She was looking at Harry as she had never looked at him before. And all of a sudden, for
the very first time in his life, Harry fully appreciated that Aunt Petunia was his mother's
sister. He could not have said why this hit him so very powerfully at this moment. All he
knew was that he was not the only person in the room who had an inkling of what Lord
Voldemort being back might mean. Aunt Petunia had never in her life looked at him like
that before. Her large, pale eyes (so unlike her sister's) were not narrowed in dislike or
anger, they were wide and fearful. The furious pretence that Aunt Petunia had maintained
all Harry's life - that there was no magic and no world other than the world she inhabited
with Uncle Vernon - seemed to have fallen away.
'Yes,' Harry said, talking directly to Aunt Petunia now. 'He came back a month ago. I saw
him.'
Her hands found Dudley's massive leather-clad shoulders and clutched them.
'Hang on,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his wife to Harry and back again, apparently
dazed and confused by the unprece-dented understanding that seemed to have sprung up
between them. 'Hang on. This Lord Voldything's back, you say.'
'Yes.'
The one who murdered your parents.'
'Yes.'
'And now he's sending Dismembers after you?'
'Looks like it,' said Harry.
'I see,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his white-faced wife to Harry and hitching up his
trousers. He seemed to be swelling, his great purple face stretching before Harry's eyes.
'Well, that settles it,' he said, his shirt front straining as he inflated himself, 'you can get
out of this house, boy!'
'What?' said Harry.
'You heard me - OUT!' Uncle Vernon bellowed, and even Aunt Petunia and Dudley
jumped. 'OUT! OUT! I should've done this years ago! Owls treating the place like a rest
home, puddings exploding, half the lounge destroyed, Dudley's tail, Marge bobbing
around on the ceiling and that flying Ford Anglia - OUT! OUT! You've had it! You're
history! You're not staying here if some loony's after you, you're not endangering my
wife and son, you're not bringing trouble down on us. If you're going the same way as
your useless parents, I've had it! OUT!'
Harry stood rooted to the spot. The letters from the Ministry, Mr Weasley and Sirius were
all crushed in his left hand. Don't leave the house again, whatever you do. DO NOT
LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE'S HOUSE.
'You heard me!' said Uncle Vernon, bending forwards now, his massive purple face
coming so close to Harry's, he actually felt flecks of spit hit his face. 'Get going! You
were all keen to leave half an hour ago! I'm right behind you! Get out and never darken
our doorstep again! Why we ever kept you in the first place, I don't know, Marge was
right, it should have been the orphanage. We were too damn soft for our own good,
thought we could squash it out of you, thought we could turn you normal, but you've
been rotten from the beginning and I've had enough - owls!'
The fifth owl zoomed down the chimney so fast it actually hit the floor before zooming