Chapter 4
The gurgle of the engine was the only sound that broke through the silence. No one dared to speak as Vernon grumbled nonsense and drove further from Privet Drive.
Harry fiddled with his backpack straps, fully aware of the fact that he would have had nothing but the oversize shirt on his back had it not been for Dudley’s note. No sooner had he stuffed his old cot blanket and the few items he used daily into a bag did his door fly open. Large hands had dragged him from his hole in the wall and shoved him towards the door without waiting.
Dudley moaned periodically about some show he would be missing, and how he would be bullied for it, but uncle Vernon’s vise grip on the wheel did not waver. He seemed to not even hear the whines as he occasionally glanced into the rear view mirror. At one point Harry had given a half wave when he caught the man staring, which had been a mistake.
Now, Dudley and aunt Petunia took turns trying to break the silence as Harry ignored them all and watched the world pass by in a blur. At least he wouldn’t be forced under the stairs anywhere outside of Privet Drive, right?
A hard jab to his side had Harry jumping. He whipped around to glare at his cousin.
‘This your-’ Dudley signed before he stopped. His brow scrunched in that deep way it did when he was thinking too hard.
‘Doing?’ Harry suggested, Dudley shook his head. ‘Spell it out, Duds.’ Harry pushed. Dudley slapped his hands, which had been expected, but it had been worth it.
‘f-a-l-t’
‘Fault.’ Harry offered and Dudley repeated the gesture five more times. ‘And there is a u in that word, just so you know.’
Dudley raised his fist in a quick enough motion that Harry shrunk on reflex. As a result, he received two quick punches to his already soar shoulder. He scowled at the other boy but said nothing as the car rolled to a stop.
As Harry looked towards the building they were supposedly staying at, he felt a flash of dizziness. It was several stories high and even the birds did not try to fly over the top. The faded gray of the walls did little to make it look as great as uncle Vernon claimed.
Harry pushed his glasses tighter to his face as he snatched his bag from the back seat. He followed the group inside and found the lobby to be vastly different from the outside. Red checkered walls made the room feel far warmer than it was, and the carpet rivaled aunt Petunia’s with just how clean it was despite the constant foot traffic. By far the most fascinating feature, however, was the massive chandelier. It glistened like little diamonds as it hung high over the room. Harry vaguely wondered how much it would take to send something that large crashing down over the whole lobby.
“I’m sorry, you said you needed a room for three.” A woman said in a hesitant voice.
“That’s right.” Uncle Vernon agreed.
Harry tore his gaze from the chandelier, it had started to sway rather hypnotically, and met the woman’s confused eyes as she counted the small group. His stomach dropped as what was wrong dawned on him. She was mistaking him for a person.
“The room has a couch, doesn’t it?” Vernon cut in, following her gaze.
“Yes, of course.” The woman hurried to agree.
“Then that will be just fine.”
“I’m sorry, but the couch is a pull out bed. It counts for one person already.”
Uncle Vernon grumbled as he looked between the boys. Harry tried to appear as small as he could, not hard when he slunk to be behind his cousin. Dudley, for once, did not move away and instead continued to watch the lights slow dance.
“The boys can share, I’m sure.” Aunt Petunia said.
This got Dudley’s attention. He bulked and nearly broke into one of his famous tantrums right there in the lobby. A strong look from his father was all that stopped him.
The woman looked like she wanted to disagree, but she slowly handed the key to a room over and signed the check in forms. Once they were heading out of the lobby, Harry swore he saw her watching him.
“This room sucks!” Dudley yelled as soon as the doors opened.
It was a small room, with a single bathroom by the front and two beds shoved together in the tight space. The couch was angled so that the assembly of the third bed would cover the rest of the flooring.
Harry had to agree, the room was not good. He had no desire to share a space with any of them.
“We will make do.” Uncle Vernon stated, and that was the end of it.
With a bit of a struggle, Harry set up the pull out bed and readied himself. As he moved to sit on the bed, however, he was pushed back up.
“I’m not sharing.” Dudley said. “I don’t share with freaks.”
“And you don’t have to. Boy, take the floor.” Vernon said without looking over from his larger bed.
“What!?” He said before he could stop himself. Well, in for a penny in for a pound. “What floor, exactly? If you can’t see, there are three beds currently covering the little bit of floor this room had!”
Uncle Vernon shot out of bed, face red as a lobster as he reached for Harry who had shuffled back. Dudley sat up, whether to hinder his father, or help, it was unclear but his sudden frame made it impossible for Vernon to reach out fully.
“You listen here, boy. This is your doing. We wouldn’t be here if your aunt hadn’t taken your no good self in after her freak of a sister got herself mixed in with that crowd. She did you a great kindness, be grateful we are trying to raise you right at all and not just kick you out here and now!” Vernon bellowed and Harry shrunk against the wall. “Behave, don’t you dare talk back again and be grateful we don’t just leave you out in the car.”
Harry nodded quickly and let his knees buckle to drop himself to the floor. Without a word he dragged his pack into his lap.
“Enough.” Aunt Petunia cut in with a huff. “Vernon, leave the thing alone. No point in fighting a pointless battle. Boys, I want not a peep out of either of you till morning. Bed, both of you.”
“Yes, aunt Petunia.” Harry grumbled and slumped to the floor up against the frame of the pull out bed.
He fished out his old blanket and settled in for the night. Without his hearing aid, the loud snores of those in the room was nothing more than white noise. For once, he was glad his hearing was so poor.
A rough tap to the window had Dudley shouting far too early in the morning. Aunt Petunia joined in with a shrill scream before uncle Vernon was up and shoving them all from the room in a hurry. Harry got a glance back, moments before the door swung shut, and could have sworn and owl was perched on the window ledge.
That was the new routine for the next week and a half. Find some rundown, off the main road hotel. Get a too small room. Flee from an owl or fifty, each holding a letter that looked suspiciously similar to the ones Harry had gotten.
They had been at it for so long, Harry had almost missed his birthday creeping up. If it hadn’t been for one morning drive where the radio host had said the date loud enough to cut through the chatter of those in the car, he would have.
He momentarily wondered if they would do something special that day, and flinched at his own choice of words. Being special was what had him in this mess in the first place.
As they rolled up to a strange looking hut near the pier, Harry got a very bad feeling. The clouds had been gathering all day and the rain had been off and on. It was clearly going to storm soon, why were they going out onto the water.
Vernon was talking with an older gentleman as the three huddled up against the car. Even the man seemed to share Harry’s hesitance but whatever his uncle had handed him shut his arguments up quick. When Vernon returned to the car he bore a half crazed smile that even Dudley shied away from.
“Alright. Grab only what you need for the weekend and head to the docks. We are gonna stay on an island for the weekend. No chance those damn birds follow us out in this.” He said as he dragged a cooler from the trunk. “Well, don’t just stand there. Get grabbin’!”
Harry was the first to move, grabbing his own pack to swing onto his back before he dragged Dudley’s out. Dudley ignored the backpacks and favored his large TV, which he had brought with to every hotel since the first one had not had one provided. Aunt Petunia was in the middle of trying to convince him to leave it, which had only worked to start one of his many tantrums.
The boat was small, which worked in aunt Petunia’s favor as Dudley could not fit that TV into it with all their other things. This worked against Harry, however, as he screamed the whole way towards the old lighthouse perched off shore. His ear rang and felt like he had dunked his head in the choppy water by the time they had made it to the rocky dock.
The rain had started to come down in sheets as they hurried to get everything inside.
“I’ll be back ta check on ya all in the, well, when this weather lets up.” Said the old man as he set the last of their wet bags down. “Till then, try ta not do nothing crazy. Or, crazier than what yer doin’ now I suppose.”
Uncle Vernon hastily agreed, and with another large bundle of paper which Harry now recognized as money, the man left.
“Vernon, love, are you sure this is necessary?” Aunt Petunia asked lightly. Thunder rolled loud enough for Harry to hear.
“Absolutely. No more letters, no more owls, no more anything!” He laughed. Somehow, aunt Petunia did not look like she believed that. Like she knew something they all didn’t, still, she agreed and helped them to get cozy.
The light house had three floors. The first floor had a couch in the middle of a dirt floor. Old pillows, half eaten by critters were tossed onto it along with a musty blanket. The second floor had a single bed, of which uncle Vernon lay claim to. Aunt Petunia agreed that the adults were to need the support more than children.
The third floor had nothing but cables and wires that ran up to the light fixed to the roof. It swung in a rhythmic circle and cast a warm light out through the now raging storm. Swells crashed against the shore, and Harry swore some even made it to the lower walls of the lighthouse though he couldn’t be sure.
There was no argument over who got the couch. Harry dragged his pack out to work as a pillow and settled on the stone cold floor. He was damp and shivered lightly even with the thread bare blanket. The light of the every moving light made the leaking holes in the door glow every few seconds as he tried to sleep.
It was no use. In all the shuffling they had come up to Harry’s birthday and not a single person had made mention of it. He would not be surprised if they had forgotten. It was a by the luck of one good hearing day that he hadn’t. Still, they had made Dudley’s 11th birthday look like something to celebrate.
He supposed he didn’t need more than himself to enjoy a passing day. As the watch on Dudley’s arm, the one that had fallen out from under his own thin blanket, ticked down the minutes Harry got to work. He used his finger and the few seconds of light the storm gave to carve an image of a cake into the floor.
As soon as the watch beeped, signaling midnight, Harry spoke to himself as if he were anyone else. “Happy birthday Harry, make a wish.”
He blew away the drawing of the cake, making sure not to leave any trace of it for the others to see, and rolled onto his side. He was eleven, and yet he felt no different. Maybe wishes were just that, a wish.
Harry closed his eyes, ready to let sleep take him away if even just for a moment. His breathing evened out as he tipped on that edge to dreamless nothing when the ground trembled. His eyes opened slowly as he looked towards a now empty couch.
Harry sat bolt upright as he scanned for Dudley. The boy was not hard to locate, cowering behind the far edge of the couch. His gaze was locked onto the door as another tremor rippled through the ground. Harry spun to watch the door as it shook one last time before it burst inward from far more than just the wind.
Harry scrambled away from the front as the wind and rain ripped through the room as cold as ice. He shoved himself up against the wall beside the fireplace and caught Dudley’s attention as the boy looked ready to flee.
‘Don’t move.’ He signed. Dudley whimpered.
From the doorway, stood the largest shadow Harry had ever glimpsed and he emphasized once more to Dudley how important it was that he stayed right where he was.
‘Do as I say.’ Harry signed. This time, Dudley nodded. Harry made sure to use words he was sure Dudley knew. ‘Stay low. Kitchen table. Under.’
The figure, a man of some sort, entered the room with a garbled something but Harry could not make out the words. Instead, he waited for it to turn its back before he gestured, ‘now!’
Dudley scrambled away from the couch and slid under the far table a bit too dramatically to have been unnoticed and Harry winced. If it came down to it, he would just have to jump out and get the things attention, only it didn’t even seem to care about Dudley. Instead, it shoved the broken door back into place and looked around like it was a welcomed visitor.
Uncle Vernon came into the room, gun raised high and- gun!?
Harry felt his legs go weak as he stared at his uncle brandishing a weapon. Since when had he had a gun!? Had he always had one? Did he know how to use it?
The thing spoke back to Vernon and just as his uncle moved to shoot Harry covered his ears tight to keep what little hearing he had. The beast moved far faster than he would have thought and bent the barrel of the gun skywards. The blast still made Harry’s ears ring despite his hands, but it shot harmlessly through the wood floor above them.
Harry looked towards his cousin. Dudley was balled tight under the table, pale as a ghost, but his eyes were on Harry, not the intruder.
‘You.’ He signed and Harry tilted his head to the side. Dudley signed again, ‘you. He ask you.’
Harry thought it a trick. Dudley wanted to have him get this things attention for his own safety and- then what? They were all stranded in the middle of a raging sea because his uncle had lost his mind.
‘Why me?’ Harry asked.
Dudley shrugged. ‘Know your parents. Say your name.’
Harry stared in shock for a moment too long. The beast turned to Dudley and boomed out a sound that was far too happy. Dudley shrunk away and stammered, but years of living with him had made it as easy as breathing to see the words that fell from him.
“I’m not Harry!”
Harry reacted on some deep instinct and stepped out from his hiding space with a far louder than he had meant, “I am!”
The beast pivoted towards him in surprise before they beamed. It was huge and towered over everything like a giant. A large beard hung down past its neck and looked far more like a true rats nest than Harry’s hair ever had. Its eyes, black with flecks of brown, were kind with deep smile wrinkles despite the otherwise monstrous appearance.
“Harry, of course ya are!” The beast said, its voice was deep and raspy. It clearly had a thick accent and Harry’s eyes flicked towards his bag where his hearing aids lay. Accents were hard on a good day. Not to mention the nest that rested over the mans lips made reading near impossible. “Got you a little somethin’ though I might have squished it a bit on the way over. Should taste alright.”
Harry glanced towards Dudley for any kind of help but the boy was frozen in fear. With another look back to the man Harry slowly took the offered pink box. The man had continued to speak but the words were washed out with the storm.
Inside the box sat a cake which read ‘Happee birthdae Harry’ in large green letters over pale pink frosting. It was crude, a bit flat, but something in Harry broke seeing the cake. His cake. From a man he didn’t even know.
“What do you want with me?” Harry asked as he poked at the frosting. It tasted so sweet and it took everything in him not to just take a large bite. He was so hungry.
“To bring you out to do some school shoppin’ of course!” The man said and Harry had to confirm with Dudley that he had indeed understood that.
“And, who are you?” Harry tried, the more he kept this things attention the better the others would be.
The man said his name, and a bunch of words that made little sense after, but Harry needed his cousin to spell it out for him just to be sure. The answer made his head swim with questions.
Rubeus Hagrid, some school employee, had come to him on his birthday to give him a cake that looked very much homemade, and wanted to take him shopping? Since when was that a thing? Why was he not here for both Harry and Dudley? Why did his aunt and uncle look like they did not know this man? Was this how people got kidnapped?
“I’m sorry, what about a hog?” Harry asked instead.
“Hogwarts! You’ll have gotten yer letter by now. I am sure you know all about Hogwarts.” The beast, maybe kidnapper, giant Hagrid said proudly.
“I’m sorry.” Harry said, he shrunk back a bit as he tried to make sure his volume stayed even.
“Don’t be.” Hagrid said as he flopped back into the open couch. He pulled out an old, pink umbrella, and pointed it towards the empty pit. Before Harry could ask, sparks danced from the tip of the umbrella and lit a warm fire. The flames danced in welcome as the room warmed instantly.
“Whoa.” Harry breathed. He moved to set the cake on the table before he turned back to the strange and fantastic man.
“Hogwarts,” Hagrid continued as Harry fished out his hearing aid and slipped it and his hat on. For some reason, he did not want this man to see him wearing it. “Is where yer folks went to learn everything they knew.”
“And, what did they learn?” Harry asked. He turned to face the man who now stared at him with shock. Had he said something wrong?
“Learned what? Learned everythin'!” The man said loudly. He dropped his voice and leaned towards him like he was about to share a great secret. “Yer a wizard, Harry.”
Harry let his mouth fall open as he stared back at the man. He wanted to laugh, to yell, to fight that. He was not normal, but there was no such thing as magic! Even if there was suddenly a man the size of a small house in the room. Even if the storm that raged outside meant there should be no way he was here, let alone unphased from travel. Even if said giant man had started a fire with nothing more than an umbrella, there was no such thing as magic!
“No.” Harry said, before he tried again. Maybe he had heard wrong. “I’m a what?”
“A wizard.” Hagrid said, so he had heard correctly after all. “And a good one, I’d bet on it. Of course you’ll need training. That’s where Hogwarts will come in.”
“I’m sorry, but you are mistaken. There is no way I could be a… wizard.” Harry said, he stumbled over his words as his brain rushed to make sense of everything. “I’m Harry, just Harry!”
Hagrid chuckled and nodded. “Well, just Harry. Ya ever make something strange happen? Wish for somethin’ real hard and have it come true? Somethin’ ya couldn’t explain when you were angry or scared?”
Harry opened his mouth to retort but snapped it shut tight instead. Countless times flashed through his mind. He had tried to logic those moments, but he found he never could. Was this why? Had he actually done those things and deserved the punishments for them after all?
“Open the letter, it will answer things for ya.”
“I don’t have one.” Harry said, his voice low as he tried to work through the brewing storm in his own mind that rivaled the one outside.
“No?” Hagrid asked. “We sent ya hundreds by now, ya sure ya don’ have just one?”
Harry shook his head as Hagrid frowned. “That ain’t right.” He muttered.
“I-” Dudley started and squeaked as all eyes turned to him. He swallowed hard and ignored his parents looks altogether as he took a shaky step into the room. “I uh.”
Dudley’s voice failed and he instead ran to his large bag along the far wall. Clothes and random toys, half of which were broken, scattered the floor as he dug deep. Once he found what it was he was looking for, Dudley slowly stood and shuffled towards the two by the fire.
“Happy birthday.” He muttered as he shoved a letter into Harry’s hands. Before Harry could speak, Dudley scurried back into the kitchen and away from Hagrid.
Harry blinked as he slowly turned the letter over. It was addressed to the cupboard under the stairs, which meant Dudley had held onto this since they had fled from Privet Drive. Whether he had always meant to give it to him as a present or not hardly mattered. The wax seal remained in tact, and he had given it willingly.
Harry cracked the seal and slowly read the contents out loud. He hardly registered what he was even saying, this all had to be a dream. There was no way he was eleven, a wizard, and given two gifts. That was enough red flags for him.
“He won’t be going!” Uncle Vernon bellowed and Harry jumped. “We swore to put a stop to all this magic nonsense when we took him in!”
Rage, hot and blazing ignited in Harry’s center. The fire from the pit burst outwards as he yelled, “you knew!?”
“Of course we knew.” Aunt Petunia said coldly. “How could you not be. My sister got her letter and the whole family was nothing but praise. Oh how great it was to have a witch in the family. I was the only one who saw through it all, saw what she really was. A freak.” She spat the last word like a slur.
“My mother wasn’t a freak!” Harry yelled back.
“Oh please,” aunt Petunia rolled her eyes. “Of course she was. And after she got mixed in with their kind she all but forgot about us. She was too busy being some great pawn that she went and got blown up and we got saddled with you.”
“Blown up?” Harry said. His rage died into cold dread and confusion. “I thought… you said they died in a car crash.”
“Car crash!?” Hagrid bellowed. Harry recoiled, he had somehow forgotten about the man in the room. “How dare you. James and Lily died to protect everyone and you sully their names by claiming it was a car crash!?”
“I’ll not pay to send him to that crack pot school and that is final. This all ends here and now.” Vernon said.
“And how is a muggle to stop this from happening?” Hagrid said as he towered over the others. “He will go, and you can’t stop him.”
“I’ll go.” Harry agreed. He looked over those who he had thought he could have trusted with at least the bare minimum of his life story. His eyes caught Dudley as he stuck his hand into Harry’s cake. He didn’t even blame him, they had not packed much food on their impromptu run and he was probably starved and not used to the feeling.
Harry turned away from the others to face the man. “I’ll go, only if we leave now.”
“Are ya sure?” He asked, a bit stunned.
“Yes.” Harry said, he sent one last glance around the room and nodded. This stranger, he knew about his parents. He had been more honest in an hour than the adults here had been in eleven years. If this was a ploy to get him to leave, well, consider him got. “Let’s go.”