𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 ✓

𝟓

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓: 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲

It was a dream, I told myself firmly. I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my room. There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. And there's Mum knocking on the door

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up." 

"Whozz zzere?" I mumbled as I got up. 

Harry sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over,Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.  Harry and I scrambled to our feet, so happy I felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside me.Harry went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat. 

 "Don't do that." 

 Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat. 

 "Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl —" 

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.

 "What?" I asked. 

 "He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins. 

 "Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily. 

 "Knuts?"

 "The little bronze ones." Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window. 

 Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched. "Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." 

 Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. 

"Um — Hagrid?" 

 "Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots. 

 "I haven't got any money — and you heard Uncle Vernon last night... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic." 

 "Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?" 

 "But if their house was destroyed —"

 "They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank.Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake,neither." 

 "Wizards have banks?"

 "Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins." 

 Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding. 

 "Goblins?" 

 "Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry.Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him.Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see."