"I'm not so sure about this," Ron said as an egg suddenly rocked onto its side, causing the queen to swing her great head protectively over it. Minerva, her rider, reached out to give her a soothing pat on the shoulder.
A small commotion among the nearby candidates distracted Harry and Ron for a moment, but it was only Draco Malfoy, the boy from the Vintner's Crafthall, complaining about the hot sand again.
"Think he'll get a bronze?" Harry whispered, just loud enough for Ron to hear him above the humming of the assembled dragons. "Nah," Ron whispered back, "he's such a git I reckon he'll go dragonless unless there's a blue that hasn't managed to pick a better one out of the crowd."
"Silence, boys," Minerva interrupted, her voice quiet but firm; "they are beginning to hatch, you must all concentrate on the eggs if any of you wish to become a rider!"
"Yes, Ma'am." Ron said, and then another egg suddenly tipped itself upright, startling the candidates back into silence. Harry glanced over to where the girls were waiting; he could see Hermione standing to the front, her eyes riveted upon the golden egg.
"Oh… er!" a boy behind him whimpered. Harry looked back at the eggs again, and nearly gasped himself – for a large, dramatically marked one nearest to them was now cracked open from end to end, a brassy-coloured nose poking the opening apart. The dragon's thrumming intensified…
"A bronze," Harry whispered.
The hatchling heaved the shell apart and slid belly-up out onto the sand, before unsteadily righting himself and blinking opalescent eyes at the assembled boys. Harry's heart leapt into his throat as the little bronze began to wobble towards them, he saw a few (including Draco) shrink back, but the hatchling seemed determined to reach them.
He's coming for me… Harry thought, not sure whether to run or stand his ground, but then suddenly the dragon turned towards one particular boy, the one who had whimpered, and who now fell to his knees and reached out to embrace him.
"His name is Trevorth!" the boy shouted above the cheers, "And he's really hungry!"
"Just his luck," Ron muttered as F'ilch and Norrith, his Green, promptly took the boy and his new dragon away. "I thought only Blues did that," Harry remarked. "Weyrmaster A'lbus lets him do a few things since Norrith got herself injured too badly to fight," Ron replied.
Another egg rolled and cracked, and soon a russet-coloured Brown was waddling their way. Harry held his breath as he came closer… and then looked at Ron, who took a few hesitant steps forwards.
"Chudleyth?" Ron said, "Is that your name?"
In a moment, H'grid and Buckbeath had taken R'n and Chudleyth away to the Weyrling's chamber, leaving Harry alone. By now, the thrumming was almost deafening, and eggs were seemingly opening everywhere. One-by-one, five more Bronzes and ten more Browns chose their riders, and by the time the Greens and Blues were beginning to hatch Harry was still standing unchosen with the other hopefuls.
He tried not to think too much of Draco's (now D'rco) smug expression when F'ilch took him and Ferreth away. It did not matter so much now what sort of dragon wanted him, so long as he was chosen by something. The thought of walking away dragonless was too disappointing to contemplate.
One by one, the Greens and Blues found riders, and H'grid must have caught Harry's glum expression, for he shouted out to him; "Don' yeh go worryin' yet lad, there's still tha' dirty great egg o'er by tha' wall there!"
"Quiet during the Hatching, please H'grid!" A'lbus ordered. Suddenly Fawkth, his Bronze, threw his head further back, humming louder than ever before. All eyes turned to the Queen egg that was now cracked and rolling on the sands. A few minutes later, Hermione and Croockshankth had joined the other weyrlings. Harry by now was so sure of not being chosen that he could barely hold his head up. There was only one egg to go, the big one by the wall that H'grid had mentioned, and there were plenty of boys left for it to choose from.
"It's hatching!" one of them cried, and sure enough the top of the shell was covered in cracks, with something pushing against them from within. First, a stubby black nose with just a hint of bronze appeared, followed by a darkly iridescent foreleg, then a foot, and a hindleg…
"Another Bronze!" someone said, and Harry looked away. He didn't want to watch another boy get chosen.
"Wow, that's… err, that's a pretty weird looking dragon," another next to him said, and when Harry looked up, he could see what he meant; there was not much of the baby plumpness that the other hatchlings had, he seemed to be all gangling wings, tail and legs. The muzzle of his over-large head curved down more deeply than he'd seen before on a dragon, giving him an almost hook-nosed look.
"Well, go on!" the boy next to him shouted. Harry wasn't sure what he meant; until he felt someone else behind him suddenly shove him forwards. "He's just chosen you, you got to go to him!"
Harry looked at the little dragon. He certainly wasn't feeling anything special, and he wasn't also sure that he liked the calculating, narrowed-eyed way the Bronze was staring back at him.
Then it happened…
You do not seem to pay much attention to things.
The words simply appeared in his head, as if there was someone speaking inside it. The 'voice' had a smooth, somewhat dangerous tone to it.
"Who are you?" he asked.
My name is Severuth, P'tter, the voice replied, and Harry was sure the dragonling had somehow managed a sneer.
"Why 'P'tter, Severuth? My name is Harry!"
Good, P'tter, it is good that you are already learning to listen to me Severuth said, now, will you find me some food, before I starve?
"It's Harry, I mean H'ry… oh never mind!" Harry said, "c'mon, Severuth, let's get you something to eat!"
And that was how Harry Potter (now P'tter) became Severuth's rider, and how their many years of adventuring begun. There eventually did come a day when Severuth finally began to call his rider H'ry instead of P'tter, but that is another story…
-End-