Ch 4. continue of the 4th chapter

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..."

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.

"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

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

"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, the Bones, the

Prewetts -- 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.

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

-- and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no

denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion --

asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types --

just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end --"

But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink

umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a

sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you -- one more

word... "

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.

"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?

"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."

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.

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.

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."

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?"

"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."

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