The Boy Who Hid

Chapter Five

THE NEXT MORNING THE sun was shining through the cracks in the hut. The storm was over thankfully, but Thomas kept his eyes shut tight as the memories of the previous night came at a deluge. Finding out his brother was famous, his parents were killed by an evil wizard (which happened to be why Harry was famous), and the most evil wizard in history spared him for whatever reason.

Tap, tap, tap, tap...

For a brief and terrible moment Thomas thought it was all a dream finding out that he was a wizard and everything. Harry groaned next to him and shifted over. Thomas decided to go back to sleep, he would wake him if he really had to wake up. Right now he needed to sleep, he was tired and beat up by emotions.

"Alright," he heard Harry mumble, "I'm getting up."

He heard Harry shift out from underneath the giant's coat and his footfalls pad against the stone floor as he walked wherever he had to walk to.

"Hagrid! There's an owl at the-"

"Pay him." Hagrid grunted in reply, still in the same position he was in when he fell asleep.

"What?" came Harry's reply.

"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."

"Thomas, wake up." Harry bid him, Thomas groaned and buried himself further under the warmth of Hagrid's coat. "Tom, wake up! You gotta help me look for the coins Hagrid was talking about!" he said more demandingly this time and shook him a couple of times. Thomas peeked his head out and looked at Harry through sleepy eyes and then sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'm getting up." Thomas grumbled, he stood up again and slipped his jacket back on. He had taken it off so Harry could use it for a pillow while Thomas used his arm as a pillow. He shifted over and helped him look through the pockets, there was everything from peppermint humbugs, and mouldy looking dog treats. But finally he grabbed a handful of odd looking coins. One giant sized gold ones, a small little bronze ones, and a couple of medium-sized silver coins.

"Which one, Hagrid?" Thomas asked.

"Give 'em' five knuts." Harry and Thomas looked at each other confused.

"What?" They said simultaneously.

"The little bronze ones." he muttered sleepily. Thomas counted out five little bronze coins and placed them in the owl's pouch. Before the owl flew off Thomas stroked its head gently, the owl nipped his pointer finger affectionately before flying wherever the owl had to go next. Hagrid got up and stretched, yawning loudly.

"Best be off, Harry an' Tommy lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." he said, Thomas's heart sank. He didn't have any money. Sure he had all of his allowance in muggle money which was about three hundred. He used to have about eight hundred but the glasses cost a lot. And he doubted that he could pay for all of his wizarding supplies that he needed with the money that he had.

"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. And Thomas only has about three hundred dollars of our money that he got from working, so..."

"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. An' Tommy can exchange some o' his muggle money for wizards' if 'e wanted. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."