As this first chapter is setting the stage, and introducing a lot of new information, I have a lot of thoughts going into this. Most chapters of this book likely won't be so long, but this one is just full of interesting information I feel compelled to write about.

First and foremost, to those who don't know, as well as sounding like "private", a privet is another word for a hedge, hence explaining the name "Privet Drive".

The first chapter of this book is written largely from the point of view of Vernon Dursley, Harry Potter's frankly abusive uncle. This strikes me as an interesting narrative choice for two reasons. Firstly, this is one of the few chapters (although there are a couple of others, also generally at the start of a book) that is not from Harry's point of view. The second reason is that arguably, Vernon is the least important of the Dursleys, at least from a plot perspective. Petunia is the most important of the Dursleys' for her blood relation to Harry via his mother, as well as her slight connection to Severus Snape. Her evil comes from jealousy and the pain of her past. Then, we see Dudley act as an opposite, or foil, of Harry in these first few chapters, as well as grow as a character over the series (as demonstrated in the infamous "You're not a waste of space" line in Deathly Hallows, DH for short). He represents an evil that is made through upbringing, very clearly a product of his parents. I cannot think of any other purpose of Vernon, other than to show a sort of mundane evil that exists for no reason but malice. The best I could come up with is that a lot of his behaviour is a reaction to his fear of what he doesn't understand, namely magic, but also whatever he considers "weird".

The next thing I noticed was how magical occurences are described. If you pay close attention, you'll see that magic is often posited as something "strange", "peculiar" or "odd", especially in the first few chapters, no doubt because these chapters feature the most Muggles, and this chapter in particular is told from a Muggle lens. Unlike science, magic is imprecise, quirky, and full of things even wizards don't quite understand (although if you learn enough, Muggle science feels the same). I did find it a little bit odd that people noticed the large amount of owls flying around, but no one noticed them carrying post. I also noticed that two colours, in this chapter and beyond, are often associated with the wizarding world, through cloaks, clothing, ink, etc.: emerald-green, and purple. 

As you get a little further into the chapter, the word "Muggle" is first used. Curious, I set out to work out what the origin of this word was. In short, it comes from the UK English term "mug", specifically when used to refer to a person who is easily fooled. As a UK resident myself, I more often hear the word used to describe an ugly face, although I suppose both meanings of the word are derogatory, regardless. 

The weather broadcast had two details which interested me. First, it is presented by a man called "Jim McGuffin". Perhaps this is a clever joke by the narrator: a McGuffin is a plot device that moves the story somehow, but on its own is very unimportant and inconsequential. Next, he announces that there has been an unexpected "downpour of shooting stars" instead of rain, a charm we later find out was likely cast by Dedalus Diggle. I could find no record of a charm that creates shooting stars, from rain or otherwise. Perhaps more research is needed into this area of magic.

As will later become extremely important in Prisoner of Azkaban (PoA for short), we are introduced to the concept of animagi through McGonagall, although we have no idea what they are called, nor how rare of a skill this is. She is described as having the spectacle-shaped markings around her eyes as a cat, inplying animagi retain a key trait carried over from their human form. This raises an interesting question for me: what were the Marauders' (sans Lupin) distinctive markings? Of course, we know that post 1981, Pettigrew was missing a toe/finger, both as a human and rat, but what about before that. As far as I remember, Sirius Black and James Potter also don't have these distinctive markings in their animal forms, at least not described. Of course, I'll keep an eye out for this once I get to PoA.

After this, my next question was pertaining to Dumbledore. He both apparates into Privet Drive, and then disapparates out of it, neither action described to have the signature "cracking" sound that apparition is so famously known to have. Perhaps the narrator simply thought it was too obvious to mention at this moment, or didn't consider it important.

I will be keeping an eye out, especially when I get to DH, as to why the Deluminator (or Put-Outer, as it is called here and in Order of the Phoenix/OoTP) is considered such an important artefact, since all I can remember it doing is having a similar effect to the Wand-Lighting Charm and Wand-Extinguishing Charm, though not to a wand. This seems like something that would be eaily accomplished throuhg spellwork, so why is the object necessary?

Then I was intrigued by another magical artefact: Dumbldore's golden pocketwatch, which has twelve hands, and "little planets (...) moving around the edge", instead of a normal clockface. How would one read the time with this? I am extremely curious to know more about this, but could not find much. More research will be needed. 

As a French-speaker, I wanted to interject here to share something, as the name "Voldemort" is first introduced here. As many know, Voldemort means "flight from death", but did you know that "vol" can also mean a theft? Here's a breakdown  of the components:

• Vol = Flight OR Theft


• de = of OR from


• mort = Death

Combine any of these and you come out with a whole range of potential meanings. A dastardly, but also cleverly formulated, psuedonym. 

To close off, as a huge Marauders fan, if it wasn't already clear from my animagus rambling, I was delighted to see such an early mention of Sirius Black, and the enchanted flying motorbike he lent to Hagrid. It does beg the question as to whether this falls under Misuse of a Muggle Artefact, like the flying car in Chamber of Secrets (CoS). I also wondered to myself if Sirius yet knew of Pettigrew's betrayal, as this is certainly before the incident in the street resulting in the death of 12 Muggles, seeing as Sirius Black hasn't been imprisoned yet.

In summary:

• Meaning of Privet Drive


• Vernon's POV


• Magic is "strange"


• Meaning of "Muggle"


• An interesting weather broadcast


• Animagi markings


• Apparition noises (or lack thereof)


• The Put-Outer and the golden planetary pocketwatch


• Meaning of Voldemort


• Sirius Black and his motorbike

Additional notes (13/10/24)

Today I started re-listening to one of my favourite podcasts, "Through the Griffin Door", and I listened to the episode on this chapter. I have two additional points I would like to share that stood out to me. 

The Philosopher's Stone can turn any metal into gold. We often see the colour gold associated with Hogwarts and magic (which I will write more about as we get through further through the series), and Harry himself (the seeker of the Golden Snitch, golden light from his wand, etc.). Now, according to old manuscripts, the Philosopher's Stone is comprised of three "orbs" or materials (though it's debated to be four, but let's stick with the three, for now). These are: black, red and white. Who are the first three people Harry encounters after Voldemort's attack on Godric's Hollow? Sirius Black, Rubeus Hagrid, and Albus Dumbledore. These three men, other than all being pseudo-father figures for Harry, are related to these colours. Sirius Black is obvious, Rubeus means "red", and "Albus" means white in Latin. Maybe it's all coincidence, or some sort of magical fate, but I found it fascinating that things unfolded like this. 

The second thing I wanted to note was the word "lived" in "The Boy Who Lived". It is one letter off from being "The Boy Who Loved". As we all know, Harry's ability to love is what sets him apart from Voldemort, and eventually lets him defeat the Dark Lord. What a wonderful feat of language!