CHAPTER 1: Days with the Dursleys
Hollie Potter awoke to the sound of her cousin Dudley pounding his way down the stairs. The sound was already quite loud to begin with but given how Hollie slept in the cupboard under the stairs, it was deafening.
Hollie sat up on her mattress and got dressed in the dark, windowless room. She fixed her bangs so that it covered a thin, lightning-shaped scar she had on her forehead; she hated it when her cousin would comment on it. She pulled her thick, dark hair into a manageable ponytail at the nape of her neck—her aunt Petunia was sure to pester her endlessly about her scruffiness if she did not do at least this with her hair. This was ironic, since Hollie believed that her scruffiness had more to do with her wardrobe, which was a weird medley of hand-me-downs from both Dudley and Petunia. All the neighborhood kids made fun of the oversized boys' shirts and women's blouses that she always donned on her skinny frame. In fact, the only thing she'd ever received brand new was her toothbrush. Not that she'd complain, her uncle Vernon would positively be spitting with indignant rage if she had the nerve to tell him she wanted new clothes.
With a sigh, she brushed a spider off the knob and let herself out of the cupboard. She edged into the glistening kitchen, making sure to move quietly. If she was lucky, the Dursleys wouldn't notice her and she could get away with a relatively peaceful breakfast. Unfortunately for her, Dudley had just started throwing a fit and the reason would make a peaceful breakfast impossible. Hollie quickly crammed her eggs and potato hash into her mouth since she sensed chaos.
"I need more presents! I deserve it! I only got thirty-six this year AND you made me take her to the zoo," Dudley was screaming as he pointed a pudgy finger across the table into Hollie's face. "She ruined everything! My friends don't even want to go to my second birthday party at the Pizza Palace anymore!"
His extreme pigheadedness irritated Hollie and she hissed a reply back across the table to her cousin, "I told you that I didn't do anything Dudley! Does it make any sense that I could make glass disappear? Try thinking sometimes, would you?"
Dudley took a deep breath in before he screeched, "Mum! Dad! You believe me, don't you?! She's always doing freak things. SHE RUINED MY BIRTHDAY!"
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon turned their irritated faces towards Hollie.
"Do not talk to my son that way, girl. You're lucky we even let you live here," sneered her uncle. "Such a horrible girl, taking that tone with a young man like Dudley."
"A man? He's just a kid throwing a tantrum," Hollie murmured.
Uncle Vernon purpled and Hollie looked away as she knew he'd likely explode if she kept looking at him.
"How dare you talk back? You're such an ungrateful, grubby girl," her aunt spat. "You're going to be cleaning the kitchen today and if you're not careful, I'll have you working in the garden too."
Hollie wanted to roll her eyes at the unfairness but as it was late July, she did not want to be outside in the garden which housed only flowers and had not even a speck of shade.
"Sorry," she muttered dully, just to end the pointless conflict.
Honestly, weird things did happen to her all the time anyway. A disappearing glass case and an escaped boa constrictor, who'd told her he'd never seen Brazil, was just the newest addition to the list. In fact, she'd found herself in many unexplainable situations. She was able to grow her hair back within twenty-four hours every time Aunt Petunia attempted to butcher it. Once when she was beating Dudley in a race to the corner, he'd pushed her into a street full of cars and she'd found herself safe and sound on the other side. Strange things just occurred around her.
Aunt Petunia sniffed haughtily at Hollie's lackluster apology before taking up the task of comforting Dudley. Uncle Vernon glared a little longer at Hollie before dismissing her to "go get the mail and be useful." Hollie gladly left the table and made her way to the front door where she found the mail scattered on the floor. She began to gather the letters and was immensely taken aback to discover her name in sprawling, loopy letters on the front of a thick envelope. Her brow furrowed when she noted that it was addressed to "The Cupboard under the Stairs." A curious thrill overtook her as she absentmindedly made her way back into the kitchen and began opening the envelope. She passed her uncle his stack of mail and he distractedly took it as he and Aunt Petunia were still attempting to calm Dudley. Hollie made her way back to her seat as she began to take out the letter within the envelope.
She'd barely read the first word before Dudley stopped his whining in favor of curiosity and loudly questioned, "What's that?"
Both her aunt and uncle spun their heads in Hollie's direction.
"Are you reading my mail?" Uncle Vernon questioned venomously as he squinted his beady eyes at her.
"It's mine," Hollie said simply as she held up the envelope to show them her name written on the front.
"Impossible," spat her uncle as he snatched it and the letter from her hands.
Hollie began to protest but was surprised to see all of the color seep from her uncle's face as he read through the letter. Aunt Petunia quickly walked around Uncle Vernon to take a look and also grew steadily paler as she read it. Dudley, birthday dilemmas forgotten, requested to see the letter too but to his astonishment, was stolidly ignored.
"Well, can I have it back?" Hollie asked with a touch of impatience. Her aunt and uncle snapped their heads up before her uncle began to rip up the letter.
Mingled furious protests arose from both Hollie and Dudley before Uncle Vernon, face pale and eyes bulging, roared, "OUT OF THE KITCHEN, NOW! OUT, OUT! GO TO YOUR ROOMS!"
Hollie stomped to the broom closet, knowing full well that her letter was long gone but Dudley, who'd never been denied anything before, was a bit more persistent. Hollie heard his complaining escalate to wailing and crying. She fiddled with her old, ugly bedspread loathing everything about her situation as she listened to Dudley's howling move out into the hallway. She figured her uncle kicked him out of the kitchen since he began to pound and kick at the kitchen door. Her head was filled with questions. Who wrote the letter? How did they know her? How did they know she slept in the cupboard? Were they watching? Where are they? With a deep sigh, she wondered if anyone would ever write to lonely Hollie Potter ever again.
After the fiasco at breakfast, Uncle Vernon apprehensively approached Hollie in her closet when he returned from work. When she questioned him about the letter he flashed a painful smile and informed her that she would now be sleeping in the spare second bedroom which was used to house Dudley's broken playthings. Hollie looked at him quizzically until he snapped and commanded her to move her things up there. Dudley had thrown yet another fit about his second room being occupied but shockingly, the Dursleys still didn't budge. Hollie was bitterly surprised they cared that much about somebody discovering her living conditions. She still would rather have that letter than the new room, and she deeply regretted not reading it alone in the hall while she had the chance.
As it turned out, Hollie need not have worried about nobody ever writing to her again because the house seemed to be under assault from the sender of the mysterious letter. The following day, a Tuesday, two of the letters appeared but were now addressed to the Second Bedroom rather than the Cupboard under the Stairs. On Wednesday, Uncle Vernon camped out at the front door to intercept four of them and so on it went at an exponential rate. By Friday, the letters were coming in droves and Hollie was exasperated, but admittedly impressed, that Uncle Vernon still managed to seek out and destroy all of them before she ever got the chance to read them. However, arguing started losing its appeal because she was quite sure that her uncle had gone completely insane. Anytime someone mentioned "letter" or "post," Uncle Vernon's eye would develop a dangerous twitch and he'd start breathing forcefully through his nose. Even Dudley seemed to give up after Thursday when he wouldn't eat breakfast unless he got to see the letter and Uncle Vernon's face purpled before the man promptly got up and tossed Dudley's breakfast out the window. Towards the end of the week, he had taken his accrued paid time off to stay home and board up all the windows and doors.
Sunday morning arrived and Uncle Vernon was bright and cheery, which in Hollie's opinion was even more frightening than his snappish moods since his eyes were dead and slightly glassy from suppressed frustration. So the Dursleys and Hollie sat in tense silence during breakfast as Uncle Vernon hummed through his smile as he buttered his sausages instead of his toast.
"What a beautiful morning! It's a wonderful day! I am in the greatest of moods today. Would you care to know why?" Uncle Vernon asked the room at large.
After about thirty seconds of awkward quiet, his lips parted with a wide smile although it never reached his eyes. He giggled before he remarked, "No post on Sundays!"
Before anyone could even react to this statement there was a whizzing sound from the chimney and a single letter plopped onto the floor. This was the calm before the storm, as a second later a torrent of letters came streaming down into the fireplace. Hollie brightened and leapt up to try and catch a letter before Uncle Vernon shoved her into the hallway with a cry of rage. Vernon commanded everyone to leave the room as he tried fruitlessly to curtail the flow of letters. He instead began to tear tufts out of his mustache as he ordered everyone to pack up their things within five minutes. At this point, no one even protested because he just looked downright hazardous with his patchy mustache and bulging eyes.
They drove for hours on end with Vernon constantly doubling back and taking detours. He nonsensically muttered to himself nearly the entire time. Vernon left the car for about an hour, returning with a long, thin box and a large rusty key. Petunia timidly questioned this but Vernon simply smiled insanely and said that he'd found a perfect place. They drove for about half an hour more as Dudley whimpered and cried the entire way lamenting his unwatched television programs.
"We're here!" Vernon cried out dementedly as he marched them all through a light drizzle across a damp coastal landscape and led them to a decrepit rowboat. Dudley was so stunned that he stopped crying to inquire as to what they were doing there. Vernon simply rallied them into the boat and began rowing towards a small jut of rock in the middle of the lake on which stood a rickety wooden hut. A storm was approaching and the waters were choppy—it took them almost an hour to reach the outcrop. When they docked, he led them all into the shack and proudly announced that they'd be staying here. The place was pathetically small with just two rooms and a pervasive stench of seaweed. Lightning forked through the sky outside and the rain began pouring in earnest.
As Dudley made a noise of despair, Vernon brought out the rations they'd be having for dinner—some beef jerky and a can of soup. After her spoonful of soup and bite of jerky, Hollie was left to settle on a small tattered armchair as Dudley hogged the large threadbare sofa to himself. Meanwhile, Petunia and Vernon traipsed off to bed in the second room. Before long, Dudley's snores filled the shack and Hollie was left staring at the ceiling in misery. A week ago, she was so filled with hope that she'd get to read a letter from somebody who cared about her existence. With that thought came the realization that she was turning eleven tomorrow. She huffed. Her birthdays were anything but enjoyable, although she sometimes got uninspired gifts from the Dursleys like mismatched socks or pens with advertisements on the sides. Although she guessed she was a year older now and that was something worth notice. She wondered if it were anywhere near midnight yet but began mouthing the birthday song for herself anyway. As she formed the last syllable of the song, there came a clap of thunder at exactly the same moment a pounding knock from the door reverberated throughout the hut.
Hollie rolled off the armchair in alarm as Dudley snorted himself awake. Another jarring knock sounded from the door, forceful enough to shake the building. Dudley wildly looked around and flopped over to hide behind the sofa while Hollie backed up towards the wall, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Vernon and Petunia staggered into the room with Vernon holding what had been in the box—a rifle.
"Who's there?" he bellowed. "I'm warning you, I'm armed!"
All was still before a splendid crash resonated throughout the shack and the door flew clean off its hinges to reveal a giant of a man standing at the door. He ducked under the doorway to tower straight to the ceiling before stooping and fitting the door back into its frame. He turned to face them all.
"Would yeh happen to have a cuppa? Me journey's been pretty rough…"
Dudley squeaked from behind the sofa, Petunia began trembling, and Vernon might as well have been carved from stone. The man shrugged his mountain-like shoulders and started for the couch. Dudley nearly tripped over his own feet as he backtracked as quickly as he could to hide behind his wispy mother. The sofa sagged under the stranger's weight and he turned his shaggy head in Hollie's direction.
"Ah! There yeh are Hollie!" He boomed as his eyes crinkled with a cheerful smile. Hollie merely stared, flabbergasted, at the large man with his long black mane and outrageous facial hair.
"O' course las time I saw yeh, you was just a baby," he said fondly. "Yeh grew up well enough, just as pretty as yer mother with those green eyes but yeh've got that thick hair, just like yer father!"
Hollie started thinking that it was a bit much for this man to say that her hair was thick considering his own hair had probably outgrown several forests before she was able to process exactly what he had just said.
"You knew my parents?" She asked quietly, her mind reeling. There came a strangled sound from the corner and her uncle stumbled forward.
"I demand you leave at once, sir!" Vernon shouted, brandishing his rifle. "This is breaking and entering!"
"Shut up Dursley, yeh prune," the man said as he reached for the rifle and bent it effortlessly, the action reminded Hollie of a pipe-cleaner project she did once in primary school. Hollie's uncle made a sound not unlike that of an unoiled hinge and Dudley's eyes went comically wide.
"Anyway Hollie," the giant said. "Happy birthday! I brought a little something fer yeh." He dug into several of his coat pockets to pull out a large, slightly squashed box.
"It ain't much and I think I mighta sat on it at some point so sorry bou' that," he explained sheepishly as he held out a box to her. Hollie stepped closer and took the box nervously. She opened it and inside sat a rotund chocolate cake with the words "Happy Birthday Hollie" spelled out in green icing. Hollie was rendered speechless; she'd never received a cake in her entire life.
"Thank you," she said tremulously. "But who are you?"
She stiffened as she hadn't meant for the second part to be spoken out loud in that investigative tone. However, he merely responded with a bark of laughter and introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts before holding out an enormous hand to shake Hollie's hand which was at least three times as small as his own.
"So no tea then, I s'pose," Hagrid stated.
He made his way to the fireplace, lit a fire and began pulling out an assortment of food and cooking supplies from his endless coat pockets. As the Dursleys looked on with apprehension, with the exception of Dudley who was eyeing the food greedily, Hagrid began preparing a meal. After he had passed Hollie a plate, she couldn't help but inquire yet again who he was.
"Like I said, you can jus' call me Hagrid and I'm Keeper of the Keys of Hogwarts," he explained. "But yeh know all abou' Hogwarts I bet."
"Er—sorry?"
"Hogwarts! Didn't yeh read yer letter? Where did yeh think yer parents learned it all from?" Hagrid questioned fervently.
"Learned what?" Hollie asked with a quirk of her eyebrow. Vernon finally remembered himself and hurried forward to give Hagrid a warning about speaking any further. In response, Hagrid seemed to grow large enough to fill the room as he turned to the Dursleys with an air of obvious anger.
"YOU DIDN'T TELL HER?! DO YEH MEAN SHE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING—NOTHING AT ALL?!"
"Well I do know some things. I usually get pretty good grades," Hollie stated since she felt a need to defend herself. She most certainly wasn't lacking in an educational sense—her grades were well above decent and she had even gotten first prize in the science fair that year.
"Don't you dare tell her! I forbid you!" Uncle Vernon threatened, red in the face. Hollie thought her uncle was either extremely brave or extremely foolish threatening a man who seemed to be an undiscovered species of bear. Hagrid glared at Vernon before turning back to Hollie…
"Hollie, yer a witch."