Chapter 4 – Keeper of the Keys

BOOM!

Whoever it was at the door knocked again. Uncle Vernon, who was holding a rifle in his shaking hands, came skidding out of the shack's bedroom, followed by Aunt Petunia.

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

There was a pause. Then-

SMASH!

The door was shoved out of its frame, and landed on the floor with a deafening crash. In the doorway was a giant man whose face was completely covered with a wild mane of hair, and with two friendly, black eyes barely visible.

The man walked in, shoved Dudley aside with a grunt, and sat down on the couch. He looked at the twins.

"An' here's Harry an' Laura!" said the giant. "Las' time I saw yeh, yeh was only babies! Yeh two look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."

"I demand that you leave at on-" Uncle Vernon cut off and let out a terrified squeak as the giant yanked the gun out of his hands, twisted it into a knot, and threw it into the corner.

"Wicked!" the twins exclaimed.

"Anyway," said the giant, turning back to the twins, " a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here. I mighta sat on it, but it'll taste all right."

From an inside pocket of his overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry and Laura opened it, and inside was a large sticky cake with Happy Birthday Harry and Laura written in green icing.

They looked up at the giant, meaning to thank him, but instead it came out as, "Who are you?"

"True," the giant chuckled. "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

"Er… what's Hogwarts?" Laura asked.

Hagrid looked at him in shock.

"Sorry," she said quickly.

"Sorry? It's them that should be sorry! I knew yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer crying out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?

"Learned what?" asked Harry.

"Now wait jus' one second!" Hagrid thundered as he leapt to his feet. "Do you mean to tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that these kids, know nothin' abou'- abou' ANYTHING?

Harry was about to say something, but Harry nudged him with a grin on her face, and he closed his mouth again. It was interesting to watch the Dursleys cowering in the corner.

Hagrid turned back to the twins, and said quietly, "What do you know abou' our world."

The twins looked at each other quizzically. "What world?"

"DURSLEY!"

Hagrid stared wildly at Harry and Laura.

"But yeh must know 'bout yer mom and dad. I mean, they're famous! Yer famous!

"We're famous?" asked Laura.

"Yeh don't know what yeh are?" Hagrid asked.

Uncle Vernon finally found his voice, and said to Hagrid, "Stop! Stop right there! I forbid you to tell them anything!"

Uncle Vernon quailed under the scathing look Hagrid gave him. When he spoke, every syllable trembled with rage.

"Yeh never told them? Never told them what was in the letter Dumbledore left for them? I was there! I saw him leave it! And yeh've kept it from them all these years?"

"Kept what from us?" asked Harry eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in a panic, as Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Laura, Harry- yer a witch and wizard."

There was silence inside the hut.

"We're what?" gasped the twins.

"A witch and wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back on the sofa, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained upa bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's about' time yeh read yer letter."

Laura and Harry stretched out their hands for the two envelopes. Laura looked at hers. It was addressed to Ms. L. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. She pulled out the letter and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

---

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

Dear Ms. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

Laura could feel her hair turning yellow with shock under her wig. She could hear Harry asking a question, but it sounded funny. She looked up dizzily and vaguely heard a familiar voice shouting, before collapsing in a heap on the ground.

Some time later, Laura slowly opened her eyes. She saw Harry leaning over her, and slowly sat up. She looked over into the corner of the hut, and through the weak beams of light now coming through the window, saw Hagrid yelling at the Dursleys, Dudley clutching his butt.

"Oh, Laura, you're awake." Harry whispered to her. "You passed out just after reading you're letter."

"Must be the shock," she replied. "It's not every day someone gets a letter saying they're a witch, you know."

Harry laughed. "I know, I can't belie-" He was cut off as a brown owl with a newspaper started rapping his beak at the only window in the hut.

Hagrid stopped yelling, and walked over to the window. He opened it, gave the owl five bronze coins, took the newspaper, and threw the owl back out the window. He spotted Laura as he turned back around.

"Ah, good, yer awake," he said. "We better get goin'. Don' wanna meet too many Muggles."

"Muggles?" Laura asked, as the three of them left, leaving the Dursleys staring after them.

"Non magic folk," he replied as they got into the boat that the Dursleys and the twins had come in.

As they drifted across the sea, Harry repeated what had happened after Laura fainted. Laura listened intently as Harry told her about Voldemort.

"Voldemort had killed hundreds of people already. He came to our house on Halloween night, when we were about one year old. He killed our mum and dad… and he came up to our room, and tried to kill us too; Hagrid thought that maybe he just wanted to make a clean job of it, or he just liked killing by then." Harry shuddered. "But for some reason… he couldn't. The second You-Know-Who failed to kill us, he vanished, and we were left with nothing but our scars. That's why we're famous!"

Laura was quiet for a moment. Then she asked, "What were the Dursley's reactions?"

Harry laughed, "Oh, they were absolutely furious! Uncle Vernon shouted a bit, and Aunt Petunia revealed that she knew it all along. She called us freaks, too, but that's nothing new. Then Uncle Vernon said that he wouldn't pay to have some crackpot fool teach us magic, and Hagrid was furious! He was so mad that he gave Dudley a pig's tail!"

"So that's why he was clutching his bottom!" Laura said.

Hagrid and the twins got out of the old boat, and Laura asked, "Wait, how are the Dursleys going to get back?"

"Who cares?" was Harry's response. The twins had never been to London before, and they were looking around at all of the shops.

"Do you really think that any of these sell wands, or broomsticks?" Laura whispered to Harry.

"It doesn't seem like it…" Harry replied. "You don't think that this is some joke the Dursleys cooked up, do you?"

She looked at him incredulously and said, "You know the Dursleys don't have a sense of humor!"

He chuckled. "Good point."