[HPforGrownups] Re: Petunia doth protest overly much

[James Lawlor]

No: HPFGUIDX 104824

Pandrea:
> I think the obvious explanation is most likely.  Dumbledore is a
> hugely powerful wizard and she is terrified of magic - maybe she
> thinks that he'll curse her or kill her if they chuck Harry out.
> Maybe Dumbledore had a little fun and threatened her a little to that
> effect, though he wouldn't of course actually attack her.  Or maybe
> he just said something like "Well, if you throw Harry out, it will
> naturally become well known and many angry wizards and witches will
> turn up on your doorstep, thereby destroying your oh-so-normal life."Pleae.
I'm 

I'll add yet a third explanation into the mix. (I really must stop
replying to every third post - sorry! :D). It could be that Petunia,
deep down, is actually a Decent Person. After Dumbledore's rather
severe reminder, Petunia remembers what happened to her sister
(perhaps without a hefty dose of righteous anger it's not easy for her
to think of Lily "getting herself blown up", regardless of their
differences) and what horrible fate awaits Harry. As much as it may
not seem like it, and as loathe as she would be to admit it, I don't
think she wants to see anything bad happen to Harry either.

It also explains why she refused to explain to Vernon why Harry had to
stay. If it was fear of Dumbledore or just angry wizards in general, I
think she would have said something to the effect of "Vernon! If we
don't keep the boy HIS KIND will come after us! We don't have a
choice".

Maybe I'm just an optimist.
- James Lawlor, who hasn't sent this many emails in a day in a good while
jlawlor at gmail.com