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So this is Glimmering Gold and I am going to do a reading of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

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I am doing this live on my Discord server.

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I am probably only going to do a couple chapters tonight and then do a couple chapters every few days or once a week or something like that.

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Just bear in mind that there will probably be several mistakes.

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I'm not going to stop to look up how things are pronounced.

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And I probably won't attempt a British accent.

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I don't think anybody wants that.

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But we'll see how I'm feeling.

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So, Chapter 1, The Boy Who Lived.

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Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of Number 4, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

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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.

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Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.

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He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.

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Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck,

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which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.

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The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley, and in their opinion, there was no finer boy anywhere.

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The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that someone would discover it.

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They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.

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Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years.

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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.

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The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street.

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The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him.

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This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away. They didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

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When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts,

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there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.

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Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,

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and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his highchair.

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

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At half-past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye,

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but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.

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"'Little tyke,' chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.

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He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.

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It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar—a cat reading a map.

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For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen.

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Then he jerked his head around to look again.

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There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.

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What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light.

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Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.

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As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror.

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It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive—no, looking at the sign.

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Cats couldn't read maps or signs.

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Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind.

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As he drove toward town, he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

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But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else.

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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.

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People in cloaks.

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Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes.

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The get-ups you saw in young people.

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He supposed this was some stupid new fashion.

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He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by.

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They were whispering excitedly together.

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Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all.

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Why, that man had to be older than he was and wearing an emerald green cloak.

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The nerve of him.

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But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt.

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These people were obviously collecting for something.

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Yes, that would be it.

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The traffic moved on, and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

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Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor.

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If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning.

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He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did.

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They pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.

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Most of them had never even seen an owl at nighttime.

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Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning.

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He yelled at five different people.

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He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.

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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.

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He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the bakers.

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He eyed them angrily as he passed.

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He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy.

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This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin.

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It was on his way back them.

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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.

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The potters, that's right, that's what I heard.

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Yes, their son Harry.

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Mr. Dursley stopped dead.

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Fear flooded him.

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He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.

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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.

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He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking.

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No, he was being stupid.

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Potter wasn't such an unusual name.

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He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry.

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Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry.

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He'd never even seen the boy.

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It might have been Harvey, or Harold.

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There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley.

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She always got so upset at any mention of her sister.

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He didn't blame her, if he'd had a sister like that.

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But all the same, those people in cloaks.

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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.

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Sorry, he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.

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It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak.

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He didn't seem at all upset about being almost knocked to the ground.

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On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile, and he said in a squeaky voice that made Pastor Byes stare.

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Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today.

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Rejoice, for you know who has gone at last. Even muggles like yourself should be celebrating this happy, happy day.

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

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Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot.

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He had been hugged by a complete stranger.

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He also thought that he had been called a muggle, whatever that was.

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He was rattled.

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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.

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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.

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It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one. It had the same markings round its eyes.

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Shoo! said Mr. Dursley loudly.

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The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.

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Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered.

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Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house.

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He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.

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Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day.

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She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Nextdoor's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word, won't.

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Mr. Dursley tried to act normally.

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When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news.

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And finally, bird watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today.

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Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in the daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise.

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Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern.

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The newscaster allowed himself a grin.

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Most mysterious. And now over to Jim McGuffin with the weather.

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Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?

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Well, Ted, said the weatherman, I don't know about that.

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But it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today.

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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.

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Perhaps people have been celebrating bonfire night early.

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It's not until next week, folks, but I can promise a wet night tonight.

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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.

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Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea.

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It was no good. He'd have to say something to her.

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He cleared his throat nervously.

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Ahem. Er.

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Petunia, dear.

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You haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?

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As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry.

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After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.

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No, she said sharply.

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Why?

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

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So? snapped Mrs. Dursley.

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

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Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips.

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Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name Potter.

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He decided he didn't dare.

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Instead, he said, as casually as he could,

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Their son, he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?

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I suppose so, said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

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

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Harry. Nasty common name, if you ask me.

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Oh, yes, said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly.

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Yes, I quite agree.

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He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed.

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While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden.

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The cat was still there.

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It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.

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Was he imagining things?

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Could all of this have anything to do with the Potters?

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If it did, if it got out that they were related to a pair of...

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Well, he didn't think he could bear it.

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The Dursleys got into bed.

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Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly, but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind.

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His last comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved,

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there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley.

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The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind.

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He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on.

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He yawned and turned over.

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It couldn't affect them.

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How very wrong he was.

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Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep,

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but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness.

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It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive.

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It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street,

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nor when two owls swooped overhead.

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In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.

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A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching.

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Appeared so suddenly and silently, you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.

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The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.

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Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive.

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He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard,

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which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.

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He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled buckled boots.

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His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles,

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and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.

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This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.

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Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street

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where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.

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He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something.

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But he did seem to realize he was being watched,

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because he looked up suddenly at the cat,

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which was still staring at him from the other end of the street.

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For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him.

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He chuckled and muttered, I should have known.

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He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket.

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It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.

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He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it.

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A near-street lamp went out with a little pop.

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He clicked it again.

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The next lamp flickered into darkness.

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Twelve times he clicked the put-outer,

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until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance,

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which were the eyes of the cat watching him.

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If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley,

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they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement.

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Dumbledore slipped the put-outer back into his inside cloak pocket

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and set down the street toward number four,

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where he sat down on the wall next to the cat.

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He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.

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Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall.

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He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone.

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Instead, he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman

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who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes.

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She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one.

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Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun.

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She looked distinctly ruffled.

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How did you know it was me? she asked.

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00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:48,000
My dear professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly.

215
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,000
You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day, said Professor McGonagall.

216
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,000
All day? When you could have been celebrating.

217
00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,000
I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here.

218
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,000
Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.

219
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,000
Oh, yes, everyone's celebrating all right, she said impatiently.

220
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,000
You think they'd be a bit more careful, but no.

221
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,000
Even the Muggles have noticed something's going on.

222
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,000
It was on their news.

223
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,000
She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window.

224
00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:18,000
I heard it.

225
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,000
Flax of owls, shooting stars.

226
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,000
Well, they're not completely stupid.

227
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,000
They were bound to notice something.

228
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,000
Shooting stars down in Kent.

229
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,000
I bet that was Daedalus Diggle.

230
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,000
He never had much sense.

231
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,000
You can't blame them, said Dumbledore gently.

232
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:39,000
You've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.

233
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,000
I know that, said Professor McGonagall irritably.

234
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,000
But that's no reason to lose our heads.

235
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:49,000
People are being downright careless out on the streets in broad daylight,

236
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,000
not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors.

237
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,000
She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here,

238
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,000
as though hoping he was going to tell her something.

239
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,000
But he didn't, so she went on.

240
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:07,000
A fine thing it would be if, on the very day you know who seems to have disappeared at last,

241
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,000
the Muggles found out about us all.

242
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,000
I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore.

243
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,000
It certainly seems so, said Dumbledore.

244
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,000
We have much to be thankful for.

245
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,000
Would you care for a lemon drop?

246
00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,000
A what?

247
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,000
A lemon drop.

248
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,000
They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of.

249
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,000
No, thank you, said Professor McGonagall coldly,

250
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,000
as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops.

251
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,000
As I say, even if you know who has gone,

252
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:44,000
my dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name.

253
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,000
All this you-know-who nonsense.

254
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:52,000
For eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name.

255
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,000
Voldemort.

256
00:17:54,000 --> 00:18:00,000
Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice.

257
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,000
It all gets so confusing if we keep saying you-know-who.

258
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,000
I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.

259
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:15,000
I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring.

260
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,000
But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one.

261
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:24,000
You know—oh, all right, Voldemort was frightened of.

262
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,000
You flatter me, said Dumbledore calmly.

263
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,000
Voldemort had powers I will never have.

264
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:35,000
Only because you're too, well, noble to use them.

265
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,000
It's lucky it's dark.

266
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:42,000
I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.

267
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:46,000
Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said,

268
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,000
The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around.

269
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:57,000
You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?

270
00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,000
It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss.

271
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:05,000
The real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day.

272
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:11,000
For neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.

273
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:18,000
It was plain that whatever everyone was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.

274
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:24,000
Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.

275
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:30,000
What they're saying, she pressed on, is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow.

276
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,000
He went to find the Potters.

277
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:43,000
The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are... are... that they're dead.

278
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,000
Dumbledore bowed his head.

279
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,000
Professor McGonagall gasped.

280
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,000
Lily and James.

281
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,000
I can't believe it.

282
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,000
I didn't want to believe it.

283
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,000
Oh, Albus.

284
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,000
Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

285
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,000
I know.

286
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,000
He said heavily.

287
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,000
Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on.

288
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,000
That's not all.

289
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,000
They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.

290
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,000
But he couldn't.

291
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,000
He couldn't kill that little boy.

292
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,000
No one knows why or how.

293
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:25,000
But they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke.

294
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,000
And that's why he's gone.

295
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,000
Dumbledore nodded flumly.

296
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:36,000
It's... it's true, faltered Professor McGonagall.

297
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:42,000
After all he's done, all the people he's killed, he couldn't kill a little boy.

298
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:46,000
It's just astounding, of all the things to stop him.

299
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,000
But how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?

300
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,000
We can only guess, said Dumbledore.

301
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,000
We may never know.

302
00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:00,000
Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed it her eyes beneath her spectacles.

303
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:05,000
Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it.

304
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,000
It was a very odd watch.

305
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,000
It had twelve hands, but no numbers.

306
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,000
Instead, little planets were moving around the edge.

307
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:17,000
It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said,

308
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,000
Hagrid's late.

309
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,000
I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way.

310
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,000
Yes, said Professor McGonagall.

311
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:30,000
And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places.

312
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,000
I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle.

313
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,000
They're the only family he has left now.

314
00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,000
You don't mean... you can't mean the people who live here!

315
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:44,000
cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four.

316
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,000
Dumbledore, you can't!

317
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,000
I've been watching them all day.

318
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,000
You couldn't find two people who are less like us.

319
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,000
And they've got this son.

320
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,000
I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets.

321
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,000
Harry Potter, come and live here!

322
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,000
It's the best place for him, said Dumbledore firmly.

323
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,000
His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older.

324
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,000
I've written them a letter.

325
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:14,000
A letter? repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall.

326
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,000
Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?

327
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,000
These people will never understand him.

328
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,000
He'll be famous, a legend.

329
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,000
I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future.

330
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,000
There will be books written about Harry.

331
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,000
Every child in our world will know his name.

332
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:37,000
Exactly, said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses.

333
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,000
It would be enough to turn any boy's head.

334
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,000
Famous before he can walk and talk.

335
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,000
Famous for something he won't even remember.

336
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,000
Can't you see how much better off he'll be?

337
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:53,000
Growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?

338
00:22:53,000 --> 00:23:00,000
Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said,

339
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,000
Yes, yes, you're right, of course.

340
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,000
But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?

341
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:11,000
She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.

342
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,000
Hagrid's bringing him.

343
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:19,000
You think it wise to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?

344
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:24,000
I would trust Hagrid with my life, said Dumbledore.

345
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:29,000
I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place, said Professor McGonagall grudgingly.

346
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,000
But you can't pretend he's not careless.

347
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,000
He does tend to—

348
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,000
What was that?

349
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,000
A low, rumbling sound had broken the silence around them.

350
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,000
It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight.

351
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,000
It swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky.

352
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:51,000
And a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.

353
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:57,000
If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing compared to the man sitting astride it.

354
00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:02,000
He was almost twice as tall as a normal man, and at least five times as wide.

355
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,000
He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild.

356
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:11,000
Long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face.

357
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:18,000
He had hands the size of trash-can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins.

358
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:24,000
In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.

359
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,000
Hagrid, said Dumbledore, sounding relieved.

360
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:29,000
At last.

361
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,000
And where did you get that motorcycle?

362
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:38,000
Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir, said the Giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke.

363
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,000
Young, serious Black lent it to me.

364
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,000
I've got him, sir.

365
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,000
No problems were there.

366
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:47,000
No, sir.

367
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:52,000
House was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the muggle started swarming around.

368
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,000
He fell asleep as we was flying over Bristol.

369
00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,000
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets.

370
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,000
Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep.

371
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:13,000
Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead, they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.

372
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,000
Is that where? whispered Professor McGonagall.

373
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,000
Yes, said Dumbledore.

374
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,000
He'll have that scar forever.

375
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,000
Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?

376
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,000
Even if I could, I wouldn't.

377
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,000
Scars can come in handy.

378
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,000
I have myself above my left knee.

379
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,000
One that is a perfect map of the London Underground.

380
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,000
Well, give him here, Hagrid.

381
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,000
We'd better get this over with.

382
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:47,000
Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.

383
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:52,000
Could I... could I say goodbye to him, sir? asked Hagrid.

384
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:59,000
He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.

385
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,000
Then suddenly Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.

386
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,000
Shh! his Professor McGonagall.

387
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,000
He'll wake the muggles.

388
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:14,000
Sorry! sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it.

389
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,000
But I can't... can't stand it.

390
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,000
Lily and James dead, and poor little Harry off to live with the muggles.

391
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:25,000
Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found!

392
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:34,000
Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid, gingerly on the arm, as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door.

393
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:42,000
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.

394
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,000
For a full minute, the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle.

395
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,000
Hagrid's shoulders shook.

396
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:54,000
Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.

397
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:59,000
Well, said Dumbledore finally, that's that.

398
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:04,000
We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations.

399
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,000
Yeah, said Hagrid in a very muffled voice.

400
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,000
I'll be taking serious his bike back.

401
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,000
Good night, Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore, sir.

402
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:23,000
Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life.

403
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,000
With a roar, it rose into the air and off into the night.

404
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:33,000
I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall, said Dumbledore, nodding to her.

405
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:37,000
Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.

406
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,000
Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street.

407
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,000
On the corner, he stopped and took out the silver put-outer.

408
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:54,000
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.

409
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,000
He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.

410
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,000
Good luck, Harry, he murmured.

411
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:06,000
He turned on his heel, and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

412
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:12,000
A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky.

413
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,000
The very last place he would expect astonishing things to happen.

414
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,000
Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up.

415
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:35,000
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,

416
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,000
nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley.

417
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:54,000
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.

418
00:28:54,000 --> 00:29:01,000
I'm going to do one more chapter for tonight, and that should put us right around an hour.

419
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:06,000
Chapter two, The Vanishing Glass.

420
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:14,000
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.

421
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:20,000
The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door.

422
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:29,000
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.

423
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:34,000
Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed.

424
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:43,000
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,

425
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:53,000
and now the photographs showed a large blonde 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.

426
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:59,000
The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

427
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:08,000
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.

428
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,000
Up! Get up! Now!

429
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,000
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

430
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,000
Up! she screeched.

431
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:23,000
Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen, and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.

432
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,000
He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having.

433
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:34,000
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.

434
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,000
His aunt was back outside the door.

435
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,000
Are you up yet? she demanded.

436
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,000
Nearly, said Harry.

437
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:50,000
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 Dudley's birthday.

438
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:51,000
Harry groaned.

439
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,000
What did you say? his aunt snapped through the door.

440
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,000
Nothing. Nothing.

441
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,000
Dudley's birthday. How could he have forgotten?

442
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:11,000
Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off of one of them, put them on.

443
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:18,000
Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

444
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,000
When he was dressed, he went down the hall into the kitchen.

445
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:32,000
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.

446
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:41,000
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.

447
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:49,000
Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

448
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:55,000
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.

449
00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:04,000
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.

450
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:09,000
Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.

451
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:16,000
He wore round glasses held together with a lot of scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.

452
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:23,000
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.

453
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:30,000
He had had it for as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.

454
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:35,000
In the car crash when your parents died, she had said, and don't ask questions.

455
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:41,000
Don't ask questions. That was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

456
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:45,000
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

457
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,000
Comb your hair, he barked by way of a morning greeting.

458
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:55,000
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut.

459
00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:01,000
Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference.

460
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,000
His hair simply grew that way, all over the place.

461
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:09,000
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.

462
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,000
Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon.

463
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:21,000
He had a large pink face, not much neck, small watery blue eyes, and thick blonde hair that lay smoothly on his thick fat head.

464
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,000
Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel.

465
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,000
Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

466
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:34,000
Harry put the plate of eggs and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room.

467
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,000
Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents.

468
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,000
His face fell.

469
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:44,000
Thirty-six, he said, looking up at his mother and father.

470
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,000
That's two less than last year.

471
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:53,000
Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present. See, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy.

472
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:58,000
All right, thirty-seven then, said Dudley, going red in the face.

473
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:08,000
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.

474
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,000
Aunt Petunia obviously sent a danger, too, because she said quickly,

475
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:19,000
And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, Popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?

476
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,000
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work.

477
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,000
Finally, he said slowly,

478
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:32,000
So I'll have thirty... thirty... thirty-nine sweetums, said Aunt Petunia.

479
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:37,000
Oh. Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel.

480
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,000
All right, then, Uncle Vernon chuckled.

481
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:45,000
Little Tike wants his money's worth, just like his father.

482
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,000
Attaboy, Dudley! He ruffled Dudley's hair.

483
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,000
At that moment, the telephone rang, and Aunt Petunia went to answer it,

484
00:34:52,000 --> 00:35:01,000
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.

485
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:08,000
He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

486
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:13,000
Bad news, Vernon, she said. Mrs. Fig's broken her leg. She can't take him.

487
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,000
She jerked her head in Harry's direction.

488
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:21,000
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap.

489
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:28,000
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.

490
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:34,000
Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Fig, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.

491
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:43,000
Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage, and Mrs. Fig made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

492
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:49,000
Now what? said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry, as though he'd planned this.

493
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:53,000
Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Fig had broken her leg,

494
00:35:53,000 --> 00:36:02,000
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.

495
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:06,000
We could phone Marge, Uncle Vernon suggested.

496
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,000
Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy.

497
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:19,000
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.

498
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:23,000
What about, what's her name? Your friend, Yvonne?

499
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:27,000
On vacation in Majorca, snapped Aunt Petunia.

500
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:31,000
You could just leave me here, Harry put in, hopefully.

501
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:36,000
He'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change, and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer.

502
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:40,000
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

503
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,000
And come back and find the house in ruins, she snarled.

504
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:48,000
I won't blow up the house, said Harry, but they weren't listening.

505
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:55,000
I suppose we could take him to the zoo, said Aunt Petunia slowly, and leave him in the car.

506
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:59,000
That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone.

507
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,000
Dudley began to cry loudly.

508
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,000
In fact, he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried.

509
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:11,000
But he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

510
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:19,000
Dinky-dudy-dums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day, she cried, flinging her arms around him.

511
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:25,000
I don't want him to come, Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs.

512
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:29,000
He always spoils everything.

513
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:33,000
He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

514
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,000
Just then, the doorbell rang.

515
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,000
Oh, good Lord, they're here, said Aunt Petunia frantically, and a moment later Dudley's best friend,

516
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,000
Piers Pokus, walked in with his mother.

517
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,000
Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.

518
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:52,000
He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.

519
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,000
Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

520
00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:02,000
Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursley's car with Piers and Dudley,

521
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,000
on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.

522
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:10,000
His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him,

523
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:14,000
but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

524
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:20,000
I'm warning you, he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's.

525
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:29,000
I'm warning you now, boy, any funny business, anything at all, and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas.

526
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:34,000
I'm not going to do anything, said Harry, honestly.

527
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:38,000
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.

528
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:46,000
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry, and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.

529
00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:52,000
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all,

530
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:56,000
had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald,

531
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:01,000
except for his bangs, which he left to hide that horrible scar.

532
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:07,000
Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day,

533
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:11,000
where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.

534
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:18,000
Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.

535
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,000
He had been given a week in his cupboard for this,

536
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:27,000
even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.

537
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:35,000
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's, brown with orange puffballs.

538
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:39,000
The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become,

539
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:44,000
until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.

540
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:51,000
Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash, and to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

541
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:56,000
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.

542
00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:02,000
Dudley's gang had been chasing him, as usual, when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's,

543
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,000
there he was sitting on the chimney.

544
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:09,000
The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress,

545
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:12,000
telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings,

546
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,000
but all he'd tried to do, as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard,

547
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:21,000
was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors.

548
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,000
Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.

549
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,000
But today, nothing was going to go wrong.

550
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:33,000
It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school,

551
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:37,000
his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

552
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:41,000
While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia.

553
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,000
He liked to complain about things.

554
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:50,000
People at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.

555
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,000
This morning, it was motorcycles.

556
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:58,000
Roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums, he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

557
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:03,000
I had a dream about a motorcycle, said Harry, remembering suddenly.

558
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,000
It was flying.

559
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:08,000
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed the car in front.

560
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:13,000
He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beat with a mustache.

561
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,000
Motorcycles don't fly!

562
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,000
Dudley and Piers sniggered.

563
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:22,000
I know they don't, said Harry.

564
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,000
It was only a dream.

565
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,000
But he wished he hadn't said anything.

566
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:30,000
If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions,

567
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:34,000
it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't.

568
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:40,000
No matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon, they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

569
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:44,000
It was a very sunny Saturday, and the zoo was crowded with families.

570
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:49,000
The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance,

571
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:54,000
and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away,

572
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,000
they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.

573
00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:01,000
It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head,

574
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:05,000
who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blonde.

575
00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:09,000
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time.

576
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:12,000
He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys,

577
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:16,000
so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime,

578
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,000
wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.

579
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:24,000
They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his Knickerbocker glory

580
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:28,000
didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one,

581
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,000
and Harry was allowed to finish the first.

582
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:37,000
Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

583
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:39,000
After lunch, they went to the Reptile House.

584
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,000
It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls.

585
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:50,000
Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.

586
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:56,000
Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons.

587
00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,000
Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place.

588
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:03,000
It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can,

589
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,000
but at the moment it didn't look in the mood.

590
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:09,000
In fact, it was fast asleep.

591
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:15,000
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

592
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:19,000
Make it move, he whined at his father.

593
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:23,000
Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

594
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,000
Do it again, Dudley ordered.

595
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:31,000
Uncle Vernon wrapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

596
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:36,000
This is boring, Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

597
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:40,000
Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake.

598
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,000
He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself.

599
00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:49,000
No company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass, trying to disturb it all day long.

600
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:55,000
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.

601
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,000
At least he got to visit the rest of the house.

602
00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:01,000
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes.

603
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:11,000
Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

604
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,000
It winked.

605
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:17,000
Harry stared, then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching.

606
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:23,000
They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

607
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:28,000
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling.

608
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,000
It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly,

609
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:35,000
I get that all the time.

610
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:40,000
I know, Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him.

611
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:43,000
It must be really annoying.

612
00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:45,000
The snake nodded vigorously.

613
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:49,000
Where do you come from, anyway? Harry asked.

614
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:53,000
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass.

615
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,000
Harry peered at it.

616
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,000
Boa constrictor, Brazil.

617
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:00,000
Was it nice there?

618
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:05,000
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again, and Harry read on.

619
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:09,000
This specimen was bred in the zoo.

620
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:12,000
Oh, I see. So you've never been to Brazil.

621
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:21,000
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them junk. Jump.

622
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:27,000
Dudley! Mr. Dursley! Come and look at this snake! You won't believe what it's doing!

623
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:30,000
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.

624
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:34,000
Out of the way, you! he said, punching Harry in the ribs.

625
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:37,000
Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.

626
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:41,000
What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened.

627
00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:45,000
One second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass.

628
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:49,000
The next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

629
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,000
Harry sat up and gasped.

630
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:56,000
The front glass of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.

631
00:45:56,000 --> 00:46:02,000
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor.

632
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:06,000
People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

633
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:12,000
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said,

634
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:17,000
Brazil, here I come. Thanks, amigo.

635
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:20,000
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

636
00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:24,000
But the glass, he kept saying, where did the glass go?

637
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:31,000
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again.

638
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:33,000
Piers and Dudley could only gibber.

639
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:39,000
As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed.

640
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:45,000
But by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg,

641
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:48,000
while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.

642
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:54,000
But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say,

643
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:58,000
Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?

644
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:03,000
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry.

645
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:06,000
He was so angry he could hardly speak.

646
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:12,000
He managed to say, go, cupboard, stay, no meals,

647
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:19,000
before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

648
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,000
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch.

649
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:27,000
He didn't know what time it was, and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet.

650
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:32,000
Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.

651
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:38,000
He had lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember,

652
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:43,000
ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.

653
00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:46,000
He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died.

654
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:50,000
Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard,

655
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:58,000
he came up with a strange vision, a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.

656
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:04,000
This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from.

657
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:07,000
He couldn't remember his parents at all.

658
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:12,000
His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions.

659
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,000
There were no photographs of them in the house.

660
00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:20,000
When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away,

661
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:22,000
but it had never happened.

662
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:25,000
The Dursleys were his only family.

663
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:30,000
Yet sometimes he thought, or maybe hoped, that strangers in the street seemed to know him.

664
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:33,000
Very strange strangers they were, too.

665
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:39,000
A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

666
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:46,000
After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything.

667
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:53,000
A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus.

668
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:59,000
A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day,

669
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:01,000
and then walked away without a word.

670
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:05,000
The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish

671
00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:09,000
the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

672
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:12,000
At school, Harry had no one.

673
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:18,000
Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy cold clothes and broken glasses,

674
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:23,000
and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

675
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:25,000
And that is the end of chapter two.

676
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:32,000
So thank you guys for joining me. You can unmute if you want to.

677
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:35,000
Unmute.