Hagrid Goes to the Movies
I saw this idea on TikTok on @incorrectharrypotter ‘s account, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. We know that Hagrid continues to work at Hogwarts as late as 2017. How To Train Your Dragon came out in 2010. What if Harry took Hagrid to see it?
Harry Potter was just enjoying his life as a father. James Sirius was six years old now, and Albus was two. Something the young family did fairly often was go to a muggle movie theater to watch whatever was newly playing. This time, the new movie they saw was How to Train Your Dragon. All through the movie, Harry kept thinking about Hagrid and how he was sure that his large friend would love this movie. So, later that week, Harry went to pay his old friend a visit.
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It didn’t take much to convince Hagrid to come with him to a muggle theater. After Harry explained what a movie was, and how it was a preferred way of storytelling for muggles, Hagrid was all to willing to go see one. Hagrid was excited to see his first muggle movie, though he still didn’t know what the movie was. Harry had been keeping it a secret and wanted to surprise Hagrid. Muggles kept staring at Hagrid as they passed by, but he paid them no mind, just excited to see this movie. Harry bought the tickets and got their snacks, handing Hagrid a jumbo popcorn and soda. Sure it was expensive, but Harry wanted to make sure Hagrid had a good time!
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After they had their snacks, they made their way to the theater and took their seats. It was a bit of a tight fit for Hagrid to fit in the seat, it was definitely not made for a half giant. But he didn’t mind, just ready to see this movie that Harry was excited to show him. He leaned over to Harry as the opening trailers played, to quietly ask him, “Will you tell me the name of the movie now?” Harry smiled at him in the darkness, just as the opening credits played showing the studio name, ‘DreamWorks’. “How to Train Your Dragon.” Hagrid became even more excited, now knowing the movie would be about some of his favorite magical creatures! He turned to face the screen, just as the opening line was spoken, “This is Berk.”
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Harry could practically feel how tense Hagrid was during Toothless and Hiccup’s first encounter. He could also feel how that tension just melted away when Hiccup freed Toothless. Hagrid’s eyes were glued to the screen, completed fascinated by the movie.
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As the movie showed Hiccup learning to communicate better with Toothless and how to handle dragons without hurting them, Harry could almost feel how happy Hagrid was. When Hiccup learned about scratching the dragons under the chin, and used that knowledge to protect one during training, Harry could have sworn he heard Hagrid whisper “There you go Hiccup. That is using your head.” Harry smiled, glad that his friend was enjoying the movie.
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By the end of the movie, Hagrid was ecstatic. He practically had tears of joy as he watched the Vikings and Dragons living together on Berk. He had loved watching Hiccup and his friends learn to work with the dragons instead of hurting them. Watching a bond form between these Vikings and these beautiful creatures was wonderful. What was equally wonderful was watching all the muggles around them, as they left the theater, talk excitedly about dragons. Even though these muggles only thought of them as works of fiction, it made Hagrid happy to think of all these muggles loving these beautiful creatures. Hagrid was rambling the whole way back to Hogwarts about the movies. He spoke of how much he enjoyed it and how he wished that wizards would be that understanding of dragons. He even spoke about how he thought Hiccup would be a wonderful Care of Magical Creatures student and eventually teacher, if he was a student at Hogwarts. Soon, they had arrived back at Hagrid’s hut and it was time to leave. As Hagrid and Harry went to part ways, Hagrid turned to face Harry one more time. “Thanks for taking me to see this Harry. It was a wonderful movie.” With that, Hagrid went into his hut, with the same smile on his face that he had all day.
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Harry was very happy that Hagrid had loved the movie so much. Hagrid had done so much for him over the years that it was nice to give him a fun afternoon at the movies. So, when the next two How to Train Your Dragon movies came out, Harry made sure to bring Hagrid to see those movies too. And each time, Hagrid enjoyed the movies and would smile the whole way home. He really did love watching the movies, but he also enjoyed watching the muggles form bonds with these fictional dragons. They were his favorite magical creatures after all!
