The Girl Who Never Lived¹ | h. potter

💎Chapter 2💎

She woke up hearing Harry talking to himself. "It was a dream", she heard him say. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards and that I finally met Ciara after all these years. When I open my eyes, I'll be home in my cupboard." Before she could tell him to go back to sleep, there came a tapping from the window. 'And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door', Harry accidentally thought to her.

She rolled over and curled up under the fabric that covered her, 'Harry, you're sending things telepathically again.' Before Harry could respond, the tapping from the window came again. "All right," Harry mumbled tiredly, "I'm getting up."

Harry sat up and the rest of Hagrid's coat fell onto Ciara. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, Ciara was curled into a little ball on the floor, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.

Ciara could hear Harry scramble to his feet and could feel the happiness radiating off of him when he realized it wasn't a dream. 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 started attacking Hagrid's coat, causing Ciara to stir slightly.

"Don't do that", Ciara faintly heard Harry say. Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat, waking Ciara up. "Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl--"

"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.

"What?"

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

As Ciara and Harry looked over the coat, it seemed to 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.

Harry looked clueless, "Knuts?" Ciara pointed at the small bronze coins, "Five of those." Harry sent Ciara a grateful 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, yeh two, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." Ciara watched Harry turnover the wizard coins and looking at them. She noticed he suddenly looked as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture. "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." Ciara nodded in agreement, "I don't have any money either, Hagrid. And my mother won't pay for it after what happened last night." Harry looked at her curiously but didn't push. He knew she would tell him when she was ready.

"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything, Harry? And don't worry Ciara, yer covered as well." Both Harry and Ciara looked confused, who could have left them any money? Harry spoke their thoughts, "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."

Ciara looked at Hagrid and Harry confused, "What's cake?" Harry and Hagrid looked horrified at her statement. Hagrid looked sad, "Don' ye know what cake is?" Ciara shook her head, "Draco might have said something about it during his few visits, but I don't think I ever had any." Harry wordlessly stood and went over and picked up a white box before walking back over to Ciara and Hagrid.