CHAPTER ONE
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 happen-
ing 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
2