Godric's Hollow
October 31'st, 1981
"Lily! It's him! Take the kids and run!"
Lily's eyes widened with despair. She wanted to protest, but she knew that she had no choice. She picked up the wrapped forms of her son and ran up the stairs.
James on the other hand stood bravely in front of the door ready for it to be broken down any second with his wand raised. He waited, as ten seconds passed by. He was perplexed, had it not been Voldemort after all? Was it just Sirius playing a prank on them?
A faint click ruined all his hopes.
It was like a strange feeling of despair overtook him. The kind of despair you feel at 2 am in the night, feeling you can't do anything. That was what it felt like staring into the bleak, slit-nosed face of Lord Voldemort. The cold gray skin looked as shiny as marble and pure as holy water. The striking red eyes betrayed no emotion.
"James Potter. Such a shame it would be to kill a young man of your caliber and house," He spoke softly.
A wave of cold wind passed through James as his wand fell to the floor.
"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Lord Potter. Avada Kedavra!"
The limp and lifeless body of James Potter fell to the floor, with a slight thud.
Voldemort stepped over the stunned body of Lord Potter, humming an old wizarding hunting tune. He slowly stepped up the stairs, a certain scent catching his nose. It had a foul smell, akin to a dead fish. He scrunched his face in disgust. As he got nearer and nearer to the gate the smell got stronger and stronger. He growled, opening the door with a wave of his hand as the person behind the stench was revealed.
Mudbloods.
The Mudblood woman stood protectively in front of the two children with her wand raised. Ready to fight for her child with all her might
"Bombarda Maxima!" Lily screamed.
Most of everything in front of her blew up to smithereens. Except for him of course. What fun would it be if the primary antagonist dies in the first chapter?
He stood where he had before, under the beautiful night sky as the roof had been blown apart. The only change with him was that his cloak had soot all over it.
Lily Potter stared in shock. 'Not a single scar?' She wondered to herself. She was terrified, she wondered what had become of her husband, and what would become of her.
Voldemort was amused. The mudblood had skill, and he decided to test that skill.
"Reducto!" He cried.
"Protego! Petrificus Totalus!"
"Salvio!"
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Lily yelled. A red jet of lightning erupted out of the tip of her wand. Headed straight for the face of Lord Voldemort.
Then, the light disappeared. And so did her hope.
"A fine spell, if it hits the target." He said.
Lily couldn't accept defeat that easily. This was her son, nobody could take him from her. Not even a dark lord. She threw her wand at his face and went in for a punch. Voldemort was taken by surprise and brashness of the woman. He narrowly evaded the punch, yet it brushed his skin.
"Petrificus totalus," He said. The rage imminent in his voice. "You dare touch me, you filthy mudblood? How dare you even live in the same world as me. You impure piece of filth. I was just going to kill you, now you will watch me kill your child and then die."
Tears leaked out of the eyes of the petrified form of Lily. She watched, helpless as he pointed his wand at her son.
Then something released her.
She could move again. She saw Voldemort's lips begin to move. Her eyes widened as her instincts kicked in. She dived. Right in front of the beam of green light.
Voldemort was taken by surprise once again. The mudblood put up quite a show for him. She had just broken free of his petrification. By sheer willpower she had overpowered his magic. A mudblood had overpowered his spell. His face went red with anger and disgust. He kneeled to examine her lifeless body.
"How? Is this the power of love that old fool never shut up about? Is this all I amount to? A mudblood breaking free of my curse," He whispered to himself.
He turned his gaze to the now crying child. As he raised his wand to end the boy's life, something caught his eye. A mark. A scar on the forehead of the boy.
"No," He breathed. It was impossible. A horcrux. The child was a horcrux. Voldemort could feel his own energy pouring out of the scar. He knew what it was very well. All his horcruxes had one. A lightning scar. He knew if tried to kill the boy now, he was as good as dead. With the mudblood's love magic and his own soul protecting the boy, killing him was suicide.
"Ho-how could this be? CURSE IT ALL! THAT FILTHY MUDBLOOD RUINED IT ALL! I WORKED SO HARD TO KILL THEM, TO FIND THEM! I LIED, I KILLED, I TORTURED SO MANY TO KNOW WHERE THEY LIVED! NOW EVEN WHEN THEY BOTH ARE DEAD, THEY STILL DEFY ME? DAMN IT ALL!"
The entire house quaked with his words. Even the muggles who lived next door felt the anger of lord Voldemort. He was angry, and somebody was going to pay. The child of the prophecy lived and could not be killed until the foreseeable future. He stared at the crying child, studying his every movement.
"You're coming with me, half-breed," He said.
"TOM!" A voice boomed from outside the house.
"Shit," Voldemort whispered to himself
"I have placed protective charms across this house. You cannot apparate outside of here, you have nowhere to go. Surrender now!" Said the man from outside.
"Oh? And what makes you think you can stop me you fool? I AM LORD VOLDEMORT! YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME? ME!"
"BOMBARDA MAXIMA!" Roared the man outside.
Voldemort brought his cloak of protection up to protect him from the blast and debris. Pieces of wood, brick and solidified cement flew through the night sky as the Potter home was destroyed. Voldemort brought his cloak down to see the destruction. The half-breed child was not near him anymore, and the bodies of James and Lily Potter were nowhere to be seen. He scanned his surroundings and came face to face with the only man with enough courage to call him by his true name.
"Dumbledore," Said Voldemort, addressing the man in front of him.
"How are you, Tom? It has been a while since I last saw your face," Said Albus Dumbledore.
"Has it? How long ago was the murder of Emma Vane?"
"Three months,"
"Ah yes. It has been a while. Hopefully after today, I won't have to see your face ever again. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Dumbledore blocked the spell with his wand, and smiled warmly at him.
"That wand" Whispered Voldemort, "That damned wand,"
"So much anger, Tom. Why did you kill these innocent people, why did you try to harm a child?"
"YOU KNOW WHY! THE PROPHECY! SNAPE HEARD IT! He told me, he told me everything. It was going to go all according to plan. It was going to be perfect. BUT NO! THAT FILTHY LITTLE MUGGLE SHIT HAD TO INTERVENE! She had to try to stop me! Why do they ALWAYS try to resist? They die in the end anyway, what is the point of being so brave? Severus begged me to spare the mudblood's life, I tried my best not to kill her, I really did! But she was just SO INFURIATING! She ruined everything Albus, EVERYTHING!"
"Well, I'm terribly sorry about that Tom. But, you can tell me the rest of the story when you surrender," Dumbledore said calmly, "I have over 50 aurors surrounding this place. You cannot run or hide. Please, Tom. Let's end this endless war here and now. Surrender."
"Yes, Albus. I agree, let's end this."
BOOM!
The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.
BOOM.
They knocked again.
Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.
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.
"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.
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.
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..."
He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear. "Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.
Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.
"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.
Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.
"Last time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."
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.
"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.
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?"
The giant chuckled.
"True, I haven't introduced myself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's 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."
His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled 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.
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."
The giant chuckled darkly.
"Yer great puddin' of a son don't' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
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.
"Er -no," said Harry.
Hagrid looked shocked.
"Sorry," Harry said quickly.
"Sorry ?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them who 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 yer parents learned it all?"
"All what?" asked Harry.
"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait just' 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 nothing' 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?"
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.
"Look Harry, yer special," He told him, his voice trembling.
Stop!" Vernon commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"
A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, every syllable trembled with rage.
"You shut your pig headed face, you prune!" He roared.
Vernon lowered his head and started muttering something to himself as Petunia began to cry.
"Yer a wizard Harry," Hagrid told the boy.
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 and dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's about' time yeh read yer letter."
He pulled out a parchment envelope from one of his many pockets and handed it to Harry. He watched as Harry read the letter and the surprise that showed on his face.
"This is real? I'm a wizard? Wizards exist?" Harry rambled, spiraling down a confused rabbit hole.
"It's about time yeh knew. These oafs woulda stomped all the magic outta yeh if they could." He said, throwing the Dursleys a dirty look
"My parents," Harry said suddenly, "Who were they?"
"Yer parents," Hagrid began, "Were great people, the best of us all really. They, well um-uh, nah I can't say his name,"
"Who?"
"Well, I don't' 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 is…"
Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"It's okay, you can write it down,"
""Nah - can't spell it. All right - Voldemort." Hagrid shuddered. "Don't make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started looking' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was getting' 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 just' then, anyway. "
"Now, yer mum and dad were as good a witch and wizard as I ever knew. Head boy and girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the mystery is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anything to 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 like a foghorn.
"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum and' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway... "
Hagrid cleared his throat before getting ready to speak again.
"He killed em, he killed yer parents, Harry. But for some reason, he hesitated in killing ya. And just before he could, Dumbledore arrived. He stopped him. A huge battle took place, and you-know-who fled. He escaped. A war is goin' on right now, Harry. But I've said enough about that. You can learn more about that from Dumbledore himself,"
Harry gulped. This was too much information to process in one go. He stared at the floor as bits and pieces came back to him. The screams, the flashing lights. He took a deep breath in as he struggled to process.
Hagrid was watching him sadly.
"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh to this lot..."
"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. 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," 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-"
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..."
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'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.
"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"
"He's alive. That bastard escaped before Dumbledore could get the killing blow in. He doesn't show his face on the front lines anymore, just sends his minions to do his bidding,"
Harry looked perplexed.
"Why did he hesitate in, you know, ki-killing me?" He asked Hagrid.
"I dunno Harry, but somethin' about yeh stumped him, and it saved yer life," Hagrid replied.
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. 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?
"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 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?
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 a great wizard. Just like yer mum and dad"
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 to go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily and James Potter's son going to Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off to 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, and he'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 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!"
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.
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.
"When can we go to Hogwarts?" Harry asked immediately as the door behind them slammed shut. He wanted to get away from the Dursleys as far as possible and as soon as possible.
Hagrid started laughing. His laugh perfectly merged with the thunder booming outside.
"First thing tomorrow, I'll take yeh to Diagon Alley for some fun stuff. Then I'll tell yeh, ok?"
Harry nodded eagerly. He didn't know what or who was a 'Diagon Alley' but he sure was excited.
"Now go to sleep, we've got a long day tomorrow Harry,"