分节阅读16

  unwise to lr overlong on doorsteps these troubled tis”
  he stepped sartly over the threshold and closed the front door behd hi
  ”it is a long ti sce y st visit,” said dubledore, peerg down his crooked nose at uncle vernon ”i t say, your agapanth are flourishg”
  vernon dursley said nothg at all harry did not doubt that speech would return to hi, and on — the ve pulsg his uncles teple was reachg danr pot — but thg about dubledore seed to have robbed hi teporarily of
  eath it ight have been the btant wizardishness of his appearance, but it ight, too, have been that even uncle vernon uld sense that here was a an who it would be very difficult to bully
  ”ah, good eveng harry,” said dubledore, lookg up at hi through his half-oon gsses with a ost satisfied expression ”excellent, excellent”
  these words seed to roe uncle vernon it was clear that as far as he was ncerned, any an who uld look at harry and say ”excellent” was a an with who he uld never see eye to eye
  ”i don39t an to be rude —” he began, a tone that threatened rudeness every sylble
  ”--yet, sadly, aidental rudeness ours argly often,” dubledore fished the sentence gravely ”best to say nothg at all, y dear an ah, and this t be petunia”
  the kitchen door had opened, and there stood harry39s aunt, wearg rubber gloves and a hoeat over her nightdress, clearly halfway through her ual pre-bedti wipe-down of all the kitchen surfaces her rather horsey face registered nothg but shock
  ”alb dubledore,” said dubledore, when uncle vernon failed to effect an troduction ”we have rresponded, of urse” harry thought this an odd way of redg aunt petunia that he had once sent her an explodg letter, but aunt petunia did not challen the ter ”and this t be your n, dudley?”
  dudley had that ont peered round the livg roo door his r, blond head risg out of the stripy lr of his pajaas looked oddly disebodied, his outh gapg astonishnt and i car dubledore waited a ont or o, apparently to see whether any of the dursleys were gog to say anythg, but as the ? stretched on he siled
  ”shall we assu that you have vited to your sittg roo?”
  dudley scrabled out of the way as dubledore passed hi harry, still ctchg the telespe and traers, juped the st few stairs and followed dubledore, who had settled hiself the archair nearest the fire and was takg the surroundgs with an expression of benign terest he looked ite extraordarily out of pce
  ”aren39t —- aren39t we leavg, sir?” harry asked anxioly
  ”yes, deed we are, but there are a few atters we need to discs first,” said dubledore ”and i would prefer not to do  the open we shall trespass upon your aunt and uncle39s hospitality only a little lonr”
  ”you will, will you?”
  vernon dursley had entered the roo, petunia at his shoulder, and dudley skulkg behd the both
  ”yes,” said dubledore siply, ”i shall”
  he drew his wand rapidly that harry barely saw it with a casual flick, the fa zood forward and knocked the knees out fro under all three of the dursleys that they lpsed upon it a heap another flick of the wand and the fa zood back to its origal position
  ”we ay as well be fortable,” said dubledore pleasantly
  as he repced his wand his pocket, harry saw that his hand was bckened and shriveled it looked as though his flesh had been burned away
  ”sir — what happened to your — ?”
  ”ter, harry,” said dubledore ”please sit down”
  harry took the reag archair, choosg not to look at the dursleys, who seed stunned to silence
  ”i would assu that you were gog to offer refreshnt,” dubledore said to uncle vernon, ”but the evidence far ests that that would be optiistic to the pot of foolishness”
  a third itch of the wand, and a dty bottle and five gsses appeared idair the bottle tipped and poured a nero asure of honey-lored liid to each of the gsses, which then floated to each pern the roo
  ”ada rosrta’s fest oak-atured ad,” said dubledore, raisg his gss to harry, who caught hold of his own and sipped he had never tasted anythg like it before, but enjoyed it insely the dursleys, after ick, scared looks at one another, tried to ignore their gsses pletely, a difficult feat, as they were nudgg the ntly on the sides of their he