The Boy Wizard

BOOM. Hagrid knocked once more. He'd just had to fly out to this forsaken rock, through a thunderstorm (nearly getting struck by lightning twice), and was soaking wet. They were not going to leave him here outside.

"Go on back to Hogwarts, Twelly," Hagrid told the thestral who had brought him, and it flew away into the dark sky.

"Who's there?" he heard a voice shouting from inside. "I warn you – I'm armed!"

So these muggles were going to play tough with him were they? Hagrid could deal with that. He paused, and with a swing of his fist he knocked the small wooden door straight off its hinges.

Bending his head, he came into the hut. It made his home look like a palace. He saw a man, large for a muggle but still tiny compared to Hagrid, aiming a long muggle-wand at him. A gun he thought it was called. He could see a small woman crouching behind him, terrified. These must have been Harry's aunt and uncle.

On a couch by the wall a boy who looked like a pig in a wig was lying down. He was almost as big as Hagrid had been when he was eleven, and Hagrid was half-giant! Feeling exhausted from his flight, he decided to sit down.

"Budge up, yeh great lump."

The pig lad squeeked and ran to hide behind his mother. Suddenly, he noticed something he hadn't. Right there on the floor, in front of the gawking muggles, there was a blanket, and underneath was James Potter, alive and young again! No, of course it wasn't James, but it looked just like him. Only he was much skinnier than James had ever been. The Dursleys'd been starving him, that was for sure.

"An' here's Harry!" he said, smiling for a change. Harry looked scared, but so did most people when they saw him. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."

The muggle, Dursley, made a funny rasping noise.

"I demand you leave a once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering."

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said Hagrid. He reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Dursley's hands, bent it into a knot, and threw it into a corner of the room. Dursley made another funny noise, like a doxy being trodden on. Being threatened with a gun was very annoying.

"Anyway – Harry," said Hagrid, ignoring the muggles. "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat for yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

He reached into his second lowest pocket on the first row on the left side of his overcoat and pulled out the birthday cake he had brought, which was now slightly squashed.He watched as Harry'trembling fingers openned the box to show a sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.

Hagrid hoped this would make Harry less scared, but the same confused look was there, and he blurted out, "Who are you?"

Right! Hagrid knew he had forgotten something. He chuckled to himself.

"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

Hagrid held out his arm and went to shook his Harry's hand but ended up shaking his whole arm. Handshakes were tricky business. Now that was sorted out he could move on.

"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."

Hagrid looked over to the fireplace, but inside he only some some shrivelled foil. Hagrid snorted, had they tried to start a fire with that! He pulled out his old wandbrella, (what he called the old pieces of his wand Dumbledore had helped hide inside a pink umbrella), from the third highest pocket on the fourth row on the right side of his coat, right next to the pumpkin seeds. He pointed it at the fire and muttered, "Incendio," and to his surprise, he managed to get a roaring fire. It definitely warmed the room up somewhat.

Hagrid sat back down on the sofa and began exploring through his coat pockets some more, he had so many things in his pocket he couldn't hope to remember where everything was. Still, he liked to be prepared. He pulled out a copper kettle. No wait, that was the bones he was going to give to Fang, a squashy package of sausages…wait, maybe it was in the pocket next to that, a poker…Hagrid checked in the next pocket and found only discarded bottle corks, a teapot. Oh wait, several chipped mugs, it was near his breast pocket with the Cauldron Cakes…and a nice bottle which he took a swig from before starting to make tea.

He started sizzling up the sausages, Hagrid was hungry and it looked like Harry was too. The whole time nobody said a thing, but as Hagrid slid them from the poker, the pig lad fidgeted a little. He may have offered him some had it been anyone else.

"Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley," said Dursley sharply.

Hagrid chuckled. What could possibley make that man think Hagrid planned on feeding any of his great muggle family.

"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' any more, Dursley, don' worry."

He passed the sausages to Harry, and Hagrid sat back and watched as Harry gobbled them up. Now that everything was sorted out there was no point in going to Diagon Alley right away, best to wait for morning when the storm cleared out, thought Hagrid.

"I'm sorry," said Harry suddenly, "but I still don't really know who you are." Hagrid finished the rest of his cup and wiped his mouth before answering calmly,

"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm keeper of keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."

"Er – no," said Harry looking confused.

Hagrid couldn't help openning his mouth in shock. How could he not know what Hogwarts was! Those dirty Dursleys, they'd tried there best to keep Harry from learning magic, hadn't they!

"Sorry," said Harry quicky.

"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who he was happy to see shrink back into the shadows in fear. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?"

"All what," asked Harry quietly, still looking confused. Hagrid could feel his giant anger starting to surface…

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"

He leapt to his feet. The Dursleys hadn't told him anything at all! They hadn't told him anything about magic! The most famous wizard in the world was as ignorant as the common muggle! He shot the Dursleys the toughest look he could manage, looks he'd given Death Eaters in battle. The Dursleys cowered against the wall.

"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! – knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?"

Hagrid felt rage pour through him, rage he knew he had to control…

"I know some things," said Harry. "I can, you know, do maths and stuff."

He really was ignorant. Only someone raised like a muggle could think maths was an important thing to know! He waved his hands in the frustration he was feeling. "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."

"What world?"

He didn't have a clue. He didn't have a clue!

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid boomed.

Dursley, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble'. Hagrid turned back to Harry, desperately hoping he knew something.

"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."

"What? My – my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"

"Yeh don' know…yeh don' know…" Hagrid's mind felt like it had shut down. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think what to do. He just stared at Harry for a while, and then finally said,

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?"

"Stop!" Dursley suddenly shouted. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"

Hagrid wanted to pick this Dursley by the heel, swing him around the room and rip him apart piece by piece. When Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled.

"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"

"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Dursley in panic.

Mrs Dursley gave a gasp of horror. Hagrid could care less what these vermin thought.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry – yer a wizard."

Harry didn't say anything, only stood there as if he'd misheard and waited for Hagrid to correct himself.

"I'm a what?" gasped Harry.

"A wizard o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which he could feel falling apart beneath him, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit.With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

Hagrid took out the letter (he knew exactly where this was, he'd brought about fifty of them just in case), and gave it to Harry, who finally look a bit happy. He watched as Harry's eyes widened, and Hagrid couldn't help but grin.

After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"

"Gallopin' Gargons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping his hand to his forehead, and from his coat pulled out Cyprian, one of the school owl – looking rather ruffled – a quill and a roll of parchment. He scribbled a note, concentrating on spelling correctly:

Dear Mr Dumbledore,

Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.

Hagrid

Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to Cyprian, went to the door and let the owl loose.

"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Dursley, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.

"He's not going," he said.

Hagrid grunted. Stubborn as a gnome this one was, he thought.

"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.

"A what?" said Harry interested. He really didn't know a thing, did he?

"A muggle," said Hagrid. "It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."

"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Dursley, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard, indeed!"

"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a – a wizard?"

"Knew!" said the women suddenly. "'Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that school – and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"

She stopped to draw a deep breath. So this was Lily's sister? It seemed impossible that this miserable jealous shrew could be related to the little sweet girl he'd seen grow up at Hogwarts. She went on ranting.

"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got maried and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – abnormal – and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!" Hagrid said nothing. Never had he seen such a perfect match-up of husband and wife.

"Blown up?" said Harry. "You told me they died in a car crash!" Hagrid got roused by these words. How dare they not tell Harry the most noble thing his parents ever did!

"CAR CRASH!" Hagrid roared, jumping up. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"

"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.

Hagird look down at Harry's young face, his green eyes. How could he answer that question? How could he ever explain it all. He couldn't.

"I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh – but someone's gotta – yeh can't g off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."

He looked at Dursley, who right now he hated more than anybody for making him have to tell this story.

"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh – mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it…"

He sat down, feeling suddenly tired, and sat down. How would he start? With what caused it all, he guessed. "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called…" no, he couldn't, "but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows…"

"Who?"

"Well – I don't like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."

"Why not?" This boy sure was full of questions.

"Gulpin' Gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went…bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…"

Voldemort, Hagrid thought. But he couldn't help it, it represented everything he hated.

"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

"Nah – can't spell it. All right…" this was for Harry, he reminded himself, this was for Harry, "Voldemort." He couldn't help shuddered hearing the name aloud, even if he said it himself. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this – this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches…Terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe placed left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway."

Hagrid went on explaining everything, about his parents, about Voldemort wanting them dead. He could barely remember what he had said. Everything came to him so quickly, like he had wanted to say all this for years. Finally he got to a point where he could not go on anymore, and nlew his nose in his handkerchief.

"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anyway…"

Hagrid told him everything he knew about what happened next, but he didn't know too much. He watched Harry sadly the whole time, the faces he was making. What he was telling him was upsetting him a whole lot, and with right reason.

"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…"

"Load of old tosh," said Dursley. Harry jumped. The muggle certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.

"No, you listen here, boy," he snarled. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured – and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion – asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end…"

Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew his wandbrella. He aimed it square at Dursley's heart and wondered if he was powerful enough to do the cruciatus curse. No, no, he musn't get angry! "I'm warning you, Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word…"

Dursley flattened himself against the wall and fell silent. Hagrid still had it!

"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa which this time sagged right down to the floor. Stupid tiny muggle furniture.

"What happened to Vol…" Harry began. Hagrid breathed in heavily. "-Sorry, I mean, You-Know-Who?"

"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst-ry, see…he was getting' more an' more powerful – why'd he go?"

Hagrid went on, not believing he was saying these things. Nobody talked about it anymore, everyone just wanted to move on. He told Harry stuff he'd thought about but never spoke aloud, how he thought that vile creature, that monster, the reason the Harry had to spent the last ten years with these gits, was probably still alive. And that scared Hagrid much more than it did Harry. And he told Harry how he had stopped all the pain, all the suffering, just a little a baby!

"Hagrid," said Harry quiety, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."

Hagrid chuckled. Kids say the darnest things.

"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared, or angry?"

Hagrid looked at Harry, who turned his eyes away and stared and that fire. He was remembering something, Hagrid thought. Some crazy accidental magic he'd done. Hagrid remembered the time he had made his father's feet glued to the floor.

Harry looked back at him, and for the first time, he was smiling.

"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard – you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."

But that Dursley wasn't going to give in without a fight.

"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish – spell books and wands and…"

Hagrid growled back an answer. He had calmed down a bit talking with Harry but Dursley was starting to get completely ridiculous. He couldn't even remember what he said next, just yelled something about how he would go, and that Dumbledore would be there as Headmaster. Then Dursley crossed a line he shouldn't have. He said the worst thing Hagrid had ever heard.

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Dursley.

Hagrid seized his wandbrella and whirled it over his head. He felt like he was drunk. He felt beyond furious. Beyond furious. There was nobody he loved more than Dumbledore, except his dad maybe. He felt his giant side pushing to get out, he felt the viciousness and violent inclination he had inherited from his mother. "NEVER…" he thundered "- INSULT- ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!"

He thought of aiming it straight at Dursley, and murdering him! No, no! He had to do something! He saw that disgusting fat boy, that little prat son of his, and without thinking he pointed his wandbrella straight at him, not even realizing he was doing a spell, and violet light spurted out. TURN HIM INTO A PIG! Hagrid thought. A large blast sounded, but Dudley has transfigured. He clasped his hands over his bottom and squeeled. Hagrid had made him grow a pig's tail! Oh well, it was close enough…

Dursley roared, and Hagrid thought he was going to try and attack him like Dumbledore had warned. But instead, he grabbed his wife and pig and pulled them into the next room, and slammed the door behind the,.

Hagrid looked down at his wandbrella and stroked stroked his beard.

"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much llike a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."

He cast a sideways look at Harry, hoping he was trustworthy.

"Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm – er- not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh and get yer letters to yeh an; stuff – one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job…"

Harry had to go ask why he wasn't allowed to do magic. He couldn't go explainin' all that, not now, even if he had wanted to. Who could ever trust a man who got expelled for murderin' a little girl, even if he was innocent and it had just been that Myrtle Michaels.

"It's gettin' late and we've got losts ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid, trying to change the subject. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."

They'd have to spend the night, no way was Hagrid risking taking Harry out in this storm. He looked at the collapsed couch and the blanket on the floor, and the locked room to the side. None of these looked good to sleep in, but Hagrid guessed he'd have to take the floor…

He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.

"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."