I dropped dead with shock about 3 days ago…5 reviews overnight, I was soo happy! And then more people reviewed over the days…Thank you, thank you! And for those who reviewed last time, the chocolate frog card is……

GWENDOLIN THE WEIRD!

I know, funny right? That it isn't Dumbledore. LOL.

So my dear reviewers, now I will respond.

7 REVIEWS! (A record!)

-Alex—Cool, I'm glad you like it! Hmm…I'm still thinking of what Holly will do when she meets Malfoy, obviously she'll have more Slytherin in her this time. But I'll try to make the encounter memorable!

Allen Pitt—Thanks for reviewing again, Allen, and giving such satisfactory reviews! And I have to say, you are psychic, psychic! For guessing so much of the plot…lol.

Hermione Solo—I wonder what a meek Dudley can do, hmm? If I were to do later books, the plot would be really twisted, lol. And yes, our beloved half-giant is here…we hope.

grangergal101—Thanks for reviewing! *Cringes* I'm soo sorry I didn't update sooner! Hmm…you'll see and find out!

angelvan105—Thanks so much, and I think my story is rubbish compared to some out there, lol. Keep reading, hopefully I can make things more interesting!

Hyperactive Lioness—Me too, I also look forward to Diagon Alley! That's when the fun will start!

Katie Ladmoore—Thanks for reviewing, Katie! I'm glad you like the story so far, and I'm happy that you suggested what house Holly should in. I'm putting a poll up to see whether everyone thinks she should go to Gryffindor or Slytherin. And you'll have to wait and see if Ron is a girl and Hermione and Ginny are boys!

Whew…thank you, reviewers. I shall now commence with the story.

BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.
There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands -- now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.

"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you -- I'm armed!"

There was a pause. Then --

SMASH!

The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.

A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. 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, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."

He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.

"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.

Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.

"An' here's Holly!" said the giant.

Holly looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.

"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yet mom, but yeh've got yer dad's eyes."

Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.

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

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.

Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.

"Anyway -- Holly," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer 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. Holly opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Holly written on it in green icing. Holly licked her lips—she had had cake before with the Dursleys, but they had always insisted on getting her vanilla—because that's what Dudley liked, and not chocolate.

Holly looked up at the giant. She meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to her mouth, and what she said instead was, "Who are you?"

The giant chuckled.

"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
He held out an enormous hand and patted Holly's unruly red curls.

"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."
His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Holly felt the warmth wash over her as though she'd sunk into a hot bath.

The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley, Holly."

Dudley stepped back, but Holly stood where she was.

Hagrid passed the sausages to Holly, who was so hungry she had never tasted anything so wonderful, but she still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, she said, "I'm really sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."

The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"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 Holly. "What's Hogwarts?"

Hagrid looked shocked.

"Sorry," Holly said quickly.

"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "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 yet parents learned it all?"

"All what?" asked Holly.

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

He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.

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

Holly thought this was going a bit far. Hagrid was being unnecessarily rude to the Dursleys, and besides, she was pretty good in school. She tugged his arm. "Hagrid, stop yelling, please." She pleaded.

"I know some things, I can, you know, do math and stuff." But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."

"What world?" Holly asked curiously.

Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.

"DURSLEY!" he boomed.
Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like

"Mimblewimble."

Hagrid stared wildly at Holly, who gulped. She hoped he wouldn't attack her next.

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

"What? My -- my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"

"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Holly with a bewildered stare.

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.

Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.

"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the girl anything!"

A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.

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

"Kept what from me?" said Holly eagerly. She knew this situation wasn't good for the Dursleys, but frankly, right now, her whole body was pumping with adrenaline, as if she knew that something important was going to happen—

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.

Aunt Petunia gave a gasp—she squeezed her eyes shut, knowing, knowing…

"Ah, go boil yer head, Dursley," said Hagrid. "Holly, yer a witch."

There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.

Holly frowned. "That isn't very nice, Hagrid."

Petunia Evans Dursley, at that moment, was struck by how similar the situation was to her own when Severus Snape had told Lily that she was a witch.

"A witch, which means you can do magic," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "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? I mean good magic. An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

Holly stretched out her hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Ms. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. She pulled out the letter and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. 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,
Deputy Headmistress

Questions exploded inside Holly's head like fireworks and she couldn't decide which to ask first.

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

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl -- a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl -- a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Holly could read upside down:

Dear Professor Dumbledore,
Given Holly her letter. Taking her to buy her things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.
Hagrid

Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.

Holly noticed she was gaping at Hagrid and closed her mouth quickly.

"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.
"She's not going," he said. "I don't want someone dangerous in the house."

Hagrid grunted.

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

"A what?" said Holly, interested.

"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like thern. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in one of the biggest Muggle families I've ever laid my eyes on."

"We swore when we took her in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of her! Witch indeed!"

"You knew?" said Holly, trembling violently. "You knew I'm a -- a witch?"

"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! My—my silly sister being what she was, leaving me to go to—to go to—that FREAK school! She came home so happy, oh so happy, her pockets filled with frogspawn, and me—me, what happened to me? My parents just said "Lily this, Lily that", they never cared about me! Off with that Snape boy, she went!"

She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on.

"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as—just as -- and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"

Holly had gone very white. As soon as she found her voice she said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"

Aunt Petunia suddenly looked very regretful.

"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Holly Potter not knowin' her own story when every kid in our world knows her name!" "But why? What happened?" Holly asked urgently.

The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.

"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, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Holly, 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'."

He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.

"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, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with -- with a person called -- but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows --"
"Who? "

"Well -- I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."

"Why not?"

"Gulpin' gargoyles, Holly, 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..."

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.

"Could you write it down?" Holly suggested.

"Nah -can't spell it. All right -- Voldemort. " Hagrid shuddered. "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, Holly. 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 places 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.

"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 was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' -- an' --"

Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.

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

"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then -- an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing -- he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that claw mark on yer arm? That was no ordinary mark, yeh probably already knew. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh -- took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even -- but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Holly. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age -- the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts -- an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."

Something very painful was going on in Holly's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, she saw a flash of green light, and an agonized high screech. Hagrid was watching her sadly.

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

"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Holly jumped; she had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.

"Now, you listen here, girl," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing too serious -- and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, 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 --"

But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you -- one more word... "

In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.

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

Holly, meanwhile, while feeling confused and upset and elated, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.

"But what happened to Volde--, sorry -- I mean, You-Know-Who?"

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

"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 finished him, Holly. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on -- I dunno what it was, no one does -- but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."

Hagrid looked at Holly with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Holly, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a mistake, and was she really the savior of the witch and wizard world?

"Hagrid," she said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a witch. I don't think I'm good enough."

To her surprise, Hagrid chuckled.

"Not a witch, eh? Never made things happen when you were happy or angry?"

Holly looked into the fire. Now she came to think about it... the flower opening, the impossibly high jumping without falling, and setting the boa constrictor on the big bully in school, Kid Kingsley…

Holly looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at her.

"See?" said Hagrid. "Holly Potter, not a witch -- you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."

But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.

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

"If she wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop her," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's daughter goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. Her name's been down ever since she was born. She's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and she won't know herself. She'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' she'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled--"

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HER MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon. He looked quite purple.

But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER," he thundered, "- INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE- IN- FRONT- OF- ME!"

He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley -- there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Holly saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.

Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them. Holly stood there, frozen.

"Hagrid, you shouldn't have done that!" She said, regaining her voice. "Dudley's not bad."

Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.

"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. I'm sorry, Holly."
He cast a sideways look at Holly under his bushy eyebrows.

"It's okay, Hagrid. I'll make it up to them." Holly had only known this man for 10 minutes, but she felt that she could trust him.

"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 an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff -- one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job

"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Holly.

"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' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."

"Why were you expelled?"

"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."

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

"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."

Holly lay down, her mind twisting and turning with all these new developments.

YAY! You have no idea how long this took me…lol. Long chappie for the wait, so please still REVIEW! Oh, and I have another surprise!

Because of my dear reviewers who surpassed my requirement, I will give an EXTRA LARGE BAR OF HONEYDUKE'S CHOCOLATE to ALL REVIEWERS…flavor is your choice, and creaminess and sweetness is guaranteed! I repeat, EXTRA LARGE BAR OF HONEYDUKE'S CHOCOLATE. Limited Offer Only. So viewers, set up an account on Fanfiction now! 6 reviews please, and if you surpass it, you'll make me soo happy. Thanks!