Dudley was the fastest to react. He was on his feet and in a fighting stance before Harry even had his glasses on.

BOOM!

Harry stood, not sure what to do in this situation but readied himself to fight or run as needed. He noticed Vernon coming down the stairs with a shotgun in his shoulder, Petunia peeking out behind the door frame.

"Wh-who goes there?" Vernon squeaked clearly terrified by the booming outside. He moved one more step down when-

BOOM!

The door came down revealing a truly mountainous man. Everyone froze as the man ducked his head and entered the shack. He stepped to the side and lifted the door back onto its hinges before turning to the people inside.

"Sorry abou' tha," he said, smiling at Harry and Dudley before noticing Vernon on the stairs. His smile fell when he noticed the shotgun in the hands of the trembling man.

"Is tha really necessary?" the man said and with two strides he yanked the weapon from Vernon's hands and tied it into a knot before throwing it into the corner. He wiped his hands on his coat which seemed to be made of several pockets stitched together before looking at the two boys in the room.

Dudley had stayed in his stance but was staring at the shotgun in the corner. When he finally looked up at the big man he dropped his hands mumbling something about being way out of his weight class.

When the man looked at Harry his jaw dropped.

"I can' believe how much yeh look like James, Harry."

Harry finally broke out of his confusion.

"You knew my dad?" he asked, stepping around from behind Dudley. The excitement he felt at hearing about his father drowned out the apprehension he felt around the newcomer.

"O' course I knew 'im!" the man said, chuckling and moving towards the fireplace. "He was one o' the best men I ever met."

Vernon seemed to realize he wasn't holding the shotgun anymore and almost shouted in his fear.

"You are not welcome here! Please leave now!"

"And who are you ter make me leave, Dursley? Yer boy here might be able ter try somethin' but he seems ter be a bit smarter than you."

He turned back to the fireplace before sitting down on the couch and pulling out a pink umbrella. He pointed it at the hearth and suddenly two balls of flame shot out of the tip, lighting a deliciously warm fire.

"NO!" shouted Vernon, finally coming a few steps down the stairs. "We will not let you taint our family with your freakishness! We have worked hard to stamp that filth out of him!"

"What is going on?" Harry spoke up again, feeling a bit irritated in his confusion.

"Vernon, quiet," Petunia whispered. "I told you just let him go."

"STOP!" Harry yelled. Finally bringing the attention back to himself.

"What does any of this have to do with my parents?" He turned to the big man. "Are you the one who has been sending me those letters?"

The man turned on the couch and faced Harry.

"Yes, my name is Rubeus Hagrid, Gamekeeper an' Keeper o' the Keys at the University of Hogwarts, but yeh can call me Hagrid. We've sent yeh several letters in the last couple days but it seems you've yet to open one."

Harry just stared, even more confused. Hagrid pulled out a now familiar letter from one of his many pockets and presented it to Harry. He puffed out his chest and spoke as if presenting an award.

"S'my pleasure to inform you tha' you have been accepted into the University. In this letter is the basic welcomin' stuff an' a list of books and supplies yeh'll need before comin' to class in September."

Harry looked down at the letter. At this point he had given up on being confused although he still had questions.

"I can't go to university, I just turned seventeen. Even if I were in a real school I wouldn't be able to go to a university till next year."

"Well the first year at the university is more of an introduction ter our world. They finish up yer A levels while givin' yeh the basics of the more involved studies. Mark my words, yeh'll love it. It's where yer parents met."

"I'm so confused. What do you mean 'your world'?"

"The magical world o' course!"

Harry didn't understand and it showed on his face.

"Well, didn' yeh ever wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

"Learned what?"

"MAGIC!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. My parents were killed in a car crash when I was a-"

"CAR CRASH!?" Hagrid launched to his feet before turning to Vernon and Petunia.

"You told him his parents died in a CAR CRASH! Tha's absurd! James an' Lily Potter dying in a car crash is abou' as likely as me fittin' inter a tea cup!"

Petunia peeked out from behind Vernon. "We don't want to have anything to do with your kind. You bring nothing but trouble just like that Potter boy."

Hagrid fumed before pointing his umbrella at Petunia. Dudley seemed to recognize the object as dangerous and raised his hands before stepping in between his parents and the massive being.

"I don't want any trouble, just please don't hurt my family."

Hagrid dropped the umbrella, clearly angry but letting it go. He turned back to Harry.

"I didn' 'spect 'em ter keep so much from yeh. It's terrible how in the dark yeh are."

He sat back down and rubbed his eyes before sighing and looking back at Harry, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

"Have yeh ever noticed anythin' weird happen around yeh? Like something changing colors suddenly or maybe disappeared right in front o' yer eyes and yeh can' explain it?"

Harry nodded, it hadn't been as big a deal recently but he remembered things like that happening all the time when he was in his early teens. He just thought it was puberty.

"Well, those things actually happened. Yeh were accidentally doing things with magic."

Harry heard Vernon whimper on the stairs.

"Magic isn't real," Harry said, certain that this was just a weird dream.

"O' course it is!" Hagrid chuckled, lifting his umbrella to the ceiling. Suddenly several multicolor butterflies floated out of the tip and began flapping throughout the room.

"Hogwarts University is the premier magic school in all o' Europe. Fer seven years you'll learn all there is to know abou' magic. The firs' year s'about gettin' the basics down an' finishing up yer muggle schoolin' but everythin' after tha is where you'll get into the nitty gritty of magic an' all tha' goes with it. The last two years are for the real advanced stuff. Those students are workin' on Mastery level magic.

Harry sat on the armrest of the couch, fascinated by the butterflies. His curiosity was growing by the word. Magic was real and his parents had both been a part of this secret world. Thousands of questions filled his mind as the feeling of excitement grew.

Vernon ruined it.

"We will not pay for him to attend that school!"

"Yeh can' stop 'im, Dursley," Hagrid said, not even turning to face the mustachioed man on the stairs. "His parents made sure he won' have ter worry abou' money fer a long time. As o' today, he has access ter his family's vault, but we'll get to tha' tomorrow." He turned to Harry. "Fer now, get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll get yer things from yer home an' then head ter London ter get yer school supplies."

Hagrid pulled out what looked like a bundle of pipes and a tarp out of one of his pockets. He placed them on the ground in front of the fire before pointing his umbrella at it. The sticks vibrated for a second before assembling into some sort of frame before the tarp stretched itself over the top, clearly becoming a cot. Hagrid then pulled out a pillow and blanket from another pocket before handing them to Harry.

"Off ter bed with yeh."

Harry nodded and then looked at Dudley. He'd been relatively quiet the whole time but seemed to be on alert.

"I think I'll sleep upstairs," Dudley said before grabbing his blanket off the couch and herding his shaking parents up the stairs.

Hagrid nodded and settled in on the couch, wrapping himself in his massive cloak and nodding off immediately.

Harry sat on the cot, mind wandering as he stared into the fire.