BOOM

There was another knock.

Holy Hell, Calysta thought. Who on earth could be outside in this storm?

Dudley sat up, wide awake. "Where's the cannon?" he asked stupidly.

Calysta held in a snort. "That's knocking."

"Oh."

There was a loud crash as Uncle Vernon came in, holding a large rifle between his large arms. It was then that Cal knew it was the strange package he was holding earlier in the day.

"Who's there?" he bellowed, his mustache wiggling as his expressions contorted. "I warn you- I'm armed."

There was a pause, before the door came smashing down, landing straight at Calysta's feet, a faint cloud of dust puffed on the floor.

She looked at the doorframe, her jaw dropping, her eyes widening. In place of the door was the hugest, hairiest man she'd ever seen.

His face was hidden by a mane of hair all around his face, and his hands were the size of dustbin-lids. His eyes could be seen under all the hair, and they glinted in the light like black beetles.

He squeezed himself through the door, bending his head low to pass underneath the doorframe. With a single hand, he picked up the door and fitted it back into it's place. Calysta's mouth opened wide in disbelief.

He strode over to the sofa, where Dudley had perched his fat bottom. "Budge up yeh great lump," he commented, his voice a miniature thunderstorm.

Dudley fell off in shock, and he crawled away as far as he could from the stranger. "And bless my soul," he commented, a smile worming its way onto his face. "Here's Harry and Calysta."

Calysta looked up to his face, once she'd gotten over the shock that she'd seen a giant. His expression was gentle, and he held his huge hand up to her.

In all her life, she'd never been spoken to like this, like someone wanted her, like she was valued. Her face breaking into a huge toothy grin, she placed her tiny palm in his.

He was surprisingly warm.

"Las' time I saw the pair of you was when you were babies," he remarked, his accent thick and heavy. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad but yeh've got yer mum's eyes," he pointed at Harry.

Calysta's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her parents. Nobody seemed to mention them at all. She already trusted him completely.

"And yeh, yeh look a bit like yer mum, but you resemble yer dad's—"

He was interrupted by Uncle Vernon's guttural growl. "I demand that you leave at once," he commanded. "You are breaking and entering."

I resemble my dad's what?

Normally, Uncle Vernon's voice would've scared the twins. But this time, Calysta ignored it like an annoying fly's buzzing.

"Ah, shut up Dursley, yeh great prune," the stranger drawled. He reached over to the back of the sofa, with an incredibly long arm, and snatched the rifle, bending it into a large knot, and threw it to the side.

Uncle Vernon whimpered.

"Anyway, Potters," the giant said. "Got summat for yeh. Mighta sat on it at some point, but I believe it would taste alright. A very happy birthday to yeh both."

He picked Calysta up with two fingers, setting her down on his lap, as he handed Harry a box. He opened it, beaming as he saw a cake.

"Who're you?" Calysta blurted, craning her neck to try and look up at his face.

He chuckled. "True, I haven't introduced meself. The name's Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

He held out an enormous hand, shaking Harry's whole hand, causing Calysta to giggle at his bewilderment.

After Hagrid made himself at home, and there was a roaring fire in the fireplace, he turned to face the twins. All along, Calysta had been silent, deep in thought.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't understand who you are," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Call me Hagrid," the giant said. "Everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Yeh know Hogwarts, o course?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Er, no." At the same time, Calysta said, "Ehh, not really."

Hagrid looked shocked.

"Sorry...?" Calysta tried.

"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"

"L-learned what?" Calysta asked hesitantly, afraid to know. Deep at the back of her head, she knew... Yet she wondered if it was just a mere figment of her imagination.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered, his face slowly inching to face the terrified Dursleys. "Now jus' wait one second."

He had leapt to his feet. In his anger, he seemed to fill the whole hut, and he took a step towards the Dursleys, every step making the entire shack shake.

"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that these two — these two — know nothin' abou' — about ANYTHING?"

"I know some things," Harry retorted. "I can, you know, do math and stuff, and Cal speaks more than seven languages."

Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world, my world, yer parents' world."

Harry thought he was referring to school, but Calysta had already put the pieces together. Ever since she'd gotten a glance at the letter, she'd been strangely quiet, and now everything finally fit into place.

"What world?" Harry questioned.

Calysta shook her head. "Harry..." she began.

He turned to face her; she'd been almost as quiet as Dudley during this whole ordeal.

"Harry, Hagrid's not talking about school," she finally said, her eyes trailing to the Dursley's, Aunt Petunia's eyes widening, while Uncle Vernon turned purple. That was enough for her to confirm that she knew what Hagrid was about to say.

"He's talking about something else. There's something the Dursleys never told us when we were growing up..." she didn't know how to break the ice.

"DURSELY!" Hagrid boomed.

Uncle Vernon mumbled something that sounded like, 'mimblewimble.' Hagrid stared wildly at the twins.

"But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."

"Wh-what?" Calysta breathed shakily. "Mum.. and Dad weren't famous, were they?"

"Yeh don' know..." Hagrid muttered. "Yeh don' know...." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair fixing the pair with a bewildered stare.

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" Hagrid asked finally.

Calysta's eyes widened.

I think I've figured it out know.. I'm... a witch...?

It sounded more ridiculous in her head.

Can't be. This is just a ton of bullsh—

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Uncle Vernon. "Stop, stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell them anything!"

The glare Hagrid gave uncle Vernon was something Calysta would never forget. Most people would've cowered under the giant's intense gaze, as his eyes bored through Vernon Dursley.

"You never told em? Never told em about Dumbledore's letter? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! And you kept it from them all these years?"

"Kept what from us?" Harry asked eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.

Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.

Oh... So there is something going on.. Hang on...

Calysta sighed, going through the past week's events in her head.

Harry and I both get letters that say we've been accepted into Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia destroy them.. The conversation I heard in the kitchen.. They said they don't want one in the house, let alone two.. Which means Harry and I.. And then Uncle Vernon leaves the house as soon as the letters come through the chimney.. That means he and Aunt Petunia know, but they kept it from us... And the letter writer still find us... That's not possible, we're in the middle of nowhere, which means that... Bingo. I'm a witch, no matter how ridiculous it sounds...

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of you," Hagrid growled, turning to face the twins.

Calysta seemed to regain her senses. "I'm a witch," she said quietly.

The Dursley's gasped, specifically Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

"Don't even try denying it," Calysta told them. "Your expression gives it away."

"How- How did you find out?" Aunt Petunia whispered tersely.

"Took me a while, but I managed to read the first line of the letter.."

Harry stared at her blankly, bewildered. "She's a what?"

Hagrid chuckled. "Harry, yer a Wizard."

"I'm a what?" he gasped.

"A Wizard o' course," said Hagrid casually. "Yeh figured it out," he told Calysta proudly. "And thumpin' good un' I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be?"

He took out two envelopes from his pocket. "I think it's time for yeh to read yer letters."

Cal took hers in her hand, running a thumb across the address.

Miss. C.Potter
The Floor,
Hut on the Rock
The Sea.

She quickly pulled out the letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International COnfed of Wizards)

Dear Miss Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraftand Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1.

We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress

A million questions burst through her head like cherry blossoms, and she couldn't settle on what to ask. Finally, Harry spoke.

"What does it mean, they await my owl?"

"Gallopin' Gargoyles," Hagrid exclaimed, clapping a hand to his forehead, "that reminds me."

He took out a very live owl from his gigantic pocket, along with a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbled a note and gave it to the owl, who immediately took off.

"Where was I?" he questioned, furrowing his brows.

Uncle Vernon seemed to have come to his senses. "They're not going."

Hagrid grunted. "I'd like to see a muggle like you try to stop them."

"A what?" the twins asked, interested.

"A muggle," Hagrid spoke. "It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest muggles I ever laid eyes on."

"We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of them! Wizard and witch indeed!"

Three seconds till Harry catches up... Calysta thought.

Sure enough, Harry gasped. "You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a — a wizard?"

"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that — that school — and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"

Oh... Not what I expected...

She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.

"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as — as —abnormal — and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"

Cal had gone very white. As soon as she found her voice she said, "Blown up? You told us they died in a car crash!"

"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Potter twins not knowin' their own story when every kid in our world knows their name!"

"Why are we famous?" Cal inquired.

"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.

The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious. "I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, Calysta, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh — but someone's gotta — yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."

"Not knowing what?" Cal persisted.

Hagrid threw the Dursleys a dirty look.

"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh — mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it..."

"Well, it's better than not knowing at all," Cal pointed out. Harry shot her a grateful smile.

"It begins, I suppose, with —with a person called — but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows —"

"Who?"

"Well — I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."

"Why not?"

Hagrid sighed, realizing he was in an extremely difficult position.

"Gulpin' gargoyles, Cal, people are still scared of 'im. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."

Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.

"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.

"Nah — can't spell it. All right —Voldemort." Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again."

Calysta nodded, listening intently.

"Anyway, this — this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too — some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right.

Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over.

'Course, some stood up to him — an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway."

"But what does this wizard have to do with us?" Cal questioned.

"I'm gettin' there," Hagrid mumbled with a small smile. "Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side."

Harry's face had lost all it's color, and Cal's nails dug into her palm.

"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You both were just a year old. He came ter yer house an' — an' —"

Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.

Cal's eyes teared up, but she forced herself to blink them away.

"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad — knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find— anywa... You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then — an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got those marks on yer foreheads? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh — took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even — but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. You too, Cal. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age — the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts — an' you were only babies, an' you lived."

Calysta's mind state was comparable to a jungle. As Hagrid told his tale, the tale of her parents' end, flashbacks of her past ghosted through her head. A blinding green light, a high, cold, cruel laugh, and... something else. Something she'd never remembered before. A huge black shadow, swirling through her memory, across her eyes, and disappearing when she touched it.

Hagrid watched the pair sadly.

"Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot... ."

"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Cal jumped; she had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.

"Now, you listen here, both of you," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured — and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion — asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end —"

Cal felt her anger build up as he spoke of her parents in this terrible, demeaning manner.

The next thing she knew, her hand was out, palm wide open, and Uncle Vernon was on fire.

{ hey guys, terribly sorry for updating a lil' late, kinda got carried away with uni and work and stuff.. please let me know how my writing is, and if you want longer/shorter chapters, or if you want me to cut down on the details and descriptions... please comment and vote. enjoy.}