Petunia and Lily (was:Chapter Discussions - Chapter Two Questions. . . )

[bibphile]

No: HPFGUIDX 72077

Rebecca wrote:
 
Do we know if Petunia is the older or younger sister? If she's
younger, maybe Lily had James over after she graduated and him,
hearing about what type of person she is, told her the dementer
stories to scare her. It appears that would fit with James'
character.

Corinth:
 
Although the Petunia-is-younger scenario would be interesting, I 
don't think it's possible based on the timeline we're given.  We 
know that James and Lily graduate from Hogwarts only two years 
before Harry is born, which makes them about 20 at the time of their 
deaths.  If Petunia was indeed younger, it would mean she would be 
younger than this at the beginning of SS/PS.  That just doesn't fit 
with the descriptions given. Vernon seems to have a middle 
management type job, which would require at least a few years 
experience, and he is never described as being older than Petunia.  
Also, I get the feeling Vernon and Petunia have been married and 
settled at Privet Drive for at least a few years.  My impression was 
always late-twenties, early-thirties, making Petunia 5-10 years 
older than Lily (a large gap, but not unheard of).  
 
bibphile (me):

Really?  Where did we learn that James and Lily were 20 when they 
died.  I thought JKR said in an interview that Snape (and therefore 
James) was 36 in GoF.  That would put James 22 when Harry was born 
and 23 when he died.  I do admit, thaough, that I have not read said 
interview and I may very well be mistaken.  Either way, I also 
believe Petunia to be the elder sister.  Like you said, Vernon and 
Petunia seemed to have been married a while and Vernon's career was 
well established.

What does everyone think it was like for Lily and Petunia growing 
up?  I do think their parents showed favortism to Lily.  Not 
anywhere in the same league as how the Dursleys treat Dudley and 
Harry, of course, but still considerable.

I also don't think Petunia was terrible to Lily at first, but 
probably got more resentful and meaner as they got older.  I don't 
think Lily was ever hiddious to Petunia either.  I do think she may 
have payed jokes on her.  Kind of like the twins on Percy.  Most of 
the time, the jokes aren't really meant to be mean, but they are 
because the joker is completly ignoring the victim's wish to be left 
alone.  It is not nice to turn someone's teacup into a rat.

This is all based on impressions, though.

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