Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone By J. K. Rowling chapter one the Boy Who Lived

 
 

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CHAPTER TWO 
 
 
The Vanishing Glass
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. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and 
lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys’ front door; 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. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much 
time had passed. 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, and 
now the photographs showed a large blond 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. The room held 
no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. 
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. 
“Up! Get up! Now!” 
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. 
“Up!” she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the 
frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he 
had been having. 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. 
His aunt was back outside the door. 
“Are you up yet?” she demanded. 
“Nearly,” said Harry. 
“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 Duddy’s birthday.” 
Harry groaned. 
“What did you say?” his aunt snapped through the door. 
“Nothing, nothing…” 
Dudley’s birthday — how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started 
looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put 
them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and 

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that was where he slept. 
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. 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. 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. Dudley’s favorite punching bag was Harry, but he 
couldn’t often catch him. Harry didn’t look it, but he was very fast. 
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small 
and skinny for his age. 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. 
Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses 
held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the 
nose. 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. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first 
question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it. 
“In the car crash when your parents died,” she had said. “And don’t ask questions.”