Harry held his quill between his teeth and pulled out a small bottle of ink and a roll of parchment he had kept under his pillow. He slowly and carefully unscrewed the cap of the bottle, dipped his quill into the ink, and began to write, pausing from time to time to listen, since if any of his relatives, the Dursleys, got up to go to the bathroom and heard the distinctive sound the quill made when someone wrote with it, he would surely spend the rest of the summer locked in the cupboard under the stairs.

The Dursley family, who lived at 4 Privet Drive, was the reason Harry never enjoyed his summer holidays. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son Dudley were Harry's only living relatives. They were Muggles and had completely medieval views about magic. The names of Harry's parents, who were also wizards, were never mentioned in the Dursley household. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped for years that if they suppressed Harry on this subject, they would neutralize his magical abilities. However, to their great annoyance, their efforts over the years had failed, and now they lived in fear that someone might find out that Harry had spent most of the last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.