Petunia and Dumbledore (was: SPOILERS. Re: JKR site update)

[redlena_web]

No: HPFGUIDX 114767


> Dungrollin:
> Did she squash 'em all?
> What about that delightfully enigmatic 'No... Petunia's not a 
> *squib*'? (my emphasis, and paraphrased to boot.)
> 
> I must admit that I'm leaning towards Petunia being the late-
> developer, and DD having done something clever to excuse
> her from class.  

RedLena:
As intriguing as some people's theories have been to read, I 
don't think Petunia's going to turn out to have any magic powers.  
My support for this opinion comes from JKR's talk at the 
Edinburgh Book Festival this August (find full transcript here: 
http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/news_view.cfm?id=80).

In answer to the question, "Is Aunt Petunia a Squib?" JKR says 
"No, she is not, but—[Laughter]. No, she is not a Squib. She is a 
Muggle, but—[Laughter]. You will have to read the other books. 
You might have got the impression that there is a little bit more to 
Aunt Petunia than meets the eye, and you will find out what it is. 
She is not a squib, although that is a very good guess. Oh, I am 
giving a lot away here. I am being shockingly indiscreet." 

Granted she does cloud the issue with all the "but--" business 
but she does explicitly say "[Petunia] is a Muggle."  And, afaik, 
that by definition means she's not magical.

> Dungrollin:
> PS what odds are you giving on Petunia's house?  I can't see
> how she'd fit anywhere, perhaps the hat spat her out again.

RedLena:
My above opinion about Muggle Petunia aside, *if* she *were* a 
witch and sorted into a Hogwarts house, I'd expect her to be put 
into Hufflepuff.  Here's why... she's not brave enough to be a 
Gryffindor, she's not smart enough to be a Ravenclaw, and she's 
clearly not a pureblood which seems to cut Slytherin out of the 
running.  Though I'd expect she'd be unlikely to be very popular in 
any case.

-- RedLena, who likes to hypothesize even when she doesn't 
believe a theory