My Theory: Petunia/"That Boy"

[n_longbottom01]

No: HPFGUIDX 78048


KathyK writes:
> 
> <<Actually, I finally concluded that Petunia was lying through her 
teeth with that phrase and that she just said she heard James talking 
about it to Lily because she needed to cover the slip up she'd just 
made in front of her family that would have shown she was in contact 
with wizards after taking Harry in.>>  
> 
Brief Chronicles writes:

> I agree. I thought, with words to describe her speech 
like "jerkily," that Petunia was simply lying.
> 
> Here's what I think:
> 
> Petunia has had to keep in touch with DD, at DD's orders, and in 
secret so as to not upset Vernon. She hasn't liked it, but DD has 
told her all about Azkaban and the Dementors, so she fears him enough 
to follow his orders. 

Now Me (n_longbottom01):

The first thing that occured to me when Petunia let slip that she 
knows what Dementors are was that she had been secretly reading the 
Wizard newspapers that Harry had piling up in his room.  We are told 
that Petunia is an extremly nosey person; I can easily see Petunia 
being tempted to read the Daily Prophet while Vernon is at work and 
Harry is out roaming the neighborhood.

Petunia's access to the Daily Prophet could explain how she has some 
knowledge of the Wizarding World.  The "I heard it from that aweful 
boy" line could have been a cover so that Vernon didn't get upset 
about her reading Harry's paper.  The "Remember my last" howler 
message would seem to indicate, though, that Petunia did, at one 
point have some non-Daily-Prophet contact with at some point in the 
past.

n_longbottom01