Philosopher's Stone - Chapter 1

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.