Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.”

The novel begins with a description of Harry’s guardians; the Dursleys are the picture of normalcy and hate everyone not like them. They do not condone imagination or creativity. In short, they are the worst people possible to raise young Harry Potter.

“Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!”

The wizarding world is amidst a celebration as they rejoice at Voldemort’s disappearance. The celebration seems slightly premature as no one knows for sure that Voldemort has been defeated. This foreshadows Voldemort’s eventual reappearance in the novel and his return to power lar in the series.

“That’s not all. They’re saying he tried to kill the Potter’s son, Harry. But—he couldn’t. He couldn’t kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they’re saying that when he couldn’t kill Harry Potter, Voldemort’s power somehow broke—and that’s why he’s gone.”

Even Professor McGonagall recognizes that something extraordinary happened when Voldemort attacked Harry. Now Harry is famous throughout the wizarding world for defeating Voldemort. He becomes known as the Boy-Who-Lived, yet most of the events and details of his survival are unknown. The secrecy around Voldemort and Harry’s connection is one that no one quite understands.