Harriet Potter book 1

A Giant's Arrival

BOOM. Dudley snapped awake as the knocking continued.

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

There was a crash coming from the second room, Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He held a rifle in his hands- suddenly they knew what had been in the long, thin package he refused to tell Aunt Petunia about.

"Who's there?" he shouted. "I'm warning you- I'm armed!"

There was a long moment of silence. Then-

CRASH!

The door was hit so forcefully that it was torn clean off its hinges and with a deafening bang it landed flat on the floor.

There in the doorway stood a giant of a man. His face was consumed by a long, scraggly mane of hair and an untamed, knotted beard, but you could clearly make out his eyes, glittering like little black beetles under the mass of hair.

The giant had to squeeze himself through the door in order to enter the hut, stooping low so that his head was just brushing the ceiling. He bent down, retrieving the door, and tried to fit it back into the frame. The noise of the storm outside barely grew quieter with the door firmly back in place. Then the strange giant turned to look at them.

"Couldn't make a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been easy gettin' 'ere...."

He strolled over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen in pure fear.

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

Dudley squawked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouched and terrified behind Uncle Vernon.

"An' here's little Harriet!" Harriet looked up at the talking giant, into the fierce, wild, and shadowed face to see that those beetle eyes were crinkled in what could only be a smile.

"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the stranger. "Yeh look so much like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eye for sur'."

Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.

"You have got to leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are braking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," the giant said as he reached over the back of the sofa, jerking the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bending it into a knot as if it was as pliable as wet clay, and threw it into a corner of the room.

Uncle Vernon made yet another funny noise, this time it was like a mouse being stepped on.

"Anyway- Harriet," said the giant, turning so he was facing her once more, "a very happy birthday to yeh. I got summat fer yeh here- mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled out a slightly crushed box. Harriet opened it with shaking fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake that read Happy Birthday Harriet written on it in green icing.

Harriet glanced up at the giant. She meant to thank him for the cake, but the words seemed to have lost there way on the way to her mouth, so what she said instead was. "Who are you?"

The giant chuckled.

"Righ', I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

He held out an enormous hand and shook Hariet's entire arm.

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