Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Summary of Chapter 2, The Vanishing Glass.

 

After a gap of ten years, the author starts the story of Harry Potter. He is eleven years old now. The memory of that night when Petunia Dursley found Harry at the doorstep of their house still haunted her. Dudley was grown into a ‘large blond boy’. There was no sign to prove Harry’s existence in the house. Harry used to do chores with his aunt. In the morning, Petunia would wake him up with her shrill voice. Harry would try to remember what he was dreaming about. Most of the time, he would dream about a flying motorcycle. His aunt used to use Harry as a helping hand during breakfast. The day was Dudley’s birthday and Petunia wanted to make sure that everything goes perfectly. Harry lived in a cupboard under the stairs which was full of spiders. He was kind of used to it.  Dudley was a pampered child, whose every demand was fulfilled by his parents, as any refusal could lead him to the display of severe tantrums. He was fat and hated exercise. He even used to abuse Harry physically, as the author referred to the incident as ‘Dudley’s favorite punching bag was Harry’. Maybe because living in the dark cupboard for a long time or because he used to wear Dudley’s old clothes, Harry looked small and skinny compared to the other boys of his age. The author describes him as a boy with-“a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright green eyes.’ His glasses are held together with a piece of tape, as Dudley used to punch him in his nose all the time. But, he liked the scar shaped like the bolt of lightning in his forehead. Whenever Harry asked Petunia about his parents, she said that they died in a car accident. Any question on that topic is always avoided by the Dursleys. Like any other day, Harry was frying eggs in the kitchen, when Dudley came to count his birthday presents. It made him furious to when he realized that he got thirty six presents, two less than last year. Meanwhile, Petunia received a phone call from Mrs. Figg, the old lady who was supposed to look after Harry, when they were out to celebrate Dudley’s Birthday party. She was unable to come because her leg was broken, which means they had to take Harry with them. If they left Harry behind, it was possible that he would blow up the entire house, because they knew that strange things happen when he was around. Once, Petunia cut his hair, making him almost bald. To her surprise, the next morning, she found that his hair had grown exactly as before. On another occasion, she tried to force Harry to wear an old ridiculous sweater of Dudley, but the harder she tried, the smaller it seemed to become. At school, everyone hated him. One day, when Dudley and his gang chased Harry to bully him, they found him on the top of the Kitchen chimney. But now, at there was a golden opportunity right in front of Harry to visit the zoo, as they never took him outside. It is a regular Saturday, at the zoo, crowded with the families as usual. Harry was having a really good time. After Lunch they went the reptile house. Dudley went to see ‘the thick man crushing’ pythons, but it was fast asleep. Even his father, Vernon, could not make it move after several attempts. When Harry looked at the snake he realized that both of them are living a confined life in a way. Suddenly the snake rose, looked at Harry, and winked. Quite surprisingly, they started to converse. Seeing the snake awake, Dudley rushed there to take a look, punching Harry in his ribs. To his astonishment, Dudley fell right inside the tank as the glass had magically disappeared. Finally, the boa was released. It thanked Harry and escaped. Everyone was in shock. As usual, Harry was punished by them as they thought that he was somehow responsible for the incident. They locked him in the cupboard and provided no food.