Chapter 4
The Keeper of the Keys
BOOM
There was another loud knock on the door. The sound of the knock woke up the Dursley's, and with a crash, Vernon was standing behind us with a bloody shotgun. Where the hell did he get that. He pointed that at the door ready to shoot whoever was behind it.
"WHO'S THERE?"
Finally the door came down with a crash and I moved Harry behind me for safety. The best way to describe the man who came in is that he was a GIANT. He squeezed through the door and picked the door back up to put in the doorway once more. He turned around and from what I could see under all that hair was a familiar pair of shining black eyes.
"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"
He moved over to the sofa where Dudley was.
"Budge up, yeh great lump."
Dudley quickly moved to stand behind his mother as the giant sat down. I looked over at the man once again and couldn't believe my eyes, I thought he had only been a dream. I walked over to him hesitantly.
"Hagrid?"
He looked at me in shock.
"You remember me?"
I slowly lifted my hand to his cheek and patted it twice like in my dream. He started to tear up and took my hand in his humongous hands.
"You was only a baby las' time I saw yeh, yeh must have quite the memory Hope. And that mus' be Harry behind you. Yeh look the perfect mix of of yer parents Hope! An' Harry, yeh look a lot like year dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."
Uncle Vernon was a stuttering mess trying to make a sentence.
"I demand you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!"
Hagrid just turned to him.
"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune."
He then took the shotgun and tied it in a knot before handing it back.
"Anyway - a very happy birthday to the two of yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."
From inside the long black coat he wore he pulled out a slightly squashed box and handed it to us. We opened it to find a wonderful chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry and Hope written on it with green icing. I couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks Hagrid!"
He smiled back and nodded. Harry put the box down on a table and turned to Hagrid.
"Um, I know Hope remembers you but, who are you?"
"True, I doubt you have a memory like yer sister, Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
The name rang a bell but I couldn't quite place it. Hagrid then looked at the dark fireplace and got to work setting it up. Before we knew it he had a roaring fire, a poker, a copper kettle, a teapot, tea cups, some cooking sausages, and a bottle of amber liquid I guessed to be alcohol. The warmth felt amazing and the sausages smelled divine. Soon enough they were cooked and tea was made. Hagrid handed each of us a cup with delicious tea and a scrumptious sausage. I looked over to see Dudley's mouth watering but Vernon put a stop to his idea of asking for one.
"Don't touch anything he gives you Dudley."
Hagrid just laughed.
"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
Harry and I were eating our sausages when he looked at Hagrid.
"I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."
"Call me Hagrid, everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll both know all about Hogwarts, o' course."
We both shook our heads.
"Sorry no, the only thing I remember is it being where mom and dad went to school."
"Sorry? It's them that should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"
"You mean like school stuff, maths and science, things like that?"
Hagrid just got red in the face.
"MATHS AND SCIENCE? YOU MEAN TER TELL ME, THAT THESE TWO - THESE TWO - KNOWS NOTHIN' ABOU' - ABOUT ANYTHING? ANYTHING ABOUT OUR WORLD?
I just stood up getting angry, what has the Dursley's been keeping from us.
"WHAT WORLD? WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT? WHAT HAVE YOU NOT BEEN TELLING US?"
At that moment it was like there was electricity in the room as my temper flared. Suddenly the fire was huge in the fireplace and the lightning was louder than ever. My eyes opened in shock, did I just cause all that? Hagrid came over and put his hands on my shoulders.
"That world Hope, the world where doing that is normal, where yeh can learn to control it an' use it. The world where the two of yeh are famous."
Famous?
"What do you mean famous?"
Hagrid turned back to the Dursley's. Vernon's face was red like a tomato from bottled up anger.
"They don' know what they are? You never told them? Never told them what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer them? I was there! I saw him leave it, Dursley! And you kept it from them all these years."
It was now when Harry decided to interject.
"Kept what from us?"
Vernon then finally exploded and Petunia looked as if she were about to faint.
"STOP! I FORBID YOU!"
"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh!"
Hagrid turned back around to us.
"Harry - yer a wizard, an' Hope - yer a witch.".Well that explains a lot!
Harry's eyes grew as big as saucers behind his round glasses.
'We're what?"
"A wizard an' witch o' course, an' by that little power display from Hope, yer gonna be thumpin' good'uns, 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 letters."
He handed us each one and we read them.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chinese. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards,)
Dear Ms. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress.
Now it all made sense, how odd things always seem to happen. The fast hair growing, the shrinking dress, the appearing on the roof, and of course the glass from the exhibit. All these years, we've been doing magic. I looked at Harry and could tell he had questions as well. Apparently one of them was.
"What does it mean, they await my owl.?"
Hagrid face changes as if he forgot something important. He claps his hand to his forehead, the starts rustling through his coat. From one of the pockets he pulls out an owl. Not a stuffed one, not a toy, a LIVE one. He then pulls out a quill and some parchment and writes a note that we were able to read upside down.
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
Given the twins their letters.
Taking them to buy their things tomorrow.
Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.
Hagrid
He rolled up the note, gave it to the owl which chomped it in its sharp beak, went to the door, and sent the owl into the storm. He then came over and sat back down on the sofa as if he did nothing odd.
"Now, where was I?"
At that moment, an angry and red faced uncle Vernon stormed over.
"They are not going"
Hagrid just let out a scoff.
"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him"
Um, a what?
"Muggle?"
"It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's yer bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."
I just laughed and rolled my eyes.
"That's the understatement of the century."
Vernon just got angrier.
"We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to that rubbish, swore we'd stamp it out of them! Wizard and witch indeed!"
Wait, hold up.
"YOU KNEW? YOU BLOODY BASTARDS KNEW AND DIDN'T THINK TO TELL US?"
My temper started to flair again and I could feel the air starting to crackle. Then Petunia decided to get something out she must have been holding for years.
"Knew? Knew? Of course we knew! How could you both 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 vacation 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 so proud of having a witch in the family!"
Ok, I was really getting pissed now.
"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had the two of 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 got herself blown up and we got landed with the both of you!"
ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!
It took Harry and Hagrid to hold me back as I jumped after her ready to beat her arse to next year.
"YOU JEALOUS BITCH, THAT IS OUR MOTHER YOUR TALKING ABOUT! NO WONDER YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL, YOU DON'T DESERVE IT! IF ANYTHING IT'S YOUR CARCASS THAT SHOULD BE SIX FEET UNDER INSTEAD OF HERS!"
She looked horrified at my statement but she deserves it. Once Hagrid had a firm grip on me Harry let go and turned to them.
"You said our parents died in a car crash!"
Now Hagrid was angry, but he made sure to keep a firm hold on me so I wouldn't kill anyone.
"CAR CRASH! How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! The Potter twins not knowin' their own story when every kid in our world knows their names!"
I then stopped kicking long enough to look up at Hagrid.
"They were killed, weren't they?"
He looked shocked and sad for me
"Yeh remember that night?"
I nodded my head.
"Bits and pieces, but enough to know what basically happened. It's starting to come together more and more."
He sighed and put me down.
"I never expected ter have ter do this, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'. Now I don' know everythin' - some o' it's a mist'ry, Hope may even know more."
He sat down trembling, I could tell he didn't want to do this, but had to.
"It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don' know his name, everyone in our world knows - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does. 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. His name was Voldemort."
Hagrid looked at me in shock.
"Like I said, pieces are starting to come back."
"Yeh shouldn't have ter remember that night. I hate that yeh do. But yes, that was his name. 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. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches...terrible things happend. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one he was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway."
He paused to take a shaky breath.
"Now yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before...probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side. Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em...maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You both were just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an'-"
Hagrid brought out a handkerchief from one of his many pockets to wipe his tearful eyes and blow his nose.
"He killed 'em. An' then - and this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill the both of yeh too. Wanted to finish the job I suppose, or maybe he just like killin'. But he couldn't do it. That cut on your forehead Harry is no ordinary cut. Thats what yeh get when something powerful and evil touches yeh. An' Hope, yeh made it without a scratch."
I decided then to share what little memory I had.
"Because he was targeting Harry with his wand. I grabbed Harry by the arm to pull him behind me, I didn't know what was happening, but I didn't want him hurt. He cast the spell before I could. I just remember a green light coming after us, then no one was there, and Harry had a cut on his head."
He smiled at me.
"That might be why when I came to get yeh you wouldn't let go o' him. Even as a one year old, you were protecting your brother. You are your parents through and through. I brought yeh ter Dumbledore myself. He brought yeh ter this lot."
I had forgotten the Dursleys were still there listening, so I jumped a little when Vernon decided to make a comment on the matter.
"Load of old tosh."
He came up to us and got right in our faces.
"Now, you listen here, the both of you. 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 -"
Before he could finish he was howling in pain from my fist colliding solidly with his nose and a crack was heard under my fist as it connected with his face. There was blood pouring down his face from the now broken nose. I may get locked up for life, but hey, he bloody well asked for it. I turned around to see the shocked faces of Harry and Hagrid.
"Ok Hagrid, please continue."
That seemed to shake him out of his shock.
"Alright, I won' tell anyone about that 'cause Merlin knows he deserved it, but don' do anymore tonight if yeh can help it."
"I make no promises, continue."
He rolled his eyes and shook his head before continuing.
"Now what happened to him that night, no one knows,some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back. Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you both finished him. Somethin' about you two stumped him that night."
Well that was cheerful.
I look over at Harry to see he still looked confused.
"Hagrid, there must be a mistake, we can't be a wizard and witch."
I just rolled my eyes and decided to take this one.
"Harry, don't you remember all those odd things that would happen out of nowhere? You growing all your hair in one night, an outfit in my size shrunk to the size of a doll, we hid behind dumpsters on the ground and ended up on the roof, and may I remind you about the glass at the snake exhibit? That stuff happens Harry because of what we are. We are a witch and wizard."
He started to smile in realization.
"Just wait till we're at Hogwarts!"
"Haven't I told you two that you're not going?"
Oh yeah they're still here.
"They will go to Stonewall high and be grateful for it. I've seen the letter and they need stuff I'm not paying for!"
Hagrid was losing his patience with these people and if they're not care ful, he's going to snap.
"If they want ta' go they'll go! A Muggle like you can' stop 'em. They'll be with their own kind, and taught under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts have ever seen. Albus Dumbled-"
"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH THEM MAGIC TRICKS!"
And there is where he crossed the line. Hagrid seized the umbrella he brought and pointed it at Vernon.
"NEVER - INSULT - ALBUS - DUMBLEDORE - IN - FRONT - OF - ME!"
He then swished the umbrella at Dudley's fat arse and with a flash of violet light, a pig tail grew where there wasn't one before. I always called Dudley a pig, and now I guess he really is one. I was on the ground laughing as his parents chased him into the bedroom and they slammed the door.
"Couldn't let yeh have all the fun, mind not mentionin' that ter anyone at Hogwarts, I'm - er - not supposed to do magic, strictly speakin'."
I finally stopped laughing and got up.
"Won't tell a soul, but why can't you do magic?"
"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everythin'. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man Dumbledore."
"Ok then, why were you expelled?"
It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow, gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."
He took off his enormous black coat and handed it to us as he laid down on the couch as best he could. We wrapped ourselves in it and fell into the most peaceful sleep we've ever had.
