PS1: The Boy Who Lived

> "*To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!*"
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The Dursleys, of 4 Privet Drive, live a perfectly normal life together until one grey Tuesday in November of 1981. On his way to work that day, Vernon Dursley notices a stern-looking cat watching his house. He also sees people in the streets, dressed in cloaks and whispering about the Potters. After watching the news and learning about sighting of shooting stars and owls, Vernon asks his wife Petunia about her sister Lily Potter. Vernon goes to bed believing that, if the Potters are involved in the strange happenings, it won't affect him. After midnight, Albus Dumbledore arrives and meets Professor McGonagall who has transformed from her cat form. They discuss the events of the past night; Dumbledore confirms that Voldemort murdered James and Lily Potter, but was destroyed when he tried to kill their son, Harry. Hagrid arrives on a flying motorbike with baby Harry. Despite protestations from McGonagall, Dumbledore leaves Harry on the doorstep of the Dursleys, who are Harry's only living relatives.

## Calendar and Dates

The events in this chapter take place on November 1, 1981.

## Interesting Facts and Notes

This chapter presents one of the few passages of the books which are not told from Harry's point of view. Other such passages include GF1, HBP1 and the fight in the stands in PS13.

Some of the most important themes of the books comes out already in this first chapter: prejudice (as seen in the attitudes of Vernon Dursley), death and sacrifice, and acceptance (Dumbledore's statement about Hagrid: "I would trust Hagrid with my life.")

**number four, Privet Drive**

The word "privet" is a kind of shrub, used to create hedges in suburban neighbourhoods. As street names go, it is common, normal, and a bit boring, which no doubt appeals to the Dursleys very much. Hedges made of privet can be used to shield a house from view or to "hedge" someone in, as happens to Harry for the next ten years. In CS1 we learn that the Dursleys' house actually does have a hedge, since Dobby stares at Harry out of it.

The folks living in Privet Drive are referred to as "boring, law-abiding neighbours" (PA2). Aunt Petunia finds things to gossip about anyway, of course, including "Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter," later in this chapter.

***He* didn't seen the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"In Britain there is a superstition that it is unlucky to see an owl by daylight, a superstition I had fun with in the first chapter of *Philosopher's Stone* where, of course, the sudden explosion of owls flying by daylight represented something very lucky indeed, though the Muggles did not know it." (TERF Queen)

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning.**

We are introduced to Vernon Dursley in this chapter, and by this we are also introduced to one of the key concepts of the Harry Potter books: that being boring and pigheaded and foolish and prejudiced is a very bad thing to be. Note these telling descriptions:

* Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work.
* Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor.
* He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime...
* He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.
* Dudley had learned a new word ("Shan't!")
* "You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets." (McGonagall)

It is important to note that the Dursleys, particularly Vernon, are not being criticised simply for being Muggles. They are described as "the worst kind of Muggles" because of their objection to imagination and creativity. Muggles in general are not being denigrated in the Harry Potter books, just those who have prejudiced, boring attitudes, who enjoy yelling at other people, and who think it's just wonderful that their child is a spoiled brat. There are wizards who behave in this way too, and McGonagall would probably describe them as "the worst kind of wizards." In fact, Voldemort is described by Dumbledore as having "consorted with the very worst of our kind." (CS18)

**Reactions in the Wizarding World noticed by Muggles**

"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!"

We learn in a few moments that the fireworks in Kent are probably the work of Dedalus Diggle who "never had much sense," according to McGonagall. Harry meets him in the Leaky Cauldron ten years later (PS5) and remembers having seen him in a shop once. Diggle maybe a bit careless, but he's a valued member of the Order of the Phoenix. During the Second Wizarding War, Diggle removes the Dursley family from Number 4 Privet Drive to a place of safety (DH3). Kent is to the southeast of London, the part of Britain which extends towards France. Yorkshire is to the north, about in the middle of the country, and Dundee is in Scotland.

**... perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks!**

Here's where the actual date gets a bit complicated to figure out.

If November 1 is on a Tuesday, November 5 will be the Saturday of that same week. Jim is a bit addled from all the owls and shooting stars, perhaps. Bonfire Night the evening of November 5, a holiday in Britain remembering the aborted attempt by a fellow named Guy Fawkes to blow up Parliament. It is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks. Fawkes the phoenix got his name from the villain of this story.

**"But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

Bad luck for Harry, who will be sleeping out on the front porch for the next few hours.

**"Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

Dudley's birthday is in June, as we'll see in the next chapter. Harry's birthday is on July 31. On this day, Dudley is about 16 months old and Harry is 14 months old. His parents, incidentally, were in their early twenties when they died, since they were born in 1960. (DH16)

**In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

It is now nearly midnight on November 1. Harry's family was attacked "last night," on October 31, so at this point Harry has been with Hagrid for about twenty-four hours. We are not told where Hagrid went with Harry for all this time. Surely Hagrid hasn't been just flying around Britain for a whole day, waiting to meet Dumbledore at Privet Drive. And what was Dumbledore doing all day? The common assumption among fans is that Dumbledore spent the day preparing things in and around Privet Drive for Harry to be safe there, including stationing Arabella Figg a few streets away. Hagrid, it is reasoned, took Harry to somewhere safe, possibly to Hogwarts, to wait for the signal that all was in readiness.

**But he did seem to realise he was being watched.**

Harry has this ability too. He senses rather than sees people around him. When running away from home and standing forlorn in Magnolia Crescent, "he had sensed rather than heard it: someone or something was standing in the narrow gap between the garage and the fence behind him." (PA2)

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it upon, held it up on the air, and clicked it.**

The Put-Outer is a very interesting device. Its function - interfering with electrical equipment - and its name are atypical of magical devices we encounter later in the series. The Put-Outer appears again in Order of the Phoenix, this time used to put out the street lights in Grimmauld Place. The name of this device was changed for book seven to become the Deluminator. Presumably the references in other books will eventually be changed to match this.

**"I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

If Dumbledore Apparated, how did he pass feasts and parties? Later, in PS16, we discover that Dumbledore "flew off for London." What form of transportation did he use? This same problem comes up with Hagrid's answer to the question of how he got to the Hut on the Rock. It is possible to imagine Dumbledore flying a broom, but Hagrid? It doesn't seem likely.

These questions remained open until *Order of the Phoenix*, in which Hagrid said at one point that he doesn't fly (meaning, on broomsticks): "Well, look at the size o' me, I don' reckon there's a broomstick that'd hold me." (OP2) What he can use, as Dumbledore does when he doesn't want to Apparate, are thestrals (OP21).

**"Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"It's only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

This is an extremely important point. One of the key themes of the books is that it is our choices that make us what we are. Dumbledore explains this to Harry at the end of the second book:

**Harry Potter**: "*It only put me in Gryffindor because I asked not to go in Slytherin...*"
**Albus Dumbledore**: "*Exactly. Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.*"
— CS18

Here we learn that a wizard's powers are not evil by their nature, but are evil because of the choice the wizard makes of how and when to use them. Professor Binns reinforces this concept in CS9 when his class theorises that the reason the Chamber of Secrets hasn't been discovered by Dumbledore is that it requires Dark Magic to do so. Binns explains to his class, "Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't.." (CS9) Making the choice not to use powers or abilities for evil is shown here to be evidence of a noble character. The consequences of making the wrong choice are brought home by Dumbledore in his "Remember Cedric Diggory" speech at the end of GF:

"*Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.*"
— GF22

The clear example of one who made the wrong choice, who went along with evil because it was easy, is Peter Pettigrew.

**Peter Pettigrew**: "*What could I have done? The Dark Lord... you have no idea... he has weapons you can't imagine... I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James and Charlotte. I never meant it to happen... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me... He-he was taking over everywhere! Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?*"
**Sirius Black**: "*What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter!*"
**Peter Pettigrew**: "*You don't understand! He would have killed me, Sirius!*"
**Sirius Black**: "*THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED! DIED RATHER THAN BETREAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!*"
— PA19

When Harry fought the Death Eaters in the Battle of Hogwarts, he uses two of the three Unforgivable Curses, showing that even a good wizard can use Dark Magic when the situation calls for it.

**"He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry..."**

Hermione, when she meets Harry for the first time, informs him that he is in *Modern Magical History* and *The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts* and *Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century*. All Harry can say is a dazed "Am I?" As for a "Harry Potter Day," it's certainly possible (if unlikely, given the long Muggle history of the Halloween tradition) that the reason there's a Halloween Feast every year is to celebrate Harry's defeat of Voldemort.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

This is a particularly intriguing statement. Why does Dumbledore have such faith in Hagrid? Undoubtedly he's a good-hearted soul who wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone, but we see plenty of evidence in the books that he is careless, that he drinks too much, and that he doesn't really understand how dangerous magical creatures can be. Is this the sort of person one trusts one's life to? Apparently so. But it makes one wonder if there is a story behind this unwavering trust. Even as the series ends, we are still not told why Dumbledore has such unswerving faith in Rubeus Hagrid.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day...**

And notice that this point is *not* whether Voldemort is really gone or not (see below).

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow..."**

How interesting that the Potters were living in a house in a Muggle village that happens to bear the name of Godric Gryffindor. We know that Godric's Hollow is a Muggle village because in PA5 we are told that Hogsmeade is the only all-Wizarding village in Britain.

Harry doesn't get the chance to visit Godric's Hollow until Christmas Eve, 1997. He discovers his parents' graves, a Muggle war memorial that transforms into a memorial to his family as he walks by, and the ruined cottage where they had lived. (DH16, 17)

**"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it..."**

*This* was McGonagall's chief concern with the rumours about the events in Godric's Hollow. Professor McGonagall's gut reaction, unlike that of most people in the wizarding world, is grief at the Potters' untimely death rather than joy at Voldemort's downfall.

In later years, Harry will learn the different between people who care about him as a person and people who are only impressed by his fame. McGonagall is being established as someone in the first category.

**a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them**

This flying motorcycle belongs to Sirius Black, according to Hagrid. But how does a normal-sized man ride a motorcycle which is huge enough to be ridden by Hagrid? It is likely we're seeing an example of a magical effect in which things expand to fit the need. The flying motorcycle also raises the question of why it's okay to fly a motorcycle but not a car. In CS6, Arthur Weasley gets into considerable trouble for enchanting a Ford Anglia to be able to fly.

**Young Sirius Black lent it to me.**

What an innocent statement this seemed the first time we read this book. With the release of the third book, questions about what Sirius was doing in Godric's Hollow, why he gave away his motorcycle, and where he headed next become of prime importance. According to PA10, it was "the next day" when Sirius confronted Pettigrew and was falsely accused of murder. It is unclear if that means November 1, the precise next day after the attack on the Potters, or November 2, the next day after the wizarding world celebrated Voldemort's defeat.

Sirius Black, according to Hagrid in PA10, begged to be given the child, since he was now Harry's legal guardian. Hagrid refused, obeying Dumbledore's command. That's when Sirius offered Hagrid the use of his flying motorcycle. All this happened shortly after the Potters were killed. Hagrid says that he rescued the one-year-old boy from the rubble of the house before the Muggles started swarming all over the place.

**"He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

Dumbledore, as we and Harry are to learn much later in OP37, realises the significance of the mark Voldemort has left on Harry, and its relationship to Trelawney's first prediction. The implications of this exchange with McGonagall, however, suggest strongly that she at this point either is unaware of the prediction or has not been made aware of the details. As we are to learn in Harry's third year, McGonagall has very little patience with Divination, so even if she had known of the prophecy she might have scoffed, but I would expect the exchange here to have played out with a different subtext of hints if she'd been aware of the prophecy at all.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen.**

We end the chapter with a view of Privet Drive and its hedges, this time clearly symbolising the orderliness and even monotony of suburban Muggle life, the life which Harry will wake up to.

## Exceptional Character Moments

Dumbledore comes across here as at once very powerful and very humble. His comment about the earmuffs is similar to his comment in PS12 about socks. We also discover his fondness for Muggle sweets.

McGonagall's reaction to the events in Godric's Hollow is that of a grief stricken friend learning of Lily and James' deaths - the reaction of someone who really cares about the Potters, including Harry.

Burly Hagrid, "twice as tall as an ordinary man," snuffles into his handkerchief and howls in despair as he must say goodbye to Harry.

## Memorable Lines

> "*Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.*"
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> "*When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.*"
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> "*Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know-Who - oh, all right, Voldemort - was frightened of.*"
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> "*He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!'*"
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