Disclaimer:I do not own either How To Train Your Dragon or Harry Potter and all respective rights are to their owners.

Hiccup and his fellow Viking friends had been asked by a very important man to help out with their competition. Unfortunately for Hiccup, he wasn't allowed to go alone. His father, Stoic, refused to allow a bunch of fifteen year olds to head to a school for wizards without supervision. Because of this, Gobber, the resident blacksmith, was going to accompany them. He was Stoic's best friend and the teacher of young. Well, used to be. Now Hiccup was.

The Vikings were headed towards Hogwarts, a magical school for witches and wizards. They'd never heard of wizards or Hogwarts until they'd been approached by Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster himself, and asked to help out with their Triwizard Tournament. Hiccup had refused his proposal but Dumbledore had been...persuasive. Hiccup wasn't very proud of giving in. He didn't like Dumbledore; none of the Vikings did. But they were allowed to bring their dragons and that was something Hiccup wouldn't let Dumbledore talk him out of. The man wanted the teens, he would have to deal with the dragons. They were a package deal.

Hiccup and Toothless were almost ready to leave. The headmaster had explained that he had charmed one of their ships to take the Vikings straight towards the castle when they were ready. Hiccup was glad that Toothless was going. They were best friends, and Hiccup wouldn't be able to handle a bunch of wizards and a man he didn't trust without his dragon. The Night Fury relied heavily on Hiccup too, but only to fly. He adored Hiccup and would protect the boy with his life.

Stoic walked out of his house to find Hiccup standing at the door with his dragon. The older man walked over to his son and placed his large hand on Hiccup's thin shoulder. Hiccup jumped and looked up, his heart slowing as he saw who it was. His father always did have a way of scaring him.

"Good luck, son." Stoic said, his thick accent making his words lower and harsher than Hiccup knew he intended them to be. "I'm sorry that I can't go with you."

Hiccup nodded. He followed Stoic's eyes towards Gobber, who was singing and plucking a tooth out of a Zippleback mouth. He snickered before turning back to his father. Stoic was the chief of the tribe, yet he never acted like he was above anyone. He was just another Viking. Hiccup didn't think that he could ever be like his father but there was still time to learn. Stoic wasn't going anywhere.

"I know, your chief-ing duties prevent you from leaving the village for too long. I know, dad," Hiccup rolled his eyes. He'd listened to his father's worries and constant apologies ever since Dumbledore's visit. But that was Stoic. And Stoic was protective. After all, his only son was a clumsy twig that rode dragons all day. Not to mention the whole one legged thing.

Stoic nodded and hugged his only son. "You come back safely. And show those wizards what happens when they mess with Vikings," he smirked. Hiccup rolled his eyes and hugged his father back.

Once Stoic let go of him, Hiccup smiled and turned to face his dragon. Toothless grumbled and gestured his scaly head towards the ship. Hiccup noticed that the others were already boarding and packing their things in the chests. Hiccup nodded at Toothless, who instantly dashed towards the ship.

Hiccup followed behind the Night Fury, sending one last wave towards Stoic before jumping off the pier and onto the ship. Gobber followed quickly and the ship instantly set sail. Hiccup swayed and almost lost his balance before Toothless appeared and supported the boy.

The rest of the group were sitting on crates, making sure that their dragons didn't start fights and accidently burn the ship down. While Toothless was his best friend, the group accompanying him on the journey were close to him as well. There was Astrid, who was a strong girl with a lethal attitude. Her dragon was a deadly Deadly Nadder named Stormfly; a tall girl with blue and purple scales. She could shoot spines from her tail at will and was extremely loyal, despite not being the kindest of creatures.

Snotlout was Hiccup's cousin, and had a very good opinion of himself. Hiccup didn't like him very much but he was still his friend. Snotlout's dragon was a Monstrous Nightmare called Hookfang. A long and fierce dragon which could light his body on fire whenever he felt necessary.

The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were extremely stupid. Hiccup found them annoying, with their insatiable need to destroy things. Their dragon, a Hideous Zippleback, suited them perfectly with Ruffnut's head, Barf, shooting out the gas, and Tuffnut's head, Belch, lighting it with a spark.

The last was Fishlegs. He was the smart one. The one who read the book of dragons over ten times and knew everything about all the dragons. Except for the Night Fury but that was only because there wasn't anything in the Book of Dragons about them. His Gronkle, Meatlug, was very sensitive just like his owner. Hiccup found their relationship slightly odd but he never said anything.

Hiccup settled down on the floor of the boat and lent up against Toothless. The dragon curled against the edge of the boat and lay his head near Hiccup's. The two closed their eyes and started to drift off. They knew it would take some time to get to the school and they had woken up early to get a last fly in before leaving so it wasn't long until the pair were fast asleep.

Harry couldn't believe what was happening. Not only was the Triwizard Tournament taking place this year, it was being held at Hogwarts! That meant he would have a shot at entering. Then again, there were hundreds of other wizards who would also be entering which would make his chances slimmer. Still, Harry thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a go.

Harry was sitting at the breakfast table when the news came; the students from the other schools were here. The Durmstrung boys and the Beauxbaton girls.

The Great Hall was alive with excitement at the arrival of the other students. Harry was excited too, but his nerves were also prominent. What sorts of things had they heard about him? Being the 'famous Harry Potter' that he was. Did that mean that they wouldn't like him? Maybe they didn't even know who he was and Harry was just overreacting. He pushed his questions to the back of his mind and focused on his friends.

Hermione and Ron were chatting excitedly next to him. They hadn't noticed Harry's nerves and they shouldn't have had to. Harry should have been calm. There wasn't anything to be nervous about. Filch had only just come to notify Dumbledore of the arrivals. They hadn't even come through the doors yet.

Just as the thought passed through Harry's head, the doors of the Great Hall opened and the French girls from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic walked through. Well, they danced and did some acrobatics through the long lines of tables towards the front where they seated themselves at the Ravenclaw table.

As soon as the Beauxbatons were through, the Durmstrang boys entered. They were stronger than the Beauxbatons girls. Fiercer. Harry watched their movements with awe. Flame throwing and all. It was incredibly impressive. He noticed Viktor Krum, one of the best seekers in the Quidditch world, and was star struck for a moment. Viktor Krum. At Hogwarts. Yeah, he didn't need to worry about people looking at him now.

Hiccup opened his eyes to someone poking him and groaned in response. He heard a low growl and opened his eyes groggily. He looked up to see Toothless laying a protective wing around Hiccup and Astrid poking Hiccup with a stick. She wouldn't poke him with her hand with Toothless around. She didn't have a death wish.

Toothless lifted his wing and nudged Hiccup gently. Hiccup smiled and rubbed behind the dragons ears. He grumbled and made a few sounds of agreement. Hiccup didn't need to speak dragon to know that his own was happy with what he was doing.

Hiccup stood up and stretched, almost losing his balance as the water rocked the boat slightly. Toothless caught the Viking's fall and Hiccup thanked him. Toothless shook it off and approached Astrid angrily. She jumped away and behind Stormfly. Toothless looked as though he would smirk if he could, and looked over the side of the boat.

Toothless pulled back instantly and made a sound of disapproval. Hiccup quickly looked around his surroundings. They had arrived, he knew that much. But how were they going to get ashore? They were sitting in the middle of a lake with the school – was that what that large castle like structure was? – on one side and a forest on the other. Hiccup contemplated flying the dragons to land before remembering Dumbledore's words. So, no dragons.

Astrid walked over to Hiccup. She would be safer now that Hiccup could hold off Toothless; they didn't get along too well but Hiccup was happy to be the peacekeeper when he needed to be. Sometimes Astrid needed to put in her place. Well, Hiccup thought she did.

"So, how are we getting ashore?" Astrid asked, voicing Hiccup's previous thoughts.

Hiccup looked at the sails. "Well, the Viking way," he said matter-of-factly.

Gobber instantly raised his false hand and toasted to it. Hiccup rolled his eyes and the other teens snickered. Snotlout made a soft comment which Hiccup didn't quite catch. Without a second to lose, Gobber instructed the teens to get to work. Hiccup wobbled about on the boat and finally Gobber refused Hiccup's help. There wasn't much point if he was just going to fall over every second. Hiccup sat on the side and held Toothless's head in his hands.

He watched as the boat rocked closer to shore when the wind caught the sails. The other dragons were perched on the sides of the boat and made croaking sounds as they approached the stone building. Hiccup was shocked by how large the castle was. It was more than three times their Great Hall which was the largest building the Viking's had.

Hiccup lurched with the boat as it came to a stop at the docks. Toothless made a grumbling sound which resembled a laugh. Hiccup glared playfully at the dragon and stood back up. Gobber turned to the group before they left the boat.

"As you are aware, we are here because these...wizards...asked us to. They have asked for us to not let our dragons loose," Gobber announced.

Hiccup glanced at Toothless warily. Would he be able to hide the dragon? Toothless went nearly everywhere with him. It was hard to separate them for more than three minutes.

Gobber noticed Hiccup's worried glance and sighed. "For now, at least. After the feast tonight, we shall ask Dumbledore what to do with the dragons. They can't all stay on a wooden boat in the ocean. Especially not Toothless."

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief at the words. Toothless grumbled unhappily. He knew that he would have to stay there for the time being. Hiccup leant down and gave the dragon a scratch behind the ears and under his chin. "You stay here, bud. These wizards…I don't know what they would do to you if they found out. I can't lose you," he murmured.

Toothless licked Hiccup's face and Hiccup laughed and stood up. "Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out...," he said. Toothless gurgled and made some sounds to which Hiccup knew were laughing. The two finally separated and Hiccup heard the pining that came from his dragon. He turned back and waved sadly. At least, Toothless would be safe on the boat.

Hiccup joined his fellow Vikings and they headed towards the school. Hiccup glanced back constantly to make sure that the dragon was still on the boat. With the approaching darkness, it became increasingly difficult to see the near black dragon but he could see the silhouette of him standing patiently for Hiccup to return.

The group entered the Great Hall and were surprised at what they walked into. Not only was everyone looking at them, it seemed as though they had been waiting for a while. There were four long tables filled with various students. Hiccup stood behind Astrid and Fishlegs. Being the centre of attention wasn't something he enjoyed. He almost wished he'd covered his lost leg.

Gobber moved forward. Hiccup didn't know how the blacksmith knew what to do. Did Dumbledore speak to him personally? It wasn't likely; he had barely spoken to Hiccup outside of a few harsh words. Hiccup still hated him for them.

The people on the tables were dead quiet and Hiccup paled as they followed behind Gobber. They were getting dangerously close to the long table at the front. The one where Dumbledore sat. Hiccup found his courage resurfacing and glared at the headmaster. He would not get away with what he did to get them here.

Astrid placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and he looked at her. She smiled sadly. He'd told her what Dumbledore had threatened to do to get them here. She wasn't impressed either. None of the group had been. Not even Gobber, and he didn't even have his own dragon.

The group stopped at the end of the long vertical tables and in front of the horizontal one. The headmaster stood and walked towards the Vikings. He looked over their heads and towards the students. Upon further inspection, Hiccup noticed that there were two other groups amongst them that were made visible because of the different uniforms. The girls were wearing light blue and the boys wearing black and red.

Dumbledore stepped forward and nodded his head towards Gobber. Gobber himself bowed. But Hiccup could see that it was forced. The niceties were running thin between the groups of Vikings and the headmaster. No one threatened the lives of the dragons and gets away with it.

"Welcome, welcome everyone. This year will surely be the strangest of years for many of you. We have the Triwizard Tournament, as many of you already know. And here to assist in the preparation, are these young Vikings from Berk," Dumbledore announced.

Hiccup groaned and looked at Astrid. The way he said it was as though they had wanted to go. But that wasn't the case. The rest of the Viking teens showed their distaste for the older man's words too, but the students of the school clapped and cheered, welcoming the group to their school.

Dumbledore looked between Gobber and Hiccup, as though deciding which one to talk to. Finally, he said to both of them, "One of you must sit up at the teachers table. I know that young Hiccup here is the leader, but it would be preferable for Gobber here."

Hiccup laughed and it wasn't a pleasant sound. Dumbledore hardly noticed it. Hiccup shoved Gobber forward. "You go. We're going to sit down. Before something happens" he said lowly. Gobber nodded and stepped up and following Dumbledore to his seat at the head table.

Hiccup's group found a seat at the table towards the centre left. It was a gold and red table. There was a small section completely cleared, which they quickly occupied. The people around them shuffled down once the Vikings were seated, as though they had been cramped and weren't anymore.

Dumbledore announced the feast could now begin and the students dove into their foods hungrily. Hiccup and his friends exchanged glances from across the table. Hiccup sat next to Astrid, the twins opposite them, with Fishlegs next to Astrid and Snotlout on the other side. There were students seated on either side of them. Hiccup almost felt caged.

The Vikings served themselves some familiar looking foods and started to eat. Hiccup stuffed some cooked fish into his pockets for Toothless. He knew his dragon would love the fish. Hiccup's friends mostly ate bread and meat, but Hiccup preferred the fish.

The students around the Vikings didn't pay much attention to them until after the meal. One person next to Hiccup turned around and gave Hiccup a glance. He had untidy black hair, circular glasses and a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. It looked strange but Hiccup knew that it was something that this boy wasn't ashamed of. Just as Hiccup wasn't ashamed of his metal leg.

"Hello, I'm Harry," the boy introduced himself, holding out his hand.

Hiccup took it and announced his own name. "Hiccup."

People around Hiccup snickered. Hiccup rolled his eyes. Of course. Hiccup was the name given to the smallest of the litter. Everyone knew that. Hiccup was the third Viking with the name but the first in a long line of chiefs. He didn't consider his name a dishonour of any sort, but Hiccup knew his dad hadn't thought he was anything special. That is, until he trained a Night Fury.

Harry nodded and gestured towards his friends. Among them was a bushy haired girl with the same robes as Harry, scarlet and gold. Another was a red headed, short boy who looked a little clumsy. Hiccup reminded himself that he looked a bit puny, too. Without the red hair and freckles, though.

"This is Hermione and Ron," he gestured first to the girl and then to the boy. Hiccup and his friends waved to them. Harry waited for Hiccup to introduce his own friends.

"This is Astrid," Hiccup started. Astrid waved her hand and almost hit Hiccup in the head. She laughed and swatted his shoulder when he sent her a glare. "Fishlegs." He pointed to the larger boy at the end of their group. Fishlegs waved and Astrid scooted closer to Hiccup, trying to get away from Fishlegs's flailing hand. Hiccup rolled his eyes. "The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut." The twins were fighting over something, and Hiccup heard a reference to their dragon. He rolled his eyes once more and looked at Snotlout. "And that's Snotlout. He's not one to mess with," Hiccup added. The Viking glared playfully at Hiccup and threw some chicken at him. Hiccup dodged and it landed on the floor.

Harry laughed and nodded. "Yeah, well. We have a whole house which you need to avoid," he said. Hiccup gave him a confused look. Harry pointed to the table next to them against the wall as he said, "That's Slytherin. We avoid them. Gryffindor – that's us – and Slytherin don't get along very well."

Hiccup wondered what kind of feud that these people had. Surely it wasn't anything like what the situation was with the Outcasts and the people of Berk. Hiccup doubted anything could be like that.

As the Vikings began a conversation with Harry and his friends, Hiccup couldn't help but thinking about his best friend. What was Toothless doing right now? His mind kept drifting to the worst scenario. He knew Toothless would do the right thing and stay inside the boat. He was a smart dragon and he'd been charged with the safety of the other dragons too so he wouldn't do anything stupid. Hiccup relaxed slightly.

"So, what are you guys doing here? It seems like a long way from your home," Hermione asked suddenly.

Hiccup glanced at Astrid, to whom the question was directed to. She shrugged and glanced at Hiccup before replying, "Dumbledore didn't specify. But I know that it has something to do with your Tournament."

Hermione gasped. "You mean you're entering?" she asked excitedly.

Hiccup shook his head at Astrid. She glared at him slightly. "No. but other than that, we don't know," she explained.

Hermione nodded slowly. She didn't seem to understand. To be honest, Hiccup didn't quite understand why they were there either. He knew that it had something to do with one of the tasks included in the Tournament but other than that, no idea. It must be related to dragons though, otherwise they would have gotten someone else. So that narrowed it down a little bit.

The dinner came to an end and the teachers left the room. Gobber re-joined the Vikings and they stood up together. Instantly, Hiccup felt all eyes on them. They were the first to stand, and apparently there was something against that. Hiccup to another look around and noticed the glances weren't on him exactly, but on his leg.

Suddenly, a thin, white haired boy from Slytherin stood up and laughed as he walked towards Hiccup and his friends. Harry groaned inwardly and Hiccup raised his eyebrows. Apparently this was one to watch out for, he thought.

"Wow, look at the Vikings. They don't even have enough medicine to heal a leg," the boy snickered. Hiccup took in the his appearance. A blonde, almost white mop of hair sat atop his pale head. His eyes were dead cold. He was tall, but Astrid was taller. The boy seemed cruel but Hiccup knew that if worst came to worst, this guy wouldn't stand a chance against Toothless.

Astrid pushed her sleeves up and started to step forward. Hiccup hastily put his hand on her arm. She glanced at him before glaring at the guy.

Harry stood up quickly and in front of Hiccup. "That's enough, Malfoy," he snapped.

Hiccup noticed Malfoy smirk. "Need to be protected by others, eh, Hiccup? You really are a hiccup," he chuckled, his smirk still in place, infuriating Hiccup further.

Hiccup glanced at Astrid and spoke to her in their native language, Norse. Something so ancient that none of these people would be able to understand. They couldn't catch any of the words anyway, because of how quietly the pair were speaking.

Snotlout laughed at Malfoy. "You don't know Hiccup then," he snickered. Malfoy didn't seem to like Snotlout. Yet, Hiccup thought, they weren't really that different.

Hiccup stood up straighter and moved his metal leg, the sound resonating through the hall loudly. "Look, Malfoy, my name might be Hiccup, but at least I don't look like I'm dead," he snapped.

The hall went silent. Hiccup was fuming. How dare someone make fun of his metal leg? He was known throughout the village for it. He'd killed the Red Death. Toothless had saved Hiccup and in the process bitten off Hiccup's leg. He was proud of it. It connected him to his dragon.

Astrid pushed Hiccup away and towards the door. Malfoy snickered. "What, getting your girlfriend to stop you from fighting? She's probably weaker than you anyway," he smirked.

Hiccup went red. He turned around and was about to comment, to say something witty, but Astrid stopped him.

"It's not worth it, Hiccup," she warned.

Hiccup shook his head and sighed, knowing that she was right. Instead, he turned around and glared directly into Malfoy's eyes. That always got to people. "You say that now, Malfoy. Yet you know nothing of the Viking ways, nor do you know anything about me. Who knows, maybe I got this leg chopped off during battle...but I'm way too skilled for that to happen," he smirked, turning back around. He didn't want to brag about how he'd gotten the leg. He had just wanted to point out that he could be dangerous. And if worst came to worst, he could always just use the leg as a weapon.

Hiccup stormed off, the other Vikings following him closely. Once they were outside of the hall, Hiccup let out a heavy breath. "How dare he say those things about me!" he fumed.

Astrid put her hand on his shoulder gently. "It's alright, Hiccup. What he doesn't know is that you saved our village. You united us. I bet that idiot's done nothing more than say a few nasty things here and there," she said. Hiccup smiled at her. She knocked him over the head and dragged him back towards the boat.

When they reached got closer, Toothless growled loudly and an ear-splitting screech followed. Hiccup rolled his eyes and called to Toothless. The dragon leapt over the boat and onto the pier, quickly running towards Hiccup and knocking him over. The dark dragon picked up Hiccup and placed him gently onto his back. Hiccup laughed and rubbed his neck.

The other Vikings called to their dragons as well and they soon stood beside the Vikings. Gobber didn't have one of his own yet, but he still liked their presence. If the situation deemed it necessary, he flew on Hookfang or Stormfly. Suddenly, Toothless growled and Hiccup followed the dragon's gaze.

Dumbledore was heading towards the Vikings with two teachers behind him. Hiccup recognised them from the staff table in the Great Hall. One was the potions master, the other transfigurations. At least, that's what Hiccup remembered.

"I take it you will not be staying in your wooden boat?" Dumbledore asked.

Hiccup stiffly shook his head. "No," he gritted out. Toothless bared his teeth and growled loudly. Dumbledore didn't seem to care, but the two other teachers took a wary step back. Hiccup thought it was quite clever of them to do so. This headmaster, on the other hand, didn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed.

Gobber stepped forward and between the angry dragon and the headmaster. "Well, we can't very well have a bunch of fire breathing dragons on a boat in the middle of a lake, now can we?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Hiccup rolled his eyes at Gobber. Toothless looked up at Hiccup and then back to Dumbledore. He didn't like it when his rider was upset.

"There is some space in the Gryffindor tower, at the very top. You would have to keep your dragons up there unless you are taking them to the Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore explained.

The female teacher stepped forward before Hiccup could say anything. "If you would like to follow me?" she asked politely. Toothless stopped growling when he realised that she was kinder than the headmaster.

Hiccup looked at Dumbledore before they left and asked, "When will be finding out the purpose of our visit?" he asked stiffly.

Dumbledore looked towards the forest. "Well, the dragons should be here within the hour. So get settled soon and we shall get started. Meet us in the Forbidden Forest in two hours."

Hiccup nodded slowly and they followed the transfiguration teacher. She talked to Gobber the whole way to the top of the tower, their conversation light and polite. Hiccup had to ride on Toothless up the stairs, because his leg was starting to cause him grief. Toothless didn't mind; his rider was so light that it almost didn't affect him.

After a few minutes, they reached the top of the stairs. The professor opened a large wooden door and revealed a warm, red and gold common room. There were no people around but the room had multiple armchairs and small couches. Tables lined the corners and a fireplace sat next to the door. There was a flight of stairs at the other end of the room, splitting into two directions.

"This will be your room for the time being. Rooms on the left are for men, girls on the right. Breakfast and all other meals are served in the Great Hall. Your seats are reserved as they were today," the Professor explained before nodding at them once and heading out the door.

Hiccup headed towards the rooms in which he found multiple bunk beds. He didn't like them. They felt all soft and wrong and there was no place for Toothless to sleep comfortably. The other Vikings, however, had no problem with the new room. Snotlout and Tuffnut fought over the top bed and their dragons had room next door. Barf and Belch went on the girl's side, with Meatlug and Stormfly, only because Ruffnut had won the rights to have him over there.

Hiccup sighed and made his way back to the common room. There was a nice spot by the fire which Toothless instantly leapt over to. Hiccup followed him and leant against Toothless' back. He sighed and watched his dragon drift into a peaceful sleep. Hiccup wouldn't bring Toothless to meet the other dragons. He would be too protective and he didn't want Toothless getting hurt.

Astrid and Ruffnut walked back into the common room and Astrid smirked knowingly. "Can't find a bed to your liking?" she asked while maintaining her knowing expression.

Hiccup nodded and sighed. "There wasn't any space for Toothless either, it's not just me. But we have to make do out here." Toothless would sleep wherever Hiccup was, and it worked the other way around too. There was no way that Hiccup was going let Toothless sleep somewhere else. They were safer together.

Gobber came back down from his own room singing happy tunes. Hiccup sent him an odd glance. "You alright, Gobber?" he teased.

Gobber laughed and sat on the couch. "Never better. Well, yeah, I have been better, but you know what I mean." Hiccup sent him a look telling him to explain. "Oh. Well, I was listening to the Headmaster talk to Hagrid. He's a half giant. Hard to miss. He's the keeper of magical creatures and such. They were talking about the first task. You'll never believe what it is."

Astrid looked at Hiccup. "Dragons?" he asked. He guessed that because Dumbledore had said some were arriving later that evening and Hiccup didn't think that he meant their own dragons. So it must be for the first task. Hiccup wondered who would be competing for the Triwizard Tournament. Not that he cared very much, he just wanted to make sure that they didn't hurt the dragons.

Gobber nodded. "Yeah, that's it. But there are a few names I didn't recognise…and some I did," he added quickly, seeing the look Fishlegs was giving him.

Hiccup nodded. "Well, we'll just have to wait for a couple of hours to find out. In the meantime, I would like some time to myself," he muttered the last part. He wanted to draw the castle as he saw it. He loved to draw and he would be able to keep it and make sure that future generations knew what this school was like, should they ever need to know.

Harry kept thinking about the one legged Viking boy. He looked so young, yet he'd obviously been in battle. He seemed a lot stronger than Harry had expected. Malfoy hadn't managed to aggravate the boy until he'd started insulting the girl which was a whole other thing. Were Hiccup and Astrid together? Or were they just friends? Hogwarts had never actually had Vikings in school before. They were thought to be completely tough people who only cared about their own but Hiccup seemed to care about more than just himself and his friends.

Hermione, Ron and Harry were sitting in their common room and studying for an upcoming test. They were all pretty happy with it, Transfiguration was getting better for all of them. Hermione was by far the best of the three but Harry wasn't bothered. In fact, it was helpful; she gave them answers.

Harry perked his ears as he heard the sound of something heading up the tower. A couple of the Gryffindor's almost opened the doors, but the sounds disappeared before anyone could have a look. Harry thought it odd, because this was the only place in the Gryffindor tower which was worth going. Unless it was one of the new students or the Vikings staying in the spare rooms. That would make sense. It still didn't explain the louder sounds. The ones which sounded too heavy and loud to be human.

After the noises passed, the students headed to their rooms and got ready for bed. Harry followed Ron and his fellow roommates up to the dormitories. He got changed out of his robes and into something comfortable. They were all pretty tired and they would find out about the Triwizard Tournament later, hopefully tomorrow. Harry was pretty excited about that.

Harry took off his glasses and the world immediately became fuzzy. Just as he was about to pull the covers over his body, Ron struck up a conversation. "Hey, Harry, what did you think of those Vikings?"

Harry sat up and put his glasses back on. He glanced over at Ron, who was in the same position as him. "I don't know. It was cool though, that twig standing up to Malfoy," he admitted.

Ron nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. I'd never seen anybody stand up to him like that. Not even us. And we fight all the time," he remarked.

Harry nodded slowly, thinking. Yeah, what was with that? Was it something that Hiccup was used to? He seemed to look at Snotlout with a bit of aggravation. Maybe it was one of Hiccup's friends who treated him like Malfoy treated Harry? But it didn't make sense to be friends with someone that treated him like that.

"Well, they aren't here to enter the Tournament. What are they here for?" Harry wondered aloud.

Ron almost shouted as he had an idea, "Well, Vikings are known for their harshness and cruelty. Maybe they are here for the champions to fight or something."

Harry snickered. "Whoever has to fight Hiccup gets it lucky," he laughed. That boy was such a twig that taking down him would be a piece of cake. Although, Hiccup had already been in battle, that much was obvious. What was life like for Vikings, anyway?

Ron rolled his eyes. "Or maybe it's something else. Maybe they're here to distract the students. I mean, they are a pretty funny sight. Especially that Fishlegs," he remarked.

"Yeah, well. It's not like a guy his size could really help it. And besides, it seems as though its standard Viking size. Did you see the leader up on the teacher's table?"

Ron laughed. "Yeah, I suppose. Which makes it even funnier about Hiccup."

Harry shrugged. "I reckon he's quite nice. I mean, for a Viking," he quickly finished.

Ron gave him an odd look. "Yeah. I liked that Astrid. She was kind of...cute. In an 'I'm going to kill you' kind of way," he said.

Harry laughed and looked at Ron as though he had said the funniest thing ever. "You're kidding me, right? You like Astrid?"

Ron nodded slowly, not seeing what was so funny. Harry rolled his eyes. "She's already with Hiccup. I mean, even if they don't know it yet," Harry finished.

Ron rolled his eyes, seeing what was so funny. "Yeah, I could see that. I still think she's cute."

"Don't let Fleur catch you saying that," Harry smirked. Fleur was one of the girls from the Beauxbatons Academy who had come to stay. Ron had been infatuated with her the moment that she'd walked through the doors. Harry wasn't surprised. Ron was very easily taken with beautiful girls. The only problem was they very rarely liked him back.

Ron blushed and muttered a quick, "Goodnight, Harry." before pulling his bed curtains closed.

Harry laughed and took his glasses off once more. He lay down in his bed, turned out his light and stared up at the ceiling. Things would have to get better from now on. They had to. Harry couldn't keep living his life thinking that Voldemort was around the corner. He couldn't go on like that. Something needed to change.