Chapter 4

A/N: Just a short one here. Things have been pretty hectic. I'm still committed to completing this, albeit not able to update as quickly as I would like.

I woke with a groan as beams of sunlight poked relentlessly at my weary eyes. Rubbing the proverbial sand from them, I sat up, taking not of the luxurious four poster bed I had been sleeping in. Slowly, memories from the previous night filtered out from the haze that was my partially unconscious mind.

OoO HP:DH OoO

After being thrown out of the library for my antics, I wandered the castle and grounds. By far my favorite place was the astronomy tower. Being so high above everything without a care in the world, that was something I'd pay to experience, over and over again. The castle itself seemed to be alive, as I took great care to retrace my steps back to the library. I wound up exploring the dungeons after descending one flight of stairs, although I distinctly remember heading up four flights to get to the tower. This place is definitely strange.

All throughout the dungeon, I felt as though a presence was watching me and even caught sight of a large shadow that reminded me vaguely like a swooping bat. I debated chasing after the shadow for a minute or so, but decided it was ultimately a bad idea. Being effectively alone in a huge castle with countless potential, unknown hazards was bad enough. No need to be stupid, after all.

I headed back the way I came, momentarily becoming lost. I saw the same strange swooping shadow as I gathered my wits and regained my bearings. At that point I fled as though the devil himself was chasing me. Considering I had both met and banished a ghost, I wouldn't put anything past this crazy place.

I grunted as I hit the door to the entrance hall, hard. It flew open with a bang, and suddenly I was in the relative warmth and safety of grey stone gothic columns and high leaded glass windows. It felt amazing to see by natural light again, in this case moonlight. I must have been lost down there for hours for the moon to be so high in the sky.

I bent over, hands on my knees and gulping in deep, greedy breaths. They were a godsend compared to the musty, almost moldy air down in the dungeons. The dank greenish stones were like night and day when compared to the rest of the castle. The serpentine corridors and eerie blue torches did nothing to help that ambience. I'd have to investigate that strange place further, but…not today.

"Tippy!" I shouted, frankly unsure of how the elf would hear me, only certain that it had worked for the old man. Tippy appeared almost before the word had completely left my mouth and bowed deeply.

"Yes, Master Harry sir? How can Tippy be helpings you?" The elf's high voice grated a bit but it wasn't his fault. Or was it her? Not important right now.

"I'm exhausted; I need to get to sleep, but every time I try to explore this crazy place I seem to wind up lost for several hours. Do you have a map or something?" Tippy gave me an odd look at the mention of a map.

"There is beings no maps of Hogwarts, Master Harry. Hogwarts is being unplottable."

"So it can't be mapped out in any way then?" Just my luck.

"Yes, Master Harry, sir," Tippy replied.

"Well, fuck…" I trailed off when Tippy gave me a glare, but didn't bother to correct myself. "In that case, can you show me to someplace I can get some sleep? Maybe I'll be a better navigator when I'm not about fall over."

"Of course, Tippy is beings happy to help you." Tippy took his hand and lead the way upstairs, leaving me idly wondering why she didn't pop us to wherever we were headed, as she and the old man seemed to do all the time. We walked for quite some time, heading up to the seventh floor. The trip would have gone faster if not for the staircases, which seemed to move of their own volition, making every route an adventure.

Throughout the entire trip, paintings that I had been ignoring to the best of his ability during his exploration chattered loudly at me. I tried my best to block them out, but with only one hand free I couldn't even cover my ears. My memory of the night ended when we rounded the corner and found ourselves facing the portrait of a fat woman in a puffy pink dress. She was practicing opera in very shrill tones. As her singing reached a fever pitch, the wineglass in her hand began to crack at the same time my head began to pound like a timpani. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was the glass in her hand shattering, much like I imagined my skull doing at that very moment.

OoO HP:DH OoO

What I thought was primarily the pounding of my own head was actually the muffled thumping of someone knocking on a door nearby. Not sure how long I had already kept them waiting, I figured they wouldn't mind a few minutes more and decided to get cleaned up. I swung my feet out of bed and stood up, rubbing my eyes. I really shouldn't have been shocked to see a strange trunk at the foot of my bed, nor that it was filled with everything I owned. Not that it amounted to much.

I put on my glasses and stumbled my way towards the bathroom, intent on a hot shower. After ten minutes in the steam, my head still hurt but I was able to differentiate between my headache and the knocking on the door, which had taken on an odd rhythmic quality.

Now showered and dressed in another set of Dudley's cast offs, feeling marginally better, I headed down stairs from the largish bedroom. On the next level down was a cozy looking common area, with a fire that probably never went out. The room had an array of couches, low tables, and squashy chairs, all in red and gold. I quickly claimed one as my preferred seat, before heading to the door.

Opening the door I saw a large man leap back in surprise, his sheer bulk causing the suits of armor to rattle when he landed. I stepped out, admittedly curious. The door swung shut behind me, turning out to be the painting of the fat woman from earlier. I instinctively winced.

"'ello, 'arry." The man's thick accent was a little difficult to make out at first. "Yer so grown now, it brings a tear to me eye."

"Pardon my rudeness, but do I know you?" He looked ashamed for not thinking things through and stammered.

"Oh, no. Course ya wouldn'. Last time I saw ya, ya were tiny lil thing that fit in the palm of my hand. Haven't seen ya since ya were a babe." I glanced at his hands, easily the size of trashcan lids and became a tad worried for my younger self. Feeling stupid, I shook my head. Clearly I was still alive, so the issue was moot.

"How about some proper introductions then?" I put out my hand which was promptly engulfed by his.
"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Pleased ter formally met ya."

"Harry Potter, perpetually curious pre-teen. The pleasure is all mine. "We shook hands or rather he shook mine and I felt like my arm might come off. "Mr. Hagrid, you seemed pretty insistent with your knocking. Is there something I can help you with?

"Jus Hagrid is fine, Harry." He let go of my hand, so I cracked my knuckles. "I'm supposed ter take ya school shoppin, so I came up here to get ya. Got a mite bored waitin, so I turned my knocking into a beat for Dawn here to sing ter. Bit of a sucker for her arias, ya see." I blinked and turned around to look at the painting of the fat woman from the previous night. She seemed startled that I was paying attention to her.

"My apologies, Mr. Potter," she said in aristocratic tones, " I have been trying to shatter that glass since the fourteen hundreds, but I usually reserve such folly for when the students go home. I would not have attempted it had I known you were there."

"I think I can forgive you this time, Dawn, if I may call you such. " I gave her a smile to ease her tension. "You had no way of knowing that I was coming, or that my head was already hurting, so I see no reason not to forgive you."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. You are quiet kind."

"So, Mr... I mean Hagrid, what time are we supposed to leave? Do we have time for some breakfast by chance?" My stomach growled to punctuate my point.

"We have ter leave soon, so we'll have to get something once we get ter Diagon Alley. I'll make sure yer get fed though."

"Thank you. In that case, lead the way please." Hagrid nodded and began regaling me with stories as we headed down to the gates.