Hapgood

Hapgood is the royal advisor to Princess Roxanne, ruler of the Red Mountains.

The Ruby Princess Runs Away
The dragon Hapgood is in attendance for the coronation of the Jewel Princesses when is is discovered that Princess Roxanne has run away. The wizard Gallivant gives Hapgood a magical shield and asks for his help in searching for the missing princess. Hapgood agrees to look for her and flies over the kingdom, eventually spotting three figures in dark cloaks troubling a young girl and a red bird near the Rushing River. Recognizing the girl as Roxanne and the strangers as Darklings, followers of the evil Lord Bleak, Hapgood swoops low and snatches her up in his claws before sending a jet of flame towards the cloaked figures. He carries the princess a ways off before gently setting her down and introducing himself to her. She in turn introduces herself as Roxanne of the Rushing River. Presumably curious as to why she is choosing to conceal her identity, Hapgood does not reveal that he knows who she is.

A ruffled Twitter soon catches up, slightly singed from Hapgood's flame. The dragon solemnly apologizes by saying he was aiming for the Darklings, confirming the bird's fears of the cloaked figures. They hear hoofbeats and Roxanne recognizes Armoral, the captain of the palace guards, riding towards them. Roxanne begs Hapgood to hide her, but the dragon wonders aloud what Roxanne of the Rushing River has to fear from the royal guard until Twitter quickly explains that she stole a banner from the palace courtyard as a souvenir from the coronation. Hapgood produces a silver and ruby shield and instructs the princess that it will magically turn her and anyone she touches invisible for a short time when she says the incantation. Hapgood does not give Roxanne away, even when the captain tells him that the king and queen are worried sick that their daughter has been kidnapped. Instead, he suggests that the captain look near the stone bridge, thinking that Armoral may come across the Darklings and report them to the king. Roxanne thanks Hapgood for allowing her to borrow it, but he tells her to keep it since she may need it again.

No sooner has she strapped the shield to her arm than two gnomes from the Red Mountains stumble across them, one of them limping. Hapgood is concerned to see a deep gash in the leg of one of the gnomes and is furious when they tell him that they were attacked by Darklings. The bearded gnome, Applesap, explains that he is a goldsmith and had been tasked with forging the crown for the ruby princess, but the Darklings stole it from him and his wife Marigold as they were making their way to the Jewel Palace. Roxanne tries to console them as she tends to Applesap's wound, certain that he can make another crown just as fine as the first one, but the little gnome insists that he cannot go to the palace empty-handed and disappoint the princess. Twitter mentions that he needn't worry because the ruby princess has run away, but Marigold shakes her head and informs them all that she and Applesap saw the princess crossing the meadow in a glass coach. Roxanne is shocked by the news and declares the princess they saw an imposter. Although she demands that they go to the palace immediately, her companions merely stare at her, wondering how Roxanne of the Rushing River could know such a thing until Twitter hastily says that Roxanne is a very good friend of the princess and she told her that she decided to run away because she doesn't feel like she knows how to rule. Hapgood offers to fly them all to the palace so they can prevent the false princess from being crowned, but there really isn't room for all three of them on his back. Twitter hops onto Roxanne's shoulder as she insists that Hapgood carry the gnomes, promising that she'll meet them at the palace. After recommending that Roxanne use the shortcut through the Mysterious Forest, Hapgood takes to the sky.

Once at the palace, Applesap and Marigold try in vain to delay the coronation. As time passes without any sign of Roxanne or Twitter, Hapgood takes off to look for them. He doesn't find them anywhere and circles back to the palace, where he finds out that she and Twitter both made it back safely. Roxanne runs to greet her friend and realizes that he must have known who she was all along, and he sheepishly admits that Gallivant had sent him to find her. As asked by his fellow countrymen of the Red Mountains, Hapgood himself delicately crowns Roxanne the ruby princess.

The Sapphire Princess Meets a Monster
Roxanne is invited to her sister Sabrina's realm for a picnic. She's excited to go, but runs very late. Hapgood packs two large baskets full of food before they fly to the Blue Lake. As they glide over the Mysterious Forest, the spot several Darklings running into the trees, apparently very upset about something.

Soon, they circle above the Blue Lake to the cheers of its people. Hapgood and Roxanne listen curiously to her sisters' summaries of what has happened while they were waiting for her, including meeting their new friend Oona. When the girls mention that their basket of food turned out to be poisoned, Hapgood reveals their own picnic baskets with enough food for everyone.

Quotes

 * "I can be fierce when I want to be. But only when I meet creatures I don't like."

Trivia

 * While Hapgood is always described as having dark blue eyes, the illustrations sometimes differ; the 1997 cover of The Ruby Princess Runs Away makes his eyes appear almost dark green, they are hazel in the film, and on the sticker page in the 2020 reprint, they appear red (though it's difficult to see).