RebeccaHarry is home from Hogwarts for the summer, and he is miserable. The Dursley’s have kept Harry close to the house and will not allow him any access to any of his items from school, and his owl is not allowed out of her cage. None of his friends have written either, so Harry is beginning to wonder if they are truly his friends at all. When the night of the dinner party at the Dursley’s, Harry is told to keep to his room and not make any noise. He has to pretend that he does not exist. According to the Dursley’s, Harry does not fit into their “perfect” family dynamic. Harry is something of a anomaly in the household, he is the only one that can do magic!
As the dinner party begins, Harry finds a house elf in his room. Dobby has come to warn Harry not to return to Hogwarts for the upcoming school year. Harry refuses and after several noises, his Uncle comes upstairs to investigate the noises. Shoving the house elf into the closet, Harry manages to make it look as though he was alone. After Uncle Vernon goes back downstairs, the house elf reveals something else to Harry, he has been holding his letters all summer long! No wonder Harry had not heard from his friends! None of the letters were getting through! When Dobby explodes a dessert that Aunt Petunia had ready for their company, and then Hedwig comes screeching through the dining room, frightening the guests, the deal that Uncle Vernon was hoping for is finished. For his punishment, Harry has to clean the kitchen and then is locked in his room, allowed out only twice a day to use the restroom. Everything else is done through a small cat door in his bedroom door. He is fed three times a day through it. Uncle Vernon even has bars put up on the window to keep Harry from escaping.
Ron and his twin brothers, George and Fred, come looking for Harry. Ron was worried about him after the many messages he has sent with no response. Harry is finally able to fill them in and is thankful for their rescue! Being free is wonderful! He is hungry, but satisfied at being out of the Dursley’s home. When they get to the Weasley home, it is nothing like the house on Privet Drive, but wonderful none the less. There Harry is welcomed, fed and made to feel a part of the family. His letter from Hogwarts is even delivered there! Ron is embarrassed at first, as it is not as nice as the house Harry has lived in, but this house has something that the other has lacked.. family and love. Harry is thrilled to be accepted into the house, and is grateful for his friend.
When it comes times to buy books and items for the new school year, the family is to travel by floo powder to Diagon Alley. Harry has never traveled that way before, but surely nothing can go wrong…
This week we are reading Chapters 1-4
Questions:
- Harry has been made to feel less than welcome at the Dursley’s house his entire life. What other reasons do you think there might be for the family not wanting to accept him?
- Harry thought he had good friends, but they seem to have ignored him all summer. How do you keep in touch with your friends when you are apart?
- Why do you think Malfoy dislikes Harry so much?
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