Awful Boy

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 83789

arcticalopex at a... wrote:

> On page 32 where Aunt Petunia talks about the awful boy who told 
> Lily about the Dementors, I was wondering whom people thought that 
> awful boy was. I know many people assume it was James Potter, 
> because Harry believes so, but I personally, for some reason I 
> can't explain, don't think she was referring to James. 
> Any other thoughts? Sorry if this has been discussed before.

I'm sorry too if this has been discussed before.

I don't think she was referring to James either. The expression she 
used : "that awful boy", doesn't strike me as being one she would use 
to talk about her brother-in-law. In my idea, she would just say 
something like " *he* ", and everyone would know who she's talking 
about.

Moreover, "that awful boy" makes me feel like she's talking about 
someone *whose name she doesn't remember*. It's the kind of thing we 
all do : "you know, that woman with red hair", or "I met that guy, 
the one with the Jaguar".

So who would it be ? One obvious answer comes to my mind : James's 
shadow, his almost-brother that went everywhere with him, Sirius ! We 
know James and Sirius were real pranksters. I guess James would have 
tried to accomodate his girlfriend's family, but it seems just like 
Sirius to go and scare the daylight out of stuck-up Petunia, just for 
the *fun* of it! No wonder Petunia would describe him as "awful" !

Another possibility, much less easy to explain, would be Snape. He 
was sure "awful". But how did Petunia get to meet Snape, I can't 
figure out. Maybe Snape came to see Lily during the summer (hello to 
you, Lily-Severus shippers) ? And when she rejected him, he took 
revenge on her sister ?

But my guess is : Sirius.

Oh, and by the way, IIRC we are *assuming* that the girl "that awful 
boy" was talking to was Lily, right ? The text doesn't say so 
explicitely, right ? So...

Del