Hi guys!
I'm trying to upload daily but with my busy schedule, I'm afraid it won't be possible. I also tried to respond to a review by a guest user, but couldn't figure out how (I'm still new to the site).
guest: The idea was/is to use the books and include Valerie as Harry's sister in the story. It will not always be so close to the text and I have already done chances in chapter four so that it is not the exact same. I did, however, keep Hagrid's dialogue and only added and changed bits and pieces. I'm not a native speaker so his dialect is kind of hard for me to write. I'm working on it though. ;) The content of the chapters, at least in the beginning, is the same - with the exception of Valerie being added.
Nevertheless, I sincerely hope that you'll enjoy the story! I will respond of suggestions or complaints so please don't hold back with leaving behind reviews! Even if they are not kind. I'm here to learn and improve my writing skills! :)
Valerie woke early the next morning.
Although she could tell it was daylight, she kept her eyes shut tight while she thought about what had actually happened the day before. Or had she merely dreamt it?
To be honest, Valerie couldn't tell.
She could remember her excitement when she'd counted down the minutes to her eleventh birthday, even though the Dursleys had never bothered to make those occasions special for her and Harry.
Then, and this was when things had started to become rather strange, a giant with a hairy face and beetle eyes had broken down the door and he'd called Uncle Vernon a… a Muggle – someone without magical abilities. But magic didn't exist, did it?
Hagrid, Valerie remembered his name now, had told her and Harry about a wizarding school called Hogwarts and that they'd both be attending it in September. That couldn't be right!
"It was a dream", she heard Harry next to her whisper firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."
Valerie giggled softly.
"Harry," she whispered back. "Seems like we had the same dream then…"
"It was a good dream," Harry said. "I don't think I want to wake up just yet."
There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.
"And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door," Harry said with a sigh.
Despite having the feeling that their dream had been all too real, Valerie didn't dare open her eyes. She was afraid that, as soon as she'd open them, she'd be back in Dudley's old bedroom, Harry lying next to her on the bed.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Wait. Aunt Petunia wouldn't make a tapping noise. She was always much louder and more aggressive than that. Where was her usual "Get up! Now! Up, I said!"?
"All right," Harry mumbled, "We're getting up."
Valerie felt her brother sit up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off them. She shivered slightly when cool air hit her skin and grabbed the heavy material to pull it back over her body.
"Val," Harry said next to her. "Val, I don't think it was a dream. Hagrid is still here."
Blinking, she opened her eyes.
The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.
So the tapping noise had not been their Aunt Petunia trying to wake them up after all!
A wave of relief washed over Valerie as she groggily sat up on the hard, cold floor and rubbed her tired eyes. She was glad that she didn't have to bother with a pair of glasses all the time. Harry's sight was so bad, he'd often had to ask her to help him find his glasses so he wouldn't accidentally step on them.
Harry scrambled to his feet and went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.
Taken aback, Valerie could only stare at the feathery animal. She had never seen an owl before – well, she had seen one very briefly the night before, but the encounter had been of such a short time, that it could hardly count as one at all.
Again, it attacked Hagrid's over-sized coat.
"Don't do that." Harry said and tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak
fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.
"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl… and it's attacking your coat. What am I supposed to do?"
"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.
"What?"
"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."
"Oh," was all Harry said and bent down to look for some payment for the owl that now watched him with interested amber eyes.
Valerie couldn't help it; she slowly and very carefully stretched out her arm until her fingers touched its brown and white feathers.
"He's so soft," she whispered amazed.
The owl made a noise that almost sounded like a purr and half closed its eyes.
A giggle rose up in Valerie's throat.
"So, you like to be stroked, don't you?" She said fondly.
Valerie glanced at her brother who was still busy rummaging through Hagrid's coat.
It seemed to be made of nothing but pockets - bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.
"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.
"Knuts?" Harry asked confused.
"The little bronze ones."
Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg, so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it.
The owl gave Valerie a light nudge with his head and clicked happily with his beak before he flew off through the open window.
Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.
"Best be off, you two, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."
"We're leaving?" Valerie asked, eyes wide with hope.
"Yup," said Hagrid and winked at her. "Still dreamin'?"
Valerie grinned and shook her head. This had to be the best birthday she'd ever had!
Suddenly, she wasn't feeling sleepy anymore at all; she felt happy, happier than she'd ever been in her life and it was great. It was as if something inside her had swollen up to the size of a giant balloon, ready to burst any moment.
Harry, however, was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them.
"Um - Hagrid?" He said slowly.
"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.
"We haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night ... he won't pay for us to go and learn magic."
It was true, Valerie realised with a jolt.
There was no way they could pay for the equipment they needed, let alone tuition fees (though she wasn't sure if there was any fees to be paid). Hogwarts didn't sound like one of the public schools their aunt and uncle'd had intended for them to go to. Surely, it had to be expensive?
"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"
"But if their house was destroyed -" Harry began.
"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank." Hagrid said and pulled out another handful of sausages. Valerie wondered where he kept it all; his coat was massive but it didn't appear to have enough space to carry that many items. "Have a sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."
"Wizards have banks?" Asked Harry, who seemed to have hundreds of questions running through his mind.
He did grab a sausage, though, and absentmindedly took a bite, only grimacing slightly at the taste of it.
"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."
Valerie dropped the bit of sausage she was holding and stared up at Hagrid who was still sitting on the sofa.
"Goblins?" She asked. "They really exist?"
"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe - 'cept maybe Hogwarts." He said with a hint of a warning in his tone at the mention of goblins. "As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business."
"What kind of business, Hagrid?" Asked Valerie who now, too, felt as if her head was about to burst if she didn't ask enough questions.
"Top secret, yer know" Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me, see."
"Oh," Valerie said, disappointed of Hagrid's lack of response.
She loved secrets. Especially when she knew she'd have an advantage when keeping it. Of course, she would never hurt anyone with it – well, except maybe the Dursleys. But only to get a little revenge for all the years they'd had to endure with them.
"Got everythin'? Come on, then."
They followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight and Valerie and to shield her eyes from the harshness of the light.
The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm. She looked at it wearily. Somehow the idea of crossing the water in it seemed not to be a very good one.
"Um – Hagrid?" She said. "Do you really think using the boat is a good idea?"
He laughed. "Don' worry, it'll get us there!"
"How did you get here?" Harry asked, obviously looking around for another boat.
Now that she thought about it, Valerie realised that there was, in fact, no other boat to be seen anywhere. How had he gotten there without one?
"Flew," said Hagrid.
"Flew?" She exclaimed. "You know how to fly? Will we learn that, too, Hagrid?"
"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."
They settled down in the boat, Valerie and Harry both still staring at Hagrid, trying to
imagine him flying.
Somehow the thought of a massive man flying high up in the skies looked very amusing to Valerie.
"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving them another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"
"Of course not," said Harry, who was as eager to see more magic as his sister.
Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and
they sped off toward land.
Would they get an umbrella, too, to do magic? Valerie wondered. Maybe all that talk about wands was to a distraction and, in reality, only the best wizards and witches received one.
A terrible thought entered her mind. What if she would not be good enough? What if she failed to get a wand because her magical abilities were too low?
"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked suddenly and Valerie remembered what Hagrid had told them a few minutes ago about goblins.
"Spells - enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the highsecurity vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."
"Like a secret tunnel system?" Valerie saked amazed. "Like the catacombs in France? I've read about them! They're haunted!"
The small boat shook with Hagrid's laughter. He wiped tears out of his eyes with his massive hands. "Gringotts's nothin' like that. Like I said – yeh'be mad ter try an' rob it. All sorts o' dark creatures down there. Yeh'll see what I mean."
Valerie frowned. She thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Valerie and Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this. The few times one of them had dared interrupt him while reading, they'd both ended up locked away in their cupboard for weeks.
She doubted that Hagrid would send them back to the Dursleys, but who knew what kinds of punishments they had in Hogwarts.
"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.
"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Valerie asked, before she could stop herself.
The world of magic was so new to her and every time Hagrid opened his mouth, she learned something she hadn't heard off before. Of course, how should she have heard of anything related to wizards, when the Dursleys had spent their entire lives keeping them away from it?
"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So, he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."
That didn't sound like a very competent Minister to her.
"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?" Asked Harry, clearly eager to learn more.
"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."
"Why?"
Oh, Harry, Valerie thought. You can be so narrow-minded sometimes.
Of course, magic had to be kept a secret! In all the books, Valerie had read (the number was limited to what she could get her hands on, which hadn't been a lot), the magical worlds or supernatural creatures had kept their identities a secret.
She didn't want to appear as a know-it-all in front of Hagrid and so remained silent.
"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."
At this moment, the boat bumped gently into the harbour wall.
Valerie almost lost her balance but managed not to fall off her seat.
Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.
"Right," he said and bent down to lift them both out of the small boat and, finally, onto solid ground.
Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station.
Valerie couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"
For Valerie and Harry, of course, such things did not hold the same fascination. They were ordinary, something both of them had seen plenty of times in their lives.
Valerie was more interested in the magical world she was about to enter.
Right now, however, she had to keep up with Hagrid's long stride which automatically made him move a great deal faster than the two children who were following him.
"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"
"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."
"You'd like one?"
"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."
"But dragons are dangerous, right, Hagrid?" Valerie said.
"Yeah – which is why I'm no' allowed ter keep one."
Somehow, Hagrid sounded disappointed at the thought of not being allowed to keep a creature that was potentially dangerous for everyone around it.
They had reached the station.
There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.
Valerie giggled when Hagrid fumbled with the, compared to his statue, small paper bills.
She waited with Hagrid while her brother went to buy their tickets.
"So," he said, looked down at her small frame. "Yeh've had yer letter fer some time an' didn' tell yer brother?"
Valerie blushed and chewed on her lower lip. "Didn't want to get in trouble. Harry can get really upset sometimes and I didn't want Uncle Vernon to find out…" Then she added. "I've only had it for a couple of days and I meant to tell him, really!"
Hagrid chuckled. "Didn' mean it like that, Valerie. 't was probably the best fer both of yeh. Biggest Muggle I ever met, Dursley…"
Harry came back with their tickets and they made their way to the platform.
People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.
Valerie didn't mind. She liked the giant who stood out among the crowd like a colourful canary bird.
"Still got yer letters, you two?" he asked as he counted stitches.
Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket to sow that he still got his and Valerie nodded, pointing at her bag. She still didn't know why she had taken everything with her but she didn't know if they would even return to the Dursleys at some point. Better safe than sorry, she thought.
"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."
Harry unfolded a second piece of paper, the list of required equipment he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magicby Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfigurationby Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungiby Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potionsby Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themby Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protectionby Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK.
"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.
"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.
They had never been to London before.
The city was huge and crowded with people who hurried past them. Fortunately, Hagrid was at least two feet taller than everyone else so they couldn't lose him unless he suddenly decided to vanish into thin air.
"Sorry," He muttered from time to time when he tried to get through groups of people. "'Scuse me."
They would then turn and stare at him, some too amazed by his appearance to realise that he wanted to get through.
Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way.
He had got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and had complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.
For Valerie and Harry, however, who had never travelled by train, it had not appeared to be slow at all.
"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," Hagrid said as they turned into a bustling road lined with shops.
"We – they have to," Valerie almost shouted over the traffic noise. "They're very efficient with it, too."
They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people.
"Hagrid," Valerie said after a while. They'd gone through a dozen streets and small alleys by now without even a hint of the magical world. "Are you sure you know where we're going?"
"Yep," was all he said as he happily marched on.
She glanced over at Harry who looked equally confused and simply shrugged at her.
"We simply have to trust him," he seemed to be telling her and she nodded.
Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?
All those questions were running through her mind. How come no one had ever noticed anything?
She felt a surge of pride at the thought of being part of an enormous secret world full of magic and other people just like them!
Valerie wondered what it would be like. All sorts of images ran through her head and she bumped straight into Hagrid who had suddenly come to a halt.
"This is it," said Hagrid, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."
It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Valerie – apart from being lost in her own thoughts - wouldn't have noticed it was there.
The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all.
In fact, Valerie had the most peculiar feeling that this was the truth. How else could their eyes linger on every other shop in the street but no once did they stop to even look at the Leaky Cauldron?
She didn't have much time to ponder over it, as Hagrid lay a hand on their shoulders and gently steered them inside.
For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby and not at all what Valerie would have imagined.
A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of what looked like sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. They spoke in low voices and nodded occasionally but Valerie couldn't pick up their conversation, they were simply too far away.
They made their way over to the bar where a little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut.
The low buzz of chatter stopped when the people in the Leaky Cauldron recognised them.
Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"
"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on their shoulders and making Valerie's knees buckle and she quickly held on to an empty chair as to stay on her feet. She really had forgotten how strong Hagrid was.
"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be -?"
The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.
"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an
honor."
He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.
"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."
Valerie stared at the man in shock. Sure, Hagrid had mentioned that he was famous in the wizarding world, but she hadn't expected a reaction like this. And, apparently, and she couldn't blame him in the slightest, neither had Harry who looked like he'd lost his words. Everyone was looking at him.
Not at her, it was as if they didn't even see her at all. Valerie was glad for it, she hated to be the centre of attention.
Poor Harry, she thought as the old woman with the pipe, who was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out, suddenly made her way over to them and shook Harry's hand enthusiastically.
"An honour, Mr. Potter, to finally meet you," she said, her grey eyes watery with tears. "You don't know what this means to me."
Hagrid was beaming.
Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."
"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."
"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."
Then, a man who looked eerily familiar to Valerie, squeezed his way through to them, and excitedly said: "Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."
"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."
That was it! She remembered it now. The day Aunt Petunia had shuffled Harry, Valerie and Dudley out of a shop without even buying anything after they had been approached by a man in very strange clothing.
"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again -
Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.
A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.
Valerie immediately disliked him.
She couldn't tell what it was about this man that made him dislikeable, but he made her hairs stand on end.
"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."
"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you."
He flashed her a quick smile as well. Valerie didn't return it, she simply stared at him with cold interest.
"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" Harry asked who did not seem to notice anything out of the ordinary about Quirrell.
"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously.
Valerie sighed inwardly. It was already clear which subject she would enjoy the least in Hogwarts – unless all teachers were as unpleasant as Professor Quirrell, that was.
"You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.
Valerie wondered how he could be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts if he was even afraid of the mere thought of it.
Of course, she had absolutely no idea what the Dark Arts were or what defending oneself against them would include. Vampire, maybe? At least, the professor had mentioned getting a book about them.
But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all.
This is what all the celebrities must feel like when they are surrounded by paparazzies, Valerie thought.
She didn't envy Harry for all the attention. He seemed very uncomfortable with all of it and looked downright relieved when, at last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.
"Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, you two."
Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.
It was obviously a dead end. Were they just waiting for all the people in the pub to go home?
Valerie could not find any other reason as to why Hagrid had led them there.
Hagrid grinned at Harry. "Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin'."
"Is he always that nervous?" Asked Valerie who only barely managed to hide her feelings for the professor.
She didn't want to give Hagrid the impression she didn't like the man. He obviously didn't seem to mind him, so why should she?
"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag - never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"
"Why is he still allowed to teach if he is scared of his own subject, Hagrid?" But Hagrid, wasn't paying attention, he was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.
"Three up... two across," he muttered. "Right, stand back, you two."
He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella and, to Valerie's utter surprise, the brick he had touched quivered. It wriggled and in the middle, a small hole appeared which it grew wider and wider until, a second later, they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, that led onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.
Valerie's mouth fell open and she gasped at the sight that presented itself to her.
"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."
How'd you like it? ;) I though about including the rest of their visit to Diagon Alley as well but the chapter was already so long so I split it up. The next chapter will be very interesting and I'm looking forward to you responses! :)