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”well, ted,” said the weatherman, ”i dont know about that, but

its not ohat have been ag oddly today. viewers

as far apart as kent, yorkshire, and dundee have been phoning in to

tell me that ihe rain i promised yesterday, theyve had

a downpour of shooting stars! perhaps people have beeing

bht early -- its not u week, folks! but i

promise a wet night tonight.”

mr. dursley sat frozen in his armchair. shooting stars all over

britain? owls flying by daylight? mysterious people in cloaks all

over the plad a er about the potters...

mrs. dursley to the living r two cups of

tea. it was no good. hed have to say something to her. he cleared

his throat nervously. ”er -- petunia, dear -- you havent heard

from your sister lately, have you?”

as he had expected, mrs. dursley looked shod angry. after

all, they normally pretended she didnt have a sister.

”no,” she said sharply. ”why?”

”funny stuff on the news,” mr. dursley mumbled. ”owls... shooting

stars... and there were a lot of funny-lookiown

today...”

”so?” snapped mrs. dursley.

”well, i just thought... maybe... it was something to do

with... you know... her crowd.”

mrs. dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. mr. dursley

woher he dared tell her hed heard the er.” he

decided he didnt dare. instead he said, as casually as he could,

”their son -- hed be about dudleys age now, wouldnt he?”

”i suppose so,” said mrs. dursley stiffly.

”whats his name again? howard, isnt it?”

”harry. nasty, e, if you ask me.”

”oh, yes,” said mr. dursley, his heart sinking horribly. ”yes,

i quite agree.”

he didnt say another word o as they went upstairs

to bed. while mrs. dursley was ihroom, mr. dursley crept

to the bedroom eered dow garden. the

cat was still there. it was staring dow drive as though it

were waiting for something.

was he imagining things? could all this have anything to do with

the potters? if it did... if it got out that they were related to

a pair of -- well, he didnt think he could bear it.

the dursleys got into bed. mrs. dursley fell asleep quickly

but mr. dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. his

last, f thought before he fell asleep was that even if the

potters were ihere was no reasoo e near him

and mrs. dursley. the potters knehat he aunia

thought about them and their kind.... he t see how he and

petunia ixed up in anything that might be going on --

he yawur t affect them....

h he was.

mr. dursley might have been drifting into an u

the the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepi was

sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far

er of privet drive. it didnt so much as quiver when a car door

slammed o, ooped overhead. in

fact, it was nearly midhe cat moved at all.

a mahe er the cat had been watg, appeared

so suddenly aly youd have thought hed just popped out

of the grous tail twitd its eyes narrowed.

nothihis man had ever been see drive. he

was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair

and beard, which were both loo tuto his belt. he

was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground,

and high-heeled, buckled boots. his blue eyes were light, bright,

and sparkling behind half-mooad his nose was very

long ahough it had bee least twice. this

mans name was albus dumbledore.

albus dumbledore dido realize that he had just

arrived i where everything from his o his boots

was unwele. he was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for

something. but he did seem to realize he was being watched, because

he looked up sudde, which was still staring at him from

the other end of th