𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 ✓

𝟒

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒: 𝐇𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

I stared at my letter.

"W-what? I-I'm a witch?"

"YOU'RE A WHAT?" Mum shrieked.

"A witch," Hagrid replied.

"I'm not letting my daughter go to the school of freaks!" Mum yelled. "She never even liked the boy!"

"Never liked Harry? MUM! I wish you would all stop treating Harry like he's vermin!"

Everyone turned to look at me.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE HAPPY GOING TO ELLISON!" hollered Dad.

"No. Yes, it's a wonderful school, but it's so far away. Harry's my best friend. You can ask him! Please, Dad, please, Mum, I want to go to Hogwarts!" I said.

"NO!" Dad yelled.

"YES!" Hagrid hollered. He bent down toward me. "Diane is it? You have to go to Hogwarts. I'll make sure o' it!"

I sat back next to Harry.

"But what happened to Vol-, sorry — I mean, You-Know-Who?" Harry asked.

"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. The 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 were 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.

"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 were scared or angry?"

Harry looked into the fire. 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 Dad 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 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 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 Dad. 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, I saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers. Dad roared. Pulling Mum 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't lose my 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."

"He looks much better," I said calmly.

"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.

"Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — ergot expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In the 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?" I and Harry asked at the same time.

"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 of o'doormice in one o' the pockets."

Hagrid smiled at me before he left the room.

"A WIZARD!" I yelled excitedly. "Can you believe it, Harry? Us, wizard and witch? Oh my God, I never thought this would ever come alive! It's a dream come true!!"

"Yeah," Harry said moodlessly.

"Harry? You okay?"

"Y-yeah, Diane, why would you think no?" 

Word count: 960