4- THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No Money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended

CHAPTER FOUR - THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS.

BOOM. They knocked again.

Several people in the room had gone pale with worry. It did not help the fact that Alice had yelled at a very high decibel that made everyone’s, especially Remus’s, ears ring.

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.

"What?" James asked.

"To clarify." Hermione growled. "A rifle is a form of gun. A weapon very capable of killing someone."

A lot of growls and glares were then aimed at the book. If looks could kill, the book would have been a Harry Potter.

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

"It means he's got a weapon." Hermione told the room, but mainly James, Alice, and Regulus.

There was a pause. Then - SMASH!

“Alice! Stop doing that.” Remus complained while rubbing his ears. He received many nods of agreement as well.

“No! It’s too fun, and the word is in all caps. It’s supposed to be read like that.”

 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.

“That sounds familiar. Do we know someone that looks like that?” Remus asked his two best friends, but only received shrugs.

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..."

“Your right, that does sound familiar. Who could it be?” Sirius whispered to Remus.

He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.

"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.

“Yes! Go whoever that is.” James cheered.

Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.

"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.

“How does he know Harry?” Lily asked worried.

“Well, obviously, if he is a wizard he would know about ‘Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived.’” Severus said with a small mocking tone at the title.

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."

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.

All but the Professors and Moody were laughing hard at that, but if you looked closely you could see Dumbledore’s small chuckle, and McGonagall’s small smile that showed she was trying to keep from laughing.

Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.

And the laughter increased.

"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.

"That was nice."  Alice said grinning, for she knew who this man was already.

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." Lily reprimanded. “Always use your manners.”

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

“That’s who it is! Man he is awesome. He always invites us over for tea.” James said, happy that he now knows who the man is.

“Wasn’t Hagrid also in the first chapter as well?” Lily said with a small smile, happy that her Harry was in good hands now.

“Yes he was. Hagrid has always been very fond of Harry.” Hermione told her in reply,

He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.

“Ouch! That stinks. Hagrid sometimes forgets that he is so big in comparison to us.” Sirius said with a small chuckle.

"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."

“Hagrid! He knows better than to drink in front of students, young student especially.”  McGonagall said shocked.

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."

“Like he would give something to that fat lard of a boy.” Moody, who found Hagrid quiet a good friend, said.

The giant chuckled darkly. "Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."

“Go Hagrid. That was brilliant.” Frank said cheerfully.

“Yeah, he always makes the best comments.” Remus agreed.

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."

"Much better." Lily said in a very maternal tone.

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.

"This won't go well." Regulus whispered in Hermione’s ear, causing slight chills to run down her back.

Hagrid looked shocked.

"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.

“You might want to cover your ears Remus.”  Hermione said across the room. She knew from what Harry told her that this chapter would became very loud, and that Alice would make sure to read it as such.

"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 won’t take that very well.” Severus said softly.

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.

Hermione checked to make sure Remus still had his ears covered.

"DURSLEY!" he boomed.

“Man Alice you are loud.” Frank said rubbing his ears and scooting away from his girlfriend.

“Thank you very much!” was her only reply before beginning to read again.

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."

"My - my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"

“How did he miss that he was famous.” Sirius asked surprised. If that had been James or him they would defiantly pick up on that.

“Harry HATES his fame, and whish almost more than anything that he wasn’t. He hates attention.” Hermione replied while mainly addressing Snape.

“He must have got that from Lily, for Potter is much to arrogant to hate fame.” Severus drawled out, ignoring Hermione’s looks.

"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, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"

"Like that'll work" Regulus said with a chuckle, right next to Hermione’s ear. Hermione heart began to flatter a tiny bit before she mentally slapped herself and chided that she was on a very important mission, and now was not the time to get silly over a boy.

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.

“Hagrid does what he wants. This man, if you can call him that, would not be able to ever stop him.” James said with a small laugh.

Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.

"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid.

"Harry - yet a wizard."

"Whoo!" Sirius cheered, but stopped when he saw the looks he was receiving from most of the room.

There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.

"- a what?" gasped Harry.

“That was almost exactly how I reacted” Hermione said with a small laugh.

“Wait! You’re a muggle-born?” Sirius said slightly shocked.

“Yes I am, and I’m proud to be. Have a problem with that?”  Hermione replied in a voice that scared everyone, except Moody, but for all different reasons.

James, Remus, and Frank were afraid that Sirius was in deep trouble now (and they were slightly scared by the anger and hatred behind Hermione’s voice), Alice, Lily, and McGonagall were all afraid and slightly worried to find out what happened to this girl to make her voice so heavy with hatred, Severus, and Dumbledore were afraid of what that loathing would mean, but the most scared and worried was Regulus who saw the look of fear and disgust in Hermione’s eyes, and that she was slightly rubbing her left forearm.  Even though he knew it was virtually impossible, he decided to speak with her as soon as possible. He hoped it wasn’t what he thought.

“No problem here. I was just surprised that you were muggle-born because of how strong your magic appears to be.” Sirius replied with his hands up in surrender.

“Alright then. Alice please continue.” Hermione said in reply trying hard not to let the memories surface.

"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 it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

"Finally." James said, excited to see his son go to Hogwarts.

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?"

"That was his first question." Alice said shocked

"The rest makes some sort of sense.” Lily said, thinking back to her own experience.

"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:

“Outstanding. I can barely read it right way up.” Remus said lightly surprised.

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.

Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.

James snorted at that, then Lily smacked him in the back of the head.

"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.

“Me too.” Sirius, Frank, James, and many other in the room said.

"A what?" said Harry, interested.

"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."

"Literally." Frank said.

"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!"

“Don’t you dare even think about it Dursley! Don’t dare lay a hand on my son!” James roared loudly jumping up on the couch..

“James, sweetie. As sweet as that was, you’re talking to a book.” Lily said gently as she pulled him down.

"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a - a wizard."

"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!"

Remus growled and Severus looked near murderous at this.

"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!" 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!"

“That’s horrible. I can’t believe… no I don’t want to believe that that is how he found out about our deaths.” Lily said as fat teas rolled down her pale pink cheeks, and down onto James red clad shoulders.

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!"

"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'." He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.

"They’re going to end up being mauled by a werewolf." Remus said with a feral growl.

"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..." 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?"

"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."

No one in the reading room flinched at the name, but Hermione saw that both Severus and Regulus winced slightly while reaching for their left forearms.

She discreetly reached over and held both of their right hands whispering “Don’t. Unless you want them to find out.” Snape reached his hand away from her but followed her advice. Regulus and the other hand squeezed her hand tighter, and gave her a small whispered thanks.

Hagrid shuddered. "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, 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."

People in the room nodded; it did make sense.

"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."

Severus snorted. "I think that the best way to fight the dark arts is with the dark arts.”

"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 an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway..."

"You-Know-Who killed 'em.

There was a small respective silence, before Alice said “Just the thought makes me depressed.”

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. 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."

“That’s just horrible.” Frank said, “He really must not have a soul.” Nearly everyone had tears falling down their face at this point. Their people from the past were hearing about their friends, and colleges fates, and Hermione knows that this would be just the start of the deaths that Voldemort would cause.

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.

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. 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

“He better not have.” James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Alice, Frank, and surprisingly Severus, growled at the book.

- 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... "

“I really hope he doesn’t listen.” Surprisingly Lily said.

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.

Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.

"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"

"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."

“How did he do it anyways?” Remus asked Hermione, who opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Remus, “You were about to say ‘We will find out later in the books.’ right?” Hermione nodded.

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?

“Sadly that’s not how normal magic works.” McGonagall said solemnly.

"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?

"Bloody brilliant, that was." Sirius said remembering the time at the Zoo.

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."

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 -"

“They’re not rubbish.”  Lily exclaimed loudly.

"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."

"Hagrid's barely been there and already he knows. So it must be true." Remus said laughing.

"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-"

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.

"ooooohhhh." The Marauders  chanted together,  “Someone’s in trouble.”

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.

Everyone roared with laughter at that image.

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."

And it gets worse.

"You Marauders corrupted him." McGonagall sighed with a small smile.

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 personal Harry" Lily scolded the book.

"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,"

"Thanks for that Hagrid." James said quietly.

he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."

“Oh Hagrid!” McGonagall cried with a laugh.

“And Harry lived happily ever after, The End.” Alice called out.

“Alice Esme Smith, you and I both know that is not the way it goes. Please read it right so James and Sirius can get these confused looks of their faces.” Lily chided the dark hair girl, and quiet reminded Hermione of a Mrs. Weasley. 

“I would but there’s nothing else to read. It ended with them going to sleep.” Alice said with a wide smile on her face.

“That is exactly where we all should be going. Off to bed, all of you.” McGonagall said to all her students, “We shall discussed what we have read tomorrow morning at breakfast. Good Night all of you.”  She and everyone else (except Mione) turned to go before realizing that they did not know where to go.

“Er, Hermione. Where do we go?” Lily asked quietly.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment and the room grew larger, “These are everyone’s rooms. Remus, James, Sirius, and Frank will share the first one, Severus and Regulus the second, and Lily and Alice the third. I am in the fourth room, Dumbledore the fifth, Professor McGonagall the sixth, and Moody the seventh. The bathrooms are on the far wall, females on the right, males the left.  The kitchens are on the opposite wall.”

The older adults headed to their rooms, but before opening her door McGonagall said, “Students, you all must be asleep in five minutes, or else. Ms. Granger I cannot tell you what to do but I would prefer if you got sleep soon as well.” She then opened her door, walked in, and locked the door behind her.

The teenagers all set quiet for a few moments before finally one spoke up, “So, out of curiosity, why do you get your own room?” Sirius said to Hermione.

“Well I really don’t know any of you in this time. Not to mention that I would hate to keep any of you up with my nightmares.” Hermione replied quietly, whishing she was already in her room.

“Nightmares? How do you know you’ll have nightmares?” Severus asked with a scowl.

“Well you see I have them every night. Their quiet horrible actually. I hate them.” Hermione cut of quickly, “But there’s nothing I can do. Goodnight everyone. See you in the morning.” Hermione quickly hurried towards her room, locked the door, and fell on her bed. She had barely held her tears  back long enough to reach her room.

After a few minutes of crying Hermione switched her clothes for some fluffy Pj’s, and put a silencing spell around her room before lying down.  Even though she was exhausted she did not want to fall asleep and have to face her nightmares. Reliving everything wasn’t going to be easy, and had already brought up bad memories.  

‘Please let my plan work, and make the future better’ she silently prayed to whoever was listening.  ‘Please?’

The Vanishing Glass

 Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling

, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No Money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended

2 – The Vanishing Glass

"This sounds like accidental magic," Lily said. Everyone could tell from the large grin on her face that she was excited to learn about her son in any way.

“Powerful accidental magic at that; only a few children ever manage to vanish things. It tends to stick to summoning and banishing things across the room or their magic kicking in to save their lives." McGonagall said.

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.

"That certainly sounds like Petunia," Severus said.

The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living-room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bobble hats

“I so wish I could see that!” Sirius said laughing, but was cut off from more by a bright white flash. When the light vanished they saw that Moody and Hermione were already up and had their wands gripped tightly in hand. The two quickly scanned the room and finally realized that the only difference was a stack of pictures on the table. Making sure they were safe first, Hermione picked them up. With a small smile she handed them to Sirius, who after seeing them started laughing, and they were quickly passed around the room.

Moody leaned over to Hermione and whispered in her ear. “Good Constant Vigilance Granger. You must have been taught well.”  Hermione nodded and gave a small smile at the compliment to Harry, and Moody himself.

 – but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

“Where’s Harry?” Lily asked worried.

“Did someone come get him?” James asked quietly.

“If Harry’s not there why are we still reading about them?” Remus asked confused. These questions were all aimed towards Hermione but she just gave a small shake of her head and motioned for Frank to continue reading.

Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long.

His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

“That’s a horrible way to wake up!” Lily exclaimed.

“I think it kinda sounds like mother. What about you Siri?” Regulus said, and in reply got a smile and nod from Sirius.

Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker.

He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.

"He must have an extraordinary memory if he can relive it as a dream." McGonagall said.

His aunt was back outside the door.

"Are you up yet?" she demanded.

"Nearly," said Harry.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

“They made him cook!” Lily shrieked.

“Harry said that he started cooking at the age of seven, but out of everything it was his favorite.” Hermione said, trying not only to calm the room, but to keep herself from becoming angry. Harry had told her almost everything that happened at the Dursley’s but she knew it would still be hard to hear about it all. 

Harry groaned.

"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.

“He didn’t say anything! Give him time to wake up!” James said angrily towards the book.

“James, you know you are talking to a book right?” Remus told him. This made James grumble under his breath and Sirius to bust out laughing.

"Nothing, nothing …"

Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.

Hermione sighed when she realized what was coming.  This was not going to be pretty.

Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

“WHAT! HE SLEPT UNDER A CUPBOARD! HOW DARE THEM!” Lily screamed, her face turning a bright red that even the Weasleys couldn’t manage.  Most people in the room were yelling, astonished at the revelation.

Hermione leaned over to Severus and said “Not exactly what you would think from James Potter’s spawn, huh?”

Severus gave her a seething look before angrily whispering back. “I’m sure that he is still an arrogant, shellfish brat, and a bully. Just like his father is.” Hermione’s anger flared at this. How dare he say that! He didn't even know him!  Hermione was contemplating hexing him when she heard Frank cough loudly and start to read again.

When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents.

It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.

“I will explain later to you guys.” Lily said to the purebloods around her.

Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody.

“That better not be Harry!” Remus said angrily with a harsh growl.

Dudley's favorite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

Hermione laughed at this understatement. When the others in the room looked at her she explained, “Harry is more than fast. It is insane when he runs, like you can barely see him. I still have trouble keeping up with him.”

“Good!” Alice said happy that the fat lard of a boy had trouble catching Harry.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.

“That might be half true. Considering that James and I have always been rather tall and petite. If he was short he didn’t get it from us.” Lily said with a sad tinge in her voice.

He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.

“Did they ever buy him something new?” Remus asked looking at Hermione, who gave a shake of her head no.  This only added to the thick air in the room.

Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.

Several growls could be heard at that.

The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it.

"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."

“She told him we died in a car crash! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I never would have thought that she hated me that much.” Lily said with tears streaming down her face.

Don't ask questions – that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

“Won’t work!” everyone who is familiar with the Potter hair says.

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place.

"I've heard that the Potters had been cursed to have untamable hair. Neither cutting, brushing or growing it out will be helpful,” Minerva said.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.

Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

“Nice one.” Sirius said laughing. “Looks like he got your sense of humor Prongs.”

Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.

"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."

“He gets thirty-six presents and complains about it! I have never heard of such a big brat!” Lily exclaimed, and everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, its here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

“Don’t choke,” Lily said worriedly.

Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty … thirty …"

“He can’t even count!” Remus said surprised, and disgusted.

"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckled.

"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote-control aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone, looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.

“He has a name! Use it.” Regulus said, surprising almost everyone. Sirius and Hermione knew though why he was acting as he did.

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

“That’s horrible!” Sirius exclaimed.

“What did you say Mr. Black? For a moment there I thought you insulted cats.” McGonagall said with a stern, angry voice with her lips thin.

“No…nothing, cats are wonderful, amazing creatures; beautiful too.” Sirius said with a frightened look in his eye.  

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws and Tufty again.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

“Please don’t! That woman is a horrible, fat pig.” Lily shrieked.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."

The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

"What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?"

"On holiday in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).

Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

“She always looks like that.” Severus said.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.

“Harry wouldn’t blow up the house!”  Alice said.

"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.

"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car …"

“He’s not a dog! That could kill him!” Lily said angrily.

"That car's new; he's not sitting in it alone …"

Hermione could hear a deep feral growl coming from cross the room.

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

"I … don't … want … him … t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

“Brat!” Many people called out.

Just then, the doorbell rang – "Oh, Good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers is a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

“If you can’t cry in front of your friends then they’re not real friends.” James said.

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

“He better not! That’s child abuse!” Lily screamed. James reached up and pulled her back down to the couch and started to rub circles on her back.

"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly …"

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.

"Mrs. Dursley should well know that it is accidental magic and Harry has no control over it," McGonagall said.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left "to hide that horrible scar". Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and Sellotaped glasses.

Severus caught himself thinking that this might be even worse than the clothes he had had to wear, especially since the Dursleys clearly had the money to afford better clothes.

Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.

James and Sirius started cheering, and yelling about awesome Potter hair.

 He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.

But this stopped their cheering, and brought back the grave mood from before.

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

“

Good!” Frank and Alice said.

On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.

“He apperated! Full grown adults have trouble, but a young boy. That’s amazing!” McGonagall said stunned.  The others in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorbikes.

“I’m going to guess he doesn’t like Harry.” Regulus joked.

"… roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorbike overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorbike," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."

“Harry! Use your brain I know you’ve got.” Lily said to the book, but nobody wanted to point it out to her in fear of having to face her wrath.

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, "MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!"

“Yes they do!” Sirius said, in a voice quiet like that of a young kid arguing.

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."

But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly. It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.

“That’s an insult to all gorillas everywhere.” Alice said in a serious voice.

Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his Knickerbocker glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.

Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

“Oh no! What happened?” Lily asked.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.

Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a dustbin – but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up – at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

It winked.

Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."

“Is he talking to a snake?” Frank asked.

“That’s a little creepy.” Sirius said.

“What I want to know is, how is he talking to a snake?” Alice said.

"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."

The snake nodded vigorously.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?"

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.

“Stupid pig!” James said.

What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

“That is very powerful accidental magic.” McGonagall said.

Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to the floor – people throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come … Thanksss, amigo."

“Aww, a polite snake. How sweet!” Alice cooed, which caused her to receive a few odd looks.

“Ya, don’t see that very often huh.” Sirius said quietly to James and Remus.

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"

The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.

But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"

“You just had to say something, now Harry is going to be in trouble.” Lily cried.

 Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals," before he collapsed into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

“How dare he. That’s my son, and I can’t believe Petunia just let him do it.” Lily said with tears rolling down her face.

Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.

“He shouldn’t have to sneak around for food.” Hermione hissed shooting an angry look at Dumbledore.

He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.

“He remembers that. Poor Harry.” Alice said.

 This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.

When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family.

“Why didn’t Sirius or I come for him? Why would we just leave him their when we know how horrible Petunia and Vernon are?” Remus asked the room, but no one, except Hermione, had an answer.

“And if you two couldn’t why didn’t Frank and I. I am his godmother for Merlin’s sake.” Alice said.

“How do you know you’re the godmother? This hasn’t happened yet.” Regulus asked.

“Sixth year Alice and I made an agreement to name each other godmother of our first child. We have been best friends since we meet in first year, so we felt it was only right.” Lily explained. Alice stood up and walked over to Lily and gave her a hug. Hermione could tell they really were best friends, sisters.

Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

“That’s rude.” Frank said.

“Ya, and they probably made Harry think he was going crazy.” Remus said.

At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

“That’s the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?” Frank said.

“I will.” Remus said before taking the book from Frank. “Chapter three. The Letters from No One.”