Mrs Figg (possible spoilers)

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 1601


> 
> There's clearly some reason for Harry being sent to Mrs Figg's 
house,
> especially as she's been revealed as being more than just an old 
lady in the
> 'hood with a few cats and limited baking skills. It would be 
interesting to
> know why the Dursleys tend to deposit Harry with Mrs Figg when they 
need a
> child-sitter.  Did Dumbledore suggest they do that in his letter or 
did he
> charm them into doing it?  Did the Dursleys know Mrs Figg before 
Harry was
> left on their doorstep?  Was Mrs Figg even living in Privet Drive 
before
> Harry arrived there?

Mrs. Figg doesn't live in Privet Drive, actually; she lives two 
streets away. While this seems like an insignificant point, it does 
set up several interesting moments: Mrs. Figg is wandering around 
Privet Drive on her crutches after breaking her leg, and Dudley 
knocks her over. What in the world was she DOING there with a broken 
leg? Trying to find out what happened to Harry, who was in the middle 
of his longest punishment ever, locked for weeks under the stairs? 
Also, two streets away is where Harry ends up after running away from 
home, and where the Knight Bus picks him up -- but how could he call 
the Knight Bus when he didn't even know it existed? Did someone ELSE, 
maybe Mrs. Figg, call the bus for him? I discuss this entire question 
in the Lexicon (read that page and let me know what you think...click 
on "Help/About" and find the "Puzzles, Red Herrings, Mysteries, etc." 
link.)

As for why the Dursleys sent Harry to Mrs Figg's house, I am more and 
more convinced that Petunia is Lily's squib sister. She, like Filch, 
resents all this magic rubbish and fights against it as one who has 
been rejected by it. But she is keenly aware of the magical world 
from the point of view of one who grew up in it, and even though she 
is doing her best to reject that world since she never fit in, she 
does recognize the danger Lord Voldemort poses even to her adopted 
Muggle world and that Harry must be protected. Petunia barely ever 
speaks with fear and hatred of the magical world--that's Vernon's 
role. She does fear and hate it, but for very different reasons, and 
that fear and hatred do not keep her from realizing the way things 
really are.

And hey, Figg is yet another plant name. Maybe she's an aunt or 
something in Lily and Petunia's family!

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon