Harry Potter
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Englishwoman J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
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Harry Potter had to wake up. Aunt [moster] Petunia's voice made the first noise [oljud] of the day.
"Up! Get up! Now!"
Harry woke [vaknade] with a start. His aunt knocked [knackade] on the door again. "Up!" she yelled [skrek]. Harry heard [hörde] her walking to the kitchen.
Harry rolled onto his back. He tried to think of the dream [dröm] he had been having.
Harry's dream had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling [känsla] he'd had the dream before.
His aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?"
"Nearly [nästan]," said Harry.
"Well, get a move on. I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare [våga] let it burn [brännas vid]. I want everything perfect on Dudley's birthday."
Harry groaned [stönade].
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped [fräste] through the door.
"Nothing, nothing. . . "
Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten [glömt]?
Harry got slowly out of bed. He started looking for socks [strumpor]. He found a pair under his bed. After pulling a spider [spindel] off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to [van med] spiders. The cupboard [skåp] under the stairs [trappan] was full of them. That was where he slept..
When he was dressed [hade klätt sig] he went to the kitchen. The table was covered [nästan dolt] with Dudley's birthday presents. Dudley got the new computer he wanted, and the second television and the racing bike.
Why did Dudley want a racing bike? Dudley was very fat. He hated exercise [motion].. But, he did like to hit. Mostly he liked to punch.
Dudley's favorite punching bag [slagpåse] was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.
Harry had always been small and skinny [mager] for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's. Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.
Harry had a thin face, knobbly [knotiga] knees [knän] black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses which tape held together. Dudley had punched him many times.
The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance [utseende] was a very thin scar [ärr] on his forehead. The scar was shaped like a bolt of lightning [sicksackblixt].
He had had [hadehaft] it as long as he could remember [minnas]. The first question he could remember[minnas] asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.
"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."
Harry Potter had no parents – he was an orphan. Orphaned as a baby, Harry Potter has spent 11 awful [hemska] years living with his mean aunt, uncle, and cousin Dudley (in Surrey, in England).
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen.
"Comb your hair [hår]!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting [hälsning].
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper [tidning]. He shouted [skrek] that Harry needed a haircut [klippning]. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together. But it made no difference [skillnad]. His hair simply grew that way – all over the place [över hela huvudet].
Harry was frying [stekte] eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.
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 [slätt] on his thick, fat head.
Aunt Petunia said that Dudley looked like a baby angel. Harry said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig [en gris i peruk].
Harry put the plates [tallrikarna] on the table, which was difficult [svårt] as there wasn't much room [plats].
Dudley was counting his presents. His face fell [han blev lång i ansiktet].
"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less [mindre] than last year."
"Darling [älskling], you haven't counted [räknat] Aunt Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry could see a huge Dudley tantrum [raserianfall] coming on. So Harry began eating his bacon as fast as possible. He wanted to finish before Dudley turned the table over [välte bordet].
Aunt Petunia obviously [uppenbarligen] scented [vädrade] danger, too. She said quickly, "Dudley, we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin [gullungen min]? Two more presents. Is that all right?"
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty. . . thirty. . ."
"Thirty-nine," said Aunt Petunia.
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed [grep tag i] the nearest parcel [paket]. "All right then." Uncle Vernon chuckled [skrockade].
At that moment the telephone rang. Aunt Petunia went to answer it. Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap [packa upp] the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.
Dudley ripped [slet av] the paper off a gold wristwatch [armbandsur].
"What are we going to do with Harry?" asked Aunt Petunia.
"What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?"
"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully [förhoppningsfullt]. He'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change. Maybe he could even have a go on Dudley's computer.
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed [svalt] a lemon.
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening [lyssnade inte].
"I suppose [kanske skulle kunna] we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, ". . . . and leave him in the car. . . ."
"That car's new. He's not sitting in it alone. . . . "
Dudley began to cry [gråta] loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying. It had been years since he'd really cried. But he knew that if he pretended [låtsades] to cry, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil [förstöra] your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around [slog armarna om] him.
"I . . . don't . . . want. . . him . . . t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs [låtsassnyftningar]. "He always sp-spoils [förstör] everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin [flin] through the gap [springan] in his mother's arms.
Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord [Herre Gud], they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically [alldeles utom sig]. A moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in.
Piers was a thin boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry [låtsasgråta] at once.
Harry couldn't believe [tro] his luck. Half an hour later he was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley. Harry was on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.
Harry’s aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, so they brought him to the zoo. But before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside [avsides].
"I'm warning [varnar] you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's. "I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business [om du hittar på några konstigheter], anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly [på hedersord]. . ."
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe [tro] him. No one ever did.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry. It was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.
Once, Aunt Petunia, cut Harry's hair. She cut it so short he was almost bald [skallig] except for his bangs [lugg], which she left "to hide that horrible [hemska] scar [ärret]."
Dudley had laughed himself silly [nära skrattat ihjäl sig].
Harry spent a sleepless night imagining [föreställa sig] school the next day. The other children at school already laughed [skrattade] at Harry for his baggy [säckiga] clothes and taped glasses. Now they would laugh at his lack of hair.
Next morning, however [emellertid], Harry had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared [klippte] it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this. But he couldn't explain [förklara] how it had grown back so quickly.
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof [tak] of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual. As much to Harry's surprise [förvåning] as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney [skorsten].
The Dursleys had received (gotten) a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress [rektor] telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do was jump behind the big trash cans [soptunnorna] outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth [värt] being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard.
While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained [klagade] to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.
". . . roaring [dånar] along like maniacs, the young hoodlums [ligisterna]," he said, as a motorcycle overtook [körde om] them.
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry. His face was like a gigantic beet [rödbeta] with a mustache. He said: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"
Dudley and Piers sniggered [fnissade].
"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."
But he wished he hadn't said anything. 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. No matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon [tecknad serie] – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.
It was a very sunny Saturday. The zoo was crowded [vimlade] with families.
The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance [ingången]. The smiling [leende] lady in the van [glassbilen] asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, so they bought him a cheap [billig] lemon ice pop [isglass]. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought. He licked [slickade] the ice pop. Then he saw a gorilla who looked remarkably [anmärkningsvärt] like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers wouldn't hit him.
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there. There were lit [upplysta] windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes [ormar] were crawling [krälade] and slithering [slingrade] over bits of wood and stone.
Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous [giftiga] cobras and thick, man-crushing [krossande] pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped [rullat] its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed [kramat] it into a trash can [soptunna]. But at the moment it didn't look in the mood [humör]. In fact, it was fast asleep.
"Up! Get up! Now!"
Harry woke [vaknade] with a start. His aunt knocked [knackade] on the door again. "Up!" she yelled [skrek]. Harry heard [hörde] her walking to the kitchen.
Harry rolled onto his back. He tried to think of the dream [dröm] he had been having.
Harry's dream had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling [känsla] he'd had the dream before.
His aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?"
"Nearly [nästan]," said Harry.
"Well, get a move on. I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare [våga] let it burn [brännas vid]. I want everything perfect on Dudley's birthday."
Harry groaned [stönade].
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped [fräste] through the door.
"Nothing, nothing. . . "
Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten [glömt]?
Harry got slowly out of bed. He started looking for socks [strumpor]. He found a pair under his bed. After pulling a spider [spindel] off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to [van med] spiders. The cupboard [skåp] under the stairs [trappan] was full of them. That was where he slept..
When he was dressed [hade klätt sig] he went to the kitchen. The table was covered [nästan dolt] with Dudley's birthday presents. Dudley got the new computer he wanted, and the second television and the racing bike.
Why did Dudley want a racing bike? Dudley was very fat. He hated exercise [motion].. But, he did like to hit. Mostly he liked to punch.
Dudley's favorite punching bag [slagpåse] was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.
Harry had always been small and skinny [mager] for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's. Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.
Harry had a thin face, knobbly [knotiga] knees [knän] black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses which tape held together. Dudley had punched him many times.
The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance [utseende] was a very thin scar [ärr] on his forehead. The scar was shaped like a bolt of lightning [sicksackblixt].
He had had [hadehaft] it as long as he could remember [minnas]. The first question he could remember[minnas] asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.
"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."
Harry Potter had no parents – he was an orphan. Orphaned as a baby, Harry Potter has spent 11 awful [hemska] years living with his mean aunt, uncle, and cousin Dudley (in Surrey, in England).
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen.
"Comb your hair [hår]!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting [hälsning].
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper [tidning]. He shouted [skrek] that Harry needed a haircut [klippning]. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together. But it made no difference [skillnad]. His hair simply grew that way – all over the place [över hela huvudet].
Harry was frying [stekte] eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.
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 [slätt] on his thick, fat head.
Aunt Petunia said that Dudley looked like a baby angel. Harry said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig [en gris i peruk].
Harry put the plates [tallrikarna] on the table, which was difficult [svårt] as there wasn't much room [plats].
Dudley was counting his presents. His face fell [han blev lång i ansiktet].
"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less [mindre] than last year."
"Darling [älskling], you haven't counted [räknat] Aunt Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry could see a huge Dudley tantrum [raserianfall] coming on. So Harry began eating his bacon as fast as possible. He wanted to finish before Dudley turned the table over [välte bordet].
Aunt Petunia obviously [uppenbarligen] scented [vädrade] danger, too. She said quickly, "Dudley, we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin [gullungen min]? Two more presents. Is that all right?"
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty. . . thirty. . ."
"Thirty-nine," said Aunt Petunia.
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed [grep tag i] the nearest parcel [paket]. "All right then." Uncle Vernon chuckled [skrockade].
At that moment the telephone rang. Aunt Petunia went to answer it. Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap [packa upp] the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.
Dudley ripped [slet av] the paper off a gold wristwatch [armbandsur].
"What are we going to do with Harry?" asked Aunt Petunia.
"What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?"
"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully [förhoppningsfullt]. He'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change. Maybe he could even have a go on Dudley's computer.
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed [svalt] a lemon.
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening [lyssnade inte].
"I suppose [kanske skulle kunna] we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, ". . . . and leave him in the car. . . ."
"That car's new. He's not sitting in it alone. . . . "
Dudley began to cry [gråta] loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying. It had been years since he'd really cried. But he knew that if he pretended [låtsades] to cry, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil [förstöra] your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around [slog armarna om] him.
"I . . . don't . . . want. . . him . . . t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs [låtsassnyftningar]. "He always sp-spoils [förstör] everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin [flin] through the gap [springan] in his mother's arms.
Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord [Herre Gud], they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically [alldeles utom sig]. A moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in.
Piers was a thin boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry [låtsasgråta] at once.
Harry couldn't believe [tro] his luck. Half an hour later he was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley. Harry was on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.
Harry’s aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, so they brought him to the zoo. But before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside [avsides].
"I'm warning [varnar] you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's. "I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business [om du hittar på några konstigheter], anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly [på hedersord]. . ."
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe [tro] him. No one ever did.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry. It was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.
Once, Aunt Petunia, cut Harry's hair. She cut it so short he was almost bald [skallig] except for his bangs [lugg], which she left "to hide that horrible [hemska] scar [ärret]."
Dudley had laughed himself silly [nära skrattat ihjäl sig].
Harry spent a sleepless night imagining [föreställa sig] school the next day. The other children at school already laughed [skrattade] at Harry for his baggy [säckiga] clothes and taped glasses. Now they would laugh at his lack of hair.
Next morning, however [emellertid], Harry had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared [klippte] it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this. But he couldn't explain [förklara] how it had grown back so quickly.
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof [tak] of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual. As much to Harry's surprise [förvåning] as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney [skorsten].
The Dursleys had received (gotten) a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress [rektor] telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do was jump behind the big trash cans [soptunnorna] outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth [värt] being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard.
While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained [klagade] to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.
". . . roaring [dånar] along like maniacs, the young hoodlums [ligisterna]," he said, as a motorcycle overtook [körde om] them.
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry. His face was like a gigantic beet [rödbeta] with a mustache. He said: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"
Dudley and Piers sniggered [fnissade].
"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."
But he wished he hadn't said anything. 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. No matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon [tecknad serie] – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.
It was a very sunny Saturday. The zoo was crowded [vimlade] with families.
The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance [ingången]. The smiling [leende] lady in the van [glassbilen] asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, so they bought him a cheap [billig] lemon ice pop [isglass]. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought. He licked [slickade] the ice pop. Then he saw a gorilla who looked remarkably [anmärkningsvärt] like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers wouldn't hit him.
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there. There were lit [upplysta] windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes [ormar] were crawling [krälade] and slithering [slingrade] over bits of wood and stone.
Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous [giftiga] cobras and thick, man-crushing [krossande] pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped [rullat] its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed [kramat] it into a trash can [soptunna]. But at the moment it didn't look in the mood [humör]. In fact, it was fast asleep.
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring [stirrade] at the shiny [glänsande] brown snake.
"Make it move," he whined [sa med gnällig röst] at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped [bultade] on the glass, but the snake didn't budge (move) at all.
"This is boring [tråkigt]," Dudley moaned [gnällde]. He shuffled [masade] away.
Harry looked intently [uppmärksamt] at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom [tråkighet] itself.
The snake had no company except stupid people drumming [trummade] their fingers on the glass trying to disturb [störa] it all day long. 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.
The snake suddenly opened its eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.
It winked [blinkade] one eye.
Harry stared [stirrade]. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.
The snake jerked [knyckte] its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley. Then the snake raised its eyes to the ceiling [tak]. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:
"I get that all the time."
"I know," Harry said through the glass. "It must be really annoying [irriterande]."
The snake shook its head as if to say "yes."
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.
The snake pointed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered (looked) at it.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?"
The boa constrictor pointed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This snake was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see. So, you've never been to Brazil?"
The snake shook its head. As the snake shook its head, a loud shout behind Harry made both of them jump.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley came waddling [vaggade] toward them as fast as he could.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs [revbenen].
Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete [betong] floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened.
One second, Piers and Dudley were leaning [lutade] right up close to the glass. The next second, they had leapt [hoppat] back with howls of horror [vrålande av skräck].
Harry sat up and gasped [drog efter andan]. The glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished [försvunnit]. The great snake was uncoiling itself [rulla ut sig] rapidly [snabbt], slithering [slingrade] out onto the floor.
People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits [utgångarna].
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing [väsande] voice [röst] said, "Brazil, here I come. . . . Thanksss, amigo."
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap [nafsa] playfully.
By the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg. Piers was swearing [svor] it had tried to squeeze [klämma] him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down [lugnade ner sig] enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry.
Uncle Vernon was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals." Then he collapsed [föll ihop] into a chair. Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy [konjak].
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch.
Harry didn't know what time it was. He couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking [sneak=smyga] to the kitchen for some food.
Harry had lived with the Dursleys almost ten years. He’d lived with them for ten miserable [olyckliga] years. As long as he could remember. Ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.
He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them. He was forbidden [förbjuden] to ask questions. There were no photographs [fotografier] of them in the house.
When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation [släkting] coming to take him away. But it had never happened.
The Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.
A tiny man in a violet [lilafärgad] top hat had bowed [bugat sig] to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously [ursinnigt] if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything.
A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily [glatt] at him once on a bus.
A bald [skallig] 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.
The weirdest [underligaste] thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish [försvinna]. They seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated Harry Potter. Everyone knew that Dudley’s gang hated that odd [konstige] Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses. And nobody liked to disagree [sätta sig upp] with Dudley's gang.
"Make it move," he whined [sa med gnällig röst] at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped [bultade] on the glass, but the snake didn't budge (move) at all.
"This is boring [tråkigt]," Dudley moaned [gnällde]. He shuffled [masade] away.
Harry looked intently [uppmärksamt] at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom [tråkighet] itself.
The snake had no company except stupid people drumming [trummade] their fingers on the glass trying to disturb [störa] it all day long. 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.
The snake suddenly opened its eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.
It winked [blinkade] one eye.
Harry stared [stirrade]. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.
The snake jerked [knyckte] its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley. Then the snake raised its eyes to the ceiling [tak]. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:
"I get that all the time."
"I know," Harry said through the glass. "It must be really annoying [irriterande]."
The snake shook its head as if to say "yes."
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.
The snake pointed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered (looked) at it.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?"
The boa constrictor pointed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This snake was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see. So, you've never been to Brazil?"
The snake shook its head. As the snake shook its head, a loud shout behind Harry made both of them jump.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley came waddling [vaggade] toward them as fast as he could.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs [revbenen].
Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete [betong] floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened.
One second, Piers and Dudley were leaning [lutade] right up close to the glass. The next second, they had leapt [hoppat] back with howls of horror [vrålande av skräck].
Harry sat up and gasped [drog efter andan]. The glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished [försvunnit]. The great snake was uncoiling itself [rulla ut sig] rapidly [snabbt], slithering [slingrade] out onto the floor.
People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits [utgångarna].
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing [väsande] voice [röst] said, "Brazil, here I come. . . . Thanksss, amigo."
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap [nafsa] playfully.
By the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg. Piers was swearing [svor] it had tried to squeeze [klämma] him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down [lugnade ner sig] enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry.
Uncle Vernon was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals." Then he collapsed [föll ihop] into a chair. Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy [konjak].
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch.
Harry didn't know what time it was. He couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking [sneak=smyga] to the kitchen for some food.
Harry had lived with the Dursleys almost ten years. He’d lived with them for ten miserable [olyckliga] years. As long as he could remember. Ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.
He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them. He was forbidden [förbjuden] to ask questions. There were no photographs [fotografier] of them in the house.
When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation [släkting] coming to take him away. But it had never happened.
The Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.
A tiny man in a violet [lilafärgad] top hat had bowed [bugat sig] to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously [ursinnigt] if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything.
A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily [glatt] at him once on a bus.
A bald [skallig] 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.
The weirdest [underligaste] thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish [försvinna]. They seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated Harry Potter. Everyone knew that Dudley’s gang hated that odd [konstige] Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses. And nobody liked to disagree [sätta sig upp] with Dudley's gang.
