Chapter Text
21 JULY 1991
HARRI SCRUBBED THE ENTRYWAY FLOOR WITH ALL HER MIGHT. Another bruise quickly forms on her fingers when a riding crop hits them with a harsh slap. Not even a twitch passes Harri's blank expression.
Another normal day as the slave for her family. Honestly, it was quite tame, but Harri blames it on her aunt's and uncle's unnecessary excitement that Dudley's Smeltings uniform had been delivered. She was quite excited too. She was going to a public secondary school instead. Of course, she was going to wear that horrid grey uniform her aunt was dyeing in the kitchen sink, but at least it wasn't any hand-me-down uniforms from Dudley again. She might be able to have a bit of freedom with her appearance... hopefully...
If she was given even the smallest amount of care her cousin was given, Harri could imagine being one of the prettier girls in school, if she also didn't have the horrible scar marring her pale forehead with its raised lightning shape.
Her skin was pale, almost as pale as snow. She had freckles covering her face like stars in the night sky. If she was able to shower everyday and bask in the sunlight more often, she's sure it would be livelier and not look like she was a living ghost.
She sometimes imagines her hair free of knots, flowing in all its untamable glory as it reached her mid-back in long, raven curls. Instead it was dirty, matted, and clumpy with so many knots, it hurts to even put it in a simple ponytail.
She imagines her eyes a vibrant emerald green instead of their dull green color. She imagines them full of life and childlike wonder she always wished she had. Instead, they were dull with hardly an ounce of life in them. Harri couldn't afford the possible consequences if her aunt and uncle spotted even the smallest ounce of happiness in her eyes.
"Dudley! Breakfast is ready!" Petunia Jane Dursley, Harriet "Harri" Lillyan Potter's wretched aunt, exclaims brightly from the kitchen. Harri continues to scrub floor without pause when Dudley slams his foot onto her fingers. A small wince passes her face before going back to blank.
Her dull green eyes glance up when she hears the mail flap. She dumps the rag into the bucket she was using and stands up.
"Girl, get the mail!" Vernon Erroll Dursley, Harri's walrus of a wretched uncle, shouts from the kitchen. Harri picks up the mail and starts rifling through it as she walks towards the kitchen.
Ms. H. Potter
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey
Harri blinks at the letter addressed to her, walking into the kitchen. She silently hands the remaining stack of mail to Vernon, still holding her letter.
She turns the letter over and gets ready to break the wax seal. "Dad! Dad, Harri's got something!"
Harri makes a small noise when she is roughly pushed into a wall, the letter being snatched from her hands. She blinks away the stars in her eyes and frowns slightly.
"...it has my name on it..." Harri says quietly. Vernon sneers and opens the letter with a shake of his head.
"Who'd be writing to a freak like you?" The walrus of a man asks in disgust before roughly opening the letter.
Harri blinks once when Vernon barely even glances at the letter before he literally turns a light shade of green. He was terrified.
"P-P-Petunia!" Vernon's terrified gasp almost makes Harri smile before she suddenly frowns when Dudley attempts to reach over the table to grab the letter.
Harri doesn't move from the wall to try and grab the letter when Vernon lifts it above his head. Petunia grabs the letter and glances at its contents. Harri couldn't stop this smile from forming on her face when Petunia almost faints on the spot from her terror and shock.
"Vernon! Oh my goodness–Vernon!" Petunia grips her throat like the letter was the one choking her. The raven haired girl quickly forces the smile to disappear in case anyone faced her.
She blinks when Dudley smacks his father's head. "I want to read that letter!"
"...I want to read it too... since it's mine..." Harri comments quietly with furrowed eyebrows.
"Get out. Both of you, now," Vernon orders, slowly turning a shade of red. Harri blinks in slight shock. She never thought she'd see the day that her uncle would order around Dudley.
"I want my letter." Harri doesn't budge from her spot against the wall.
"Let me see it!" Dudley shouts even louder. Harri narrows her eyes and sneers.
"I don't want a whale of a boy like you reading my letter!" The raven haired girl retorts. Dudley reels back slightly in surprise. Harri's never talked back to him.
"OUT!" Harri winces when Vernon grips her arm and throws her out of the kitchen. She sucks in a sharp breath when she lands on her foot wrong.
Harri glares up at the door as its slammed shut. She fights Dudley for who would get to listen through the keyhole, but she quickly gives up after a few futile attempts. Harri crouches on the ground and strains her ears near the crack under the door.
"Vernon." Harri blinks at how terrified her aunt sounded. "Look at the address–how could they know where she sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"
"Watching–spying–might be following us." Harri sighs in disappointment and stands up from the floor. That wildness in Vernon's tone, she wasn't going to get her letter.
Harri walks into her cupboard and silently closes the door. She needs to dumb down her answers for her homework.
-----
22 JULY 1991
Harri didn't know what was in that letter, but she's grateful for it. When Vernon came home after work, he had said the letter was a mistake and then had her moved from the cupboard to Dudley's second room. She luckily avoided the absolutely horrible screaming tantrum Dudley threw in the living room by keeping herself busy with cleaning up the mess.
She had a new bed, new sheets, a new blanket, heating, air conditioning, and plenty of room. There was even a window for her to look out of and bask in the sunlight. It was an absolute mess though, not that Harri minded.
Dozens of Dudley's old toys were broken and strewn all over the floors. There was even an old TV he was given with a fist-sized hole going through the screen. Harri set to work on organizing what could be possibly fixed and what was unsalvageable. The unsalvageable were neatly stuffed into the closet, Harri not risking any severe punishments for throwing them away. The salvageable, Harri placed on the shelf above the closet rack. With the smaller things that she knew she could get away with keeping for herself, she hid under her new bed to fix later.
Though, when she came down to start on her chores before dawn, Harri saw Vernon sleeping in front of the front door. She watches him startle awake when the mail falls on top of his face.
The raven haired girl blinks when she spots another letter addressed to her. Vernon sits up and glares at her with a smirk as he tears up the letter. Harri averts her gaze to her shoes and quickly walks into the kitchen.
She needed to start on breakfast.
-----
23 JULY 1991
"Freak! Get in here!" The livid voice of Vernon makes Harri snap her head up. She looks down at the kitchen floor she was polishing before getting up. She silently walks into the hallway leading to the front door.
Vernon stood at the door with an imposing stance and 24 letters, of what Harri assumed to be addressed to her, gripped in his hand. Harri tenses slightly and hesitates in walking closer.
"Freak, you're going to help me board up the house. Get me my toolbox from the shed," Vernon orders angrily, making Harri nod.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon." The raven haired girl turns around and silently walks through the kitchen. She ignores the disgusted sneer Petunia gives her as she walks outside. The sticky, humid heat of summer makes Harri's mouth twitch in a momentary frown.
She had completed her outside chores before the sun even rose above the normal neighborhood of her home, thankfully. If she went through with waiting, Vernon would have beaten her to a pulp if she passed out from the heat.
Harri sighs quietly and walks towards the shed. Fortunately, Dudley was hanging out with Piers and his little gang around the park to bully kids for their allowances. She didn't have to be forced to play Freak Hunting today. At least, not until later this evening when it cooled down.
The raven haired girl walks to the shed and slides open the old door. The screeching from being forced to move after so many months without use makes Harri wince. The stuffy and unbearable heat of the shed almost immediately causes a sweat to form.
"Toolbox... I'm too weak to carry the toolbox," Harri walks in and grabs the handle of the boring red toolbox. She feels her back and arms scream in pain as she forces herself to carry the toolbox out of the shed.
Hoo hoo.
Harri stops right outside the shed and turns her head. A beautiful tawny owl sat on one of the overhanging branches from the neighbor's tree. She tilts her head, staring up at the owl. It tilts its head the same way before holding out one of its feet. A thick envelope, with the same wax seal as all the previous ones, was tied around its foot.
Harri slowly sets the toolbox on the soft grass and walks up to the low-hanging branch. "...you're a pretty one."
Hoo hoo.
A small smile grows on Harri's face as she reaches her hand up. The owl playfully pecks at her fingers, making her giggle.
"I'm sorry if Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have been particularly nasty towards you and your friends. Whatever's in this letter, they don't want me to know about it," Harri says sincerely, gently brushing the feathers of the owl. The owl seems to nod in understanding before holding out its leg again. Harri blinks before she carefully unties the letter.
"Thank you," She says softly, glancing down at the letter.
Ms. H. Potter
The Second Bedroom
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey
Harri stares at the specified change of living arrangements before turning the letter over. She stares at the red wax seal for a moment and nods her head. She stuffs the letter into the pocket of the oversized shorts she wore before looking back up at the tawny owl.
"I'll read it later. Thank you. There's some mice behind the shed. I'm sorry I can't get you a better treat," Harri says softly before she turns around.
Hoo.
Vernon's punishment would hurt if she takes too long.
-----
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 Ms. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find the enclosed 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
~•~
Harri stares down at the letter with wide eyes. She blinks rapidly and scoffs under her breath.
"Off their rocker. I shouldn't have placed any hope in this." Harri tears up the entire letter in her anger and disappointment. Witchcraft? Wizardry? Magic?
Magic doesn't exist! It doesn't. She's–she's just a freak! The freak of Privet Drive! There can't–there can't be an answer to her freakishness! If there was–
"Why am I subjected to being a tool and a fucking slave for these awful monsters?" Harri throws the shredded letter to the ground. She pulls up her knees and buries her face to hide her reddening face and her tears.
"I hate them, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!" Harri harshly pulls at her hair, forcing herself to keep her screams and cries inside. Her tears feel searing against her cheeks as she silently sobs in the isolation of her new cage. She hates it here.
-----
30 JULY 1991
Harri coughs wetly into her shirt, trying to muffle the sound. She looks up with hazy eyes, eyeing the whale of a boy sleeping on the old couch. He didn't wake up.
Vernon went completely insane only a few days ago and forced the family and Harri to take a road trip. The letters followed, much to Harri's annoyance and Vernon's sanity. They eventually ended up on some awful hut on a rock, in the middle of the sea. All of the moving and the freezing temperatures made Harri terribly sick.
Fortunately, her aunt and uncle gave her some ratty and dirty blanket to keep herself warm with on the disgusting floor. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than being forced to sleep outside in the freezing rain and wind.
"Happy birthday, Harriet..." Harri thinks to herself, looking down at the Dudley's old watch she managed to fix. It beeped 12 times when it hits midnight. She's finally 11 years old.
Harri leans her head against the rotten wall with a soft smile. Seven more years to go.
BOOM.
Harri startles from the corner she sat in, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders and bolts off the floor. She almost collapses back down, head spinning from the sudden movement.
BOOM.
"Where's the cannon?" Dudley jerks awake, sitting up. Harri immediately hides in the corner again with wide eyes when she sees Vernon crashing into the horrid living room, a rifle in his hands.
"Who's there?" Vernon shouts. "I warn you–I'm armed!"
"U-Uncle Vernon... you'll kill them," Harri says with a shaky voice.
SMASH.
Harri watches in awed fear as the door is blown clean off its hinges. A man–no, a giant–stood at the entrance, a torrential pour beating into the hut. He squeezes through the doorway, revealing an incredibly kind face surrounded by a lion's mane of hair and warm eyes.
"Who...?" Harri watches in awe as the giant bends down and easily picks up the door. He fits it back into its frame before turning back around.
"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, yeah? It's not been an easy journey..." The giant walks over to where Dudley was frozen stuff in terror on the couch. "Budge up, yeh great lump."
Dudley squeaks in fear and scrambles off the couch to hide behind his mother, who was hiding behind Vernon. Harri couldn't stop the giggle that escapes her mouth at the comical scene. Everyone turns their focus on the sickly girl.
The giant laughs loudly, his warm black eyes crinkling. "An' here's Harriet!"
"Las' time I saw yeh, you's only a baby... yeh look jus' like yeh mum, only got yeh dad's hair," The giant continues tearfully, making a burning sensation form in Harri's chest.
"...I go by Harri... but you can still call me Harriet!" Harri rushes out quietly, not wanting to offend the giant.
"I demand you to leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!" Vernon shouts angrily. Harri frowns slightly and tilts her head.
"...but you don't own this property?" Harri points out before flinching heavily at Vernon's withering glare.
"Ah, shut up Dursley, yeh great prune." The giant reaches over the couch and jerks the rifle out of the walrus's hands. Harri silently gasps in awe when the giant ties the rifle into a knot and throws it into a corner.
"Anyway, Harri," The man turns towards the girl still in the corner, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh–I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste alright."
Harri opens mouth, but no words come out. Her green eyes shimmer in the dim light as she tries to hold back her tears. She slowly walks over and takes the slightly squished box from the giant and opens it up.
"This... I'm... I can't cry in front of him. That would be so embarrassing!" Harri rapidly blinks, desperately trying to stop herself from crying. Inside the box was a large chocolate cake with a misspelled Happy Birthday Harriet written in green icing on top.
"Thank you, sir. But–I'm sorry, sir–but, who are you?" Harri asks hesitantly, looking up at the giant. He laughs, easing Harri's hesitance.
"True. I haven't introduced meself, and don't go sayin' 'sir' to me, Harri. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Jus' Hagrid's fine," The giant states, shaking Harri's entire arm. She quickly stumbles to catch her balance, holding the cake to her chest so it wouldn't fall.
"What about tea then, eh?" Hagrid rubs his hands together. "I'd not say no to summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."
"No we don't, sir–Hagrid. I-I can start on some tea for you," Harri says softly, walking around the couch. She sighs in relief when a sudden warmth fills the hut. She sits down in front of the couch and watched Hagrid take random things out of his giant coat. Her stomach growls loudly at the smell and sound of sizzling sausages.
"Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley." Harri glances at her family and sees Dudley salivating as he stares at the sausages.
Hagrid chuckles darkly. "Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
"Thank you..." Harri smiles up at the giant when he hands her a sausage. She quietly eats, keeping her gaze to the floor.
"Hogwarts is real... I thought–magic doesn't really exist... does it?"
"Does it?!" Harri flinches away when Hagrid suddenly stands up.
"Did yeh not tell her anything? Nothing at all?! She knows nothing abou'–about anything, at all?!" Hagrid roars in anger and shock. Harri looks up with a scowl and stands up too.
"I know things, sir! I'm not stupid. I know math and grammar," Harri huffs as she crosses her arms. Hagrid waves her off, making her anger grow.
"About your world, I mean. Your world. My world. Your parents' world," Hagrid explains, making Harri frown.
"What about my parents? What world?" The raven haired girl asks, pulling back her anger to simmer inside.
"DURSLEY!" Hagrid roars even louder. Harri flinches and instinctively pulls up her arms over her head. She quickly pulls them down with a flushed face.
"Yeh have to know something about them. I mean, they're famous. You're famous," The giant states in desperation. Harri scowls in confusion, glancing at her aunt and uncle. If she was famous, and her parents were famous...
...why the hell is she living as a slave for this monsters?
"...what do you mean I'm famous?" Harri asks quietly, staring straight at her family. Petunia sneers and averts her gaze.
"Yeh don' know... Yeh don' know..." Hagrid runs a hand though his hair, giving Harri a bewildered stare. "Yeh don' know what yeh are?"
"I'm..." the freak of Privet Drive.
"Stop!" Vernon orders loudly. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell that girl anything!"
Harri stares at him with a narrowed gaze, but she stays silent. She's curious, but diving headfirst never did her any good.
"You never told her? Never, never told them what was in the letter Dumbledore fer her? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from her all these these years?"
"Someone left me here?" Harri stares at Hagrid with wide eyes, her breathing stalling a bit.
"Kept what from me?" She asks eagerly, taking a step forward.
"STOP! I FORBID YOU FROM TELLING THIS FREAK ANYTHING!" Vernon yells in a complete panic. Petunia gasps in horror.
"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh. Harri, yer a wizard," Hagrid says easily. Harri feels the world completely disappear for a moment.
"I'm a what?" Harri releases a quiet gasp.
"A wizard, o' course. Oh, I mean a witch," Hagrid corrects himself as he leans back against the couch. "A thumpin' good'un I'd say, once yeh've trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's 'bout time you read yer letters."
Harri stares down at the letter Hagrid pulls out of one of his pockets. She stays completely still.
"...I've already read it, but I–magic is real? And–and the letter says something about awaiting my owl... What does–what does that mean?" Harri slowly grabs the letter, staring at the change of address.
"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me." Hagrid sits down and takes out a quill and parchment. Harri raises an eyebrow at the archaic writing tools as the giant writes a note. She blinks when Hagrid pulls out an owl from his coat and ties the note to its leg.
"That's... it's storming right now..." Harri points out as Hagrid basically throws the owl into the storm. A flare of sympathy pulls through her chest.
"Where was I?" Hagrid's question makes Harri stifle her smile.
"She's not going," Vernon states calmly, making Harri glare at him.
"I'd like ter see a great muggle like you stop her," Hagrid grunts in annoyance. Harri slowly sits back down and nibbles on her sausage.
"...what's a muggle?" Harri asks softly.
"A muggle," Hagrid begins, "is what we call non-magic like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest muggles I ever laid eyes on."
"I was left here," Harri snarls in her mind.
"We swore when we took her in, we'd put a stop to that rubbish! Swore we'd beat it out of her!" Vernon spits out, making Harri snap her head towards her uncle.
"...you knew?" Harri hates how small her voice sounds. "You... you knew I was a witch?"
Faint sparks of lightning starts to crackle around her untamable mass of hair. She clenches her fists to her side, trying to reign in her anger and sadness.
"Knew!" Petunia shrieked out, finally finding her arrogance. "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 is–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!"
Harri glares down at the floor, searing hot tears falling down her cheeks. Petunia takes in a deep breath before continuing one of her dreaded rants.
"Then she met that Potter at the 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!"
Harri took multiple deep breaths, trying to calm her anger. She jolts up with a huff, giving her family a death glare. Her magic becomes denser, surrounding her in heat waves and crackles of lightning.
"Blown up?! You told me they–they died in a car crash! You called my father a drunk and my mother a whore!" Harri screams out, her voice going shrill.
"CAR CRASH?!" Hagrid thunders, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys shuffled into a corner.
"How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter?! That's an outrage! A scandal! Harriet Potter not knowin' her own story when every kid in our world knows her name!" Hagrid continues in his rant, making Harri look at him.
"What happened to them?" Harri asks urgently. She wanted to know. They were her parents. The ones she thought... the people she wished never abandoned her.
"I never expected this. I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' a hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harri, I don't know if I'm the right ter tell yeh–but someone's gotta–yeh can't go off to Hogwarts not knowin'," Hagrid says worriedly in a low tone. Harri glares darkly at her family before she sits down. She feels like she'll need to be sitting down for this.
"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..." Hagrid sits down, staring into the fire for a few moments. "It begins, I suppose, with–with a person called–but it's incredible yeh both don't know his name, everyone in our world knows it."
"Who is it?" Harri asks softly, feeling dread burn in her chest.
"Well–I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does." Harri tilts her head in confusion, resting her chin on her knees.
"Why not? Is it not just a name?"
"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harri, 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 trails off with a shudder. Harri tilts her head and waits patiently for Hagrid to muster up the courage to speak the name.
"...do you want to write it down?" Harri asks softly, making Hagrid smile down at her.
"Nah–can't spell it. All right–Voldemort." Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway this–this wizard, about 20 years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em too–some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days Harri. 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.
"Now your 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.
"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 were just a year old. He came ter yer house an'–an'–"
Harri flinches when a sudden bright green light invades her vision. She clenches her eyes shut and hugs herself.
Hagrid blows his nose with a handkerchief he took from his coat. "Sorry. But it's that sad–knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people 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 likes killin' by then. But he couldn't do it.
"Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That's 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, Harri. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age–the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts–an' you's only a baby, an' you lived."
Harri presses her mouth into a thin line. This was clearly not the whole story. And she's famous because of some bit of luck?
"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..." The raven haired girl narrows her eyes. Did this person not know how awful, how wretched the Dursleys are?
"Load of old tosh," Vernon says, making Harri jump. She forgot her family were in the same room.
"Now, you listen here." The whale of a man snarls. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a better beating wouldn't have cured–and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion–asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types–just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end–"
Harri watches impassively as Hagrid jumps off the couch again. She tilts her head when he menacingly points a pink umbrella at Vernon.
"I'm warning you, Dursley–I'm warning you–one more word..." Harri couldn't stop her giggling when Vernon presses himself up against the wall in terror.
"Scared by a pink umbrella... what a joke." Harri turns back towards Hagrid, smiling softly.
"What happened to him? Voldemort–I mean, You-Know-Who?"
"Good question, Harri. 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, Harri. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on–I dunno what it was, no one does–but somethin' about you both stumped him, all right," Hagrid answers with a shrug. Harri looks down at her feet, eyes growing hard.
She clenches her jaw and looks back up with doubt–and hope–in her eyes. "It all sounds... too good to be true... me, a witch? I–I don't think I am..."
"Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"
Harri leans her head back, looking up at the rotten ceiling. Somehow teleporting onto the roof of the school. Her hair regrowing after Petunia hacked away her hair... making that one boy have an accident that broke both his legs... A smile grows on Harri's face as she focuses back on a beaming Hagrid.
"See?" Hagrid says with a grin. "Harri Potter, not a witch–you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."
"Haven't I told you she's not going?" Vernon hisses, making Harri sigh in annoyance.
"He should be grateful. I'm going to a boarding school..." Harri scowls and glares at her uncle, staying silent.
"She's going to Stonewall High and she'll be grateful for it. I read that letter and she need all sorts of rubbish–spellbooks and wands and–"
"If she wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop her. Stop Lily an' James Potter's daughter from goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. Her name's been down ever since she was born. She's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and she won't know 'emselves. She'll be with youngsters of her own sort, fer a change, an' they'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!" Vernon practically screams out, making Harri flinch. She ignores him for the most part, Hagrid's speech ringing through her head.
"Seven years... Seven years." A giant grin forms on Harri's face. Her patience might pay off sooner than she expected.
"NEVER INSULT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE IN FRONT OF ME!" He brought the umbrella down, swishing it through the air to point at Dudley. Harri watches, completely mystified, as a violet light sparks from the tip of the umbrella, sound like a firecracker.
Dudley suddenly squeals, dancing around, hands on his fat bottom. When he turns, Harri bursts laughing when she sees a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers. Vernon roars, pulling Dudley and Petunia into the other room and slamming the door behind them.
"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," Hagrid says 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 to do."
Hagrid glances at Harri with a sheepish grin. "Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts. 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 to take on the job..."
Harri opens her mouth to ask, but quickly shuts it before she could ask anything rude. It wasn't her business at the moment.
"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow. Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that," Hagrid states loudly, pulling off his coat. Harri immediately feels warmth spread throughout her body when the giant places the coat over her.
"You can kip under that. Don' mind if it wiggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets." Harri giggles at the sudden fact before she curls into a small ball on the floor. She huddles into the warmth of the coat and closes her eyes.
"Happy birthday, me..." Harri smiles softly and opens her eyes to stare into the fire.
This put a wrench in her plans, but it isn't bad. Hopefully. There has to be books that can help her achieve her goals.
Harri smiles a bit wider and closes her eyes. Never again will she be a slave to anyone. And those who use her against her will... patience is key for her revenge.