The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.

Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.

This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.

“They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall,” he told Harry. “Want to come upstairs and practice?”

“No, thanks,” said Harry. “The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick.” Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.

One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings’ boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.

As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.

    那只巴西莽蛇的逃跑害得哈利受到有史以来最严厉的惩罚。到他被允许从柜子里出来的时候，暑假已经开始了。这时达德里已经弄坏了他的电影摄像机和遥控飞机，并且第一次骑赛车就把正拄着拐杖横穿马路的费格太太撞倒了。

　　哈利庆幸学校已经放假了。可是他仍然逃脱不了达德里那一帮朋友的追打。他们隔一天就来一次。皮尔斯、丹尼斯、麦尔哥和杰姆都是头脑简单的大个子，很显然达德里是最胖最蠢的那个，所以他理所当然地做了头。他们似乎把追着哈利打当成了他们最喜欢的活动。

　　这就是为什么哈利尽可能地长时间在外头闲逛，一心盼望着假期早日结束的原因了。那样他可能还能看到一线生机。九月份到来的时候，哈利就要去上中学了，这也是他一生中第一次不用和达德里呆在一块。达德里去了维能姨丈的母校，斯麦尔丁中学。皮尔斯。波各斯也去了那所学校。哈利则去了斯德伍中学，这是一所当地的综合学校。达德里因此常常取笑哈利。

　　"斯德伍中学的学生第一天就会把你的头塞进马桶里面。"他告诉哈利，"怎么样，你想现在上楼去练习一下吗？""不用了。"哈利说，"我敢说那只马桶没有塞过比你的大头更恶心的东西。"说完他拔腿就跑——万一达德里听出其中的意思他就惨了。

　　七月份里的一天，帕尤妮亚姨妈带达德里去伦敦买他的校服，把哈利留在了费格太太那里。费格太太显得没有平时那么坏。原来是她被她的小猫咪绊倒摔坏了腿，所以不像以前那样疼她的猫了。

　　她让哈利去看电视，并且给了他一块好像放了几年的巧克力蛋糕。

　　那天晚上，达德里拿着他那崭新的校服在客厅里展示。斯麦尔丁中学的男装校服包括一件栗色的燕尾服、橙色的灯笼裤以及一项硬草帽。居然其中还有一根棍子，据说是用来在老师不注意时打人用的。

　　当维能姨丈看着穿着校服的达德里时，他说这是他一生中最骄傲的时候。帕尤妮亚姨妈则喜极而泣，说她简直不敢相信她的达德里已经长成这样一个翩翩美少年了。哈利则尽量不让自己出声，他因为要憋住不笑已经憋到两根胁骨都快断掉了。