CHAPTER TWO

1

THE VANISHING GLASS

2

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.

3

The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and?

lit

?up the brass number four on the Dursleys’ front door;

lit /l?t/ vt.?照亮(light的過去式及過去分詞)

4

it crept into their living room,?

5

which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that?

fateful

?news report about the owls.

fateful /'fetfl/ adj.?重大的

6

Only the photographs on the?

mantelpiece

?really showed how much time had passed.

mantelpiece /'m?ntlpis/ n.?壁爐臺

7

Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured

bobble hats

?— but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,

bobble hat?絨球帽

8

and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a?

roundabout

?at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother.

roundabout /?ra?nd?ba?t/ n. [英]旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬

9

The room?

held

?no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

hold /ho?ld/ vt.?擁有

10

Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long.?

11

His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.

12

“Up! Get up! Now!”

13

Harry woke with a start. His aunt?

rapped

?on the door again.

rap /r?p/ vi.?敲擊

14

“Up!” she?

screeched

.

screech /skrit?/ vi.?發(fā)出尖銳的聲音

15

Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker.

16

He rolled?

onto

?his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one.?

onto /?ɑ?nt?/ prep.?朝

17

There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he’d had the same dream before.

18

His aunt was back outside the door.

19

“Are you up yet?” she?

demanded

.

demand /d??m?nd/ vt.?查問

20

“

Nearly

,” said Harry.

nearly /'n?rli/ adv.?即將

21

“Well,?

get a move on

, I want you to look after the bacon. And don’t you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy’s birthday.”

get a move on?趕快

22

Harry groaned.

23

“What did you say?” his aunt snapped through the door.

24

“Nothing, nothing . . .”

25

Dudley’s birthday — how could he have forgotten?

26

Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks.

27

He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.

28

Harry was used to spiders, because the?

cupboard

?under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

cupboard /?k?b?rd/ n.?柜櫥

29

When he was dressed he went down the?

hall

?into the kitchen.

hall /h?l/ n.?走廊

30

The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley’s birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.

31

Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise —?

unless

?of course it involved?

punching

?somebody.

unless /?n'l?s/ conj.?除非

punch /p?nt?/ vt.?用拳猛擊

32

Dudley’s favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn’t often catch him. Harry didn’t look it, but he was very fast.

33

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.

34

He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.

35

Harry had a thin face,?

knobbly

?knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.

knobbly /'nɑbli/ adj.?有節(jié)的

36

He wore?

round

?glasses held together with a lot of?

Sellotape

?because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.

round /ra?nd/ adj.?圓形的

sellotape /'sel?uteip/ n.?透明膠帶(商標名稱)

37

The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

38

He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.

39

“In the car crash when your parents died,” she had said. “And don’t ask questions.”

40

Don’t ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

41

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

42

“

Comb

?your hair!” he barked,?

by way of

?a morning greeting.

comb /ko?m/ v.?梳

by way of?當作

43

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut.

44

Harry must have had more?

haircuts

?than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.

haircut /'h?rk?t/ n.?理發(fā)

45

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.

46

Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small,?

watery

?blue eyes, and?

thick

blond hair that lay?

smoothly

?on his thick, fat head.

watery /'wɑt?ri/ adj.?充滿水的

thick /θ?k/ adj.?濃的

smoothly /'sm?eli/ adv.?平整地

47

Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a?

wig

.

wig /w?ɡ/ n.?假發(fā)

48

Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn’t much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents.?

49

His face fell.

50

“Thirty-six,” he said, looking up at his mother and father. “That’s two less than last year.”

51

“Darling, you haven’t counted Auntie Marge’s present, see, it’s here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy.”

52

“All right, thirty-seven then,” said Dudley, going red in the face.

53

Harry, who could see a huge Dudley?

tantrum

?coming on, began?

wolfing

?down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

tantrum /?t?ntr?m/ n.?發(fā)脾氣

wolf /w?lf/ v.?狼吞虎咽地吃

54

Aunt Petunia obviously?

scented

?danger, too, because she said quickly,?

scent /sent/ vt.?察覺到(壞事等的)存在

55

“And we’ll buy you another two presents while we’re out today. How’s that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?”

56

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, “So I’ll have thirty . . . thirty . . .”

57

“Thirty-nine,?

sweetums

,” said Aunt Petunia.

sweetums?寶貝

58

“Oh.” Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest?

parcel

. “All right then.”

parcel /?pɑ?rsl/ n.?包裹

59

Uncle Vernon chuckled.

60

“Little?

tyke

?wants his money’s worth, just like his father. ’

Atta boy

, Dudley!” He?

ruffled

?Dudley’s hair.

tyke /ta?k/ n. [口]小孩子

Atta boy?好小子

ruffle /?r?fl/ v. (用手指)將頭發(fā)弄亂

61

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley?

unwrap

?the racing bike, a cine-camera,

unwrap /?n'r?p/ vt.?打開

62

a?

remote-control

?aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder.?

remote control n.?遙控

63

He was ripping the paper off a gold?

wristwatch

?when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and?

worried

.

wristwatch /'r?stw?t?/ n.?手表

worried /'w??d/ adj.?煩惱的

64

“Bad news, Vernon,” she said. “Mrs. Figg’s broken her leg. She can’t take him.” She jerked her head in Harry’s direction.

65

Dudley’s mouth fell open in horror, but Harry’s heart gave a?

leap

.

leap /li?p/ n.?跳躍

66

Every year on Dudley’s birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to?

adventure parks

, hamburger bars or the cinema.

adventure park?探險公園

67

Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.

68

Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she’d ever owned.

69

“Now what?” said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he’d planned this.

70

Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg,

71

but it wasn’t easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and?

Tufty

?again.

tufty /'t?fti/ adj.?簇生的

72

“We could phone Marge,” Uncle Vernon suggested.

73

“Don’t be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy.”

74

The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn’t there — or rather, as though he was something very?

nasty

?that couldn’t understand them, like a?

slug

.

nasty /?n?sti/ adj.?低劣的

slug /sl?ɡ/ n.?鼻涕蟲

75

“What about what’s-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?”

76

“On holiday in?

Majorca

,” snapped Aunt Petunia.

Majorca /m?'d??:k?/ n.?馬略卡島（位于西班牙東部）

77

“You could just leave me here,” Harry?

put in

?hopefully (he’d be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley’s computer).

put in?插(話)

78

Aunt Petunia looked as though she’d just swallowed a lemon.

79

“And come back and find the house in?

ruins

?” she?

snarled

.

ruin /?ru??n/ n.?毀壞

snarl /snɑ?rl/ vi.?咆哮

80

“I won’t blow up the house,” said Harry, but they weren’t listening.

81

“I suppose we could take him to the zoo,” said Aunt Petunia slowly, “. . . and leave him in the car. . . .”

82

“That car’s new, he’s not sitting in it alone. . . .”

83

Dudley began to cry loudly.

84

In fact, he wasn’t really crying — it had been years since he’d really cried — but he knew that if he?

screwed

?up his face and?

wailed

, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

screw /skru?/ v.?扭曲(臉)

wail /wel/ v. (因悲傷或疼痛）慟哭

85

“

Dinky

?Duddydums, don’t cry, Mummy won’t let him?

spoil

?your special day!” she cried,?

flinging

?her arms around him.

dinky /'d??ki/ adj.?小而精致的

spoil /sp??l/ vt.?毀掉

fling /fl??/ v.?猛動(身體部位)

86

“I . . . don’t . . . want . . . him . . . t-t-to come!” Dudley yelled between huge,?

pretend

?

sobs

. “He always sp-spoils everything!”

pretend /pr??tend/ vt. & vi.?假裝

sob /sɑ?b/ vt. & vi.?哭泣

87

He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother’s arms.

88

Just then, the doorbell rang —“Oh,?

good Lord

, they’re here!” said Aunt Petunia?

frantically

?— and a moment later, Dudley’s best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.

good Lord?天哪

frantically /?fr?nt?kl?/ adv.?緊張忙亂地

89

Piers was a?

scrawny

?boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people’s arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.

scrawny /'skr?ni/ adj.?骨瘦如柴的

90

Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

91

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn’t believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys’ car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.

92

His aunt and uncle hadn’t been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they’d left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

93

“I’m warning you,” he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry’s,?

94

“I’m warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you’ll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas.”

95

“I’m not going to do anything,” said Harry, “

honestly

?. . .”

honestly /'ɑn?stli/ adv.?真誠地

96

But Uncle Vernon didn’t believe him. No one ever did.

97

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn’t make them happen.

98

Once, Aunt Petunia,?

tired of

?Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn’t been at all,

tired of?厭煩

99

had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost?

bald

?except for his?

fringe

, which she left “to hide that horrible scar.”

bald /b??ld/ adj.?禿頂?shù)?/p>

fringe /fr?nd?/ n.?劉海

100

Dudley had laughed himself?

silly

?at Harry, who spent a?

sleepless

?night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his?

baggy

?clothes and Sellotaped glasses.

silly /'s?li/ adv.?極度地

sleepless /'slipl?s/ adj.?失眠的

baggy /'b?ɡi/ adj.?寬松而下垂的

101

Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had?

sheared

?it off.

shear /??r/ vt.?剪

102

He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn’t explain how it had grown back so quickly.

103

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a?

revolting

?old?

jumper

?of Dudley’s (brown with orange?

bobbles

).

revolting /r?'volt??/ adj.?極其討厭的

jumper /'d??mp?/ n. [英]套頭毛衣

bobble /'bɑbl/ n.?小羊毛球(尤用作衣服綴飾)

104

The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a?

glove puppet

, but certainly wouldn’t fit Harry.

glove puppet?手套式木偶

105

Aunt Petunia had decided it must have?

shrunk

?in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn’t punished.

shrink /?r??k/ vt. & vi.?收縮

106

On the other hand, he’d gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.

107

Dudley’s gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry’s surprise as anyone else’s, there he was sitting on the chimney.

108

The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry’s headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings.

109

But all he’d tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors.

110

Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.

111

But today, nothing was going to go wrong.

112

It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn’t school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg’s cabbage-smelling living room.

113

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia.

114

He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the?

council

, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.

council /?ka?nsl/ n.?會議

115

“. . . roaring along like maniacs, the young?

hoodlums

,” he said, as a motorcycle?

overtook

?them.

hoodlum /'hudl?m/ n.?暴徒

overtook /?ov??t?k/ v.?（英）趕上

116

“I had a dream about a motorcycle,” said Harry, remembering suddenly. “It was flying.”

117

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic?

beetroot

?with a mustache: “MOTORCYCLES DON’T FLY!”

beetroot /'bitrut/ n.?甜菜的根

118

Dudley and Piers?

sniggered

.

snigger /'sn?ɡ?/ vi.?竊笑

119

“I know they don’t,” said Harry. “It was only a dream.”

120

But he wished he hadn’t said anything.

121

If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn’t,

122

no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

123

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families.

124

The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then,

125

because the smiling lady in the?

van

?had asked Harry what he wanted before they could?

hurry

?him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.

van /v?n/ n.?廂式貨車

hurry /?h??ri/ vt. & vi.?催促

126

It wasn’t bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a?

gorilla

?scratching its head and looking?

remarkably

?like Dudley, except that it wasn’t blond.

gorilla /ɡ??r?l?/ n.?大猩猩

remarkably /r??m ɑrk?bl?/ adv.?非常地

127

Harry had the best morning he’d had in a long time.

128

He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime,?

129

wouldn’t?

fall back on

?their favorite hobby of hitting him.

fall back on?轉(zhuǎn)而依靠

130

They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his?

knickerbocker glory

?wasn’t big enough,

knickerbocker glory?冰淇淋圣代（一種甜品）

131

Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.

132

Harry felt,?

afterward

, that he should have known it was all too good to?

last

.

afterward /??ft?w?d/ adv.?以后

last /l?st/ v.?持續(xù)

133

After lunch they went to the reptile house.

134

It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of?

lizards

?and snakes were?

crawling

?and?

slithering

?over bits of wood and stone.

lizard /'l?z?d/ n.?蜥蜴

crawl /kr??l/ vi.?爬行

slither /'sl?e?/ v.?滑行

135

Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge,?

poisonous

?

cobras

?and thick, man-crushing?

pythons

. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place.

poisonous /?p??z?n?s/ adj.?有毒的

cobra /'kobr?/ n.?眼鏡蛇

python /?pa??θɑn/ n.?巨蟒

136

It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon’s car and crushed it into a?

dustbin

?— but at the moment it didn’t look?

in the mood

. In fact, it was?

fast asleep

.

dustbin /'d?stb?n/ n. (家庭用的)垃圾箱〔桶〕

in the mood?興致勃勃

fast asleep?熟睡的

137

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown?

coils

.

coil /k??l/ n.?（繩或線等的）卷

138

“Make it move,” he?

whined

?at his father.

whine /wa?n/ vi.?發(fā)牢騷

139

Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn’t?

budge

.

budge /b?d?/ vt. & vi. (使)稍微移動

140

“Do it again,” Dudley ordered. 142 Uncle Vernon?

rapped

?the glass?

smartly

?with his knuckles, but the snake just?

snoozed

?on.

rap /r?p/ vi.?敲擊

smartly /?sm ɑrtl?/ adv.?迅速地

snooze /snu?z/ vi.?打盹

141

“This is boring,” Dudley?

moaned

. He shuffled away.

moan /mo?n/ vt. & vi.?抱怨

143

Harry moved in front of the?

tank

?and looked?

intently

?at the snake.

tank /t??k/ n.?（養(yǎng)魚、蛇等用的）玻璃容器

intently /?n?t ?ntl?/ adv.?專注地

144

He wouldn’t have been surprised if it had died of?

boredom

?itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day?

long

.

boredom /?b??rd?m/ n.?厭倦

long /l??/ adv.?始終

145

It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up – at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

146

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry’s.

147

It winked.

148

Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren’t. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

149

The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:

150

“I get that all the time.”

151

“I know,” Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn’t sure the snake could hear him. “It must be really?

annoying

.”

annoying /?'n????/ adj.?使人煩惱的

152

The snake nodded?

vigorously

.

vigorously /'v?g?r?sli/ adv.?有力地

153

“Where do you come from,?

anyway

?” Harry asked.

anyway /?eniwe?/ adv.?對了

154

The snake?

jabbed

?its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.

jab /d??b/ vt.?猛擊

155

Boa Constrictor

,?

Brazil

.

Boa Constrictor?蟒蛇

Brazil /br??z?l/ n.?巴西

156

“Was it nice there?”

157

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This?

specimen

?was?

bred

?in the zoo. “Oh, I see — so you’ve never been to Brazil?”

specimen /?spes?m?n/ n.?樣品

bred br?d/ vi.?繁殖(breed的過去式和過去分詞)

158

As the snake shook its head, a?

deafening

?shout behind Harry made both of them jump.?

deafening /'d?fn??/ adj.?震耳欲聾的

159

“DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT IT’S DOING!”

160

Dudley came?

waddling

?toward them as fast as he could.

waddle /?wɑ?dl/ vi. (像鴨子一樣)搖搖擺擺地走

161

“Out of the way, you,” he said, punching Harry in the?

ribs

.?

Caught by surprise

, Harry fell?

hard

?on the?

concrete

?floor.

rib /r?b/ n.?肋骨

catch by surprise?使......詫異

hard /hɑ?rd/ adj.?用力地

concrete /?kɑ??kri?t/ n.?混凝土

162

What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had?

leapt

?back with howls of horror.

leapt /l?pt/ v.?跳躍（leap的過去分詞）

163

Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor’s tank had vanished.

164

The great snake was?

uncoiling

?itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor.

uncoil /??n'k??l/ vi.?展開

165

People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

166

As the snake slid?

swiftly

?past him, Harry could have?

sworn

?a low,?

hissing

?voice said, “Brazil, here I come. . . . Thanksss,?

amigo

.”

swiftly /?s w?ftl?/ adv.?敏捷地

swear /swer/ vt.?肯定地說

hiss /h?s/ vi.?發(fā)嘶嘶聲

amigo /??miɡo/ n.?（美）朋友（源于西班牙語?amigo）

167

The?

keeper

?of the reptile house was in shock.

keeper /'kip?/ n.?管理人

168

“But the glass,” he kept saying, “where did the glass go?”

169

The zoo?

director

?himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again.

director /d??rekt?r/ n.?主管

170

Piers and Dudley could only?

gibber

.

gibber /'d??b?/ vi. (由于害怕或震驚而)急促不清地說

171

As far as

?Harry had seen, the snake hadn’t done anything except snap?

playfully

?at their heels as it passed,?

as far as prep.?就...而言

playfully /?plef?l?/ adv.?開玩笑地

172

but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon’s car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly?

bitten

?off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.

bite /ba?t/ vt. & vi.?咬

173

But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, “Harry was talking to it, weren’t you, Harry?”

174

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry.

175

He was so angry he could hardly speak.

176

He managed to say, “Go — cupboard — stay — no meals,” before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

177

Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch.

178

He didn’t know what time it was and he couldn’t be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn’t risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.

179

He’d lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he’d been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.

180

He couldn’t remember being in the car when his parents had died.

181

Sometimes, when he?

strained

?his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.

strain /stre?n/ n.?使勁

182

This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn’t imagine where all the green light came from.

183

He couldn’t remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions.

184

There were no photographs of them in the house.

185

When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some?

unknown

?relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family.

unknown /??n'non/ adj.?陌生的

186

Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.

187

A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

188

After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had?

rushed

?them out of the shop without buying anything.

rush /r??/ vt.?匆忙地做

189

A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved?

merrily

?at him once on a bus.

merrily /'m?r?li/ adv.?愉快地

190

A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word.

191

The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

192

At school, Harry had no one.

193

Everybody knew that Dudley’s?

gang

?hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to?

disagree

?with Dudley’s gang.

gang /ɡ??/ n. (青少年的)幫派

disagree /?d?s??ɡri?/ vi.?爭執(zhí)

194