J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 1
- CHAPTER ONE -
Dudley Demented
The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the
large, square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their
drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing -for the use of
hosepipes had been banned due to drought. Deprived of their usual car-washing and lawnmowing
pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet Drive had retreated into the shade of their cool
houses, windows thrown wide in the hope of tempting in a nonexistent breeze. The only
person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flowerbed outside
number four.
He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy
look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time. His jeans were torn and dirty,
his T-shirt baggy and faded, and the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers.
Harry Potter's appearance did not endear him to the neighbours, who were the sort of people
who thought scruffi-ness ought to be punishable by law, but as he had hidden himself behind
a large hydrangea bush this evening he was quite invisible to passers-by. In fact, the only way
he would be spotted was if his Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia stuck their heads out of the
living-room window and looked straight down into the flowerbed below.
On the whole, Harry thought he was to be congratulated on his idea of hiding here. He was
not, perhaps, very comfortable lying on the hot, hard earth but, on the other hand, nobody
was glaring at him, grinding their teeth so loudly that he could not hear the news, or shooting
nasty questions at him, as had happened every time he had tried sitting down in the living
room to watch television with his aunt and uncle.
Almost as though this thought had fluttered through the open window, Vernon Dursley,
Harry's uncle, suddenly spoke.
'Glad to see the boy's stopped trying to butt in. Where is he, anyway?'
'I don't know,' said Aunt Petunia, unconcerned. 'Not in the house.'
Uncle Vernon grunted.
'Watching the news ...' he said scathingly. 'I'd like to know what he's really up to. As if a
normal boy cares what's on the news -Dudley hasn't got a clue what's going on; doubt he
knows who the Prime Minister is! Anyway, it's not as if there'd be anything about his lot on
our news - '
file:///D|/Dokumente%20und%20Einstellungen/Administr...Potter%20and%20the%20Order%20of%20the%20Phoenix.html (1 of 727)22.06.2003 14:00:24
J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 1
'Vernon, shh!' said Aunt Petunia. The window's open!'
'Oh - yes - sorry, dear.'
The Dursleys fell silent. Harry listened to a jingle about Fruit 'n' Bran breakfast cereal while he
watched Mrs Figg, a batty cat-loving old lady from nearby Wisteria Walk, amble slowly past.
She was frowning and muttering to herself....

Show full text: 1,666,270 characters