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

[Shannon]

No: HPFGUIDX 107196


>Debbie said:
>
>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 didn't think it was Dumbledore throughout the whole book, either, because 
I assumed Harry would recognize Dumbledore's voice right away. But 
Dumbledore says he sent it, at the end of OotP.  Or at least, he doesn't 
disabuse Harry of the notion.  He doesn't actually *say* that he sent it.

 From the US version of OotP pg 836:

"You sent that Howler.  You told her to remember--it was your voice --"

"I thought," said Dumbledore, inclining his head slightly, "that she might 
need reminding of the pact she sealed by taking you.  I suspected the 
dementor attack might have awoken her to the dangers of having you as a 
surrogate son."

>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.

Last what though? That's what nags at me. I hope that Dumbledore, in the 
midst of his decision to finally tell Harry all this stuff at the end of 
the book, wouldn't still be keeping things from him.  So for now I'll take 
it at face value that Dumbledore sent it.  I want to know what it 
means.  He said it was a reminder, but how?  I do think that Petunia knows 
a great deal more than she lets on.  So much about her just doesn't quite fit.


>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.

Oh, I so completely agree!  That whole exchange about the Dementors was, 
for me, not just a red flag but a huge sparkly flashing banner, along with 
bugles and trumpets and great wailing warning SIREN.  haha  It's completely 
unbelievable to me that she'd ever have been in a position to accidentally 
overhear a conversation about Dementors.

Shannon


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