HARRY POTTER Book 4: Chapter 4
Chapter 4
BACK TO THE BURROW
By midday, Harry’s trunk is ready. He packs all his most important things: the Invisibility Cloak from his father, the broomstick from Sirius, and the Mischief Maker’s Map from Fred and George Weasley. He also empties the box under his floorboard of all the hidden food.
He checks every corner of his room for forgotten spellbooks or quill pens, and he takes down the paper calendar that counts the days until he goes back to Hogwarts. The house feels tense. The Dursleys know that a group of wizards will arrive soon, and that thought makes them stiff and nervous.
Uncle Vernon glares at Harry when he says the Weasleys will come at five o’clock. “I hope you told them to dress properly,” he growls. “I’ve seen the kind of clothes you… people wear.” Harry says nothing. He remembers that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley never wear what Muggles call normal clothes. Still, he doesn’t care what the neighbors think. He is only worried that the Dursleys might be rude.
Uncle Vernon wears his best suit. Most people think that wearing a suit is a sign of respect. But Harry knows that Uncle Vernon wants to look important and scary. Dudley looks smaller somehow. Not from the diet, but from fear. The last time he met a grown wizard, he was traumatized. Hagrid blasted Dudley with his wand and gave him a curly pig’s tail. His parents had to pay to remove it at a private hospital.
Since then, Dudley keeps one hand over his backside at all times. Lunch is almost silent. The Dursleys eat cottage cheese and grated celery. Aunt Petunia doesn’t even touch her plate. Her mouth is thin and angry. “They’ll be driving, of course?” Uncle Vernon barks. Harry hesitates. He hadn’t thought of that. The Weasleys don’t own a car anymore. They used to own a blue Ford. But that car lives in the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts now. Perhaps Mr. Weasley will borrow one from the Ministry of Magic again.
“I think so,” says Harry. Uncle Vernon snorts. He usually judges people by the size of their car, but Harry does not think any car would impress his Uncle if it carried wizards. Harry spends the afternoon upstairs. He can’t bear watching Aunt Petunia look through the curtains every few seconds. Finally, at a quarter to five, he goes down to the living room.
Aunt Petunia keeps organizing the living room. She straightens cushions on the sofa over and over again. Uncle Vernon hides behind his newspaper, pretending to read. Dudley sits in an armchair, his hands covering his backside.
Harry can’t stand the waiting. He goes to sit on the stairs and he watches his watch nervously. Five o’clock comes and goes. Uncle Vernon is sweating in his suit. He opens the front door and looks up and down the street. “They’re late!” he says angrily. “Maybe the traffic’s bad,” says Harry. Ten past five. A quarter past five. Half past five.
The Dursleys begin to whisper angrily. “No consideration.” “We could have made other plans.” “Maybe they want to stay for dinner.” “They most certainly won’t get any,” Uncle Vernon says loudly, walking back and forth in the living room, nervously. Then suddenly, there’s a huge BANG!!
Harry jumps. Dudley screams and runs into the hall. Aunt Petunia backs into the wall, shaking.
“What is it, Vernon?” she says with terror. Loud noises come from behind the Dursleys’ fireplace. There is the sound of banging. Uncle Vernon blocked the fireplace some time ago. He installed an electric wood fire in front of it. Voices echo from inside the chimney:
