Hagrid?
A couple weeks before Harry's eleventh birthday the letters started coming. Harry came close to opening the first one before it was snatched away by Dudley, he didn't get a chance after that. Vernon went partially insane during that time. He boarded up all the doors and windows, yelled at the post office and the dairy (a few letters had shown up inside their eggs), and was ridiculously jumpy. On the bright side Harry and Sirius were moved to Dudley's second bedroom upstairs. It was much nicer than the cupboard, but Sirius could tell Harry was still miserable. He once said that he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that blasted letter than up here without it. Not that Sirius could blame him.
Vernon had lightened up on Harry's chores, meaning that he had more free time. Sirius pulled Dudley's untouched books out and tried to encourage Harry to read when he had nothing else to do. Sometimes he did, but most of the time he just cuddled with Sirius and tried to guess who would be sending those letters.
Sunday morning Vernon was looking tired but happy as he sat down to breakfast. "No post on Sundays." he announced brightly. "No damn letters today-"
Of course that was when a flood on letters came pouring out of the fireplace. Vernon had to forcibly remove Harry from the room while Petunia did the same to Sirius, dragging him out by his collar, Dudley ran out on his own. Sirius was rather pleased with himself. He'd managed to grab a few letters in his jaws.
Vernon ordered the family to pack a bag. He spotted Sirius's mouthful of letters and let out a strangled sort of scream. He grabbed the letters and tried to yank the away from Sirius. Sirius held on and started growling at him in response. Eventually, the letters tore. Harry looked about as disappointed as Sirius felt.
"Go pack. Now! Five minutes." Vernon shoved Harry towards the stairs.
As Harry was throwing clothes into a bag he talked. "I'm really proud of you for trying to get some of those letters for me, Shadow. Don't be too upset it didn't work out, it's not your fault they tore. I'm just glad Uncle Vernon didn't kick you or anything." Harry grabbed the service dog jacket. "Come here, boy. No idea where Uncle Vernon plans to take us, but you should always wear this in public right?" Harry only really talked when he was alone with Sirius. Then it almost seemed like he was trying to make up for what he couldn't say around people.
Naturally, Dudley held them up. The whole car ride was silent except for Dudley's sniffling and Vernon's half insane muttering. Vernon kept making random sharp turns and doubled back several times. "Shake 'em off." Sirius heard him mutter.
Harry held Sirius tighter. "Shadow, he's really scaring me this time. Think we could jump out and run?" he whispered in Sirius's ear. The dog licked his cheek wishing he could hold his godson and properly comfort him.
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They stayed at a cheap hotel for the night. The owner of the place had told them she had a bunch of letters for Mr. H. Potter. Harry had frozen in place with a hand tangled in Sirius's fur, his voice stuck in his throat. Vernon had flashed a small smirk at Harry- he knew the boy would be unable to speak up- before going to take care of the letters.
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Eventually, they ended up in a small hut in the middle of the ocean. Vernon had stopped and checked out several places- a field, the top of a parking garage, places like that- before deciding that the hut was the best place. Dudley and Petunia seemed resigned to the fact that Vernon had gone totally bonkers at this point.
When Dudley pointed out that it was Monday and whined about the TV he was missing Harry stiffened slightly. He buried his nose in Sirius's fur and whispered, "Tomorrow's my birthday." Sirius licked his cheek.
"This place is perfect." Vernon grinned as he got them all into the rowboat he had rented. Sirius sniffed at the long package he'd brought back. "Oh, no." Vernon actually laughed, it sounded half hysterical, and pushed Sirius away from the package. "That's not for dogs." He looked at Petunia, still grinning. "Storm forecast tonight."
It was freezing in the boat. Sirius pressed close to Harry, trying to keep him as warm as possible. The boy smiled at him, but he was still shivering. The hut they'd be staying in wasn't much better. Sure, there was some protection from the wind and no icy sea spray running over them, but there were gaps in the walls that allowed the wind to come through, the place smelled strongly of seaweed, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.
Vernon had only brought a bag of chips for each human, four bananas, and a small stick of beef jerky for Sirius. Harry sneaked him part of his banana. Vernon tried to start a fire but empty chip bags aren't very good kindling.
"Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.
Vernon clearly didn't think anyone would be able to get out here to give Harry his letter. Sirius wanted to laugh in his face. A wizard could easily apparate out here. No muggle could escape a wizard chasing them without another wizard's help. Especially not this easily.
The promised storm hit them that night. Petunia had found some moldy blankets in the other room and made a bed for Dudley on the sofa. Harry got the thinnest blanket and had to sleep on the floor. Vernon and Petunia, of course, got the only bed in this place. Sirius curled up against Harry and did his best to make him comfortable. The boy still had trouble sleeping.
Harry took to staring at Dudley's wristwatch, his arm around Sirius. He whispered, "Ten minutes, Shadow. Ten minutes and I'll be eleven. Think the Dursleys will remember at all? Last year they gave me a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, at least they remembered."
Sirius was a little heartbroken at that. Harry was so deprived of love he was just happy when someone remembered his birthday. Sirius licked his face and cuddled closer. This wasn't how Harry was supposed to have his childhood. He was supposed to be loved by his parents and surrounded with friends. James and he were supposed to be teaching him how to properly prank someone while Lily made sure he was fully prepared for Hogwarts. It shouldn't be like this.
"Do you think the roof's gonna fall in?" Harry wondered. "Hey, maybe when we get back to the house it'll be so full of those letters that I can steal one somehow. What'd you think, Shadow?" Sirius licked him again. "One minute left." Harry breathed.
BOOM.
As midnight hit the whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in. Sirius stepped in front of Harry protectively and started growling at the door and whoever wanted to come in.
Dudley jerked awake when the mystery person knocked again. Vernon skidded into the room with a rifle in his hands. Well, that explains what was in the package.
"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you- I'm armed!"
Sirius rolled his eyes. Like that would scare a wizard, most of them wouldn't even know what the thing was!
The door was smashed clean off its hinges and landed on the floor with a deafening crash. A giant of a man stood in the doorway. Sirius blinked in surprise and stopped growling, he recognized this guy. Long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard that covered most of his face. Hagrid! Sirius was really glad that he and the others had kept their Animagus forms secret.
Hagrid stepped inside and pushed the door back into its frame. He turned back to them. "Couldn't make a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey...."
Sirius wanted to laugh. Same old Hagrid.
Dudley was frozen on the couch with fear until Hagrid came over and told him to move. At which point he ran and hid behind his mother.
"An' here's Harry! Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby."
Harry was shaking. He was paler than normal and had tears in his eyes. Sirius made a show of sniffing Hagrid.
"Who's this then?" Hagrid looked down at Sirius. "Nice dog. Is he yours?" Hagrid asked Harry. Sirius put a paw on Hagrid's knee and lifted his chin to show off his tags. Hagrid checked out the one with his name. "Shadow, eh? Not a bad name. Well trained dog you got here Harry."
Sirius went back to Harry's side and licked his cheek to let him know that Hagrid was trustworthy. Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius and buried his face in his fur. Hagrid frowned slightly.
Vernon made a funny rasping noise. "I demand you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!"
"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune." Hagrid pulled the rifle out of Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot, and threw it into a corner of the room. Vernon made an odd squeaking noise.
"Anyway-" Hagrid turned back to Harry, lowered his voice a bit, and tried to sound as kind as possible so he didn't scare Harry anymore. "A very happy birthday to yeh, Harry. I've got summat fer yeh- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."
Harry squeezed Sirius tighter and peaked out from his fur. Hagrid pulled out a slightly squashed box and held it out to him. "Yeh won' wanna let yer dog have any. Could make 'im sick."
Harry loosened his hold on Sirius and very slowly reached out to take the box. His hand was still shaking pretty badly but Sirius was proud of him for doing this much, even if he couldn't speak yet. Hagrid set the box in his hand and motioned that he should open it. Inside was a large sticky chocolate cake with 'Happy Birthday Harry' written in green icing. Harry tried to say thank you, but ended up snapping his mouth shut and pressing his face to his dog again. Sirius heard him sob once, quietly. He nuzzled the boy's hair, proud. Harry had been very brave, taking something from a stranger.
"Well, guess I should introduce meself. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
Harry peaked through Sirius's fur again, tear tracks on his cheeks.
"What about that tea then, eh?" Hagrid rubbed his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."
When no one answered him he turned to the empty grate with the shriveled in it. He bent over the fireplace and when he drew back a second later there was a roaring fire there. He then started pulled things out of his pockets and began to make his tea and a few sausages. Dudley fidgeted a little.
"Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley." Vernon said sharply.
Hagrid chuckled. "Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore Dursley, don' worry."
He held the sausages out to Harry. Once again it took quite a bit of time before Harry reached out to take what was offered. He dropped three of the six sausages on the floor for Sirius, who happily snapped them up. Hagrid chuckled again and pulled an old dog biscuit out of his coat for Sirius. He only took a bite of that, it was moldy.
Harry buried his nose in Sirius's fur and took a few deep breaths before saying, "W-who-" Hagrid turned to him eagerly, Harry was talking! Of course the second Hagrid looked at him Harry's voice failed him again. The boy bit his lip so hard Sirius was afraid it'd start to bleed.
Hagrid looked a little disappointed. "Who am I?" he guessed. Harry clung to Sirius and nodded slightly. "Call me Hagrid. Everyone does. Like I said before I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts- yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."
Harry shook his head and looked on the verge of tears again. Hagrid looked shocked. Harry squeaked out a small "Sorry." Sirius started licking his face again in an attempt to make the boy smile. Harry offered him a small half-hearted one. Sirius sighed.
"Yeh've no need to be sorry, Harry." Hagrid said gently. "It's not yer fault. It's them who should be sorry. But Harry, didn' yeh ever wonder where yer parents learned it all?"
Harry looked at him in confusion. He swallowed a few times. His voice was a whisper. "What?"
"Yeh don' know?" Harry shook his head tightening his hold on Sirius again. Hagrid jumped up and turned on the Dursley's looking furious. They cowered against the wall. "Now wait jus' one second! Do you mean ter tell me that this boy- knows nothin' abou'- about ANYTHING?"
Harry had started crying softly into Sirius's fur. Sirius growled at Hagrid. Couldn't that great fool see that that was a terrible way of phrasing things? Honestly, he'd basically just called Harry stupid. The boy had been called that for years. Way to bring back bad memories Hagrid.
The giant seemed to notice and quickly crouched down next to Harry. "I don't mean to say yer not smart Harry. I jus' mean yeh don' know abou' our world."
Harry sniffled and glanced up at him, confused.
Hagrid turned back to the Dursleys still furious. Vernon looked pale and tried to say something, but it sounded like total gibberish.
"See Harry, where I'm from yer mom and dad are famous. You're famous." Harry frowned. His lip was bleeding from how badly he'd bitten it. "Yeh don' know what yeh are do yeh?" Harry blinked.
"Stop!" Vernon had found his voice. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"
Hagrid glared at him. "You never told him. Never told what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw him leave it Dursley! An' you kept it from him all these years?"
Sirius touched Hagrid's leg with a paw to remind him that Harry still didn't know.
Hagrid opened his mouth as Vernon yelled in panic, "STOP! I FORBID YOU!" Petunia gasped in horror.
"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh." He turned back to Harry. "Harry- yer a wizard." Silence. Harry shook his head and held Sirius. "I think it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."
It took Harry a lot less time to take the letter than it had the other things. Sirius knew it would be a standard welcome to Hogwarts letter complete with a list of stuff muggles would have trouble finding. Harry frowned and pointed to the bottom of the letter.
"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me." Hagrid pulled an owl out of his pocket along with a quill and some parchment. Sirius grabbed his service dog jacket- Harry had taken it off when they were getting ready for bed- and trotted over to show Hagrid. "No. Sorry, Shadow. They don't allow students to bring dogs."
Harry took a couple quick breaths. "If Shadow can't go I won't either!" His eyes widened and he clapped his hands over his mouth. Sirius dropped his jacket and trotted back to Harry's side.
Hagrid frowned thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do."
Harry hugged Sirius tight as Hagrid finished his letter and threw the owl out into the storm.
"He's not going even if that dog's approved." Vernon announced. He still looked pale.
"I'd like to see a muggle like you try to stop him."
"We swore when we took him in we'd stamp out this rubbish. Wizard indeed!"
"You knew." Harry choked out.
"Of course we knew!" Petunia shrieked suddenly. Harry shrank back. "How could you not be my dratted sister being what she was?" Sirius yawned and tuned out Petunia's rant. Lily had mentioned that Petunia had gotten especially nasty after they found out she was a witch. Apparently she'd tried to get Dumbledore to let her into Hogwarts too. Even after all these years she was still jealous of her baby sister.
Sirius tuned back into the conversation just before Hagrid gave Dudley a pig's tail a few minutes later, after Vernon called Dumbledore an old fool or something.
Once the Dursleys had fled to the other room Hagrid stretched. "Well, best get some rest. Big day tomorrow. If yeh like I could tell yeh why yer so famous in the morning." Harry nodded and soon after they all fell asleep.