[HPFGU-OTChatter] Something huge about Lily! (was: Re: info. on book 6)

[Vivamus]

> > Vivamus: 
> > Here, finally, is my theory to answer the question:  Lily had saved 
> > Riddle's life at some point, and that is what gave her the ability to 
> > protect
> 
> Dina:
> Ah, the old 'life debt'.  Heh, I say LV had the hots for Lily...
> y'know, LV and LE, sitting in a treE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.  Okay, 
> not only is that lame but I couldn't get a good rhyme/meter for it.

Vivamus:
Heh.  He is also about 30 years older than her.

> Dina:
> So, there's supposedly 'something huge about Lily' (and it's not her
> knockers) and 'something more to Petunia'.  There's a family 
> legecy hype throughout the books.  Didn't Petunia have a 
> reaction to hearing about Voldemort being back in OOTP?  I 
> find it ironic how Petunia and Tom Riddle/Voldemort are at 
> opposite spectrums in Harry's life--one is against muggles 
> and another against magic.

Vivamus:
Now THAT's an interesting observation.  I completely missed that.  I wonder
if TR and Petunia are deliberately set up that way.  If so, then there
probably is much more for Petunia to do.

Here is the passage from OOtP with Petunia's reaction: 

'He must have sent them,' said Harry quietly, more to himself than to Uncle
Vernon. 
'What's that? Who must have sent them?' 
'Lord Voldemort,' said Harry. 
He registered dimly how strange it was that the Dursleys, who flinched,
winced and squawked if they heard words like 'wizard', 'magic' or 'wand',
could hear the name of the most evil wizard of all time without the
slightest tremor. 
'Lord - hang on,' said Uncle Vernon, his face screwed up, a look of dawning
comprehension coming into his piggy eyes. 'I've heard that name. that was
the one who -' 
'Murdered my parents, yes,' Harry said dully. 
'But he's gone,' said Uncle Vernon impatiently, without the slightest sign
that the murder of Harry's parents might be a painful topic. That giant
bloke said so. He's gone.' 
'He's back,' said Harry heavily. 
It felt very strange to be standing here in Aunt Petunia's surgically clean
kitchen, beside the top-of-the-range fridge and the wide-screen television,
talking calmly of Lord Voldemort to Uncle Vernon. The arrival of the
Dementors in Little Whinging seemed to have breached the great, invisible
wall that divided the relentlessly non-magical world of Privet Drive and the
world beyond, Harry's two lives had somehow become fused and everything had
been turned upside-down; the Dursleys were asking for details about the
magical world, and Mrs Figg knew Albus Dumbledore; Dementors were soaring
around Little Whinging, and he might never return to Hogwarts. Harry's head
throbbed more painfully. 
'Back?' whispered Aunt Petunia. 
She was looking at Harry as she had never looked at him before. And all of a
sudden, for the very first time in his life, Harry fully appreciated that
Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister. He could not have said why this hit
him so very powerfully at this moment. All he knew was that he was not the
only person in the room who had an inkling of what Lord Voldemort being back
might mean. Aunt Petunia had never in her life looked at him like that
before. Her large, pale eyes (so unlike her sister's) were not narrowed in
dislike or anger, they were wide and fearful. The furious pretence that Aunt
Petunia had maintained all Harry's life - that there was no magic and no
world other than the world she inhabited with Uncle Vernon - seemed to have
fallen away. 
'Yes,' Harry said, talking directly to Aunt Petunia now. 'He came back a
month ago. I saw him.' 
Her hands found Dudley's massive leather-clad shoulders and clutched them. 
'Hang on,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his wife to Harry and back again,
apparently dazed and confused by the unprecedented understanding that seemed
to have sprung up between them. 'Hang on. This Lord Voldything's back, you
say.' 
'Yes.' 
The one who murdered your parents.' 
'Yes.' 
'And now he's sending Dismembers after you?' 
'Looks like it,' said Harry. 
'I see,' said Uncle Vernon, looking from his white-faced wife to Harry and
hitching up his trousers. He seemed to be swelling, his great purple face
stretching before Harry's eyes. 'Well, that settles it,' he said, his shirt
front straining as he inflated himself, 'you can get out of this house,
boy!' 


Vivamus:
I hadn't thought about it much before, but she really is terrified to hear
that he is back, isn't she?  And all DD had to do in that howler was say,
"remember my last", and she insists that they let Harry stay.  Vernon's
logic, while based on a wrong premise (that LV sent the Dementors) still
comes to the correct conclusion that he and his family are in serious danger
because Harry is there.  She (correctly) believes that to be true.  She
knows her son was almost killed (or worse) that night because of Harry.  She
knows that they all may be in deadly danger because he is there.  And yet,
she insists they keep him.

I pasted in such a large block because there are clues to your idea all
through it.  It's as if there have been two completely separate worlds in
Harry's existence, and he has shuttled back and forth between them, with no
connection at all.  Now that LV is back, however, the separation has begun
to break down.  Petunia knows about Dementors, and LV has a body again.  LV
is moving towards muggle reality, and Petunia is moving towards the world of
magic.  Harry seems to be struck with the fact that the two worlds are
moving towards each other.

If that is intentional, then it probably will be Petunia who exhibits magic
at some point in the future (probably for some great purpose like saving
Dudley's life, but she'll still be horrified.)

It also begs the question of whether there is some kind of redemptive plan
for Tom Riddle, once LV is destroyed.  (I've been dismissing that theory as
very unlikely, but you've got me wondering now.  Best guess would be that
either both would find redemption -- TR into some kind of peaceful death,
which would be what he has earned, and Petunia into peaceful coexistence
with the world of magic -- or both will remain estranged, Harry finally
leaving the Dursleys forever, and LV/TR being totally destroyed,
body/mind/spirit.)  

EXCELLENT observation; thanks!

Vivamus