Darkest Before the Hope • Harry Potter ❥ Terence Higgs

03: The Keeper of Keys

The giant stood in the doorway and squeezed his way into the hut. He had to stoop so that his head barely brushed the ceiling. Cassia grabbed Harry's arm and backed up. She pressed Harry into the wall right next to the stone fireplace to hide him.

The giant bent down and picked up the door. He set it back in its frame and turned to look at all of them. He seemed to falter at the sight before him.

It truly must've been a sight to behold. A man in his pyjamas holding a gun, a woman in her pyjamas cowering behind her husband, a boy in his pyjamas cowering on the couch, and a girl in second-hand clothing standing by the fireplace with dried snot in her hair, trying to hide a bespectacled boy in overly large clothes.

"Sorry 'bout that," the man said, acting as if the sight wasn't amusing.

"I demand you to leave at once, sir!" Vernon shouted, pointing the gun at the man. "You are breaking and entering!"

"Dry up, Dursley, yeh great prune," the man responded. He grabbed the gun barrel and bent it upwards, easily. A gunshot rang out, making Cassia jump up at the sudden loud noise. Dudley squeaked from the couch and ran to hide behind Aunt Petunia, who was cowering behind Uncle Vernon.

The man looked at Dudley, "Boy, I haven't seen you since you were a baby, Harry. But you're a lot more along than I would have expected." He gestured to his middle, "'Specially round the middle."

"I-I-I'm not Harry," Dudley stammered, looking terrified at the giant.

Harry pushed past Cassia and got in front of her. "I am." He backed up a little, forcing Cassia to back up against the wall. Cassia was sure that he was trying to protect her. She was a little annoyed at that, but she shouldn't complain, considering that she had done the same thing to Harry.

The man chuckled, "Of course yeh are." He looked beyond Harry to look right at Cassia, "And that must be Cassia right behind you."

"Yeah, that's Cassia," Harry stated.

"Harry," Cassia hissed at him, agitated that he did that. This man was a complete stranger, even if he somehow knew their names. She knew that she shouldn't introduce herself to people who somehow knew her name, even though she didn't know them. She was sure that there was a talk about that in school.

"Las' time I saw you two, you two were only babies," said the giant. Cassia was sure that he must've been smiling from behind the beard. He looked at Harry, "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes." He looked at Cassia, "And yeh look a lot like yer mum, but yeh've got yer dad's hair."

Cassia blinked at that, "Thanks?" She smiled as the compliment left a nice warm feeling in her.

"Anyway – Harry, Cassia," continued the giant. "A very happy birthday to the both of yeh. Got summat fer yeh here – I'm 'fraid you two'll have to share. Only had time for one. I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

Cassia was a little suspicious. Why would a stranger give them a present? He didn't know them, but she felt a little excited over the idea of getting a birthday present, even though she would have to share with Harry. She didn't mind sharing.

The man reached in his black overcoat that had many pockets. He pulled out a slightly squashed box that had blue ribbon around it, and handed it to them. Harry took the box and looked at Cassia. He asked, "Do you want to open it?"

"We'll open it together," Cassia said. "After all, it's yours, too." They went to the coffee table and Cassia untied the ribbon. Together, they lifted the lid to look at a strawberry cake. In green icing, it said:

Happy Birthday
Harry & Cassia

It looked like her name was tacked on at the last minute, because it was smaller than Harry's name. However, the man said that he only had a time for one person. Cassia sniffled, more because of her allergies acting up again than happy tears. It was the first birthday cake that they had received; as far back as she can remember. It was strange that it was a complete stranger giving them a birthday cake.