----------------------
Cherry woke up. The cupboard was very dark, so she wouldn't know how long had passed. Her mouth tasted like blood. She hardly felt a thing but pain, but she was able to notice that she was entangled with another body. 'Harry!' she thought, scared. After a second she thought relieved that he was warm, so he was still alive, but both of them were in very unnatural positions. She painfully disentangled herself from his body, and with all the energy her mauled body could muster, straitened him on the mattress, and then laid herself by his side, put a hand on his chest, and knew no more.
----------------------
Harry woke up slowly. He was on his back, feeling how his body fed nothing but pain back to his brain. He could specially feel the pain from his right hand, which pierced him like a dagger when he tried to close it. But then he felt something warm laying to the left of his chest. He instantly knew what it was: Cherry's hand.
He raised his left hand to touch her hand, and thru touch he just felt how badly ragged her skin was over her hand, and down her arm. And as it was very painful for him to do so, he knew he would not be any better. And then there was his headache.
Very slowly, he moved his left arm over her head, and ever so slowly, pulled her head over his shoulder. She felt tense, but as soon as he started to pet her she began to relax. He relaxed with her, and slowly drifted back to sleep.
-------------------------
Harry woke up again. His sister was now hugging his chest, but she was fast asleep. Besides, I wasn't her that had woken him up. He was feeling a stick prodding the right side of his chest, side that was facing the cupboard's door. He groaned when it hit a sore spot. Instantly the stick was removed.
"Harry, Cherry, are you two still alive?" - Dudley spoke mutedly, and surprisingly from him, sounding concerned.
"More or less, both of us." - Harry spoke back, slowly. He was in too much pain for more.
"Good. I wish I could give you one of your letters, but Mom and Dad always manage to get them all in the fireplace before I can get a hold on anyone. The day after the beating 4 came, then yesterday came 16 and Dad blocked the mail slot, and today in the morning we had 64, passing from window crevices to the cracks around the doors." - . . . - "Well, I have also slipped some food under the door. I think you two can make better use of my candy stash than me."
"But, why..." - Harry started, without much energy.
"Because even though I don't like you two, I don't wish you dead." - ... - "Have to go, Harry. My father might wake up."
So Dudley pushed the door closed, and climbed the stairs. Harry proceeded to hide the chocolate bars; after all, Vernon might just open the cupboard in the morning and take them out. Once they were all between the mattress and the far wall, Harry fell back down.
'So finally it happens, and Vernon wants us death.' He thought. It was sort of a relief to finally know that, even if it were for the worse, the Dursleys would end their misery. Would they starve them to death, or would them be planning to poison them. Either way, he knew himself and his sister were already stinking pretty hard, and that Petunia wouldn't tolerate their smell and would make them take a bath, and that in the bathroom they would have an unlimited supply of water. But then, to get to the water they would need energy...
"Cherry, sister, wake up!" - He said, after sitting up and starting to shock his sister. She slowly drifted back into consciousness.
"What's up Harry?" - She said, without energy.
"We got some food, sis." - He replied, as he helped her to sit up. Then he reached across her, took a couple of chocolate bars, and put one on her hand.
"Harry, how...?"
"Dudley, sis; he passed me like forty of these. Apparently he has some heart in himself."
"But then why, bro? What would make him pass us food?"
"It seems that it has finally happened."
Cherry didn't reply to that. She and Harry were quite accustomed to the idea of getting punished by being sealed in their cupboard without meals, and had talked about the possibility of the Dursleys one day deciding to not lift the punishment. Now that a padlock closed their door, and that Dudley had decided to show some humanity, such possibility seemed more than likely. Cherry closed the gap with her brother, and hugged him. He hugged her back, and they silently cried on each other. After a few minutes they calmed down and just continued sharing each other, just as they had shared many other moments of despair, trying to give to the other the strength they lacked themselves.
It took them a long time to part, as it always did. Then they unwrapped their chocolates and ate in silence. They didn't stop until each of them had downed at least four, and then they went back to sleep.
"Hopefully we are smelly enough to require a bath." - Cherry said.
"Yeah, I'm thirsty, too. Good night, Cherry."
"Good night, Harry."
------------------------
A horrific noise above their heads made them wake up with a start. Petunia was standing in front of the opened cupboard, and was shaking a meat tenderizer inside a large pot. She stopped as soon as she noticed them looking at her with beady eyes.
"Get up, you two! I want you in the bathroom in five minutes, and if you aren't bathed in half an hour, you won't eat today!" - Then she disappeared into the kitchen.
They knew the drill, as they had created many to do everything under time. They took two old bathrobes out off their suitcase and ran into the bathroom. There Cherry helped Harry undress, and as he used the shower (and drunk some of its water), she undressed herself, undid her braid, and did her business with the toilet. As soon as he left the shower she jumped in, and as he did his own business in the toilet and started drying himself, she washed. Then she too jumped out off the shower and dried herself, while her brother dried her hair and made again her braid. Now dry, they sprinted back into the cupboard and got dressed in clean clothes, and carrying their bundles of dirty clothes, marched into the kitchen.
If they had done everything at their usual speed they would have finished with time to spare, but they didn't have too much energy, so...
"Hardly, but still on time. Now you know what to do." - Said Petunia, while she unlocked the back door. They knew that, too, as it was part of the drill. They went out and began washing their clothes (although it was Cherry who did most of the washing, thanks to Harry's swollen right hand), but had too little energy to really remove the bloodstains from them. They did their best, though, and once they had it hanging, they walked back in. As on routine, Petunia would pick it up in about two hours (whether they were dry or not), and would leave it by their cupboard in a plastic bag, which then they would use to pick up any garbage inside the cupboard.
"Finished? Now serve breakfast!"
And the breakfast routine repeated itself, except that it was now her who served the omelette and Harry who served the drinks. All routine, up to when he was going to get the mail.
"Where do you think you are going, boy?" - Roared Vernon.
"Well... I was going..."
"To get the mail, I guess!" - Completed Vernon. - "No more mail comes to this house! And now you and your sister, you have five minutes to be back in your cupboard! Otherwise you'll get it!"
Harry didn't reply. After having served Petunia, Cherry jumped to the bar and set her eggs and Harry's. He sat by her, and they started to down the eggs at top speed. The eggs were still very hot, but the two of them had to swallow the pain while they tried to ensure they got some nourishment. Their mouths were really hurting them when they finished, but they managed to, and ran back into the cupboard, were they panted. A few minutes later Vernon passed by.
"Good boys, you gained your next meal. Now sit there on your butts and let me believe that you don't exist." - Vernon hissed on their faces. Then he slammed the door on their faces, closed the vent (eliminating any light inside), and marched away, whistling.
The twins panted in the dark for a few minutes. Their mouths were badly burnt, but they were very cheerful: their nightmare wasn't really upon them, or at least not yet. After they stopped panting they each ate a chocolate bar, and started to talk mutedly. They were still very much in pain, so after just a while they were nodding off again.
-------------------
A few hours later, they were awakened by the screams of Vernon, which were coming from the living room.
"AHH! This does it! We are going out of here, NOW!"
"But dad..."
"We are out of here in five minutes, so go and pack clothes! No arguments."
So they heard three sets of foots hurriedly going up the stairs, and a few minutes later they heard them come out. Meanwhile they were packing everything they had on their suitcase, so when Vernon came to unlock them, they were ready. Everything except the chocolates, as picking them up was proving to be far too noisy.
"Now, get in the car!" - Upon seeing that he was nearing purple and was missing half of his moustache, they didn't say a word. Luckily the bag of their clean clothes was waiting for them outside, so in a quick swing Harry picked up the bag, shoved it in the suitcase, and helped Cherry pull it out the house.
Once everyone's luggage and butts were on the car, Vernon started driving. He did so with a fury, as he went to London and started to zigzag around the city, until he hit a dirt road going into nowhere. Then he would take the first fork, and then change roads again, but would avoid the motorways. Every time his random road changing brought them into a farm he would ramble for a moment, and would make a sharp U-turn while mumbling "... not far enough, not yet... ", And would resume his erratic driving, which on all the zigzag where more or less driving them north. He had started around noon, and didn't feel satisfied until well after nightfall, when he finally pulled up in a little motel, in the outskirts of some town lost in the map.
Vernon ordered an extra bed to be brought into the single room he had rented (to keep everyone under his sight), and after they ate what he had bought to simulate a dinner (corned beef and crackers), they all went to sleep.
Pretty early in the morning somebody knocking the door awakened them. A scared looking Vernon approached the door and asked, opening wide. Harry, Cherry, Dudley and Petunia were right behind him, looking at a bewildered looking maid.
"What is it?"
"Sorry to wake you up sir, but in the front desk we just received a ton of this letters." - Then she lifted the letter for them to see.
H J & C J Potter
The portable bed
Room 5
'The happy Farmer' Motel
Wood hall Spa
"When I felt with it, the guys had counted near two hundred and were still counting." - She added.
Vernon was very much less than impressed.
"We are NOT Potters! We are DURSLEYS!"
He closed the door on her face, and started to pull his hair. Then turned to the people around him.
"Okay, we move in ten minutes!"
And so, in ten minutes they were already hitting the road, and except for a stop to refuel (and use a toilet), they didn't stop for the rest of the day. The difference is that now Vernon wasn't going erratically, but was zigzagging west. He didn't smile or said a word until he saw the sea (around late evening), time at which he locked everyone inside the car, and went to out of the car.
"Has dad gone crazy, mom?" - Asked Dudley after they had waited for a while.
After about half an hour, when night was frankly falling, he came back. He was holding a couple of black plastic bags, and a huge grin.
"Now everyone, take your stuff and lets move. I got us some food and a safe place to stay. See that little island over there? And today there is storm forecast!"
He pointed out at sea, beaming. In effect there was a rock a few hundred metres out at sea, and in top of it was a hut. The twins looked at each other in dread, which soon was well founded: once everyone got on board of a quite big boat, Vernon made them row, and being weak as they already were, it took them forever. Once they touched the other side, Vernon yelled at them for having taken so long, and led everyone into the little house. Said house only had the main room and a bedroom, was cold and humid, smelled like rotten wood, and started to squeal as soon as the promised storm arrived, but at least seemed to be better than being outside, as the door closed and the windows weren't missing panels.
The 'food' Vernon had gotten turned out to be a handful of cookies and five apples, but having nothing else, they ate and prepared to bed. Petunia found a couple of old comforters in the bedroom, so she used one to make Dudley a bed in a mouldy sofa in front of the empty fireplace, and used the other for herself and her husband, in the bedroom. After laying Dudley and 'wishing good night' to the twins, she and Vernon retired to the bedroom. The only thing the twins had to do was what they did: put on the coats they used in winter (which were pretty damp, thanks to the boat ride), and try to curl together inside the suitcase, even if their legs were still popping out.
They weren't getting any sleep, so they were the first ones who noticed as something took a mighty blow at the hut's door. The entire hut shuddered, and Dudley woke up.
"Were is the cannon?" - He asked stupidly.
When a second blow hit the hut's door, Vernon and Petunia came out of their room, and Dudley went to cower behind the two grown ups. Harry and Cherry were putting their shoes on, but still did notice that Vernon had his hand inside one of the plastic bags, apparently holding something.
When the door received a third blow, it just caved in. Just then a lightning illuminated the exterior, showing a human-looking figure covered in a black overcoat, so big in fact that it was leaning and its head was still just as high as the upper frame of the door. This colossal figure entered with some effort (it was also slightly wider than the door), and as if such thing was normal it straightened as much as the low roof of the hut let it do, turned to pick up the door and place it back on its frame. Then it turned and spoke, with a good-natured but very rough male voice.
"Sorry about that. I guess I knocked a bit too hard."
Vernon finally reacted. He pushed Petunia and Dudley into the bedroom, closed behind them, and confronted the man.
"I demand you leave at once! You are breaking and entering!"
"Oh Dursley, stuff a sock on it. Since the twins weren't receiving their letters, I came to deliver in person. Oh, there you are, boys!"
"STOP right there. I'm armed!"
The twins looked at the silhouette of a gun in Vernon's hand. The big man in 'danger' took a step toward Vernon, took the gun from Vernon, easily bent the cannon on a U shape, and handed it back to Vernon.
"Go on, Dursley, fire. That way I'll have some peace while the kids read their letter." - ... - "Oh, but we don't have any light here! I'll solve the problem." - He reached inside his coat, and after some rummaging pulled out a couple of logs, a small liquor bottle, and a lighter. He threw the logs on the fireplace, threw some of the liquor on top of them, and played with the lighter, which every time was giving a different colour flame.
"Yellow, not good on unprepared wood... red, not good for reading... purple, same case... blue, too little light... green, too much heat... ah, white flame!"
He neared the lighter to the logs, and there, the white flame easily spread over the liquor, and started to illuminate the room. It illuminated the face of the giant, which seemed as good-natured as your average good old lady. He sat on the sofa on which Dudley had been sleeping, and patted it.
"Come near kids, don't be afraid! Aren't you cold there in the corner?"
Strangely enough, they weren't truly afraid of the giant. Hand in hand, they cautiously approached the light. The giant lost his smile as soon as he saw the state they were in. He jumped and checked their faces on the light, and then their clothes, and then their arms, and then stopped on Harry's swelling hand. He stood up in fury (hitting the roof with his head), and then lowered himself back and walked up to Vernon. With a single hand he lifted Vernon by the front of his shirt, and started shouting in his face. It was incredible, as Vernon was as fat as a pig.
"What have you done with these kids? They were given to you as sacred task to care for, and they are malnourished! Their clothes are old and worn! They look like they were beaten soon ago, and Harry has an advanced untreated infection in his hand!" - . - "And what have you done with all the money Professor Dumbledore sends you every week? With so much money, they should be clean and fat!"
The twins looked at each other confused. After all, every now and then Vernon or Petunia would spat at them how expensive it was for them to raise them, even if their uncles had never given them any pocket money, and always bought their clothes in second hand stores. Meanwhile, Vernon was shaking between killing this giant man and begging him for mercy, but the latter option seemed to be gaining dominancy. He opened his mouth and started to speak, very fast.
"They deserve punishment! They are learning to use their ma. ma. magic, and when we took them in we promised to stamp it out of them; otherwise, somebody will come and blow up us the same as their parents."
"But didn't our parents die in a car crash?" Cherry spat.
This gave new energies to the giant.
"How could you, Dursley, tell them such Rubbish? NO car crash could ever kill the Potters!" - Then he paused for a second, with a scared face. This one only lasted for a second, as he put his other hand on Vernon's head to make him look at his face. - "Do you mean that they don't know ANYTHING about the world of their parents, their heritage? Don't the 'Children who lived', the two biggest names among all living wizards and witches, know their own story?"
Vernon had now actually pissed his pants, and was shocking his head with closed eyes, while he squealed something sounding like "senseless rubbish." When the giant dropped him in repugnancy, he just crumbled in place and kept muttering like a mantra. Then the giant brushed his hand against his pants and turned around to face the twins. What little showed of his face was still red, but now his black eyes were filled with concern. He sat back on the couch and invited the twins to sit by him. They wouldn't normally trust a ferocious-looking stranger, but from the beginning they felt safe around him; that, and that he had given Vernon a scare on their behalf. So they sat on the little space he left free to his left on the sofa, and looked up at him, curious.
"Did you just say that we are wizards, sir?" - Ventured Cherry.
"Oh yeah, kids, and pretty damn good if your parents had anything to do. They were Head Boy and Head Girl of their generation and as good a witch and wizard as they ever get."
"Err... Sir, who might you be?" - Harry said, still not understanding a thing.
"Oh, I had forgotten to tell you, hadn't I? My name is Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds of Hogwarts. Just call me Hagrid. By the way, give a second, kids." - ... - "Here is your letter."
He took out another parchment letter like the one that had started it all. Harry and Cherry checked it out.
"Harold James and Cherry Judith Potter
The big suitcase on the floor
Hut-on-the-rock
The sea"
The back was closed by a red wax seal, which had a coat of arms on it. (A/N: Last thing I need is to actually go over descriptive, so I'll just skip the description) Harry broke it and pulled out a leaf of parchment, written in emerald green ink.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (...)
Dear Mr. and Ms. Potter:
We are glad to inform you that you two have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Post data: I hope this letter finds you two well. We know latter letters haven't been delivered successfully, so we sent Rubeus Hagrid, our gamekeeper, to ensure its delivery.
Many questions spun to life in the heads of the twins, just as Cherry had pulled out the booklist. The first one that occurred to either of them to actually ask was 'and what is an owl?' half-spoken by Harry. Hagrid hit his palm on his forehead so hard that the twins shuddered.
"'Olly Owl, I 'ad forgotten!" - And then he went again to rummage his coat. From it he extracted a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote on his knees, so it was easy for the twins to see what he was writing.
Mr Dumbledore:
I just gave the twins their letter, and as instructed I'm taking them to buy their school stuff tomorrow; however, I won't send them back to the Dursleys once we are done. You know I would never disobey your instructions, but in this case I have a very good reason to do so. Please send Madam Pomfrey to the Leaky Cauldron in the morning, to examine the kids.
By the way, the weather's horrible. I hope the owl doesn't get blown too far off course.
Hagrid
Then Hagrid tucked the quill back into his coat, and after a few seconds pulled out a very alive, dark brown owl, that shock its head as soon as it saw the light. Hagrid gave it the letter and threw it out the window, and returned by to the sofa; as such act was as normal as making a phone call. Meanwhile, the twins had silently agreed on a single paramount question they needed to ask. They were now standing up in front of the fire.
"But Mr Hagrid, are you sure there is no mistake, I mean, we don't have any magic." - Cherry said. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Oh, are you so sure about that, kids? You are untrained, so you are unable to consciously use it, but think hard: haven't you ever made stuff happen, when you were afraid, or angry?" - He said, finishing with a knowing grin.
The twins looked at each other in surprise. Now that it came to mind, it had been an awful lot of times that both him and Cherry had seem weird stuff happen around them. If a teacher was ever specially mean to them, his or her hair might turn a different colour or caught fire; also, a few times that one of them might get a nasty cut, they might completely heal by the time they washed the cut. Or the time Petunia shaved Harry's head, and his hair grew back overnight. Or at the zoo: after all, they were really furius with Dudley...
Seeing their confused faces, Hagrid put his very heavy hands on their shoulders, and once he had their attention, he spoke again.
"Listen, lads: as you already reed from that owl I sent my boss, Professor Dumbledore..." - He made a pause, while the twins blushed. - ". I came here with instructions to pick you up, get your school stuff, and return you to your 'family'; however, if you accept it, I'll promise you that you won't have to ever go uncared for again. I guess Mr. Dumbledore will now make sure to relocate you somewhere people will take you in with open arms, and I don't think it will come to that, but if that's what it takes, I'll even renounce my position at Hogwarts to take you in myself. What do you say?"
The twins looked at each other in amazement. Somebody had just offered them the love and care they had always wished for! They didn't care if it was somebody they had met just half an hour ago, he had already proven himself a better paternal figure than Vernon would ever do. They flung themselves into Hagrid's body, and started to jump and cry in joy.
After nearly five minutes of this, Hagrid peeled them off his body and cleaned the tears from their faces. Then went one more time to search his coat, and from it pulled two chipped mugs and a large bottle, containing something that looked like water. He pulled out the cork and offered it to them.
"Drink up, kids; it's a numbing potion diluted in a nutritive one, so your injuries will stop hurting. I would give you a healing one, but I would ratter keep the proof until a healer can write a full report to Dumbledore. If you excuse me, I have one last business to attend with your uncle."
Cherry (who could use both hands) served Harry and herself, and they began drinking the clear, milk-like tasting substance; meanwhile, Hagrid reared back towards Vernon, who had already reacted again, and was trying to blend with the scenery. He picked Vernon to his feet, and kept him at arm's length.
"Well Vernon, now that your 'responsibility' has been lifted from your shoulders, I want you to give me the magic money pouch."
"No, I won't! They have costed my family much more than that old crackpot Bumblebee ever sent me, and I as such I will keep it until I get a full compensation!" - Vernon ventured, shivering.
Hagrid looked at him like he had gone off his rocker, and calmly pulled out a pink umbrella out of his coat. He spoke softly, but his fury resounded deeply in his low voice.
"Never-insult-Albus-DUMBLEDORE-in-front-of-me!" - He lightly touched Vernon's forehead with the tip of the umbrella, and Vernon instantly lost all his air, his ears went pointy, and acquired the nose of a pig. Then Hagrid let him go, and kept him pointed at.
"Now, if you know what's best, give me the pouch."
Vernon removed his hands of his now porcine-looking face, and looked up at Hagrid with pure horror. Then he put his hand in his rear pocket and extracted a very worn, little black leather pouch. Hagrid took out the fat bundle of money it currently housed, gave the money to Harry (who was the nearest to him), and threw the now empty pouch into the fire. Once he was satisfied with the look of despair on Vernon eyes, he picked his unresisting form from one of his shoulders, and steered him towards the bedroom, kicked the door open, and threw him inwards. Then he closed the door (ignoring the shrieks from inside), and walked back to the twins. They all sat on the couch, at the light of the fire.
"Well, that matter solved, we can move out of here. Have you finished your potion yet?"
As an answer, Cherry held up the half-empty bottle.
"Well, while you finish it up, I might tell you what that pig denied you. And by the way, I would really appreciate if you don't tell anybody about that bit of magic. I'm not actually supposed to do magic."
"How so?" - Harry asked.
"Well... Happens that I was expelled from the school. Dumbledore, the good man, insisted to keep me around and got me trained as gamekeeper."
"And why were you expelled, then?" - (Cherry)
"Well, as I was telling you, I'll have to tell you what your crap of an uncle denied you. I actually wouldn't want to tell you this, but you just can't go into our world without knowing; damn, your names are in most modern history books by now!" - Both Harry and Cherry had trouble following the extremely abrupt subject change. - "Well, quite a bit of it isn't really known, but everything goes around You-know-who."
"Who?" - Said the twins at once, quite confused.
"Oh darn, I just can't believe that you two don't know it!" - ... - "Okay, I'll say it once, and won't say it again. His name was... was..." - And then he went silent, gaping his mouth.
"And so?" - Harry ventured.
"Darn it, I can't say it. Let me write it somewhere."
He pulled out his quill and another piece of parchment, but hadn't written more than 'Vold' before his hand started shaking so hard that ended smearing the entire parchment. He made it into a ball and threw it into the fire, and looked at the twins with resignation. - "As I had already said, I won't repeat it: Voldemort." - Hagrid shuddered. - Well, this individual went as close to pure evil as anything can ever go, and about twenty years ago began a bid to power, and with it brought a dark age to the wizarding world. For him whoever wasn't with him was against him, and himself or his many followers would go hunting down his enemies. Dumbledore was the only wizard that You-Know-Who was afraid of, and your mom and dad were as good as they ever go, and were in Dumbledore's inner circle. Its said that he might have tried to persuade your parents to join his ranks, but they didn't bulge, so he procedded to kill them. In Halloween ten years ago he appeared in your house, processed your parents, and then turned to you. There is where the mistery really lays: that when he tried to curse you, using the single curse he had used so successfully in tons of great and powerful wizards of the age, and something in the two of you somehow made the curse bounce back at him, and destroyed him. That's why you two are called "the children who lived" in our world." - He looked down at their mugs, and seeing them empty, stood up from the couch.
"Well, now that you have finished with your potion, we better get going. Its past midnight, and I don't want Tom to close before we get to him. " - He stood up, and helped the twins out the now-sunk sofa.
"Okay boys, go and gather your stuff. And Harry, see if you can move your hand now."
Cherry went toward the suitcase, while Harry just stood by Hagrid, checking the mobility of his swollen hand. He was surprised not to feel any pain.
"Its good that you can move it, but better don't; you might do more harm than good. Now better move and her your sister."
No need for that. She was already returning, dragging the suitcase behind her.
"What, is that all you are bringing, or is it that the rest of your stuff is still at Privet Drive?" - Hagrid asked.
"No, this is all we got." - Cherry answered matter-of-fact.
Hagrid took a dirty look at the bedroom door (from where a squeal came from), but shock his head. He better took a couple of wrapped chocolate- covered cherries out of one of the exterior pockets of his coat, and offered them to the twins.
"Wait. Before you open them, listen to this. The moment you touch their filling you'll be transported, so I recommend to you to hug your suitcase, count to three, and bite them hard. So, unwrap them, put them on your mouths, and go. I'll follow shortly." - He said, while starting to unwrap one for himself. They followed his example, and while hugging the suitcase, they put the chocolates on their mouths, and nodded to each other. They both counted.
" One. two. three!" - They counted, and bit their chocolates together. Then their visions became blurry and they felt like the cherries on their mouths were pulling them away. After less than a second of this, they appeared somewhere. It seemed to be a dark and shubby pub, and there were hardly any patrons to "decorate" the place, many of them being dark silhouettes that had turned to them for a second before loosing interest. All of them but a young, slim man, wearing an apron and a badge reading "Host". This man calmly walked up to them.
"Good night, little fellows, welcome to the 'Leaky Cauldron.' Do you want a table?"
The kids looked at each other for a second, but before much more, Hagrid appeared by them. The young man beamed in recognition.
"Oh Hagrid, what a surprise: I don't think I had seen you turn in so late in years! Do you want the usual?"
"No Johnny, I'd ratter have you go and bring your father. Tell him that it is for a matter of top importance."
"Okay, Hagrid. Nice seeing you anyway!" - Johnny ran into a half hidden corridor. After a minute he came back accompanied by a sixty-years-old, bald version of himself, wearing pyjamas and an unamused expresion.
"Hello, Hagrid. What is this matter of such importance?"
"Let me tell you Tom, but please keep it quiet." - Then Hagrid lent forward and began talking hushedly in Tom's ear. Tom's face went from attentive, to alarmed, and settled into an ashuring expresion.
"Don't worry, as soon as she comes I'll send her there. And don't worry for your tab, Hagrid, today's on the house." - Then he turned to the kids and smiled. - "Well, young fellows, lets find you a room for the night. John, go for some good soup. And Hagrid, might you help with the bag? You know, I'm not so young anymore..."
So Tom, who turned out to be the owner of "The Leaky Cauldron" (the best known 'pub and inn' in the wizarding England, and one of the best of Great Britain), guided them up the stairs and into a room. After setting them in and receiving their soups, he excused himself to go and arrange a room for Hagrid.
Once Tom had gone, Hagrid sat on a bed and watched in silence as they ate their soups. Once they had finished, he took away their empty plates.
"Its almost 1 AM, and tomorrow we'll have a busy day, so you'll need all the sleep you can get. I'll go and check if Tom has my room ready. Good night."
"But... won't you stay with us?" - Cherry asked, pleadingly.
"Mmh... sorry, but I can't. I just don't fit in this room, and I'm pretty sure you will be way too little in mine. Don't worry, I'll be around in the morning."
And without saying more, he left the room. The kids looked at the room around them and understood: Hagrid had sat on one of the beds because non of the chairs in the room seemed to half as wide as Hagrid, and the beds were normal, so they would never house someone the side of Hagrid; besides, the room only had two individual beds, so not even the question was good.
It took them some moving around, but finally got comfortable and fell asleep.
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So, this is the story so far.
No pun intended against anyone named Judith, or living in 'Woodhall Spa', GB. The first is because I just don't like the name Judith (but chose it because it will be useful in book 4), and the second is because I actually decided to keep accurate I decided to look for a little town due-north of London (in fact, I chose it because it didn't appear on all the maps, so it can be said that is a town "lost in the map"). If there was such hotel named "THe Happy Farmer" in Woodhall Spa, believe me that it is purely coincidental. The closest to England I have ever been is Ottawa, Canada, so I had to make up an unlikely name.
I hope to upload the next chapter soon, although soon can be anyday between 28 february (today, according to the clock), or same day next month. I already drew an outline of the entire set of modifications I'm making to the first book, but there are still plenty of details to polish. Recommendations are always welcome.
Please review.
Bye
Cherry woke up. The cupboard was very dark, so she wouldn't know how long had passed. Her mouth tasted like blood. She hardly felt a thing but pain, but she was able to notice that she was entangled with another body. 'Harry!' she thought, scared. After a second she thought relieved that he was warm, so he was still alive, but both of them were in very unnatural positions. She painfully disentangled herself from his body, and with all the energy her mauled body could muster, straitened him on the mattress, and then laid herself by his side, put a hand on his chest, and knew no more.
----------------------
Harry woke up slowly. He was on his back, feeling how his body fed nothing but pain back to his brain. He could specially feel the pain from his right hand, which pierced him like a dagger when he tried to close it. But then he felt something warm laying to the left of his chest. He instantly knew what it was: Cherry's hand.
He raised his left hand to touch her hand, and thru touch he just felt how badly ragged her skin was over her hand, and down her arm. And as it was very painful for him to do so, he knew he would not be any better. And then there was his headache.
Very slowly, he moved his left arm over her head, and ever so slowly, pulled her head over his shoulder. She felt tense, but as soon as he started to pet her she began to relax. He relaxed with her, and slowly drifted back to sleep.
-------------------------
Harry woke up again. His sister was now hugging his chest, but she was fast asleep. Besides, I wasn't her that had woken him up. He was feeling a stick prodding the right side of his chest, side that was facing the cupboard's door. He groaned when it hit a sore spot. Instantly the stick was removed.
"Harry, Cherry, are you two still alive?" - Dudley spoke mutedly, and surprisingly from him, sounding concerned.
"More or less, both of us." - Harry spoke back, slowly. He was in too much pain for more.
"Good. I wish I could give you one of your letters, but Mom and Dad always manage to get them all in the fireplace before I can get a hold on anyone. The day after the beating 4 came, then yesterday came 16 and Dad blocked the mail slot, and today in the morning we had 64, passing from window crevices to the cracks around the doors." - . . . - "Well, I have also slipped some food under the door. I think you two can make better use of my candy stash than me."
"But, why..." - Harry started, without much energy.
"Because even though I don't like you two, I don't wish you dead." - ... - "Have to go, Harry. My father might wake up."
So Dudley pushed the door closed, and climbed the stairs. Harry proceeded to hide the chocolate bars; after all, Vernon might just open the cupboard in the morning and take them out. Once they were all between the mattress and the far wall, Harry fell back down.
'So finally it happens, and Vernon wants us death.' He thought. It was sort of a relief to finally know that, even if it were for the worse, the Dursleys would end their misery. Would they starve them to death, or would them be planning to poison them. Either way, he knew himself and his sister were already stinking pretty hard, and that Petunia wouldn't tolerate their smell and would make them take a bath, and that in the bathroom they would have an unlimited supply of water. But then, to get to the water they would need energy...
"Cherry, sister, wake up!" - He said, after sitting up and starting to shock his sister. She slowly drifted back into consciousness.
"What's up Harry?" - She said, without energy.
"We got some food, sis." - He replied, as he helped her to sit up. Then he reached across her, took a couple of chocolate bars, and put one on her hand.
"Harry, how...?"
"Dudley, sis; he passed me like forty of these. Apparently he has some heart in himself."
"But then why, bro? What would make him pass us food?"
"It seems that it has finally happened."
Cherry didn't reply to that. She and Harry were quite accustomed to the idea of getting punished by being sealed in their cupboard without meals, and had talked about the possibility of the Dursleys one day deciding to not lift the punishment. Now that a padlock closed their door, and that Dudley had decided to show some humanity, such possibility seemed more than likely. Cherry closed the gap with her brother, and hugged him. He hugged her back, and they silently cried on each other. After a few minutes they calmed down and just continued sharing each other, just as they had shared many other moments of despair, trying to give to the other the strength they lacked themselves.
It took them a long time to part, as it always did. Then they unwrapped their chocolates and ate in silence. They didn't stop until each of them had downed at least four, and then they went back to sleep.
"Hopefully we are smelly enough to require a bath." - Cherry said.
"Yeah, I'm thirsty, too. Good night, Cherry."
"Good night, Harry."
------------------------
A horrific noise above their heads made them wake up with a start. Petunia was standing in front of the opened cupboard, and was shaking a meat tenderizer inside a large pot. She stopped as soon as she noticed them looking at her with beady eyes.
"Get up, you two! I want you in the bathroom in five minutes, and if you aren't bathed in half an hour, you won't eat today!" - Then she disappeared into the kitchen.
They knew the drill, as they had created many to do everything under time. They took two old bathrobes out off their suitcase and ran into the bathroom. There Cherry helped Harry undress, and as he used the shower (and drunk some of its water), she undressed herself, undid her braid, and did her business with the toilet. As soon as he left the shower she jumped in, and as he did his own business in the toilet and started drying himself, she washed. Then she too jumped out off the shower and dried herself, while her brother dried her hair and made again her braid. Now dry, they sprinted back into the cupboard and got dressed in clean clothes, and carrying their bundles of dirty clothes, marched into the kitchen.
If they had done everything at their usual speed they would have finished with time to spare, but they didn't have too much energy, so...
"Hardly, but still on time. Now you know what to do." - Said Petunia, while she unlocked the back door. They knew that, too, as it was part of the drill. They went out and began washing their clothes (although it was Cherry who did most of the washing, thanks to Harry's swollen right hand), but had too little energy to really remove the bloodstains from them. They did their best, though, and once they had it hanging, they walked back in. As on routine, Petunia would pick it up in about two hours (whether they were dry or not), and would leave it by their cupboard in a plastic bag, which then they would use to pick up any garbage inside the cupboard.
"Finished? Now serve breakfast!"
And the breakfast routine repeated itself, except that it was now her who served the omelette and Harry who served the drinks. All routine, up to when he was going to get the mail.
"Where do you think you are going, boy?" - Roared Vernon.
"Well... I was going..."
"To get the mail, I guess!" - Completed Vernon. - "No more mail comes to this house! And now you and your sister, you have five minutes to be back in your cupboard! Otherwise you'll get it!"
Harry didn't reply. After having served Petunia, Cherry jumped to the bar and set her eggs and Harry's. He sat by her, and they started to down the eggs at top speed. The eggs were still very hot, but the two of them had to swallow the pain while they tried to ensure they got some nourishment. Their mouths were really hurting them when they finished, but they managed to, and ran back into the cupboard, were they panted. A few minutes later Vernon passed by.
"Good boys, you gained your next meal. Now sit there on your butts and let me believe that you don't exist." - Vernon hissed on their faces. Then he slammed the door on their faces, closed the vent (eliminating any light inside), and marched away, whistling.
The twins panted in the dark for a few minutes. Their mouths were badly burnt, but they were very cheerful: their nightmare wasn't really upon them, or at least not yet. After they stopped panting they each ate a chocolate bar, and started to talk mutedly. They were still very much in pain, so after just a while they were nodding off again.
-------------------
A few hours later, they were awakened by the screams of Vernon, which were coming from the living room.
"AHH! This does it! We are going out of here, NOW!"
"But dad..."
"We are out of here in five minutes, so go and pack clothes! No arguments."
So they heard three sets of foots hurriedly going up the stairs, and a few minutes later they heard them come out. Meanwhile they were packing everything they had on their suitcase, so when Vernon came to unlock them, they were ready. Everything except the chocolates, as picking them up was proving to be far too noisy.
"Now, get in the car!" - Upon seeing that he was nearing purple and was missing half of his moustache, they didn't say a word. Luckily the bag of their clean clothes was waiting for them outside, so in a quick swing Harry picked up the bag, shoved it in the suitcase, and helped Cherry pull it out the house.
Once everyone's luggage and butts were on the car, Vernon started driving. He did so with a fury, as he went to London and started to zigzag around the city, until he hit a dirt road going into nowhere. Then he would take the first fork, and then change roads again, but would avoid the motorways. Every time his random road changing brought them into a farm he would ramble for a moment, and would make a sharp U-turn while mumbling "... not far enough, not yet... ", And would resume his erratic driving, which on all the zigzag where more or less driving them north. He had started around noon, and didn't feel satisfied until well after nightfall, when he finally pulled up in a little motel, in the outskirts of some town lost in the map.
Vernon ordered an extra bed to be brought into the single room he had rented (to keep everyone under his sight), and after they ate what he had bought to simulate a dinner (corned beef and crackers), they all went to sleep.
Pretty early in the morning somebody knocking the door awakened them. A scared looking Vernon approached the door and asked, opening wide. Harry, Cherry, Dudley and Petunia were right behind him, looking at a bewildered looking maid.
"What is it?"
"Sorry to wake you up sir, but in the front desk we just received a ton of this letters." - Then she lifted the letter for them to see.
H J & C J Potter
The portable bed
Room 5
'The happy Farmer' Motel
Wood hall Spa
"When I felt with it, the guys had counted near two hundred and were still counting." - She added.
Vernon was very much less than impressed.
"We are NOT Potters! We are DURSLEYS!"
He closed the door on her face, and started to pull his hair. Then turned to the people around him.
"Okay, we move in ten minutes!"
And so, in ten minutes they were already hitting the road, and except for a stop to refuel (and use a toilet), they didn't stop for the rest of the day. The difference is that now Vernon wasn't going erratically, but was zigzagging west. He didn't smile or said a word until he saw the sea (around late evening), time at which he locked everyone inside the car, and went to out of the car.
"Has dad gone crazy, mom?" - Asked Dudley after they had waited for a while.
After about half an hour, when night was frankly falling, he came back. He was holding a couple of black plastic bags, and a huge grin.
"Now everyone, take your stuff and lets move. I got us some food and a safe place to stay. See that little island over there? And today there is storm forecast!"
He pointed out at sea, beaming. In effect there was a rock a few hundred metres out at sea, and in top of it was a hut. The twins looked at each other in dread, which soon was well founded: once everyone got on board of a quite big boat, Vernon made them row, and being weak as they already were, it took them forever. Once they touched the other side, Vernon yelled at them for having taken so long, and led everyone into the little house. Said house only had the main room and a bedroom, was cold and humid, smelled like rotten wood, and started to squeal as soon as the promised storm arrived, but at least seemed to be better than being outside, as the door closed and the windows weren't missing panels.
The 'food' Vernon had gotten turned out to be a handful of cookies and five apples, but having nothing else, they ate and prepared to bed. Petunia found a couple of old comforters in the bedroom, so she used one to make Dudley a bed in a mouldy sofa in front of the empty fireplace, and used the other for herself and her husband, in the bedroom. After laying Dudley and 'wishing good night' to the twins, she and Vernon retired to the bedroom. The only thing the twins had to do was what they did: put on the coats they used in winter (which were pretty damp, thanks to the boat ride), and try to curl together inside the suitcase, even if their legs were still popping out.
They weren't getting any sleep, so they were the first ones who noticed as something took a mighty blow at the hut's door. The entire hut shuddered, and Dudley woke up.
"Were is the cannon?" - He asked stupidly.
When a second blow hit the hut's door, Vernon and Petunia came out of their room, and Dudley went to cower behind the two grown ups. Harry and Cherry were putting their shoes on, but still did notice that Vernon had his hand inside one of the plastic bags, apparently holding something.
When the door received a third blow, it just caved in. Just then a lightning illuminated the exterior, showing a human-looking figure covered in a black overcoat, so big in fact that it was leaning and its head was still just as high as the upper frame of the door. This colossal figure entered with some effort (it was also slightly wider than the door), and as if such thing was normal it straightened as much as the low roof of the hut let it do, turned to pick up the door and place it back on its frame. Then it turned and spoke, with a good-natured but very rough male voice.
"Sorry about that. I guess I knocked a bit too hard."
Vernon finally reacted. He pushed Petunia and Dudley into the bedroom, closed behind them, and confronted the man.
"I demand you leave at once! You are breaking and entering!"
"Oh Dursley, stuff a sock on it. Since the twins weren't receiving their letters, I came to deliver in person. Oh, there you are, boys!"
"STOP right there. I'm armed!"
The twins looked at the silhouette of a gun in Vernon's hand. The big man in 'danger' took a step toward Vernon, took the gun from Vernon, easily bent the cannon on a U shape, and handed it back to Vernon.
"Go on, Dursley, fire. That way I'll have some peace while the kids read their letter." - ... - "Oh, but we don't have any light here! I'll solve the problem." - He reached inside his coat, and after some rummaging pulled out a couple of logs, a small liquor bottle, and a lighter. He threw the logs on the fireplace, threw some of the liquor on top of them, and played with the lighter, which every time was giving a different colour flame.
"Yellow, not good on unprepared wood... red, not good for reading... purple, same case... blue, too little light... green, too much heat... ah, white flame!"
He neared the lighter to the logs, and there, the white flame easily spread over the liquor, and started to illuminate the room. It illuminated the face of the giant, which seemed as good-natured as your average good old lady. He sat on the sofa on which Dudley had been sleeping, and patted it.
"Come near kids, don't be afraid! Aren't you cold there in the corner?"
Strangely enough, they weren't truly afraid of the giant. Hand in hand, they cautiously approached the light. The giant lost his smile as soon as he saw the state they were in. He jumped and checked their faces on the light, and then their clothes, and then their arms, and then stopped on Harry's swelling hand. He stood up in fury (hitting the roof with his head), and then lowered himself back and walked up to Vernon. With a single hand he lifted Vernon by the front of his shirt, and started shouting in his face. It was incredible, as Vernon was as fat as a pig.
"What have you done with these kids? They were given to you as sacred task to care for, and they are malnourished! Their clothes are old and worn! They look like they were beaten soon ago, and Harry has an advanced untreated infection in his hand!" - . - "And what have you done with all the money Professor Dumbledore sends you every week? With so much money, they should be clean and fat!"
The twins looked at each other confused. After all, every now and then Vernon or Petunia would spat at them how expensive it was for them to raise them, even if their uncles had never given them any pocket money, and always bought their clothes in second hand stores. Meanwhile, Vernon was shaking between killing this giant man and begging him for mercy, but the latter option seemed to be gaining dominancy. He opened his mouth and started to speak, very fast.
"They deserve punishment! They are learning to use their ma. ma. magic, and when we took them in we promised to stamp it out of them; otherwise, somebody will come and blow up us the same as their parents."
"But didn't our parents die in a car crash?" Cherry spat.
This gave new energies to the giant.
"How could you, Dursley, tell them such Rubbish? NO car crash could ever kill the Potters!" - Then he paused for a second, with a scared face. This one only lasted for a second, as he put his other hand on Vernon's head to make him look at his face. - "Do you mean that they don't know ANYTHING about the world of their parents, their heritage? Don't the 'Children who lived', the two biggest names among all living wizards and witches, know their own story?"
Vernon had now actually pissed his pants, and was shocking his head with closed eyes, while he squealed something sounding like "senseless rubbish." When the giant dropped him in repugnancy, he just crumbled in place and kept muttering like a mantra. Then the giant brushed his hand against his pants and turned around to face the twins. What little showed of his face was still red, but now his black eyes were filled with concern. He sat back on the couch and invited the twins to sit by him. They wouldn't normally trust a ferocious-looking stranger, but from the beginning they felt safe around him; that, and that he had given Vernon a scare on their behalf. So they sat on the little space he left free to his left on the sofa, and looked up at him, curious.
"Did you just say that we are wizards, sir?" - Ventured Cherry.
"Oh yeah, kids, and pretty damn good if your parents had anything to do. They were Head Boy and Head Girl of their generation and as good a witch and wizard as they ever get."
"Err... Sir, who might you be?" - Harry said, still not understanding a thing.
"Oh, I had forgotten to tell you, hadn't I? My name is Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds of Hogwarts. Just call me Hagrid. By the way, give a second, kids." - ... - "Here is your letter."
He took out another parchment letter like the one that had started it all. Harry and Cherry checked it out.
"Harold James and Cherry Judith Potter
The big suitcase on the floor
Hut-on-the-rock
The sea"
The back was closed by a red wax seal, which had a coat of arms on it. (A/N: Last thing I need is to actually go over descriptive, so I'll just skip the description) Harry broke it and pulled out a leaf of parchment, written in emerald green ink.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (...)
Dear Mr. and Ms. Potter:
We are glad to inform you that you two have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Post data: I hope this letter finds you two well. We know latter letters haven't been delivered successfully, so we sent Rubeus Hagrid, our gamekeeper, to ensure its delivery.
Many questions spun to life in the heads of the twins, just as Cherry had pulled out the booklist. The first one that occurred to either of them to actually ask was 'and what is an owl?' half-spoken by Harry. Hagrid hit his palm on his forehead so hard that the twins shuddered.
"'Olly Owl, I 'ad forgotten!" - And then he went again to rummage his coat. From it he extracted a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote on his knees, so it was easy for the twins to see what he was writing.
Mr Dumbledore:
I just gave the twins their letter, and as instructed I'm taking them to buy their school stuff tomorrow; however, I won't send them back to the Dursleys once we are done. You know I would never disobey your instructions, but in this case I have a very good reason to do so. Please send Madam Pomfrey to the Leaky Cauldron in the morning, to examine the kids.
By the way, the weather's horrible. I hope the owl doesn't get blown too far off course.
Hagrid
Then Hagrid tucked the quill back into his coat, and after a few seconds pulled out a very alive, dark brown owl, that shock its head as soon as it saw the light. Hagrid gave it the letter and threw it out the window, and returned by to the sofa; as such act was as normal as making a phone call. Meanwhile, the twins had silently agreed on a single paramount question they needed to ask. They were now standing up in front of the fire.
"But Mr Hagrid, are you sure there is no mistake, I mean, we don't have any magic." - Cherry said. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Oh, are you so sure about that, kids? You are untrained, so you are unable to consciously use it, but think hard: haven't you ever made stuff happen, when you were afraid, or angry?" - He said, finishing with a knowing grin.
The twins looked at each other in surprise. Now that it came to mind, it had been an awful lot of times that both him and Cherry had seem weird stuff happen around them. If a teacher was ever specially mean to them, his or her hair might turn a different colour or caught fire; also, a few times that one of them might get a nasty cut, they might completely heal by the time they washed the cut. Or the time Petunia shaved Harry's head, and his hair grew back overnight. Or at the zoo: after all, they were really furius with Dudley...
Seeing their confused faces, Hagrid put his very heavy hands on their shoulders, and once he had their attention, he spoke again.
"Listen, lads: as you already reed from that owl I sent my boss, Professor Dumbledore..." - He made a pause, while the twins blushed. - ". I came here with instructions to pick you up, get your school stuff, and return you to your 'family'; however, if you accept it, I'll promise you that you won't have to ever go uncared for again. I guess Mr. Dumbledore will now make sure to relocate you somewhere people will take you in with open arms, and I don't think it will come to that, but if that's what it takes, I'll even renounce my position at Hogwarts to take you in myself. What do you say?"
The twins looked at each other in amazement. Somebody had just offered them the love and care they had always wished for! They didn't care if it was somebody they had met just half an hour ago, he had already proven himself a better paternal figure than Vernon would ever do. They flung themselves into Hagrid's body, and started to jump and cry in joy.
After nearly five minutes of this, Hagrid peeled them off his body and cleaned the tears from their faces. Then went one more time to search his coat, and from it pulled two chipped mugs and a large bottle, containing something that looked like water. He pulled out the cork and offered it to them.
"Drink up, kids; it's a numbing potion diluted in a nutritive one, so your injuries will stop hurting. I would give you a healing one, but I would ratter keep the proof until a healer can write a full report to Dumbledore. If you excuse me, I have one last business to attend with your uncle."
Cherry (who could use both hands) served Harry and herself, and they began drinking the clear, milk-like tasting substance; meanwhile, Hagrid reared back towards Vernon, who had already reacted again, and was trying to blend with the scenery. He picked Vernon to his feet, and kept him at arm's length.
"Well Vernon, now that your 'responsibility' has been lifted from your shoulders, I want you to give me the magic money pouch."
"No, I won't! They have costed my family much more than that old crackpot Bumblebee ever sent me, and I as such I will keep it until I get a full compensation!" - Vernon ventured, shivering.
Hagrid looked at him like he had gone off his rocker, and calmly pulled out a pink umbrella out of his coat. He spoke softly, but his fury resounded deeply in his low voice.
"Never-insult-Albus-DUMBLEDORE-in-front-of-me!" - He lightly touched Vernon's forehead with the tip of the umbrella, and Vernon instantly lost all his air, his ears went pointy, and acquired the nose of a pig. Then Hagrid let him go, and kept him pointed at.
"Now, if you know what's best, give me the pouch."
Vernon removed his hands of his now porcine-looking face, and looked up at Hagrid with pure horror. Then he put his hand in his rear pocket and extracted a very worn, little black leather pouch. Hagrid took out the fat bundle of money it currently housed, gave the money to Harry (who was the nearest to him), and threw the now empty pouch into the fire. Once he was satisfied with the look of despair on Vernon eyes, he picked his unresisting form from one of his shoulders, and steered him towards the bedroom, kicked the door open, and threw him inwards. Then he closed the door (ignoring the shrieks from inside), and walked back to the twins. They all sat on the couch, at the light of the fire.
"Well, that matter solved, we can move out of here. Have you finished your potion yet?"
As an answer, Cherry held up the half-empty bottle.
"Well, while you finish it up, I might tell you what that pig denied you. And by the way, I would really appreciate if you don't tell anybody about that bit of magic. I'm not actually supposed to do magic."
"How so?" - Harry asked.
"Well... Happens that I was expelled from the school. Dumbledore, the good man, insisted to keep me around and got me trained as gamekeeper."
"And why were you expelled, then?" - (Cherry)
"Well, as I was telling you, I'll have to tell you what your crap of an uncle denied you. I actually wouldn't want to tell you this, but you just can't go into our world without knowing; damn, your names are in most modern history books by now!" - Both Harry and Cherry had trouble following the extremely abrupt subject change. - "Well, quite a bit of it isn't really known, but everything goes around You-know-who."
"Who?" - Said the twins at once, quite confused.
"Oh darn, I just can't believe that you two don't know it!" - ... - "Okay, I'll say it once, and won't say it again. His name was... was..." - And then he went silent, gaping his mouth.
"And so?" - Harry ventured.
"Darn it, I can't say it. Let me write it somewhere."
He pulled out his quill and another piece of parchment, but hadn't written more than 'Vold' before his hand started shaking so hard that ended smearing the entire parchment. He made it into a ball and threw it into the fire, and looked at the twins with resignation. - "As I had already said, I won't repeat it: Voldemort." - Hagrid shuddered. - Well, this individual went as close to pure evil as anything can ever go, and about twenty years ago began a bid to power, and with it brought a dark age to the wizarding world. For him whoever wasn't with him was against him, and himself or his many followers would go hunting down his enemies. Dumbledore was the only wizard that You-Know-Who was afraid of, and your mom and dad were as good as they ever go, and were in Dumbledore's inner circle. Its said that he might have tried to persuade your parents to join his ranks, but they didn't bulge, so he procedded to kill them. In Halloween ten years ago he appeared in your house, processed your parents, and then turned to you. There is where the mistery really lays: that when he tried to curse you, using the single curse he had used so successfully in tons of great and powerful wizards of the age, and something in the two of you somehow made the curse bounce back at him, and destroyed him. That's why you two are called "the children who lived" in our world." - He looked down at their mugs, and seeing them empty, stood up from the couch.
"Well, now that you have finished with your potion, we better get going. Its past midnight, and I don't want Tom to close before we get to him. " - He stood up, and helped the twins out the now-sunk sofa.
"Okay boys, go and gather your stuff. And Harry, see if you can move your hand now."
Cherry went toward the suitcase, while Harry just stood by Hagrid, checking the mobility of his swollen hand. He was surprised not to feel any pain.
"Its good that you can move it, but better don't; you might do more harm than good. Now better move and her your sister."
No need for that. She was already returning, dragging the suitcase behind her.
"What, is that all you are bringing, or is it that the rest of your stuff is still at Privet Drive?" - Hagrid asked.
"No, this is all we got." - Cherry answered matter-of-fact.
Hagrid took a dirty look at the bedroom door (from where a squeal came from), but shock his head. He better took a couple of wrapped chocolate- covered cherries out of one of the exterior pockets of his coat, and offered them to the twins.
"Wait. Before you open them, listen to this. The moment you touch their filling you'll be transported, so I recommend to you to hug your suitcase, count to three, and bite them hard. So, unwrap them, put them on your mouths, and go. I'll follow shortly." - He said, while starting to unwrap one for himself. They followed his example, and while hugging the suitcase, they put the chocolates on their mouths, and nodded to each other. They both counted.
" One. two. three!" - They counted, and bit their chocolates together. Then their visions became blurry and they felt like the cherries on their mouths were pulling them away. After less than a second of this, they appeared somewhere. It seemed to be a dark and shubby pub, and there were hardly any patrons to "decorate" the place, many of them being dark silhouettes that had turned to them for a second before loosing interest. All of them but a young, slim man, wearing an apron and a badge reading "Host". This man calmly walked up to them.
"Good night, little fellows, welcome to the 'Leaky Cauldron.' Do you want a table?"
The kids looked at each other for a second, but before much more, Hagrid appeared by them. The young man beamed in recognition.
"Oh Hagrid, what a surprise: I don't think I had seen you turn in so late in years! Do you want the usual?"
"No Johnny, I'd ratter have you go and bring your father. Tell him that it is for a matter of top importance."
"Okay, Hagrid. Nice seeing you anyway!" - Johnny ran into a half hidden corridor. After a minute he came back accompanied by a sixty-years-old, bald version of himself, wearing pyjamas and an unamused expresion.
"Hello, Hagrid. What is this matter of such importance?"
"Let me tell you Tom, but please keep it quiet." - Then Hagrid lent forward and began talking hushedly in Tom's ear. Tom's face went from attentive, to alarmed, and settled into an ashuring expresion.
"Don't worry, as soon as she comes I'll send her there. And don't worry for your tab, Hagrid, today's on the house." - Then he turned to the kids and smiled. - "Well, young fellows, lets find you a room for the night. John, go for some good soup. And Hagrid, might you help with the bag? You know, I'm not so young anymore..."
So Tom, who turned out to be the owner of "The Leaky Cauldron" (the best known 'pub and inn' in the wizarding England, and one of the best of Great Britain), guided them up the stairs and into a room. After setting them in and receiving their soups, he excused himself to go and arrange a room for Hagrid.
Once Tom had gone, Hagrid sat on a bed and watched in silence as they ate their soups. Once they had finished, he took away their empty plates.
"Its almost 1 AM, and tomorrow we'll have a busy day, so you'll need all the sleep you can get. I'll go and check if Tom has my room ready. Good night."
"But... won't you stay with us?" - Cherry asked, pleadingly.
"Mmh... sorry, but I can't. I just don't fit in this room, and I'm pretty sure you will be way too little in mine. Don't worry, I'll be around in the morning."
And without saying more, he left the room. The kids looked at the room around them and understood: Hagrid had sat on one of the beds because non of the chairs in the room seemed to half as wide as Hagrid, and the beds were normal, so they would never house someone the side of Hagrid; besides, the room only had two individual beds, so not even the question was good.
It took them some moving around, but finally got comfortable and fell asleep.
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So, this is the story so far.
No pun intended against anyone named Judith, or living in 'Woodhall Spa', GB. The first is because I just don't like the name Judith (but chose it because it will be useful in book 4), and the second is because I actually decided to keep accurate I decided to look for a little town due-north of London (in fact, I chose it because it didn't appear on all the maps, so it can be said that is a town "lost in the map"). If there was such hotel named "THe Happy Farmer" in Woodhall Spa, believe me that it is purely coincidental. The closest to England I have ever been is Ottawa, Canada, so I had to make up an unlikely name.
I hope to upload the next chapter soon, although soon can be anyday between 28 february (today, according to the clock), or same day next month. I already drew an outline of the entire set of modifications I'm making to the first book, but there are still plenty of details to polish. Recommendations are always welcome.
Please review.
Bye
