Redeeming the Dursleys

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 52865

We know from JKR's statements in interviews (don't have URLs handy, sorry)
that we're going to find out a lot about the Dursleys in Book Five.
Maybe...maybe we find out _why_ they're so terrified of magic?

A lot of attention has been given to the idea that _Petunia_ might really be
magical, or have had Squib parents.  What about Vernon?  His extremely
adamant insistence that there's nothing "abnormal" or magical about _him,_
thankyouverymuch, sounds just a _tad_ suspicious to me.  Could it be, my
learned colleagues, that _Vernon_ comes from a magical background, and is so
adamant because he's busily suppressing the knowledge, even to himself?

If, as I suspect, Vernon knows more about the magical world than he is
willing to admit, even to himself, what reasons could he have?  I hear you
asking this question, and I will see if I can come up with some answers.

One reason might be that he, or his parents, were and possibly still _are_
believers in a religion where magic is Right Straight Out.  While this is
much less common in the UK than it would be in the US, it's still far from
unknown.  If, say, one or both of his parents were magical, but were
converted to a religion that absolutely forbade magic, the whole subject
would probably have become taboo on the instant, and even though
adult-Vernon may have left his parents' adopted faith behind, it still has
shaped him in ways he can't really escape.

Another reason would be _fear._  If Young Vernon Dursley had some really
unpleasant encounter with magic and wizards, his attitude would, IMNSHO,
become much more understandable.  The family that ran the campgrounds where
the QWC took place might well have an uneasy feeling about magic and
"unusual" people, even after Memory Charms...and we don't know how effective
Memory Charms really are, now do we?  A badly-applied Memory Charm could
have left him with just enough memories that he has a permanent aversion to
magic, even though he doesn't know why.

Last, but never least, we have guilt.  We don't know anything about Vernon
Dursley's relations---but he recognized a Hogwarts letter the instant he saw
one.  What if he's a relation (magical or non-) of a famous magical
criminal, and hates thinking about magic, because thinking about magic makes
him think about his infamous relative?  If he'd been dragged through hell
because of the actions of a relative of his who committed crimes via magic,
he might well react by wanting nothing at all to do with magic, ever again.
I can just imagine how _I_ would feel about magic and the wizard world if
I'd been a target for a full-scale Rita Skeeter vilification campaign, and
it would be far worse for a vulnerable child.  (One of the most detestable,
contemptible things Rita S. does, in my view, is going out of her way to
slander and vilify Hermione for daring to criticize her.  And this is not
because I love Hermione best of all the Trio...I'd have felt the same if she
did it to Crabbe-and-Goyle.  The disparity in power and influence alone
makes Rita Skeeter a contemptible bully, and I'd be delighted to find that
she's a DE herself and has been hauled off to Azkaban for a thousand-year
sentence.  Putting an innocent child through Hell because he's got guilty
relatives is all in a day's wicked work for her.)

And, having thought of new reasons (AFAIK) for the Dursleys' anti-magic
attitude, what might redeem them?

One of the things that has been made abundantly clear in all four books of
the series so far is the Dursleys' love for their son Dudley.  Admittedly,
they express that love in dreadfully unhealthy ways, but nonetheless I do
not for a second deny or doubt its reality.  A good analogy is a child who
owns a pet, and, with the best intentions in the world, feeds it all sorts
of things that are bad for it.  The child means the pet no harm, but the pet
is harmed nonetheless.

Obese as Dudley's become, I fear terribly for his health.  It would
be...interesting...if he had something go horribly wrong with him, and the
Dursleys became desperate enough to appeal to Harry for magical help.  For
Dudley's sake, I could see the Dursleys literally going on their knees to
Harry.  And, learned friends, I do not think that Harry would refuse them
aid.  It has been made very clear that Harry's a humane person, kind and
gentle to all people.  Seeing his old nemeses begging him for help, in
tears, would soften him even if he wanted, at first, to let Dudley die so
that they would suffer.  He spared Peter Pettigrew, after all, and Peter had
confessed to complicity in the murders of Harry's parents.   Oh, he might
enjoy making them beg, but I think that in the end, Harry would do the Right
Thing, and either save Dudley himself or find a way to get him into the
hands of Madam Pomfrey, who can fix anything but death.

And if Dudley's life was saved by magic when the doctors had despaired of
it, that might well change the Dursleys' attitude toward magic.