Chapter Text
Gutter Vanguard: No Honour in the Dungeon
Chapter 1
People hurrying along Diagon Alley to get to work, get some early morning supplies, breakfast or to prepare their children for school, saw Hagrid coming. It was very hard not to see the half-giant coming, even from a long way away. The young girl walking by his side was much harder to see. She kept her head down, only letting people see her shaggy, shoulder length black hair. She wore a badly beat up leather jacket that was at least three times too big, enveloping her slim and rather petite body, and jeans that were more holes than fabric. Her plastic glasses were scratched up, held together by tape, and one entire arm had been replaced by a bent piece of wire that was also taped on. The way she walked slightly behind Hagrid made it clear she didn't want to be the centre of attention. However her large, scuffed, black combat boots did make her stick out a little bit.
“Now then, Harriet, we're running a bit late so let's get some breakfast and we'll get ya all sorted for Hogwarts. What do you have a hankering for? There is all the best food in Britain here on Diagon Alley. Well actually Hogwarts has better food, but Diagon Alley is a good runner up,” Hagrid said happily.
Harriet looked around seeing street sellers offering bacon and sausage baps, the greasy meat wrapped up in soft warm buns, dripping with HP sauce. There were also egg and bacon rolls, and breakfast pastries full of minced beef, or eggs, or sausage. That wasn't odd, having little dragons and fiery lizards warming them up was very odd.
Hagrid didn't wait for her answer before buying some strong milky tea, handing her a cup filled to the brim. Taking it, Harriet blew on the steaming liquid to cool it down.
And then someone saw the lightning shaped scar on her forehead. She usually kept it covered by her bangs, but it would sometimes pop out at the most annoying times, like now.
“Oh my!” a woman in a witch hat said, dropping her cup of tea. “Is this really Harriet Potter? It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady. You're such a hero.”
A hand clapped down on her shoulder, and a man in robes, was leaning down to get a look at her. “The girl-who-lived, I never thought I'd get a chance to say thank y-”
He was cut off by a small fist slamming into his nose. What the fist lacked in strength it made up for in skill, sending him reeling back in surprise and pain. The air heated up for a second as her magic flared up reacting to her emotions.
“OI! What the fuck do you shits want!” Harriet yelled, dropping the tea and raising her fists. “Leave me the hell alone! And if anymore nonces put a hand on me I'll kick you so hard you'll need a new set of family jewels.”
Hagrid groaned, putting a hand on the angry girl's shoulder while the entire street went silent. All eyes were on him and the girl-who-lived, the hero of Wizarding Britain. They had expected a kind, polite young lady, or maybe a brash, bold one who was ready to save the day.
Unfortunately as Hagrid had found out the day before, Harriet was definitely not polite, kind, or a lady.
****
The Day Before
It was just after lunch at 4 Privet Drive when Hagrid took a moment to smooth his hair and straighten his moleskin coat, this was an important moment. It had been a constant ache not seeing the little girl he had pulled from the rubble of her parent's house for years. Now was the big chance to see how the little sweetheart was doing, he wanted to make a good impression.
Leaving his flying motorcycle behind, he strolled up to the small pristine looking house, took a deep breath and gave it a firm knock. It opened a few moments later, and a rather large muggle with a big belly, large bags under his eyes and very little hair looked up at him.
“You're with that Hogwarts school, I suppose,” he said, puffing on a cigarette.
“That I am, you must be Mr. Dursley. I'm Hagrid at your service. Would you mind if I come in? I'd like to talk to Harriet before rushing her off to school.” He was a little surprised at the lack of emotion from Harriet's uncle. With how fast they had said she could go to Hogwarts after getting the invitation letter, he had thought they'd be excited, happy, something.
“She's not here,” Vernon replied, taking a long drag of his cigarette.
Still smiling, Hagrid nodded. “Oh I guess she's saying goodbye to all her little friends. I don't mind waiting a bit.”
Mr. Dursley snorted. “Yeah, friends. I don't know who she's with or where she's gone, or when she'll be back. She never tells us anything, and trying to keep her locked up or under control is how I lost most of my hair. And why I started smoking. She's your problem now.” He bent down getting a small suitcase handing it to Hagrid.
Taking the thing, it felt almost empty. “Is this all she has for school? She'll be gone 'til at least Christmas.”
“It's all she needed. Now I've got things to do, so if you don't mind?” Vernon started to close the door.
Hagrid put his hand on the door, his smile dropped. “Now listen here, Mr. Dursley. I want to know where Harriet is. Why she doesn't even have a suitcase worth of clothes and things? And why you're acting like you don't give a toss about her?”
Another snort from the fat man. “That girl is a menace, a criminal, and a tramp. Just like her mother and her father, she's a total loss with no self control or obedience.”
****
Walking away from the house, Hagrid rubbed his fist. He would probably be in trouble for punching the man, even though he'd been careful to only bloody Dursley's nose. It had been worth it however. Taking out a compass Dumbledore had given him to make sure he could find the wee lass, he tapped it a few times and the needle pointed towards London. Getting back on his motorcycle, he headed towards the city, keeping half an eye on the compass.
****
“My naff auntie and the pillock finally found a way to get rid of me,” eleven-year-old Harriet said, taking a puff of her cigarette while sitting on a graffiti covered entrance way to a store that had long ago closed down. “They're sending me to some posh boarding school where my mum and dad went.”
Her friends, all older boys nodded patting her on the shoulder, back and thighs. “Those bastards are real arseholes,” one of them said.
“Get this, the place is called Hogwarts. Fuck me. What idiot came up with that name?” Shaking her head she took another drag. “They're probably going to want me to be all posh and shit.”
Everyone laughed at that. The small girl in a beat up leather jacket, whose entire wardrobe came from a charity shop, kept her hair choppy and messy on purpose, and couldn't go more than three sentences without swearing, was the very last person to be posh, or allowed into polite society.
“Hey maybe you'll meet some guy who's rolling in it, you could make a mint off of some piker who has only had polite girls to play with.”
“I don't shag for money,” Harriet said.
“Oh so I have a chance?”
“Fuck off and take your baby dick with you,” she said with a laugh.
Everyone looked up, and up, the laughing and joking stopped. Turning to see what was so interesting, Harriet saw a huge man coming towards them, his eyes on her.
“Shit,” she muttered, jumping to her feet ready to run or kick. The man was so big even her steel-toed combat boots probably wouldn't do shit, but she refused to go without a fight. Her cousin Dudley had learned that when she finally got tired of having her hair ripped out at eight years old.
The big man stopped right in front of her, frowning first at her cigarette and then the fourteen and fifteen year old boys who had backed away. She sighed, hearing them start running. So much for her friends, oh well they had been fun while it lasted.
“What do you want, big guy? I ain't done nothing to you.”
“Harriet Potter, I'm Hagrid. I'm from Hogwarts, I was friends with your mom and dad, and I was the one who dropped you off with your aunt and uncle after they were killed. And now I'm here to help you get ready for school and show you the wizarding world,” he said, looking real solemn.
“You really dropped me off with my Aunt Petunia and Vernon?”
“I did, but now I'm not sure it was such a good idea.”
She nodded, looking up at the man who had put her in hell. Then she pulled back her fist and punched him right in the crotch. Spinning on her heels she took off running as fast as she could.