Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof.

Chapter 19

Albus and Severus were having tea in the Headmaster's office when Rubeus Hagrid knocked and entered. Hagrid eyed the room before plopping down on the chair that had been made just for him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package and handed it to Dumbledore.

"Ah, yes. Thank you Hagrid. So, tell me, how is Harry doing?"

Severus raised an eyebrow, which did not go unnoticed by Albus.

"Our Hogwarts letters were having ... difficulties getting to Mr. Potter, so I sent Hagrid to take it to him. He also took him to Diagon Alley today."

Albus smiled at Hagrid who nodded in confirmation.

"Surely those muggle's that wait on him hand and foot would have taken him." Severus scoffed before taking another sip of his tea.

Hagrid snorted which caused Dumbledore to look up at him in alarm.

"What happened, Hagrid?"

"Well, I foun' Harry in a hut on a rock in the sea. It seemed that the Dursley's thought that they could out run the owls there." Hagrid chuckled at the muggle's idiocy.

"What do you mean out run? Surely they were ecstatic that the little prince was coming to Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore groaned. He could tell that Hagrid was getting upset, which was not pleasant to watch.

"I'll have you know, Professor Snape, that Harry is a very quiet and polite boy." His voice softened slightly and had a note of distress in it. "He was sleepin' on the floor in that shack curled up under the rattiest blanket I ever saw!"

Severus huffed in disbelief.

"Er ... Professor Dumbledore sir, there's something else ya should know." Hagrid suddenly looked a little bit shifty but his eyes conveyed feelings of worry. "Remember how ya told me that I might have trouble gettin' to Harry?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"I was surprised ter find out what all he didn' know ..." Hagrid was looking at his feet.

Severus had to admit, he was curious as to what he meant.

"Go on Hagrid. I expected that the Dursley's would withhold a few things from him."

"He didn' even know that he was a wizard, sir, let alone that he were famous in our world! He was told that" ... sniff ... "James and Lily ..." ... sniff ... "were killed in a ..." ... sniff ... "car crash!"

"WHAT?" Severus yelled, visibly upset. "You must be joking."

Hagrid mistook Severus' outrage of Lily being killed in such a muggle fashion for outrage that Harry's past was not revealed to him. Dumbledore, however, did not.

"I had ter tell him somethin' sir because I knew that once we got to Diagon Alley today that he would be surrounded by people gawkin' at him. I had to tell him about You-Know-Who and how his parents were really killed and a lot of other stuff as well." Hagrid sounded forlorn.

"It's alright Hagrid. While I didn't expect him to be kept that far in the dark, you were right in telling him what you did." Albus sat back in his chair, thinking.

Hagrid nodded. He had been afraid of upsetting the Headmaster.

"As soon as we entered the Leaky Cauldron, Professor, he was pounced on. Why, even Professor Quirrell was shaking when he shook his hand." Hagrid stared off as if he was trying to remember what happened.

"He was so excited during the visit ter Diagon Alley. He kept lookin' everywhere." Hagrid chuckled. "I thought his eyes were gonna pop out and then I thought he were gonna drool in Flourish and Blotts."

"Harry likes to read, does he?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes beaming.

"I think so sir. I did have ter stop him from buyin' a book or two that had hexes and jinxes in it. He wanted ter curse his cousin, but I told him that he wasn' allowed ter do magic outside of school. He also wanted ter buy a couple o' extra potion books," Hagrid said slyly while glancing at Professor Snape.

Albus looked amused at the way Hagrid had casually mentioned that.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Potion books? Why on earth would James Potter's son want extra potion books? The other ones you mentioned were more up his alley."

At this, the Headmaster laughed. "Lily was quite gifted in potions, if I remember correctly. Maybe he inherited something from her."

Snape looked at Dumbledore like he was crazy but said nothing.

"I wouldn' let Harry buy much more than what t'was on his list, but I did let him get a few extra things. He er ... seemed like he never had things of his own before. So I let him pick out a nice trunk, book bag, and a few other minor things. I hope that t'was alright sir ..." Hagrid trailed off.

Albus smiled at the half-giant and nodded that it was fine. Severus found his mind wandering while he listened to their conversation.

He finally came out of his little trance in time to hear Hagrid say, "I'm sorry but I didn' mean ter give him a tail but that Vernon insulted you Professor!"

"It's alright Hagrid. I'll check into what can be done about it. Oh, by the way, how's Fluffy?"

Severus let his mind wander again while Dumbledore and Hagrid talked about the gamekeepers monster fixation.

A/N: 7/29/11 - Edited words and such ...