FIVE

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HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
chapter six

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S L I D E S H O W

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"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference."

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Their last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun. True, Dudley is now so scared of the twins he won't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force the two of them to do anything, or shout at them - in fact, they don't speak to them at all.

Half-terrified, half-furious, they act as though any chair with Harry or Lily in it is empty. Although this is an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.

The twins keep to their room, with their new owl for company. Harry has decided to call their snowy owl Hedwig, a name he found in A History of Magic - one of their new books which Lily has read twice but still doesn't understand a thing. It's a lot better name than Fart - which is what Lily had wanted to name the owl. She said it's a special and unique name, but not too dramatic or boring.

She was glad when Harry came up with Hedwig instead.

She is on the bed, their owl in front of her, drawing her in her sketchbook. Her face is scrunched up and her eyes are halfway closed, concentrating on the owl's face. Harry chuckles at her and looks at the pile of books on the bedside table.

Their school books are very interesting. Lily hasn't read them all yet, but she's sure they're very useful. Harry lies on his side of the bed reading late into the night, while Lily snores quite loudly on her side of the bed. Hedwig swoops in and out of the open window as she pleases.

Luckily, Aunt Petunia doesn't come in to vacuum anymore because the owl keeps bringing back dead mice. Every night before they go to sleep, Harry ticks off another day on the piece of paper he's pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.

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On the last day of August Lily decides they better speak to their aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so they go down to the living-room where the two are watching a quiz show on television. Harry clears his throat to let them know they're there, and Dudley screams and runs from the room.

"Er... Uncle Vernon?"

Uncle Vernon grunts to show he's listening.

"Er, we need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to-to go to Hogwarts."

Uncle Vernon grunts again.

"Would it be all right if you gave us a lift?" Lily asks, hoping he'll say yes.

Grunt.

Harry and Lily share a look and suppose that meant yes.

"Thank you," they say at the same time.

They're about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon decides to speak.

"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"

The twins don't say anything.

"Where is this school, anyway?"

"I don't know," Harry says, both twins realising this for the first time, sharing an alarmed look.

He pulls one of the tickets Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.

"We just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he reads.

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