Mimble Wimble (longer)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 90565

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lizvega2" <lizvega2 at y...> > 
> And, one of the major themes of the books has been prejudice, 
> > bigotry, intolerance. We have gotten so good at 'categorizing' 
> > everyone- and that's what her characters and their endeavors are 
> > trying to teach us not to do- I wouldn't be one bit surprised if 
> > vernon is magical, or dudley for that matter, or petunia. Just 
> like 
> > Harry and Hagrid think they're the biggest bunch of muggles in the 
> > world- so do we- but what if we/Harry are wrong? How would that 
> > affect Harry or the plot?
> 
> 
> I've always thought Petunia would be the one to do magic "later in 
> life" but you've almost got me convinced it might be Vernon!! His 
> very late entry into the magic world would be quite stunning for 
> Harry & Co. One of my favorite scenes in OOTP is the point 
> where  "....for the very first time in his life, Harry fully 
> appreciated that Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister." (P. 38) 
> Wonder if finding out Vernon has magical blood will also invite a 
> moment of understanding for Harry?
> 
> Jen, still convinced Petunia's the one, but considering Vernon for 
> shock value

Since JKR has taken great pains from Book One to present Uncle Vernon
as the ultimate Muggle, even allowing us inside his head to present
the Muggle tendency to deny the existence of anything that would hint
at the magic he considers "unnatural," I really don't think it could
be him. 

And if Vernon turns out to be the one who learns magic late in life,
despite any inclination to do so, how can we trust anything JKR's
narrator says? (I know we can't trust Harry's perspective, but the
first chapter of SS/PS is not written from Harry's POV, and it clearly
presents Vernon as a Muggle.)

If it must be a Dursley who belatedly does a bit of magic, I'd rather
it be Petunia, who at least has some experience of the WW (which she
has forcibly suppressed for fifteen years or more). But my bet is
still Mrs. Figg, who talks like a witch and sees Dementors and
communicates with cats. (I don't usually go in for physical violence,
but I loved the part where she hit Mundungus Fletcher with her bag
full of catfood cans. I'm sure she would have hexed him instead if
she'd had a wand.)

Carol