The Whole Evans Theory (longish)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 85255

> Tonks wrote: 
> <snip> 
> > I do not deny the possibility of a distant relative. But still, if
> Petunia is 
> > Harry's 'ONLY' relative... doesn't this make for something 
interesting? 

Geoff:
Being one of those who feel that Mark Evans could have a link to 
Harry, I wanted to come back to this question and consider again the 
evidence we have and the theories which have been put forward. In my 
argument, I am working from the perspective that he /is/ a relative.

First, let us consider Harry's arrival at Privet Drive. There are two 
things driving the action here; the need for baby Harry to be placed 
with someone and the question of relatives.

In a UK situation, if a child is orphaned, normally the question of 
placement with nearest relatives – brother, sister, aunt or uncle - 
would be investigated. If the matter was not resolved in this way, 
then more distant relatives would be looked at or placing in local 
authority care. Speaking from experience, some years ago, a boy in 
one of our church families was orphaned. There were several aunts and 
uncles who all seemed unwilling to take the lad. My wife and I took 
him in for three weeks until one of the families agreed to have him. 
Even them, it did not work out because they had a grown up daughter 
and had no experience of teenage boys and, after a couple of years, 
placed him in care where he remained until he was 18.

Dumbledore appears to choose Vernon and Petunia for two 
reasons. "They're  the only family he has now." (PS p.15 all quotes 
UK editions). But also the question of protection from 
Voldemort. "Why could some wizarding family not have taken you in?

. 
My answer is that my priority was to keep you alive. You were in more 
danger that perhaps anyone but I realised." (OOTP 736).  So 
Dumbledore approached Petunia. "'
I delivered you to her sister, her 
only remaining relative.' `She doesn't love me,' said Harry at 
once. `She doesn't give a damn –` `But she took you,' Dumbledore cut 
across him `She may have taken you grudgingly, furiously, 
unwillingly, bitterly, yet still she took you
.'" (OOTP pp.736-737).

This suggests a third reason. Going back to the night when James and 
Lily were killed, there was a conversation between Dumbledore and 
Minerva McGonagall. `I've written them a letter.' `A letter?' 
repeated Professor McGonagall faintly
'Really, Dumbledore, you think 
you can explain all this in a letter? There people will never 
understand him! He'll be famous – a legend - 
.' `Exactly', said 
Dumbledore
.. `It would be enough to turn any boy's head
. Can't you 
see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until 
he's ready to take it?'" (PS pp.15-16). Reading between the lines, I 
seem to sense that, at some point, possibly quite early, Dumbledore 
went to see Petunia personally to underline the importance of Harry's 
protection; this would also be borne out by the Howler which he sent 
to her early in OOTP. Does it appear that he had to go to her as the 
only surviving relative? Possibly the only one close enough to invoke 
the protection of family blood.

I have mentioned on a couple of occasions that when my father died in 
1994 and I went through his address book to notify people, 
I "discovered" a family relative about whom I knew nothing; the lady 
concerned was a first cousin of my father and the link led back to my 
great grandparents. It is fairly obvious that Dumbledore was very 
close to James and Lily Potter. "'Naturally,' said Professor 
McGonagall. `James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather 
than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding 
himself
 and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him 
offering to be the Potter's Secret-Keeper himself.'" (POA p.153). 
This implies very close friendship. So Dumbledore would know from 
conversations with Lily that  Petunia was her nearest relative. But 
would it follow that he knew there were /no/ other relatives? Would 
the matter of more distant relatives of Lily have surfaced in 
conversation with Dumbledore? Do we discuss distant and half-
forgotten family members with close friends? Not often. Dumbledore is 
intelligent and knowledgeable but not omniscient. To be fair, he may 
not be aware of the existence of other family members.

Let's consider a similar situation to the one I experienced 
personally. Petunia's comments imply that the Evans were a magical 
family. "'But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and 
Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family'" (PS 
p.44). If you go back to, say, Lily's great-grandparents and trace 
back down other arms on the family tree, there are probably members 
of the family who Lily may not have remembered or who were distant 
enough either genealogically or geographically to not register 
consciously with her; hence the possibility of Mark Evans being a 
distant relative.

As for the Little Whinging connection, I have already suggested that 
Mark's parents might be two squibs or a Muggle plus a squib. For this 
reason, they, like Arabella Figg, would not register at the Ministry 
as being in the area. A further question is, when does a young wizard 
become known to the Ministry? Would Mark Evans not become known by 
the Ministry until he gets a Hogwarts letter? Was Harry only known to 
the Ministry because of his special circumstances? "'We have no 
record of any witch or wizard living in Little Whinging, other than 
Harry Potter,' said Madam Bones at once. `That situation has always 
been closely monitored, given
 given past events.'" (OOTP p.131).

So why is the link not known? Again, from my own experience. My wife 
began to track her relatives some years ago. About four years ago, 
when we had been living in the West of England for five years, we 
discovered that she had a second cousin living 30 miles away – an 
hour's drive – about whom we knew nothing; probably because her 
parents had several siblings and cousins and tracking them was a long 
business.

It has been suggested that Petunia is a squib. She has obviously 
wanted to live an "ordinary" life with Vernon and disassociate 
herself with the magical connections of her sister and family. So she 
may have known that there were other branches of the family with 
magical connections and decided not to try to keep in touch or find 
out who they were. Hence, the Evans family including Mark arrive in 
Little Whinging unknown to the Dursleys and also not known to 
Dumbledore.

This is, like all the speculation on the group, hypothetical. It 
could be confirmed or totally stood on its head by the next two books 
but it presents my thoughts for the case that Mark is related to 
Harry and also living in the neighbourhood.

Geoff