Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:
"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"
"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early -- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."
Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...
Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er -- Petunia, dear -- you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"
As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.
"No," she said sharply. "Why?"
"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."
"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.
"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."
Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son -- he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"
"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.
"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"
"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."
"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."
He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.
Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of -- well, he didn't think he could bear it.
在把達(dá)德里哄上床后,他正好有時(shí)間看到晚間新聞的最后一條新聞:"各地的鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)學(xué)家均報(bào)道全國(guó)各地貓頭鷹有異常動(dòng)向。通常貓頭鷹在夜間捕食而且白天從不出現(xiàn),但是這次卻有許多地方見(jiàn)到這種鳥(niǎo)在日出后出現(xiàn)。專家們暫時(shí)難以解釋貓頭鷹突然間改變它們睡眠習(xí)慣的原因……真是非常奇怪?,F(xiàn)在由吉姆。麥高菲來(lái)報(bào)告天氣。
吉姆,今晚會(huì)有更多貓頭鷹出現(xiàn)嗎?"
"泰德,"天氣預(yù)報(bào)員說(shuō)道,"這我倒不清楚。但是今天行為異常的不只是貓頭鷹。還有肯特郡、約克郡和丹地的人們打電話告訴我并沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)我昨天預(yù)報(bào)的陣雨,反而下了一場(chǎng)流星雨,可能人們?cè)谔崆皯c祝髯火節(jié)吧——但是髯火節(jié)下個(gè)星期才到??!不管怎么樣,今晚會(huì)有雨,我敢肯定。"
"沒(méi)有。"她生硬地說(shuō):"怎么了?"
"今天的新聞多可笑,"
"我只是覺(jué)得……可能……這與她的……家庭有關(guān)。"
"他叫什么名字?是豪伍嗎?"
"哈利。如果你問(wèn)起,我要說(shuō)這是個(gè)難聽(tīng)又普通的名字。""哦,是嗎?"
他又在想象了?所有的事會(huì)不會(huì)都跟波特家有關(guān)呢?如果是這樣的話……如果他們真的有聯(lián)系——他簡(jiǎn)直不敢往下想。