The omniscient narrator of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone begins by describing Mr. and Mrs. Dursley and their infant son, Dudley. The Dursleys strive to fit in with their neighbors on Privet Drive. To maintain an image of complete normalcy, Mrs. Dursley ignores the existence of her sister, Lily, and her family. On a dreary Tuesday morning, the Dursleys are so busy with their daily routine that they fail to notice the strange goings-on around town. As he leaves for work, Mr. Dursley notices a cat that appears to be reading a map.

Mr. Dursley convinces himself that he is imagining things. However, on his morning commute, he notices groups of people dressed in odd clothes. Mr. Dursley doesn’t notice all the owls flying outside, but during lunch, he overhears some people in cloaks talking about the Potters. Mr. Dursley is filled with panic and immediately heads back to the office to call his wife, Petunia. He decides against calling her, though, as “Potter wasn’t such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn’t even sure his nephew was called Harry” (3).