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The Boy Who Lived is the first chapter from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (edited to ...and the Sorcerer's Stone by US publishers Scholastic), the first book in the seven part series by J.K Rowling, published by Bloomsbury. An extract from the beginning of the first chapter is shown below:

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.

Chapter Outline
We meet the Dursleys, Harry Potter's Aunt and her family who had to adopt him when his parents were killed. Harry Potter has an infamous scar he recieved from Voldemort on the night his parents were killed. The first chapter introduces McGonagall as a cat, Dumbledore and Hagrid who are staff as Harry's future wizarding school. The first impression that we get of something happening through Vernon Dursley's perspective as well as the muggle news. McGonagall and Dumbledore discuss Harry's past and future, specifically the fact that a baby has survived an attempted murder, and caused an evil wizard to vanish. It transpires that as a cat, McGonagall has been watching Harry's future guardians who "couldn't be more muggle" The extract above offers a sense of foreboding for both the rest of the chapter and indeed the entire saga. Establishing characters that depict a sense of normality and abnormality, within their descriptions and attitudes creates a sense of opposites, with the idea that the two extremes will collide. Through referencing Harry within the passage specifically- “the Potters had a small son” from the perspective of the Dursleys in an offhand manner, we are introduced to the protagonist of the series, but in a negative way, with the only description being “a child like that”. By implying that Harry is not normal, as readers we are notified of the fact that there is an interesting background to both the character and the Dursley's.

The choice of words to describe this family offer alternative implications as to their character. The emphasis on the concept of normality, and the idea that “there was no finer boy anyway” create a sense of doubt given that expressing such an opinion within fiction usually implies that the opposite is true. The sense of hyperbole within the phrase, alongside their descriptions suggests a degree of exaggeration that is likely to be a part of the novel, as well as the idea that despite wanting to be normal, normality is not possible.

The Dursleys
"Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were completely normal". However, to think of yourself as normal just invites chaos, chaos in the shape of the Potter's who "were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be". The family, Harry's only living relatives comprise of Vernon "a big beefy man with hardly any neck", his mothers sister Petunia "thin and blonde and had twice the usual amount of neck" and their son Dudley. The whole family is portrayed as slighty disgusting and not particularly friendly. In the first description that we get of Mr and Mrs Dursley, as shown above, both are described be their necks. This brings to mind the idea of the pair being portrayed as animals; Mr Dursley reminds us of something lazy and fat, such as a hippopotamus, whilst Mrs Dursley's long neck can be compared to a giraffe. This comparison to animals could deduce further connotations, such as a lack of intelligence, and a simple way of seeing things. This is then portrayed as Rowling goes on to tell us about the Durley's belief that their child is the best there is, and their stubborn establishment that they "didn't hold with such nonsense" demonstrates their narrow-mindedness.

The Potters
As the introductory paragraph of the novel is introducing the Dursleys, we do not have much mention of the Potters. Despite this, we can use what we are told about the Dursleys to unfold more information about the Potters. By positioning the Dursleys as “perfectly normal” and as having everything they wanted, the Potters immediately become a contrast to them. The later remark that Mrs Dursley’s sister and her husband were “unDursleyish” puts confirmation to this. Whatever the Durlseys are, the Potters are the opposite. The fact that the disowned sister of Mrs. Dursley has a secret that the whole of the Dursley family has to retain (in fact, they “didn’t think they could bear it if anyone found out”) tells us that there is something different about them, as a family. Something that goes beyond making them unDursleyish. The Potters are wizards. After comparing the families together, the two young sons of both sides of the family, Dudley and Harry are compared with each other to confirm that the Potters are different, strange and mysterious (strangeness and mystery being two things the Dursleys apparently don’t deal with). By the Dursleys saying they don’t want their son “mixing with a child like that” we are alerted to something being wrong with the family. In hindsight upon completing the book we realise there is nothing wrong with the Potters, but that there is something different, strange and mysterious about them; they are wizards.