· Why did the Dursleys look after Harry for all those years and why do they keep taking him back?
· Parallels between the Potters and the Dursleys?
· Harry: Protected by Magic when he is with the Dursleys?
· The Odd Birthday and Christmas Presents
· Vernon Dursley
· Petunia Dursley
· Dudley Dursley
Father: Vernon
Mother: Petunia
Child: Dudley
Home: 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey
Group Discussion Messages: YahooGroup 2394 (by Diann)
When we first meet Harry, he is in the care of the Dursley family. However, using the word "care" to describe how they treat him may be taking things a bit to far. The Dursleys appear at the beginning of each story to provide a convenient way of starting point that is usually full of comic incidents.
They provide a test of tolerance for Harry, stopping him becoming bigheaded and allowing him to be able to emphasise with the problems that both Hermione and Ron have in the wizarding world. They provide the fairy tale beginning to a story that captivates readers of all ages.
As we have progressed through the story (considering the series as one long story split into seven volumes rather than as seven stories), the Dursleys involvement has lessened. On top of this, Harry has become able to stand up to them and is starting to get his way.
The Dursleys are ignorant of Magic and so fear anyone connected with this strange and unusual ability. In some ways they can almost be pitied as they are set in their ways and just allowing their minds to enquire further would answer all of their queries and problems. [1]
Why did the Dursleys look after Harry for all those years and why do they keep taking him back?
When Harry arrived in the Dursley household, a very easy reaction for Petunia and Vernon would have been to pass him onto the care of an orphanage, but they did not do this. They seem to hate Harry and the wizarding world he represents but still they pick him up at the end of the school year. Why? Have they been offered a financial reward to do so – wealth seems important to them. Did Dumbledore write something in his letter to them that obliged them to look after Harry? Or is this all an act of keeping up the appearance of looking after Harry, to appear to be the perfect family looking after the orphaned nephew, when they instead treat him badly?[2]
The Dursleys seem to be Harry’s only remaining family (Dumbledore says that they are his only relatives).[3] Dumbledore places him with them for this reason. But are there similarities between the two families, even though these two families seem at first blush to be completely polar opposites?
Petunia and Vernon are devoted towards their son Dudley. They work hard for him and shower him with gifts. Vernon seems protective of Petunia, stepping in front of her when she seemed at apparent danger from Arthur Weasley. The pair of devoted parents think they are doing everything for Dudley’s best interests, but it is more than likely that the things they are doing are causing more harm than good. They have fed him until he has become alarmingly overweight; they do all the work for him (thus he is never allowed to think for himself). They also allow him to go unpunished over his bullying of others. They are neglecting his needs as a person. [4]
Harry: Protected by magic when he is with the Dursleys?
It is interesting to note that Harry has some form of protection against Voldemort while he is with the Dursleys. It would be interesting to see how they would react if they knew that one thing they despise, magic, is being used to protect Harry. In PoA, when Harry inflates Aunt Marge, the Ministry almost instantly knows something is up. Could this be a result of the magic that is there to protect Harry?
How far does the protection to Harry extend? Only when he is physically in the presence of one of the Dursleys, when he is in the house or when he is in their care? [5]
For one Christmas Harry received a tissue from the Dursleys. The question to be asked here is why? They take the effort to send him a present, but only something rubbish. Is this because they feel that you have to send a relative a Christmas present? [6]
"Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache." [7]
"Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on neighbours." [8]
Petunia is very ignorant about the wizard world. She knows nothing about Floo powder and seems generally unaware about magic and the wizarding world. At no stage has she questioned Harry about any money his parents might have left him and made no attempt at ever finding out if he had an inheritance, which as it turns out is a good thing. Petunia would only have taken it away from Harry. [9]
Is Petunia a Squib or a Witch? It is quite clear from the outburst in PS that Petunia feels very angry about the wizarding world. This has led some members of the group to put forward the conjecture that she is either a squib or a witch hiding her powers. Is she upset that Lily was the better at magic and got a place at Hogwarts when she did not?
If she does have some wizarding powers why is there no indication of her trying to use them? Is this because of the hatred she has built up against Harry’s world? Questions like this are awaiting an answer, but will there ever be an occasion in the books for us to find out the answers?
An intriguing theory is that Lily Potter, Narcissa Malfoy and Petunia Dursley are related. This would lend support to the idea of Petunia being a squib but one wonders why there has never been any mention of the Malfoys if they are in fact related. [10]
"He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head." [11]
"Dudley had reached roughly the size and weight of a young killer whale." [12]
Dudley comes across as a pathetic individual whom you feel sorry for because it is obvious that almost all of his faults have been caused by his parents’ treatment of him and Harry over the years. In GoF there are definite signs that he is heading towards becoming a delinquent.
As he knows that wizards do exist, it will interesting to see whether he can see past the bigoted outlook of his parents and realise that there is nothing wrong with the wizarding world. Otherwise he will always hate Harry and his life as a wizard, meaning that the hatred and bigotry towards him will continue, assuming that they ever meet up again. [13]
Footnotes
3. For more information look at the following message: YahooGroup 10995
4. For more information look at the following messages: YahooGroup 11661, 11671, 11725
5. For more information look at the following messages: Yahoo Clubs 2325, 3974, 4090, 5283
6. For more information look at the following messages: YahooGroup 6883, 6886, 6927, 7347
9. For more information look at the following messages: Yahoo Clubs 5183 and YahooGroup 136