The Dursleys at Risk

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 104707

Ali wrote:
> <snip> I understand that her sister had been murdered. It's more than 
> possible that she lost her parents through murder. But was Petunia 
> similarly at risk? Lily appears only to have lost her life because 
> she tried to protect Harry. So why would Petunia feel at risk? 
> Perhaps it was simply paranoia, which I believe would have been 
> understandable, but is that really the reason?
> 
> Or is it possible that she didn't feel at risk but she feared for 
> Dudley? perhaps there is something in the male blood line of the 
> Evans family which Voldemort was keen to stamp out? Perhaps there is 
> another prophesy relating to the Evans family, or perhaps Petunia 
> was aware of peculiarities about Dudley aka magical abilities which 
> she felt would endanger his life? 
> 
> Of course, having a magical son would force Petunia to face her own 
> feelings of jealousy and demons from her past. I think those would 
> be sufficient reasons to make Petunia take Harry in, but not 
> otherwise.

Carol:
Aside from the fact that we've been repeatedly told that all the
Dursleys are Muggles, I don't think that Petunia is trying to stamp
the magic out of Dudley. Consider first that the Dursleys fear *Harry*
and try to stamp the magic out of him by depriving him of his fair
share of food, clothing, and privileges. In contrast, they smother
Dudley with affection (or at least Petunia does) and indulge his every
whim. That IMO is not fear of magic but fear of loss of love--an
all-too-common phenomenon in the late twentieth and early twenty-first
century world. And note that Dudley was already a spoiled brat at
sixteen months old--*before* his cousin Harry appeared on his parents'
doorstep.

I do think we need to consider Petunia's fears and resentments
regarding the WW with regard to her treatment of Harry (she was
determined to suppress her connection with her sister even before
Godric's Hollow, but I don't think it has anything to do with Evans
blood or the male line (after all, both she and Lily are female--the
male line would relate to Mark Evans, if anyone). Also LV's
determination to kill Harry relates to the Prophecy and not to his
relationship to Lily. If he thought any sons born to her would be a
danger to him, he'd have killed her immediately. Instead he tries to
get her to move aside as if she were blocking his view. He doesn't
even see her as important enough to kill (since she's not offering to
duel with him); she's just an obstacle in his way.

I do think that Lily and Petunia's parents were killed by DEs or,
worse, attacked by Dementors (something drastic happened that Vernon
doesn't know about), but I can't think of any reaoson why LV would
want those particular Muggles killed. Maybe they were visiting the
Potters (James's parents) and all four were killed together? That
might explain why "that awful boy" was telling Petunia about Dementors.

Carol, with apologies to the List Elves for having to catch up when
she can