WARNING: This story is R for a REASON! It is NOT NC-17, as I have read much, /much/ worse that was permitted, so I have abused nothing! Rated for violence, serious angst (later on), and rape (possibly). If you have a problem with it, go read something else because I didn't write it just to be safe. It's written because it's how and what I write. So buzz off. :{
(and if my mean attitude offended, I do apologize but I'm sorta protective of my work.)
Chapter 2 – HagridBy tati
And so it went. Over the course of several years, Harry was often 'punished' by being left in London to find his way back home. Whenever this occurred (about twice weekly), he'd call Snape, who would show up sooner or later.
Severus told Harry the truth of the wizarding world and rented a flat where the child could stay when 'punished' and where he could teach Harry magic.
With a strong desire to please the only friend he'd ever known, Harry quickly mastered the art of reading and began to study even while Severus was away. Lessons with Snape's wand while the wizard was present led to sessions without the implement while Snape was away teaching. It was a bit difficult to learn, but when he got the hang of it he could master even the trickiest spells in a heartbeat with even better results than he got with Snape's wand. (Unfortunately – for Severus – Harry neglected to tell him of his private study sessions without a wand.)
Despite the Potions Master's gruff, sarcastic exterior, and short temper, the two became friends and both looked forward to seeing each other whenever Harry was free in the streets and Snape didn't have to teach.
The only thing that upset Snape about his prodigy was his relations.
When Harry was six, he had called for Snape, who hastened to the flat. The child wasn't there and Snape used magic to trace him (it took a few tries, but he finally used a complex spell that employed one of the boy's hairs; left on a pillow in the bedroom. Apparently he couldn't be found by normal magical means.)
An hour ensued of doggedly following the spell traces – which went straight through buildings he had to walk around – until he finally located Harry in a dumpster without his glasses and with a broken arm. Snape had cared for him that time and several others, but Harry would reveal nothing, and Snape wouldn't act without permission from his small friend.
The situation was far worse than Snape realized or even suspected however, but Harry wasn't about to tell him that. Every time Harry returned to Number Four in better health than when he left, he was beaten more harshly in punishment. Harry Hunting grew both in frequency and in harshness, the 'lessons' before being 'punished' again more violent, and the food much less.
Despite – or perhaps because of – the Dursley's ridicule, Harry improved steadily in his magical training. Severus knew nothing of it. Certainly he noticed that whenever he taught the boy a spell it was picked up immediately, but he simply figured Harry was on a second-year level by Hogwarts standards. He wasn't.
Whenever Severus was working (most of the time), Harry took a look at more and more advanced books and practiced increasingly difficult spells and potions. Delving deep into magical history and theory, Harry somehow always managed to miss the books the held his name and revealed the true story of Harold James Potter. The Boy Who Lived.
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As Harry, now ten, rapidly approached his 11th birthday, Snape became increasingly cheerful and excited.
"You will be accepted into Hogwarts; I just know it. I'll ask Dumbledore If I may deliver your letter so I can teach those muggles that they………um, that is to say that I cannot wait to see their expressions!" Harry would just grin up at him and marvel that this man, so dour around others, was so open and welcoming with a mere child (especially when Harry slipped a Perk-Me-Up Potion into his morning coffee).
However, when Snape approached Dumbledore he was informed that the letters had already been sent to their children. He was disappointed, but shrugged it off and settled down to wait for September 1st, when he would see Harry again.
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The letters kept coming. Harry knew what they were, but said nothing after Vernon told him to shut it or have it shut for him. Hundreds of letters with emerald writing and still he had only touched two. Now they were stuck out on some little rock in the middle of nowhere and Harry was freezing on the floor of the hut. He looked at Dudley's watch. 11:59 PM. Hmm………a few seconds until his birthday. He wondered what Severus was doing, and hoped that everything would work out. Of course, he wasn't allowed to use magic on muggles, and he wouldn't break the rules now, but maybe they'd leave him be if they believed him lethal………he crushed that thought. He needed punishment. Weren't the Dursleys always saying how he should be grateful and how bad he was? He needed to be kept in line so he didn't hurt anyone with his stupidity or evilness………the clock changed to 12:00 as a loud BOOM resounded throughout the hut. Harry sat bolt upright as it happened again and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room with a rifle clasped firmly in both hands. Suddenly………
SMASH!
………the door swung off its hinges from the force of the next blow and toppled to the floor to reveal a giant of a man situated in the doorway, face hidden by a shaggy mane of hair and long tangled beard.
"'Ello," he boomed. "I'll jes' fix the door an'………there we go. Its good ter see yeh 'Arry. Las' time I saw yeh yeh was a little tyke. Yeh've got yer mum's eyes."
"You knew her?" asked Harry breathlessly; ignoring his relations furious glares. The giant smiled.
"'O course. Knew yer da too, but yeh don' much resemble him apart from the messy hair."
"Have you been trying to send me my letters?"
"Yeh. Doan know why yeh haven' gotten 'em yet. Oh! I brought yeh summat. Might've sat on it at some point, but it's still good." He drew out a cardboard box. "'Appy birt'day 'Arry!"
Harry opened it with trembling fingers. He'd never gotten a present in his life (he'd warned Severus against it; saying the Dursleys would go off the deep end). Inside was a cake with chocolate icing, and in green icing was spelled out:
~Happy Birthday Harry~
Harry looked up. "Thank you," he whispered, and paused, acutely aware of his relations close proximity and their warnings of talking or asking questions. He plunged ahead anyway. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" He spoke rapidly and braced himself for the blow. Instead, he got an answer.
"Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at 'Ogwarts. Yeh'll know all about 'Ogwarts 'o course." Harry grinned and nodded.
"So was I accepted? Can I go?"
"'O course! Yeh've been signed up since yeh were born!"
"Wait a minute!" bellowed Uncle Vernon. "How d'you-" he glared at Harry; who shrank a bit "-know? We were going to stamp it out of you! We /never/ told! HOW DO YOU KNOW?!"
"What? You knew?! I thought you just didn't know, but you /knew/? All those times you-" he remembered Hagrid "-er………you /knew/!"
"Of course we knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia. "My stupid sister being what she was. Mother and father were so pleased when she got her letter. Yes, we have a /witch/ in the family. I was the only one who saw her for what she was. A /freak/! The she went and married that Potter and they had /you/. I knew you'd be just as-as strange and abnormal-"
"-So we tried to stamp it out of you," cut in Vernon, "but you still haven't answered my question boy. How did you know about those two being blown up and-"
"BLOWN UP?!" Harry exploded. "You said they'd died in a car crash!"
"A car crash! Kill Lily an' James Potter?! Tha's degradin' tha's what tis," interjected Hagrid.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW?" thundered Vernon.
"That's for me to know and you to *never* find out."
"QUIET!" Every one shut up and looked at Hagrid. "Now, 'ere's yer letter 'Arry."
The youth opened it gleefully and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOLof WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
~
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term Begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress"Hagrid, I don't have an owl."
"Oh yeh." He pulled a ruffled-looking owl out of his pocket and scribbled off a note to Professor Dumbledore before giving it to the owl who flew off into the storm.
"He's not going," said Uncle Vernon.
"You can' stop the mos' famous person in the wizardin' world from goin' ter school. We woan' allow it."
"Famous? I never read that………Hagrid, I can't be famous. That's ridiculous. And why, exactly, were my parents 'blown up'?"
"Yeh doan' know?!" Harry shook his head. "Drat. D'ye know the………creature tha' everyone in our world fears?"
"Voldemort."
"Doan' say the name! Well, d'ye know abou' him?"
"Uh-huh. His downfall was caused when he faced the Boy-Who-Lived. Who is that anyway?"
"You."
The fall of a pin would have been heard for miles before Harry regained his voice.
"Me?! That's ridiculous!"
"'S true. You-Know-Who came ter yer 'ome on 'Allowe'en ten years ago. Killed yer mum an' dad an tried ter kill you too. An' some'ow 'e couldn't. Never wondered how you got tha' mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yer get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' house even – but it didn't work on you an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age – the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts – an' you was only a baby an' you lived."
Harry remembered a flash of blinding green light inspired by his nightmares and a high, cruel laugh………
"I think he's still out there, tryin' ter get his power back because 'e surely lost when 'e went against you 'Arry." Hagrid looked at him with respect and awe in his eyes and Harry felt his stomach plummet. He was no hero. He wasn't smart or interesting and he was always doing whatever his relations bullied him into. He ran for Snape whenever he was stuck on the streets! Would a hero be that inept?
"He's not going!" hissed Uncle Vernon, "I read those letters and *I'm* not providing him that rubbish! He'll go to Stonewall High and be grateful for it! And-"
"Yer not stoppin' Lily an' James' son from goin'! He's been signed up since 'e was born! He's goin' to the finest school of magic in the world under the greatest Headmaster that has ever been! Albus Dumbl-"
"I'll not pay for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic tricks!"
Uncle Vernon had gone too far. Hagrid was practically breathing fire.
"NEVER. INSULT. ALBUS. DUMBLEDORE. IN. FRONT. OF. ME!" And he whirled a pink umbrella that had been resting beside him to point at Dudley. The porky boy jumped with a squeal as a pig's tail sprouted from the back of his pants. Aunt Petunia screamed as the tail then vanished as quickly as it came.
"Tha's a warnin'," growled Hagrid. "Nex' time, I'll make it permanent." The Dursleys gazed at him in horror before running back to the single bedroom as fast as they could.
"Now, would yer like summat ter eat?" asked Hagrid as he made a quick fire with the umbrella.
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Next day, Hagrid took Harry to Diagon Alley and Gringotts bank. Although he had traveled there before with Snape, it had never been for money for himself. He hadn't thought his parents had left him any. The excursion was soon over and Hagrid then took them to fetch a grubby package from vault 713, saying it was 'special Hogwarts business'.
Harry always liked travel by goblin cart, but Hagrid looked a bit green, so Harry went on his own to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. As he was being fitted he saw another boy doing the same. Blond and smooth-skinned, the youth (Harry's own age) was good-looking, but held a forbidding glacial quality in his expression.
"Hello," drawled the boy, "Hogwarts too?"
"Yes," said Harry.
"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands. I think I'll drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." The boy acted like Dudley, but there was something about him………
"Do /you/ have your own broom?" the boy went on.
"No," said Harry, "I've never even /seen/ a racing broom before. I don't get to come here that often, and usually it's just for the Apothecary or Flourish and Blotts."
"Well, /I/ have one – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"
"No, no one ever knows before they get there, do they?"
"Quite true," the boy finally sounded interested in the conversation; as though he never really carried on one where it wasn't just mostly himself or the other person talking with their partner taking no part in the conversation other than to just listen. "I am sure I'll be in Slytherin though, all our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
"No!" said Harry in surprise. "Even if everyone hated me I'd stay. A place to learn magic; a second chance; a /future/ are all too good to pass up for something as silly as hating where you're placed. No matter what the house, I want more than anything just to be at Hogwarts. I've waited /years/ for the opportunity! Why would you leave?" The boy was staring at him.
"You know," he said slowly, "I've never thought about it quite along those lines before, but you have a most wonderful point………"
Harry would have liked to stay and talk longer, but the attendant witch was finished with him, and he could see Hagrid outside, waving.
"Well, bye," Harry said with a soft, tentative smile. The boy nodded in farewell as Harry went off to get his wand.
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/Time Lapse/
Holding his train ticket, bird cage, and trolly (which held his trunk), Harry turned to say goodbye to the kindhearted giant. But his companion had disappeared………
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Throughout the first half of the month of August the Dursleys ignored him and appeared cowed. Harry was perfectly content to go his own way and soon finished reading and memorizing his schoolbooks. From A History of Magic he finally decided to name the snowy owl (his very first birthday gift from Hagrid; who had also provided his very first cake) Hedwig. She seemed pleased with the name and like a cat, faithfully brought him her kills.
However, the Dursleys soon recovered and seemed determined to make him pay for their humiliation. He was quickly removed from Dudley's second bedroom and reinstalled in the cupboard under the stairs. Hedwig didn't appreciate being shut up, and her screeches brought Uncle Vernon's wrath down on Harry more than once. And so the days wore on.
On August 31st, Harry figured he should ensure his transportation for tomorrow, so he crept out of his cupboard and into the living room. When Uncle Vernon finally recognized his presence, he said, "I need – I need to get down to the London station tomorrow to catch the train to my school. Could you drive me? If not, I could take the Knight Bus, but I thought I'd ask-"
"You're not going," snarled Uncle Vernon. Harry froze.
"W-what?" he stammered.
"You're not going to that ruddy school. We can beat your abnormalities out; you are not required to go. Therefore, you will not go."
"Yes I am! They said I could go; you can't stop me! I'm going to go and learn magic!" Uncle Vernon started at the 'm' word, and nervously checked the windows in case a neighbor was eavesdropping.
"Don't – use – that – word," he huffed, rising. "You are going to Stonewall High and you will personally burn that trunk and get rid of that bird. /And/ you will tell us who you were sneaking to that gave you information on our kind. You will do it now."
"No way!" said Harry; shaking his head and backing up. "No way will I tell you anything!" He turned to run, but a vengeful Dudley tripped him, and Harry had just enough time to twist onto his back and see his uncle before the man's hands wrapped about his throat and began to squeeze.
Choking, Harry writhed in an effort to get loose. It didn't work – it never had. Right before he could black out, Harry felt the pressure release, and was gasping for air while Vernon let Dudley pound him. They didn't touch his face of course, but the rest was beatable – it could be covered by clothing.
As such, Harry didn't feel at all safe when Vernon decided to play a new 'game'. All I can say is that it is obvious it didn't go very well for Harry………
~
Will Harry ever get to Hogwarts? Well, you'll never know unless you REVIEW. Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!
A/N: ohmygod! NINE pages, whohoo! Gots to upload (and finish typing) chapter three, so tata! [hey, tati – tata………ho-hum…]
