Harry Potter and the Portkey of Time

CHAPTER 2

The next day Harry woke to Aunt Petunia banging around in the kitchen while talking to Uncle Vernon, seemingly about the events that unfolded the day before. She was insisting they wouldn't send any more letters because they would assume that he had received the first one. Oh, how she was wrong. Harry climbed out of the cupboard to see 5 letters flying through the mailbox, he picked them up and carried them to Uncle Vernon. The colour immediately left his face.

"Must be a mistake boy, no one wants to speak with you that badly," he muttered.

"Listen, Petunia and I were talking and we have decided to let you stay in Dudley's second room. The cupboard might be getting a tad too small for you now." Vernon said glancing at the letters and reading who they were addressed to

Mr H. Potter

Cupboard under the stairs

4 Privet Drive

He then picked up the pile and threw them into the fire.

"Take your stuff and move, NOW!"

Harry collected the small number of items he owned and hauled them up the stairs to Dudley's second room. It seemed to have been emptied during the night, and Harry could hear Vernon and Dudley arguing over the new arrangement. Choosing to ignore it, Harry looked at what would be his new home for the time being. It looked the same as he remembered. He checked for the loose plank under the bed, then sat down.

Over the next week, the Dursleys continued to try and stop the onslaught of letters addressed to Harry. They boarded up the windows and the letter box and yet nothing could stop the hundreds of owls that arrived each day. It wasn't until Sunday that the Dursleys finally thought someone would put an end to this madness. Vernon sat happily in his chair with the newspaper on his lap, smiling brightly at Petunia. Harry knew what was to come next but said nothing, he simply glanced at the fireplace every minute or so.

"No post on Sundays," claimed Vernon, looking at Harry, hoping to catch a sad expression. There wasn't one. Harry couldn't have been trying harder to contain a fit of giggles. Did Vernon really think that wizards played by muggle rules?

Apparently, he did and taking Harry's attempt to suppress giggles as a constipated expression of dislike, Vernon was delighted.

"No more letters," He said to himself. Just as he finished saying this, however, the fireplace started to rumble and Harry could no longer contain himself. He burst out in laughter as the letters darted out of the fireplace, littering the living room was yellow parchment. Every letter was delivered to Harry and yet he made no extra effort to grab one. He simply sat, watching and laughing, as Vernon and Petunia looked horrified. Once their eyes had locked onto Harry, he made his move. He reached down from where he was sitting, made direct eye contact with Uncle Vernon, and ripped the letter open.

Vernon strode across the room and ripped the open letter from Harry's hands and looked at his smug face.

"Out! OUT!" He seized Harry's arm and threw him into the hall.

"That's it! I want you all back here in 5 minutes, ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!" Vernon bellowed. He looked so dangerous no one argued, however, Harry refused to wipe the grin off his face. This was too priceless. Instead of being scared like he was the first time, he was instead fighting to contain his joy. Everything just seemed so much funnier this time around.

Soon everyone was in the car and they were on their way. They drove and drove and didn't stop once all day. The euphoria was starting to wear off as Harry was almost as hungry as Dudley. Uncle Vernon kept muttering something about 'shaking them off' and while Harry knew what it meant he couldn't deny it was quite peculiar.

At last, they reached a musty hotel where Dudley and Harry had to share a room. Harry didn't remember the hotel very well so he assumed nothing was going to happen there.

The following morning, one of the staff members knocked on the door with a letter in his hand. Once Uncle Vernon saw this he fumed. Grabbed it out of the poor guy's hand and shoved him out of the door before slamming it in his face. Harry, however, once again tried to stifle laughter. This seemed to be a constantly recurring action. Vernon ripped the letter up, glanced at his family and Harry, and then demanded they were going somewhere else. He brought them to a small boat some gentlemen had lent them and told everyone they were staying on the rock in the distance. Harry could vaguely make out the shack that stood on the rock. Despite how cold and miserable it was of a journey to their house for the night, the excitement in Harry's stomach wouldn't disperse. He lay on the cold floor counting down the seconds, this time not to his birthday, but to Hagrid's arrival. Not even the billowing storm outside could stamp out the eagerness Harry felt. With 5 seconds to midnight, he felt it rather than heard it.

BOOM!

The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Hagrid was outside, knocking to come in.

BOOM! Another bang on the door had it off its hinges and Harry rushed forward to meet the man at the door.

Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room rifle in hand and yelling who was there. Hagrid stood in the doorway peering around the room before his eyes finally met Harry's. Before he said anything, he turned around and placed the door back on the hinges. Hagrid looked even larger than usual at this age, thought Harry as he watched Hagrid move to take a seat on the couch.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..." The giant spoke facing the Dursleys. No one responded so Hagrid turned his attention back to Harry.

"An' here's Harry! Last time I saw you, yeh was only a baby," said Hagrid, "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."

Uncle Vernon tried to say something but it was as though the words wouldn't leave his mouth.

"Anyway - Harry, 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."

Hagrid pulled out the birthday cake from his large coat. Harry was overcome with joy after seeing a familiar face, or one that is 13 years younger.

"Thank you," said Harry as he grabbed a slice but didn't eat any. From his many years of experience with Hagrid's cooking, he wasn't going to risk his teeth.

"So, who are you anyway?" Harry asked, he knew it would seem weird to everyone if he knew this 'strangers' name.

"Call me Hagrid, everyone does. I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course." At this Harry smiled. Of course, he knew all about Hogwarts, but the Dursleys didn't know that.

"Of course," responded Harry, glancing at the Dursleys to see their reaction. Vernon and Petunia were white-faced. They looked completely outraged at this piece of information. Vernon, however, seemed to regain the ability to speak.

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!"

Uncle Vernon had said the wrong thing.

"NEVER -" Hagrid thundered, "- INSULT - ALBUS - DUMBLEDOOR - IN - FRONT - OF - ME!" Hagrid brought his pink umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley. A flash of violet light flooded the room and a sharp squeal sounded from Dudley's mouth. This is exactly what Harry had been waiting to see. Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clamped over his bottom, howling in pain. Harry didn't need to look to know that Dudley was now half-pig, but that did not stop him from checking. He burst into laughter and couldn't help but grin at Hagrid's misuse of magic. Seeing him again was pure bliss. Harry really needed to see someone he knew again that wasn't the Dursleys, and Hagrid was just the right person to lift his spirits.