On the eve of his birthday, Harry Potter, a young wizard, is up late working on his summer homework. Harry, who lost both of his parents to the evil Lord Voldemort when he was a baby, lives with his terrible relatives, the Dursleys. The Dursleys are Muggles: non-magical people who forbid him to practice magic during the summer and who “had hoped that if they kept Harry as downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of him” (2). Harry is isolated in the Dursleys’ house, and he hasn’t been able to contact his wizarding friends—Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger—because Harry’s pet owl, Hedwig, isn’t allowed to bring them letters. Suddenly Harry gets a visit from three owls.

One owl is from Ron, who sends Harry a news clipping from the wizard newspaper, the Daily Prophet. The article states that “[t]he Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt” because Ron’s dad won “the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw” (8). Ron wishes Harry a happy birthday and gives him a Sneakoscope, which lights up and spins when someone untrustworthy is nearby. The second owl is from Hermione, who gives Harry a broom servicing kit for his racing broom, a Nimbus Two Thousand.