The Dursleys’ Frantic Escape from the Letters

PAGES: 41-42

Overwhelmed by the relentless flood of letters for Harry, Uncle Vernon makes a rash decision to take the family on a sudden road trip. They leave in a hurry, with Vernon randomly changing directions to avoid being followed. Dudley is miserable, having been hit for trying to pack his electronics. After hours of driving, they stop at a gloomy hotel where Harry stays awake, reflecting on his upcoming eleventh birthday and the strange events surrounding the letters.

He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.

They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn’t dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.

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“Shake ’em off... shake ’em off,” he would mutter whenever he did this.

They didn’t stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He’d never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he’d missed five television programs he’d wanted to see, and he’d never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.