Harry Styles and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 4: The Keeper of Keys

BOOM. They knocked again. Ross jerked awake.

"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.

There was a crash behind them and Uncle Justin came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands - now they know what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.

"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you — I'm armed!"

There was a pause. Then —

SMASH!

The door was hit with such that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.

A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all that hair.

The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise from the stony outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."

He strode over to the sofa where Ross sat down frozen with fear.

"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.

Ross squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching terrified, behind Uncle Justin.

"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.

Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.

"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like your dad, but yeh've got your mom's eyes."

Uncle Justin made a funny rasping noise.

"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Bieber, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Justin's hands, bent it into a snot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.

Uncle Justin made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.

"Anyway — Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Bieber's. "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.

Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"

The giant chuckled.

"True, I haven't introduced meself. Niall Horan, Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts."

He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.

"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."

His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.