Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

    CHAPTER ONE

    THE BOY WHO LIVED

    Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud
to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They
were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange
or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

    Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which
made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although
he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde
and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very
useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences,
spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley
and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

    The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a
secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover
it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about
the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't
met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't
have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband
were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered
to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the
street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too,
but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason
for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with
a child like that.

    When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday
our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to
suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening
all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most
boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she
wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.

    None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.

    At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked
Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but
missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his
cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left
the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.

    It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first
sign of something peculiar -- a cat reading a map. For a second,
Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen -- then he jerked his
head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the
corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What
could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of
the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared
back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he
watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that
said Privet Drive -- no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read
maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the
cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing
except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

    But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind
by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he
couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely
dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear
people who dressed in funny clothes -- the getups you saw on young
people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his
fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these
weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly
together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them
weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was,
and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it
struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt -- these
people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would
be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley
arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

    Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office
on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to
concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swoop ing
past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they
pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most
of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley,
however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at
five different people. He made several important telephone calls
and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime,
when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to
buy himself a bun from the bakery.

    He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed
a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he
passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were
whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting
tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut
in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.

    "The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their
son, Harry"

    Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back
at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but
thought better of it.

    He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office,
snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone,
and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed
his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache,
thinking... no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual
name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a
son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew
was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been
Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley;
she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't
blame her -- if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same,
those people in cloaks...

    He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon
and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so
worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.

    "Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost
fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man
was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being
almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into
a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby
stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me
today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles
like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and
walked off.

    Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by
a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle,
whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set
off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never
hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.

    As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing
he saw -- and it didn't improve his mood -- was the tabby cat he'd
spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was
sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.

    "Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just
gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley
wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the
house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.

    Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over
dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and
how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried
to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the
living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:

    "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the
nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although
owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight,
there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every
direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls
have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed
himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin
with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"

    "Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but
it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers
as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to
tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had
a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating
Bonfire Night early -- it's not until next week, folks! But I can
promise a wet night tonight."

    Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over
Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all
over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...

    Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of
tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared
his throat nervously. "Er -- Petunia, dear -- you haven't heard
from your sister lately, have you?"

    As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After
all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.

    "No," she said sharply. "Why?"

    "Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting
stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town
today..."

    "So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.

    "Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do
with... you know... her crowd."

    Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley
wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He
decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could,
"Their son -- he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"

    "I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

    "What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"

    "Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."

    "Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes,
I quite agree."

    He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs
to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept
to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The
cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it
were waiting for something.

Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with
the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to
a pair of -- well, he didn't think he could bear it.

    The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly
but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His
last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the
Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him
and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia
thought about them and their kind.... He couldn't see how he and
Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on --
he yawned and turned over -- it couldn't affect them....

    How very wrong he was.

    Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but
the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was
sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far
corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door
slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In
fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.

    A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared
so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out
of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.

    Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He
was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair
and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He
was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground,
and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright,
and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very
long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This
man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

    Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just
arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots
was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for
something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because
he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from
the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat
seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."

    He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed
to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up
in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with
a little pop. He clicked it again -- the next lamp flickered into
darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only
lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the
distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone
looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley,
they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on
the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his
cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat
down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after
a moment he spoke to it.

    "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

    He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he
was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square
glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around
its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black
hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.

    "How did you know it was me?" she asked.

    "My dear Professor, I 've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

    "You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day,"
said Professor McGonagall.

    "All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have
passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."

    Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

    "Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said
impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but
no -- even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It
was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys'
dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting
stars.... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to
notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent -- I'll bet that was
Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."

    "You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had
precious little to celebrate for eleven years."

    "I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's
no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless,
out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle
clothes, swapping rumors."

    She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though
hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she
went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day YouKnow-Who
seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us
all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"

    "It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be
thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"

    "A what?"

    "A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"

    "No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though
she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say,
even if You-Know-Who has gone -"

"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can
call him by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense -- for eleven
years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper
name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore,
who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all
gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never
seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.

    "I know you haven 't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding
half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone
knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort,
was frightened of."

    "You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers
I will never have."

    "Only because you're too -- well -- noble to use them."

    "It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam
Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."

    Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said,
"The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You
know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what
finally stopped him?"

    It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she
was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on
a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had
she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It
was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going
to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore,
however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.

    "What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night
Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the
Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are -- are --
that they're -- dead. "

    Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.

    "Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to
believe it... Oh, Albus..."

    Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I
know... I know..." he said heavily.

    Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's
not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But
-- he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why,
or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter,
Voldemort's power somehow broke -- and that's why he's gone.

    Dumbledore nodded glumly.

    "It's -- it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all
he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little
boy? It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but
how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"

    "We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

    Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed
at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff
as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a
very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little
planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to
Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said,
"Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here,
by the way?"

    "Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're
going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"

    "I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the
only family he has left now."

    "You don't mean -- you can't mean the people who live
here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing
at number four. "Dumbledore -- you can't. I've been watching them
all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And
they've got this son -- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up
the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"

    "It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His
aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's
older. I've written them a letter."

"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back
down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all
this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be
famous -- a legend -- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known
as Harry Potter day in the future -- there will be books written
about Harry -- every child in our world will know his name!"

    "Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the
top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's
head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he
won't even remember! CarA you see how much better off he'll be,
growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"

    Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind,
swallowed, and then said, "Yes -- yes, you're right, of course. But
how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly
as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.

    "Hagrid's bringing him."

    "You think it -- wise -- to trust Hagrid with something as
important as this?"

    I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.

    "I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said
Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not
careless. He does tend to -- what was that?"

    A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew
steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign
of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the
sky -- and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the
road in front of them.

    If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting
astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at
least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed,
and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of
his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in
their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular
arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.

    "Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And
where did you get that motorcycle?"

    "Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sit," said the giant,
climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius
Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."

    "No problems, were there?"

    "No, sir -- house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all
right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep
as we was flyin' over Bristol."

    Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle
of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under
a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously
shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

    "Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.

    "Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."

    "Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"

    "Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have
one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London
Underground. Well -- give him here, Hagrid -- we'd better get this
over with."

    Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys'
house.

    "Could I -- could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He
bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have
been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let
out a howl like a wounded dog.

    "Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"

    "S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted
handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it
-- Lily an' James dead -- an' poor little Harry off ter live with
Muggles -"

    "Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid,
or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid
gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall
and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep,
took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets,
and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of
them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook,
Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light
that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

    "Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business
staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."

    "Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin'
Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall -- Professor
Dumbledore, sir."

Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung
himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with
a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.

    "I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said
Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose
in reply.

    Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner
he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once,
and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that
Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby
cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He
could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.

    "Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with
a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

    A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay
silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would
expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over
inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on
the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special,
not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few
hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door
to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few
weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't
know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the
country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices:
"To Harry Potter -- the boy who lived!"

    CHAPTER TWO

    THE VANISHING GLASS

    Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to
find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly
changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and
lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept
into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it
had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news
report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really
showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots
of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing
different-colored bonnets -- but Dudley Dursley was no longer a
baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his
first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game
with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room
held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

    Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not
for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice
that made the first noise of the day.

    "Up! Get up! Now!"

    Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

    "Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen
and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He
rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been
having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle
in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.

    His aunt was back outside the door.

    "Are you up yet?" she demanded.

    "Nearly," said Harry.

    "Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And
don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's
birthday."

    Harry groaned.

    "What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.

    "Nothing, nothing..."

    Dudley's birthday -- how could he have forgotten? Harry got
slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair
under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them
on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs
was full of them, and that was where he slept.

When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The
table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It
looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted,
not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly
why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley
was very fat and hated exercise -- unless of course it involved
punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he
couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

    Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard,
but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked
even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to
wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times
bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair,
and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a
lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him
on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance
was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt
of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the
first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was
how he had gotten it.

    "In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And
don't ask questions."

    Don't ask questions -- that was the first rule for a quiet life
with the Dursleys.

    Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over
the bacon.

    "Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

    About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his
newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have
had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put

    together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that
way -- all over the place.

    Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen
with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a
large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick
blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia
often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel -- Harry often said
that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

    Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was
difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting
his presents. His face fell.

    "Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and
father. "That's two less than last year."

    "Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see,
it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."

    "All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the
face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began
wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned
the table over.

    Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said
quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out
today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right''

    Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally
he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."

    "Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.

    "Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest
parcel. "All right then."

    Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth,
just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

    At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to
answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the
racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen
new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold
wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking
both angry and worried.

    "Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She
can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.

    Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a
leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a
friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants,
or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a
mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The
whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at
photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as
though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that
Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded
himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles,
Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.

    "We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

    "Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."

    The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he
wasn't there -- or rather, as though he was something very nasty
that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

    "What about what's-her-name, your friend -- Yvonne?"

    "On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.

    "You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be
able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe
even have a go on Dudley's computer).

    Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

    "And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.

    "I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't
listening.

    "I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia
slowly, "... and leave him in the car...."

    "That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone...."

    Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying --
it had been years since he'd really cried -- but he knew that if he
screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything
he wanted.

    "Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your
special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

    "I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled
between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp- spoils everything!" He
shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

    Just then, the doorbell rang -- "Oh, good Lord, they're
here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically -- and a moment later, Dudley's
best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was
a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who
held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley
stopped pretending to cry at once.

    Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was
sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley,
on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and
uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him,
but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

    "I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face
right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy -- any funny
business, anything at all -- and you'll be in that cupboard from
now until Christmas."

    "I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly..

    But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.

    The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and
it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.

    Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers
looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen
scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for
his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had
laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining
school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy
clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten
up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had
sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this,
even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how
it had grown back so quickly.

    Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a
revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls) --
The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed
to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but
certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have
shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being
found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been
chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone
else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had
received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them
Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to
do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his
cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen
doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-
jump.

    But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being
with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't
school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

    While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked
to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry,
the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This
morning, it was motorcycles.

    "... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said,
as a motorcycle overtook them.

    I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering
suddenly. "It was flying."

    Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned
right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a
gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

    Dudley and Piers sniggered.

    I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."

    But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing
the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was
his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter
if it was in a dream or even a cartoon -- they seemed to think he
might get dangerous ideas.

    It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with
families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate
ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in
the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him
away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either,
Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its
head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.

    Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was
careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that
Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals
by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting
him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum
because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top,
Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish
the first.

    Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all
too good to last.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark
in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all
sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits
of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous
cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the
largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice
around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can -- but at
the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

    Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring
at the glistening brown coils.

    "Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped
on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

    "Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass
smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

    "This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

    Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the
snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom
itself -- no company except stupid people drumming their fingers
on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than
having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt
Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to
visit the rest of the house.

    The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly,
it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

    It winked.

    Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was
watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

    The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then
raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said
quite plainly:

    "I get that all the time.

    "I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't
sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."

    The snake nodded vigorously.

    "Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.

    The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the
glass. Harry peered at it.

    Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

    "Was it nice there?"

    The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and
Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see --
so you've never been to Brazil?"