Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Chapter 3 - The Letters From No One

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Chapter 3

The Letters From No One

Harry receives the worst punishment he has ever received after the escape of the snake. When he is finally allowed out of his little room under the stairs, school is over and the summer holidays have begun.

But Harry is excited for the end of the summer. When school begins in the fall, for the first time in his life, he will be going to a different school than Dudley. Harry will be going to Stonewall High, and Dudley will be going to the same private school Uncle Vernon went to: Smeltings.

One day during the summer, Aunt Petunia goes into London to buy the uniform Dudley must wear at Smeltings. Later that evening, Dudley puts on his brand-new uniform and shows his mother and father. Boys who go to Smeltings must wear a maroon jacket, orange shorts and a straw hat called a boater. They also must carry a stick, like a cane. They use the stick to hit each other in class while the teacher is not looking.

When he sees his son in his new uniform, Uncle Vernon says it is the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia is crying with emotion. Harry has difficulty not laughing out loud!

The next morning when Harry comes into the kitchen, there is a terrible smell! The smell is coming from a large bucket in the sink. It is filled with dirty clothes in gray water. “What is this?” Harry asks Aunt Petunia. She looks at him with an angry look on her face. It is never a good idea to ask questions in the Dursley house!

“It is your new school uniform. I am coloring some of Dudley’s old clothes for you. It will look like your school uniform when I finish.” Harry does not think it will look like anyone’s school uniform. He tries not to think how the other boys will make fun of him when they see him in his new school… “uniform”.

After a moment, Uncle Vernon comes into the kitchen with Dudley, who is banging his new Smelting stick against the table and walls. They both make a face when they smell Harry’s new uniform. Suddenly, they hear the sound of the mailman opening the mail slot in the front door, and then the sound of letters hitting the floor.

“Get the mail, Dudley,” says Uncle Vernon.

“Make Harry get it,” answers Dudley.

“Get the mail, Harry,” says Uncle Vernon.

“Make Dudley get it,” answers Harry.

“Go ahead and hit him with your Smelting stick, Dudley.” Harry jumps out of the way and runs to get the mail.

There are three things on the floor at the door: a postcard from Uncle Vernon’s sister, Marge; a brown envelope that looks like an electricity bill; and - a letter for Harry! Harry picks it up and looks at it. His heart begins to beat very rapidly. No one, ever, in his whole life, has ever written a letter to him. Who would write him a letter? He has no friends. He has no other relatives.

But here it is, a letter. The envelope is thick and heavy. The address is written in bold emerald-green ink. And it is clearly addressed to him:

Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging Surrey

There is no stamp on it. When he turns the envelope over he sees a purple seal made of wax. On the seal there is a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake, all around a large letter “H”.

“Hurry up, Harry! Bring the mail in here!” shouts Uncle Vernon. Harry walks back into the kitchen. He is still fascinated by the letter in his hands.

Harry is about to open his letter when suddenly, “Dad!” yells Dudley. “Dad, Harry’s got a letter!” Uncle Vernon pulls it from his hands. “Hey! That’s mine!” says Harry, trying to get it back.

“Who would be writing a letter to you?” Uncle Vernon says. Then he opens it and looks at it. His face changes color from red to green faster than a traffic light! Soon it turns gray, like the color of asphalt on the street! “P-P-Petunia!” he yells. Aunt Petunia takes the letter and reads the first line. It looks like she will faint.

She has difficulty talking. She coughs and says, “Vernon! Oh, my goodness - Vernon!” They look at each other with scared faces. They completely forget that Harry and Dudley are still in the room. Dudley does not like to be ignored, and he says very loudly, “I want to read that letter!”

“I want to read it!” Harry says furiously. “It is my letter!”

“OUT!” yells Uncle Vernon. “Both of you!” He pushes Harry and Dudley out of the kitchen and closes the door. Harry and Dudley fight to see who has the best position to listen at the door. Harry loses and has to lay on the floor and look under the door. Dudley listens through the keyhole.

“They know he’s here!” says Aunt Petunia. “But how do they know where he lives? ‘Under the stairs’?”

“They might be following us, spying on us,” Uncle Vernon says in a scared voice.

“What should we do, Vernon?” asks Aunt Petunia.

“We must ignore it. If they don’t get an answer… Yes, we won’t do anything…”

Aunt Petunia tries to protest, “But…”

“I will not allow one in my house, Petunia. We promised when Harry came to the house that we would avoid all that dangerous behavior!” The next morning at breakfast, everyone is behaving very strangely. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia both have angry looks on their faces, and they are trying to ignore Harry. Dudley is very angry because he was ignored the day before. And Harry wishes he had opened the letter and read it properly.

The mail arrives again while they are at the table. Dudley goes to pick it up off the floor. “There’s another letter for Harry!” he yells to his parents. “Mr. H. Potter, The tiniest room in the house, 4 Privet Drive…”

Uncle Vernon jumps from his chair and makes a strange sound as he runs to the front door. Harry is running for the door, too! Uncle Vernon fights with Dudley to get the letter from his hands. Harry jumps on Uncle Vernon’s back and puts his arms around his neck and tries to grab the letter, too! Uncle Vernon finally wins and takes the letter from Dudley. “Go to your closet, Harry! I mean…er…to your room!”

Uncle Vernon is scared. Someone powerful knows where Harry lives. He thinks they will continue to send Harry letters. He will not allow that to happen anymore. He has a plan. Harry also has a plan. He wakes up very early the next morning so he can be the first one to receive the mail. His plan is to wait for the mailman outside on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters first.

Harry is walking down the corridor towards the door. It is very dark. The sun has not risen yet. Suddenly, “AAAARRRRGGHHH!” Harry jumps into the air with fright! It is Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon is sleeping on the floor in front of the door, waiting for the mailman, too!! Harry has just stepped on Uncle Vernon’s face. Harry is told to go back to his closet again!

Soon Harry can hear the mail slot opening and closing, and the letters fall into Uncle Vernon’s hands. Harry looks out of his little room and sees there are three letters for him. But Uncle Vernon is tearing them into little pieces. Uncle Vernon does not go to work that day. He is too worried about what is happening.

The next day, he is waiting at the door for the letters. Twelve letters arrive for Harry that day! Uncle Vernon decides he cannot go to work that day, either. After burning the letters, he looks for a hammer and some nails and uses a piece of wood to block the mail slot in the door. He also blocks the front door and back door so no one can come in or leave!

On Saturday, things begin to go crazy. Twenty-four letters manage to enter the house. They are hidden in the eggs and under the milk the milkman delivers that morning. Aunt Petunia has to receive them through a small window in the living room.

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon seems happy and calm. “The mailman does not deliver mail on Sundays,” he says while Harry is preparing eggs in the kitchen. “Finally, no letters today…” Something comes flying rapidly down the kitchen chimney as he is talking. The thing hits Uncle Vernon on the back of the head!

In the next instant, thirty or fourty letters come flying out of the chimney like bullets. Uncle Vernon pushes everyone out of the kitchen and shuts the door behind him. “That’s it!” he says. “We are leaving. Right now. I want all of you back here in five minutes ready to leave. Pack some clothes and let’s go. No arguments!”

They all pile into the car. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia look scared. Dudley is sad because he cannot bring his VCR and video games. They drive and drive and drive. It seems like Uncle Vernon doesn’t know where he is going. And no one has the courage to ask him. They do not stop to eat or drink all day. Dudley was almost crying from hunger.

It is the worst day of his life so far. They sleep in a dark motel at night and eat dry cereal for breakfast. In the motel there is a letter waiting for Harry when they check out. “Excuse me? Is…er… one of you…er…Mr.…H. Potter? This here letter arrived this morning,” the receptionist says to Uncle Vernon, as they are leaving. Written in green ink on the envelope is the address:

Mr. H. Potter, Room 17,
Railview Hotel
Cokeworth

Harry tries to grab the letter, but Uncle Vernon is faster. Soon, they are back in the car and on the road. They drive for hours. No one knows what he is looking for. They drive through forests and fields. Uncle Vernon stops in the middle of a long bridge and looks around. But he obviously does not like what he sees. He gets back into the car and drives away.

“Daddy has gone crazy, hasn’t he?” Dudley asks Aunt Petunia as they stop in a parking garage near the sea. “It’s Monday. I want to watch the new episode of The Great Humberto,” he continues. Monday? thinks Harry. Then he remembers. Tomorrow is his eleventh birthday. His birthdays are never fun, but turning eleven only happens once in your life. Uncle Vernon returns to the car after going into a shop near the parking garage. He is carrying something long and thin in a paper bag.

“Out! Out! Everyone out! I found the perfect place. Let’s go!” he says. Uncle Vernon is pointing into the distance, out into the sea. He is pointing at a little cabin on a rock far into the water. For sure there is no television on that island, thinks Harry. They walk down to the pier and get into a little boat with oars. “All aboard!” yells Uncle Vernon.

It is very cold in the boat. The wind is beginning to blow very hard and it starts to rain. A storm is coming. They row for hours until they reach the rock island.

They climb an old path up to an old, broken-down house. It is horrible inside. It smells like old seaweed and fish. The wind and the rain come through holes in the walls and ceiling. There are only two rooms and Harry has to share a wet and uncomfortable room with Dudley.

As night comes, the storm begins to blow stronger and louder. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia go to sleep in one dirty bed, and Dudley sleeps in the other bed in the other room. Harry has to find the softest place on the hard floor. He has only a dirty old blanket filled with holes to keep him warm.

Harry cannot sleep. He waits excitedly as his birthday comes closer and closer. Just before midnight, he begins to hear strange sounds from outside: something hard hitting a rock, noises that sound like footsteps. Thirty seconds to go…twenty…ten…nine - Harry thinks about waking Dudley up, just to annoy him - three…two…one…

BOOM.

The whole house shakes. Harry sits up in surprise. He looks at the door. There is someone outside. They want to come in.