Hey. I don't own Harry Potter. The usual. J.K. Rowling does.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Two- Of Letters and Giant Men

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and around the time that Hollis was finally allowed out of her cupboard, the summer holidays had already begun.

It had been the lengthiest punishment she had ever had in her ten years at the Dursley's and that was saying something. Hollis sighed as she got up on a bright Saturday before her nose was assaulted with a horrid smell. She scrunched up her nose, half repulsed and half mystified by the smell.

Slightly curious and quite nauseous, Hollis got up and left her cupboard and she walked into the kitchen.

"What are you making?" Hollis asked slowly to Aunt Petunia, making her jump. Hollis had that effect on people. No one could tell when she was behind them. Or in front of them or even in the same room as her for that matter.

"Your new school uniform," Aunt Petunia said tersely, setting her lips in a fine line like she did when Hollis asked questions. Hollis crinkled her nose. In the fall, she would be attending the local public secondary school, Stonewall High. This was a momentous moment for Hollis when she heard for that meant she wouldn't have to go to school with Dudley for the first time. He would be attending Uncle Vernon's old school, Smelting's, an all boy's private school. It was her dream come true.

"Oh. I didn't realize it had to be so wet," Hollis said before she could stop herself.

"Don't be stupid. I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old clothing and my old skirts grey, so you'll look like everyone else in the school. Now, stop asking questions!" Aunt Petunia snapped.

Hollis doubted that she would look like everyone else. Aunt Petunia may have been bony, but her skirts came well past Hollis's knees and as for Dudley's old clothing… well, it would look like Hollis was wearing elephant skin or something.

A couple of moments later, Dudley and Uncle Vernon walked in, just as Hollis started breakfast. Their noses were crinkled in disgust. Dudley was wearing his Smelting's uniform and this included the hated Smelting's Stick that he now brought everywhere with him. The knobby sticks were used in the school to hit each other with while the teachers weren't looking. They thought it was good training for life. Hollis hardly agreed. She had lost count at thirty when she counted the bruises on her shins.

Breakfast was a silent affair for Hollis but she didn't mind. The less that she had to talk to the Dursley's the better. During breakfast came the telltale whoosh of the mailman slipping the mail into the slot.

"Dudley, go get the mail," Uncle Vernon said while stabbing a forkful of scrambled eggs.

"Make Hollis get it," Dudley whined in return.

"Hollis, get the mail."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Dudley, whack her with your Smelting's Stick."

While narrowly avoiding the Smelting's Stick, Hollis scurried into hallway and bent down the get the mail that was lying in a neat pile on the mat. There was a postcard from Aunt Marge who was taking a vacation to the Island of Wight, a large bill that was addressed to Uncle Vernon, and a letter for Hollis.

Hollis did a double take. A letter? For her?

She had never gotten mail before, not even rude notes asking for overdue books back from the library. But there was no mistaking who it was addressed to for it read, Ms. H. Potter, the Cupboard under the Stairs, Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. And it wasn't exactly an ordinary letter either. It was made of heavy parchment and the lettering was written in emerald green ink. She turned it over to look for a return address. There was nothing on the back except for a coat of arms with a large 'H' in the middle surrounded by a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a snake.

"What's taking you so long, girl?! Are you checking for letter bombs or something?" Uncle Vernon yelled from the kitchen, stopping for a moment to laugh at his own joke. Hollis came back into the kitchen, gave the bill and postcard to Uncle Vernon but kept her letter for herself. Uncle Vernon never noticed this transaction but Dudley did, however.

Before Hollis got a chance to open her letter, Dudley grabbed it and yelled, "Dad, Hollis got a letter!"

"Hey! Give that back, it's mine!" Hollis yelped despite knowing the futility of the situation. Uncle Vernon was laughing lightly and he had a slightly disbelieving look on his face.

"Who would be writing to you?" he sneered but he took one look at the letter and paled.

"P-Petunia!" he stuttered. Aunt Petunia came over, studied the letter and went stark white.

"Vernon! Oh, my God, Vernon!" she sputtered. Hollis stared. What was going on?

"Out, both of you out!" Uncle Vernon roared. Dudley, not used to this sort of treatment, stayed in his spot and Hollis stood her ground.

"I want to read it," Dudley whined.

"I want to read it, seeing as it is mine," Hollis snapped.

"GET OUT!!" Uncle Vernon screeched while taking them both by their collars- this was quite a feat seeing how Hollis was hoisted up a good three feet and Dudley at least a foot- and throwing them into the hallway. He shut the door and after a silent skirmish between Hollis and Dudley, Hollis found herself on the floor listening at the door crack while Dudley listened at the keyhole.

"Vernon, how do they know where the child sleeps? Surely they're not watching the house." That was definitely Aunt Petunia. Hollis could just make out hints of fearful white mixed in with nervous bright green.

"I wouldn't put it past them. Watching us, following us, maybe even spying!" That was Uncle Vernon. His aura was blinking with wild red-orange and crazed imperial yellow. Aunt Petunia gasped audibly.

"Should we… send a reply… telling them no…?"

"No, we can't do that. You know their type, Petunia. It's best that we don't say anything at all."

"But Vernon…"

"No, Petunia! We've been through this before! I'm not having one in the house! We swore when we took the girl in that we'd stamp out all this nonsense!"

And that was the end of that conversation.

***

The rest of the day passed by in an agonizingly slow fashion for Hollis. She couldn't seem to focus on anything, even sketching and reading couldn't distract her, and her thoughts kept flitting back to the letter from no one. Who had sent the letter and why did Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon react so violently to it? Thoughts kept whirring around in Hollis's head at a million miles per hour, so it wasn't a wonder she couldn't concentrate on anything.

By the time Uncle Vernon got home that day, Hollis had retreated within herself in a sense to sort out her thoughts. When she sensed Uncle Vernon outside her cupboard door, she came out of her reverie but wasn't too surprised. This happened quite a lot. He would stand in front of the cupboard door just to make sure she was quiet but still in there at the same time. However, he did something that was so completely out of character that it nearly blew Hollis off her feet, figuratively.

He came to visit her.

"Um, yeah, Hollis, I've been meaning to talk to you. How would you like to move into Dudley's second bedroom? I daresay that this cupboard is getting a bit small for you," he said nervously, as if unsure of what to say. Hollis gaped stupidly at him, almost amazed at the fact that he was actually offering to move her into Dudley's second bedroom. Granted, it was more of a command instead of a phrase or question, but Hollis could have cared less.

Hollis nodded and Uncle Vernon smiled forcefully. "Splendid. You can just move this stuff up now," he said, his eye twitching slightly. Hollis could see that he was trying to be friendly but failing.

"Wait, Uncle Vernon… What about my letter?" she asked before he left.

"It was addressed to you by mistake. I have burned it," he said, his eyes shifting to the left. Hollis's own eyes narrowed, knowing that she was being lied to.

"It was not a mistake! It had my cupboard on it!" she said hotly.

"Stop! Now, go move this stuff upstairs," Uncle Vernon commanded, his voice shaking in repressed annoyance and anger. Hollis did as she was told.

***

Dudley kicked up quite a stink about Hollis moving into the second bedroom. He threw a lot of tantrums- all of them varying to chucking his PlayStation out the window to hitting his parents with the Smelting Stick. Most of these tantrums shook the house to its very foundation but Hollis ignored them. He could have his room back, she thought one afternoon when Dudley's tantrums were at their peak. At the moment, all she wanted was to have her letter. She laughed at the irony of the situation. Last week she would have given anything to be up in this room. Now, all she wanted was a stupid piece of parchment.

After a while, Dudley's tantrums died down and he finally accepted the fact that Hollis was staying there. However, even if Dudley's tantrums died down, the letters from no one certainly didn't. They arrived en masse, and, in desperation, Uncle Vernon had boarded up the mail slot.

Despite his efforts, the letters kept coming. And they ended up in the oddest places too. Once, they had ended up folded up in the bathroom window. Another time they had ended up a dozen of eggs. Driven to insanity by the letters, Uncle Vernon boarded up the entire house.

But that still didn't stop them from coming.

It was a Sunday and Hollis was serving cookies in the living room. Uncle Vernon was looking quite ill but quite happy and reading the newspaper while Dudley and Aunt Petunia played a card game. Hollis sent the plate of cookies around for a third time before setting them down on the side table. She placed herself in a corner where she would be the least obtrusive but still had a great view of the neighborhood.

Uncle Vernon chuckled lightly when the time when the mail was delivered to Number 4 came and went.

"A fine day, Sunday. In my opinion, the best day of the week. Why is that Dudley?" he asked happily.

Dudley shrugged, a blank look on his face. Hollis rolled her eyes mentally. "Because there's no post on Sunday?" she asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer. She knew full well why he was in a good mood.

"Right you are Hollis! No letters today!" he said happily. Hollis tuned out the rest of Uncle Vernon's rant and looked out the window. Something very large and brown flew past the window. Hollis blinked, her large green eyes confused. Another something very large passed by the window again and this time, Hollis got a good look at it. It was an owl.

Hollis felt her mouth part slightly. She had never seen an owl before, let alone an owl in broad daylight. She did, however, know that owls were nocturnal creatures and were rarely seen in the daytime. Why were these owls flying around in the daylight?

She didn't have time to ponder her question for something whizzed past Uncle Vernon, efficiently cutting him off. It was a letter. One of Hollis's letters.

The house started to shake and then letters erupted out of the fireplace by the thousands. Dudley and Aunt Petunia started screaming, Uncle Vernon was bellowing like an angered rhinoceros, and Hollis was desperately trying to get a letter. She probably would have succeeded had Uncle Vernon not grabbed her around her middle and hauled her into the foyer, shutting the door behind them.

He was shaking all over and half of his mustache was missing. He looked quite intimidating and Hollis found herself willing that no one did anything stupid, herself included.

"Pack some things. We're leaving," he said, breathing deeply.

It was safe to say that they were all in the car in five minutes.

***

They drove around aimlessly for a while, Uncle Vernon muttering all the while 'Shake 'em off, shake 'em off'. This was quite worrying but no one dared to voice the single thought in everyone's head aloud. Dudley and Hollis for once were on equal footing and more than once, when Uncle Vernon left the car for a few minutes, they would look at each other and agree mentally that Uncle Vernon had completely lost it.

They stayed at a dingy hotel that night but their stay there was very brief seeing how a hundred of the same letters came for Hollis the next morning. They left hurriedly.

They drove in circles it seemed for hours on end and even re-reading the Return of the King for the fifth time running wasn't helping with the boredom and the feeling of apprehension gnawing at Hollis's heart. Hollis kept her mind open- something that she rarely did since all the thoughts and soul-seeing made her head feel like it was in a garbage compressor. Sure, she caught random blips from the people passing by in the cars but she also knew that there was going to be a storm soon. And that Uncle Vernon was looking for a very secluded spot to stay. After two days of traveling in a very random direction, Uncle Vernon parked the car and left without a word.

"I want to go home. The Great Humberto's on now," Dudley whined to his mother only to receive no answer. Hollis blinked a couple of times before looking up from the book Stormbreaker. Normally, Hollis could count on Dudley to know the days of week because of television. If he was right about it being Tuesday, then that meant her birthday was tomorrow.

Hollis sighed mentally and returned to her book. Birthdays were never that important to her for she had never received a birthday card let alone a present in her life unless you counted the coat hanger and a repulsive old pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks she got last year. But still, you didn't turn eleven everyday.

A few moments later, Uncle Vernon reappeared with a large bag and a thin package. "What's that?" Aunt Petunia asked curiously but quietly.

"I've found a place for us to stay! A nice gentleman is lending us his cabin. It's nice and secluded. I've already got us some rations, so we can leave now!" Uncle Vernon said gleefully, completely ignoring Aunt Petunia.

Hollis adopted a very contorted look that couldn't quite decide on which of the two emotions it wanted to show. One emotion was apprehension; the other was nervousness. Whatever got Uncle Vernon into a gleeful mood couldn't be good for anybody, not just Hollis.

The filed out of the car and walked through a very empty campground towards a dock. Hollis felt her heart go into her throat when she saw a tiny house on a very large boulder. She quickly read Uncle Vernon's mind and felt what little she ate turn into rocks in her stomach. Oh, why couldn't they have stayed on the campground?

The boat ride to the shack was blessedly uneventful, and aside from Hollis tripping up the rocky slope, everyone made it into the shack unscathed. Just as they got into the shack, the predicted storm that Uncle Vernon had been thinking about for the past couple of days had started. They settled into the two room shack, ate a frugal dinner- this is where Uncle Vernon made a nasty remark about Hollis's letters when he couldn't get a fire going- and then went to bed.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia went upstairs to sleep in the bed. Dudley was swathed in blankets on the couch, dead asleep. Hollis, on the other hand, was on the hard ground, trying desperately to get comfortable or warm, which ever came first. She was still in her day clothes- a pair of jeans and a large red sweatshirt- since it was nearly impossible to get dressed while Dudley was in the same room as her. She was wrapped up in a thin, moldy blanket and had situated herself in the warmest corner of the room.

She finally gave up on getting warm or comfortable and began staring at Dudley's wrist watch, listening to the rain pound on the water and rocks around them. It was 11:58:045.

Only two minutes away from her birthday.

What did it matter anyway? She wasn't going to get anything for her birthday. No one even remembered her birthday.

It was 11:59:025.

Oh, what the heck? You didn't turn eleven everyday and Hollis would definitely make this a birthday to remember. The only problem was how to make it memorable.

Twenty seconds now…

Maybe she could wake Dudley up, just to annoy him…

Ten seconds…

Maybe she could set his clothes on fire…?

Five seconds…

Or maybe blow his blankets off continually? She could control wind. That would definitely annoying him…

BOOM!!!

Hollis jolted up to her feet. Dudley woke with a start, and said stupidly, "Where's the cannon?!"

"That's not a cannon, idiot!" Hollis hissed contemptuously while simultaneously backing into a shadowed corner. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon came down a moment later, Aunt Petunia hiding behind Uncle Vernon while he brandished a rifle. Hollis stared at the rifle with a look of realization on her face. So that's what had been in the package.

BOOM!!!

"Wh-Who's there?" Uncle Vernon called out meekly sounding eerily like a mouse that had been stepped on. Suddenly, the door was knocked clean off its hinges and all three Dursley's screamed and Hollis only jumped. In walked a man that stood at least twelve feet tall, had a wild mane of shaggy black hair, and wore a huge moleskin coat. He seemed eerily familiar to Hollis but she couldn't place his face anywhere. She didn't have time to ponder that.

"Sorry about that," the giant said while placing the door back into place, cutting off the storm's howling wind and rain.

"You must leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!" Uncle Vernon said bravely. The giant looked at Uncle Vernon with the air of annoyance one showed towards a buzzing mosquito.

He strode over to Uncle Vernon and said, "Dry up Dursley, you great prune!" He grabbed a hold of the rifle and bent it upwards the same time Uncle Vernon tried to fire a shot.

He walked over to the center of the room, where Dudley and Hollis were located. He looked around for a minute, looking slightly appalled when his eyes fell onto Dudley, and smiled when he saw Hollis. Hollis felt herself immediately trust the man. She wasn't sure what made her trust him; she just knew that she should trust him.

She came out from her hiding spot bravely and stood in front of the giant man.

"Blimey, Hollis… You've really grown up… Mind you, I haven't seen you since you were a baby an' all, but…" the giant man said with a warm smile. The man had a strange accent that butchered half of his words and he left off the 's' in 'Hollis' but that made him even more interesting.

"You knew me when I was a baby?" Hollis asked curiously.

"Sure did. Speaking of which, I have somethin' for you. I'm afraid I sat on it at some point, but I imagine it'll taste fine all the same," he said eagerly while pulling out a slightly squashed white box. Hollis took the box and opened it. It contained a chocolate caked covered in pink icing with 'Happy Birthday Hollis' in bright green lettering.

"Thank you!" she said gratefully. The man smiled at her again.

"It's not everyday your young lady turns eleven now is it!" he said happily. Hollis set down the box with deliberate slowness. Was this the man from her dreams…?

"Um, I'm sorry if I sound rude, but… Who are you?" Hollis asked, turning her unnerving emerald green stare onto the giant.

"Rubeus Hagrid, but you can call me Hagrid. Almost everybody at Hogwarts does. And you'll know all about Hogwarts," Hagrid said, completely unaffected by the stare.

Hollis gave him a strange look. What was this man, this Hagrid, talking about?

"Um, I'm sorry? I have no idea what you're talking about," Hollis said confusedly. Now it was Hagrid's turn to be confused. His beetle like eyes shone with questioning.

"You don't know? My God, you don't know, do you? DURSLEY!!" Hagrid bellowed angrily. Hollis whirled around to face her Uncle, who looked like quite a large mouse at the moment. Somehow, Dudley had managed to edge his way closer to Uncle Vernon, his eyes glued onto Hollis's cake. Aunt Petunia was cowering behind Uncle Vernon but something wasn't right. Hollis could feel it in the air. She finally realized that Uncle Vernon was hiding something other than Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

"Do you mean to tell me that this girl doesn't know anything about ANYTHING!?" Hagrid roared.

Hollis bristled slightly when he said that. "Hey, I can do math and read and stuff," she started off hotly. Hagrid silenced her with a wild shake of his great head. "No, not that. You don't know anything about our world, your world, your parents' world," Hagrid growled.

"What world?" Hollis asked exasperatedly.

"No! STOP! I forbid you to tell her!" Uncle Vernon screamed, finally finding his voice.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh… Hollis, you're a witch," Hagrid said finally.

That was the last thing that Hollis expected.

The silence that followed Hagrid's announcement was almost unbearable. It beat down upon Hollis like the water struck against the stone outside, and it rang in her ears. "I'm a what?" she asked slowly, unable to say anything else.

"A witch. And you're a special kind of witch too. You're an Elemental witch. You'll be a thumpin' good one I'd wager, once you're trained up a bit," Hagrid stated proudly. Hollis shook her head in a disbelieving manner. It couldn't be true… it just couldn't be true… She was just Hollis… that strange, freaky girl with the taped up glasses, strange powers and no parents.

"That can't be right," Hollis murmured.

"Have you made anything happen? When you were scared or angry?" Hagrid asked knowingly. Hollis looked at him, an almost awed look in her eye. Hagrid smiled wryly at her while pulling out the letter that Hollis so desperately wanted to see. She opened it and read aloud:

Dear Ms. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of all the supplies you will need for the upcoming school year. Send your reply owl by no later that July 31st.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

"I've had enough of this! We swore when we took her in that we would put a stop to all this rubbish!" Uncle Vernon said loudly, spittle flying from his lips.

Hollis rounded on them, her eyes blazing. "You knew? You knew all along and you never told me?" Hollis said heatedly. And surprisingly enough, it was Aunt Petunia who answered.

"Of course we knew! How could you not be? My perfect sister being what she was… Oh, my mother and father were so proud the day she got her letter. We have a witch in the family… isn't it wonderful? I was the only one to see her for what she truly was… A freak! Then she ran off with that Potter and then she had you, I knew you would be just as strange, just as abnormal… Then if you please, she got herself blown up, and we got landed with you!" Aunt Petunia hissed, her face turning scarlet.

"Blown up? You told me my parents died in a car crash!" Hollis screeched.

"A car crash? A car crash?! A car crash kill Lily and James Potter? That's an outrage! A scandal!" Hagrid said hotly. Aunt Petunia mumbled something that sounded like 'We had to tell her something' but Hollis was too angry to care.

"If my parents weren't killed in a car crash, then what did happen to them?" Hollis asked Hagrid, breathing deeply. Hagrid's face fell and he sank down on the vacated sofa.

"I'm not entirely sure that I should be the one to tell you that, Hollis. But since you don't know… Well, if there is one thing that you should understand it's this: Not all wizards are good. About ten years ago, a wizard by the name of V-V… ah, even after ten years, it's still hard to say his name…" Hagrid started out.

"Maybe if you wrote it down," Hollis supplied, wanting to know the rest of the story.

"Nah, I can't spell it. Okay, his name was Voldemort. Those were the dark times, Hollis. Very dark times. In those days, those who didn't support You-Know-Who ended up dead. Your parents fought against him and his values. He tracked them down, broke into the house and killed them. Then he turned his wand onto you, but you didn't die like your parents. Something about you stumped him that night, but whatever it was, it stopped him cold in his tracks, quite literally. That isn't an ordinary cut on your forehead. You can only get a scar like that from a curse and an evil curse at that," Hagrid explained.

"And what happened to Voldemort?" Hollis asked slowly. Hagrid flinched noticeably.

"Don't say his name!" Hagrid said vehemently. Hollis was taken aback at his attitude and slightly confused at the odd behavior he showed towards the name, but obliged.

"Okay, what happened to You-Know-Who?" Hollis asked again.

"He disappeared! Some say he's dead. Codswallop, in my opinion. I think he's out there somewhere, to weak to carry on. But whatever happened that night, you're famous because of it!" Hagrid said. Hollis's eyes widened.

"I'm famous?" she asked quietly. Hagrid nodded, his eyes foggy. He took out a very large- it looked like a picnic blanket- hanky out and dried his eyes. "I'm sorry. I knew yer parents. Couldn't find nicer people… You look a lot like yer dad but you have yer mum's eyes," Hagrid said slowly.

Hollis suddenly remembered something. For years she had believed her memories of bright green flashes and pain in her forehead was attributed to the car accident the Dursley's had said her parents had died in. Now that Hagrid had told her the truth, she remembered something else. She remembered a high, cold, cruel laugh, a laugh that she had no desire to ever hear again.

"Oh, this is all nonsense!" Uncle Vernon roared. Hollis whirled around. They family had been so quiet that she had forgotten that they were there.

"Now, listen here girl. You've got something strange about you, there's no denying that, but your parents… they were weirdoes, and the world's is better off without them. I always knew that they'd meet a sticky end!" Uncle Vernon snarled. Hollis felt her face heat up in a strange combination of anger and embarrassment but Hagrid was just plain annoyed by this time.

"Stop, Dursley. One more word and I'm warning yeh…" Hagrid threatened.

"NO! I won't stop! I'm not sending her off to some FREAK school!" Uncle Vernon screamed.

"Dursley, do you think that a great muggle like you is going to stop her? She's a Potter! She's had her name down in the Hogwarts books since she was born! She'll be with youngsters that are like her for once and she'll be learning things that'll come naturally to her. And she'll be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen, Albus Dumbledore," Hagrid growled convincingly. Hollis wasn't entirely sure what a 'muggle' was but she figured that it was some technical term for a non- magic person.

"I'M NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HER MAGIC TRICKS!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, quite mad.

Hagrid had had enough. He rose from his spot, his aura angry. He was a looming presence in such a small room when he was nice. He was just straight up intimidating when he was angry.

"Don't you ever insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me," he said quietly in a voice that just dared someone to try something. His eyes flicked over to Dudley, who had lost the battle against the lure of Hollis's cake and was eating it fist over fist.

Hagrid pulled out a pink umbrella out of nowhere and brought it down with a loud swish. A pig's tail sprouted in the seat of Dudley's trousers. All three Dursley's started screaming loudly and as one body, moved up the stairs and weren't heard from throughout the rest of the night.

"I shouldn't have lost me temper. I was trying to turn him into a pig but… Anyway, you should really try to get some sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow. Here's my coat; you can kip under it," Hagrid said quietly while taking out a piece of parchment and a quill after he started a fire with the pink umbrella.

Hollis took the coat gratefully but nearly dropped it in fright when an owl flew clumsily out of one of the pockets.

I've gotta get used to all this magic stuff… Hollis thought numbly before she fell into a deep and, for the first time in years, contented sleep.