Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a warm, 'summer's' day for the people of Berk. One of only a handful per year, and so predictably the market was busier than usual. It was a great coincidence that most of the monthly traders arrived during such great weather, since the masses seemed far more joyous -and therefore easier to be departed with money.

At the very end of the dock, however, rocked a solitude boat. It was smaller than most others, with a design unlike the usual viking longships you would see. It was the only boat that few people approached, as unlike most traders, this one did not supply rare sourced materials like most would. Instead, it displayed countless foreign trinkets. Rare things such as animal skins unseen in cold climates, as well as impeccably stunning jewels such as 'rubies' and 'topaz'.

A young boy could be found there, gazing upon each and every item with sincere amazement, gaze flicking between each as though he were tracing a fly with his eyes. The vendor who stood there, chuckled at the refreshing sight of such welcome curiosity in his unknowingly special wares.

"Uhm, sir, if you don't mind humouring me with a couple stories, I'd love to ask you about all of these!" he was staring at a rack that displayed a gleaming short-sword that had an incredible orange gem encrusted within its bevel, as well as another one on the flat of the guard-piece. The blade itself had foreign runes of some kind inscribed with clean etches. Beside the sword, was a cool tribal necklace, as well as a small, intricately detailed box.

"Of course! It's quite wonderful to see such young curiosity cross my path. Fire away, which would you like to learn about first?"

For several hours, both boy and trader exchanged tales -the boy's detailing his accident prone life in the village (even though he knew it was a pretty poor trade for the man who told tall tales of adventurers and explorers, knights and even some superstitious 'magical' origins of some of the items.

Whilst Hiccup found it hard to believe that any of it was truly magical, he found himself enraptured by the stories presented to him, listening with almost childish energy at the idea that dragons had possibly gone into hiding underground centuries ago instead of dying out entirely, as well as dwarves truly existing and being masters at blacksmith forgery. At that one, he'd responded with a patented sarcastic response about how 'that statement would be fitting for myself, however you should meet Gobber, my blacksmithing mentor. He's more of a meat-headed ogre if anything magical."

The man released a strange laughing snort at that, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Who knows, perhaps he's hiding something!" at that, the both of them broke down.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Hiccup smiled woefully, noticing that it was already nearing dusk. "Hm, looks like it's time to get back and deal with my daily dosage of disappointment. It's been wonderful to talk to you about everything, though! I must admit, as far-fetched as all of those stories are, It'd be pretty incredible to see a goblin or dragon for myself, but I doubt that's ever gonna happen. Between you and me, Berk can get a little too meat-headed as a whole for my tastes, but being the chief's son doesn't exactly help my case." he smiled wryly up at the merchant, who looked at him with a strange, contemplative smile of his own, before the man told him to wait there.

"Hold on, young man. I think I may have just the thing to give to such a curious and intriguing boy such as yourself..." he turned his back, rummaging through several chests behind the counted of his, before turning back around with a triumphant, as well as somewhat devious grin (in a non-threatening way). "Aha, perfect! Here we go, perhaps you'll find an opportunity for change in this?"

He handed over what seemed to be a piece of parchment, and written on it was what seemed to be details of a school named 'Malebury Academy'. It was very minimalistic in details, not talking about its exact location, but the sound of a school made to 'impart useful life skills and knowledge to the creatively gifted' was definitely a unique selling point.

"Thank you very much, sir. I'll make sure to look into this and think about it. Anyway, thanks again for everything! Next time I see you, I'll make sure to bring some money to actually buy something!"

The man chuckled. "Of course. Good luck, young man."

He didn't end up thinking too much about the odd tone/wording the man used, mind too occupied with the sheet in his hands, detailing that the school was a boarding school, and where he had to be and when for the trip overseas.

"Guess I should prepare to tell my dad I'm changing school applications... 'Malebury' sounds far nicer for what' I'm like than the school we have here in Berk... And who knows, maybe I'll make a fresh start and some actual friends." he sighed, not looking forward to the upcoming conversation, but excited at the prospect of escaping having to go to the same school as his cousin and the other kids his age.

Chapter Text

My name's Hiccup.

Great name, I know. My parents, as well as my entire village retained the traditional, era-long Viking beliefs that a horrid name would scare off trolls and the like; not that I could tell you they even exist in the first place -I doubt it.

There are tales, many of them, that recount my ancestors dealing with dragons. Yes, dragons. Big, scaly, fire-breathing lizards that fly. I'm not entirely sure if I believe them or not, mostly due to the fact that despite how many legends there are that have been passed down through the generations, the only true 'evidence' we still have to this day is what most call 'The Book of Dragons'.

To be honest, it's just a leather-bound book of tea-stained parchment with a few hard-to-decipher, runic scribbles on it. Whilst the depictions of each type of dragon is incredibly creative -props to the author- such as Monstrous Nightmares setting themselves alight in great flames. Or Deadly Nadders with spike-riddled tails and sparklingly fearsome flames, it just seems a little far-fetched.

The most mysterious of the lot of course, have to be Night Furies. Although their appearance remains undocumented, they were revered as being so terrifying in battle, that they were the only dragon all Vikings would unconditionally hide from. Fighting them was considered 'suicide' in old myths, with an explosive blast of fury, and speed and stealth rivalled by none in the night. 'Unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, never engage this dragon. Hide and pray it does not find you.' This is all that is written on its page in the Book of Dragons.

Truly thrilling reputation, I won't deny that. I just find it a little to hard to believe in magical creatures without real evidence, like bones and such. I mean, even if just a single scale had remained throughout the years, preserved or something, I may have found a little more reason to not be so doubtful.

Then again, there's few things I wouldn't do to be able to see one for real if they were. Sure, they were said to be bloodthirsty, heartless killers in all the tales, but then I want to ask why? Everyone knows that it is the victor of war that writes history, and according to Vikings, they beat back the dragons three centuries ago, apparently killing their queen and throwing them into extinction.

Maybe that's the truth. Maybe they really were murderous monsters, but what if they weren't? What if they just wanted the same as the Vikings wanted to achieve? A safe, peaceful life? What if it was the Vikings that started the war?

Guess we'll never know. That's the sad point of the victors dictating history.

Either way, today's my first day of school. Some place called 'Malebury Academy', based off on the coast of a nearby island from what I've heard. It's not entirely stated where exactly it is, just that the way to get there is to be at Raven Point coast by evening and all new students will travel across together. It's strange just how secretive the school is, but then again it still doesn't seem half as bad as Aldera's School of Upcoming Warriors.

Sure, whilst we Vikings may not be quite as threatening any more -since we stopped conquering other nations once the dragons were 'defeated'- that doesn't mean we aren't all still meat-headed, stubborn people with a boon for fighting competitively. From what I heard, I'm the only one in the village not aiming to enter Aldera's. 

As of right now? Well, I'm just stuck in a horse drawn carriage with no-one but a silent, stern-faced driver that clearly doesn't want to converse with me. My father, Stoick 'the Vast' Horrendous Haddock, the chief of my village, had some business to sort out with some problems over sheep and crops -a common problem in Berk. Nothing unusual, so I'm not surprised that I'm currently travelling alone, even when we won't see each other for nearly a year.

Hardly got more than a goodbye going out the door this morning anyway. Dad left at dawn, I packed my few sparse essentials and then off I was myself at dusk, without a single glance from just about anyone. I suppose Gobber giving me a 'manly' hug (spine breaking back-pats included) was a nice send off all things considered. That's forgetting the snide remarks made by Snotlout Jorgenson, my cousin, and the Thorston twins. They think it's hilarious that while everyone else is going to a 'real' school, I, the weak and scrawny Hiccup, am being shipped off to another island altogether to enter a boarding school.

'That's how much you mean to your own father' is what they were basically saying.

Mind you, they don't know I was the one wanting to go to this school, and it's also not like I haven't experienced this my entire life anyway, so I've kind of developed thick skin to it all. The worst of it all I suppose was the fact that Astrid simply glanced at me blankly, almost as though I didn't exist, before carrying on with her day.

Ouch.

Oh well. Not like I even had a chance with the stunning, gifted shield maiden anyway, so no use crying over spilt yak milk.

"Excuse me, mr driver... how long roughly is left until we get there? I never got told before how long it'd be." I semi-yelled out the window of the carriage over the sound of horse hooves clopping and wooden wheels grinding over the pebble road.

The driver audibly grunted in irritation as such a simple and polite question, "Be there by midnight."

"What time is it currently?"

"Grrr, it's half an hour tops of me dealing with you, now quit your yapping!" and with that, I decided it may be best for me to simply do as he asks without causing more trouble.

My gaze tunnelled on the passing trees and scenery, and before I knew it, moonlight was beginning to cast over the dark land.

We rolled to an abrupt stop, and I couldn't have been ushered out of the damn thing faster. Within the very same minute, I found myself left stood near a sheer cliff face overlooking the glistening, roaring sea below. Just ahead of me, I could make out one hundred others or so, all waiting in small groups and conversing.

They must also be here to travel to the school. Most likely from all the neighbouring villages I suppose.

Although, it is quite confusing to see such a large amount for what should come from only three or four other villages within the Berkian Archipelago. And that's considering that all those here don't want to go to Aldera in the first place, which in and of itself is rare for vikings.

I jolted when I felt a hand gently clasp around my shoulder, and when I turned, I found myself face-to-face with a lean but strong-looking boy, who had short, spiky black hair and acidic-green eyes. The eyes held no hostility, only amusement.

"Why are you looking so surprised? Haven't you seen so many others like yourself before?"

"Like me? Clearly not. Seeing so many going to Malebury is certainly not what I expected. My name's Hiccup." I did my best to smile, but it undoubtedly came out as a goofy grin.

"Hiccup? That's an even stranger name than mine! But I'm not one to judge. I'm Toothless." the boy held out a hand, and upon shaking I felt like several bones in my hand had been crushed, yet entirely accidentally as the boy didn't seem malicious in any way.

"Well, it's nice to meet you then, Toothless. Say, do you know when we're leaving?"

"Hm, I'd say in a couple hours perhaps? I heard there are still a few more to arrive before we set off, so most are just resting a little before the journey."

"Well, I guess that sounds like a good idea. I might try and catch up on some sleep myself in that case..." I yawned into the back of my hand.

"What, you struggling to sleep?"

"A- A little, yeah. Just... family issues."

"Ohhhh, I get you. Gets hard dealing with parents if they're too bone headed for their own good! I'm with you on that boat."

"Huh... Y-yeah, that's exactly it. Guess I thought I was alone in that regard." Hiccup smiled at the boy, who grinned back.

"Soo, what's your type?"

"My... type?"

"Yeah! Come on, it's hard to gauge you with such conflicting traits. You clearly aren't built for power; speed maybe. That or perhaps stealth."

"Well, I suppose if I'm anything, I'd call myself stealthy, yeah. Never been much of a muscle-head, as you can see. Then again, I'm also quite clumsy, so..."

The boy laughed good-naturedly. "Clumsy and stealthy? Well aren't those conflicting traits. But then what's your affinity?"

"Affinity?"

"Yeah, you know, fire, ice, water, earth, dark, light, whatever. Your affinity. Mine's dark."

"Well... I suppose I have an affinity for fire? If you count the endless accidental destruction of my village I have imparted? Yeah, I have a... gift, for blowing things up accidentally."

"Accidentally?! How can you manage to blow something up accidentally?" Toothless only smiled wider, revealing some surprisingly sharp teeth.

"Eh, you'll probably get to see for yourself some way or another once we get to Malebury."

"True I suppose. Can't wait to see this destructive force for my own eyes then, if your bark is as good as your bite!" he chuckled like a cheshire cat.

The two snorted a little together, before settling down. Hiccup lead over towards a nearby tree, with Toothless following casually.

"How about we chat some more on the journey? If you don't mind. Sorry, I'm feeling increasingly tired now. Kinda wish I forced myself to nap on the journey here now..."

"Yeah, nah that's fine. You get your rest, then. I'm just going to do a bit of studying then of our courses. I'm... admittedly a little behind on all of them..." he trailed sheepishly, scratching his neck.

"Wait, courses? We were supposed to learn stuff before we got there?"

"Uhhhh.... yeeessss...?" Toothless drawled in just as much confusion as Hiccup felt.

"Oh, shoot."

"Wait, so you're telling me you haven't even started?! Did you even bring your books and stuff?!" his eyebrows furrowed, wide-eyed at the seemingly clueless boy in front of him.

"Uhhhhhh.... What... books?"

"Oh dear Goddess of the Moon, you're hopeless! I mean, I doubt they won't permit you in anyway, but you're screwed for the academic year if you don't start catching up! When we get there, you should see if they have any spare books at the school that you can have. Otherwise, I guess I don't mind sharing the ones I'm not using at the time with you?"

"That's... Thank you, for such a generous offer. Not many people are as nice to me as you are being, usually."

"Eh, think nothing of it. You seem like a nice, if secretive and introverted person."

"Same could be said to you, well, foregoing the introverted part."

I cocked a crooked, knowing smirk at knowing his character was being accurately judged already, before leaning back against the tree trunk behind me. "Guess I'll just have to catch up when I can." I shrugged, and with a final glance at my first real friend in years, gently slumped into the abyss in my mind.

Chapter Text

When Hiccup next woke up, it was to the sound of light snoring beneath him. His eyes opened blearily, confused at first, and it took a moment for him to process the situation.

Laying face first into the grass below him, was a drooling, shattered Toothless. His face was slack against the dewy ground, a worn-out smile gracing his peaceful face.

Ignoring the rising heat at the positions they were in, he glanced around at their surroundings, surprise flashing across his features when Hiccup realised they were no longer on Raven Point's cliffside, and were in actual fact, somewhere he did not recognise in the least, with what Hiccup could only describe as the most incredible castle-like building ahead in the distance, looming several hundred feet high and wide, with several different building sections and spires stitched together.

It was the most awe-inspiring thing he had ever seen. Bar none.

He blanched when he saw the sea behind them, as well as a dozen or so others all laying face down on the ground, seemingly passed out.

"Ooooo…kay…?" he muttered. Gently, he tried to lift himself off of the boy beneath him, however a soft groan signified his failure are that. "What happened here?" he whispered to himself as Toothless stirred a little from the motion of getting off of him.

"Uuuuuugh... huh? Oh, hey Hiccup, back in the land of the living I see." he joked, rubbing his eyes and pushing himself up onto his elbows.

""How long was I out?"" both voices asked harmoniously, causing both to look at each other, before choking on their chuckles.

After a minute or two of being unable to stop laughing without starting again, they finally settled down, Hiccup lowering a hand down towards the other, who took it, practically leaping up.

"Hey, shouldn't we wake up all the others? Looks like we got left behind- also, how did we even get here without me waking up?!"

"Oh, well, I saw you sleeping and you looked like you really needed it, so I didn't really have the heart to wake you up. Just decided to carry you, I hope you didn't mind. I get some people are really uncomfortable with being carried by others..." he said sheepishly.

Hiccup raised his eyebrows in surprise, before assuring him that it was fine. "Thanks, that's really kind of you, and unexpected, but I'm grateful."

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'd say we just leave the others to rest, it was a pretty long journey after all, and they wouldn't really appreciate being woken up if they're comfortable as is. How about we just go and talk on the way?"

"Well, alright then."

With that, the two spent the entire walk up towards the looming castle in animated dispute over which was better: eating a slug, or drinking spoiled milk. Hiccup agreed that drinking spoilt milk was horrific, however he just couldn't get past the idea of eating a slimy, slippery slug. Apparently, that didn't bother Toothless half as much as he'd expect. Toothless had just told him to 'throw your head back and don't let it touch your tongue and you'll be fine'.

Arriving at the school, there was a large stone bridge, leading across a gorgeous ravine below. Upon reaching the top entrance steps, Toothless paused.

"I… admittedly don't have the slightest clue where either of us should be going, soooooo… exploration time?"

"Exploration time it is then; at least until we find someone who can help." Hiccup chuckled as they entered past the large, wooden doors and into the labyrinth-like corridors beyond.

It was only after about half an hour of mindlessly walking, that they finally stumbled upon what appeared to be the dining room/great hall, as there were four one-hundred-foot long benches, with a large podium at the very end of the room, overlooking everything. All the new students were currently standing in a line, travelling down the very centre of the room, with all the current students in older years already sitting in what appeared to be their respective houses.

Was this some sort of initiation thing? The decision of your house; where you belong?

"Oh gods, I don't feel ready for any of this. Slightly wish I could go back to middle school now…" Hiccup whispered queasily, which was picked by Toothless' keen hearing as they now stood at the back of the line. Over time, it began to gradually whittle down, until finally, Toothless was up next. "Good luck!"

"Thanks. Doubt it's needed though, since the Sorting Hat always gets it right anyway." he shrugged, but still returned a lopsided smile which made Hiccup feel happy about.

It was… admittedly sad, realising that Toothless was his first friend in practically his entire life. Sure, Fishlegs was nice a decade ago, but he practically betrayed Hiccup to hang with the 'cooler' Vikings, just so that he could avoid being targeted himself.

Then again, Hiccup had also always been quite a positive thinker. Had to be to survive what he dealt with on a daily basis. It was good enough for him to have met such a nice person now, than never at all.

Toothless then walked up to a stool sat in front of the headmaster's pedestal, before a large, brown hat was placed upon his head.

Out of nowhere, a gruff but expressive voice piped up, saying something about Toothless' 'character'. Some of the words being 'loyal', 'honourable', as well as 'protective' and 'caring for things close to him'.

"Ahhhh, yesss, yes… Where to put you… Hmmm... I see you are destined for great things. Great things indeed… AH! And you seem to have already found a large part of your destiny already! Although I cannot see what that means exactly, it's clear to me that a great deal rests on your shoulders... Mmmm, yes, yes, you seem to already be set on a destined path, one of which I cannot tell precisely, but one indefinitely…"

"But in the situation of uncertainty, are you one to betray, or to stay?"

After a stretch of suspenseful silence, the entire room's attention focussed on such a bafflingly unique judgement from the hat, until it finally made its decision:

"Gryffindor!" Sonoros clapping echoed throughout the hall as the boy walked over to the blue coloured house with relief and joy. It seemed that he was glad about this decision, so Hiccup was happy for him.

Passing by, Toothless wished him good luck, as it was now his own turn, with a wink, and all too soon, Hiccup found himself sat upon the seat. He had been the last in the line, and countless, hungry eyes gazed upon him; feasting on him like piranhas.

The moment the hat was placed down upon his head ended up being a complete anticlimax.

It was silent.

Well, at least for the first dozen seconds. "Incredible. Truly, the most fascinating mind I have ever had the pleasure to judge…"

It was only then, that Hiccup realised it was the hat that was speaking to him.

This time when the hat spoke, it was different. It sounded within his mind entirely, answering his thoughts. 'Indeed I am a talking hat. No, this is not quite what you think of as 'black magic', but your train of thought is close, but I must implore that you don't make your surprise so evident on your face. Lest you find yourself kicked out of this school within a blink.'

'What? Why? And how can you even talk?!' he thought forcibly with a frown, assuming that if the hat could talk inside his head, he could talk back.

'I don't think answering those questions would be beneficial in the slightest to you in this moment. All I shall say is that you may want to be careful of who you hold within claw's reach…

Good luck on this challenging journey ahead of you, kid.'

"Wha-"

"Gryffindor!" Another round of applause sounded, only this one was even more momentous due to the open high praise Hiccup had received from the hat.

From taking a seat on the bench next to Toothless, throughout the entirety of dinner -of which Hiccup hardly acknowledged everyone around him inhaling their food like bottomless pits- and all the way to the dormitories. Hiccup's mind could not stop reeling at the baffling experiences he'd already dealt with in only one day.

He hardly noticed himself laying down on a bed in the very corner of the Gryffindor dorm room, Toothless settling into the one to his left him, and before he knew it, he was locked in a tumultuous state of confusion, deeply sleeping but twisting and turning with every minute.

Chapter Text

Hiccup was pleasantly surprised to find himself waking up to a prodding finger on his cheek. Of course, he ensured he reacted quite suitably:

By groaning "Go away, busy processing and sleeping away mind-shattering revelations and confusion." and with that, he turned over, tugging the fur quilt over his head resolutely.

Sadly, today seemed to be one of those days that hiding from life simply wouldn't work out well for him.

"Hiccup, you do realise dawn was like.. three hours ago? I don't think I've ever known anyone to oversleep so much in my life, it's actually somewhat impressive!" Toothless' voice sounded muffled through the blanket, but Hiccup’s eyes shot open when he felt it be tugged away from him.

"No! Give it back, Toothless, I'm warning you!"

"Warning me of what?"

"I have been told I'm extremely unpleasant, moody and snappy when waking up in ways like now. You're basically willingly placing yourself in front of every snide sarcastic and witty remark I have stored by going through with this. Though I might forgive you and move on if you kindly leave me alone to perhaps sleep for another five hours." he stated dryly.

"Eh, no offence, but I'll take my chances ." he looked knowingly towards Hiccup’s thin frame, barely suppressing a laugh at his undignified but joking expression.

"Grrr, you're so irritating with that stupid infectious smile." He closed his eyes again, trying to ignore the nipping cold at his feet.

It didn't last long.

"Alright, fine! You win! I'm up! There, ya happy now?" He grumbled, snapping the duvet from a victorious looking boy and sitting up, rubbing his eyes and yawning widely. "Ugh, Gods, that must have been the worst night's sleep I've ever had. Would have been more beneficial to have just done some sketching or something."

Toothless cocked an eyebrow. "You can draw?"

At this, he twitched, freezing momentarily, but then tried to play it off, hoping Toothless hadn't noticed. "Uh.... Yeah, I can draw. Though it's pretty impossible to impress anyone I know with it. It's... an uncommon hobby, to say the least." He tried to ignore all the surfacing memories of insults and embarrassments he'd endured due to his aptitude with a charcoal pencil.

"Really? I think that's actually a really awesome skill to have! If you don't mind, maybe you can teach me a little? I'm sure I could find something to repay you with."

Hiccup glanced at his face, and found himself shamefully surprised to find no jest nor trickery in his words. Toothless' face was purely inquisitive, as well as perhaps a little sheepish.

"Uhm... yeah. Sure. I- I don't mind showing you a bit, and it's nothing major, I don't need anything in return. It's cool enough to have someone be interested in it at all in the first place."

Toothless frowned at that comment, but brushed it off, holding a hand out to pull Hiccup onto his still sleepy legs.

"Alright. Well, I'll try and see if I can repay you anyway, but thanks Hiccup. Now, how about we go get some breakfast? I'm starving personally."

"Sure, breakfast it is."

The duo then began their trek throughout the hallways, heading back towards the main hall once again. Along the way, Hiccup felt shivers go down his spine, almost as though he was being watched by hundreds of scrutinising eyes, however whenever he turned his gaze, all he found were countless portraits and paintings hanging in every gap on the wall.

"You alright?" Toothless watched as he frowned.

"Yeah. Just feels like we're being scrutinised. Or at least I do, I don't know about you."

"Nah, I feel that too. But then that's probably normal for all first years to be constantly judged on character and appearance."

He wasn't sure if we were talking about the same thing, since there was no-one else around, but decided to simply nod, "Yeah..."

After a short while (it was easier this time getting there, since they memorised the way -mostly) they ended up eating breakfast. Hiccup just went for some blueberry porridge and honey, whereas Toothless opted for more protein, deciding that three entire fish would 'hang him over until lunch since they weren't doing anything strenuous today'.

He didn't even know how to comment on that.

Towards the end of their meal, however, they found themselves approached by a small group of teens, all our age, but differing in just about every aspect possible.

One was a young girl, who had cerulean-blue dyed hair, yellow irises and wore clothes very similar to what Astrid would wear back on Berk. 'She's very pretty... Must be a shield maiden.'

Standing beside her, was a guy who towered almost two feet taller than him, a foot taller than Toothless and was in one word: Packed. He looked like a leading lumberjack who took a single hour to complete an average Viking day's work. Red hair, with red eyes and a fierce expression of what could only be described as amusement tied with dominance when he looked down at him.

Noticed next were two identical twins. Both had green hair and eyes, but one was male and the other was female. They were much smaller than the others, probably around his own height, but they wore a devious grin that spoke great lengths to their confidence. The male was eyeing me up, almost like he was analysing a potential rival or victim, of which, he's not entirely sure. The female, however, was simply standing there with a slightly more reserved but observant attitude.

Finally, all the way in the back to the side, a short but rotund girl, with the only natural looking hair-colour, brown. She held a thick book with a metal clasp between chubby fingers, and in the greatest sense, reminded him endlessly of Fishlegs.

‘Huh, now that I think about it... They all do look coincidentally similar to the gang back home... But they must be foreign, judging from their strangely dyed hair, as well as colourful eyes. I wonder which far part of the world they come from to all look so exotically strange...?'

The female, who appeared to be the unannounced leader of the group, broke the silence first.

"Hey, you two. We're all going back to our house's common-room to showcase- find out the pecking order around here. You coming along or you content with settling at the bottom right now and making it easy?" her voice wasn't insincere, and her arrogant boasting was clearly just playful -to an extent, so Hiccup wasn't feeling outright offended, but he would admit to being confused.

Before he could even think to ask what she meant, however, Toothless cut in challengingly with a smirk he hadn't seen yet, "Oh, sure, and while we're at it, we gonna take bets?"

"Well, I'm already betting for myself, so if you really think you have a chance, sure. Say, whoever wins has to come up with a dare for the other that they can't refuse -as long as it's not breaking any school rules of course."

"You're on!" Toothless then turned to me with a smug grin as though he was entirely certain he'd just received a free victory. "You in, Hiccup?"

".... Me?" the boy asked blankly as the others all stared at him with exited expressions that quickly faltered in confusion.

"Duh, yeah you. You really must have been sleeping poorly last night, huh."

He blinked in stupor, before processing what he assumed they meant. "Uhm... Well, I-I'm nothing special in the slightest, so I'll just pass right now. Never been competitive either, so I'd lose any competition. I'll, uh, watch, though? You know, support you from the sidelines, Tooth." He knew his sheepish grin was forced, and so could they probably.

Toothless stared at him, eyes scanning his expression, locking with his own, questions swirling within them, but he didn't voice them. "Well, alright then, Hic. If that's really what you want to do, I won't force you, but just admitting total submissiveness without even trying is a little..."

"Cowardly, is what he's trying to say politely. But eh, I won't complain about others submitting without question." the girl shrugged flippantly with a grin.

"Hey! Being strategic and knowing which battles are worth fighting for and which aren't isn't being cowardly if there's little consequence! That's a little harsh." He argued, but that only caused both Toothless and the group to blink in further confusion.

Until the tall macho, red male's face dawned a revelation. "Ohhhh, so you're that kinda deal. Well, I'll never understand how someone could actively enjoy playing the bottom role, but whatever floats your wings I guess...?"

Hiccup was pretty sure that wasn't how the saying goes, being 'whatever floats your boat', but at this point, he just gave up on this conversation as it only seemed to be digging his metaphorical hole deeper, opting to just grunt beneath his breath "That's not even close to what I meant." which Toothless seemed to pick up on slightly, but not comment on.

The entire walk back, Toothless had kept glancing sideways at him, probably thinking he wouldn't notice. Whenever he realised this, however, the raven haired boy would immediately look away before he could even catch him doing it, which frustrated Hiccup endlessly. It was almost as if he could tell when Hiccup knew he was looking or not.

Either way, they eventually ended up arriving back at the dorm room, only to find it packed entirely with others. All of their own year group was there, as well as a large majority of upper years. The centre of the room as well as the fireplace was left empty. Other than that, however, the circular room was lined with chairs and furniture that had been clearly moved to the perimeter for this event.

Wait, so was it a school custom for everyone to just fight on their first day, seeing who was the 'dominant', stronger person or what?

Toothless nudged him towards one corner of the room, right towards the staircase that lead up a spire where all out Gryffindor dorm rooms were, and they both plopped down on the steps to have a view just overhead the others, peering directly into the centre of the room by the fireplace.

Everyone was stuck in animated chatting, bickering and boasting. What about, Hiccup wasn't quite sure as every conversation was jumbled and starting to give him a serious headache.

After a while, he got bored of waiting patiently for it to start, and so he turned to start a conversation with Toothless, maybe ask more about what was actually going on, only to find that the boy was no longer beside him. At first he was confused, as the other boy had seemingly disappeared as sneakily as an insect, however he realised that the only place he could have gone was up the spiral stairs behind him.

'Huh? Didn't he bet on winning or something? Maybe he's lost his confidence...'

Deciding that he should probably go and check on his currently only friend, He started up the staircase, slowing down when he was nearing the top. It was then that he heard the strangest, almost indescribable sound he'd ever heard. A mixture of grunts and roars sounded, but he could also hear Toothless' voice layered over it, giving himself what sounded like a pep-talk. 'Come on, you got this in the bag. Easy peasy, nothing to fear. Hiccup's there, so I gotta make sure I impress him so he isn't disappointed and stops talking to me, but at the same time don't scare him off. Other than that, absolutely nothing to worry about. Raise my wings, puff out my chest, stand tall, that's all I gotta do..." Hiccup then heard a series of deep breaths, but the moment he decided to enter was one of the biggest mistakes of his short life.

His face contorted into an amalgamation of rigid horror and breathless awe as he stared upon the black beast pacing at the other end of the room, muttering to itself (as well as roaring) with Toothless' voice.

The moment it turned, however, his presence seemed to hardly phase it. At first.

Then the beast recognised his horrified expression, and almost instantly, a realisation dawned upon Toothless.

All they did was stare at each other. Hiccup, breathless over the lithe, black-scaled, monstrous beast before him\, and Toothless with a panic stricken expression.

"H-Hiccup, it's not that bad! I swear!" the boy couldn't even respond, which only seemed to throw him further into worry. "Look, I know I'm a Night Fury, but it's not like I'm that different from other dragon species! Please don't tell me that this changes everything between us! You didn't fear me before you knew, I don't want you to now!"

"...What?" '-what are you?' the unfinished sentence came out hoarse and whispered, but even with all the noise coming from downstairs, everything seemed deathly silent. He was just too confused to process this in the slightest anymore.

He tried to suppress a gasp when Toothless began to shift in front of his very eyes. Scales receded as limbs lengthened and thinned, whilst his body shrank and the winged appendages on his back folded up before seemingly moulding into his skin -but the whole process seemed impossibly normal for the other.

The moment his hazy eyes refocussed on Toothless, the boy began to stalk forward, a hand held out and he half crouched placatingly.

Hiccup couldn't think to do anything but retreat further back, toppling over somebody's suitcase, as well as stumbling over a bed, until he found himself huddled against the wall, unable to continue, despite his frantic attempts at feeling for a magical gap in the wall to disappear.

Toothless paused, with a pained expression when he was only a few feet away and Hiccup had smushed his head against the wall behind him.

"S-stay back!" he threw his arms over his head and huddled further into himself in petrifying fear of the... the thing standing in front of him.

"Hiccup, I'm not gonna hurt you I swe-"

"J-Just stay back! Don't come any closer!" these words were half-screamed.

The boy flinched, retracting his hand. His head drooped and downcast expression hit the floor. "Just when I thought I might have a chance of making great friends with you." he muttered breathlessly. "But you're no different from the rest of them." his whispers held the power of one thousand voices, but with that, the raven-haired boy straightened, biting his lip in anger and resentment, before growling. "Fine then. If that's how it's always got to be, then fine. I can't be bothered to keep trying to make real friends, only to find everyone I ever meet react like I'm some kind of power to abuse or fear. Let's just forget we ever met, Hiccup." and with that, he left, likely to join the competition late that had already started downstairs.

Hiccup could only stare blankly at the spot where he'd allegedly just seen a Night Fury itself with a strange trace of guilt mixed in with his terror and confusion.

Chapter Text

Toothless had only been a young hatchling drake when he was first introduced to the cruelty of the world around him. He was young, and foolish. The only thing he had going for him, was that he was the only one in his year group of hatchlings that could fly. He could soar, twist and turn with ease, embracing the clouds and challenging the rainy skies above.

Other fledgling dragons could hardly hover off the ground.

Of course, this wasn't taken lightly by any of his peers. Within a blink, Toothless found himself isolated, lonely and craving for any contact possible. As the only Night Fury (other than his mother at the time, of course), he was forced to endure these emotions for many years as he began to grow up.

At first, he thought that the biased views of the others would die down as they grew up and matured, and for a small part, he was right...

Only now, they wanted him around for protection and association to his 'power'. Not for friendship, nor companionship.

No. He was used. Over, and over, and over again.

Until eventually, he stopped trying to befriend anyone altogether.

He was reaching pre-teen age, when he decided to give friendship another chance.

It was his mother's dying request that he didn't resolve himself to die alone and unhappy. She made him promise he wouldn't.

It didn't work at first, but no matter how hard it got, he persevered. He toughed out the depression of being feared and used for his 'superior race', but after a while, it seemed half-hearted again. Whilst he refused to ever fully give up on the idea of achieving someone's acceptance, he simply wasn't in it, worn down from all the comments and remarks both whispered behind his wings or blatantly sneered at his face.

But all that changed when he met Hiccup.

For some reason, Hiccup seemed special from the get-go. Different, like him. He seemed unconditionally kind, as well as a generally nice drake for company. The main thing that caught Toothless' attention were his constantly strange mannerisms. Sometimes, Toothless could joke that Hiccup didn't act draconic at all, but then all that would reverse the moment he seemed to resolve any questions Toothless asked that could suggest even slightly that Hiccup wasn't legitimate.

But right now, Toothless found himself questioning that deeply. The showcase had lasted several hours as everyone displayed their forms. There were countless types of different dragons, one or two of which he had never even seen before. Stormfly, the girl who had challenged and bet against him earlier, ended up being an admittedly attractive and very feisty Nadder, and to be fair, her confidence in herself was understandable.

But the moment she had looked to him, eyes gleaming with eager anticipation, Toothless found...

That without the thought of a single person already liking him (Hiccup) before he showed himself, he didn't have the confidence nor willingness to deal with whatever remarks were made at him. He found his usual fear of isolation returning, and replaced all thoughts with uncertainty and fear. Now he just felt like everything was set to repeat itself, and beyond anything else, he didn't want that. Especially not after seeing how Hiccup reacted.

Damnit, Hiccup had really lead his hopes higher than he'd ever let them before.

So he shook his head, accepting defeat. Admitting submissiveness towards the 'dominant dragons' and essentially bowing before them.

Like a coward.

Stormfly's eyebrows raised, eyes widening, before she gave him a sneer of mild disgust at his backtracked 'bravado' and breaking his word, before looking to the next dragon in line.

And with that, Toothless stayed there, rooted in thought long after the room emptied and fireplace dimmed to a weak crackling. It was midnight when he finally decided to turn in for the night. However upon reaching the corner of the dorm room, acidic green eyes met with forest pine ones, as he realised Hiccup was sat on his bed, back against the wall and huddled beneath his entire duvet.

How he wasn't burning with his inner-fire and all those blankets was a mystery to Toothless, but he ignored the urge to speak up about it, lest he break the promise of never talking to the other boy again.

It was obvious to each-other, that neither fell asleep that night. Well, at least not until Toothless passed out into a three hour power-nap (he usually averaged around six).

When he awoke, however, he was mildly surprised, and increasingly concerned at the glossy, fogged-over, unfocused eyes that stared mindlessly ahead. Hiccup hadn't even twitched for the entire night, stuck in the same place as he was before the sun rose.

He stared for a moment, wondering if by some miracle, everything would sort itself out and they could actually be friends again, however after spending several minutes aimlessly waiting for Hiccup to look at him, he realised it was pointless. Hiccup didn't even appear to be aware of his surroundings anymore.

Toothless ended up going to have breakfast. School started in only two days time, so he had free reign to just explore.

A few hours later, he returned, only to find Hiccup still where he was previously, except now, his eyes were trained silently on Toothless until he looked back, then Hiccup would drop his gaze in either fear or embarrassment. This same pattern kept repeating itself for well over an hour, until finally, Toothless had had enough.

"What do you want?! I'd presume there's something on my face, except you've been staring non-stop at me for well over an hour now without a single god damn comment! So? Either stop staring at me and making this whole thing more frustrating, or I'll ask someone to switch beds with if my own damn existence is truly too much for whatever type of dragon you are." he huffed, crossing his arms with a glare.

"…Dragon?" the first words he had spoken that day came out just as hoarse as the last from the day before, only this time it came out sounding more confused rather than fearful for his life. He also sounded somewhat conceding, as though he'd reached a form of acceptance to an answer he would never fully understand. "So it's not just some joke or trick. It really is true then." he continued with a straight face.

Toothless stared at him meticulously, before he scowled. "The hell are you on about now? You scream in my face just because I have black scales and am a powerful breed of dragon, and now you're banging on about some world-shattering revelational truth? I really can't believe my gut was telling me this racist ass was a nice person I should stick with."

Hiccup seemingly ignored everything that he said, opting to ask his own simple questions, the ones that had been bugging his mind relentlessly.

"It's got nothing to do with me being racist, Toothless; that much I can sincerely promise."

"Oh really? Then what the hell do you call it when you express biased views towards someone who can't help what they were born as?"

"How did we get here?

"What are you tal-"

"How did we get to Malebury, Toothless?" His voice wasn't hostile, instead sounding quite scared of the answer he suspected.

His expression turned incredulous. "How do you think we travelled across twenty miles of water within a single day?! We flew of course."

"You carried me, didn't you?" his tone wasn't accusatory either. Just very exhausted, as though he had just now given up on something.

"Duh? Yes, I carried you, which you still never really thanked me for directly in the sense that I ended up flying the entire journey with your added weight, plus your shape broke my aerodynamic, streamlined shape, increasing drag. That's not even mentioning just how irritating it was keeping an unconscious person settled without slipping and falling off mid-way. Don't know why I bothered in the first place now; I should have just woken you up."

"...Yes, you should have." hearing his agreement actually shocked Toothless, making him growl with displeasure.

"Oh, wow. I have every right to say that after what you've gone and done, but after I did all of that for you, you don't even have the decency to act grateful that I went out of my way? I can't believe I thought you were actually nice and different from the rest, Hiccup."

"It's not that I'm not grateful for your consideration in the slightest, Toothless."

"Then what do you even me-"

"It's the fact that I wouldn't be stuck here right now with no way home if all this confusion had just been sorted out the moment we all had to leave."

"Wha- what do you mean? What are you even on about?"

Hiccup levelled a stoic gaze at the other, before dropping his face into his bent knees and lap. The five words that followed were what Toothless would consider the most heart-stopping words he'd ever heard.

"I'm not a dragon, Toothless."

Just five words, and his entire world came crashing down. Toothless wasn't sure if he was more scared of his heart stopping or his head exploding.

"Wha-"

"I'm not a dragon, I don't know how I managed to end up here in this situation, and I don't have any way of just simply going home. Until I was greeted by a magical hat and the first dragon sighted in centuries, I had no idea magic even existed until today and to top it all off, I do feel like utter trash for making you feel so bad, since my reaction had nothing to do with you being a Night Fury in particular, and more to do with the crippling, gut-wrenching fear of the fact that I'm a scrawny sack of skin with no natural defences and no weapons on me, and you have the ability to shapeshift into… that, and essentially rip me to shreds with less than just ease."

... "You're being serious... aren't you?" Toothless could only utter breathlessly after several minutes of debilitating silence.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that you're not the only shapeshifting, magical dragon in this school, are you?"

"Hiccup… You're the only person in this school who isn't. Oh Goddess of the Moon this is bad. This is very, very bad- You're a- a- Viking! How did you even get here?! Only magical creatures are invited to this school in the first place! How did you even find out about Malebury?! It's kept as a secret to protect us from being found out about and restarting the old war!" at this point, Toothless had begun pacing about the room.

"That can't be all it is! Why do you keep this all hidden from Vikings? I mean, why even bother pretending to be extinct when something like this happening is inevitable in the end. Surely you couldn't have believed that dragons would never be rediscovered just by hiding on a different island some distance away!" Hiccup retorted.

"Because can you really expect your people to be any more receiving than they were when we first did three centuries ago?! Dragons DID show their true natures, in hopes that they could live peacefully with vikings and integrate into each other's cultures. But guess what? Guess what happened!"

Hiccup frowned, already imaging where this was leading. "They got driven out by swords, spears and accusations of being the spawn of the devil." he stated with disappointment in his own people's stubborn violence issues.

Toothless stared at him for a while, initially cold and calculating, until eventually, it turned lax when he realised Hiccup really was looking at him with regret and pain, as though wishing just as much as he did that his own people were different. It just further demonstrated that Hiccup truly was different from the rest of his human kind.

Toothless' instincts hadn't been wrong about the boy. The situation was just so messed up.

"As for believing our secret would last... Well, it did work for the first three centuries -at least until this enigma came along." Toothless gestured towards him, trying to joke lightheartedly, but the chuckles that followed were hollow. The mood had dropped and silence fell upon them as the situation settled in.

"What do we do now?" Toothless eventually spoke up in little more than a whisper. Hiccup blinked at what the dragon-boy was implying.

"We? It's not you who's utterly screwed. I guess it's just a question of either 'how long can Hiccup charade without being found out and lacerated', or I find some way to go home and just... go to some stupid normal Viking school, of which I really hoped I'd never have to deal with again upon seeing Malebury. Either way, I'm doomed. It's just whether I feel confident enough in my acting skills in front of magical beings for several years, or I just accept the inevitable beat-downs and shit-storms I'd be returning to in my village."

Toothless' face fell into a dark frown, gaze shadowed by his hair. "Well, I ain't letting that happen to you now, so I guess we'll just be improvising, then." With that, he stood up, before holding out his hand. It was a silent offer of help and trust. One that Hiccup realised he'd never seen before from anyone.

It made him feel warm and fuzzy, and gave a surprising boost in his currently dwindling confidence. His gaze fell to his lap as he bit his lip deeply.

"Come on, if that's what your other option is, then we'll just have to cover up the truth. I'll help keep you under wraps so you can stay here and at the very least be safe so long as you aren't discovered."

"R-Really? You're gonna do all that for... me?" Finally, he raised his head, eyes jumping between the features of Toothless' face, seemingly scanning him for any evidence of him lying.

"Yeah. Forgiving your now very understandable reaction from yesterday, you're a really nice drake- uhh… human… from what I've seen. I like talking to you, so I'm not gonna throw you under the bus if you think you can deal with what comes next."

"But what about all the stuff I don't know? Like, you already told me just how much I'm behind on all these courses, let alone the fact that I know absolutely nothing on any of this magic stuff as a whole!"

"I'll teach you." he responded almost flippantly, with a soft smile. "Basics are probably gonna blow your innocent mind to pieces at first, but once you get that all down, you'll be fine!"

Feverishly, with great deliberation, Hiccup lowered his head again.

Only this time, his hand raised to meet with Toothless', as the dragon boy tugged him up and to his feet.

"Thank you."

Toothless didn't say anything in response, opting once again for a simple gesture that conveyed more than just words.

He smiled.

You're welcome.

Chapter Text

"Which ingredient do you find in both Felix Felicis and Amortentia potions, and which is the main ingredient you only find in the Amortentia?"

"Murtlap tentacle... Ashwinder egg?" Hiccup answered slowly, gaze out the window and resting on the dark, rainy night sky outside. The pair were lit by a sole candle, Toothless holding a 'Potions: 101' alchemy book, quizzing Hiccup as best as he could.

"Not quite, it's the other way around, but you were close by getting the two right ingredients in the first place out of the ten they use in total." Toothless sighed as Hiccup smothered his face into his lap from against the wall.

The duo had decided to occupy a very small and highly unknown spire. It branched just off of one of the main wings in the common-room, however it seemed to be previously used as an attic of sorts. Of course, over time it was forgotten about, so upon looking for a quiet place to start teaching Hiccup some vital basics for their first lesson in alchemy tomorrow, Toothless discovered this peaceful little space. There was a glass window on one wall at floor level, which made it nice to just bring up blankets and pillows and sit there in the narrow space.

But despite the peaceful environment, Hiccup still found himself struggling to get through so much material so quickly with no prior experience. They'd already rushed through two other books so far today, 'Defence Against the Dark Arts -for Dummies' and 'The Basics of Botany'. Those two alone had taken several hours, as Hiccup not only had to learn the basics of the topics they'd be going through, but also about many of the ingredients or techniques themselves. These, Toothless was trying to teach him himself, as all magical creatures learnt such things when they were very young. (Even when young, it was necessary to know which magical plants and herbs were poisonous, as well as what to do in the threat of more common magical creatures such as Hoblegrunts.)

"Is this really all need-to-know stuff for the first lesson alone?! I think I'm starting to lose my mind this is so much to take in in just one night."

"You're doing great, Hiccup. I'm actually quite impressed at just how much you've absorbed in such little time, keep it up. Catching up fully will be slow, but you'll get there eventually as long as you don't give up, but the moment they ask you about anything even this simple and you don't answer or get it utterly wrong, it'll raise suspicions."

"I know, I know. It's just... You know... A lot. Not exactly abnormal to live your entire life ignorant to the fact that unicorns, goblins and especially dragons DO exist! When I was young, my surrogate uncle told me all these stories of trolls stealing his left socks, and for a long while, I believed him! I remember I'd go off exploring, hunting for them when I couldn't deal with the rest of the village." he sighed. "I never found anything... But learning about all this now... That everything was true, every story, every legend, every myth that Vikings lost to time and superstition. It's just all so surreal... You know?" he dropped his chin onto his right hand, arms crossed and resumed his star gazing. "Although, it's kinda ironic, in a way."

Toothless piped up when he realised Hiccup wasn't going to continue on his own initiative. "What's ironic?"

Hiccup turned to him, a gentle smile slowly spreading across his features. "The carriage ride to Raven Point's coast. I was mulling over the idea of all these myths being true. At one point, I even told myself that seeing the illusive, mysterious, magnificent Night Fury would be the most incredible experience ever, no matter how scary it would indefinitely be, and even though I thought I knew it was 'impossible'."

"... So I'm clearly not what you expected, but are you disappointed?" he inquired curiously.

Hiccup chuckled, "Not in the slightest. I can't imagine it being any cooler or mind-blowing any other way. Though I will say having a civil discussion with what is probably the most dangerous creature on Earth -to my clearly limited knowledge- without even realising you weren't actually human is definitely crossing my expectations more than all else. That and the fact that you dragons even have human forms in the first place. I mean, seriously, for all I know, you could totally be integrated secretly in my village and making up like three quarters of the population, and I'd be none the wiser!" Both boys laughed.

"True. Perhaps you should look a little more closely at the merchants and traders that visit the next time you go home..." Toothless cackled when Hiccup lobbed a book at him half-heartedly.

"Shut up! You can not be serious! All this time and we've been buying all our resources from magical shapeshifters?!"

"You know trader Johann?"

"Wait a minute... is that the guy who has all those cool but strange, foreign trinkets?! OH GODS DAMNIT NOW THAT ALL MAKES SENSE!"

"It... does? Sounds like you just worked something big out?" Toothless rose an amused eyebrow at the other's look of semi-betrayal.

"Yes! He's the one who gave me the paper for Malebury! We'd been talking about all his stuff, since I was asking about where it all came from, and he told me all these fantasy stories which at the time I found really incredible but far-fetched! Looking back on it now, though, he wasn't lying about any of it, was he?!" Hiccup slapped his palm to his forehead in defeat. "But what did he see in me to inspire him to do that?"

"Ohhhhh, so that's how you got muddled up in this mess... Though it's strange that he even gave you the form. He must have known that you clearly weren't magical, yet also risked our discovery entirely by giving it to you. He must have really trusted you and seen something special during your discussion for him to do that."

"Well... I think it's pretty obvious that I'm a bit of a pacifist just from first glance, so when he personally heard just how utterly useless at being a big, brutal, burly Viking I was, that must have done the trick and it was out of pity all along..." Toothless laughed when Hiccup flexed his arms mockingly, displaying nothing but boney, thin genetics.

"Fun fact about Johann: He's actually a very distant relative of mine, looking back about five generations or so. His mother's a giant but father's a dwarf, so he came out about the exact size of an average human, so no one would ever suspect a thing. Demonstrated as such by your oblivious, innocent self."

"Hey!"

"Hehe- hey! Alright, alright! Bahaha I'm only messing with you!" he deftly tried to dodge Hiccup as both enjoyed being themselves in front of each other.

"Useless reptile." Hiccup muttered under his breath with a smile, suppressing the urge to laugh at Toothless' mock indignant expression.

That was, until Toothless lunged at him. "Oi, ya little squidge! Think you can call me 'useless reptile' without feeling my supreme force?!"

Hiccup found himself tumbling backwards from the force with an 'Oof!', arms pinned to his sides as Toothless leered down at him from above, a victorious, smug grin plastered on his face, showing off his pearly white, almost shark-like teeth.

It took a second for the both of them to realise the vulnerable positions they were in, a faint tint of red rising on Toothless' face as Hiccup exploded with a crimson blush,

"U-uh... okay, maybe too far. Whoops? S-sorry..." he stuttered, pulling himself off of the poor boy beneath him, who was now trying his best to melt into the floor in awkward embarrassment.

"D-don't worry about it..."

"S-so, should we get back to work? We've still got to get through the rest of this potion stuff, as well as the first section of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'."

"Y-yeah. Let's just get it done. Looks like neither of us are getting any sleep before our first actual day of school, huh? Sorry to be so reliant on your help."

"Don't be sorry over something I willingly suggested. I want to help you, Hiccup. That's what friends do, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks again."

Toothless playfully tossed a book at the boy upon hearing 'thanks' being said by him for the hundredth time or more.

Chapter Text

It would probably be considered as a bad start to any day when you wake up late and can't manage to find your way to your first lesson. Toothless had warned Hiccup about this happening earlier when he had insisted on sleeping for another five minutes, but now he wasn't sure if that was worth it...

"Young man, I do hope you don't intend to make a habit of being late to class. Starting the year off with negative labels is not a good idea if you ask me. Now sit down, book open to page three."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, I just didn't sleep very well last night. It won't happen again." that was a half truth, since Hiccup had actually ended up just staying up with Toothless until just before dawn, revising consistently until his eyes had bags hanging so heavily on his cheeks that it pulled his head into a permanent slump. That was the time when Toothless forced him to bed without accepting any argument.

He made his way over to where he saw Toothless, who was currently watching him with a mixture of amusement and irritation.

"What did I tell you?" the other boy whispered, inciting a huff.

"What do you expect from me?! Not many non-magical creatures can thrive off of four hours of sleep like you, mr dragon!" he whispered sarcastically.

Toothless grunted with an eye roll at that. "As you tell me all the time for just about anything, yet I find it hard to believe that you're not just being lazy."

"Trust me, you want to see how long the rest of the villagers of Berk sleep for. I'm considered an early riser in comparison." Hiccup pulled out his book, however was startled when a ruler slammed down on his desk, just millimetres from his fingers.

The half nasally, resonating voice of the teacher for potions class, Professor Bloodhorn, sounded snidely. "You come into my lesson, twenty minutes late, and the first thing you do is begin idle chit-chat? What is your name?"

"H-Hiccup Haddock, sir."

Several people gave odd looks at hearing his name, to which a glance at Toothless he realised that he had said something wrong in some way.

'Maybe they don't use surnames, since it'd make sense if they work more off of scents, plus I haven't heard anyone else have any…' "I know my name is unusual, it's just a result of my foster parents giving me another name, so I decide to use both." he bluffed with an uneven smile.

Bloodhorn scowled briefly, and for a second, Hiccup thought he was about to probe for more on-the-spot whimsical lies from him, however luckily, the uptight, grouchy man simply turned away.

"Minus ten points to Gryffindor for misconducted behaviour. That should serve as a lesson to all of you that I will not tolerate any ignorant behaviour from you. You are here to focus and learn, not fumble through the years like a buffoon drunk on Unicorn blood." Several of the class laughed or groaned at him, causing him to shrink under the bad attention.

Definitely not the best way to stay incognito when you're already making enemies out of your own House.

"Oops…" he whispered with a cringe.

Toothless only facepalmed in exaggerated agony at the prospect of dealing with this for as long as it took to beat out all the blatantly non-dragon mannerisms from the boy.

"We're gonna need to work on that, clearly. Next time someone asks for your name, either keep up that pretense lie since it wasn't too bad I suppose, otherwise just use one name. Infact- Here. From here on out, your name is 'Hunter'. Sounds more draconic and less… 'Hiccup'-y." Toothless stated jokingly, barely avoiding a light-hearted jab.

To be fair, Hiccup would admit to actually liking the name. -Not that he'd externally admit that the warmth came more from it being created by his new best friend with sincerity, than his normal name his careless father had given him in disappointment at his birth.

On the other hand, how the Hel was that fair coming from the guy named 'Toothless'?! "You call me Hunter, then 'Toothless' need to change too." Hiccup snarked.

"Yeah right, well be my guest at trying to find a fitting name for a Night Fury that I'd find acceptable, and I'll consider it fair." he almost snorted, since the boy already presumed that any names suggested would be awful or hilarious.

"Uhhh…. Spike?"

"No. I'm not a stud."

"Shadow...?"

At that one, Toothless' eyes lidded in that questioning, sarcastic way. "Could you BE me unoriginal with that one?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Fine then, how about… uhh..." 

"...Tallon?"

Toothless adopted a considerate, somewhat surprised expression, before they turned to focus on the lesson before them under the scrutinising gaze of the teacher. Sadly, as their first lesson, it was only theoretical, since no-one was really prepared to start working with ingredients that may or may not magically explode if used wrongly.

At some point, however, Hiccup found himself at the one crossroad he was hoping he'd not be at so soon.

"Haddock!" the voice sliced through his mind, cauterising his roaming thoughts as Hiccup looked up from his book where he'd been reading about a Post Mortis Revio spell, and he found all eyes trained on him.

"U-uhm, yes sir?"

"Are you always so distracted? I should hope not, since I cannot see you possibly passing this academic year if you keep up your sorry state of distant daydreaming. Tell me, do you know what the difference between a Canid-bark tree and a Willow is?"

"I... don't know, sir." he replied nervously, trying not to cringe under the piercing eyes of his classmates.

"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"I don't know, sir..."

"Then surely you must know, Mr. Haddock, where one would look, if I were to tell you to find a bezoar? Or even simpler, the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?!" the man's voice raised in irritation as the lack of response to anything he asked.

"..." the boy's head dropped in modest shame as he bit his lip. None of these things had been covered in their midnight cram session, and Hiccup could sense Toothless cringing beside him as well.

"For your information, Hiccup Haddock, Canid-bark trees only bloom on February the twenty-ninth and emit a scent that attracts werewolves to mate. Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death, and a bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat which can save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

"Y-yes sir, sorry sir." he immediately picked up his pen, but the feeling of personal spectators never left him. It was obvious that many students were suppressing snickers or insults behind their hands.

He hardly had the nerve to look at Toothless, but when he did, he didn't find the look he was expecting. Instead, the boy just sighed and copied in writing the facts down, before nodding to him.

I told you, you don't have the luxury to take it easy. Learn the basics soon, or you'll have a bad reputation pretty quickly.

Surprising him, the other spoke up once again out of nowhere, hushed beneath his breath, "Tallon's a good name, I like it. How about we call each other by our real names, but tell everyone else we're 'Hunter' and 'Tallon' then?"

"Sounds good to me." Hiccup smiled, before turning back to the work at hand.

Out of nowhere, Toothless seemed to have some sort or revelation, and he began fervently thumbing through the book until he flipped to a particular page, "A 'Polyjuice' potion..."

"What's that?" Hiccup looked over in curiousity, but kept an eye out for the teacher.

"I remembered something about hearing it once... Look," he tilted the book for Hiccup to read, " 'There's a potion that can change someone to look and sound like someone else for a period of time. It's usually used for dragons to experience what it's like to be a different species or creature entirely for a couple hours or so.' What if we tried it...?! I'm not suggesting its a permanent fix to your identity issues since even if you drank that, it wouldn't work for the long term... but maybe if you were to at least show of a pair of wings once or something, it might help stave off any suspicion?"

"There's really a potion that does that?!" Hiccup asked in awe, a brief thought of actually becoming a dragon crossing his mind, mixed with excitement and terror. "But yeah, it's not like I can go around looking like you just to be more... dragonish. Besides, we wouldn't even know if that sort of potion would even work on me in the first place, I'm not even magical."

"Doesn't mean we can't test this theory out though. I mean, if it did work then that's great! If not then oh well, but thinking about it now, how cool would it be for you, a Viking, to become a Night Fury for a day! I mean, it's not every day you get the opportunity to become perfect!" Toothless puffed out his chest with a shark-like, prideful grin, which made hiccup laugh and swat at him.

"Useless reptile." '-but that would be pretty incredible...' he muttered. "That would definitely be an experience alright... but we couldn't do that too openly in public. If people think I'm a Night Fury like you, that'll bring me far more attention that I want or need though..."

"Mmm... It'd have to be subtle. Enough to gain the attention of a few people so people don't doubt you're a dragon, but few enough as to avoid entering a spotlight. Night Furies are rare and famous for their abilities... Besides, there can't be two me's walking around everywhere. We could actually make this pretty easily though! How about we try later after lessons?!"

"Wow... okay, if you're cool with doing that, awesome." Hiccup said in surprise, before they both fell in silence, reading through the requirements of the potion.