CHAPTER FOUR
“ 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 , 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 ’.” He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys . “ 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 . . . .”
He sat down , stared into the fire for a few seconds , and then said , “ 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 ?” “ Gulpin ’ gargoyles , Harry , people are still scared . 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 . 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
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