A/N: Hi there!... We're back with the second chapter of this fic... We'd like to thank our readers for the reviews and ideas. We love hearing from you and appreciate all sorts of feedback and comments... So please, don't hesitate to click the blue button if you have anything to say... anything at all... :)

So without further ado, here's

Chapter 2

When Harry signed the form detailing his acceptance to Hogwarts, he didn't know what he had been expecting... but certainly not what happened afterwards. He'd just been sitting there on the floor of the Dursley's living room, still staring at the letter on which the text had changed, the Dursley's had come back. Hearing their car pull up into the garage again, Harry hurriedly stuffed the letter under his shirt again and ran up the stairs and into the bathrooms, to make it at least look as if he had already started on their list of chores.

He could hear Dudley complaining about something all the way, whining as he stomped up the stairs and back down a couple of minutes later. Vernon Dursley's placating baritone also sounded up and Harry turned right at the moment his aunt's suspicious head popped into the bathroom to check up on him. Trying not to look too cheeky, Harry gave her a timid smile, which resulted in a sniff of disdain from her... but she left him in peace after that. Harry heaved a sigh of relief at almost but not quite being caught shirking his chores and put the brush that he held in his hands, down.

All the sounds of the Dursley's getting ready to leave once again floated upstairs in about half a minute and Harry was hard pressed not to smile in relief. But this time, he had forgotten that he was Harry Potter and nothing... absolutely nothing seemed to come easy to him. Because right at the moment when Dudley, who had apparently forced them to come back home because he wasn't going to the zoo without his new video game, Vernon and Petunia Dursley were about to step out again, they and the whole of the neighborhood with them, heard the loud roar of a motorbike. Harry didn't know what the noise was from but something told him it involved him and the strange letter that he'd gotten. And he just knew that things were going to go south very, very soon.

The loud roaring sounds of a motorcycle engine only got progressively louder as seconds ticked by and Harry, unable to withstand his curiosity anymore, turned off the taps in the bathroom and made his way downstairs. Suffice to say, neither he, nor any of the Dursleys had ever thought they would see the sight they were seeing that day. Right in the middle of the morning, bold as could be, a big, motorcycle, ridden by a man bigger than you could imagine, came flying into Privet Drive... that's right. Flying. In the daytime.

As the bike came to a slow halt in front of number 4, it was all Harry could do to remain in his place. He could almost feel the punches and kicks that would be the result of this strange visit from an even stranger... person. Because everyone in the Dursley family knew that if anything strange and out of the ordinary happened around them, it was all due to Harry and his freakishness. Dudley whimpered from behind his father's bulk, which he was currently using as a shield and Harry could see Vernon desperately trying to look intimidating and failing miserably. Strangely, there was no reaction from his aunt... though the reason for that was obvious soon... she'd quietly and unobtrusively, fainted at the sight of the eight foot tall, hefty, bearded giant of a man that was currently filling their doorway.

Five minutes later... but those five minutes had felt like fifty, Harry Potter was the uncomfortable focus of three pairs of eyes, each showing very different emotions. Aunt Petunia was still out for the count, her unconscious self laid on the couch carefully by the giant that had visited them. Vernon Dursley looked ready to glare him to death, Dudley looked almost... envious but that could be because he had a cake in his hand at that moment and Dudley didn't, and the huge man standing in the living room, his head knocking over the chandelier in the ceiling, was looking at him expectantly. Harry would've loved to say that he had no idea how he managed to end up in a situation such as this, but sadly, the boy knew exactly what he had done... he'd signed a letter.

As soon as the man, if he could be called that, had stepped foot onto their driveway, Vernon and Dudley had turned to glare at him, as if it was his fault that this was happening to them... that if anything weird happened, it had to be his fault. Obviously, Harry had no idea what was going on and stood mutely to one side as the giant of a man strode up the Dursley's driveway in two humongous strides. Bending slightly to make sure he fit into their doorway, the bearded man gingerly stepped into the entryway of Number 4, Privet Drive, only to find the whole family looking at him with silent looks of horror.

Of course, the first people he saw, were Vernon Dursley, with Dudley sort of trying to hide behind his father. Mistaking the baby whale for Harry, was a mistake only someone who knew neither, could commit. But seeing as Harry had never seen this person, he figured he could forgive the man for his mistake.

"Oh... there ye are Harry... Ye're lookin'... healthy. Quite a bit bigger around the middle now than when I last saw ye... heh?" he said, patting his own ample mid portion

The deep voice of the man was exactly what one expected from one of his dimensions and it made none of the humans present feel any better about having a giant in their home. Harry noticed though that while the giant person looked and sounded fierce, his eyes were smiling, he seemed eager to meet Harry and somehow, managed to make Harry feel safe. Though Dudley was still shaking from fear, he managed to understand that the monster of a man in front of him was looking for someone else... the someone that stood off in one corner.

"I...I..I am not Harry..."

"Well of course ye're not... I knew that already..."

Feeling as if his luck, which had never been all that lucky to him, was finally going to run out, Harry stepped out from the shadows that had been concealing him.

"I am..."

"Well of course ye are... I knew right from the beginnin... ye look like James when he started Hogwarts but ye have Lily's eyes. Come on then... we need tuh get goin if we're gonna be at the Leaky Cauldron in time for lunch"

"I'm sorry but who are you?"

It was as if the giant man hadn't been expecting to hear that from the young boy, he turned a bit quickly and in the process, knocked over a vase with his elbow. As the shattering sound echoed around the silent room, Harry could hear a recently awakened Petunia moan a little and sink into unconsciousness again.

Looking a bit sheepish, the giant turned again

"Sorry 'bout that... I'll fix it right away.."

Saying so, he took out a pink umbrella from his moleskin coat and twitched it in the direction of the vase first, and then again in the direction of Aunt Petunia. The broken vase repairing itself was witnessed only by Harry, who was standing nearest to the giant. The Dursleys were quite involved in Petunia's awakening, but Harry and the giant, were involved in a conversation of their own

"Blimey Harry... ye don' remember me?"

"I am sorry... but I've never seen you before. I think I would remember if you did"

"Of course ye don't... the last time ye saw me, ye were a wee baby... I was the one who brought ye here at Professor Dumbledore's request... It was the night that uh... that uh..."

"Professor who?"

"Professor Dumbledore of course!... Who else?... The greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen."

Harry felt slightly panicky and overwhelmed at hearing the name of the wizarding school. It brought to him that he really hadn't imagined whatever had happened with the letter because the letter had been the first time he'd heard the name 'Hogwarts' and here was this giant man telling him about the headmaster there...a professor Dumble-whatever.

"Oh... I am sorry I don't recognize you... who are you?"

"I am Rubeus Hagrid... Groundskeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... the best school for magic in the whole world"

This was said with such obvious pride and certainty, almost as if Rubeus Hagrid was a walking, talking eight foot tall advertisement for the magic school, that the young man started to feel a bit better at having signed the letter. As concerns about the school and his future started to calm down, something that Hagrid had said before struck the boy...

"Hagrid... if you don't mind me asking... you said the last time I saw you was when I was a baby... When was it?"

Harry couldn't help himself asking... it was almost as if he knew what the answer was going to be but couldn't stop himself from asking the question

"When ye... When yer pa... nuh... can't say that... when ye..um... got the um... that scar"

Hagrid finished that sentence in an almost whisper... or as much as a giant could whisper. And Harry found himself shaking uncontrollably, but couldn't stop the words from falling out of his mouth

"The night of my parent's accident... you were there?"

If there was one part of his question that he hadn't expected the giant to take notice of, it had been the part about the accident. Vernon and Petunia Dursley had told Harry about his parents death in a car accident, and while Harry hadn't wanted to believe them about anything related to his parents, he didn't have any other choice open to him. But now, as he noticed the tall person in front of him bristle at the very thought of it, Harry started to have second thoughts about believing most of what he had been told. If it hadn't been for that obviously weird letter before, Harry might've had difficulty in believing anything that was happening now. But after seeing the form in the letter fold itself and disappear and the contents of the letter change in front of his eyes, Harry's mind was open to things it might not have been before.

"Accident!... Accident!... James and Lily Potter dying in a measly car accident!... Who has been feeding ye this codswallop?... Tell me this moment... Was it this muggle here?"

"What's a muggle Hagrid?"

The innocent question from the young man in front of him diffused the half-giant's anger in a way nothing else could have. It dawned on Hagrid that while the whole of the magical world had been singing praises of the boy-who-lived, the boy himself didn't even know of the existence of the world he'd originally come from. This was a situation no one could have foreseen and definitely a situation that none of them in the wizarding world were ready for. He would need to report to Professor Dumbledore as quickly as possible about this but first, he needed to get Harry out of this godforsaken place

"Well... a muggle is a person who can't do magic Harry..."

"So... from the way you said muggle, and from the letter I got, I assume I'm not one"

This was said so hesitantly, that if he could bend without the fear of breaking something else, Hagrid would've hugged the boy

"Of course yer not. Ye're one of the most famous wizards of yer time Harry... Yer place at Hogwarts has been ready since ye were born. Ah! That reminds me... we're gettin late Harry... Come on, we'd better get goin... lots to do"

Before either Harry or Hagrid could move even a bit, they heard Vernon Dursley for the first time since the half-giant had decided to visit.

"I am not sending the freak to a school of freaks... I will not be paying for that..."

Though he'd tried to make his voice sound all tough and fierce, all it managed to do was sound petulant and whiny. It didn't help that calling Hogwarts a school of freaks had made Hagrid angry. Harry could see the Dursley family literally jumping in place as Hagrid roared in anger

"Hogwarts is NOT a school of freaks!... It is the best school for Magic in the world you great big prune... and ye don't have tuh spend a single knut tuh send James and Lily Potter's son there... It has been decided that he would go tuh Hogwarts and study under Professor Dumbledore since the day he was born and there is nothing a muggle like ye can do about that. Come Harry..."

"Where are we going? The school starts only on the first of September doesn't it? And do I need to bring along anything?"

Hagrid seemed stumped for a minute before he nodded his head and said

"Ye'd better pack up whatever ye want n bring it with ye... I'm not sure I wanna bring ye back here again... Once professor Dumbledore comes to know of what's bin happenin' ere Harry, he'll make sure everythin' alright. Okay?... Now run along n get packed... I'll wait for ye outside"

It was a good thing that Hagrid didn't look back... or he would've seen the excited Harry run to a small cupboard under the stairs. Hagrid was what you'd call a gentle giant... or a half-giant. He was very good at doing a lot of things... but cleverness and observation were attributes that had never been his. Had it been anyone else who'd come to take Harry Potter to the wizarding world, they would've noticed that he was made to live in a cupboard. They would've known at a glance that he was mistreated, malnourished and had no knowledge of the magical world.

It should've been either Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore himself who should've come to introduce Harry Potter to the wizarding world, as they had the knowledge of the extent of his ignorance regarding the world he was from. Had it been Minerva McGonagall, she would've seen and understood Harry's condition, performed medical diagnostic charms and handed him over to Poppy Pomfrey as soon as possible. But Hagrid had been sent in her stead, and he neither noticed enough to ask the right questions nor was he clever enough to understand the situation by himself. And so the situation remained as Harry came out of the Number 4, Privet Drive, for what he hoped was the last time, with a small bundle of things wrapped in an old, threadbare, blue baby blanket.

In under a minute, the young boy was perched on the small portion of the seat that remained after Hagrid had sat his bulk onto the motorbike, and they were on their way once more, with the typical loud roaring associated with motorbikes of that kind. Only, this one flew... and for the first time in his life... or at least the first time that he remembered, Harry experienced flying. And promptly fell in love.

Professor McGonagall was not feeling comfortable. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the family she was now sitting in front of, sipping tea. They were a muggle family that she had come to introduce to the magical world because their daughter was a first generation witch. She could see right from the first moment that this young lady, was going to be one of the most talented children studying under her at Hogwarts... that is, if she could convince the parents to send the child to them. Had they been magical folk, just telling them that Albus was the headmaster would suffice... but they were muggles. Non-magicals, she corrected herself in her mind, and Albus Dumbledore was nothing but a name to them.

For the non-magical folk, the notion of sending their children to some magical school that they couldn't see, in a magical world they couldn't understand, to learn magic that they couldn't see being performed till the children finished schooling, was a very difficult decision. Most mundanes or non-magical folk gave in because they understood that their child was different, and needed special education, that they hoped Hogwarts could provide. They didn't seem to have any other options either.

But this family was slightly different. Rather than their objection being a school they couldn't see or visit, the father's objection was that they would have to send their daughter away. The child herself was extremely intelligent and did astonishingly well in her mundane schooling, standing first in the whole of the country in all her years till now. But Minerva could also see that the young lady had faced quite a difficult childhood, facing up to a lot of bullying... something she might very well have to face again when she came to Hogwarts. Minerva sighed internally... she was not in a good mood today. And it was all because of one Albus Dumbledore.

While Minerva McGonagall believed and respected the headmaster more than anyone else, she also thought that he was taking on too much for one single person. Being the headmaster of a magical school was in itself a full time job and Albus had insisted on holding both the positions of Headmaster of Hogwarts and being the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. While Dumbledore was a great man and an even greater wizard, Minerva knew that ego, was one of his shortfalls. He failed to understand most of the times, that he was making a mistake and even when someone was pointing it out to him, Albus never listened. And that was what was eating at her now.

Minerva knew what placing Harry Potter with those muggles would result in. She had known eleven years ago and warned Albus of it... but he'd as usual not listened. And this time too, eleven years later, when she'd wanted to visit the young man and introduce him to the wizarding world in a manner that might not shock him, Albus had denied her request, ordering her to take care of the other children and telling her that he would take care of it himself. The deputy head would've been more calm about the situation had she not witnessed Dumbledore talking to Hagrid, the half-giant about retrieving Mr. Potter. Sending someone like Hagrid would be the worst thing Albus could do to Mr. Potter and Minerva knew that no matter what she or anyone else said on the matter now, he wouldn't change his mind.

The Scottish deputy head was still worrying about the situation in her head when she turned to look at the happy eleven year old girl sitting in front of her. The young lady with masses of curly brown hair and slightly large teeth, was swinging her legs in happiness as she looked at her parents who had just given her permission to attend the school she had wanted to, ever since she had heard about herself being magical.

"We agree to send our daughter to Hogwarts Professor McGonagall... What do we have to do to get her enrolled?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Minerva pulled an envelope out of her pocket and handed it to the tall, brown haired man

"Please have your daughter sign the form Mr. Granger... and you can co-sign at the bottom. I will leave some brochures and a couple of books on the wizarding world for your daughter so that she and you can familiarize yourself with the world she will be stepping into in a few months. This is not the usual practice, but I try to extend this support to the families of all the muggle-borns so that they may adjust better to the wizarding world... Besides, I am already sure that Miss. Granger is going to be a very special addition to the hallowed halls of Hogwarts"

As the young girl beamed at the Professor`s praise and signed her name on the parchment in ballpoint pen, the name Hermione Granger appeared underneath that of one Harry Potter in the Hogwarts register. Had anyone noticed, they would've been surprised to see that it first got written in black ink like a lot of the names in the register and slowly turned gold... something else that hadn't happened for quite some time and something that the headmaster should've definitely noticed sooner rather than later.

A/N: So there it is... another chapter done. Hope all of you liked it...

This chapter was written out a bit early and so got posted earlier than normal... but most of the coming chapters will get posted on a fortnightly schedule... EAS has exams and I have my project ending soon... :(

But we love hearing from you all the time and would appreciate it more than you can imagine if you could get back to us with your thoughts and ideas regarding the fic. So don't hesitate to hit that blue button and tell us what you thought...

Lotsa luv and cookies

MB and EAS