THE ROWLING STONES

marks on his face and neck, where Uncle Vernon had hit him in the evening, a punishment for falling asleep while gardening. His ribs ached, where Dudley had kicked him earli

nd drooled, as he reflect

delay or mistake meant corporal punishment for Harry. Not a day went by, when he went to sleep without a smack. Once, Uncle Vernon broke Harry's right arm with a kitchen ladle, for overcooking the pancakes. Taken aback by the outcome of his own act, Vernon blamed Harry for the inj

y wondered, in the depressing light

ernon and Aunt

my cousin

ents have to di

h

e Surrey Register Office. The official, fearing that the child had run away from home, had summoned

me, he believed he had filled a glass of water without approaching the water-filter. Uncle Vernon had thrashed him on all such occasions and told him

cause the peculiar things that h

faded. Harry opened his mouth to cry in anguish, but

would have his freedom- he had

and meticulously, tied the hangman's knot, that he had read and memorized from an old book. Next, he placed a stool at the foot of his bed. The ceiling was low for the

times in his head, over the past month. And ton

o put an end to

ng to take