HARRY POTTER- CHAPTER 1 SUMMARY

The Dursley’s are a well-to-do, status-conscious family living in England. Eager to keep up proper appearances, they are embarrassed by Mrs Dursley’s eccentric sister, Mrs Potter, whom for years Mrs Dursley has pretended not to know. On his way to work one ordinary morning, Mr Dursley notices a cat reading a map. He is unsettled, but tells himself that he has only imagined it. Then, as Mr Dursley is waiting in traffic, he notices people dressed in brightly coloured cloaks. Walking past a bakery later that day, he overhears people talking in an excited manner about his sister-in-law’s family, the Potters, and the Potters’ one-year-old son, Harry. Disturbed but still not sure anything is wrong, Mr Dursley decides not to say anything to his wife. On the way home, he bumps into a strangely dressed man who gleefully exclaims that someone named “You-Know-Who” has finally gone and that even a “Muggle” like Mr Dursley should rejoice. Meanwhile, the news is full of unusual reports of shooting stars and owls flying during the day.

That night, as the Dursleys are falling asleep, Albus Dumbledore, a wizard and the head of the Hogwarts wizardry academy, appears on their street. He shuts off all the streetlights and approaches a cat that is soon revealed to be a woman named Professor McGonagall (who also teaches at Hogwarts) in disguise. They discuss the disappearance of You-Know-Who, otherwise known as Voldemort. Dumbledore tells McGonagall that Voldemort killed the Potter parents the previous night and tried to kill their son, Harry, as well, but was unable to. Dumbledore adds that Voldemort’s power apparently began to wane after his failed attempt to kill Harry and that he retreated. Dumbledore adds that the baby Harry can be left on the Dursleys’ doorstep. McGonagall protests that Harry cannot be brought up by the Dursleys. But Dumbledore insists that there is no one else to take care of the child. He says that when Harry is old enough, he will be told of his fate. A giant named Hagrid, who is carrying a bundle of blankets with the baby Harry inside, then falls out of the sky on a motorcycle. Dumbledore takes Harry and places him on the Dursley’s doorstep with an explanatory letter he has written to the Dursleys, and the three part ways.