What's in it for the Dursleys (Was On the other hand.....)

[mad_maxime]

No: HPFGUIDX 92558

HunterGreen wrote:
> Over and over again in each book, the Dursleys rights as guardians
> are ignored, yet they are expected to still let Harry have a room
> in their house.

> Meri wrote:
> This quote struck me for some reason, and I was reminded of the Peck
> of Owls chapter in OP. Aunt Petunia obviously has some connections
> to the WW that even her husband doesn't know about. Could there be
> some overriding reason, other that DD's howlers, that keeps the door
> open for Harry every summer after Hoogwarts lets out? I doubt that
> there is monetary compensation, so what could this connection be?
> Any thoughts?

My response (Max):

I'm new to this list, so forgive me if this has been mentioned before.
 My theory is that Dumbledore's protective charm extends to Petunia
and probably Dudley as well.  It is, after all, a blood charm.  

I think that Dumbledore made it clear to Petunia that she and her
family were in as much danger as Harry.  Therefore, if she agreed to
take him in, her family would be protected as well (not sure about
Vernon). In other words, no Harry, no protection for her family. 
Seems like a strong motivation to me.

There's another reason why I believe Harry is not the only one
protected by the blood charm.  If that were true, than all Voldemort
or a DE would have to do to get to him is to knock off Petunia, which
would be insanely easy to carry out. So, imo, for the protection to be
believable at all, it must also extend to Petunia.

Max