Peter & Petunia (was Re: Unfortunate!Peter)

[Sharon]

No: HPFGUIDX 118322


> > Kneasy:
> > Peter as Lothario - is that your meaning?
> > If Peter ever went to the Evans/Dursley establishment (do we 
> > know if it happened before Petunia married Vernon?) then I'd 
> > have expected him to be one of a group. <snip>
> >
> > There's an interesting aspect to this little aside - why would 
> > anyone want to talk to Petunia about Azkaban? Hardly a subject
> > for polite conversation over tea and cakes - unless, as I 
> > posted a few weeks ago Harry's grandparents died as a result of 
> > Voldy/DE action.
> 
> charme now:
> Yup, Peter as Lothario is exactly what I was getting at, although 
> I'm not sure he would have been one of a group - and quite possibly
> it could have been the only time Peter ever visited?  OR one wonders
> if Petunia hasn't been to Hogwarts at some point... I thought Petunia
> said she heard "that awful boy" telling Lily about the Dementors and
> Azkaban - not that she had a direct conversation with Peter or 
> whomever that "awful boy" was.


My whole theory with Peter and Petunia is that they knew each other 
long before Hogwarts.  But this is all theory, and while it can be 
sort of supported with canon, it isn't really based in it.

It's based in the idea (which I had long before OoP was released) 
that Petunia knows more about the wizarding world than she lets on.  
Even before OoP was released, I had the idea that Petunia knew 
exactly not only what had happened to her sister Lily, but that the 
same might have occured to Harry - and that had she not taken Harry 
in, he might have still ended up dead.

There was, after all, a letter from Dumbledore left for her when 
Harry was dropped on her doorstep.  And we still don't know what was 
in that letter, although I suspect it was a rendition of what had 
happened to her sister two nights before.

But in order for Petunia to fully understand the danger that Harry 
was in, she must have had some sort of previous knowledge of the 
wizarding world and its inner politics.  She could not have always 
been on the edge, forever resentful and forever bitter.

(Because she is very resentful of Lily, and she is very bitter as 
well.)

There must have been a time when Petunia was willing to listen and be 
somewhat involved in the wizarding world - and perhaps still close 
enough to Lily to want to be a part of that life.

And one of the best ways that I can see for this to have been the 
case is that in some small way, even before Lily received her letter, 
the girls were *already* involved in the wizarding world to some 
extent - if not by their own family lines (since Lily is Muggle-born 
and Petunia is not a Squib), then by some other means.

They must have had some contact with wizards before Hogwarts, either 
as personal or family friends.

It could not have been the Potters, because according to canon, Lily 
didn't meet James until Hogwarts.  It could not have been the Blacks, 
because no way would the Blacks have interacted with Muggles.  It 
could not have been the Lupins, because Remus himself says that he 
did not have much contact with other children before he went to 
Hogwarts (and in fact, he doesn't really mention Lily at all, except 
for in the movie, which doesn't count by much in my book).

Who does that leave?  Peter.

Had Petunia and Peter known each other since before Lily ever left 
for school, she would have had a longstanding friendship with someone 
already in the wizarding world, and this could explain not only how 
she is aware of the various politics and dangers present, but also 
why she retained that information about Azkaban for so long.  Because 
why on earth would Petunia remember something as random as who guards 
the wizard prison if there wasn't a good reason to remember it?

(And let's remember that Petunia even remembers the correct 
pronounciation of both "Dementors" and "Azkaban", which Vernon can't 
seem to keep straight for more than two seconds.  She's obviously had 
this on her mind *a lot*.)

And yes, she's got a good reason already, because Sirius Black is in 
Azkaban, and he killed her sister Lily.  But had he killed her friend 
Peter as well...that's even more of a blow.

But...

I don't think Petunia remembers this information because of Sirius 
Black.  At the beginning of PoA, when Sirius Black is even touted in 
the Muggle press as an escaped convict, Petunia shows little to no 
reaction to his name.  In fact, she doesn't appear to react at all 
until Vernon points out that the man could be walking down their 
street at that exact moment.  Had Petunia been thinking about Azkaban 
in conjunction with Sirius Black - she would have reacted to his name 
immediately.  Maybe she was spacing, and it didn't click right away.  
But I sort of doubt it.  That morning in PoA was a calm one, where 
she was only concerned about the bacon.  The evening in OoP where she 
just popped right out with that information about Azkaban was far 
more stressful.

Petunia's connection to the WW is far more intense than that of a 
sister or an aunt.  She wasn't magical herself (JKR said as much in a 
recent chat) but...there's something there.  Even JKR admits it.  Did 
Petunia know Peter well before the events at GH?  I think there's a 
good possibility.  It would make *sense*.

For, if Lily and Peter had been friends from childhood, it would give 
them a connection as well as Peter and James.  It would give them 
more of a reason to trust Peter with the position of Secret Keeper - 
Lily could never believe that a childhood friend would be the spy.  
It would make sense then for Peter to sit between them in the OoP 
picture, if he was as close to Lily as he was to James.  And it would 
have paved the way for James and Lily to reconcile with each other 
after their very obvious false starts in the Pensieve Scene.

Allowing Peter and Petunia to know each other as friends and not 
simply acquaintences allows for so many more loose ends to be tied 
up, and so many fewer questions brought up that it's almost too 
easy.  And I'll fully admit some amount of bias toward the 
connection - but I'd be interested to see someone try to disprove it.

-az