Dumbledore's howler, Dumbledore and Petunia, (was Re: New JKR FAQ Poll: Which is significant?)

[elfundeb2]

No: HPFGUIDX 107147

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Shannon <srae1971 at b...> wrote:

I always 
> thought it was odd that Harry wouldn't have recognized 
Dumbledore's voice 
> immediately, though I guess it could have sounded very different 
from the 
> Dumbledore Harry knows. Still, it struck me as odd. And I can't 
get past 
> the wording of it.  It's too unusually worded for me to accept 
Dumbledore's 
> explanation as the whole story.

Heh.  Since Harry did not recognize the voice, I assumed it was 
*not* Dumbledore who sent the Howler.  As a result, what I thought 
was odd was the fact that JKR referred to it as "Dumbledore's 
Howler" (though it makes sense if she's quoting a fan question).  
I'm half expecting the answer to be "What makes everyone think 
Dumbledore sent it?" although I think it was sent by a member of the 
Order at any rate, and its author matters less than the fact that 
Petunia is in communication with wizards and is evidently hiding 
that fact from Vernon.

And while I have little to offer in speculation about who might have 
sent the Howler, if not Dumbledore, I can readily imagine the 
content of the sender's "last".  Since the reason Harry was placed 
with the Dursleys in the first place was to provide protection from 
Voldemort ("While you can still call home the place where your 
mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by 
Voldemort."), it seems likely that Petunia was informed of 
Voldemort's return, and the resulting increased risk to Harry, and 
possibly to herself.   

While Vernon's attitude toward magic is motivated by his desire to 
be the exemplar of the *normal* middle class, I think Petunia is 
afraid of magic because she knows its consequences too well, a fear 
which was first expressed in PS/SS when Harry came along on Dudley's 
trip to the zoo because Petunia feared that the house might blow up 
otherwise.  

In fact, I think she's been kept quite well informed.  Her statement 
about Dementors, for example, seems too specific (and her response 
to Vernon's question too "jerky") to be merely a random thought she 
remembers hearing someone mention 15 years ago.  I suspect she may 
know what happened to Harry by the lake in PoA, and she's terrified 
both about how someone might come after her (in the manner of the 
Lestranges' attack on the Longbottoms) *and* about keeping this 
knowledge -- including knowledge of Dumbledore's letter -- from 
Vernon.  

Some time ago, Ali wrote a wonderful post entitled "The Tragedy of 
Petunia Dursley" which I would love to find and which touches on 
this last point, which I would love to explore further but don't 
have time at the moment.  If someone knows where it is, I would love 
to be directed to it (offlist).

Debbie
who voted for JKR to answer this question