Disclaimers : I don't own any characters or settings apart from a few. All credits goes to J. K Rowling. ( Normal text is the Harry potter story line and text in bold is Marauders era reactions.)
BOOM.
They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.
"No way, is he serious?" Ana asked, a grin tugging at her lips.
"Don't!" half the Gryffindors yelled, and Sirius slumped in his seat, clearly sulking.
There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands.
"What is a rifle?" asked Evan Rosier.
"It's a type of weapon." answered a fourth year Ravenclaw.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
"Who's there?" barked Uncle Vernon, his voice trembling. He grabbed the rifle he had brought with him, pointing it shakily toward the door.
The knocking grew louder. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Dorea froze, her eyes wide. "What in Merlin's name... Who is that?!"
"I'm armed! I'll shoot!" Vernon shouted.
Lily's voice trembled. "What if it's some kind of attack? What if Harry's in danger?" She shook her head in confusion. "We can't even make sense of this. It's so... out of nowhere."
The knocking came again, even louder. Then, with a deafening crash, the door was knocked clean off its hinges, landing flat on the floor with a thunderous bang. A giant figure stood framed in the doorway, hunched to fit under the low ceiling, rain dripping off his wild mane of hair and beard.
Pandora blinked in amazement. "A giant? Oh dear, that's... something I didn't expect."
Fabian leaned forward, trying to figure it out. "A giant... Could it be.....Hagrid?"
Gideon furrowed his brow. "Hagrid? No, it couldn't be. But... the size, the mess... I don't know, maybe."
"Sorry 'bout that," said the giant, stepping inside and setting the door back in place with ease. He brushed off the rain from his enormous coat. "Should've knocked softer, I s'pose."
Alice's hand flew to her mouth, trying to stifle a gasp. "Is that Hagrid? Oh, Frank..."
The Dursleys stared in horror as the giant surveyed the room. His wild beard and hair made him look even more intimidating.
Royce let out a low whistle, his eyes flicking over to Chris. "I think the Dursleys might actually pass out from shock. I'm surprised they haven't already."
Chris chuckled, watching the scene unfold. "You're right about that. This is the kind of thing the Dursleys are never going to forget."
"Tea, if yeh've got it," said the giant as he brushed rain off his coat and stomped the water from his boots. "Bitter weather out there."
Andromeda frowned, but a glint of approval flashed in her eyes. "Hagrid has a way of making a dramatic entrance, doesn't he?"
"Always," Ted replied with a smile, crossing his arms. "He never does anything quietly."
Frank chuckled softly, shaking his head. "You'd think he'd have learned to tone it down by now, but I suppose that's part of his charm."
"Charm?" Peter scoffed. "If you can call it that."
"I can," said Alice with a small laugh. "Hagrid's heart is always in the right place, even if his timing isn't."
Hagrid blushed hearing this.
He then strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.
"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.
Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.
Sirius Black could barely contain his laughter, clutching his stomach as he doubled over. "Oh, this is priceless! Poor Dudley doesn't even know what hit him!"
"W-who are you?" Vernon managed to stammer, clutching the rifle tighter.
The giant turned to face the room, his beetle-black eyes twinkling as they landed on Harry. "Harry! There yeh are! Blimey, look at yeh—las' time I saw yeh, yeh were just a baby." He smiled warmly. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."
Laurel smirked. "Hagrid's got a soft spot for Potter. Not surprising, really."
James narrowed his eyes at Laurel, his jaw tightening slightly. "You think so?"
Laurel's smirk only deepened, and she leaned back in her chair, unfazed. "Oh, come on, Potter. It's obvious. Hagrid's always been a little too fond of you, hasn't he?"
Sirius shot a quick glance at James. "Maybe it's because Harry reminds him of someone... a certain charming young man we all know."
Laurel raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "Sure, sure. But we all know Hagrid doesn't always make the best judgments. Just look at his pet choices."
"We're not getting into this again," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
Laurel shrugged nonchalantly. "Just saying, Hagrid's affectionate decisions can sometimes backfire. Just wait and see how Potter turns out."
James shot her a sharp glance again, but this time he didn't respond, clearly trying to avoid further confrontation.
Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.
"I demand that you leave at once!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"
"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.
Elenore raised an eyebrow. "Hagrid's... not exactly subtle, is he?"
He then rummaged in his coat and pulled out a slightly squashed box. "Anyway, Happy birthday, Harry. Brought yeh a cake -- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."
Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.
Severus Snape muttered, "A cake. How utterly sentimental."
The marauders glared at him.
"Birthday?" Harry whispered, staring at the cake. No one had ever made him a cake before.
Ivannah watched, her eyes full of sympathy. "The Dursleys really did nothing for him, didn't they? "
Mary watched the scene closely, her voice soft. "It's amazing how something as simple as a cake can mean something."
