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Chapter 125: Harry: Hagrid Must Be an Amazing Wizard
Chapter 125: Harry: Hagrid Must Be an Amazing Wizard
The weather in Britain could turn on a dime. What was a clear morning had turned into a pouring rainstorm by evening.
Far from London, in the midst of the vast ocean, loomed a colossal reef with a crooked, rundown shack perched atop it.
The bitter chill of the storm whipped through the cracks in the wooden walls, filling the shack with a frigid gust that left its four occupants shivering.
Yet, despite the cold, the room was fraught with tension.
"What you saw was all a stupid lie! Now, give me that damn letter!" Uncle Vernon's face was flushed, and he panted as he spoke.
Across from him stood a slender boy with round-framed glasses and a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.
He clutched an open envelope, its Hogwarts school crest prominently displayed.
Harry Potter looked perplexed.
"So this is what you've been hiding from me?" He furrowed his brows. "A letter of admission to a magic school?"
"Shut up!" Uncle Vernon let out a piercing shriek, his face purpling.
"There... there's no such thing as magic in this world!" he said through gritted teeth. "Give me that damn letter, and let's go home!"
"No!" Harry shook his head resolutely, hugging the letter to his chest. "This is for me."
Uncle Vernon was beside himself with rage. He couldn't believe that, even after going to such lengths to get away, that blasted owl had managed to find them.
And he had never seen such a massive owl; it looked like a monster when it spread its wings, descending directly onto their boat.
Uncle Vernon was terrified. He tried to shoo the owl away, but before he could get his newly purchased rifle, the owl snatched it away and tossed it into the sea.
Then it stood there, its scarred face looking sinister, its razor-sharp claws leaving deep gouges in the boat as if to issue a threat.
They dared not make any sudden moves.
"Monster!"
That owl was abnormal; it was a monster, just like those people!
Vernon screamed in his mind.
Thankfully, the owl had left after Harry finished reading the letter. There was still time... as long as he destroyed that letter...
"Give it to me!"
Uncle Vernon roared and lunged at Harry, attempting to forcibly take the letter.
Harry turned and ran, dodging and weaving in the small room to avoid Vernon's grasping hands.
His slight build made him agile, and in a short time, Uncle Vernon hadn't even managed to touch his clothes.
But the room was only so big. Once Aunt Petunia and Dudley reacted and joined the pursuit, Harry was quickly pinned to the ground.
"Give me the letter!"
Uncle Vernon panted, sitting on the floor, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he tugged at Harry's arm.
This was turning out to be more complicated than he'd anticipated. Soon, though, he managed to pull free the arm he had pinned to Harry's chest.
But just as he reached for the letter...
"Boom!"
A sudden pounding on the door shook the entire shack, startling everyone and causing them to stare at the door in alarm.
"Boom!"
Another knock reverberated through the room.
Dudley cowered in Aunt Petunia's arms, his eyes wide. "It sounds like something's trying to get in."
"Who's out there?" Uncle Vernon stood shakily, his voice quavering as he yelled at the door. "I'm warning you, I've... I've called the police! This is trespassing!"
There was a brief silence, followed by a crack, and then the door was off its hinges.
A burly man stood in the doorway.
"Could I trouble you for a cup of hot tea? It wasn't easy getting here..." Hagrid squeezed into the room and casually put the door back in place.
"This rain is something else. I should've listened to Kyle and taken the Knight Bus... What are you all doing on the floor?"
He bent down and pulled Harry up, smiling as he said, "You must be Harry."
Harry looked up at the fierce, rugged, yet indistinct face and offered a small smile.
He could sense the man's friendliness towards him.
Hagrid chuckled. "Last time I saw you, you were just a baby. You look just like your dad, but you've got your mom's eyes."
Uncle Vernon let out a strange cry, as if he had stepped on an electric current, his face turning an odd shade of purple.
Vernon's shouting went completely unheeded as Hagrid ignored him and proceeded to light the fireplace.
No one knew what he did.
In the blink of an eye, a roaring fire blazed in the fireplace, and the room soon became comfortably warm.
"How's it feel, Harry?" Hagrid asked with a smile. "Much better, isn't it?"
"Yes." Harry looked a little uneasy. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know who you are."
"Just call me Hagrid, everyone does. I'm the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, you know, Hogwarts."
"The magic school?"
Harry glanced at the letter he had been clutching.
"That's right, so you've gotten it then."
Hagrid patted his coat pocket, where there was an identical letter, but it seemed unnecessary to take it out now.
"A huge owl delivered it." Harry explained. "Bigger than any bird I've ever seen."
"Oh, that's Sez...well, he goes by 'Ratton' now."
Hagrid took a greasy, slightly burnt sausage from the fire tongs and handed it to Harry.
"Ratton? That's the owl's name?"
Harry took a bite of the sausage, his eyes narrowing at the intense flavor. He had never tasted anything so delicious in his life.
"Yes, he likes that name."
Hagrid seemed to recall something, his expression turning slightly forlorn.
However, this forlornness quickly vanished, and not even Harry noticed it among everyone present.
"Oh, almost forgot... Happy birthday, Harry."
Hagrid took out a cardboard box from his inner coat pocket. "It might be a bit squished, but it still tastes just as good."
"For me?"
Harry couldn't believe he was receiving a birthday present. He opened the box to find a large cream cake.
The cake was squashed, looking rather flat, and the green icing had smeared onto the box, making the "Happy Birthday" and his name a bit blurry.
"Try it and see how it tastes." Hagrid said expectantly.
Harry nodded and scooped up some cream and icing, popping it into his mouth.
Sweet... It was sweeter than anything he had ever eaten, like he had stuffed an entire can of sugar into his mouth.
"And this." Hagrid placed a toffee next to the cake.
"Candy?!" Harry's eyes lit up, but he didn't eat it.
That mouthful of cake was so sweet that he couldn't eat anything else sweet for the moment. However, Dudley, next to him, swallowed his saliva and stared intently at the cake.
He hadn't eaten much all day and was already hungry.
"Don't you dare eat any of his stuff, Dudley!"
Vernon shouted sternly, then turned to Hagrid, "Listen, I'm not paying for him to learn any of that hocus-pocus."
Hagrid chuckled contemptuously.
As if Harry Potter couldn't go to Hogwarts because he lacked a few Galleons! That was a joke.
But Uncle Vernon didn't know that, and he continued to rant.
It was then that Harry realized that his aunt and uncle had known about the magic school all along but had kept it from him.
"Ahh!"
Suddenly, a piercing scream came from behind them.
Aunt Petunia hugged Dudley frantically as his tongue began to swell rapidly, soon reaching a length of four feet.
Uncle Vernon forgot about arguing with Hagrid and rushed over, trying to push Dudley's tongue back into his mouth.
Dudley covered his mouth, crying out in pain.
The whole cabin was in chaos.
Hagrid looked at Dudley, then at the umbrella in his hand, bewildered.
Had he just used magic? No, that couldn't be! But if it wasn't him, how did the boy suddenly end up like this?
Could it be the broken wand misfiring? But it hadn't done that before! Harry stood by, his eyes wide with astonishment.
No further explanation was needed; he now fully believed in magic.
Magic was truly amazing. He hadn't even noticed what Hagrid had done, and Dudley had transformed right before his eyes.
Harry's eyes sparkled with excitement. The gamekeeper at Hogwarts? He must be an incredible wizard!
(End of Chapter)
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