Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling Summary of Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived

The story begins with the introduction of the Dursley family, who lived in house number four, in Privet Drive. Mr. Vernon Dursley, the director of a firm named Grunning his wife Petunia, a homemaker, and their pampered and spoiled son Dudley lived a perfectly normal life. Mr. Dursley had a huge stature with a large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was a thin blonde woman with a long neck. Apparently, there was nothing unusual with the family. Especially, Petunia always tried to portray her family as the perfect one. She always tries to find out what is happening in her neighbour’s home. But, Petunia Dursley kept a secret. She had a sister, Lily potter, who was a wizard. She was married to James Potter, who was also a wizard and they had a son, named Harry.

 On a dull , and grey morning, when apparently everything seemed normal, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase and got into his car. The first mysterious sign was a cat, who seemed to be reading a map .As he was stuck in the traffic jam, he noticed some oddly dressed people roaming on the street. Some of them were old, but they were wearing an emerald green cloak. He didn’t notice that owls were swooping in the sky in broad daylight. During lunchtime, when he was heading towards the bakery to buy a bun, he encountered the group of strangely dressed men again. He thought he heard them whispering excitedly and uttering the name of Harry. But he ignored it and thought that he might have not heard it right. At five o’clock when he stepped outside the building, a tiny man stumbled on him and almost fell. The man smiled peculiarly and said that nothing can upset him today because you know who is gone and even muggles should celebrate the day. When he arrived home, he noticed the same cat, he saw in the morning, sitting on the garden wall .He tried to scare it away but the cat gave him a stern look.

Mrs. Dursley had a normal day. Mr. Dursley tried to act normally, but when he watched the evening news, it shocked him. The reports said that, there were hundreds of owl sightings today and there was a downpour of shooting stars. Mr. Dursley conversed with Mrs. Dursley about the Potters as he was really concerned after watching the news. Finally, they dismissed the idea and tried to resume their normal life schedule. A moment later, a tall, thin old man, with silver hair and beard appeared. His name was Albus Dumbledore. The cat transformed into a severe looking woman wearing square glasses. Dumbledore addressed him as Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore reveals that they are safe from Voldemort or you know who, the evil wizard. He also informed that how Lily and James were killed by Voldemort, but the child survived. They were there to leave Harry to his only family left, his uncle and aunt. Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Hogwarts was entrusted with the duty of bringing the baby there. Soon, Hagrid came riding his huge motorcycle. He was himself huge and covered with bushy hair and beard. They observe the scar on the forehead of Harry. It was shaped like a bolt of lightening .With a heavy heart, they left the boy at the doorstep of the Dursley house.

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