So I'm back after being absent for a while for which I am dreadfully sorry. Work has been full blown and I haven't had much time for writing. I am currently stuck in bed Ill so I thought that a cure for my boredom would be to update my stories something which I haven't done since April. Here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

THE KEEPER OF THE KEYS

BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.

Laughter erupted in the hall at Dudley's stupidity again, it was a good thing his cousin wasn't here, he'd definitely hate to be reminded of how he was when they were younger.

There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands - now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.

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

"What's a gun gunna do against Hagrid?" a muggleborns scoffed causing Hagrid to blush.

There was a pause. Then -

SMASH!

The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.

McGonagall turned to look at Hagrid.

"Was that amount of force really necessary Hagrid?" Hagrid blushed.

"twas a really small door, it didn't really stand a chance 'gainst me," he mumbled.

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.

Everyone shouted Hagrid's name making McGonagall sigh. Were they going to do this every time a new character was introduced? Ron glanced at his best mate.

"You have a way of describing the people you meet mate," there were a few scattered sniggers around the hall. "Can't wait to see what mine is," he said sarcastically.

The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."

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

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

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

"I'm surprised that he was able to hide behind them, after all isn't he bigger than the two of them put together?" scoffed Malfoy.

"An' here's Harry!" said the giant. Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.

"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."

"That was the first time anyone told me that, I never knew what you looked like before first year," Harry told them. Ron grinned.

"Yeah and now everyone you meet tells you it and annoys you."

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.

"Nicely done Hagrid," cheered Gred and Forge.

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

"Anyway - Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.

Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"

"Only you Harry," Hermione said with a small grin on her face. Harry grinned.

"My head and mouth weren't communicating with each other, I was still in shock."

The giant chuckled.

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

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

"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."

The three marauders laughed loudly causing them to get suspicious looks off of the teachers.

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.

"How many pockets does that coat of yours have Hagrid, they seem to be never ending?" Hermione asked. Hagrid gave her a bushy grin and tapped the side of his nose, causing her to huff in annoyance. Ron laughed.

"I'm sure you could figure it out 'Mione."

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."

"As if he needed more food," Mrs Weasley sniffed. She was still upset about the fact that Harry had not been fed properly, something she suspected but was not confirmed until now.

The giant chuckled darkly.

"Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry." He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are." The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.

"Er - no," said Harry.

Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes sad with emotion.

"I left Petunia a letter that explained everything, I never once believed that she wouldn't tell you the truth Harry. I truly believed that placing you there was the correct decision, but to know everything that you had to deal with whilst there does not make me feel happy about the decision." Harry looked at the old wizard, and gave him a small smile.

"I know why you sent me there Professor, if I had been sent anywhere else, yes I may have been loved more, but there would be the danger of attack all the time, not to mention that a family in league with Voldemort may have been allowed to have me. By sending me to Privet drive you ensured my survival, my home life was never normal, and I never knew any kind of love until I came to Hogwarts, but however many times I wished for someone to take me away back then, I understand now that being there shaped me into the person I am today. I don't care about my fame, being the boy-who-lived…"

"It's the man-who-conquered now Harry," Ron informed him grinning in a Cheshire cat way. Harry groaned.

"What's with all the hyphenated names? Anyway what I mean to say is that I like just being Harry, I don't like to play on my fame and as I've been told many a time I have a saving people thing." Hermione and Ron grinned at him. "So no, it wasn't the happiest place for me to grow up, but it was the best and safest place. I no longer blame you professor so you have no right to blame yourself. As you once said 'we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy. You made the right choice, it was never going to be easy." Lily and James each placed a hand on one of Harry's shoulders, both feeling absolute pride in their son. Dumbledore looked up, his blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

"Thank you Harry, you're a great man with an ability to forgive even the hugest of misdemeanours. You are right of course, even I must be reminded of my own words on occasion, I believe it is called old age, my memory is not what it once was." His eyes sparkled with mirth. "Please lets continue reading."

Hagrid looked shocked.

"Sorry," Harry said quickly.

"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them 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.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!" He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.

"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy - this boy! - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"

Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.

Hermione shook her head.

"I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff." But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."

"What world?" Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.

"DURSLEY!" he boomed. Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."

Everyone laughed.

"Is that even a word," Ron asked Hermione. She shook her head.

Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.

"But yeh must know about yet mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."

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

"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare. "Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally. Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.

"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sit! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"

"As if you could stop him Dursley, oh let me have my wand and I'll show you just what I think about how you've treated my son," Lily shrieked. James nodded his head in agreement with his wife, pranks going through his mind of what he could get away with. Harry looked quite in awe of his parents wrath, having never known what a parents outlook on his life would result in.

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.

"That you're a skinny, messy haired eleven year old," yelled the twins gleefully. Harry smirked and unnoticed pointed his wand at the twins under the table, silently casting the prank spell that they had taught him a few years ago. Both boys immediately found themselves with black untameable hair and skinny frames. They looked at each other in horror before breaking into identical grins. "Were identical," they quipped causing laughter to spread out from the table. Harry gave them a quick acknowledgment with his head causing their eyes to widen and burst into laughter themselves. A few odd stares caused them to explain. "We didn't do this, it was one who has a marauder background." This caused everyone to look at James, Sirius and Remus. They immediately put their hands up in surrender.

"It wasn't us, we don't even have wands at the moment." Sirius said. Hermione glanced at Harry in suspicion. He quickly schooled his face into an expression of awe. Hermione turned to the twins.

"You said it was someone who had a marauder background? What kind of background?" The twins smirked, eyes dancing with mirth as they quickly flicked to Harry and back.

"Direct contact with all of them," they said together. Harry internally groaned, what happened to never giving up your fellow pranksters! He looked up to see almost every eye on him.

"What?" he grinned. The twins roared with laughter as the marauders all piled on top of Harry exclaiming loudly how proud they were of him for pulling a prank in front of the whole school unseen. Hermione gave him a significant look causing him to give her a small smile in confirmation. It was true that he had never pranked before, but that was because he never found himself in an environment where he had felt comfortable to do so, with the war and Voldemort he had been so preoccupied that he had never felt like a normal teenager. Now it felt like he was able to pull down all the walls around him and have some fun. Ginny pulled him back up off the floor where he had ended up in the dogpile. She pulled him into a breath taking kiss causing wolf whistles, (from the marauders) and groans (from her brothers). They both pulled away when Oxygen became something that was required. Both smirked at each other, Ginny's eyes were filled with love and pride that told him that she was happy that he wasn't caught up in the past anymore. They both moved to sit back down at the table and Harry saw his dad and Sirius give him a wink. Roan groaned again.

"Did we really need to see that?" Harry smirked wickedly at Ron.

"Well if you rally insist I'm sure we could show you again," Ginny nodded also smirking. Ron shook his hands in disagreement.

"No, No I'm quite ok. Look maybe we should get back to the book?"

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic. Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.

"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yer a wizard."

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

"- a what?" gasped Harry.

"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter." 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?"

Ron shook his head in amusement. All of the questions that he could have asked and he went with that one!

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse;

and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

Given Harry his letter.

Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.

Weather's horrible. Hope you're Well.

Hagrid

Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.

Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.

"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.

"The fat lump is actually moving? What's he gunna do, threaten to sit on him?" Malfoy sniggered. Harry found himself sniggering at Malfoy's comment and gave him a small smile which was returned after he had gotten over the shock of seeing Potter smile at him. Maybe things were changing now for the better.

"He's not going," he said. Hagrid grunted.

"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.

"A what?" said Harry, interested.

"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call 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."

"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!"

There was a rumble of magic and a wind was conjured blowing out the hanging candles and causing the sky in the great hall to become stormy. Harry looked towards Dumbledore who had his eyes closed, trying to keep control of his magic. Finally with his anger under control again the aged wizard opened his eyes.

"I apologise for my outburst there, I'm afraid that my temper has appeared to be quite loose at the moment." He looked over to Harry who gave him a small grin, reminding him that all had been forgiven. He no longer felt guilty about it, but still to know exactly what those muggles had thought about Harry, he hadn't felt so angry about anything like that for so long. He calmed his emotions using occulmency and gave small smile. "Please Hagrid, continue."

"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 holiday with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"

"Oh Tuney," Lily said sadly. "We used to be so close." James pulled her in for a hug.

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!"

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 3 s gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."

Hermione nodded.

"It would have been bad if you had turned up to Hogwarts not knowing the truth. You could have been told a twisted version." Harry agreed.

He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.

"Well, it's 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..."

"You'll never get him to say it," the twins said. "We tried but he never would." Harry smirked.

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.

"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

"Nah -can't spell it. All right - Voldemort. "

The twins looked at him in awe, Harry gave a small bow and flashed them a grin.

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.

"You flatter me Hagrid, he was only wary of me because I knew who he truly was."

"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.

"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. 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,

Sirius looked away with a painful look on his face.

the Bones,

Susan looked uncomfortable at being reminded of her parents death.

the Prewetts –

Mrs Weasley burst into tears and Mr Weasley rubbed her back soothing her.

- an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."

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.

Everyone's eyes were on Harry. He hid his face in Ginny's shoulder, not wanting to see anymore looks of pity.

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

"You lay a hand on my son and you'll wish you were dead Dursley," James shouted. Angry looks could be seen around the hall.

- 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 -"

Malfoy looked uncomfortable, clearly remembering the times when he had slated Harry's parents.

But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you - one more word... " In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.

"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor. Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.

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

"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.

"You know Hagrid that makes no sense. You didn't think he was dead but you also didn't think he was coming back," questioned Hermione. Hagrid refused to meet her eyes and carried on reading.

"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."

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?

"Magic doesn't work like that Harry," his mother told him. He smirked.

"I know that now mum, but come on, I was only eleven back then, I was a bit shocked."

"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard." To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.

"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?" Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?

Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.

"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."

Harry groaned, that had been the only thing he hated about the wizarding world, that no matter where he went he was always being stared at.

But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.

"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -"

"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter' s son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled-"

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

All of the marauders looked at Hagrid knowing fully well how angry Hagrid got when the headmaster was insulted in front of him.

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.

There was a moment of silence as what had just occurred was acknowledged before laughter erupted filing the great hall. The twins were looking at Hagrid with new respect.

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."

More laughter erupted, many with tears in their eyes from laughing so much.

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?"

"He'll never tell you," Sirius told them. Harry smirked at Ron and Hermione who both grinned mischievously back.

"You sure about that Padfoot?" grinning widely.

"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that." He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry. "You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."

"That's the end of the chapter," Hagrid said putting down the book. Dumbledore clapped his hands to get everyone' attention.

"I believe that it is in fact lunch time now. The house elves have prepared a huge feast as a victory dinner. Now we can all eat and talk for the duration of lunch or we could have someone read the next chapter whilst were all eating. There was a show of hands for each choice and the overall choice was to get someone to read the next chapter whilst they ate. Lily offered to read the next chapter and gave her son a small smile before reopening the book.