There was another knock and then Dudley woke up with a jolt, "Where's the cannon?" He asked.
Another loud crash and came tripping into the room, a rifle in his hands. She realized that was what was in the package he had brought with them."Who's there?" he shouted." I warn you- I am armed." In Margo's opinion, he looked a bit like a cartoon, not at all intimidating. Everything was silent for a moment and then -CRASH.
The door was hit so hard that it broke right off the hinges and fell flat on the floor, a few inches from where Margo was sitting. She jumped back, nearly knocking Harry over.
A large man, and by large she meant large, was standing there. His face was barely visibly through the large mane of wild and tangled hair that made up his beard and face. You could make out his eyes, though. They glittered through the dark, two shiny black buttons under all of the hair. He squeezed through the door, ducking to avoid hitting his head, and continued standing like that so his hair only brushed the ceiling. He then proceeded to pick up the door off of the ground and stuffed it back into place. If anyone wanted to run they couldn't, unless they wanted to somehow unjam the door. He turned to look at them all. Dudley and the rest of her family looked scared out of their wits, but Margo, oddly, felt fascinated by the man. He smelt like fire and warm food.
"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could ya? It's not been an easy journey.." He moved over to the couch where Dudley was sitting, terrified. "Budge, ya big lump." He said. Dudley let out a squeal and ran over to hide behind their parents. Margo just stood where she was.
"An' here's Harry!" He spoke joyfully. Margo raised her eyebrows. This man knew Harry? "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the man. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."
Margo felt Harry grip onto her wrist. Her dad made a funny rasping noise, it reminded her of a group of wasps.
" I demand that you leave at once, sir!" her father demanded. "You are breaking and entering!"
Margo wanted to correct him, technically the man wasn't breaking and entering, it wasn't even their property. "Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the man; he reached over the back of the sofa, snatched the gun out of her dad's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of plastic, and threw it in the corner.
Margo let out a short laugh. Not many people stood up to her father, and the dumbstruck look on his face was hilarious. The giant man then turned his attention to her, "An' yeh must be Margo! Boy, 'ave I 'eard a lot 'bout you!"
Margo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "Really?"
The man grinned, "Yep, I 'ave." Margo smiled back at him. He was so warm and happy, how could she be afraid of him. He reminded her of one of those dogs that didn't realize how big they actually are. "Anyway- Harry," he said," a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat for yeh here- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." He produced a somewhat squashed box from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to Harry.
She watched Harry open the box and inside was a rather large chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing, Margo let herself smile really big. She was happy Harry was getting an actual cake for his birthday, even if it had been sat on by a giant. Harry looked up, and she noticed the confused look on his face," Who are you?"
The man let out a loud booming chuckle, ""True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
There that name was again, Hogwarts. What was it? She wanted to ask, but did not want to be rude. He held out both of his hands and shook Harry and hers whole arm.
"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." He looked at the fireplace which now only contained shriveled up chip bags. He snorted and leaned forward, Margo tried to see what he was doing and failed; but when he pulled back there was a roaring fire in the grate. Margo felt herself begin to warm up, as if she was thawing.
Rubeus sat back on the sofa which was sagging because of his weight, and began pulling an assortment of things from his pockets, which were almost larger then her whole head: 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. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Everyone was still as he cooked until he took several sausages off the poker, she noticed her brother began fidgeting. Dad grabbed his arm and muttered sharply, " Don't touch anything he gives you Dudley."
Rubeus chuckled again, but darker. "Yeh great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
Margo sat down on the floor next to the fire, the smell of the sausages making her stomach growl. "That goes for you too, Margaret!" Her father ordered, she ignored her and accepted the food Rubeus gave her. She ate quickly, she hadn't fully eaten for a few days and she knew Harry hadn't for even longer than that.
"I'm sorry but i still don't really know who you are." Harry finally spoke after a bit of silence.
"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."
Margo shook her head, "Um, no. Not at all. Mr. R-Hagrid." Hagrid looked absolutely astonished. "Sorry." Harry cut in.
"Sony?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the her parents, 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 Harry's parents learned it all?"
Margo leaned forward, she was finally going to get some answers.
"All what?" Harry inquired.
"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered, Margo jumped at his sudden outburst. "Now jus' wait one second!" He had jumped to his feet, his anger seemed to fill up the entire room. The rest of her family were pushed up against the wall. "Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the them, "that this boy - these children! - know nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"
Margo was even more confused than ever, she had been to school, she was great at school. Then again it wasn't exactly a traditional school, but she was in fact inteligent.
"I can do some things." Harry defended, "Like Maths and stuff." But that couldn't be it right? No man sends thousands of letters and follows them hundreds of miles away just to inquire if they had gone to school. That would be mad, absolutely mad.
Hagrid waved his hand, , "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world. Aunt and Uncle's world, for yeh Margo."
"What world?" She asked again, she was so close, she just needed a little bit more information.
Hagrid turned again, "DURSLEY!" He boomed.
Margo's father was whiter than a sheet and whispered something inaudibly. Hagrid then stared wildly at Harry. "But yeh must know about yet mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."
Margo was stunned. Famous? And what did this even have to do with her if it was about Harry's parents?
"What? My - my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?" asked Harry, his face was a little pale, and his grip still hadn't loosened on her wrist.
Hagrid began to look panicked and started running his hands through his hair, ""Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." He stopped finally."Yeh don' know what yeh are?"
'What?' Margo thought wildly. Not 'who' but 'what'.
Her father suddenly jumped in, "Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir. I forbid you from telling them anything!"
Someone who was much more brave than Margo's father would be scared out of their wits if they had been looked at like Hagrid was. Every word Hagrid said was laced with absolute 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?"
"Kept what from me?" Harry asked eagerly, and Margo nodded with him. They both were fed up with the suspense, they just wanted to know what was going on.
Her father let out another shout, "STOP! I FORBID YOU."
The room suddenly became dead silent before Hagrid looked at the two of them. "Harry, yer a wizard. Margo yer a witch."
Margo's mother gave a gasp of horror. Margo was torn between being happy and being sick. "-a what?" Harry gasped.
She licked her lips, "Are you serious?"
"A wizard, both of yeh." He sat on the sofa and she heard a creak as it, once again, tried to hold Hagrid's weight. "An' thumpin' good'uns, I'd say after yeh've been trained up a bit. An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letters."
We both reached out our hands to finally take our respective letters. This time it was addressed to Miss. M. Dursley, The Floor, Hut-On-The-Rock, The Sea. She slowly took the letter out of the envelope, her hands were shaking; it read:
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 Miss. Dursley,
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
Margo, stared at the letter for a few moments, questions running through her head so fast that she could barely keep up with her own mind. She couldn't figure out what to say in reply to this, she was pulled from her thoughts by Harry, who had apparently decided to say something: "What does it mean, they await my owl?"
Margo suppressed a groan of frustration, "That's what you're going to ask first? What about what is an 'Order of Merlin'? Or even where Hogwarts is?" She realized what she said a few seconds later and quickly apologized. She didn't mean for it to come out that way.
Hagrid spoke,"Gallopin' Gargoyles, that reminds me" All Margo got from that was how odd an exclamation that was. But then he pulled a live owl out of his pocket and Margo couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed.
"How in the world-?" She muttered under her breath. She had a feeling that she'd be questioning a lot of things soon. The giant pulled out a feather quill and a long piece of parchment, and began writing. Margo couldn't read it, but she knew he was probably sending a letter to the school. How did he expect an owl to take it though?
He held the rolled up parchment to the owl and it clasped it in its beak and flew off, out into the storm. Margo looked at it for a few seconds before turning her head back to Hagrid. "Where was I?" said Hagrid.
Her father was still standing there, pale-faced and but looking so angry that Margo took a few steps back so that she was standing further behind Harry. "They're not going." he stated.
"I'd like ter seek a Muggle like you to stop him.", Hagrid said.
"Muggle?" Margo asked, finding her voice again.
"It's what we call nonmagic folk. An' it's your bad luck yeh grow up in a group o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."
"We swore when we took him in that we'd put a stop to this nonsense,"said Uncle Vernon. "swore we'd stamp it out of him. A wizard indeed!"
Margo glared at her dad, he had known the whole time that Harry was magic, yet never said anything. That's terrible. "You knew?! You knew I'm a- a wizard?'
"Knew!" Her mother shrieked, catching Margo by surprise. She was definitely not expecting her mother to talk. " "Knew! Of course we knew! How 41 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! 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!"
Her mother took a large, deep breath. She seemed to have had this all bottled up for years and it was just coming out.
"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you! And then! And then you go and infect Margo!"
She grabbed onto Harry's arm. From the sounds of it, you can't infect someone with magic. It sounded like a gift, not something you could catch like a sickness. Could you? And even if that was the truth, she found, she didn't care.
"Blown up? You said they died in a car crash!" Harry said, Margo looked at his face to see how pale it was. She felt extremely bad for him. This couldn't be very easy to stomach, she was finding it hard to stomach the whole magic thing in the first place.
"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!"
"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.
Hagrid didn't look angry anymore, and he began running his hands through his hair again. "I never expected this," he spoke quietly, his voice worried. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone 3 s gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."
He threw a nasty look at her family that almost made Margo feel like applauding.
"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..." 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 -"
"Who?" she questioned.
"Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"Gulpin' gargoyles, guys, 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..." Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.
"Nah -can't spell it. All right - Voldemort. " Hagrid shuddered. The shudder was so rough that she heard the sofa creak and groan once again. Margo could practically feel the terror radiation off of Hagrid "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. 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. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway."
"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! 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."
"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' -" Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound that vaguely resembled a large horn.
"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway..."
"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 43 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 - an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."
Margo was almost entirely focused on paying attention to Harry's expressions. He looked sad and in pain, and she wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him that it was okay to be alright, like she usually would. The disturbing part was that she was reminded Margo of dreams that Harry had told her about. A flash of green light... Hagrid was watching them both sadly. "Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..."
"Load of old tosh," grumbled her father.
Margo felt Harry move slightly next to her when he spoke. Why did her father seem to not be able to stop? Couldn't he just be quiet. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched. "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 -"
Margo let out a gasp just at the moment that Hagrid jumped up from the sofa and pulled out a worn pink umbrella. He pointed it at her father as if he was wielding a at that moment, he spoke low and dangerously., "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you - one more word... "
Her father seemed to lose his courage once again and pressed himself back up against the wall. Margo drug a hand through her hair and tied it up, pulling the annoying strands of blonde hair from her mouth. It was beginning to distract her as she watched as Hagrid sat right back down on the now broken sofa.
"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?" Harry asked again.
"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?"
"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. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back."
"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."
She always knew something was different about Harry, but never voiced it. He always seemed too good to be true. She didn't know what she'd do if he wasn't apart of her life. But something was still weird to her. How was she even a witch? She wasn't anything special, not like Harry. She was born into a painfully normal family, just like her. There was no way there was something even remotely interesting about her life either. And she wasn't saying that having your parents die at the hands of a magical psychopath was interesting or something she wanted, she was just saying that it was just an event that led to him being extraordinary. She had nothing like that. Was it even possible? To have magic when you're born into a nonmagical family?
"Hagrid?" Margo said quietly."How can I have magic when I was born into a nonmagical family?"
Hagrid looked at her and nodded," Some of us are just born like that. Muggleborn, yer called. Entirely normal."
Margo let out small 'oh'. That wasn't much of an answer though. "I still don't think I could possibly be a witch."
"Yeah,I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard." Harry said quietly. Margo whipped her head to look at him. "You're joking right?"
To both of their surprise, Hagrid just laughed. "Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you were angry or scared?"
Margo immediately thought of the Piers incident.
She glanced back up at Hagrid who was giving them a big smile. " See? Harry Potter, Margo Dursley, not wizards- you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts, Harry."
Her father though, had of course, decided to come back for more. "Haven't I told you they're not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. And she'll be going back to Tring Park! I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -"
"If they want 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 the both of them won't know themself. they'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' they'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.
But Margo could tell, he had finally gone too far and Hagrid was not having any of it. Hagrid seized his umbrella and swung it over his head, "NEVER," he thundered, "- INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDOREIN- FRONT- OF- ME!"
He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley - there was a flash of purple, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp screech, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat butt, screaming in pain. When he turned his back on them, Margo saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers. She snickered.
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.
She was honestly surprised it took them so long to leave the room. Hagrid glances down at his umbrella and scratched his beard. "Shouldn'ta lost me temper." He said regretfully. "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."
Margo released another laugh, but at the same time felt slightly bad for her brother.
"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."
"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."
"Why were you expelled?"Margo inquired further.
Hagrid ignored her question."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."
He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry. "You both 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."
This was actually happening,Margo thought. She was a witch.
Hello there, everyone! Long time no see! I hope these two chapters in two days make up for the past like, 10 months of not posting. I'm been very busy with school and things, but i'll try to work myself into some type of schedule. I've been writing scenes from Goblet of Fire and Halfblood Prince to get back into writing Margo though, and I am very excited for the things to come. I have some IMPORTANT things to say though so no one comments on it. This whole fic basically started as me practicing writing in 3rd person (I am enjoying it too.) So I apologize if there are any errors with my pronouns. Most of them I fix when I catch them. Also, I will be using American measurement here because I am American and the metric system is very confusing to me. My apologies. Anyways, what house do you think Margo should be in? I'm a bit torn myself.