Ghostly Help

BOOM.

The door to the hut vibrated from the knock and Dudley jerked awake with a yelp.

"Where's the cannon?" he asked stupidly.

"What the?" came Vernon's voice from the other room.

There was a screech from the other room and muttered half apology from Vernon.

Harry just sat there frozen. He hadn't expected for his birthday. Certainly not something slamming into the door of the tiny hut he had been dragged to. All because of some strange letters addressed to him and that refused to stop.

There was a shout from outside but it was rendered unintelligible by the noise of the storm. It was shortly followed by a louder BOOM and the door broke free of its ancient hinges and slammed into the floor with an almighty crash.

In the doorway was the shadow of a huge man outlined against flashes of lightning behind him. Way too big for any normal man. The figure was stooped so that his head was below the mantle. Harry gasped and heard a croak from his fat cousin. The coach creaked as the fat lump obviously tried to scoot a little further away from the doorway. Harry didn't move. It was impressive but for some reason it didn't seem unfriendly. He did shift a little, the hard rock and earth floor certainly wasn't comfortable.

As the figure started navigating his large body through the too small doorway there was a crash from behind Harry as Vernon came barrelling into the room tripping over and further destroying one of the broken chairs. Vernon fell with a thud and curse and there was a very loud crack even louder than the giants smashing of the door.

Harry felt a slight tap his chest and then a burning sensation. He gasped lightly but quickly silenced it. His uncle hated to hear him moaning. He absentmindedly brushed his hand across his chest but didn't encounter anything. He imagined that whatever hit him must have bounced off and returned his attention to the giant.

The giant had finally made it all the way through the door and now with easy picked up the heavy iron bound wooden door and and jammed it back in the doorway. Once the sight and sound of the storm blocked out the main spoke in a pleasant manner, "Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"

No one answered. Vernon was still struggling to his feet scattering the remains of the broken chair about. Harry noted that he was carrying a rifle in his which explained the wrapped package he had been carrying the previous day.

Dudley was still sitting frozen in fear and it was to him that the giant address as he approached the couch. "Budge up, yeh great lump."

There was a squark from Dudley who rapidly fled to behind Vernon. Harry resisted the urge to smile. Not smiling around the Dursleys was another important lesson he had beaten into him. Harry did find it a tad strange that Vernon's gaze was on him rather than the giant. Did his uncle think this involved him somehow?

He turned his gaze back to the giant and noted that the burning sensation was getting worse. It was even worse than when he had spilt hot oil over his wrist when cooking chips a year ago. He had to struggle to keep from moaning. But Vernon was looking right at him and he didn't want to get into more trouble that he already was. Vernon might blame him for the giant's appearance, he always got the blame for unusual things. Harry certainly didn't want to get kicked out, the storm while muffled could still be heard. Vernon had sent him out before during a storm to demonstrate what 'providing a roof over your head' meant.

"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.

Harry returned his attention to the big man and found he was being smiling at. That was nice. He tried to reply but when he opened his mouth something warm and sticky was all that came out.

"Hey, what happen' there Harry. You not well?" said the big man as the smile faded away.

Harry was sad. Not many people smiled at him, he would have liked to see more of that smile but it was getting hard to see. He coughed into his hands and he glanced down to see his hands covered with red sticky blood. Harry had seen plenty of blood before. All his own. He had been kicked and beaten, pushed over and stood on, by Dudley and his friends many times. This blood was very thick and a mixture of bright flowing blood and strands of dark sticky blood. He coughed more out.

He could hear movement and rapid shouting but it was becoming hard to focus. The burning had continued to get worse and seemed to have spread across and around his whole torso. It was becoming hard to breath and even when he tried to cough all he was able to do was splutter and spit blood into his already drenched hands. His aunt was going to be so upset that he was making a mess of his clothing.

As the room started going dark he thought he saw Vernon flying through the air. It was a strange sight and must have been his imagination. Surely not even the giant was big enough to have picked up Vernon and chucked him through the window.

His last thought was he wished he could have seen the giant smile more. That was the one thing he might miss.

..

Hagrid took the small boat towards the shore. His small black eyes were filled with tears. Not for fifty years had he so missed the ability to cast magic properly. He had been good at healing spells at school. Really the only thing he had been good at actually apart from Herbology and Creatures. He had only been passable at Charms and Defense, barely able to scrape through Transfiguration and totally pants at Astronomy, History and Potions.

If only that blasted Riddle hadn't put the blame on him for Myrtle's death he could have had a wand. He wasn't sure it would have been enough to save Harry but if even there had been a slight chance it would have been worth it.

He looked down at the small wrapped bundle at his feet and sobbed loudly. He rowed slowly and steadily for the shore. He had planned on trying his hand at a small charm he thought might have helped the boat move faster but it seemed disrespectful now. Better to row the tiny body to shore gently and slowly.

He watched with anger as the drenched figure of Vernon struggled back to shore and entered the hut through the gaping doorway. The door was gone, he had kicked it well out into the sea when he left. There would be no rescuing it. They would have to stay the night in that cold hut with no door and no boat. Hagrid felt a tiny amount of satisfaction in that but it was a hollow victory. Harry was dead. Dursley deserved much worse. An accident it may have been but one of their own making.

Hagrid's thoughts went back to the last time he had seen Harry. When he was just a baby and he was dropping him off at the Dursley's. Why had Dumbledore allowed Harry to be treated that way? Hagrid could have done a better job of raising Harry than those awful muggles. Even McGonagall had offered to take him. No Dumbledore had said, it would be safer for him to be with them. Dumbledore was wrong. So wrong. Harry hadn't been safe and now he was dead just like his parents.

Hagrid has so been looking forward to this year, this would have been the year that Harry would have started Hogwarts. He paused in his rowing and pulled out the letter he had brought with him. He opened it, ignoring the rain that dripped on the parchment and started to read aloud. Sobbing between words.

As he read the invitation to the school he felt a wave of emotion flood over him. But this emotion wasn't his own. It was happiness. Happiness that someone wanted him and that there was a place for him. It made no sense. Hagrid knew that they weren't his emotions. He looked down at the wrapped bundle and spoke.

"Were that you Harry?"

Hagrid felt a jolt of joy in reply. It was Harry, somehow, the boy hadn't gone on fully yet.

"I'm so sorry Harry. This were not the way it…"

Hagrid felt the emotion start to fade and quickly changed track. He had dealt with many creatures that responded to your own emotions and this seemed like a very similar situation.

"Yeh would 'ave loved it Harry. Hogwarts is a wonderful place. A massive castle you first see from the boats. We take all the first years across the lake 'cause it looks so impressive glittering from a thousand torches an' lamps against the night sky."

A small smile creased Hagrid's face as he felt the joyful emotion return. Hagrid was now sure that it was Harry's presence that he was feeling.

"Yehu would have had friends. Yer parents friends had children who are starting school this year too. Imagine running around, learning, playin' quidditch with boys and girls your own age."

A feeling of wonder replaced the joy.

"Yeah, yer family had lots of friends. Yer mum an' dad did good things they did. Yer father was an Auror. Made sure everyone obeyed the law he did. Yer mum was studying charms. Think she was plannin' to do 'er mastery with Professor Flitwick. He would have been one of yer teachers. Great little man 'e is. Used ter be a dueling champion."

Hagrid continue to talk as he put the letter away and returned to rowing the boat back to shore.

..

It had been a busy week. Dumbledore had resigned from the ICW under a storm of protest at his inattention to Harry's plight, some still wanted blood but most were satisfied with this one act of repentance so Dumbledore would use words to work on those being difficult. The Dursleys had been arrested by the muggle authorities. Many still clamoured for them to be sent to Azkaban even though such would be a near instant death sentence for those muggles. A riot outside a publishing house had ended with twelve people being admitted to St. Mungos and seven arrests. The building itself was now well beyond magical repair and would have to be rebuilt. Hundreds of people were demanding their money back for the fictional books that had concealed the truth of their saviours life. More arrests were imminent.

Hundreds attended the funeral service. Thousands lined up outside. Thousands more sent flowers, cards and small gifts. Albus had to allocate another storage room to Harry's gifts and mail.

To Albus Dumbledore is was one of the saddest days of his life. It brought back memories or his sister's passing and he truly wouldn't have been surprised if someone, maybe Hagrid, punched him in the face during the funeral. Strangely enough, the few times Albus had seen Hagrid the giant hadn't seemed as upset as he would have expected. Usually the half-giant would have sat front and centre, crying his little eyes, not giving a thought to what others might think. It was usually reassuring consistent. But for the service Hagrid had hovered at the edge of the crowd muttering to himself. His expression's, normally easily readable, seeming to change every few seconds as if he was reliving a storm of memories. It was a mystery but sadly one which Albus didn't have the time to dwell on.

His biggest task at the moment was making sure that the Potter estate was put to good use. Nearly as loud as the crowd decrying the death of their hero was the crowd clamouring to take advantage of the end of the line. Even the goblins were getting involved citing that the Potter family magic hadn't fully faded and they refused to open the vaults until the magic faded. That this was usually an indication that there might still be a heir alive made no sense at all. Albus believed that there was some other factor at work here, possibly something to do with the Prophecy needing to be fulfilled. Though how that could happen now he had no idea.

It seemed likely that the Minister was going to call for an in-depth investigation of everything related to the Potters to sort this out. As Supreme Mugwump, Albus knew he was going to have to be involved in everything from rereading the wills, the sealing of which he was already taking flak for, to questioning Sirius Black. Albus knew that was going to drag out the investigation even longed as Sirius would have to be removed from the presence of the dementors for months before he was capable of surviving a dose of Veritaserum.

Albus blinked and noted that it was another pureblood supremacist that was standing to say a few words. This one was a fool. Totally the opposite of Malfoy who had already said his few words earlier and made sure to keep it short, simple and emotional. Nothing to take offence at. This idiot, Parkinson, was busy proving to even those with half a brain that he was an uncaring fool. He had just managed to lose the respect of even those who agreed with his principles. Albus admired a good politician who knew how to play the game, Parkinson certainly didn't make the ground. Albus spared Lucius a look. The senior Malfoy's face was expressionless. Still Albus knew the man must be seething, maybe this would open the window for the Greengrass family to add a moderating influence to the Malfoy's. He would have to say a few words in the right ears before Parkinson could fix the damage he had just caused.

Parkinson sat back down. The room was deathly quiet. No one wanted to follow that and all the important speakers had already said their words. Albus sighed as he moved back towards the front to cast the final spells to send poor little Harry on his final journey. As he charmed the coffin to float towards the already dug grave he spotted Hagrid. Yet again the half-giant was standing to the side and now seemed to be openly talking. But there was no one near him.

..

Hermione looked around the platform her face showing her obvious amazement at everything. There was a small boy feeding snacks to a beautiful owl that was sitting on shoulder. An older girl had just cast a spell to make her trunk float. Another boy conjured a bouquet of flowers for a laughing girl. Two sibling pushing each other over some imagined slight.

She smiled. Maybe this would be the school which accepted her. Maybe she could find a real friend, not just someone that wanted her help with their homework. With a small hopeful smile she dragged her trunk towards the train. It was heavy and hard to move. Books weighed a lot and she had had to make sure there were enough so she would have books to read every night.

A long haired blond boy led a couple of others past her, pushing her aside without slowing. Their trunks seemed to almost float as they carried them. She stumbled a little and thought she heard the blond boy mutter something about mud. She looked at her clothes. Her neat little dress was a golden brown. She frowned. It wasn't really mud coloured at all. Shrugging she continued to struggle with her trunk until all of a sudden it changed. One moment it felt like it was full of bricks and the next second it felt like a giant box shaped balloon. For a moment she was concerned that the bottom had fallen out before she realized what had happened.

Magic!

She had read about weight reducing charms. It was obvious that someone had cast one on her trunk. She looked around hoping to see who her benefactor was but no one seemed to be looking her way or paying her any attention. She smiled, people here were so helpful that they would cast a such a spell and not even expect thanks or notice.

Her trunk behaving rather similar to that of the blond boy and his two friends she half lifted half steered it into the train and along the corridor till she found an empty carriage. She did that without thinking. The habit of sitting alone was going to be a hard one to break.

She tried to lift the trunk up to the luggage rack but even with the weight reducing charm it was proving difficult. She was just too short. On her third try once again magic came to her help and it was as if an invisible hand pushed it that last bit and then turned it so it was sitting perfectly on the rack.

She smiled and turned around quickly hoping to catch whoever it was that time. But there was no one there. No one even near the carriage door. That was strange. Who was helping her then? Did the train have magical invisible helpers? She opened her book bag and found her copy of Hogwarts a History and started looking through it. She was positive that there was nothing mentioned within but she wasn't going to take the chance that she had forgotten one little fact.

She was still flipping through the pages when a gentle knock on the side of the carriage alerted her that someone was looking at her. She looked up into the blue eyes of a chubby boy with short blond hair.

"Eh… hello. Do you mind if I sit here?" He indicated the empty bench.

Hermione beamed. Maybe this would be her first friend. "Of course. My name is Hermione Granger. I'm a first year. Are you too? It's all so exciting isn't it? Do you know if the train has invisible helpers? My trunk seemed to move all by itself and there was no one around. I wanted to get a magical trunk that was lighter but they were all so expensive and I also wanted to see if I could learn to cast the spell myself. Not that I have yet."

The boy's eye went wide and his mouth opened a little but it wasn't until he had a chance to shake himself that he replied, "Eh… Neville Longbottom. Pleased to meet you. There are house elves to take the luggage off at the Hogsmeade end. My gran told me about that but she said that they wouldn't help us load up. Told me I had to look after myself."

At his last words he jerked as he remembered he needed to bring his trunk in. Reaching behind him he dragged it into the carriage and with a great effort lifted it and managed to get the corner onto the rail before it started tipping. Hermione quickly sprung to her feet and just managed to catch it before it slid off. Together it took them two attempts to get it up and somewhat positioned properly. Hermione wondered if her invisible helper were helping someone else now.

Hermione soon discovered that Neville's parents were wizards but that they couldn't look after him anymore so he lived with his gran who was a witch. It didn't sound like his parents were dead but he was rather uncomfortable speaking about it so Hermione switched subjects. They talked about magic and Neville seemed to be quite knowledgeable about magical plants but not a whole lot else. Hermione was rather surprised that he hadn't even read up on all the potions that he could be making with the plants he grew.

Neville went a little quiet after that and soon the conversation died off. Hermione went back to reading her book.

They train departed and they continued to read in silence until Neville suddenly gasped and started frantically checking his pockets.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Neville was looking under the seat and his voice was a little muffled, "I can't find Trevor."

"Trevor?"

He turned to look under the other seat, "My Toad. He was in my pocket when I sat down. Oh I hope he hasn't jumped out the window."

Hermione glanced at the closed window, "I don't think so, it's closed. Why do you carry your Toad in your pocket?" That seemed a rather strange place to carry an amphibian.

Neville didn't seem to hear her and was now peering each way down the corridor.

Hermione realised that a friend should help so jumped up and joined him in the corridor, "I'll help you look. We'll split up. You go that way and ask everyone you see if they have seen your Toad and I'll go this way." She gave him a gentle push to get him moving and headed the other way.

The first carriage she stuck her head in was full of much older boys. They paused their conversation about some sort of sport and looked at her questioningly. A stocky boy already wearing his hogwarts uniform asked with a small smile, "Yes little Miss?"

Hermione hadn't been called a little Miss before and spluttered a moment before she caught herself, "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost his."

A number of the boys chuckled and the boys as one shook their head. The stocky boy glanced around with a grin, "'fraid not. Good luck on your toad hunt."

Hermione moved back and was about to close the door when a wave of one of the boy's wands closed it first. She wasn't sure to be insulted by that. It was interesting magic, but was it really that necessary when she was about to close it herself.

She passed the toilets and was about to cross the bridge to the next carriage when she felt a little push on her shoulders. She stumbled back and only barely managed to stop herself falling over. She spun around wondering if those older boys had cast another spell but the door was still closed and the curtain drawn. There were a few people ahead of her but they weren't looking her way. Behind her there was only Neville standing in the open doorway of a carriage at the other end of the corridor.

She tried to take a cautious step towards the bridge and felt another little shove. It was much gentler this time but still strong enough to stop her movement forward. As she frowned she heard a creak from the toilet door near her.

Guessing that her tormentor was inside the toilet she sighed and prepared herself for the worst. There was no point denying it, she would have to face the bully and do her best not to get upset at the insults. She opened the door and was greatly surprised to see it empty. She pulled at the door handle to close it and discovered that it wouldn't budge. She moved a little into the toilet, but not far enough so that anyone could close it and lock her in, she had been locked in enough toilets not to want to repeat that on her first day at a new school.

Hermione gave the handle a stronger tug but it still didn't move. Frowning she had just decided to give it up as a lost cause when a faint sound alerted her to something behind the sink. Cautiously she stepped a little further inside hoping that this wasn't some sort of elaborate trap. She was rather surprised to see a large toad sitting in a small puddle of water from the sink.

A minute later a very grateful Neville had been reunited with his toad. Hermione hadn't wanted to touch the thing and Neville hadn't been keen to go into the girl's toilet so Hermione had ended up ushering the Trevor out of the toilet with her book so Neville could pick him up.

Neville was a little more talkative after Hermione's rescue of his toad and ended up telling her as many stories as he could remember about seeing magic. Hermione was interested but often rather frustrated that Neville seemed to answer most of her questions with, "I don't know why", "I didn't ask", or "Gran told me I'd learn about it at Hogwarts."

Neither Hermione nor Neville bought anything from the food cart and they soon both went back to reading. Hermione had convinced Neville that he should study a little ahead in case the teachers expected it. Neville hadn't looked at his books since his gran has told him that he would be in such trouble if he even thought about casting any spells before school.

Hermione was trying to explain a few terms in his Charms textbook when the long haired blond boy opened the carriage door and flung it open

"Ohh… squib and mudblood. No one interesting on the train at all. I don't…" His drawl was suddenly cut off when the door slammed closed on him. There was a cry of pain from the other side of the door.

Hermione and Neville looked at each other in shock.

The door was kicked open to reveal the boy standing there looking furious one hand covering his nose. A little red on his fingers suggested it was bleeding. He glanced at both of their hands and frowned. His voice was little muffled and Hermione wondered if he had broken his nose. If so he was doing a good job of ignoring the pain. "How did you do that? No mud…" The door slammed closed on him again eliciting an even louder cry as it smashed his foot.

Neville looked at Hermione, "Should we try and help?"

Hermione shrugged looking a little confused, "I'm not sure what we can do."

The door opened again. This time it was another of the boys who was tentatively pushing it open. The blond boy was standing back a few steps. One hand covering his bloodied nose whilst the other held his wand. "You will tell me how you did that or I will curse you both. No squib or… ahhhh."

The last Hermione and Neville saw was the boy's wand flying backwards and out the open window before the door slammed closed again.

Neville looked a little worried, "Do you think we will get in trouble. I think that was Draco Malfoy. His father's on the school board with my gran."

Hermione shook her head, "But we didn't do anything. Why would we get in trouble?"

Neville started telling a few stories about the kind of things Lucius Malfoy was said to have gotten away with when the door was opened and a tall black haired boy looked in. "Humm.. you both first years?"

Hermione and Neville both nodded.

"You been casting wandless magic?"

Hermione and Neville shook their heads.

The boy lifted his wand and said, "Homenum Revelio." He shrugged when nothing happened, "Malfoy reported that the door kept slamming closed on him when he was trying to talk to you two. Then someone silently banished his wand off the train. What did you two do?"

Hermione spoke up, "He wasn't speaking to us. He was insulting us and the door did slam closed three times but we didn't touch it. We were reading when he came by and sitting ust where we are. I saw his wand fly away but I don't know how to cast that spell even with my wand."

Neville nodded, "Yeah. He was calling us names and then it closed on him. But we didn't do it."

The boy nodded, "I understand but I still need to check. Show me your wands."

It took a few minutes for Hermione to retrieve her from it's case at the bottom of her book bag. It took even longer and the boys help to retrieve Neville's from his trunk.

"Prior Incantato" The boys words caused a few faint sparks and a few faint images to emit from Hermione's wand. He smiled as he handed it back to her, "Nice wand, almost new, just a few simple charms, make sure you take care of it."

She smiled back at him pleased.

He took hold of Neville's wand and gave it a strange look before peering at Neville, "A second hand wand?"

Neville mumbled, "It was my dad's."

"Prior Incantato" This time the boy's words caused a number of faint flashes of light that caused the boy's eyebrows to shoot up, "Reducto, Confringo, Expelliarmus and a few others I don't recognise but all cast a very long time ago."

He handed it back to Neville, "You haven't cast any spells with it yet. How do you know if it suits you?"

Neville looked at him blankly.

The book shook his head, "You shouldn't be using a wand that hasn't chosen you unless you are sure it's compatible with you. You can't tell that without casting spells. I know you might want to use your dad's wand but you need to test it first. I'll let McGonagall know to organise a testing for you and I better not hear that you have tried it without a teacher present, right?"

Neville nodded.

"Good, well I'm sure neither of you had anything to do with Malfoy's misfortune. Time to go talk to the usual suspects. Good luck with the sorting you two." The boy gave them a brief nod and left.

Hermione asked, "Who was that?"

Neville shrugged, "Not sure but probably a prefect that hasn't put his badge on yet."

"Oh…"

The rest of the journey went by rather peacefully after that. No one came by and no other unusual things happened.

Author Notes: Harry is not a normal ghost just as he wasn't a normal boy, think a friendly version of a Poltergeist. However he is not the main focus of this story. The tale follows Hermione and Neville and their quest to find friends, acceptance and finally success and recognition in the magical and muggle worlds. Hagrid's story will also be told and will occasionally intersect with Hermione's and Neville's. I have made no decisions on pairings if indeed they happen.