Petunia’s It’s possible that Petunia’s desire to become a witch as a child influenced her animosity toward Harry. Just consider Petunia’s potential traits if she had been magical…
The fourth setting in the Harry Potter books, Privet Drive, may be the one that defies wizardry the most, but the person who kept its immaculate surfaces clean had a startling secret.
Together with her husband Vernon, Aunt Petunia intended to “wipe off” her nephew’s power. But Severus Snape’s recollections allow us to know that Petunia formerly had other goals.
What did Petunia make Dumbledore promise?
The pledge Petunia Dursley made to Albus Dumbledore was one of her most important secrets. There was a letter with Harry when he was left off at 4 Privet Drive after Voldemort had killed James and Lily and before he was killed himself. In the note, Dumbledore stated that Lily had sacrificed her life for her son and done so by calling upon an old very potent magic. If Petunia were to take Harry in, it would seal the charm and give him protection from Voldemort since she is the last living blood relative of Lily. This would continue for as long as he could name the location of his mother’s blood “home.” Harry was able to call Privet Drive home—albeit very sad one—until his seventeenth birthday because to Petunia, who welcomed him in despite her dislike for her sister. Albus Dumbledore’s letter contained information that Petunia never appeared to reveal to anyone, thus she kept the one good deed she had committed to herself. Even if it took Dumbledore howling “Remember my last” to remind her, she did keep her word.
What was stated in Petunia’s letter?
Petunia Evans sent a letter to Albus Dumbledore requesting if she may join her sister Lily Evans, a witch, at Hogwarts to study. Petunia felt left out despite Dumbledore’s courteous return letter denying her entrance due to the fact that she is a Muggle.
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 alludes to the fact that Harry was given permission to go back to the Dursleys’ house for the summer so he might be safe. 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:
Why is Harry so despised by Vernon Petunia?
Harry’s uncle and aunt met at work. Petunia Evans permanently departed Cokeworth to enroll in a typing course in London after being infuriated by the fact that her parents appeared to value her witch sister more than they did. This led to her getting a work in an office, where she ran into the very unmagical, egotistical, and materialistic Vernon Dursley. Large and neckless, this young businessman struck young Petunia as the epitome of masculinity. He was beautifully normal and not just interested in her romantically. By the time he had taken her on a string of uninteresting dates, during which he talked mostly about himself and his typical opinions on the world, Petunia was dreaming of the moment when he would lay a ring on her finger. He had an absolutely correct car and wanted to do completely routine things.
When Vernon Dursley eventually got down on one knee in his mother’s living room to propose marriage, Petunia accepted right away. The one thorn in her otherwise perfect plan was her worry about her sister, who was now in her final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and what her new fianc would think of her. What Vernon would think of a young woman who spent most of her time wearing lengthy robes and casting spells, Petunia could not bear to imagine. Vernon was known to dislike even persons who wore brown shoes with black clothes.
She broke down in tears on a date with Vernon in his dark car as they sat staring out at the chip store where he had just bought them a post-movie snack. Vernon was as astonished as Petunia had anticipated, but he assured her firmly that he would never be angry with her for having a freak for a sister. Petunia then threw herself on him in such a violent show of thanks that he dropped his mangled sausage.
When Lily and her boyfriend James Potter first met the engaged pair, things didn’t go well, and the relationship deteriorated from there. 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.
This never took place. Lily was upset that Petunia didn’t want her to be a bridesmaid since she was sick of being the center of attention. At the reception, Vernon avoided speaking to James but referred to him as “some sort of amateur magician” in James’ direct line of hearing. Petunia resembled Vernon more and more after they got married. She admired their tidy square home at 4 Privet Drive. She no longer had to worry about seeing unusual artifacts, teapots that started playing music as she passed, or lengthy debates about concepts she did not understand that had names like “Quidditch” and “Transfiguration.” She and Vernon made the decision to skip James and Lily’s wedding. The birth announcement for Harry was the final letter Lily and James sent her, and after giving it one disdainful glance, Petunia discarded it in the trash.
So it came as a huge shock when their orphaned nephew was discovered on their doorstep a little over a year later. His letter urged the Dursleys to take him in and described how his parents had been killed. It said that Harry would be protected from Lord Voldemort’s retribution as long as he could name the area where her blood still existed home, because Lily gave up her life for her son. This indicated that his only haven was at 4 Privet Drive.
Petunia had been, if anything, the Dursleys’ most determined to stop talking about her sister before Harry got there. Despite having a lot of anger and resentment, Petunia was hiding some latent remorse over how she had excluded Lily from her life, even though she knew in her heart that Lily had always loved her. Petunia had also long harbored the wish—which she never confided in Vernon—that she would exhibit magical prowess and be whisked away to Hogwarts.
She felt forced to take Harry in and raise him alongside her own beloved son, Dudley, after reading the horrifying details of Dumbledore’s letter, which described how valiantly Lily had died. She reluctantly agreed to it, and for the remainder of Harry’s youth, she punished him for her decision. Harry’s likeness to the father Uncle Vernon and Severus Snape both detested is a contributing factor in Uncle Vernon’s and Severus Snape’s disdain of Harry.
Their worries were a major factor in the tales they told Harry about how his parents had passed away. 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.
Petunia was reared next to a witch, yet she knows astonishingly little about magic. She and Vernon believe that they can somehow take Harry’s magic away, and to explain away the letters that Harry receives from Hogwarts on his eleventh birthday, they resort to the age-old myth that witches cannot cross water. She shouldn’t have been astonished when Hagrid had little trouble crossing the rough sea to the hut on the rock because she had repeatedly witnessed Lily race across stepping stones and jump streams throughout their childhood.
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.
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.
Why did Harry get to stay with Aunt Petunia?
Though Lily was different from Petunia, she had Lily in a small corner of her heart. It’s possible that she believed Harry was her sister’s last memory, Lily’s last gift, or the last obligation for an elder sister.
Aunt Petunia, did you wish to attend Hogwarts?
Petunia had a sister named Lily and was the oldest child of Muggles Mr. and Mrs. Evans. However, Lily possessed many unusual skills, such as the ability to move a flower’s petals without touching them, which her sister observed with a mix of envy and disapproval. These feelings were heightened as Petunia’s parents continued to compliment Lily on her magical skills, which made her even more envious. [4]
Severus Snape was a young kid who also resided in the town of Cokeworth[6], and the two (Petunia and Snape) viewed one another with contempt. But Lily was fascinated by Snape, and they quickly grew close. Later, Snape also started to develop feelings for Lily,[4] which Petunia may or may not have known about. If she did, it was probably because she disapproved of it.
Petunia asked Albus Dumbledore whether she might study there when Lily got a letter from Hogwarts certifying that she was a witch. Even though Dumbledore answered warmly, Petunia felt betrayed and left out when he said that she could not attend Hogwarts because she is a Muggle. Since then, Petunia has avoided magic and the wizarding community and has repeatedly referred to Lily as a “freak.” [4]
Marriage
“When Vernon Dursley eventually got down on one knee in his mother’s living room to propose marriage, Petunia accepted right away. The only thorn in her otherwise perfect plan was her worry for her sister, who was now in her final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and what her new fianc would think of her.”
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.