Potter – The Stone
Chapter 02
By Cory D. Rose
(c) 2005
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Harry turned and looked through the window and towards the main gate. "That was the gate, right?"
"Yep, let's see who's come to visit." The man said as he rose to his feet. "What do you sense?"
"A lot of life energy, nothing bad either."
"I can tell you that whoever is out there isn't human. I've never sensed a Ki signature quite like this."
"Not human?" Harry gasped. "Is that even possible?"
"I'm not sure. Let's go and find out and remember to keep your wits about you."
"Yes sir."
BANG BANG BANG! "Let me in you Muggle!"
They headed over to the gate, Harry wondered what kind of man could have a voice like that. He pulled the gate open to see a very large man looking down at them. He was wearing a massive brown coat, had a full beard that nearly covered his entire face. Harry gapped at him.
Stepping forward, the giant man moved past the two of them and carefully shut the large gate. He smiled down at Harry. "An' here's Harry, it's been a long time since I seen yeh."
"Who are you?"
"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds and Hogwarts." He said, a little twinkle in his eye. "Som' place we can sit and talk?"
"Sure, can he come inside?" Harry askedRanma.
Hagrid turned to look at the man standing behind him. "Who're you?"
The man smiled and bowed his head a little. "Ranma Saotome, Grand Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts."
"Right oh, well that's nice." Hagrid said and turned back to Harry. "Last time I saw yeh you was just a little thing."
Harry blushed.
"I was sent to see if you received your letter and to see if you were ready to head to Hogwarts."
"I've never heard of any such place."
"What!" Hagrid yelled, sounding shocked.
"I've never heard of it before." Harry said.
"But…but…you don' know anything about 'our' world at all?"
"Sorry?"
Harry looked over at Ranma who just shrugged.
"You was never told what was in yer letter!"
"What letter?"
Hagrid sputtered for several seconds. "I was there, when Dumbledore left you and the letter wid your aunt and uncle…"
Harry's face turned red. "DON'T' EVER MENTION THOSE SCUM IN MY PRESENCE AGAIN!"
The giant nearly fell over in shock at the outburst. "But Harry…"
Ranma patted Hagrid's arm. "It's best you not mention 'them' again, they abused Harry, nearly starved him to death at one point."
Snarling, Harry stomped back towards the house as the two men followed him. Hagrid looked shocked at first, then he started to look angry enough to pound on someone, but his voice turned deathly calm. "They what?"
"Abused him, beatings, starving him, mental abuse, the whole gambit."
"I'll KILL THEM!" Hagrid yelled, his voice echoing over the property as he turned to leave.
"Don't you think you should finish telling Harry about the school first?"
Hagrid stopped in mid step, shook himself, and turned back around. "Yer right, o'course, nearly lost me head there."
"No problem. I'm also interested in this school of yours." Ranma said.
"Why?"
"I've got a Jusenkyo Curse. Had it for nearly ten years now and I'd really like to get rid of it. Your school sounds like a good place to begin."
"Never heard tell of a Juskyo Curse. Dumbledore may know though."
"Good. Let's head inside before Harry starts to punch holes in the walls." Ranma said with a little grin. He nearly took the guy for a Dojo Destroyer, but the guy didn't have the presence of a fighter, just a non human.
"Harry." Hagrid said as they entered the house. "I needs to explain som things to yer."
Harry was in the front room running through a beginners Kata burning off a bit of his anger, and feeling bad about his outburst. "Why did you bring 'them' up, I still have nightmares about them."
"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't know about what happened. You were left wit them because they was the only family yer had left. I need to tell you, Harry, yer a…wizard."
Time seemed to stand still for a second as Harry stood there and clenched his fists. "I don't see how that is even possible. I barely believe what that letter says. Magic isn't real."
Ranma rolled his eyes. The boy was always way to stubborn than he needed to be. "Harry, you've seen my curse. That is magic."
The boy glanced over at him and nodded. "Yeah, but I still find it hard to believe."
"Harry, yer parents were a witch and a wizard as well, what else could you be, but a wizard?"
"And this school, is where my parents went to school?"
"Yeah." Hagrid said. "They were some the nicest people I ever knew."
"My aunt told me they died in a car crash…" Harry said.
"Car crash would never be enough to kill a witch and wizard like them!" Hagrid thundered. "I've got half a mind to go over to their place and thump them a time or two!"
"I was never allowed to ask questions. They never told me a thing…" Harry continued. "What else haven't they told me?"
"They never told yees? I never expected this to happen. Harry Potter not knowing his own story. James and Lily Potter…Harry, I'm not sure I'm the right person to tell you anything. I'm just a grounds keeper."
The giant seemed to shift emotions faster than he could think. Ranma almost found it funny, though he kept it to himself. He'd heard worse stories over the years. Being ignorant was easily fixed and he wanted to hear the rest of the story. "Hagrid, tell us, we need to know."
The giant man glanced over at him. "I don't know. It began with a man, a bad man…I can't say his name…he, killed yer mom and dad. He was a wizard and he went bad, completely evil, and…"
"What was his name?" Harry insisted.
"I don't like to says his name Harry, no one does, everyone is afraid of him even to this day." Hagrid said in a quiet voice. "…we call him You Know Who and He Who Must Not Be Named, things like that."
"That doesn't help me, what was his name?"
Hagrid shuddered fearfully. "…Vol-Voldmort, there I said, don't ask again."
Harry nodded, memorizing the name.
"Twenty or so years ago he started looking fer followers, most just wanted power, but others he forced to work for him by threatening their families. An evil, evil man out looken for power, dark power. Those were bad days, full of fear and terror. I don' like to think about them much, all that deth and horror. Abut the only place safe, anywhere, was Hogwarts, because it's protected from dark magic." Hagrid said, not looking at either of them.
"Now yer mom and dad was the head girl and boy while in school, some of the best. No one knows how, but He showed up at yer home one night, on Halloween and…and…" Hagrid suddenly pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose.
Harry, a little pale, thought back to his earliest memories. "That green light…"
The giant's head whipped around and stared at him. "You's remember it!"
"I remember a green light, and a flying motorcycle." Harry said. "I dream about them every now and then."
"Harry doesn't sleep very well because of his nightmares Hagrid. He gets them nearly every night, if they aren't about green lights, they're about something those bastard relatives did do him."
"I'm getting better." Harry said to Ranma.
"…anyway, You Know Who killed yer parents and tried to kill you too, that's where things get strange Harry. He shot the killen curse at you, but it failed. Its where you got that scar on your forehead. You survived, it made you famous, living after being hit with the deadliest cruse ever created. It made you the Boy Who Lived."
Harry frowned as one of his oldest memories surfaced, a flash of green light, and a high pitched evil laughter. "He laughed while he…killed them."
"Aye, he must have. No one ever lived after he decided to take care of them, no one, until you came along. The curse destroyed yer house, I took you from the wreckage on Dumbledore's orders and brought you to yer relatives place…"
Growling, Harry shrugged off his anger as best he could. Just mentioning his relatives was enough to set him off. These days he was getting over it though, it would just take time and Ranma allowed him to attack him and work off his anger when he needed to. "I see."
"What happened to Him?"
"No one knows exactly, he just vanished that night and no one has heard from him since. It be said that he isn't dead, just bidding his time until, but no one believes that. Most of us think he's still out there though, waiting for something. Something about you stopped him, it's just that no one knows what it was."
"I really don't think I can be one of these wizards, Hagrid. It just seems like you've made a mistake."
"Not a wizard? You wouldn't have received your letter if'n you weren't Harry. Haven't you ever done something strange that no one can figure out? Made things happen when yuse was angry or scared?"
Thinking back, Harry could remember a few things. Regrowing his hair after his aunt shaved all of it off except for his bangs, which she left long so it would cover his scar. Or the time he ended up on the school roof after fleeing from his cousin's gang. Then there was the time he shattered all the windows in Ranma's house after Ranma pushed him a little to far.
Hagrid was smiling at him. "See, I c'n see it in yer eyes. Not a wizazrd, you'll be famous at Hogwarts. Even more than you are now."
"What about all this stuff that Harry needs for school?" Ranma asked, speaking for the first time in nearly fifteen minutes, startling both of them.
"Thas right, we need ter get yer school supplies." Hagrid said, stroking his beard and grinning.
"We gots time, we can get them today if'n you want. Shouldn't take to long and I need ter head in dat direction anyways."
Ranma nodded slowly. "Alright, Harry go and grab your coat. So Hagrid how do you plan on getting there?"
"We'll take der Knight Bus." The giant said.
"Good, I'll grab my stuff too. I want to see this place and see what's going on."
"Sounds like a plan." The large man said, happy that Ranma was going to accompany Harry on his first trip into the magical world. He also made a note to himself to have a little talk with Dumbledore. Harry wasn't protected here, not like he was supposed to be at his relatives house, and yet he appeared to be safe.
Something weird was going on.
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"So Hagrid, how are we going to pay for all this stuff?" Harry asked as they stood outside the front gate. Harry was wearing a heavy duty coat, military quality, and a pair of boots instead of his usual shoes. Ranma was wearing his usual red silk shirt, loose black pants, and a pair of thin shoes. He looked a little bored standing there, but Harry knew that Ranma was actually using his enhanced senses to scan the environment.
"Yer don't think your parents didn't leave ya any money, did ya?" Hagrid asked.
"Well yeah, but even if they did the Dursley's would have taken it from me and never given it back." Harry said, scowling a bit.
"They left yous wizarding money, not Muggle money Harry. Those lumps couldn't even get their hands on it." Hagrid said with a large grin. "It's at Gringotts, the wizarding bank."
"Wizards have their own bank?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Yep!"
Hagrid reached into his coat and pulled out a pink umbrella, winked at Harry, and held it into the air. With a deafening crack, the Knight bus appeared in front of them, and the door opened.
"Alright, get on, I'll pay for everyone's fare."
Ranma shook himself and stepped onto the bus after Harry. Hagrid quickly paid Stan the Driver. They took a seat, ignoring the odd people around them. Though Harry and Ranma noticed that none of them were wearing what they though were regular clothing. Instead they were all wearing robes and cloaks.
The insane ride took about half an hour as the bus seemed to take the most direct rout to their location. In this case, around all the cars, through buildings, and down back alleys. The buss seemed to change size to get past these obstacles and didn't hit a thing.
With another Bang, the bus came to a stop in front of a bar called the Leaky Cauldron. Several other people got off the bus along with them, most were giving Stan dirty looks, but he didn't seem to notice. Just gave them a smile, a wave, shut the door, and the bus vanished with a third loud Bang.
Harry wasn't sure what to think of the ride. He looked around and read the sign above them. "The Leaky Cauldron?"
"Yep, tis the main entrance to Diagon Alley." Hagrid said as he led them inside. Ranma brought up the rear, making sure they weren't followed. He had a feeling something was going to happen today, but couldn't figure out what it could be. He hoped Ryoga wasn't going to show up. They would level everything for blocks if that happened.
"Weird looking place." Ranma said.
Hagrid turned around and really looked at him. "Yus can see der bar?"
Ranma nodded. "Sure, though it's a little blurry in places."
"Muggles shouldn't be able to see the place."
Ranma shrugged. "I'm anything but normal."
"Yus still got yer letter Harry?" Hagrid asked as he turned to Harry.
Harry dug around in his pocket and pulled it out. "Yeah."
"That there is a list of everything you need for yer schoolin this year. Need that letter to even get some of the stuff."
"Oh, good thing I brought it."
"What's inside this pub?" Ranma asked? "We aren't going in here for a drink are we?"
"No, the Cauldron is just the gate way to Diagon Alley. Helps to keep the Alley hidden from normal folk, Muggles."
Ranma nodded and filed the information away. "Harry, be on your guard, I'm sensing something inside this place that I don't like."
"Like what?"
"Just something bad. Kind of like an impending fight, as if anything could set it off."
Hagrid shook his head. "Tom the owner of this place would never allow a fight to happen in his place."
Shrugging, Ranma held his hands up. "Just a feeling I'm getting. I've learned to trust my senses about things like this. Saved my life more than once."
"Got yus." Hagrid said as they reached the door and stepped inside the dimly lit tavern.
Ranma and Harry looked around the place and quickly spotted a couple of old women in one corner drinking something and sharing a pipe. A man wearing a top hat, and looking quite out of place, was talking to the barman as they came in. The barman seemed to know Hagrid on sight and waved.
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Notes: There we go, the second chapter is done and Hagrid is off balance, confused, and more than a little curious about Ranma. Hagrid had thought that any muggle that raised Harry would be rather ignorant and Ranma is proving to be something quite different.
What will happen next.