Harry Potter 02 - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

round glasses, and on his forehead was a thin, lightning-shaped scar.
    It was this scar that made Harry so particularly unusual, even for a wizard. This scar was the only hint of Harry’s very mysterious past, of the reason he had been left on the Dursleys’ doorstep eleven years before.
    At the age of one, Harry had somehow survived a curse from the greatest dark sorcerer of all time, Lord Voldemort, whose name most witches and wizards still feared to speak. Harry’s parents had died in Voldemort’s attack, but Harry had escaped with his lightning scar, and somehow – nobody understood why – Voldemort’s powers had been destroyed the instant he had failed to kill Harry.
    So Harry had been brought up by his dead mother’s sister and her husband. He had spent ten years with the Dursleys, never understanding why he kept making odd things happen without meaning to, believing the Dursleys’ story that he had got his scar in the car crash which had killed his parents.
    And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to Harry, and the whole story had come out. Harry had taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his scar were famous … but now the school year was over, and he was back with the Dursleys for the summer, back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly.
    The Dursleys hadn’t even remembered that today happened to be Harry’s twelfth birthday. Of course, his hopes hadn’t been high; they’d never given him a proper present, let alone a cake – but to ignore it completely …
    At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said, ‘Now, as we all know, today is a very important day.’
    Harry looked up, hardly daring to believe it.
    ‘This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career,’ said Uncle Vernon.
    Harry went back to his toast. Of course, he thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid dinner party. He’d been talking of nothing else for a fortnight. Some rich builder and his wife were coming to dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge order from him (Uncle Vernon’s company made drills).
    ‘I think we should run through the schedule one more time,’ said Uncle Vernon. ‘We should all be in position at eight o’clock. Petunia, you will be –?’
    ‘In the lounge,’ said Aunt Petunia promptly, ‘waiting to welcome them graciously to our home.’
    ‘Good, good. And Dudley?’
    ‘I’ll be waiting to open the door.’ Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile. ‘May I take your coats, Mr and Mrs Mason?’
    ‘They’ll love him!’ cried Aunt Petunia rapturously.
    ‘Excellent, Dudley,’ said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Harry. ‘And you? ’
    ‘I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,’ said Harry tonelessly.
    ‘Exactly,’ said Uncle Vernon nastily. ‘I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight fifteen –’
    ‘I’ll announce dinner,’ said Aunt Petunia.
    ‘And Dudley, you’ll say –’
    ‘May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs Mason?’ said Dudley, offering his fat arm to an invisible woman.
    ‘My perfect little gentleman!’ sniffed Aunt Petunia.
    ‘And you? ’ said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry.
    ‘I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,’ said Harry dully.
    ‘Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?’
    ‘Vernon tells me you’re a wonderful golfer, Mr Mason … Do tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs Mason …’
    ‘Perfect … Dudley?’
    ‘How about: “We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr Mason, and I wrote about you. ”’
    This was too much for both Aunt Petunia and Harry. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn’t see him laughing.
    ‘And you, boy?’
    Harry fought to keep his face straight as he emerged.
    ‘I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,’ he said.
    ‘Too right you will,’ said Uncle Vernon forcefully. ‘The Masons don’t know anything about you and it’s going to stay that way. When dinner’s over, you take Mrs Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia, and I’ll bring the subject round to drills. With any luck, I’ll have the deal signed and sealed before the News at Ten. We’ll be shopping for a holiday home in Majorca this time tomorrow.’
    Harry