Dark: It's Dark back from the dead! (le gasp!) anywho, I decided to continue the story since people wanted me to and since I hate leaving people with only eh...two chappies and a prologue...so here's Chappie three! Also, sorry it's so much like the book now, I swear I'll get more creative as the chappies go on.
Chapter 3
The Letters From No One
The incident with the Brazilian boa constrictor had given Harry his longest punishment yet. By the time he was finally allowed out of his cupboard, the summer holidays had already begun. Dudley had already broken his remote controlled airplane, smashed his TV, and run over old Mrs. Finn with is racing bike.
Harry was happy he was out of school, but that meant there was no escaping Dudley's gang. Everyone in Dudley's gang was big, ugly, and stupid. Dudley, being the biggest, the ugliest, and the stupidest, was, of course, the leader. They'd all gather at the Dursley's home in the afternoons and usually liked to join Dudley in his favorite sport: Harry Hunting.
That's probably why Harry spent as much time as possible away from the house, wandering around where he could see a tiny ray of hope. In September he and Dudley wouldn't be in the same school anymore. Dudley had been accepted into Uncle Vernon's old Private School, Smeltings, while Harry was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley seemed to find that hilarious.
"They shove people's heads down the toilet their first day at Stonewall." Dudley said. "Wanna go upstairs and practice?"
"Thanks, but no thanks." Harry said. "The toilet's never had anything as ugly as your head in it. It might be sick." Then he ran off before Dudley had a chance to figure out what he meant.
Kagome yawned as she lay in bed thinking. It had been quite a while since the incident with the Brazilian boa constrictor, but she still felt guilty for leaving Harry all alone to take the blame. She could no longer remember Harry's last name, but his face and his emerald green eyes were etched into her memory.
"Poor Harry," she mumbled. "I should've explained strange things happen around me..." she rolled out of bed and changed. "Oh well, it's not like we'll ever meet again..." she sighed. "Never again..."
Usually she was the first one up and getting breakfast ready, but she had been up late the night before and, as a consequence, was up late this morning. Not that anyone minded, they all knew she worked hard and let her sleep whenever she wanted to.
Kagome walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Good morning, dear." Said Aunt Sarah cheerfully.
"Good morning, Aunty." She sat down at the table and thought for a moment before speaking. "Aunt Sarah?"
"Yes?"
"Where did I get this scar?" She lifted up her bangs and showed her the thin, lighting shaped scar on her forehead. "And what happened to my parents?" How come we don't have any pictures of them?"
Aunt Sarah sighed as she set aside the dish she was washing. She walked over to the table and sat across from Kagome. "I though you might want to know sooner or later. I guess I should start by saying you're a witch."
"…I'm sorry, I'm a what?"
"A witch, dear. Your mother was a witch and your father was a wizard."
"Really? What did they look like?"
Aunt Sarah smiled sadly. "Sadly, I can't remember anymore and I don't have any pictures of them."
"Oh," Kagome seemed slightly disappointed. "Well that's ok. How did they die?"
Aunt Sarah sighed. "Ten years ago, there was a terrible wizard that went by the name Voldemort. He went to your house late one night and killed your parents, along with the parents of another boy. When he tried to kill you two as well, something happened and he was defeated."
"Wait, he was defeated by two babies?"
"That's right. After all the wizards and witches, not to mention humans, he killed, he was defeated by two babies. But as he tried to kill you, the curse he sent that ricocheted back at him, left a thin, lighting bolt shaped scar on both your foreheads. And since you two were the only ones who had ever been attacked by Voldemort and survived, you instantly became famous in the wizarding world."
So...I'm...famous?" Asked Kagome in confusion.
"That's right."
Kagome fainted right on the spot.
"Oh, dear. I'll just have to tell her the rest later..." Aunt Sarah picked up Kagome and took her back to her room.
There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry walked in to have breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a very big metal tub in the sink. There seemed to be dirty rags floating around in gray water inside the tub.
"What's this?" Asked Harry.
Aunt Petunia crinkled her nose as she always did whenever he asked a question. "It's your new uniform."
"Oh, I didn't know it had to be so wet..."
"Don't be ridiculous, I'm dying some of Dudley's clothes gray for you. They'll look exactly like what everyone else is wearing."
Somehow Harry doubted that, but decided not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to imagine what he would look like on his first day at Stonewalls. Probably like old, wrinkled elephant skin was dangling off of him.
Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses at the smell of Harry's uniform. Uncle Vernon sat down and opened his newspaper while Dudley banged his Smelting stick on the table.
They heard the click of the mail slot and the soft thud of the mail landing on the doormat.
"Get the mail, Dudley." Uncle Vernon said behind his newspaper.
"Why don't you make Harry get it?"
"Get the mail Harry."
"Why don't you make Dudley get it?"
"Dudley, poke him with your Smelting stick."
Harry barely dodged the Smelting stick as he ran off to get the mail. There were three envelopes. One was a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister who was vacationing in the Caribbean, another was what seemed like a bill, and the last one was--a letter for Harry.
Harry picked it up and his heart soared. He'd never gotten a letter before. He had no friends, no other family, and he never went to the library so they didn't send him rude notes telling him they wanted their books back. Yet here was a letter addressed as plainly as possible. It couldn't be anyone else's:
Mr. H. Potter
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
The envelope was thick and heavy, made of a yellowish paper, and the address was written in emerald green ink. There wasn't a stamp.
He turned the envelope over, his hands trembling, and saw a purple wax seal with a coat of arms on it; it had a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake all surrounding the letter 'H'.
"Hurry up!" Shouted Uncle Vernon. "Are you checking for bombs or something?" He chuckled at his own joke.
Harry went back to the table, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the postcard and the bill, sat down, and began to slowly open his envelope.
Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the post card.
"Marge's sick...ate something strange..." He informed Aunt Petunia.
"Dad!" Dudley shouted suddenly. "Harry's got something!"
Harry was just about to read the letter, which was written on the same paper as the envelope, when it was jerked out of his hands.
"That's mine!" Harry cried as e tried to snatch it back from Uncle Vernon.
"Who'd write to you?" Sneered Uncle Vernon as he shook the letter open with one hand and glanced at it. Harry had never seen his Uncle's face go from red to green so fast. And it didn't stop there, soon it was a ghostly white.
"P-Petunia!" Uncle Vernon gasped.
Dudley tried to take the letter out of his father's hand, but Uncle Vernon held it high over his head. Aunt Petunia took it out of his hand, read the first line, and seemed about ready to faint.
"Oh my goodness, Vernon!"
For a moment it seemed that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley, not used to being ignored, tapped his father's head sharply with his Smelting stick.
"I want to read it!"
"I want to read it," said Harry. "Considering it's mine!"
"Get out, both of you." Said Uncle Vernon as he shoved the letter back into its envelope.
Harry didn't budge.
"I WANT MY LETTER!" He shouted.
"Let me see it!" Dudley demanded.
"OUT!" Roared Uncle Vernon and he took both Dudley and Harry by the scruffs of the neck and threw them out into the hall, closing the door behind them. Dudley and Harry then had a furious, but silent, fight over whom would listen at the keyhole. Dudley won. So Harry, his glasses hanging from one ear, lay on the ground to listen from the crack between the floor and the door.
Aunt Petunia was speaking in a quivering voice. "Vernon, look at the address. How could they possibly know where he sleeps? Could they be watching us?"
"Watching, spying, maybe even following us." Muttered Uncle Vernon.
"Well, what do we do? Do we write back?"
Harry could see Uncle Vernon's black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.
"No," he said after a moment. "We won't send anything back, that's best."
"But--"
"Petunia, I'm not having one of them in my house."
That very same Tuesday morning, Kagome was making a blueberry pie.
"I'll just leave this for them here."
She left a note next to the blueberry pie:
I'm going out for the day; I'll be back by dinner.
W/love,
Kagome
P.S. Lunch is in the refrigerator.
She left and headed to her favorite place. It was a small lake in the middle of a very dense forest behind their house. She often saw a lot of wild animals out here. She liked to go there to sort out her thoughts. And she had a few things on her mind she wouldn't mind to sort out.
First there was the fact that she was a witch, and a famous one at that.
If I though I didn't have any friends before, I'll have even less friends now. She thought glumly.
For some reason no one ever talked to her. Her only friend was Hermione and that made her feel just a bit lonely.
It's probably because weird things always happen around me. At least I know why now. She stood up and looked around. I haven't told Hermione I'm a witch yet...will she hate me when I do? She let herself sink to her knees then laid down on the soft, plush grass. Will she call me a freak and run away in fear? She closed her eyes tightly. I don't want that to happen... A single tear rolled down her cheek as she lost consciousness.
It had been five days since the very first letter for Harry had arrived. Since that day, what seemed like a million more letters had made their way into the house.
Uncle Vernon had moved where Harry slept, but still the letters came. Harry now slept in the smallest bedroom of the house. Small, sure, but better than a cupboard.
Seeing how it was Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon seemed very happy at breakfast. Tired and a little ill, but still very happy.
"No mail on Sundays." He reminded everyone happily as he spread jelly on his toast. "No damn letters--"
A letter suddenly zoomed out of the chimney and hit Uncle Vernon sharply on the back of the head. About forty more letters came whizzing out of the chimney like bullets after the first. The Dursleys all ducked, but Harry had leapt up, trying to catch one--
"Out! OUT!"
Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and tossed him out into the hall. As soon as Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out, covering their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. You could still hear the letters whizzing into the room.
"That's it, everyone grab some clothes. We're leaving."
No one dared ask any questions. Uncle Vernon looked too scary.
All that day they traveled, not once did they stop to eat or anything, Uncle Vernon kept making U-turns and such to 'lose them'.
Finally they stopped at a hotel and fell asleep.
Monday morning seemed cheerful enough. Kagome had just awoken and was getting dressed when she looked at the calendar.
July 30th, huh? Tomorrow's the special day.
She finished dressing and bounced into Hermione's room.
1...2...3!
She leapt on to her. "Time to get up, Hermione!"
Having done her daily routine, she skipped out of the room.
Hermione muttered angrily as she got out of bed.
Aunt Sarah and Uncle Sam were already awake and in the kitchen.
"Good Morning, Aunty, Uncle."
"Morning." They said simultaneously.
"What's Hermione mumbling about?" Asked Uncle Sam as he took a sip of his coffee.
"How do you know she's mumbling?" Asked Kagome as she got out ingredients to bake two cakes.
"Because you just woke her up." Replied Uncle Sam. He looked over at her.
"Why are you making two cakes?"
Kagome was mixing the ingredients together in two separate bowls.
"Hermione's mumbling something along the lines of 'as if I didn't have an alarm clock.', and I'm baking two cakes because I have this feeling that I'm gonna need them later."
As soon as she finished talking, there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Said Kagome as she poured the cake batter into two pans and set them in the oven.
She walked over to the door and opened it with a smile.
On her doorstep was a very large man. Kagome didn't even seem surprised, though.
"Hello, may I help you?" She asked with sincere kindness.
The man was a little taken aback by the fact that she hadn't stared at him. "Yes, actually. I'm lookin' fer Kagome Higurashi an' Hermione Granger."
"I'm Kagome, and Hermione should be down in a minute. Would you like to come in?"
The man smiled at her. "Thanks, I'd appreciate it."
Kagome stepped out of the way so the man could come in.
Just then Hermione came down the stairs.
"Kagome, who was it?" She stopped and gaped at the large man who was standing in the middle of her living room. Kagome's eye twitched in annoyance and she threw a book at Hermione's head, which hit her straight on.
"OW! What was that for?!" Demanded Hermione.
"It's not polite to stare." Stated Kagome. She turned to the man.
"Now, Mister..."
"Just call me Hagrid."
Kagome smiled. "Alright, Hagrid, what is it you need with Hermione and me?"
Hagrid dug through his many pockets and pulled out two letters. One of which was addressed to Kagome and the other to Hermione.
"What's this?" They asked at the same time as they opened them.
Kagome read it out loud:
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. Shirogane
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
Hermione gasped. "I'm a witch?!"
"What do they mean they await our owl?" Asked Kagome.
"Oh, that reminds me." Reaching into another pocket, he pulled out a very real owl. "Do you two want to go to Hogwarts?"
"My aunt said it was ok." Said Kagome--"WHAT?!" Cried Hermione.--"So yeah, we accept."
Hagrid wrote so on a piece of paper and tied it to the owl's leg. "Take this to Professor McGonagall."
The owl flew off.
"Alright then, Kagome, I have to ask yeh to come with me. We're to deliver a similar letter to another boy. We'll be gone fer two days or so, so pack some clothes."
Kagome beamed. "Already done, I felt I might need to do that too. Let me just finish my cakes and I'll be right with you."
Five minutes later, Kagome had a backpack and a box.
"Well, bye Hermione. Tell Aunty where I went and she'll tell you why I'm not surprised by any of this." She walked out the door with Hagrid and left Hermione with a befuddled look on her face.
Monday with the Dursley's was just a bit different. That morning as they ate breakfast at the old, run-down hotel, a young girl gave them a bag of letters, all of which were addressed to Harry. Uncle Vernon had disappeared with the bag and, later, had reappeared without it.
They got in the car and drove for the rest of the day again. They finally stopped at the coast much later. Uncle Vernon got out of the car and came back smiling and holding a long thin package.
"I found the perfect place!" He said. "Come on!"
It was cold outside of the car. Uncle Vernon seemed to be pointing to a large rock way out at sea. And on said rock was the most miserable looking shack they had ever seen.
"There's a storm forecast tonight." Uncle Vernon clapped his hands gleefully. "And this man has agreed to lend us his boat."
A toothless man walked up to them and grinned as he pointed to an old rowboat floating on the gray sea below them.
"All aboard!" Said Uncle Vernon
It was freezing cold in the boat and icy spray and rain crept down their necks as they rowed. The chilly wind didn't help the situation much. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock and Uncle Vernon led them to the house.
"So, Hagrid, where are we going?" Asked Kagome as it started to rain. She grinned and raised her face to the falling droplets. They'd been traveling for quite some time now, it was almost midnight
"We're goin' to a shack on a rock in the middle o' the ocean."
"That sounds fun." She covered the cake with her coat and looked at Hagrid. "Hey, Hagrid, It wouldn't happen to be this boy's birthday, would it?" She asked.
"Actually it should be in about 15 minutes. Why?"
"Cuz I baked a cake for my birthday, but I can give it to him as a present." She smiled. "What's the boy's name?"
"Harry Potter."
She froze. "Harry?"
Hagrid stopped and looked at her. "Yeah, what's wrong?"
"It's...nothing."
"If yer sure..." He looked at Kagome closely. "You know, yeh look a lot like yer mum."
"Huh?" Kagome looked up at him with startled eyes.
"Yup, but ye've got yer dad's eyes."
"Really? I look like my mum and my dad's eyes were blue?"
"Yeah, you're parents were real nice." He stopped and pointed to a rock out in the middle of the sea. "That's where we're goin'."
Kagome blinked. "Uh, how are we gonna get there?"
Harry lay on the floor of the rickety old shack. He couldn't sleep. He was hungry, cold, and he couldn't get comfortable. Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry that he'd be eleven in 5 minutes.
Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wouldn't cave in. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house at Privet Drive would be so full of letters by the time they got back that he'd be able to steal one.
Just three more minutes. Was that the sea slapping the rocks? Two more minutes. What was that funny crunching noise?
One minute before he was eleven. Twenty seconds...ten...nine...eight--maybe he'd wake up Dudley, just for the heck of it--three...two...one...
BOOM!
The whole shack shook and Harry jumped. Someone was outside and they wanted to come in.
You know the drill, people. R and R please!