There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.
“What's this?” he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.
“Your new school uniform,” she said.
Harry looked in the bowl again.
“Oh,” he said, “I didn't realize it had to be so wet.”
“Don't be stupid,” snapped Aunt Petunia. “I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished.”
Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.
Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.
They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.
“Get the mail, Dudley,” said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.
“Make Harry get it.”
“Get the mail, Harry.”
“Make Dudley get it.”
“Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley.”
Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and — a letter for Harry.
Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives — he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:
Mr. H. Potter
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.
Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.
“Hurry up, boy!” shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. “What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?” He chuckled at his own joke.
第二天早上哈利正準(zhǔn)備去廚房吃早飯時,突然聞到一股難聞的氣味。這味道好像是從洗碗池里發(fā)出來的。他走過去一看,只見池子里滿是一些看上去臟臟的東西浮在烏黑的水上。
"這是什么?"他問帕尤妮亞姨媽。
"你的新衣服。"她答道。
哈利又往池子里看了一眼。
"喔!"他說,"我沒想到它們會這么濕。"
"別傻了,"帕尤妮亞姨媽沒好氣地說,"我正在把達(dá)德里舊衣服上的烏黑色染到你的校服上。當(dāng)我弄完后,它看上去就會跟其他孩子的校服一模一樣了。"哈利非常懷疑她說的話,但是他知道自己最好別再爭辯。他一屁股坐下,為不知道上斯德伍中學(xué)第一天自己會是什么樣子而犯愁——可能他會像披著大象的皮。
這時達(dá)德里和維能姨丈走了進(jìn)來,他們都因為哈利新校服上發(fā)出的臭氣而皺起了鼻子。維能姨文像往常一樣打開了報紙,達(dá)德里呼呼地在桌子上敲他那根隨身攜帶的根子。
這時只聽到郵箱卡搭一聲響,伴有信落在門墊上的聲音。
"達(dá)德里,去拿信。"維能姨丈在報紙后說。
"讓哈利去拿。"
"那哈利去拿吧。"
"還是達(dá)德里去拿吧。"
"達(dá)德里,用你的棍子打他一下。"
哈利為躲開達(dá)德里的根子跑去拿信了。一共有三封郵件:一封是維能姨文的妹妹瑪各寄來的明信片,她正在懷特島度假。還有一個灰色的信封,看上去像一張支票——最后一封是給哈利的信。
哈利拿起來看,他的心像一條橡皮筋帶一樣繃地彈了一下。還從來沒有人給他寫過信。會是誰呢?他沒有朋友,沒有其他親人——他也從來不去圖書館,所以他不會收到圖書館的催書單。但是那封信確實是明明白白地寫著:色瑞城小威寧鎮(zhèn)四號普里懷特街樓梯下的柜子里哈利·波特先生收這信封又重又厚,估計是用羊皮紙寫的。用來寫地址的墨水是一種奇怪的祖母綠顏色,而且整封信沒有郵票。
顫抖著打開信封,哈利看到一個蓋有紋章的紫色蠟?。阂恢华{子,一只鷹,一只獾和一條蛇組成了一只大大的字母"H "。
"快點啊,"維能姨丈在廚房里大喊,"你在干什么?在拆信里面的炸彈嗎?"他自己先被自己開的這個玩笑逗樂了。