Facing the giant who stood over three meters tall, Uncle Vernon, despite his fear, did his best to shield his family with his large body.
The giant pointed a small, red umbrella at the fireplace, and with a pop, the fire that had gone out roared back to life. Seeing this, Dudley's eyes lit up. So this is magic? It really is incredible.
The giant stood by the fire for a moment, still feeling cold, and rubbed his hands together. "Right, I'd like a cup of hot tea. You've got some, haven't you?"
This kind of rude, threatening demand immediately soured Dudley's opinion of him. His face grew cold as he replied, "Tea is for guests." The meaning was clear: he was telling the giant to leave.
"Hey, Dursley, look at your lummox," the giant said to Vernon, ignoring Dudley completely. He then glared at Dudley and snarled, "Remember, you don't say no to someone stronger than you."
Aunt Petunia, terrified the giant would hurt Dudley, moved to make the tea, but Dudley stopped her, then went to make a cup himself. The entire time, Dudley didn't say a word, his expression unreadable.
Harry saw this and knew it was a sign of Dudley's brewing anger. He knew that Dudley usually liked to convince people with reason, but when he went silent and his face went blank, it meant he was about to use a different kind of "reason"—the physical kind.
Harry, of course, believed Dudley was stronger. He'd never seen him lose a fight. But the giant's size was overwhelming, and he couldn't help but feel a little worried. If it comes to a fight, I'll hit him as hard as I can with the fireplace poker. Harry's eyes darted around the room before settling on the giant's backside.
"That's right. Didn't think a clumsy boy like you could make tea," the giant said, taking the cup from Dudley without a second thought. He took a sip and looked pleased. Then he turned to Harry, who was standing beside Vernon, and smiled warmly. "Happy birthday, Harry, by the way," he muttered.
'Arrogant and ill-mannered,' Dudley thought to himself, lowering his opinion of Hogwarts even more.
The giant pulled out a flattened box and handed it to Harry. "Oh, it got a bit squashed, but I'm sure it'll taste great. I promise."
"Who are you?" Harry asked. He didn't leave Vernon's side or reach for the gift, instead watching the giant warily.
Seeing that Harry was hesitant, the giant, whose name was Hagrid, looked a little embarrassed and pulled the box back. "I forgot to introduce myself. Rubeus Hagrid. Just call me Hagrid. I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
Hagrid paused, his big eyes fixed on Harry. "You've heard of Hogwarts, haven't you?"
Harry squirmed under his gaze and shook his head. "No, I haven't."
"You haven't?!" Hagrid roared. The sound shook the little shack. He spun around and glared at the Dursleys. With his immense size, he looked like a furious gorilla, as if he were about to devour them.
Across the room, Dudley tensed, ready to spring into action.
"Why haven't you?!" Hagrid shouted, his voice getting even louder. "I know you didn't get the letters, but you should've... I understand! Dursley!"
His voice was a full-blown roar now. "You never told the boy, did you?! You never told him everything he's supposed to know!"
'What am I supposed to know?' Harry felt a pang of curiosity, but years of living with the Dursleys made him trust that his aunt and uncle wouldn't put him in harm's way.
Hagrid's expression softened as he looked back at Harry. "Harry... you want to know about your parents, don't you? Come here and I'll tell you!" Hagrid thought Harry would be curious about his parents; all children were.
But Harry's face grew cold. "I'm not interested."
Harry wasn't stupid. He was thinking this all through. The man kept mentioning his parents and seemed to be a friend of theirs, yet Harry had never seen him before. Dudley had always warned him that if someone you've never met suddenly shows up claiming to be a friend of your family, they're probably after something. Of course, that was assuming they weren't lying.
Harry remembered being taken away by a person who claimed to be a friend of his parents when he was very young. Vernon and Petunia went insane, searching everywhere for him. It was Dudley who had found him, shivering in a small, run-down house with a dozen other kids his age. Later, he learned the "friend" was a human trafficker, and they were all "cargo" waiting to be sold. It was after that day that Dudley started walking to and from school with him, even if he got out earlier.
So, neither scenario was good. Harry also realized that this giant, Hagrid, was probably connected to the letters they'd been getting, and that "Hogwarts" place was the reason he couldn't go to Smeltings with Dudley. An intense feeling of disgust for this place called Hogwarts welled up inside him, and he grew worried for Dudley and his aunt and uncle.
Should I pretend to agree and then call the police?
Hagrid, disheartened by Harry's refusal, hung his head. A moment later, he looked up again, his eyes burning. "Harry, don't you want to know who you really are?! The Dursleys must have kept that from you!"
"Stop it!" His words seemed to strike a chord with the Dursleys. Vernon, overcoming his fear of Hagrid, bellowed, "Don't say another word! I won't let you tell this boy anything!" He used his fear as fuel, staring defiantly at the giant. "The moment we took him in, we decided to stay away from that dreadful place! It already killed this boy's parents. Do you want the same to happen to him?!"
"We will protect this child! Until he comes of age!"