"What's the next chapter called then?" asked Ron.
"It's called THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS" read Arthur, picking up the book and smiling. "I think we all know who that is."
"Hagrid" everyone answered grinning.
"You mind if I read Arthur?" asked Harry.
"Not at all" replied Arthur passing Harry the book
"THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS" Harry read.
BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.
"The what?" asked James and Arthur at the same time.
"It's sort of a Muggle weapon they use to use in the old days to defend castles and stuff." Lily responded shaking her head.
"Yeah it fires giant metal balls at stuff and hopes that it hits people. They used them on pirate ships." Sirius chimed in. Everyone stared at him in shock.
"What?" he asked. "I did take Muggle Studies in school after all."
"Yeah but nobody thought you actually learnt things." Remus said shocked.
"I thought it was just to annoy your parents." James said still staring open mouthed at Sirius. "Who actually knew you paid attention to that stuff."
"Pirates and weapons are cool." Sirius muttered going red.
There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands—now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.
"What's a rifle?" asked Remus.
"It's like a metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other" said Harry thinking of the paper he read when Sirius was thought to be a wanted killer and how Cornelius Fudge Had described it then.
"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you—I'm armed!"
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.
"Hagrid always knew how to make an entrance" grinned Lily.
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.
"If I didn't know Hagrid as well as I do I'd be terrified of him hearing him described as that" Said Ginny.
"Well he did look very intimidating when we first met but I soon learned that he wouldn't hurt a fly" remarked Harry.
"I think everyone is a little nervous of Hagrid at first" Dumbledore said. "But I trust him with my life."
"I think we all do Professor" said Remus smiling.
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…"
Everyone started laughing at that.
"Trust Hagrid to break the door off a house, walk in and ask for a cup of tea" laughed Ron.
He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.
"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.
"Stranger?" asked Lily "But you've known Hagrid since you was a baby."
"I didn't know that at the time though." Harry reminded her gently.
Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.
"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.
"Really he's only half giant" said Hermione. "Unlike Grawp."
"Who's Grawp?" asked Sirius looking interested.
"Nobody" smiled Hermione, "Just a friend of ours."
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."
"That was the first time I ever heard anything nice about you." Said Harry smiling at his parents.
"And you've been hearing it ever since." Ginny said smiling at him.
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.
Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.
Everyone chuckled at that.
"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."
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.
"Please tell me you didn't eat it." Said James while Sirius, Remus and Lily looked rather sick.
"Yeah I did have a bit." Admitted Harry "Compared to what he normally cooks it was rather nice.
"Blimey Harry" said Ron looking impressed. "I knew you were brave but to think Hagrid's cooking is nice is just stupid."
"Don't be mean about Hagrid, Ronald" said Molly sternly.
"Yes mum" muttered Ron.
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?"
"Harry James Potter!" Lily said firmly "I hope you have better manners then that young man. It's very rude to talk to somebody like that."
"Sorry mum" Harry grinned. "Besides I never meant to say it but I was in a bit of shock seeing Hagrid for the first time."
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.
"I hate it when he does that" muttered Sirius.
"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."
James, Sirius and Remus started laughing
"I hope he wasn't drinking around you." Said an appalled Molly.
"He wasn't mum." Said Harry "You know what Hagrid's like though."
Everyone except Ron, Hermione and Ginny gave him a strange look.
"What's wrong?" asked Harry.
"You called me mum." Said a shocked Molly looking at Arthur for support.
"Sorry" muttered Harry going red. "You guys have been my family since I was eleven and after the second war ended and me and Ginny got back together you asked me to call you mum and dad." He smiled at them as well as at James and Lily. "Not that anyone will every replace you." He smiled at Lily. "I will stop if you prefer." He added glancing around the room.
"I don't have a problem with it." Said Arthur. "I think it was just a bit of a shock to us all."
"Mum, dad? Are you okay with it?" asked Harry looking over at James and Lily who looked close to tears.
"We don't mind son." James said. "We are just a bit upset that we were never there to fill that place of parents. We're glad that you found someone to look after you though." He smiled at Arthur and Molly who both looked close to tears as well. Harry got up and gave James and Lily a hug. Then he gave Molly and Arthur one as well before sitting back down next to Ginny and continuing to read.
His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled 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.
Dumbledore looked a little worried. Why is Hagrid doing magic? He wondered. He knows he's not allowed and especially in front of Muggles.
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. 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. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."
"Like he needs anymore food." Said Sirius causing everyone to laugh.
The giant chuckled darkly.
"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
"See even Hagrid agrees with me." Sirius laughed.
He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, 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.
"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."
"Oh dear" sighed Lily. "Maybe Hagrid giving him his letter wasn't the best idea."
"Why not?" asked James "He wouldn't miss the chance to get Harry."
"I know" said Lily. "But imagine how angry he will be when he finds out that Harry don't know he's a wizard, or even who his parents are."
"Ah, I see you point" said James looking concerned.
Harry started laughing, remembering exactly what Hagrid had done when he found out.
"What's so funny?" asked Ginny smiling.
"You'll see." Said Harry grinning and giving her a quick kiss on the head.
"Er—no," said Harry.
Hagrid looked shocked.
"Sorry," Harry said quickly.
"Why do you always apologise for things that aren't your fault?" sighed Hermione.
"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 yet parents learned it all?"
"All what?" asked Harry.
"This is gonna be bad." Said Remus.
"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"
He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.
"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy—this boy!—knows nothin' abou'—about ANYTHING?"
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?"
"You always manage to say the wrong thing don't you?" asked Ron, shaking his head.
"I didn't know he'd be angry" defended Harry. "I hadn't been told about 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.
"But yeh must know about yet mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."
"What? My—my mom 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.
"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.
Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.
"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sit! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"
"I wouldn't want to stand up to Hagrid when he's like that" said Arthur. "I mean his heart is in the right place but he can be rather intimidating."
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?"
"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.
"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.
Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.
"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry—yer a wizard."
"He's not very subtle is he?" asked Ginny causing everyone to laugh.
"Did he seriously just come out and tell you like that?" asked James.
"Yeah." Answered Harry grinning. "It did seem a bit surreal at the time."
There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.
"I'm 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 its abou' time yeh read yer letter."
"Woo you finally got it." Cheered Sirius.
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. He pulled out the letter and 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 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
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?"
"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—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
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.
Everyone laughed.
"I remember the first time I saw somebody send a letter by owl post." Laughed Lily. "I was almost as shocked as you were."
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.
"He's not going," he said.
Hagrid grunted.
"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.
"A what?" said Harry, interested.
"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."
"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!"
"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a—a wizard?"
"Of course they would have known" said Lily darkly. "Petunia would have told him long ago."
"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! 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!"
Lily dropped her eyes. Her parents had been so excited when she went to Hogwarts, but she never knew it affected Petunia so much.
She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.
"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!"
"Blown up?" echoed Lily looking very white.
"When Voldemort was destroyed it blew most of the bedroom out." Harry explained. Lily still looked sad so Harry felt the need to add. "You know in the end Petunia did always love you. She told me when I went back that she took me in because it was like having a little piece of you back."
Lily smiled at him in appreciation.
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!"
"That's gonna set Hagrid off" winced Sirius.
"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.
The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.
"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, 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'."
"At least he's hearing it from a friend." Said Lily. "I'd hate to have a stranger tell him what had happened."
"I never realised you didn't know anything before you came to Hogwarts" said Ron. "I thought you would at least know what had happened."
He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.
"Well, its 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…"
"So do people know the truth now?" asked James.
"Yeah they do." Said Harry. "We are letting the whole wizarding community know the full story about how and why you died. We sort of piece the whole thing together bit by bit through our school years."
He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with—with a person called—but its incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows—"
"Who?"
"Well—I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."
"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…"
Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.
"Nah can't spell it. All right—Voldemort."
"I can't believe you actually got him to say it." Said Remus impressed.
Hagrid shuddered. "Don't 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. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.
"Did he try taking it in the second war?" asked Dumbledore.
"He didn't just try." Said Ron darkly.
"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.
Lily smiled at the praise.
"We wouldn't have joined him anyway." Said James stubbornly "Even if we weren't close to you Professor."
"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 were just a year old. He came ter yer house an'—an'—"
James and Lily looked at each other.
"Less than a year away." Said Lily softly, looking at James.
James pulled her close to him as she started to cry.
"Do you know why he came after us?" asked James
"Yeah we do" said Harry "But I'm afraid we can't tell you why yet."
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…"
"Oh Hagrid" sighed Lily.
"He always has been lovely" agreed Ginny.
"Yeah" Harry 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.
"But nobody can survive the killing curse" said a shocked Remus.
"I did" said Harry quietly.
"Well yes and I'm glad you did" Remus said "But it's still not possible."
"But what I don't understand is why he wanted to kill us so badly." Said James. "I mean there are plenty of witches and wizards who oppose him. Why specifically us?"
"That is an excellent question." Dumbledore said. "Am I right to guess that this comes up in the future books and that we should wait for it to come up?"
"Yeah trust me we know it's frustrating but it's better that you don't learn too much at one time." Hermione answered.
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."
Molly gasped and clutched at Arthur who was turning pale.
"Mum? Are you alright?" asked Ginny concerned.
"The Prewetts?" Molly whispered. "Not Gideon and Fabian."
"I'm so sorry Molly" said Lily softly.
"How did they die?" Asked Molly, looking at Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. "Do you know what happened?"
"We only know what we've been told" said Harry, thinking of what mad-eye told him years ago. "A few months before Voldemort attacked us he found out where Gideon and Fabian were living. He sent Death Eaters to kill them. They fought like heroes. It took five Death Eaters to bring them down."
"Can I have a minute?" asked Molly standing up and walking towards the kitchen. "I need to make some tea."
"Of course Molly dear." Said Arthur.
After a minute Molly came back into the room, sat back down next to Arthur and assured everyone that she was fine and that they should continue reading. After giving her a quick smile Harry started to read again.
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.
"My god" exclaimed James. "You remembered Voldemort?"
"No" said Harry shaking his head. "Not at first. At first all I remembered was a green light and the laugh."
"At first?" asked Lily faintly.
"Yeah things get worse in later life but after we beat Voldemort in the second war it has stopped completely." Harry smiled and reached absent minded to touch him scar. It hadn't pained him since that night and he was hoping it would never hurt him again.
"You don't remember that night do you?" asked Sirius.
Harry hesitated for a moment. "I do eventually" he said "but I can't tell you how or why I see that night. Its better if we read the books and get to it in a reasonable time or it will just bring up questions that can't be answered right now."
"Alright then" said Harry. "We'll trust you to know what is best."
Hagrid was watching him sadly.
"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…"
"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon.
"Bloody hell" said Ron. "I almost forgot they were there."
"I did forget they was there" grinned Harry. "But I had a good reason considering what Hagrid was telling me."
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.
"Now, you listen here, boy,"
"Was he always that horrid to you? Asked Molly looking shocked.
"Actually considering its Uncle Vernon, this is him being rather nice." Harry shrugged.
"I can't believe you left my son with them Dumbledore." Said James looking furious.
"I assure you Mr. Potter that if I knew how young Harry was being treated I would have removed him from that house." Said Dumbledore. "However I can only assume that I believed Mrs. Dursley would raise him with love and kindness seeing as Harry was her nephew. I can see I was wrong and if this reality happens I shall not leave Harry with his Aunt and Uncle."
"Well, why weren't you around to have him" asked James looking at Sirius and Remus.
"Dad I already told you that there is a very good reason they weren't around to have me." Said Harry. "Give it a few more books and you will find out why for yourself. Now if I can keep on reading…"
James was still shooting his friends murderous glances but waved his hand at Harry to continue.
he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured
"He never actually hit you did he?" asked Sirius looking furious.
"No." said Harry firmly. "He wanted to several times but I believe he was always afraid that he did I would accidently use magic on him."
"How could anyone hit a child?" asked Remus shocked.
"I don't know." Said Molly.
"I hate hearing how you grew up." Said Ginny. "We always imagined that you were being treated like royalty somewhere. Nobody in the wizarding world would have stood for it if they knew how you were being treated."
"Thanks love but it's alright, honestly." He added seeing everyone's startled faces. "If I hadn't grown up as I did I wouldn't be who I am now. After all it's the bad things as well as the good that make us who we are."
"I do believe you actually said something smart Harry." Hermione grinned.
"Yeah you better leave that stuff to Hermione mate" Ron laughed, causing Harry, Hermione and Ginny to laugh too.
"Are we missing something?" asked Remus with raised eyebrows.
"No" smiled Harry. "But then again you were the one who called her the smartest witch of our age."
"I said that?" asked a startled looking Remus. "But when do I meet you?"
"Later in life." Said Hermione smiling a little sadly "Don't worry you show up soon."
—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—"
The whole room gasped.
"That's just a horrible thing to say!" exclaimed Molly. "Even if you dislike someone you should never say that!"
"Especially when their child is there." Added Arthur.
"Well at least Hagrid's there to defend you." Sirius muttered. "He isn't gonna put up with people talking about you like that."
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…"
"Only Hagrid could make people scared with just an umbrella." Ginny smiled.
"Well how would you like a half-giant in a bad mood pointing an umbrella at you?" Ron asked. "I'd be scared too if I didn't know Hagrid so well."
"Besides there's more to that umbrella then meets the eye." Grinned Harry.
Dumbledore smiled to himself glad to see that Hagrid's friends knew about him and didn't care.
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.
"That is most likely the smartest choice he ever made." Commented James causing Lily to laugh.
"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.
Lily chucked and smiled over at Harry. "I was the same when I got told I was a witch." She remembered, smiling. "I had so many questions that I didn't know what one to ask first."
"But what happened to Vol—, sorry—I mean, You-Know-Who?"
"Why" asked Ron "Did you call him You-Know-Who when Hagrid was there but then forgot for the next seven years? You gave me a heart attack the first time you said it."
"Dunno I guess I had forgotten by the time school started and then Dumbledore said I should call him by his name." Harry answered.
"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?
"Does that question get answered anytime soon? Because I'm dying to know why he went." Said Remus
"It's answered at the end of this book but in the future it goes into a more in-depth answer." Harry replied.
"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.
"But he did come back" Molly whispered
"How did these people come out of trances if he was still alive then?" asked Arthur.
"His powers broke the night he tried to kill Harry." Hermione answered trying to answer Arthur without telling him the whole truth. "He fled and it took him years to regain his powers."
"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."
"It is incredible to think that as a baby you stopped the most powerful dark wizard of the modern age" said Remus.
"It was a topic of great interest for many years." Said Harry. "But amazingly this is one of them times when the truth is ever more incredible then the rumours."
Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.
"Why do you never feel like you're good enough?" asked Ginny. "Even now after all that you've done you still think you're not good enough."
"Bad habit" said Harry smiling. "You can't blame me now you've heard how the Dursleys were."
"Well the good news is you're not as big headed as your father." Sighed Lily in relief. "Otherwise nobody would hear the end of it."
A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? 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? 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 you wasn't trained up then" Ron smirked. "Now however…"
"Now you know better than to use magic on Muggles." Said Arthur sternly putting an end to what Ron was going to say.
"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."
To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.
"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"
Harry stopped reading for a second and smiled to himself. That was the moment his whole life changed. Hagrid telling him that explained so much and it was nice to have answers after so many years of not being able to ask questions.
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?
"Yeah not that it's the best thing to remember but how is it that you're a Parselmouth" Sirius asked.
"Well that's a long story…" Harry said looking at Ron and Hermione for support.
"Maybe we should wait till the next book mate?" asked Ron.
"I'm starting to hate those words" James said. "Can't you tell us now?"
"The night Voldemort tried to kill me and the curse backfired he accidently transferred some of his powers to me." Harry replied.
The whole room gasped.
"How did he do that?" Lily asked.
"Now that we do have to explain later." Hermione said firmly. "Sorry Mrs. Potter."
"Call me Lily" Said Lily smiling.
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."
"Yeah and not always for the right reasons" Ginny muttered to Harry causing him to grin and go red.
But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.
"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—"
"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—"
"You may want to cover your ears" Harry whispered to Ginny.
Remus looked over and heard what he said and covered his own ears just as Harry continued reading in a loud voice.
"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.
"Did you have to yell" asked Sirius holding a hand to his heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Maybe not so loud next time?" asked Molly.
"Sorry mum." Harry grinned.
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!"
"This is gonna be good" muttered Sirius.
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.
There was a moment of total silence in the room before everyone started howling with laughter. It took several minutes for everyone to quiet down.
"That was brilliant!" Ron chocked out.
"Yeah" Harry answered. "It's one of them memories that have stayed with me forever."
"Next time I see Hagrid I'm buying him a drink." Sirius said, still laughing.
"You know this hasn't happened yet right?" asked Lily.
"It has for us" Ginny replied, smiling.
"Fine tell the me from your time what he did and then get him to buy Hagrid a drink." Sirius said to Harry. Immediately Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stopped laughing.
"What's wrong?" asked James. "Does Sirius not know you're here or something?"
"Yeah or something" muttered Hermione, softly.
"I'm sure I'm fine with it…" Sirius started to say but Hermione cut him off.
"Why don't we read for now Harry? We can answer all this later or we will never get through these books." Hermione said, shooting concerned glances at Harry.
"Yeah sure, Hermione" said Harry quietly.
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.
Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.
"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "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."
Everyone started laughing again.
"I Forgot about that bit" chuckled Harry.
"You shouldn't be laughing." Said Arthur. "Mistreating Muggles like that is what I've been campaigning against for years."
"Yeah but you didn't know Dudley." Harry said smiling.
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—"
"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?"
"That is the million dollar question." Said Remus.
"Yeah I would bow down to the man who can answer that." James said.
"We know." Said Ron grinning.
"What?" Sirius said. "How on earth did you find out?"
"We found out in our second year." Harry answered.
"So we will find out in the second book?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah you will." Harry said frowning.
"Well keep reading then!" Sirius exclaimed.
"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 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."
"Dormice in his pockets?" Molly asked.
"He has everything in them pockets." Sirius answered. "And I mean everything."
"Well that's the end of the chapter." Harry said. "Who wants to read next?"