C H A P T E R S I X
THE JOURNEY FROM
PLATFORM NINE
AND THREE-QUARTERS
H
arry’s last month with the Dursleys wasn’t fun. True,
Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn’t stay in
the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn’t shut
Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything, or shout at
him — in fact, they didn’t speak to him at all. Half terrified, half
furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it were
empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did be-
come a bit depressing after a while.
Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had
decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of
Magic. His school books were very interesting. He lay on his bed
reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the
open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn’t
come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back
dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off
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