Enjoy :)
CHAPTER FOUR
"Who wants to read next?" Sirius looked around at everyone else in the room.
"I will," James reached over and took the book from Sirius "I haven't read yet anyways,"
CHAPTER FOUR
THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS
BOOM.
They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.
"What's a cannon?" asked Peter
"It's an old war weapon that was used years ago to defend places like forts, ships, castles and such," Lily stated matter of factly "they shot out large metal balls about the size of quaffles, they could cause a lot of damage but took a long time to load,"
"Which gave the enemy plenty of time to counterattack," Remus finished while shooting Lily a smile causing her to blush slightly.
There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands –
"What's a rifle?" Peter asked this time.
"It's a type of gun," Remus began.
"What's a gun?" Peter interrupted.
"It's a muggle weapon Wormtail," James calmly stated.
"Exactly," Lily nodded smiling in James' direction clearly impressed by his knowledge of the muggle world "there are many different types of guns. A rifle is most distinguished by its long shaft…" Sirius immediately started giggling like a school girl at this comment. "What on earth is so funny?" she rounded on Sirius.
"You said 'long shaft…'"
"Grow up Black!"
"So tell me Lily, you like them long?" Sirius asked seductively with a smirk causing her to blush.
"Why, yes Black I do in fact like them long," at this Sirius' smirk became a huge grin "which is why I will never go out with you," Lily finished with a smirk of her own while wiping the smile right off Sirius' face. This caused James and Remus to dissolve into fits of laughter.
"Don't know what you're missing Evans," Sirius grumbled
"I don't get it," stated Peter which made James and Remus laugh even harder.
"Don't… worry… about it… Wormtail, it's… not important," Remus said while still laughing.
"Anyways, continuing on with what I was saying before I was interrupted," Lily shot a glare over to Sirius who was still sulking "rifles are a type of gun that is mostly used in hunting, just like any gun they shoot small metal projectiles called bullets that are used to kill the animal being hunted,"
"Then why would this muggle have one? Was he planning on going hunting or something?"
"Probably thought he'd try and shoot the 'person' who was delivering the letters," James said nonchalantly.
"Probably" the others murmured in agreement.
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!"
"Armed?" Peter blinked blankly.
"It means he has a gun," Lily said quickly.
"Are you going to question every line Wormtail?" James asked bluntly
"Yeah Wormtail, some of us actually want to know what's going to happen sometime this century," Sirius said while shooting Peter a look.
"Well sorry, didn't know the 'Dursley' questioning rules applied here," Peter grumbled before retreating farther back onto his bed to sulk.
"It's not that Peter, just…" Lily tried to explain.
"Forget it Lily, he gets like this sometime," Remus said softly.
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.
"AHHH!! We're being attacked!" screamed Sirius.
"What!? Where?!" the others yelled jumping up, grabbing their wands and looking around for the attackers. At this Sirius burst out laughing.
"Not funny Padfoot!" yelled Remus while throwing pillows at him.
"Aww come on Moony, it was just a joke," Sirius whined.
"Well it wasn't a very funny one, You nearly gave us all heart attacks!" James said with a slight glare, Lily just nodded looking equally upset.
"Considering what we all went through I'm surprised at you Sirius…" Remus said gravely.
"Alright you lot, I'm sorry, I promise I won't do anything like that again,"
"Good," Lily said primly "Because if you do, I won't be responsible for my actions,"
Sirius just audibly gulped at her stone hard expression, he knew she was not joking.
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.
"Hey that sounds like Hagrid!" Sirius said excitedly.
"Dumbledore sent Hagrid to rescue Harry from my sister?" Lily said incredulously.
"Why not, he sent Hagrid when it was time to bring Harry to your sister's place," Sirius shrugged.
"My family's doomed," James groaned.
"It won't be that bad Prongs, Dumbledore did say that he trusts Hagrid with his life," Remus stated calmly.
"Looks like his trust issues haven't improved any in the last 10 years," grumbled James
"Well at least Harry's old enough to look out for himself if Hagrid was to do something reckless," Lily said hopefully, trying to convince herself of that as much as the others.
"Yeah, I guess"
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..."
"Only Hagrid would automatically assume he was welcome after breaking down someone's front door." Sirius chuckled. Everyone else nodded with smiles.
"Too true but still, it must be hard work trailing a madman,"
"Why do you say that Moony?"
"Well, I've never trailed a mad man but I have spent the last 6 years sharing a dormitory with you Padfoot, so I guess it's be about the same,"
"Sod off Moony," Sirius threw a pillow at Remus.
He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.
"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.
"Okay you know when Hagrid makes a remark about someone's size that should be a big warning sign that Dudley is far to large to be healthy…" James snickered.
Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.
"Right like that'll work" Sirius said sarcastically.
"Would he even fit?" James asked looking at the others.
"He may fit now, but in a few years he won't if he keeps up his current habits," Lily laughed.
"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.
Harry 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 dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."
James and Lily shared a small sad smile with one another, "well at least we know he's real good looking kid, he'll have all the ladies fawning over him, just like his old man," James arrogantly smirked.
"You just had to ruin the moment with that ego of yours didn't you Potter?" Lily scoffed "I swear if my son ends up with a big head I'm blaming you,"
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.
"Cool!" Sirius yelled excitedly.
"Geesh Black you make it sound like Christmas came early," Lily teased.
"Sirius gets excited over the smallest things," James smirked, while Sirius stuck his tongue out at him.
"Well you know what they say about small things and small minds," Lily smirked while the other marauders laughed, Sirius pretended to be hurt and faked a pout.
Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.
"Anyway -- Harry," 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."
"Don't eat it!" they all yelled.
From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.
"Well the thought is nice, and it really should be the thought that counts," Lily tried to reason.
"Even still, don't eat it Harry," James said looking slightly worried.
"Yeah, rule number one of Hogwarts, never eat anything Hagrid gives you, trust me I know," Sirius shuddered lightly.
"Why what happened?" Lily asked
"He actually managed to eat one of Hagrid's rock cakes…" James started.
"How did you accomplish that?" Lily asked clearly shocked "And why?"
"James promised me 5 Galleons if I did, and I did want to know what they tasted like, so I ground it up into smaller pieces and swallowed them whole," Sirius shrugged.
"Anyways, it went down ok, or so it seemed, but it made him sick, really sick," James shuddered at the memory.
"I was sick as a dog for days," the marauders shared a private smile over the reference.
Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"
"That's right," whispered Sirius "Harry doesn't know who Hagrid is,"
"Stupid muggles," Peter grumbled quietly
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 shook Harry's whole arm.
"Somehow I don't think that introduction cleared up anything for Harry…"
"Gee you think Peter?" James said rolling his eyes slightly.
"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."
"Here, here!" cheered Sirius "I wouldn't say no to something stronger either, what do you guys say to sneaking down to Hogsmeade later to grab some firewhiskey?"
"Sirius Black! How dare you…" Lily started.
"I'm up for that," James nodded.
"You are Head Boy Potter!" Lily hissed at James "You are supposed to stop this kind of behaviour, not encourage it!"
"Relax Evans, it's not like we're underage or anything," Sirius smirked slightly.
"Besides, it's not like we'd be bringing it back and giving it to the younger students," Remus reasoned.
"Not you too Remus! You're a Prefect!"
"Come on Lily, you saying that after everything we've heard so far that a drink or two wouldn't be nice?" James asked with a complete straight face. Lily looked around at the other boys who seemed to be eagerly awaiting her answer.
"Well…er…" Lily stammered while blushing slightly "maybe just a quick nip down in the village wouldn't be too bad," she quickly looked away so not to see the triumphant smirks on all four boys faces.
"Looks like the marauders have won again, Careful Lily, we might just have you converted over to the dark side yet." Sirius smirked, Lily just threw a pillow at him.
"It would take more then the likes of you lot to convert me into anything Black, except maybe a nun."
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 Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.
"Thank Merlin for magic!" cheered Sirius
"You lot would be so lost in the muggle world," Lily said shaking her said "well all of you but Remus perhaps," Remus just smiled at her.
"Why would we be in the muggle world anyways?" Peter scoffed.
"You never know Pete," Remus laughed "although I think some would be lost more than others, don't you think so Lily?"
"Agreed,"
"Oh I don't know surviving in the muggle world isn't so hard…" James said whimsically.
"And what would you know about it mister I can't survive without magic." Lily said sarcastically.
"I spent a month in the muggle world with a friend of my dad's. It was during that ministry auror scare last year. Dad got all paranoid and sent mum off to my aunts place and I went with my dad's friend. He's a muggle police officer, we had a blast." James said to a slightly shocked lily.
"Well the wonders never cease…" Lily said in slight awe.
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.
"Hagrid's holding out on us!" Sirius shouted mock offended.
"You better not offer any of that to Harry, Hagrid!" Lily shouted sternly.
"Aww come on Lily, a little wouldn't hurt him, warm him right up!"
"No way Potter! He is too young for alcohol,"
"She's right Prongs," Remus reasoned "Harry is only eleven, a recent eleven at that,"
"I had my first taste of alcohol at age eleven,"
"That explains so much Black,"
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.
"Pig,"
Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."
"Because clearly it's poisoned," muttered Sirius sarcastically.
The giant chuckled darkly.
"Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
They all burst out laughing at this. While cheers of "Go Hagrid!" could be heard from a couple of the boys.
He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful,
Everyone glared at the book.
"You just wait till I get my hands on you Dursley. Practically starving my son while that whale of a boy of his eats as much as he likes. No wonder Harry's small for his age.." Lily seethed
"Actually Lily I don't think lack of food made him small, James was small when he was younger too—"
"Don't try to justify it Remus! It doesn't change the fact that they starve him!"
"No it certainly doesn't but for now we'll add it to the severely long list of things to beat the Dursley's for, now lets just get back to the story, Things might be looking up for Harry now.." James said sagely. Lily seethed some more but fell quiet.
but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said,
"I'm 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.
Lily seemed about to say something about manners but with a look from James decided to hold her tongue.
"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."
"Sorry to disappoint Hagrid but he has no clue yet. But I'm sure he'll like the news when you tell him." Sirius said as everyone else nodded.
"Er -- no," said Harry.
Hagrid looked shocked.
"Why should he be shocked? Surely he doesn't think that my sister would have told Harry anything about Hogwarts."
"Obviously that's exactly what he thinks Lily." Peter said casually.
"But I've told him about my sister! He knows she hates magic, surely he wouldn't be that blind!" Lily said slightly shocked.
"Obviously he must think that by raising a Wizard child, their opinions must have changed." Remus said in slight exasperation.
Sirius snorted "wow is he in for a surprise…"
"Sorry," Harry said quickly.
"You shouldn't have to apologize Harry, It's my idiot sister in law that should apologize…" James muttered.
"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 yer parents learned it all?"
"And a fine institution of learning it is too." Sirius exclaimed raising a glass of water he had just retrieved from a night table near his bed.
"Here here!" Everyone cheered.
"A finer school you'll find nowhere else!" Peter chimed in.
"All what?" asked Harry.
"Oh dear Hagrid's not going to like that." Remus mused.
"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"
"Hagrid's pissed, maybe we won't have to kick their arses," Sirius said excitedly rubbing his hands together.
"Even if Hagrid does kick their arses, which I doubt he will knowing Hagrid, it still won't be enough,"
"Moony's right, and even if Hagrid does on the odd chance kick their arses, I'd still like a little piece of the action for myself," James smiled evilly.
"Well if you really want to kick someone's arse we could always try to find Snivellius," Sirius teased.
"The offer does sound tempting," James seemed to contemplate it for a moment "but maybe later, right now I want to find out what Hagrid does to the Dursleys," The others nodded in agreement. Lily rolled her eyes at the topic of kicking Snape's arse but if one looked closely they could see a small smile on her face.
He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut.
The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.
"Ahh revenge is sweet," Sirius was once again rubbing his hands in an evil fashion.
"Justice is served," Lily smirked evilly while sharing a smile with James.
"And to think there's more to come," Peter said with a truly evil yet triumphant smile on his face that no one seemed to notice.
"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy -- this boy! -- knows nothin' abou' -- about ANYTHING?"
"Geesh Hagrid, you make it sound like he's an idiot or something," Remus winced. The others all nodded in agreement.
"Well he is a little behind on things concerning the Wizarding world," James reasoned.
"No more behind then I was at this point, or the other muggleborn students starting their first year," No one had noticed the scowl that appear on Peter's face at this comment.
"She's got a point Prongsie,"
"Don't call me Prongsie Padfoot!"
"Ok Jamesie,"
"Urgh!" James threw a pillow at Sirius.
Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.
"I know some things," he said. "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?"
Everyone looked a cross between saddened at this prospect and angered by it.
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 Harry.
Everyone just laughed at this.
"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're
famous. You're famous."
"Famous for living while your family died, famous for something that he'll never remember," grumbled James, Lily put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a small sad smile.
"What? My -- my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"
"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his
hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.
"Of course he doesn't, none of us know what really happened. The only people who really know are the Lily and James of that time, and well…" Sirius trailed off, everyone else immediately looked over at James and Lily almost as if trying to convince themselves that they were still alive and with them.
"That may not be true Sirius," Remus said quietly after some time "There may be someone else who really knows what happened that night,"
"You're not talking about You-Know-Who are you Moony?" Peter said with a tremble.
"No Wormtail, I'm not talking about Voldemort," Peter shuddered even harder at the mention of the name "you really need to work on getting over the fear of saying his name,"
"Yeah Wormy, it's just a name after all," Sirius teased.
"I..I just…can't," trembled Peter looking truly afraid.
"Look are you a Gryffindor or not?"
"I am a Gryf…Gryffindor, but I can…can't say it," Peter studdered
"Leave him alone Padfoot," Remus stepped in before Sirius could continue "stop tormenting him,"
"Yeah," Peter said a little stronger than before "some of us have been taught to fear him since the early days,"
"And some of us have been taught to worship the git since the early days," Sirius said bitterly without looking at anyone. "Trust me it's not a condition that can't easily be cured…"
"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.
"I think that's kind of obvious Hagrid…"
Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.
"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the
boy anything!"
"Excuse me?" James said quietly but harshly, everyone in the room knew that James was beyond angry when he spoke like this, Sirius even flinched remembering the last time James was that angry. "You forbid it? You have no right to forbid my son from knowing anything! Especially when it is about his true heritage!"
Lily looked like she wanted to say something but kept quiet, letting her emotions speak for her as she wiped away angry tears.
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 him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore
left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An'
you've kept it from him all these years?"
"Told you they wouldn't listen to a letter," Lily grumbled bitterly
"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.
"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.
"SOD OFF DURSLEY!" James shouted shaking with rage "No longer will your influence have any control over my son's life," Everyone was too shocked by James' sudden outburst to say anything.
"He'll still most likely have to go back for the summer," Remus whispered after a few minutes.
"Even still," Lily spoke up seeing as James was still shaking in anger "he'll only be there for a few weeks, most of his time will be spent at Hogwarts, where he belongs, away from my horrid sister and her family," It was still a few more minutes before James was able to continue reading.
Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.
"Oh no!" Sirius cried in a high pitched voice trying to act all dramatic "my perfect little life will come to an end, what will the neighbours think?" Lily and Remus laughed a bit at the joke while James just scowled; clearly still feeling the anger from his outburst. Peter on the other hand burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world, causing the others to look at him strangely.
"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry -- yer a
wizard."
"And there it is, the most important phrase you will ever have said to you," Sirius smiled proudly.
"At least he now knows," James said a little stiffly
"But how will he react to the news?" Remus questioned.
"Probably won't believe it," Lily stated calmly "I know I didn't truly believe until McGonagall showed me some real magic,"
"I think that's true for most muggleborns," Remus said nodding slightly.
There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind
could be heard.
"-- a what?" gasped Harry.
"A wizard, o' course," 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? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."
"The letter does help a bit, makes it seem a bit more real and a lot less like a practical joke,"
"You seriously thought it was a joke Evans?"
"Of course I did!" Lily said indignantly "I'd been brought up my whole life to believe that magic only existed in fairy tales,"
"Fairy Tales?" Sirius had a look of confusion written across his face.
"Stories filled with mystical creatures and people, like princes, princesses in distress, dragons and wizards, all of it was make believe, or so I'd been taught," Lily said wistfully "never believed in a million years that some of it would be true,"
Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope,
addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock,
The Sea.
"Even in the middle of nowhere, Dumbledore knows where you are," Sirius smirked triumphantly.
"Am I still the only one here that sees that as kind of creepy? A man his age watching us all the time…" James said uneasily.
"Hold up! I'm going to stop this right here before I find it hard to look Dumbledore in the eye when we meet him for Head Boy and Girl meetings…" Lily said holding her hands up in a staying motion.
He pulled out the letter and read:
James rubbed his hands together eagerly as everyone smiled.
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 Mr. 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
"And there it is, the most important letter you will ever receive," Sirius smiled proudly "my godsons going to Hogwarts," he wiped his eyes pretending to get all misty.
"Sod off Black," Lily threw a pillow at him "you may not even be godfather," she finished with an evil smirk.
"We'll see about that Evans," Sirius said with an evil smirk of his own.
Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't
decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does
it mean, they await my owl?"
"That's right, Harry's never had a letter sent by owl before," Remus suddenly remembered.
"Yeah in the muggle world they have people owls deliver the letters," Sirius said looking proud at remembering something about the muggle world.
"They're called letter carriers, Black!" Lily snapped sounding exasperated "People owls, of all the things… what are you? 4 years old?" she grumbled to herself.
"Some days 4 years old is an overstatement…" James said wistfully. Sirius pouted.
"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 –
"That poor bird," Lily looked absolutely horrified
"Hope he didn't sit on it too many times," James said looking disgusted.
"Look at it this way James," Sirius tried to reason "if he did, it probably wouldn't be much of an owl anymore," The all shared a disgusted look before carrying on.
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 Harry could
read upside down:
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
Given Harry his letter.
Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.
Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.
Hagrid
"Good thing Hagrid's taking him, I'd hate for it to have to be the Dursleys," Lily shuddered.
"I don't know Evans, I think it'd be pretty funny to see your sister and her family in Diagon Alley," Sirius snickered. They all shared a laugh at the thought.
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.
"Well it is," Sirius shrugged.
"Not to Harry it isn't," laughed James, everyone looked at him funny "just imagine what Harry must be thinking at this point," the others joined in on the laughter.
Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.
"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still
ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.
"Uh oh, Dursleys about to try and have his way again," Sirius said in a bored tone of voice.
"I'd like to see him try," Peter growled.
"I agree with Peter, my son is going to Hogwarts Dursley and there is nothing you can do to stop him," James said with a note of finality in his voice.
"He's not going," he said.
Hagrid grunted.
"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.
"Here, here!" Sirius shouted while the others just cheered.
"A what?" said Harry, interested.
"A git unworthy of magic," Peter whispered to himself so no one else would hear, he didn't want the others to look at him strangely again. It had become apparent to Peter by reading this book that the others didn't share the same views as him. Remus perked his ears slightly, listening to Peter and making further mental notes about his behaviour.
"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call non-magic folk like them.
An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I
ever laid eyes on."
"Bad luck is that what you call it?" Lily narrowed her eyes in anger "Bad judgment is what it's called, bad luck was only part of it!"
"Hey maybe after seeing how bad Harry's been treated Dumbledore will find a new home for him, or he'll be able to stay at Hogwarts during the summer months," Sirius said trying to be optimistic.
"Maybe," Remus said "I mean he did open the doors to students this summer,"
"But that was only after the attack on Platform 9 ¾ and the students returning home for the summer," Lily reasoned "I think it was more because Dumbledore had no choice, because before this year no one has ever been allowed to stay at Hogwarts for the summer,"
"Things might have changed Lil," James said quietly.
"Don't call me Lil Potter."
"Fine, will Mrs Potter do?"
"Arg!!" Lily grunt in exasperation, throwing a pillow at Sirius' head.
"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said
Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"
"Stamp it out of him!?" Lily shrieked "magic is not something you can stamp out of a person, either they are magical or they aren't it's a simple as that!"
"Well apparently the Dursleys thought otherwise," James grumbled bitterly
"Looks like they got proved wrong though," Peter smirked triumphantly
"Yeah but what cost did it have to Harry and his childhood!?" Lily snapped.
"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a -- a wizard?"
"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you 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!
"That's really rich coming from you Petunia," Lily said softly, as tears poured down her face "considering you wanted to come to Hogwarts too, you wanted to be a freak!" she was practically yelling at the end.
James tried to comfort her but was finding it hard since he was shaking in rage himself. "Makes me kind of glad I'm an only child," he smiled in a weak attempt at humour.
"It's not all bad having a sister," Lily laughed lightly while wiping her eyes with the handkerchief James had given her "she was nice when we were kids, and I have to admit it is kind of fun making up pretend spells to scare her with," The others laughed.
"I do have one question though," Sirius asked with a complete straight face "Did you really keep frog spawn in your pockets and turn rats into teacups when you were at home?" They all laughed harder, Lily threw another pillow at Sirius but when no one else was looking gave him a small smile in gratitude which he noted with a nod.
But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"
"At least your parents are proud," Remus smiled slightly
"Yeah they are," Lily smiled more brightly this time "and they are completely fascinated by our world, constantly want to hear about what I'm doing and how things are going,"
"You miss them don't you," James stated.
"I do, but we all know that it is safer for me to remain here this summer, although I did get a letter from them a few days ago congratulating me on making Head Girl,"
She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.
"Doesn't mean we want to hear it," Peter snapped
"This is exactly why they say you shouldn't keep your emotions locked away, it eats you up and eventually you blow," Everyone just looked at Sirius with a shocked look on their faces.
"What? Why is everyone staring at me like that?"
"Did you just say something insightful?" Lily asked clearly bewildered.
"My head's not completely filled with hot air," he smirked.
"You're right," James smirked "some parts are just missing," Sirius just stuck his tongue out at him.
"Then she met that Potter at school
"It was the best day of her life," James smirked arrogantly.
"Clearly," Lily said sarcastically while she rolled her eyes.
and they left and got married
"Let me guess the second best day of my life?" Lily asked turning to James.
"Of course, I know it'll be mine," Lily blushed and turned away.
and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as -- as -- abnormal –
"Oi! My son is not abnormal!" James snapped.
"If any kid is abnormal it's yours Petunia," Lily snarled.
"At least Harry isn't a whale," Sirius shrugged.
"That's because he wasn't fed properly," Lily snapped.
"Even still, he's not a fat Mama's boy,"
"Thank Merlin for that," James and Lily said at the same time.
and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"
"Blown up!?" everyone shouted.
"Is…is that how we go?" Lily asked fearfully looking at James, who looked just as unsure.
"She could be exaggerating," Remus quickly stated, trying to sound soothing.
"Even still what a way to go," Sirius said astonished.
"Well if you're going to go, why not go with style," James tried to joke but it fell short.
Lily started to laugh "make sure you write that on our tombstones," they all shared a laugh at that one.
Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"
"The muggles lied to you Harry," Peter said disgustedly
"Appearently one in a long line of fallacies in Harry's life" Remus said in an annoyed tone.
"Yeah, there is no way in hell Lily and I would die in a car crash…It's a magical impossibility!" James said bitterly.
"Wait hold up…you're saying you wouldn't mind having something so mugglish as a car?" Lily said slightly surprised.
"Well yeah…I mean their fun to drive and it's not like after we have Harry that we can apparate everywhere… Besides, muggle or not, magic can make them better" James said hesitantly. Lily looked at him like she had never seen him before.
"Potter..just when I think I have you figured out…" She said shacking her head.
"I know I know…" He replied knowingly "I'm a Walking talking enigma"
"Among over things…" Remus said with a smirk
"Oi!"
Everyone chuckled and James shot Lily a small smile.
"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! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"
"Oh boy…I can see that causing problems…"
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad, alittle bit of fame isn't so horrible…" Peter sighed.
"I know I'd have a lot of fun if I had fame like Harry is going to have.." Sirius said lounging back against the pillows on his bed in a classic daydreaming position. Lily frowned.
"But can't you see the problems this is going to cause?... He'll be famous for something he can't even remember…Not only that but for something that cost him his family…He'll always have people looking up to him and he'll not know why and that'll make it hard to make friends…"
"Yeah guys I mean look at us… We were complete strangers for the most part before we met here, it gave us all something in common. Harry won't have that…" James said sadly. It provided a sad prospect to the rest of the group.
"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.
The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.
"Oh dear...not too sure Hagrid is the best one for this story…" Remus said uneasily.
"Yeah not an easy thing to sit there and tell someone that they're famous because they didn't die when they're family was killed by an evil manic…"
"How would you know have you ever had to do that Padfoot?"
"Don't be an idiot Pete.. It was an observation." Peter scowled slightly.
"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—
Lily and James scowled at this news.
"I'm going to have to have a few words with our esteemed headmaster…" Lily said annoyed. "Leaving my son in that environment…Oh yes there will be words indeed…" She grumbled.
how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, 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'."
"Oh yes that would be slightly embarrassing…" Sirius said lightly only for Lily and James to continue scowling.
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..."
"Sounds like we're going to find out how it happened…" James said uneasily exchanging his scowl for a slightly pale look. Sirius reached over and grabbed James shoulder comfortingly.
"Look at it this way Prongs… the more we know…the more we can try and change it…"
"True as that may be…won't make it any easier to hear…" Lily said unconsciously leaning slightly against James who smiled inperceptively.
"Okay well…here we go.." He took a deep breath and continued reading.
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 --"
"Except Harry…wonder if Voldemort is his real name," James wondered aloud. At the mention of Voldemort's name Peter shuddered so violently that he nearly fell off his bed.
"Geesh Pete, it's just a name, no need to have a panic attack," Sirius rolled his eyes at Wormtail's behaviour.
"Who?"
"Well -- I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"Quite stupid actually, being afraid of a name," Lily scoffed.
"You weren't taught his values were almost sacred Lily," Sirius whispered "that he was to be treated with the utmost of respect and that meant not saying his name,"
"No I wasn't," Lily refused to meet anyone's eyes especially Sirius' "guess I was a little quick to judge…"
"No, you weren't" Sirius said almost harshly looking directly at her as she raised her eyes to met his "it is bloody stupid to be afraid of a name, to treat a man with respect because he wants to kill innocent people who have just as much right to be in this world any anyone else," No one noticed the glare Peter sent Sirius at this comment.
"Sirius, I…"
"I don't want your pity Evans, I don't need that. However, I wouldn't object to some extra warmth at night," Sirius said with a wink and his trademark smirk. Lily just rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at him.
James on the other hand scowled "I really wish you would stop flirting with my future wife,"
"Give it up Prongs, Padfoot will never stop flirting with her, he'll probably be flirting with her on your wedding day,"
"That's if we get married Remus, Potter has yet to give me a good reason as to why I should marry him," Lily said with her own smirk.
"I'll show you Evans," James vowed.
"Why not?"
"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, 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..."
"Moldyshorts," Sirius smiled, everyone burst out laughing.
Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.
"Nah -can't spell it. All right -- Voldemort. " Hagrid shuddered.
"There you go, see that wasn't so hard?" Sirius said as if he was talking to a small child.
"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, Harry. 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.
"Which is exactly why we are here right now," sighed Peter looking almost bored "We already know all this!"
"Relax Pete, he's got to give Harry a bit of background information or else he'd get confused," Remus stated calmly.
Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.
"No but I reckon he's getting closer to trying," James grumbled. "Bet that attack on the Hogwarts Express was a test, see what Dumbledore would do,"
"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew.
James and Lily smiled slightly.
Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day!
"How Potter became Head Boy in the first place is beyond me," Lily shook her head. "I mean what on earth was Dumbledore thinking?"
"You're not the only one pondering that question Evans," James mumbled.
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.
"So what you are saying is that being close to Dumbledore is both a blessing and a curse?" James asked skeptically.
"Seems so Prongs," Remus mused.
"Guess that must be true for the rest of us too them," Sirius said blankly.
"What makes you say that Padfoot? Nothing was said about any of us,"
"Exactly Moony, nothing is said and yet none of us went to get Harry from the Dursleys meaning that something bad must have happened," Everyone was silent for a few moments all lost in their own thoughts before James cleared his throat and continued.
"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' --"
James stopped reading for a moment, it appeared he was wiping his eyes but no one could really tell due to the angle of his hand and the book in his hand. Only Lily could tell that he had just wiped a couple of tears away because of how close she was sitting to him, but she would never tell. She gently laid her hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture; James looked up and held her gaze for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing on. While this went on none of the other boys said a thing or looked in the direction that Lily and James were sitting, feeling it was a private moment that they didn't want to invade.
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..."
They all smiled.
"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 mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. 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, Harry. 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 –
"Merlin, those are some prestigious families he's knocked out," James was clearly shocked by the news.
"We went to school with a lot of those people too," Remus murmured.
"You alright there Wormtail?" Sirius asked looking over at Peter who appeared to be shifting uncomfortably.
"Fine, just want this chapter to be over so we can move on to happier things," The others just nodded while Remus gave Peter a lingering glance.
an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."
"Thank Merlin he did," Lily said softly "and always remember that no matter what your mum will always love you,"
"Same goes for your father," James said just as softly looking at Lily who smiled slightly at him.
Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before -- and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.
Everyone shivered, no one felt the need to speak for they all knew without a doubt who the laugh belonged to.
Hagrid was watching him sadly.
"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought
yeh ter this lot..."
"Really wish you hadn't," James grumbled. Sirius looked away guiltily but no one seemed to notice.
"Would still like to know Dumbledore's reason for sending him there,"
"We all would Remus," James sighed
"Maybe we should have a talk with Dumbledore about our wishes regarding Harry should something like this happen,"
"It better not! You two better take precautions against this now that you know about the possible outcome" roared Sirius looking angry.
"Well obviously Sirius, but still should something different happen I want to make sure that any child James and I have does not end up with my sister should something happen to us,"
"Good idea Lils,"
"Lils?"
"Do you not like being called Lils?" James asked nervously.
"It's not that, I just didn't know we were at a nickname stage yet,"
"You can call him Jamsie if you want," Sirius smirked "he just adores that name,"
"No I do not! I hate being called Jamsie, do you remember what happened to the last person who called me Jamsie?"
"I couldn't sit for a week," grumbled Peter. Everyone laughed.
"Very well then," Lily started in a business like tone "you may continue to call me Lils as long as I may call you by a nickname of my choice to be determined later, do we have a deal," Lily put out her hand to shake with James.
"Deal," James shook Lily's hand briefly.
"Great, glad we got that settled, now can we continue?" Peter grumbled sounding very annoyed. James shot him a look but otherwise said nothing since Sirius took it upon himself to smack Peter for him.
"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he 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.
"Looks like the muggle wants to play," Sirius smirked.
"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "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 --"
Throughout this part the group more and more angry. James had to pause a few times to take a breath before continuing on, at the end he glared furiously at the book, Lily could be seen wiping angry tears away, Sirius and Remus were both looking murderous while Peter was smirking evilly as if he'd had something planned. Other than that no one said anything and after a few minutes James continued reading.
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... "
"Go Hagrid!" the Marauders all cheered while Lily smirked in triumph.
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.
"Some bully you are, scared of a little pink umbrella," Peter laughed.
"I don't think it's an ordinary umbrella Pete,"
"What do you mean Moony?"
"Think about it Padfoot, earlier on in the chapter Hagrid used magic,"
"So?" Sirius blinked looking very confused.
"Come on Black I'm sure even you've heard the stories about Hagrid being expelled from Hogwarts at a young age,"
"Yeah I have, but what's that got to do with anything?"
"They snap your wand when you're expelled Padfoot," Remus looked Sirius straight in the eye "you're no longer permitted to use magic,"
"Blimey," Sirius whistled "you don't think Hagrid kept the pieces and…"
"Hid them in his pink umbrella, that's exactly what we think Black. Means that Hagrid is using magic illegally, how else would he have lit that fire?"
"But that's that got to do with Dursley cowering away from it, he wouldn't know that…would he?"
"Probably not Wormtail, but he's probably not sure at the same time, for all we know he may think that the pink umbrella is an actual wand," James absently scratched his chin seeming to be pondering the thought.
"It could be," Lily shrugged "it all depends on how much Petunia has told him about the Wizarding World because as much as she hates it she does know a fair bit about our world,"
"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.
Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.
"But what happened to Vol--, sorry -- I mean, You-Know-Who?"
"I was hoping Harry would ask that question," Sirius started rubbing his hands together in anticipation while the others sat up straight obviously giving James and the book their full attention to the answer.
"Good question, Harry. 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?"
"Because he was defeated," Sirius smiled proudly "Prongslet finished him off,"
"Prongslet?" James raised his eyebrow at this.
"No son of mine is going to be called 'Prongslet'" Lily stated harshly.
"Little Prongs sound better to you Evans?"
"Little Prongs?" James once again raised his eyebrow at the nickname. Lily appeared to be thinking it over for a while "I guess Little Prongs is ok, it's better than 'Prongslet' anyways,"
"It would probably be better to give him his own nickname thought Padfoot," Remus pointed out.
"Hmm, ok I'll work on it then, but until something else has been determined, Harry James Potter I hereby dub thee 'Little Prongs'" Sirius declared as if knighting someone.
"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.
"Typical," James scoffed "Moldyshorts vanishes and suddenly people are 'good' again,"
"Five Galleons says that Malfoy was one of them," Sirius smirked.
"That's not a good bet to take," Remus reasoned "it seems like the kind of thing Malfoy would do," The others just nodded their agreement.
Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.
"Hagrid does have a point there," Lily mused. Once again the others nodded their agreement.
"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, Harry.
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."
There was a pause in reading at this point while everyone pondered what Hagrid had just said. There was no need for words since the same question was on everyone's mind 'What about Harry stumped Voldemort that night?' A few moments later James cleared his throat to signal he was going to continue.
Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes,
"Uh oh…" whispered Lily.
"Everything alright?" James asked her but all she did was signal for him to keep reading.
But Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.
"Just as I thought, he's not even known about the Wizarding World for a day and already he's feeling uncomfortable, what's he going to do when he gets to Hogwarts, the pressure is going to be intense…" Lily was starting have a panic attack at the thought. James immediately put the book down and tried to reassure her but Lily pushed him away to jump up and start pacing all the while muttering to herself about it being unfair and unjust.
"Lily look at me," Sirius had gotten up and forced her to stop pacing by holding both of her shoulders forcing her to look at him "Harry is going to be fine. He's obviously a tough kid if he's been stuck with the Dursleys all this time. He's just feeling a little insecure about all this, it is a lot to take all at once. Wasn't there ever a time when you doubted yourself and your abilities?"
"Of course I did," Lily breathed "I was so worried that I wouldn't fit in or be as good as the others once I got to Hogwarts, that worry also doubled when I didn't get into the house I wanted…"
"House you wanted?" James asked looking confused.
"Remember who I used to play with Snape when I was a child?" the boys all nodded "he had me convinced that we were going to be in Slytherin together, and since I didn't know anything about the other houses I was extremely disappointed when I was put into Gryffindor instead," The boys all had looks of disgust on their faces.
"You don't still think that being in Gryffindor is a bad thing…do you?" James asked carefully.
"Of course not," Lily answered immediately, "I know better now, but at the time…"
"But still," Sirius spoke up trying to get the conversation back on track "once you got over your initial disappointment…"
"I realized that everything was going to be ok," Lily interrupted "especially once I became the head of the class," Lily smiled and quickly gave Sirius a hug "Thank you Sirius, I now know that Harry will be just fine, but I do have one question,"
"Which is?"
"How did you become so wise?"
"That is one of the many questions of the universe Lily," Remus interrupted smirking "one that will never be answered because we all know the answer would horrify us," Sirius just stuck his tongue out.
A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be?
"Well you see when your dad and your mum get together and get married at some point they'll engage in certain activities— Ouch!" Sirius cried as he nursed the fresh lump on his head as Lily stood over him with her fist clenched.
"Say one more word Black... and all that wisdom we just talked about will be lying in gooey puddles on the floor you mark my words. It's bad enough to hear I'm getting married to Potter, I don't even want to think about the implications…" Sirius grinned sheepishly but fell quiet While James appeared to be stuck in a slight daydream before a glare from Lily caused him to hastily turn back to the book, clearing his throat.
He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard?
"Because you haven't learned how to yet," Sirius smirked evilly "but you will," the others just laughed.
If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?
"Because there is more to the story then we currently know," Remus reasoned while the others just nodded their agreement.
"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."
"You are," everyone said at once.
To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.
"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"
"Yes, we've read about a few of them," James smiled.
Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?
"Yes you did and it was bloody brilliant!" Sirius cheered, the others laughed in remembrance.
Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively
beaming at him.
"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard -- you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."
"For all the wrong reasons," Lily muttered quietly.
"Until he proves himself that is," James added.
But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.
"Stupid muggle, when are you going to realize that you can't stop him?" Peter asked rhetorically.
"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall
High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish -- spell books and wands and --"
"Dungbombs and Stink Pellets and…" Sirius was checking items off on his fingers, the rest of the Marauders just laughed while Lily huffed loudly.
"Harry doesn't need that rubbish,"
"Course he does, he is the son of a Marauder, it's his moral duty to cause havoc," Sirius stated proudly, the other Marauders cheered happily while Lily just glared at all of them.
"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled
Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter' s son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad.
His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had
Albus Dumbled--"
"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.
"Hey!" Peter jumped up looking furious as he yelled at the book "don't you be insulting Headmaster Dumbledore, you stupid muggle!"
"Yeah!" Sirius jumped up as well "I mean we know he's a little senile and appears to have a few lingering trust issues but that doesn't mean he can't teach…I wonder if he'd be able to give me some ideas on some gender changing techniques…"
"You are not going to ask Professor Dumbledore how to change Snape into a girl," Remus looked a cross between annoyed and amused.
"Moony's right Padfoot, besides how would turning Snape into a girl make things any better for us?"
"It'd give us something to laugh about Prongs, and it would greatly annoy Snape,"
"Hmm…sounds like you've thought this trough," James nodded in contemplation while Lily rolled her eyes sharing an amused smirk with Remus who smacked his head. At the same time Peter sat down in a huff at being cut off from his angry rant.
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!"
"Looks like justice will be served," Sirius grinned evilly while rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
"Really should have seen something like this coming,"
"Why do you say that Lily?" James looked at her curiously.
"Because Hagrid is very loyal to Dumbledore, I think it's because he let him work as groundskeeper after his expulsion, so obviously he'd try to defend him from these…people,"
"People is such a strong word Evans," Sirius smirked, Lily just grinned evilly.
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, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.
Everyone burst out laughing, a few were even wiping tears from their eyes at laughing so hard.
"Looks… like… you were… right… Padfoot, justice… has been… served," James mumbled between laughs.
"I'll have to remember to send some sort of 'thank you' gift to Hagrid for this," Sirius paused his laughter for a moment "and I must say how very fitting it is for the Pig to get a pig's tail," this just caused everyone to laugh even harder, it was several moments before everyone had gotten their laughter under control enough to continue.
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.
"Must remember to keep that in mind 'If one ever wants to get rid of the Dursleys give the Pig a tail," Sirius noted, this just caused the whole group to break out into laughter again.
Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.
"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully,
"You kidding, that was bloody brilliant!" James cheered.
"but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."
Once again the whole group was rolling around in fits of laughter. Between laughs one could here a few random chants of "here, here" and "spot on," once again it was several moments before the group got their laughter under control.
He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.
"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"
"Well I guess we just figured out the secret to Hagrid's pink umbrella," Remus smiled.
"I always did wonder why he had that thing, it didn't look like it big enough for him to use properly,"
"That's because he wasn't using it properly Padfoot," James said sarcastically, Sirius just stuck his tongue out at him.
"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.
"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."
"Even if he is a little senile," muttered Lily
"and has a few trust issues," muttered James
"Why were you expelled?"
"Looks like we get to find out why Hagrid was expelled," Sirius leaned forward looking greedy.
"Not likely Padfoot, I highly doubt Hagrid is going to tell Harry, especially after just meeting him," Remus reasoned.
"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."
"See?"
"Ahh boo," Sirius pouted, Remus just rolled his eyes at him.
"I wonder if we'll ever find out why Hagrid was expelled," Peter questioned.
"I hope so," Sirius said with a far away look in his eyes "how knows, maybe Harry will uncover the truth,"
"Maybe," the others murmured.
He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.
"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."
"You gave my son a coat to sleep under that has mice in the pockets!?" Lily asked shirly.
"Relax Lily he'll be fine, besides it's the thought that counts," James tried to reassure her.
"It's more than the Dursleys ever gave him," Sirius bluntly pointed out.
"I guess," She sheepishly looked at her shoes to avoid eye contact.
"If you're that unsure why don't we find out if he's alright, so who's going to read next?"