able to change the subject. He didn't want to stop thinking about his faithful dragon, his first and best friend, but he didn't want anyone else to find out about him. Especially when he had just arrived just the night before, he thought. "Well, Harry Potter… like, he was the guy who vanquished Lord Voldemort, right?"
Ron flinched at the name. "Just say You-Know-Who, won't you? Even your mom doesn't speak You-Know-Who's name."
"Albus Dumbledore says it." Hiccup tried to shake off the fact about his mother flinching at Voldemort's name - the wizards had their reasons for being scared of Voldemort - according to Moody, he terrorised wizards and witches all over Britain, winning himself followers for hating Muggles and Muggle-borns, and killing them, but Valka? His own mother? It confused him.
"Yeah, but that's Dumbledore." Ron pinched the bridge of his nose. "And Harry says it too. Don't tell him this, but it is annoying how he keeps on saying it. And you're thinking, yeah, yeah, well, he defeated You-Know-Who was he was only a baby, but… yeah, still."
"Well, I guess that is kind of true." Hiccup tapped his index finger against his lap. "Harry's coming here, right? Dumbledore kinda said I had to protect him, along with Astrid."
"Yeah, Mum said in a week…" Ron frowned. "He kept on wanting info from us, but we wrote in our letters and in his birthday card that we couldn't write any important information that could be intercepted."
"And Dumbledore made us swear not to tell Harry information, I guess," said a sad female voice behind the two males. Hermione had woken up. "Poor Harry, he's all cooped up in that Privet Drive place, with his horrible aunt and uncle…"
"Huh?" Hiccup looked at Hermione curiously.
"Harry's got a really mean uncle and aunt," explained Hermione. "He says they don't really care about him - they're Muggles - non-magic peoples - and they don't like magic, and they don't treat him properly, like true family."
Hiccup felt strange - Harry - whatever he looked like - living in an abusive place, with no-one but his horrible aunt and uncle, not letting him use magic, or treating him like a true member of the family. He always felt like, since Harry was famous, even though his parents had died, Harry was living in luxurious conditions, with lots of wealth and riches, in a mansion, probably.
It made Hiccup grateful he had such a good father to rely on, as well as a loving mother.
"Yeah," agreed Ron. Then he lowered his voice: "Mind you, I've seen Harry's uncle and cousin at King's Cross, and boy, they are so, so, so fat."
"Ron!" said Hermione indignantly.
"I'm only speaking the truth!" protested Ron, and Hermione slapped him.
"So in a week," Hiccup said, folding his arms.
"Yup," said Ron. "He'd better come soon."
"RON! HERMIONE! HICCUP!" came Mrs Weasley's voice from downstairs. "BREAKFAST!"
"Coming," called Ron and Hermione, and they turned to Hiccup. "Come on, let's go downstairs, Mum makes the best food…"
Hiccup didn't feel the mood to head downstairs. He wasn't hungry. "I'll have to go change my clothes," he said, and as soon as the two wizard and witch teens left, he grabbed the pile of clothes someone (most likely Mrs Weasley) had left on the bedtable - then changed into those clothes and reluctantly headed downstairs, where his breakfast was waiting.
0-0-0-0-0
One week later
Hiccup frowned. He was partially tired. At least Astrid was with him - Valka was attending an Order of the Phoenix meeting (why the heck couldn't he join? He was 20, for Thor's sake!). Ron was playing Exploding Snap with them (he always kept on losing at that); Hermione, on the other hand, was reciting facts about something called 'Ancient Runes' in a stressed voice.
"You seem worried," noticed Astrid.
"Yeah, come play Exploding Snap with us," suggested Hiccup.
Hermione shook her head, and went back to memorising and reciting facts.
"Don't mind her," said Ron, placing a card down. "She's really bent up about educational stuff, she always reads and revises even during the school holidays - and you've already finished your homework - and they're always good - that essay for Binns was two and a half feet longer than what was told, and the writing's tiny."
"Don't be absurd, Ron," Hermione said indignantly. "Fifth-year's O.W.L YEAR, so we all better revise to get good grades. These scores depend on our future careers!"
Hiccup stopped. "What's O.W.L?" voicing out also Astrid's question.
"Ordinary Wizarding Level," said Ron gloomily. "This year's meant to be tough because of it. It's a bunch of exams; both theory - like, answering and writing down stuff and practical - actual magic, y'know. It tests on how much we know over the years we've been taught at Hogwarts."
Hiccup, as well as Astrid, might as well have lost their lives to that news. "WHAT?!" they exclaimed.
"We don't know magic!" Hiccup said. "We're meant to protect Harry!"
"How are we going to adjust to this year?!" asked Astrid.
Hermione bit her lip. "Well, you can always borrow my books-"
"Oh, great," Ron frowned, "I feel sorry for you guys." His tone sounded genuinely authentic. "Extra revising, more memorising, learning five years' worth of spells…"
Hiccup almost fainted.
"Ron!" Hermione said, punching him on the shoulder hard ("OUCH, you son - no, daughter of a -" and Ron erupted in so much swear words and cussing Hermione punched him again). "You're putting pressure on them!" she turned to Astrid and said, "Don't worry, you'll get through them just fine, everyone does-"
Then the door opened. Ron and Hermione abruptly ceased their panic and stress over O.W.L.s , and they raced to the door. Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon (seriously, that was worse than what Tuffnut would name him), zoomed excitedly around them.
"Who's that?" asked Hiccup, but he had a hunch already on who it was. He watched as Hermione gave the figure a big bear hug.
"HARRY!" Hermione grinned at them. "Ron, it's Harry!"
Ron smirked and went over to Hermione. Astrid glanced at Hiccup, then mouthed Harry… Harry Potter?
I think so, Hiccup mouthed back. I mean, there's only been one Harry the whole place's been mentioning about…
Hiccup knew quite a bit about Harry by now, by asking numerous Order of the Phoenix members. Harry Potter, the famous Boy Who Lived, was now fifteen years of age now, and he had been caught in a 'Dementor' attack (whatever Dementors were), and was sentenced to a hearing. Hiccup didn't quite understand everything, but he remembered thinking, Gee, life for Harry must seem tough, huh?
"Harry, m'boy, good to see you, man!" Ron ruffled a bush of black hair, then Hiccup finally saw the great and famous boy who lived - Harry Potter.
He had messy, unkempt hair that stuck up at the back, like Hiccup (except his didn't stick up at the back, and Harry's hair wasn't worthy of being called oversized, like Hiccup's), He had baggy clothes - a red jacket numerous sizes too large for him, and a pair of glasses. Then Hiccup noticed a scar on the left side of his forehead. A scar shaped like lightning… it was a reminder of the curse that almost took Harry's life. It was partially depressing to Hiccup.
Hermione kept on asking Hiccup, in a fast voice, whether Harry had been mad at her and Ron, protesting against Harry's wrongful accusation and his summoning to a hearing, and how 'using magic during an emergency' was allowed in the 'Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery', whatever that was. Thankfully, Ron had been able to calm Hermione down, and to give Harry some breathing space, then Hiccup almost got scratched in the head by a powerful hoot of a certain snowy owl flying towards her master.
"Hedwig!" Harry grinned. Ron talked about how she had pecked them for answers (Hiccup remembered that, he'd tried prying her away from the two teens, but she wouldn't budge), and Harry replying by saying, "Oh, sorry about that, you know, I'd just wanted answers-"
"We've tried to tell you what's been going on, you know, mate," explained Ron, "but-"
"I know, I know," Harry finished. "Hermione's already told me, Dumbledore made you swear not to tell me, I know."
"Dumbledore thought it was best for your sake," said Hermione. She glanced at Hiccup and Astrid, then administered a look of surprise, and said: "Wait, Harry, we have to introduce you."
"To whom?" Harry asked. "The rest of this Order-"
Ron laughed, "Ha, not really. They're in this room, you know, you probably haven't noticed 'em, but they really are members of the Order." The redhead pointed at Hiccup and Astrid, and Harry's green eyes met Hiccup's.
"They're… they're newcomers to the Order," said Hermione, and Hiccup suspected she did not want to tell Harry the full truth. "This is Hiccup Haddock, and Astrid Hofferson, Harry. Hiccup, Astrid, Harry Potter." She bent down and whispered in Harry's ear, though Hiccup heard her, "They're five years older than us."
Somehow, Hiccup's excitement to meeting a famous wizard had wavered away over the time he'd spent in Grummauld Place. He'd met numerous members of the Order; he'd met Albus Dumbledore - what more could he want? Instead, for politeness, he cleared his throat and said: "Pleased to meet you, Harry." Astrid copied.
Harry blinked. His mouth twitched a little. "Your name's Hiccup?"
"Yeah."
"Is it a nickname, for, you know, Henry, or Harold, or Henderson or something….?"
Hiccup shook his head. "Nah, Hiccup. Hiccup Haddock."
Harry smirked. "'Kay." Then he said: "You didn't seem too… honoured."
"'Bout what?"
"Meeting me. Harry Potter. You know, that stuff… the Boy Who Lived and all that…"
"Oh… should I feel honoured?"
"You don't have to. Actually, I'm relieved. Pleased to meet you, Hiccup." He held out his hand. Hiccup shook it, and gestured for Astrid to do so. "This is Astrid Hofferson, as was said before," Hiccup said, and as she shook his hand, Ron whispered with a volume that only Hiccup and Harry could hear, "Careful. That Astrid's tougher than Hermione. I've seen her hit Hiccup. It's scary." Hermione seemed to hear, and nudged the redhead, hissing, "Ron!"
Harry now turned to his two best friends. "So, what's been up? Been having fun without me, laughing your heads up without me, being stuck with the Dursleys, huh?"
Hiccup noticed Harry's tone as he spoke the last sentence with coldness, and a little spite and envy.
Hermione and Ron's smiles wavered. "Well," began Hermione, "Dumbledore thought it was best for you to stay with the Muggles-"
"I was attacked by Dementors!" Harry interrupted.
"Well… he's had people from the Order track you, you know, watch you in Privet Drive…"
"We know about Mundungus Fletcher, mate," said Ron. "Dumbledore found out, too. He went ballistic. Even worse than Mum with Fred and George, I reckon. Dumbledore was really scary. He was shouting at Mundungus, louder than a Howler."
Hiccup tried to imagine that friendly wizard he'd met a week before, Albus Dumbledore, go all hysterical over someone. He couldn't. And what the Helheim was a Howler?
"Well," said Harry coldly, "I'm glad he left us there. Because if he didn't, I would've not ended up doing the Patronus Charm, and Dumbledore could've kept me shut up in a Privet Drive, and I wouldn't have to go to the stupid hearing."
"But aren't you worried?" asked Hermione anxiously.
"No, why?" Harry sounded defiant, but both Hiccup and Astrid and his friends noticed that his words lacked conviction. "So… why was I there for most of the summer? Why was Dumbledore keeping me in the dark?"
"Well, mate…" Ron was nervous. "We asked Dumbledore to tell you about the stuff going on, right? But he's been extremely busy, we only saw him twice since we both arrived, and it was a completely short time that he stayed." Ron continued on, saying that Dumbledore made them swear not to tell Harry anything, especially by owl, for fear of the letters being intercepted.
"But aren't there ways to talk to me without using owls?" asked Harry.
For some reason, Hiccup thought of the tawny owl that stayed with him, even after delivering the letter. He was currently with Valka, now, but he didn't feel like he wanted him. After all, if Toothless were to get a hold of him…
Toothless… he was still hiding behind the Black house, wasn't he? So were Stormfly and Cloudjumper… Mad-Eye had also told him that the dragons would be extremely useful for a 'cover story', but what was the cover story about? Whenever he asked a member of the Order, they would shrug and say they didn't know, or say that now wasn't the time.
And what were the others on Berk doing? Hiccup had no hard time imagining the twins, pulling pranks on the whole of Berk, dedicating their lives to Loki, the prankster god… Fishlegs, studying the Book of Dragons while at the same time, feeding rocks to Meatlug… and Snotlout, doing something stupid, probably, and getting 'tortured' by Hookfang. Whatever they were doing, Hiccup bet it was much better than being here in a dusty house that only wizards could see, wearing modern Muggle attire under a wizard's robe, waiting for the Hogwarts school year to arrive.
Hiccup wanted to think about more topics lingering in his mind since he'd arrived at Grimmauld Place, but was shaken out of his thoughts by Harry, now yelling at Ron and Hermione.
"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE ORDER'S MEETINGS, NO BIG DEAL, HUH? YOU BOTH HAVE BEEN SITTING HERE, LAUGHING YOUR HEADS OFF, ALL WITHOUT ME-"
"Harry-" Ron began, but Harry acted as if Ron hadn't said his name. Suddenly, Harry started asking them about who had done the feats of bravery throughout their school years at Hogwarts, feats Hiccup had been told of: saving the Philosopher's Stone; defeating Tom Riddle, the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets; saving the others from Dementors (Hiccup still didn't fully understand what they were, except that they were all doom-y and gloomy and they could suck out his soul with a single 'kiss'); facing the Triwizard Tournament (Hiccup wished he was there, there were DRAGONS there); seeing Lord Voldemort and fighting him and escaping from him). Hiccup knew Harry was angry, was hurt, was bitter, furious, frustrated - he'd felt like that a few times in his life - especially before Toothless had arrived in his life.
"BUT NO, THEY DON'T BOTHER TO TELL ME, THE HARRY POTTER WHO'S SURVIVED EVERYTHING, THEY DON'T EVEN THINK OF TELLING ME WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH LORD VOLDEMORT AND THIS ORDER!"
Hiccup stood. He noticed Ron looked stunned, and Hermione looking as if she was about to start bawling her eyes out. "Harry, please, stop-"
"SHUT UP!" Harry roared at Hiccup, and the young Viking flinched, and sat back down. He gently pushed Astrid back to her seat as she stood, ready to defend Hiccup, and thought that he'd better not interrupt, and wait for all his feelings to erupt out of him. They'd been confined for a long time, he thought sadly. Harry turned back to his friends - or, rather, in the current situation, the two people who he wanted to shout out the most.
"YOU POSSIBLY COULDN'T SEND ME AN OWL, OR EVEN A LITTLE CODED MESSAGE OR ANYTHING, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR-"
"Harry, he did, he did-" Hermione began, and wiped a tear from her cheek.
"I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE WITH THE FREAKIN' DURSLEYS FOR FOUR WEEKS STRAIGHT, TRYING TO FISH NEWSPAPERS OUT OF BINS, TRYING TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WIZARDING WORLD, TRYING TO SEE WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING LATELY-"
"But-"
"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE ALL BEEN STAYING HERE WHILE I'VE BEEN IN PRIVET DRIVE, LAUGHING AND JOKING WITH THESE TWO, HUH?" Harry pointed at Hiccup and Astrid.
"We're telling the truth, mate-" began Ron.
"Oh, Harry, we're sorry, I'm sorry!" Hermione said, blinking back tears. "You're right, Harry, we're sorry, if I were you, I wouldn't have liked it either?"
"But you're not me, aren't you, Hermione," said Harry meanly. "You haven't lost your parents and been sent to some horrible relatives. You haven't escaped from Lord Voldemort like I have. You weren't attacked by Dementors this summer. You-"
"You lay off of her!" Ron said angrily.
Hiccup stood once again, and spoke gently. He didn't want another fight, especially one between close friends. "That's enough, the three of you." He glanced at Hermione, sobbing quietly; Ron, handing her a handful of tissues; and Harry, breathing deeply, then walking to and fro across the room.
"So, where is this place, anyway?" Harry asked, and Hiccup instantly knew that his anger had not instantly wavered away after him yelling.
"It's the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," said Ron and Hermione in unison. Hiccup was pleased, that neither of them sounded angry, and that they had gotten over it.
"And does anyone mind telling me what it is?" Harry raised an eyebrow at Hiccup and Astrid. "Or Dumbledore made you all swear-"
"It's a secret society, you know, it's led by Dumbledore, he had it during the First Wizarding War against You-Know-Who," Hermione answered quietly.
"Who's in it?" he asked quickly.
"Lots of people," replied Ron. "We've met quite a few of 'em. I think the people who picked you up - all members of the Order. We've met about twenty of them, but I think there's heaps more. And," Ron gestured to Hiccup and Astrid, "they're part of the Order of the Phoenix too."
Harry raised his eyebrows at the two Vikings, but said nothing. He turned back to Ron and Hermione, demanding answers.
"For what?"
"Voldemort!" Harry said angrily, ignoring Ron's flinches at the name. "What's he up to? Where's he now? What're we doing to stop him?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, Harry, we don't really know. All that information is for Order members only. It's only in their meetings. So we don't really know the details-"
Hermione's voice went to a halt as Harry turned to Hiccup. "So," he said very rudely, and Hiccup mentally decided to dismiss the rudeness in his voice, "You two're members of the Order, right?"
"Yes, but-"
"Tell me all you know about Voldemort."
Hiccup managed to lock his eyes with Harry's, a pair of green eyes meeting another. "I haven't been to any of the meetings," he admitted. "Neither has Astrid. We'll be attending meetings in the future, though."
"And we've made Hiccup promise to tell us all of the info he gets," Ron managed a smirk.
"So you don't know?" Harry asked.
Hiccup shook his head, and luckily, Astrid spoke for him. "Not really," she replied, "but we've all got a general idea to what's going on-"
"-thanks to Fred and George's Extendable Ears," finished Ron.
Ron went on to explain to Harry that the Extendable Ears were magical hearing devices, but they had to temporarily postpone their uses, thanks to Mrs Weasley finding out about them, and the twins forced to hide them to make sure their mother didn't find them.
"But we already know quite a bit," smiled Hermione. "I mean, some of the Order are tracking certain Death Eaters," and, just in case Hiccup and Astrid didn't understand, she added: "Death Eaters are You-Know-Who's followers."
"I know," Hiccup nodded. "Dumbledore told me."
Harry cast Hiccup a gaze Hiccup couldn't exactly translate, but Hiccup guessed that Harry was jealous - jealous of Hiccup, for meeting Dumbledore, while he was most likely rotting in Privet Drive. Hiccup felt sorry for him.
"So… most of the Order are tailing Death Eaters, right?" Ron continued for Hermione. "There's also some who are recruiting new members for the Order, and some are guarding something."
"We think it's some kind of weapon," Hiccup quipped. He remembered how he'd eavesdropped on the meeting with Astrid, Hermione and George Weasley. "They're always talking about guarding something or other."
"How do you know it's not about me they're talking about?" asked Harry, sounding more calmed down now.
"It's not, we've made sure, we thought it was you at first, but then we found out it wasn't," Hermione reassured him.
"So what else have you all been doing besides eavesdropping on the meetings?" Harry asked. "You should be busy… you said you were…"
"Oh, we have," Ron snorted. "We've been cleaning out the house. On Mum's order, of course. She let Hiccup and Astrid and Valka-"
"Valka?"
"Oh, she's the third person coming with them," Ron pointed at the Vikings. "Member of the Order also, she's a nice woman. I wish Mum was more like her," Ron looked at Hiccup. "She's Hiccup's mother."
"Yes, but get to the point, Ron," said Hermione. "We've been cleaning out the house, it's filthy."
"Yeah, and Mum let Hiccup and the others be free from cleaning Doxy eggs," said Ron sadly.
"Until we decided to help, and insisted," Hiccup put in.
"Yes, and tomorrow, I think we'll all be dealing with the drawing room tomorrow- ARGH!"
A large CRACK filled the room, and, after Hiccup and Astrid flinching from the surprise, Fred and George Weasley were there. They'd did something called Apparition. Wizarding terms flew around Hiccup in his head, despite everyone explaining the meanings and definitions to him. It was annoying.
"Yo, Harry," Fred - or was it George? At least the twins back home on Berk were recognisable - "we thought we'd heard you."
"Yeah," the other twin agreed. "The whole world could hear your shouting, y'know."
Ignoring Hermione's angry protests of them 'doing that all the time and scaring the living daylights out of her', the twins grinned. "We passed our Apparition test, you know."
"Yeah, I saw," replied Harry.
"Apparition is amazing, you'll love it when you do it, and time is Galleons, guys, and-"
What else was so amazing about Apparition, no-one ever heard, as the door flung open and Hiccup realised it was Ginny. She waved hello to Harry, then turned to her brothers, saying that nothing was to be done in order to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"Blimey, Mum's really upping the ante," Fred muttered. The group went on to discuss members of the Order; to Harry's displeasure, Hiccup noticed, a man named 'Snape' was working in the Order too, and the teens didn't trust him.
"Snape's a teacher at Hogwarts School," Hermione explained. "Potions."
Wonder what he's like, Hiccup thought.
They also went over discussing the other boys of the Weasley family - Bill, who had come to stay closer to the Order, though Hiccup had never met him; Charlie, who was in Romania, taming dragons, which had brought Hiccup to his sharp senses.
"Dragons?"
Harry looked at him. "What do you mean, dragons?"
"Yeah, Charlie tames dragons, you know!" Ron boasted proudly.
"But anyway, he's in Romania, he wants to do all he can for the Order, it's just too far away-"
"What about Percy?" Harry asked. "Why can't he do the Order stuff?"
Hiccup noticed the Weasleys and Hermione exchange dark looks. Astrid nudged him, the look on her face asking for knowledge, but Hiccup shook his head. He'd never heard of Percy - he'd heard of Charlie, even though he never knew he tamed dragons, and Bill - working in Egypt, but never Percy.
"Who's Percy?" asked Hiccup and Astrid in unison.
"A Ministry-loving, power-hungry, family disowning, moronic prat," said George in disgust.
"I feel no obligation to call that-" Fred called him a very offensive swear word - "my brother."
"What happened?" asked Harry.
Fred and George and Ron and Ginny and Hermione went on to explain how the third Weasley brother had a row with their father, and how he was willing to stand with the Ministry, instead of 'rubbing shoulders' with Dumbledore's pals, and how he believed in the Ministry, which called Harry a liar and Dumbledore a nutcase.
Hiccup felt sorry for Harry. He'd heard he was being ridiculed. He remembered a few days back, he saw a copy of the Daily Prophet, and as he read, there were slanders about Potter and Dumbledore everywhere. If there was an accident in the paper… 'Let's hope he doesn't get a scar, you know, or else we'll be asked to worship him next…' and if there was a funny far-fetched tale… 'A story worth of Harry Potter'... all because of telling the truth, but that was all Hiccup knew. This boy Percy had even disowned his family (Well, did something close to disowning), because he didn't believe the truth that Voldemort was back.
"Well," Hiccup thought out loud, "If Lord Voldemort wasn't back, me and Astrid and Mom wouldn't be here, huh?"
Hiccup had gotten used to the reactions already - Ron whimpered, Hermione's mouth twitched, but did nothing else, Fred and George shuddering, and Ginny flinched. Harry looked at him with awe.
"You say Voldemort's name?" Harry asked slowly.
"Yeah," Hiccup replied, "Dumbledore told us that 'fear of a name-'"
"Increases fear of the thing itself," Hiccup replied. "Yeah, I know."
Suddenly, the whole group heard footsteps. Fred and George disappeared with the usual deafening CRACK as the door opened - Mrs Weasley.
"Hello there, dears, the meeting's over now," she whispered. "Come down for dinner, all of you, especially you, Harry, you must be tired and hungry after the trip and the long waiting… and be quiet, all of you, I don't want anything to wake up."
"Wake up?" asked Harry. Hiccup and Astrid frowned at each other - that painting on the wall. Shoot. It was annoying, and a little hurtful the words were: "MUGGLE FILTH TAINTS THE HOUSE OF BLACK! MY ANCESTORS AND FOREBEARS, CURSE THESE FILTHY MUGGLES FOREVER!"
Hiccup took Astrid's hand, and before everyone else, headed out of the room and downstairs. It had only come to him just now that he had been with a bunch of teenagers (Fred and George were seventeen, the wizarding age of adulthood, but still). He decided he didn't like it.
How'll I be able to cope at Hogwarts? Oh, for Thor's sake…
He passed a row of house elf heads on the wall, and grimaced with disgust; then took his seat, Astrid sitting right beside him, and his mother joining him in his left.
"How was the meeting?" Hiccup asked in a low voice - he was meant to say it in his head, but the curiosity got the better of him.
"Not bad," came his mother's reply. "I've asked everyone else, and they've said you'll be in the next meetings-"
CRASH.
"Tonks!" Mrs Weasley hissed.
"I'm sorry!" she said sadly. "I hate the umbrella stand, I trip over it a lot-"
Hiccup did not hear the rest of Nymphadora Tonks' words, as they were drowned out by an even more deafening-than-Apparition-cracks, horrible, ear-splitting mix of a howl and a screech.
The curtains flew apart, then Hiccup saw the portrait - of Sirius Black's mother. Oh, how he hated that picture. Whenever he passed, he spoke a silent prayer to Thor and some non-existent Norse god of paintings, hoping that she never woke up. Some times, it worked. Others… not so much.
"Filth! Scum! Muggle filth! Dirty Muggle blood! Stains of dishonour, taints of shame on the house of my fathers-"
Someone had run onto the scene - Sirius. He angrily brought out his wand, yelling, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
As the woman noticed him, she yelled, "YOU! ABOMINATION! SCUM! BLOOD TRAITOR!" As well as some other words that made Hiccup think if she was related to Mildew. Oh gods, he hated that guy.
"SHUT - UP!" Sirius roared, and with the help of Remus Lupin, the curtains shut, and the house became silent again. Then Sirius spoke, and for a moment, Hiccup thought it was to him, but it was to the fifteen-year-old sitting opposite him on the table -
"Hello, Harry, I see you've met my mother."