Chapter Two
Harry stood outside the front door of number four Privet drive with Hagrid for an hour. He tried to talk to Hagrid, who was sitting on the doorstep with his head in his hands, quite a few times, but all Hagrid would say was 'Shhh! I'm thinking!'
Suddenly, Hagrid leapt up with a yell, which startled Harry. He looked up from the game of Monopoly he was playing with some neighbourhood children, and watched as Hagrid opened the front door of number four, pointed a frilly pink umbrella inside, and closed it again, muffling the loud squealing sound that had erupted.
'Aah, that's better. I knew I'd forgotten something!' Hagrid said, setting off down the driveway. Harry followed reluctantly - he had been close to winning.
Hagrid stopped at the end of the driveway, and whistled loudly. Harry looked around expectantly for the rowboat that was in the script, but none came. Instead, the square of pavement that Harry and Hagrid were standing on disappeared, and Harry gave a high-pitched scream as he and Hagrid tumbled into the darkness.
They fell for quite a while, and Harry was just wishing that he'd brought his Monopoly game along when they landed with a loud thump in a small, rickety cart.
'Is this the Gringotts cart, Hagrid? You didn't read the script, did you?' Harry eyed Hagrid suspiciously. 'Are you really Hagrid? Are you sure you aren't Lord Voldemort in disguise? Is this...'
'Shut up!' Hagrid grunted, twiddling with some knobs in the front of the cart. He pressed a large red button, and the cart sped off down a railway track, shaking ominously at corners and screeching to a stop in front of a mouldy wooden door. The plastic sign next to it informed Harry that they had reached Vault 713. Hagrid tried to open the door using the rusted doorknob, but it wouldn't open.
'Right, stand back!' he roared, and charged at the door. It gave way with a loud crunch, and Harry walked into the vault to find Hagrid groaning on the floor, a dirty package wrapped in Christmas paper lying next to him.
'Ooh, I know what that is!' Harry cried! 'It was in the script, on page 215! It's the Philosopher's Stone!' Harry grabbed at it, but Hagrid swatted his hand out of the way.
'Shh! Yer not supposed to know that yet! You'll ruin the whole book!' He got up and walked out of the vault, bumping his head on the top of the doorway on his way.
Harry followed, and got into the Gringotts cart, which rattled off before Hagrid could get in. He ran alongside, shouting swear words and puffing a lot.
'Stop! Stooooooooop!' he cried, and gave an extraordinary leap, landing head first in the cart, which zoomed even faster around a corner, with Hagrid's legs waving around. The cart went faster and faster, and got more and more reckless, until it reached the end of its track, where it stopped abruptly, and Harry and Hagrid were thrown out. They flew through the air and Harry landed painfully in a cauldron.
'Out! OUT! Get out of my new cauldron!' A large and ugly witch was approaching Harry, carrying a broom. Harry tried to get out of the cauldron, but found that he was stuck fast.
'This... wasn't... in the... script!' he grunted, trying get out of the cauldron. Finally, the cauldron collapsed, and Harry fell to the ground. He leapt up, and ran straight into Hagrid, who was carrying a snowy white owl and several bags.
'Here you go!' he cried, looking disgruntled. 'The bugger's already pecked me three times!' he pushed the owl into Harry's hands, and stumped away. 'C'mon! Ollivander's is next! You'll need a wand!' Harry ran after him, and into an old, shabby shop.
A tinkling bell rang as they stepped inside. It was tiny, and empty apart from a tiny, spindly chair, which Hagrid immediately broke as he tried to sit down. Harry looked around at the boxes stacked against the walls.
'Hagrid, which one's my wand?' Harry asked, walking up to one of the boxes and peering at it closely. Hagrid didn't answer, however, as he was hurriedly trying to glue the spindly chair back together. Suddenly, Harry saw it! The box was underneath stacks of others, but he knew. Quickly, he moved closer, and sure enough, the box read 'Holly and Phoenix Feather, 11 inches, nice and supple. Reserved for Harry Potter' Harry grabbed the box, pulled it out, and was promptly buried in boxes as the rest of the stack fell down on his head.
'Good afternoon,' said a soft voice. Hagrid jumped and glued the back of the spindly chair to his hand. Harry must have jumped too, because a few of the boxes in the pile clattered to the floor. The man belonging to the voice crossed over to Harry and pulled him out of the pile.
'Er... Hello?' Harry said awkwardly, trying to hide the pile of boxes behind his back. 'L-lovely day, isn't it?'
'Ah yes,' said the man. 'Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter. I'm Mr. Ollivander.' He leered at Harry. 'Found your wand already, then? Very quick on the uptake, you are. Well, then, I suppose you'd better give it a wave, as it's in the script and all...' Harry opened the box he'd been holding and pulled out a beautiful wand, which he waved around. Hagrid suddenly started dancing a jig.
'Oh, bravo! Very good, Mr Potter, very good indeed!' Hagrid tried to say something, but danced out the door instead, the back of the spindly chair still stuck to his hand. 'But curious... Very curious...' Mr. Ollivander said, walking behind a desk.
'What's curious?' asked Harry. 'The fact that the phoenix that gave the feather to this wand only gave one other, and that feather went to dear old Voldie's wand?'
Mr. Ollivander looked surprised. 'No, no, not at all, that was in the script, after all. It's just... Well, I could have sworn that the spindly chair over there had a back... Ah well, that'll be seven Galleons, then please.' Harry paid and exited the shop.
The afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid (who had stopped dancing and was looking very out of breath) made their way down Diagon Alley, and through a hole in a wall that Hagrid made when he charged through. Harry looked around and found that he was at a train station.
'Well, you'll be needing this,' Hagrid said to Harry, handing him a piece of paper. Harry looked at it and saw that it was a photo of Hagrid in a dress. 'Oh...' Hagrid stuttered, snatching it back. 'Er, that's not it... Um... Oh, here it is!' He thrust another, smaller piece of paper at Harry. 'Well, I'm supposed to magically disappear right about now... Er, if you'd just close your eyes and count to twenty four...'
Harry did as he was told, and when he opened his eyes again, Hagrid was nowhere to be seen. He had magically disappeared! Harry was amazed.
Harry glanced at the new piece of paper he held in his hand, and discovered that it was a ticket to Hogwarts, which told him to catch the Hogwarts Express from platform nine and three quarters. Harry knew, from reading the script, that he should look around for a redheaded family talking about Muggles, who would tell him about how he should walk through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He looked around, but couldn't find them. Where could they be? He turned around to face the barrier just in time to see a lady and young girl, both with flaming red hair, disappear through the barrier.
'Oh, great!' Harry muttered to himself. 'Didn't read the script, I expect. Fine, I'll just have to do it myself!' And he strode purposefully towards the barrier.
Harry stood outside the front door of number four Privet drive with Hagrid for an hour. He tried to talk to Hagrid, who was sitting on the doorstep with his head in his hands, quite a few times, but all Hagrid would say was 'Shhh! I'm thinking!'
Suddenly, Hagrid leapt up with a yell, which startled Harry. He looked up from the game of Monopoly he was playing with some neighbourhood children, and watched as Hagrid opened the front door of number four, pointed a frilly pink umbrella inside, and closed it again, muffling the loud squealing sound that had erupted.
'Aah, that's better. I knew I'd forgotten something!' Hagrid said, setting off down the driveway. Harry followed reluctantly - he had been close to winning.
Hagrid stopped at the end of the driveway, and whistled loudly. Harry looked around expectantly for the rowboat that was in the script, but none came. Instead, the square of pavement that Harry and Hagrid were standing on disappeared, and Harry gave a high-pitched scream as he and Hagrid tumbled into the darkness.
They fell for quite a while, and Harry was just wishing that he'd brought his Monopoly game along when they landed with a loud thump in a small, rickety cart.
'Is this the Gringotts cart, Hagrid? You didn't read the script, did you?' Harry eyed Hagrid suspiciously. 'Are you really Hagrid? Are you sure you aren't Lord Voldemort in disguise? Is this...'
'Shut up!' Hagrid grunted, twiddling with some knobs in the front of the cart. He pressed a large red button, and the cart sped off down a railway track, shaking ominously at corners and screeching to a stop in front of a mouldy wooden door. The plastic sign next to it informed Harry that they had reached Vault 713. Hagrid tried to open the door using the rusted doorknob, but it wouldn't open.
'Right, stand back!' he roared, and charged at the door. It gave way with a loud crunch, and Harry walked into the vault to find Hagrid groaning on the floor, a dirty package wrapped in Christmas paper lying next to him.
'Ooh, I know what that is!' Harry cried! 'It was in the script, on page 215! It's the Philosopher's Stone!' Harry grabbed at it, but Hagrid swatted his hand out of the way.
'Shh! Yer not supposed to know that yet! You'll ruin the whole book!' He got up and walked out of the vault, bumping his head on the top of the doorway on his way.
Harry followed, and got into the Gringotts cart, which rattled off before Hagrid could get in. He ran alongside, shouting swear words and puffing a lot.
'Stop! Stooooooooop!' he cried, and gave an extraordinary leap, landing head first in the cart, which zoomed even faster around a corner, with Hagrid's legs waving around. The cart went faster and faster, and got more and more reckless, until it reached the end of its track, where it stopped abruptly, and Harry and Hagrid were thrown out. They flew through the air and Harry landed painfully in a cauldron.
'Out! OUT! Get out of my new cauldron!' A large and ugly witch was approaching Harry, carrying a broom. Harry tried to get out of the cauldron, but found that he was stuck fast.
'This... wasn't... in the... script!' he grunted, trying get out of the cauldron. Finally, the cauldron collapsed, and Harry fell to the ground. He leapt up, and ran straight into Hagrid, who was carrying a snowy white owl and several bags.
'Here you go!' he cried, looking disgruntled. 'The bugger's already pecked me three times!' he pushed the owl into Harry's hands, and stumped away. 'C'mon! Ollivander's is next! You'll need a wand!' Harry ran after him, and into an old, shabby shop.
A tinkling bell rang as they stepped inside. It was tiny, and empty apart from a tiny, spindly chair, which Hagrid immediately broke as he tried to sit down. Harry looked around at the boxes stacked against the walls.
'Hagrid, which one's my wand?' Harry asked, walking up to one of the boxes and peering at it closely. Hagrid didn't answer, however, as he was hurriedly trying to glue the spindly chair back together. Suddenly, Harry saw it! The box was underneath stacks of others, but he knew. Quickly, he moved closer, and sure enough, the box read 'Holly and Phoenix Feather, 11 inches, nice and supple. Reserved for Harry Potter' Harry grabbed the box, pulled it out, and was promptly buried in boxes as the rest of the stack fell down on his head.
'Good afternoon,' said a soft voice. Hagrid jumped and glued the back of the spindly chair to his hand. Harry must have jumped too, because a few of the boxes in the pile clattered to the floor. The man belonging to the voice crossed over to Harry and pulled him out of the pile.
'Er... Hello?' Harry said awkwardly, trying to hide the pile of boxes behind his back. 'L-lovely day, isn't it?'
'Ah yes,' said the man. 'Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter. I'm Mr. Ollivander.' He leered at Harry. 'Found your wand already, then? Very quick on the uptake, you are. Well, then, I suppose you'd better give it a wave, as it's in the script and all...' Harry opened the box he'd been holding and pulled out a beautiful wand, which he waved around. Hagrid suddenly started dancing a jig.
'Oh, bravo! Very good, Mr Potter, very good indeed!' Hagrid tried to say something, but danced out the door instead, the back of the spindly chair still stuck to his hand. 'But curious... Very curious...' Mr. Ollivander said, walking behind a desk.
'What's curious?' asked Harry. 'The fact that the phoenix that gave the feather to this wand only gave one other, and that feather went to dear old Voldie's wand?'
Mr. Ollivander looked surprised. 'No, no, not at all, that was in the script, after all. It's just... Well, I could have sworn that the spindly chair over there had a back... Ah well, that'll be seven Galleons, then please.' Harry paid and exited the shop.
The afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid (who had stopped dancing and was looking very out of breath) made their way down Diagon Alley, and through a hole in a wall that Hagrid made when he charged through. Harry looked around and found that he was at a train station.
'Well, you'll be needing this,' Hagrid said to Harry, handing him a piece of paper. Harry looked at it and saw that it was a photo of Hagrid in a dress. 'Oh...' Hagrid stuttered, snatching it back. 'Er, that's not it... Um... Oh, here it is!' He thrust another, smaller piece of paper at Harry. 'Well, I'm supposed to magically disappear right about now... Er, if you'd just close your eyes and count to twenty four...'
Harry did as he was told, and when he opened his eyes again, Hagrid was nowhere to be seen. He had magically disappeared! Harry was amazed.
Harry glanced at the new piece of paper he held in his hand, and discovered that it was a ticket to Hogwarts, which told him to catch the Hogwarts Express from platform nine and three quarters. Harry knew, from reading the script, that he should look around for a redheaded family talking about Muggles, who would tell him about how he should walk through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He looked around, but couldn't find them. Where could they be? He turned around to face the barrier just in time to see a lady and young girl, both with flaming red hair, disappear through the barrier.
'Oh, great!' Harry muttered to himself. 'Didn't read the script, I expect. Fine, I'll just have to do it myself!' And he strode purposefully towards the barrier.