bumped her large jaw against Aunt Petunia's bony cheekbone.
Uncle Vernon now came in, smiling jovially as he shut the door.
"Tea, Marge?" he said. "And what will Ripper take?"
"Ripper can have some tea out of my saucer," said Aunt Marge as they all
proceeded into the kitchen, leaving Harry alone in the hall with the
suitcase. But Harry wasn't complaining; any excuse not to be with Aunt
Marge was fine by him, so he began to heave the case upstairs into the
spare bedroom, taking as long as he could.
By the time he got back to the kitchen, Aunt Marge had been supplied
with tea and fruitcake, and Ripper was lapping noisily in the corner.
Harry saw Aunt Petunia wince slightly as specks of tea and drool flecked
her clean floor. Aunt Petunia hated animals.
"Who's looking after the other dogs, Marge?" Uncle Vernon asked.
"Oh, I've got Colonel Fubster managing them," boomed Aunt Marge. "He's
retired now, good for him to have something to do. But I couldn't leave
poor old Ripper. He pines if he's away from me."
Ripper began to growl again as Harry sat down. This directed Aunt
Marge's attention to Harry for the first time.
"So!" she barked. "Still here, are you?"
"Yes," said Harry.
"Don't you say yes' in that ungrateful tone," Aunt Marge growled. "It's
damn good of Vernon and Petunia to keep you. Wouldn't have done it
myself. You'd have gone straight to an orphanage if you'd been dumped on
my doorstep."
Harry was bursting to say that he'd rather live in an orphanage than
with the Dursleys, but the thought of the Hogsmeade form stopped him. He
forced his face into a painful smile.
"Don't you smirk at me!" boomed Aunt Marge. "I can see you haven't
improved since I last saw you. I hoped school would knock some manners
into you." She took a large gulp of tea, wiped her mustache, and said,
"Where is it that you send him, again, Vernon?"
"St. Brutus's," said Uncle Vernon promptly. "It's a first-rate
institution for hopeless cases."
"I see," said Aunt Marge. "Do they use the cane at St. Brutus's, boy?"
she barked across the table.
