The Dursleys' dining room looked odd that night, as everyone – a little nervously – ignored the blinking light of the answering machine and the small pile of notes that had been collected from the mat in front of the front door. Most of the furniture had been moved out in order to make room and the small chandelier had been taken down. The large oak dining table – bought because of Marge's insistence on tying her dogs to table legs and the numerous times over the years when the dogs tried to bolt – had been moved closer to the French doors that led to the 'summer room', where most of the dining room furniture had been tucked away. A number of old cabinets and dressers had been retrieved from the shed at the end of the garden and duct-taped together to form an almost throne-like chair.

Aunt Petunia hurried around the kitchen, chiding herself for not being more prepared and for the fact that she had had to order certain food items rather than cook them herself. The three men of the house had worked up quite the sweat and were eager to have a quick bath, but they had agreed to wait for Aunt Petunia to give them okay. They had also each taken turns in cleaning the metal bucket they had bought from the local petrol station on their way home.

Hagrid hadn't taken the journey back with them after they had invited him to join them for dinner. 'Create too much attention,' he had said, 'but I promise I'll be there after dark.' Harry and Dudley had found his excuse to be quite amusing, considering their journey from Liverpool and on the London Underground but they felt it best to keep that to themselves. So, after everyone had cleaned themselves up and gotten ready, and as the long summer night continued and Harry and the Dursleys waited for Hagrid to arrive, they looked over the school-things that had been bought that day and talked.

It wasn't long before they realized that some of the books, and some parts of certain books, could only be read by Harry. To the Dursleys, what Harry saw as a spell or a potion recipe they would see a black and white print of something different, and each of them saw the print differently. Sometimes Aunt Petunia would squint really hard at a page before sighing, exasperated, and turning over to another.

'I used to think Lily befuddled her books on purpose,' she said as she flicked through the pages of her copy of A History of Magic, 'like she was teasing me. I was in a bitter place back then. Jealous.'

Harry didn't say anything. Everything was so new that he didn't know what to say. What tugged at him more, however, was that he knew what he wanted to say but didn't know if it was true, or that he would ever know. What he wanted to say was something like, 'I'm sure Mum understood'.

'The photographs keep moving,' said Dudley, pulling everyone's attention back into the room, 'and they're not like our hologram stickers.' He showed them the pictures of the Quidditch teams in a book Harry had bought in order to learn more about the game. The figures were darting around on their brooms and flew in a V formation and waved as they 'left' the page.

'It always was a strange thing,' said Aunt Petunia. She closed her book and set it beside her on the sofa. 'Lily would send us pictures and the next day, more often than not, they would be empty.'

'Empty?'

'The people in the photographs would wander off.'

'They're alive?'

'Not really… just… not frozen. They usually came back after a while, and if you weren't doing anything interesting they would wander off again.'

'But I've never seen…' Harry's voice trailed off as his Aunt presented him with a small box.

'Your Uncle and Hagrid got you an owl and, before all this, I had something else in mind for you, but I hope that this will do for now.'

Inside the small box was a smaller box and, in that, were dozens of pictures. The ones at the top of the pile suddenly burst with 'life' as children and teenagers and young adults hurried around and made themselves presentable.

There was a picture of a wedding party, and everyone was waving vigorously. There was another of three young men laughing - one with hair like Harry's, the second with long dark hair and the third tired-looking and shaking his head, bemused.

There was one of Lily and James, cheek-to-cheek and grinning and blowing kisses.

Harry traced over their faces with his fingers, smiling as they ducked their heads around and stuck their tongues out at him. 'I thought… when you said the one you had…'

Aunt Petunia's mouth quivered and she rubbed her fingers against her neck and said, 'That… the pendant was different. A special gift from her to… but she's in these. You can see her. You can see them.'

They looked so young in the pictures, and so lively, and Harry understood, as he watched people dart in and out and scramble amongst each other, why he had never seen them before.

'Can I keep them?'

Uncle Vernon ruffled Harry's hair and said, 'Of course you can. Just, you know, don't let Marge or anyone see them.' Harry nodded and smiled and looked over the pictures as the Dursleys continued to discuss the various books.

As the evening drew on, Harry and the Dursleys began to get moodier, and the boys began reminiscing about the food they had seen and scents they smelled in Diagon Alley.

'It was a sensible suggestion,' said Uncle Vernon, in a cheery voice, as he talked loudly over the rumble of his stomach. 'We know how some of the neighbours can be, after all.'

'It's so strange, though,' said Dudley. 'Don't people around there wonder where those delicious smells are coming from?'

'It must drive them crazy,' agreed Harry.

There was a rumble of an engine just outside the house and then, a moment later, a thud against the door and Dudley shot to his feet and hurried to open it.

'Hello, Mr Hagrid,' he said, breathless with excitement.

'Allo, Dudley. Err… best ye step back. Little tricky for me to be getting' in, see?'

'Come through this way. The ceiling's higher in the kitchen.'

Harry and his Aunt and Uncle stood on the edge of the carpeted area of their through-lounge, and Aunt Petunia smiled when Hagrid gasped at the sight of the laden table.

'Yeh did all this for me?'

'Well, and for Harry's birthday,' said Uncle Vernon. 'It wasn't easy, mind,' he grinned.

'Yeh shouldn't have. I didn't mean to be an inconvenience.'

'Oh hush now,' said Aunt Petunia as she put on an apron. 'You must be famished. Take your seat and we'll get started.'

Uncle Vernon helped Hagrid with his coat and then hurried into the 'summer room; and draped it over the table, before hurrying back into the dining room. Carefully, Hagrid pulled back the put-together chair and, gingerly, lowered himself into it. It creaked and croaked but held, and Uncle Vernon pushed the dining table closer towards Hagrid and gestured at the boys.

They ate and talked and laughed and Harry couldn't help but think to himself that this was probably the best birthday he had ever had. It wasn't that his Uncle and Aunt had never celebrated it, just that Aung Marge always showed up and ruined things. He looked over at the glow of the red light blinking in the hallway and then smiled when he saw Uncle Vernon shaking his head and refreshing his drink. 'We'll deal with her tomorrow, okay?' Harry nodded.

'I know I said this already,' said Hagrid, as the meal drew to a close, 'but today weren't how I thought it was gonna be.'

'Disappointed?' asked Uncle Vernon, chuckling.

'Well, a little. Was hopin' ta turn Dudley here into a little pig or summat.'

The table went quiet as the four of them stared at Hagrid.

'Only on account of what I had heard,' said Hagrid quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. 'See, I was the one who brought Harry here, that night…'

The silence continued, only now, instead of shock, it was one of sadness.

'Tell me more about the school,' said Harry, smiling, and Hagrid nodded.

'Hogwarts… no finer place fer learning magic. Been 'round fer over a thousand years, after the founders got together and made the place. Greatest witches and wizards of their age, they were. Didn't always agree with each other, mind, but that's how some great people are, I think.

'It's up north, hidden away. Enchanted so Muggles can't see. It's beautiful. The lake, the forest. Lived there most o' me life, I have.'

'It's the only magic school here?' asked Uncle Vernon.

'It's the best one. There are others in other countries, but-'

'But,' said Harry and he shifted in his chair and leaned forward, 'in the robes' store, Madam Malkin asked if I was there for Hogwarts robes. Why would she ask that if there aren't other schools here?'

'Well,' said Hagrid, looking a little uncomfortable, 'there're other schools, and they keep ta themselves, but they're not like Hogwarts.'

'But how's the school structured?' asked Uncle Vernon. 'At Smeltings we had groups called houses and the boys stayed in dormitories and-'

Hagrid grinned and, animatedly, said, 'Hogwarts has houses, too. The students are divided into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.'

'Your mother was a Gryffindor,' said Aunt Petunia.

'And my father?'

'Him, too.'

'So I'll be one as well?'

'Well,' said Hagrid, 'that's up to the Sorting Hat to… er… decide.'

'A hat?'

'It's a magical hat. Ne'er been wrong.'

'So maybe I'll be a Slytherin?'

Hagrid laughed. 'You? A Slytherin?'

'But you said-'

'There's not one bad wizard who wasn't from Slytherin,' said Hagrid, 'so I know you're not one.'

Aunt Petunia shook her head. 'Sirius wasn't bad.'

No one noticed Hagrid's frown – the mass of hair on his head made sure of that – or his sudden discomfort.

'Who?'

'Your godfather.'

'I… I have a godfather?'

Aunt Petunia nodded, but, at the same time, she looked a little uncertain. 'Sirius Black. It was one of the last things your mother wrote to me about.'

'Sirius Black,' Harry repeated.

'Sirius and James were best friends. The summer before they all left Hogwarts, the four of them came to see Lily.'

'Four?'

'James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. "The Marauders", they used to call themselves. Certainly lived up to the name. People talked about what happened for years-'

'But where is he? My godfather?'

'We don't know,' said Uncle Vernon. 'We waited for him to come after… after you were left with us but he never did. Even though the letter had asked us to look after you, we weren't sure if we could.'

'I worried that your magic might show before Lily's ever did. She was my sister but you were hers and James' son, and James was a wizard from a wizard family, and I just… I didn't know what that all meant.'

'And he was in Slytherin?'

'He was. And, despite his mischief, your mother was very fond of him, and he was very protective of them both. Although he never did like…'

Harry hurried into the living room before his Aunt could finish her sentence, and came back with the photo of James with two other young men. Aunt Petunia pointed at the dark haired one, who tried to bite at her finger and then winked at her.

'Still a rascal,' she muttered.

'After a while,' said Uncle Vernon, 'we started to think that maybe it was part of Professor Dumbledore's magic. That maybe your godfather, Sirius, was out there but couldn't find you.'

'It's… it's why I spend so much time in the garden,' said Aunt Petunia. 'I keep thinking, if he's out there, then maybe he'll see me somehow. Maybe with his owl or some familiar or something. That he would see me and recognise me and come.'

'And take me away?'

'No, Harry, not that. Not…'

The table trembled and the glasses rattled. Hagrid closed his eyes and let go of the table. He opened them again and the looked up at the ceiling as Harry and the Dursleys looked at him. Finally, he cleared his throat and said:

'I know where he is. Sirius Black.'

'Where?' asked Harry, and his hands shook a little under the table.

Hagrid took in a deep breath and gripped the sides of the table again, releasing both table and breath and knocking over a couple of glasses as he said, 'Azkhaban.'

'No!' gasped Aunt Petunia and then, her voice shrill, she asked, 'Why?!'

'For murder.'

Aunt Petunia stared at Hagrid, stunned.

'Thirteen murders,' said Hagrid, and the put-together chair squeaked dangerously as he shifted uncomfortably. 'Twelve Muggles and a wizard.'

'That's not possible.'

'I promise you, it is. It was.' He fiddled with dishes near him and then continued. 'It was… it was a little after Professor Dumbledore and me… and Professor McGonagall… after we left Harry with you.'

'What happened?' asked Dudley, his voice barely a whisper.

'I saw him last at the Potter cottage. Dumbledore… he told me to get there quickly, that something was going to happen. He wanted to go himself but the Death Eaters… it was Halloween and You-Know-Who had sent his followers out on a rampage. A distraction to keep Dumbledore away.'

'The mists covering the country, and all those missing people,' said Uncle Vernon, nodding knowingly.

'He thought there would be time. That I would get there and get everyone to safety. I'm… I'm pretty resistant to magic, see? Takes a lot ter take me down on accounta my giant blood.'

'You're a giant?' said Harry, Dudley and Vernon, awed.

'Half. Me Mam… anyway, I…. I got to the house too late, but Dumbledore had said… he had been very specific… that if the worst had happened then I was to find you, Harry, and bring you here, to yer Aunt.'

'The worst had happened,' said Harry softly.

'I don't know what happened to You-Know-Who. No one does, really. Just that something out you messed his spell and he was gone.

'I found you, crying, and I bundled you up and then Sirius arrived on a motorcycle. White as a sheet, he was. He tried to take you from me, said he would look after yer, on account o' bein' yeh godfather, but I told him I had Dumbledore's orders. And then… then he was calm, but an angry calm. His face was all… all stoic-like, but his eyes… I had never seen him so angry before.

'He told me to take his motorcycle and get you away-'

'See?' breathed Aunt Petunia. 'He couldn't have murdered anyone. Would a murderer try to save a baby?'

'I only know what I've been told, Petunia, and what I was told was that he… he was found… there was a high street in a Muggle town and Peter found him and-'

Aunt Petunia sat up straighter. 'Peter?'

Hagrid nodded. 'Peter Pettigrew.' Aunt Petunia covered her mouth and shook her head. 'He found Sirius… he found him and told him to give himself up but then…'

'No, no, no,' said Uncle Vernon, suddenly agitated. 'I remember reading about that. I read every bit of news I could after Harry arrived, and the only thing about thirteen deaths back then… that was a gas explosion.'

Hagrid nodded. 'That's the story the Muggles know, but it was Sirius-'

'So Peter was the wizard?' asked Uncle Vernon.

Hagrid nodded. 'Twelve Muggles and a wizard.'

'I don't believe it,' said Aunt Petunia sharply. 'I refuse.'

Hagrid reached out to put his hand on Petunia's shoulder but then stopped and pulled it back. 'He may have been good when he was younger but he went to the Dark Side, just like everyone else in his family.'

'No, Lily would have said something. She would have known.'

'No one knew. Dumbledore suspected someone was telling You-Know-Who secrets but even he didn't know who.'

Aunt Petunia stood up and busied herself with getting the dessert together. No one said anything for a little while but then, as she placed plates laden with cake and trifle in front of everyone, she said, firmly, 'Hagrid, I may have only met Sirius a handful of times, and I may not know much about the world you live in, but I know my sister. I knew James. Even if Professor Dumbledore himself were to walk through that door and say that Sirius did what you said he did, I wouldn't believe him. He was their best friend and there's nothing that Vold-,' she paused as Hagrid flinched and the table shuddered. 'Sorry, You-Know-Who. There's nothing that You-Know-Who could ever have done that would have made Sirius betray them. I know this. Absolutely.'

'I usedta like ter think the same. I did. I knew 'im, or thought I did, but-' he fell silent when Aunt Petunia raised her hand and mumbled, 'Yes, ma'am.'

Dudley pulled the conversation back to Hogwarts and the magical world and Hagrid, gratefully, told them the little history that he knew, but when he mentioned the magical creatures he had everyone enthralled.

'Dragons and hippogriffs and phoenixes, oh my,' whispered Uncle Vernon. 'It's like being a child again, only…'

'Only what, Dad?' asked Dudley.

'Only… only I knew they were just stories, but now… Witches and wizards I could accept, grudgingly. The goblins, I saw… but all these fantastic beasts… where would you find them?'

'They're everywhere, Vernon, you just need to know where to look.'

The boys began to yawn and the adults took that to be the cue to, reluctantly, end the night. Harry and Dudley heaved Hagrid's coat from the table, accidentally dropping the copy of The Daily Prophet onto the floor.

'Yeh can keep that, if yeh like,' said Hagrid, shrugging into his coat. 'Might make good lining paper for yer owl.'

'Thanks,' said Harry, smiling as he and Dudley looked through it and at the moving pictures.

'Oh, Harry. 'Fore I forget.' He rummaged in his coat and pulled out an envelope. 'Yer ticket fer Hogwarts. First o' September – King's Cross – it's all on yer ticket.'

He looked over at the Dursleys and suddenly looked a little nervous.

'I'm repeating myself, I know,' he said, 'but I have ter say, Vernon, Petunia, I really didn't expect any of this. The things I had been hearing, about Harry being forced to live under the stairs and all sorts of stuff, well, last night I was looking to put a scare into yeh, but I'm glad that I didn't. I'm glad ter have met yer son, too. I'm thinkin' tha' maybe…'

'We could be friends?' asked Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched.

Hagrid pulled the three Dursleys into a hug and Harry grinned.