Harry was never given any love or affection by Petunia because he made her think about Lily and the wizarding world. She initially gave him the cupboard under the stairs and made him do all the chores because she thought he was a waste of space. Most of Harry’s birthdays were ignored by her and Vernon.
She refused to accept Harry as a second son and never showed him the warmth and love he yearned for from her. In an effort to hide Harry from others, she kept him completely uninformed of the wizarding world and made her family appear as normal as she could. In 1997, when Harry departed to look for Horcruxes, Petunia was on the verge of wishing him luck and confessing that her mistreatment of him was motivated by jealously, but she pulled back at the last minute and left silent[8].
After Severus Snape was killed by Nagini’s fangs during the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry learned several suppressed memories about Snape’s past and allegiances. Inadvertently revealing to Harry the reasons for his future aunt Petunia’s hate of him and magic in general, such as their falling out as children, Petunia’s jealousy of Lily’s magical prowess, and her early animosity with Snape, were many of the first memories he had ever seen. However, Harry was more interested in learning Snape’s roots and allegiances than he was in unlocking Petunia’s animosity toward him.
Petunia would subsequently become Ginny Weasley’s aunt-in-law and the great-aunt to James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna, the three children of Harry and Ginny. It is uncertain if Petunia herself ever got in touch with Harry again, despite the fact that Harry and Dudley were still on “Christmas card terms” and occasionally visited. Despite everything, Harry loved her enough to insist that they hide for their safety. If Petunia kept in touch with Harry after the war, it is unknown.
Severus Snape
“I heard that nasty boy telling her about them years ago,” said Petunia Dursley.
Severus Snape and Petunia originally became friends when they were little. She was Lily Evans’ sister, but unlike Lily, Petunia was a Muggle. From the minute they met, Snape and Petunia had a profound disdain for one another. Due to his low socioeconomic standing and his eccentric nature, Petunia, who was intolerant of anything out of the ordinary, treated him with scorn. The fact that she was a Muggle and that she made derogatory remarks about his clothing, on the other hand, caused Snape to look at her with disdain. Perhaps as a result of their early antipathy, the Dursleys never discussed Snape or anything else connected to magic until Dudley Dursley was attacked by dementors and Petunia made a veiled reference to him as “that dreadful boy” when discussing dementors.
Ironically, Snape and Petunia’s unpleasant interactions contributed to the development of their individual adult personas. Snape’s contacts with Petunia probably contributed to his developing contempt for the Muggle community and led him to engage in Pure-blood supremacy and the Dark Arts in his adolescence and early adulthood. Similarly, Petunia’s interactions with Snape probably made her less tolerant of anything or anyone associated with the wizarding community. In a tragic twist of irony, Lily, Petunia’s sister, died as a result of Snape’s pursuit of the Dark Arts.
Why did Aunt Petunia treat Harry badly?
Harry Potter fans continue to have unanswered questions about the wizarding world even years after the series came to an end. Why, for example, did the Dursleys detest Harry so much? Harry was thought to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes in earlier hypotheses, but it turns out that petty jealousy is the real culprit. J.K. Rowling discusses the interaction between the Dursley and Potter families in the years preceding Lily and James’ passing in a recent Pottermore article. The creator of the Muggle pair was also briefly explained by the Harry Potter book.
Fans are aware that Petunia was always ferociously envious of Lily, her sister. The author now affirms that Petunia “had also buried deep inside her (and never disclosed to Vernon) her long ago hope that she, too, would exhibit symptoms of magic, and be whisked off to Hogwarts.” It’s probable that Petunia tried to stop her nephew from enrolling in Hogwarts as a minor kind of retaliation towards Lily for being the gifted kid, even if Rowling claims that Petunia’s dislike of Harry stemmed from her regrets over taking him in.
On the other hand, Vernon was always as unpleasant as when we first met him. Vernon made an effort to humiliate James on their first encounter by enquiring about his automobile and “suppos[ing] out loud that wizards had to live on unemployment benefit.” James, being a bit of a jerk, retaliated against Vernon by telling him stories about Gringotts gold and racing brooms. Harry was treated poorly by Vernon, much like Snape, merely because of his likeness to his father.
Regardless of their individual motivations for suppressing Harry, Vernon and Petunia’s animosity toward him was motivated by their aversion to the unknowable. Rowling’s article states:
They were too terrified to think about a Dark wizard with Lord Voldemort’s level of power, so they pushed it to the back of their minds, just like they do with any topic that makes them uncomfortable or unappealing. They repeated the lie that Lord Voldemort had died in a car accident so often that they almost came to believe it.
She also responds to complaints from readers about Petunia’s icy farewell to Harry. Rowling insists that the tragic scene depicts Harry’s aunt “behaving in a way that is most consistent with her ideas and sentiments throughout the previous seven books,” even though she acknowledges that “something decent” does exist in Petunia’s heart.
Finally, “They were not disappointed because they never appeared to expect any better from Uncle Vernon.”
Was Aunt Petunia attempting to keep Harry safe?
Petunia didn’t just exhibit her positive side in that one instance, either. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Petunia tries to spare Harry’s life by letting him stay at their Privet Drive home after she receives a Howler from Dumbledore. She even goes so far as to contradict Vernon, who wasn’t in favor of this choice. This also relates to the fact that Harry was allowed to return to the Dursley’s home during the summer, so he could be protected. In other words, Petunia did not want Harry to pass away like her sister, matter how cruelly she treated him.
Then, as she prepares to bid her nephew farewell, the following occurs:
Did Petunia attend Harry’s nuptials?
“Large and neckless, this young businessman seemed to young Petunia a picture of manliness.”
“Petunia accepted right away when Vernon Dursley quite appropriately proposed marriage in his mother’s sitting room at the appropriate time.”
He solemnly assured Petunia that he would never hold that fact against her for having a weirdo for a sister.
Petunia had also long had the wish—which she never confided to Vernon—that one day, she too would exhibit magical abilities and be whisked away to Hogwarts.
The Dursleys’ names were chosen by J.K. Rowling because she believed they had an unpleasant sound.
“Vernon” is just a name I’ve never given much thought to, wrote Rowling. In make-believe games I played with my sister, I always called disagreeable female characters “Petunia.”
“Although some readers desired more from Aunt Petunia during [Harry’s departure], I still believe that I had her act in a manner that is most consistent with her thoughts and sentiments throughout the previous seven volumes,” the author said.
Uncle Vernon never seemed to live up to expectations, so people weren’t upset.
The Dursleys, did they adore Harry?
The Dursley family was an important part of the life of the titular wizard even if they were relatively minor characters in the overall scheme of Harry Potter.
Despite the fact that Harry’s evil aunt and uncle made his life miserable for the first few years of his childhood, J.K. Rowling has provided an explanation.
According to a post on Pottermore, Lily Potter’s sister was captivated to the “deliciously average” Vernon when she first met Petunia Dursley in an office.
Petunia was more sucked into her husband’s boring existence and loathed her “weird” sister for being a witch.
Vernon found it difficult to believe that such people could exist in his world of order and that conflicts could start as soon as people met.
The relationship “nosedived from there,” according to Rowling, after Lily, her boyfriend James Potter, and the engaged couple met for the first time.
Rowling writes that Vernon detested Harry because, like Snape, he recognized his father James in him.
After Lily and James died, Petunia, who had severed ties with her sister out of remorse, grudgingly took in Harry after he showed up at number 4 Privet Drive.
Rowling explains, “She did so reluctantly and spent the rest of Harry’s youth punishing him for her own choice.
She continued by saying that their dread of Lord Voldemort was a major factor in the lie they told Harry for the first few years of his life—that his parents had perished in a car accident.
In addition, Rowling explained the origins of the characters’ names, stating that she never liked them and linked them with unhappiness.
The Dursleys were said to have despised Harry because he was one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes and the enchantment around him had altered their perceptions.
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Petunia, did you want to be a witch?
4. Petunia aspired to become a witch, according to Rowling: “Petunia had some hidden sentiments of guilt about the way she had severed her relationship with Lily, whom she knew, in her heart of hearts, had always loved her. She also claims that Petunia had a secret wish that she would exhibit magical abilities and be whisked away to Hogwarts.
Vernon, on the other hand, shares a detest of Harry with a Hogwarts student. Harry’s likeness to the father Uncle Vernon and Severus Snape both detested is a contributing factor in Uncle Vernon’s disdain of him, according to Rowling.
5. J.K. Rowling explains how she came to choose the names of the Dursley family: “‘Vernon’ is just a name I never much liked, she says, adding that she always meant for them to be their names, even if she spent time exploring various names for other characters.
“When my sister Di and I were very little, I usually called terrible female characters that we would play make-believe games with the name “Petunia.
6. Hagrid and Dumble are named very specifically: Rubeus Hagrid and Albus Dumbledore were taken from the words “red and “white, two hues frequently connected with alchemy, whereas Petunia and Vernon may have been given names based on instinct. While Dumbledore is white, which is majestic and intelligent, Hagrid is red, which is warm and wild.
Did Harry’s family detest him because he was a Horcrux?
Because thousands upon thousands of printed pages simply cannot contain her brilliance, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has taken to sharing new information about her characters on the Pottermore website. She has now spoken out on the hotly contested subject of why the Dursleys despise Harry Potter so much. Sadly, the Horcrux idea has nothing to do with it.
If you’re the type of fan who prefers to learn new information on their own, head over to Pottermore to click through a new interactive Deathly Hallows chapter and learn the new details for yourself. These details include not only the real reason the Dursley family detested Harry but also additional information about Dumbledore and Hagrid and what they meant to Harry.
Regarding the Dursleys, a persuasive fan theory said that because Harry was converted into a Horcrux by Voldemort, who can use them to influence others around them, this increased the Dursleys’ animosity toward Harry. However, Rowling claims that Vernon Dursley, true to form, despised Harry for much more understandable reasons, including the fact that Harry made him feel uncomfortablely similar to his father, James Potter.
James made the error of letting Vernon see how amused he made him. James was the target of Vernon’s patronizing question about his vehicle. James talked about his race broom.
Vernon mused aloud that wizards were reliant on unemployment compensation. James talked about Gringotts and the gold-encased money his parents had stored there.
Vernon became irate because he was unable to determine if he was being made fun of or not. Vernon and Petunia stormed out of the restaurant as the night came to a conclusion, Lily sobbed, and James—a bit ashamed of himself—promised to make amends with Vernon as soon as possible.
Although the explanation may be a little more commonplace and clear than “It was black magic!” Rowling is concerned that it be genuine to the characters. She also mentioned that she might have like Aunt Petunia to ultimately be kinder to Harry, but she concluded that wouldn’t be consistent with her persona throughout the entire series of books up to that point.
What do you think, then? Is it essentially what you had always imagined, or do you have another theory?
Who made Petunia aware of my previous?
Petunia’s animosity against Harry was probably a result of her long-standing envy of Lily, her magical sister. Remember my last,” read a Howler from Dumbledore addressed to Petunia. He was likely referring to the letter he left with baby Harry on Privet Drive’s front step. Albus had another motivation to write, though, and this one had far-reaching repercussions.
When Petunia wrote to the headmaster of Hogwarts as a young girl pleading to be admitted, he sent her a sympathetic reply. Dumbledore’s tactful rejection caused “Tuney” to start calling her sister a “weird.”
Petunia was disappointed and resentful, so she watched Lily and Snape as they become close friends and learned bits and pieces about the wizarding world she would never be able to enter.
Harry was more shocked than Uncle Vernon to hear Petunia mention “Azkaban” as she spat out a competent description of a Dementor. Even Petunia, who was so determined to despise the magic she never experienced, was horrified to learn of Voldemort’s reappearance; this was the one time Harry genuinely realized she was her mother’s sister.
Although she may have given Harry a place to grow up, it was obvious that Petunia’s unfulfilled magical aspirations were likely what made her the person she was—someone who was more concerned with the surgical cleanliness of her counters than the welfare of her sister’s son.
She paused briefly as she bid Harry farewell, as if to say something. Of course, she never did, but that shaky second revealed a lot about her character.