The boy who lived
The most boring family ever
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.
Such
words open one of the biggest selling sagas of all time, introducing us to the
world of magic we all know and love.
Are
they ever? Rowling introduces her fantastical world by presenting us first with
its precise antithesis. As opposed to our dear wizards, the Dursleys are the
dullest people to ever live, and proud of it, too. They aim to be the perfect
neighbours from a Stepford suburbia, Vernon being a businessman with disdain
for everything slightly outside of the norm and Petunia being a gossipy,
conformed housewife. They have a one-year-old son, Dudley, who they’ve already
managed to spoil beyond repair.
Rowling
then goes on to describe Vernon’s frustratingly boring day: he wakes up on a
dull morning, picks his most boring tie and sets off to work thinking about
drills (he manages a drill factory). His boring thoughts are interrupted by a
map-reading cat and oddly-dressed people, before dismissing them to immerse
himself once more in the fascinating
world of drills.
However,
when he goes to the bakery at lunchtime, he overhears a conversation which
fills him with terror.
"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"
Could
this strange things be caused by--? What if someone found out that the Dursleys
are related to—wizards?
While
the Dursleys are asleep, a white-bearded wizard called Dumbledore arrives at
Privet Drive, only to find Professor McGonagall already there, disguised as a
cat. Here we have the first appearance of the Deluminator, here called a
Put-Outer (we won’t know what it does until the seventh book).
Dumbledore
has decided to leave Harry here, while McGonagall is reluctant. Harry is
brought by gentle giant Hagrid and the wizards say goodbye to him.
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!"
The
chapter is slow-paced, meant to illustrate the Dursleys’ boring lives before
the arrival of Harry. In comparison to the Hogwarts chapters, the Dursley
chapters are slow and dull, both in content and writing style.
Though
it will go over the heads of first-time readers, the fact that the whole wizard
world is so shook up over their death implies the Potters were well-respected
heroes, much like Harry himself; this is consistent with what we learn in Order
of the Phoenix.
The
exchange between Dumbledore and McGonagall is also significant:
"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."
Dumbledore
could be as powerful as Voldemort, bur he chose not to; choices are very
important in the Harry Potter universe. Lastly, it establishes the relationship
between Dumbledore and Voldemort, Voldemort being afraid of the former.
Things
you might have missed:
·
Dumbledore has a crooked nose, “as if it had been broken at least
twice”. We’ll have to wait until Deathly Hallows to learn how he got his nose
broken.
·
Two
passing mentions of characters from later books: Dedalus Diggle and Sirius
Black. The latter is said to have lent Hagrid his motorcycle; this is an early
hint of his innocence.
·
Vernon’s
firm manufactures drills. That is to say, his occupation is literally boring.
·
Trivia:
Dumbledore has a scar that looks like the London Tube map.
