It hadn't taken long before the storm raged on. The wind was howling like a ghost and froze them to the bones as the house was filled with holes. It was far from the cosiness of 4, Private Drive. There was only one double bed on the first floor used by Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, and an old couch in the main room where Dudley was going to sleep. As for the Potter twins, the cold dirty floor was all they got for the night.
Somehow, Uncle Vernon had been stupid enough to forget about how and what they were going to eat and Dudley had spent the rest of the evening crying and shouting about how hungry he was. Rohini had pointed out that he was fat enough to hold up a whole week without eating and had her ear pinched by Aunt Petunia for that.
It was such a gloomy place to stay at between the coldness of the air, the rotting furniture, the dust, the storm outside and the smell of seaweeds. Rohini almost cried in relief when she realised there were at least paper rolls in the toilet. Harry had found a thin, ragged blanket that he put around his and Rohini's shoulders as they sat side by side in the dark. The ground was too uncomfortable for them to fall asleep and so they decided to wait for midnight to strike.
"Can you believe it? That's going to be the worse birthday ever." Rohini said in a low voice for Dudley had finally fallen asleep. "No cake, no candles…"
"We never had those to begin with." Harry pointed out and Rohini pouted. "Oh, I have an idea…" He said before tracing lines in the dust. Soon he had drawn a birthday cake which read 'Happy Birthday Rohini', with big candles on it. Rohini smiled before doing the same for Harry.
"Now we both have our own cake!" She said and the two giggled before taking a look at Dudley's watch as their birthday ticked nearer. "One minute!" Rohini said, sounding quite excited. Yes, it wasn't the greatest place to celebrate but it wasn't every day they'll turn eleven. Besides everything would be fine as long as she had her brother by her side. Finally, Dudley's watch beeped at midnight and Rohini said "Happy Birthday, Harry!" before the two of them blew their "candles" in unison.
"Yeah, Happy Birthday Rohini." Harry said before frowning. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear wha-"
BOOM!
Suddenly, the door thumped, making them jump on their feet. Their heartbeats had increased in speed as they stared at the entrance. The door thumped again and Dudley woke up with a scream before hiding behind the couch. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon appeared in the stairs, the man holding a rifle and looking terrified.
"What is that?!" Rohini squealed, grabbing her brother's arm. The door banged again and then cracked open, falling at the feet of a gigantic shadow. Both the Dursleys and the Potters began to scream in terror as the giant stepped inside. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. The giant squeezed his way into the hut and bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame.
"Oh my god…" Rohini whispered, both impressed and terrified. Then, the stranger turned and smiled, as if breaking in at midnight was a perfectly normal thing to do.
"Sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to wake yeh up." He said while taking another step and Uncle Vernon waved his rifle at him, Aunt Petunia hiding behind him.
"I demand that you leave at once, Sir! You are breaking and entering!" He threatened and the giant grunted before grabbing the gun and bending it upwards.
"Dry up, Dursley, you great prune!" He said right before the gun fired, making them scream again. Then he saw Dudley in a corner and smiled at him, "Mind, I haven't seen you since you was a baby, Harry, but you're a bit more along than I would have expected. Particularly 'round the middle!" He chuckled while patting his own tummy. "Where is your sister?"
"We're here. He isn't Harry." Rohini said and the giant turned towards them before smiling softly.
"Ah, Of course yeh are. Happy birthday to yeh two. Got something for yeh here—I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."
From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box that he handed to the twins who exchanged a nervous glance before Rohini took it with a "Thanks" and opened it. The twins gasped when they saw what was inside: a large, sticky chocolate cake with 'Happee Birdae Harry and Rohini' written on it in a green icing.
"Ahh. Baked it myself. Words and all. Heh." The giant said while rubbing his nose with a proud smile on his face.
"Thank you!" Harry said and he meant it, for it was the first birthday cake the two of them got.
"It looks good!" Rohini added, before picking up a bit of the icing with her finger to try it. "And it tastes good too!" She said, making the giant chuckle.
"Aye, good to hear that. It's not every day yeh turns eleven, heh?" He said with a wink before sitting on the couch that made a funny noise at the sudden weight. Rohini put the cake on a table before sitting next to the man, Harry standing right next to her.
"Excuse me sir, but who are you?" He asked and the stranger smiled before introducing himself.
"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He suddenly snoozed and pulled of a handkerchief out of his pocket before blowing his nose loudly. "It's a bit cold inside, what about some fire?" He said before grabbing his pink umbrella and pointing it at the empty fire.
"What are you going to d-"Rohini began before two sparks flew out of the umbrella and a fire started. "Wow!" She shouted, jumping on her feet. "How did you do that?" She was staring at the flames with her green eyes wide opened now, imitated by Harry.
"How? Well by magic, of course! Don't worry, you will learn to do the same at Hogwarts."
"Sorry, where?" Harry asked and the giant – Hagrid- seemed puzzled by their questions.
"Blimey, Harry, didn't yeh ever wonder where your mum and dad learned it all?" He asked, and the twins exchanged a confused look. "By Merlin's- You know what yeh are, right?"
"Twins?" Rohini suggested and the man shook his head before leaning closer and taking her hands in his.
"Yer a witch, Rohini. And yeh, yer a wizard, Harry." Hagrid finally said. The two Potters were dumbstruck; them? Wizards?
"It can't- that's impossible!" Harry said. "I ca-, we can't be wizards! I'm Harry, just Harry." He said which seemed to amuse Hagrid, who chuckled before speaking.
"Well, Just Harry, did yeh ever make anything happen? Anything yeh couldn't explain when yeh were angry or scared?"
Rohini thought about that time they ended up on the school's roof. Harry must have too judging by the change in his expressions.
"I reckon it's abou' time yeh two read yer letter." Hagrid said before pulling out two envelopes out of his large pockets. They took it with a trembling hand and exchanged one last glance before tearing it open.
"Dear, Mr. Potter," Harry began to read out loud, obviously excited, "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" A large smile was brightening his face and Rohini seemed ready to dance from joy. However, she froze when she felt Uncle Vernon's heavy hand falling on her shoulder.
"They will not be going! We swore when we took them in we'd put an end to this rubbish!" He said, his face taking an ugly shade of purple. Realisation hit the twins and Rohini stepped away, pointing a menacing finger at her Uncle.
"You knew!" She said, "You knew and you never told us? You lied to us? Called us freaks and blamed us every time something unexpected happened?!"
"Of course we knew!" Aunt Petunia said, her chin raised and as she thrown a disgusted glance at her nephew and niece. "How could you not be? My perfect sister being who she was. Oh, my mother and father were so proud the day she got her letter." It was probably the first time she dared to speak of Lily Potter in front of the twins. "We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful? I was the only one to see her for what she was. A freak!"
Rohini began to step towards her but was stopped by Harry who caught her by the arm. "And then she met that Potter, and then she had you, and I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as ... abnormal. And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up! And we got landed with you."
"Blow up? BLOW UP?" Rohini was furious now and clenching her fists so hard her skin was turning white. The flames in the chimney seemed to get bigger the angrier she get.
"You told us our parents died in a car crash! That's how I got the scar!" Harry screamed, shoving his bang away to reveal the scar on his forehead. Hagrid stood up, looking scandalised.
"A car crash? A car crash kill James and Lily Potter? It's an outrage! It's a scandal!" Aunt Petunia hid once again behind Uncle Vernon as Hagrid stepped closer. "This boy-" he pointed at Harry, "had his name down ever since he was born! They are going to the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, and they'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts' has ever seen: Albus Dumbledore. Come on, Harry, Rohini. Let's go."
"Now, you listen here, you two." Uncle Vernon snarled at the twins, "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 the world's better off without them in my opinion, but I will not pay for some crackpot old fool to teach you magic tricks!"
Hagrid was suddenly pointing his pink umbrella at Uncle Vernon like a sword, looking furious. "I'm warning you, Dursley—I'm warning you—one more word…"
Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent. That's when the sounds of someone chewing caught everybody's attention and Rohini let go of an outraged gasp when she realised Dudley was now eating their birthday cake like a pig.
Hagrid grunted and pointed his umbrella at Dudley's rear and there was a flash of violet light and a sound like a firecracker as a grey tail grew out of it. Dudley began to scream and run around as his parents chased after him with high pitched screeches. Harry and Rohini were now laughing hard, Rohini almost wheezing as she tried to catch her breath. Hagrid winked at them before looking a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, um, I'd appreciate if yeh didn't tell anyone at Hogwarts about that. Strictly speaking, I'm not allowed to do magic." Then, he checked his pocket watch and gasped. "Ooh, we're a bit behind schedule. Best be off. Unless yeh'd rather stay, of course. Hmm?"
The twins exchanged a look, knowing perfectly well what the other was thinking. Grinning, they put on their shoes and grabbed their bags. They knew that as soon as they will step outside, their lives will be changed forever. Grabbing each other's hand, they followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The storm was still raging outside and Hagrid offered them his umbrella for they had no coat.
"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.
"Flew," said Hagrid.
"Flew?" Rohini repeated with a confused frown.
"Yeah— here, this is my motorcycle. " He said, pointing at the engine. "Come on, climb in!" It was uncomfortable, but thankfully the two of them were small enough to fit together. "Are yeh' ready?"
Hagrid didn't waited for an answer and the motorcycle raised in the air with a loud motor noise, the twins giggling at the sudden freedom, the wind and the rain whipping their face to the point they had to take off their glasses.
"We're free!" Rohini shouted, a huge smile on her face. "Finally, we're free! Goodbye the Dursleys!"
"Woo-oo!" Harry screamed and for the first time in eleven years, the two of them actually enjoyed their birthday.
They flew and flew and even thought they had a thousand questions, the Potter twins stayed silent for it would have been impossible for Hagrid to hear them through the rain still pouring. They were quite slow and at some point the twins fell asleep.
When Hagrid woke them up, they had landed in a dark alley where stray cats were staring at them with curiosity. The sun was shining again, and it was obviously dawn. Yawning, the two Potters jumped out of the motorcycle and took a look at the crowded street.
"Where are we?" Rohini asked for she didn't recognised her surrounding, anxiousness growing in her chest at the sight of all those people.
"That, Rohini, is London." Hagrid said, clapping his large hands on the twins' shoulders. "We need to get yer supplies for school, don't we?"
Supplies! Harry gave his sister a bright smile; it sure was the best birthday ever for them. One could even call it …magical.
"Well, off we go then!" Hagrid said before stepping into the sun light, followed by the twins. "To the Leaky Cauldron!"