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 emeraldgreen 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
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 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 PutOuter 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 beadyeyed Mrs Dursley they wouldn’t be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement Dumbledore slipped the PutOuter 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 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”
When he had been younger Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away but it had never happened the Dursleys were his only family Yet sometimes he thought or maybe hoped that strangers in the street seemed to know him Very strange strangers they were too A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything A wildlooking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look
The Dursleys’ house had four bedrooms one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia one for visitors usually Uncle Vernon’s sister Marge one where Dudley slept and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn’t fit into his first bedroom It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room He sat down on the bed and stared around him Nearly everything in here was broken The monthold video camera was lying on top of a small working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor’s dog in the corner was Dudley’s firstever television set which he’d put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled there was a large birdcage which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it Other shelves were full of books They were the only things in the room that looked as though they’d never been touched
He stopped a passing guard but didn’t dare mention platform nine and threequarters The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn’t even tell him what part of the country it was in he started to get annoyed as though Harry was being stupid on purpose Getting desperate Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o’clock but the guard said there wasn’t one In the end the guard strode away muttering about time wasters Harry was now trying hard not to panic According to the large clock over the arrivals board he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift a pocket full of wizard money and a large owl
Harry’s heart gave a horrible jolt A test In front of the whole school But he didn’t know any magic yet — what on earth would he have to do He hadn’t expected something like this the moment they arrived He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified too No one was talking much except Hermione Granger who was whispering very fast about all the spells she’d learned and wondering which one she’d need Harry tried hard not to listen to her He’d never been more nervous never not even when he’d had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he’d somehow turned his teachers wig blue He kept his eyes fixed on the door Any second now Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom
Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it The day before Harry’s first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar They were standing with their backs to it getting warm when Snape crossed the yard Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping Harry Ron and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view they were sure it wouldn’t be allowed Unfortunately something about their guilty faces caught Snape’s eye He limped over He hadn’t seen the fire but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway
“But we’ve got no proof” said Harry “Quirrell’s too scared to back us up Snape’s only got to say he doesn’t know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor — who do you think they’ll believe him or us It’s not exactly a secret we hate him Dumbledore’ll think we made it up to get him sacked Filch wouldn’t help us if his life depended on it he’s too friendly with Snape and the more students get thrown out the better he’ll think And don’t forget we’re not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy That’ll take a lot of explaining”