Lily,James and Azkaban.

[Bex]

No: HPFGUIDX 112155

Neha wondered:                                                     
>>  In Book Five, Aunt Petunia says she knows of the Dementors 
>> and about the wizards' prison Azkaban because she had once heard 
>> James Potter talking about it with Lily. How is this possible if, 
>> according to Book Four, the dementors joined the Ministry's side 
>> after Voldemort's regime ceased, and that this happened after the 
>> death of James and Lily Potter?

And Sherry commented:

> Slight correction:  Petunia doesn't specifically say it James
> talking to Lily.  She just says, "that dreadful boy" or something 
> to that effect...

Yb's thoughts:

GoF, AmVer, Chap 27, p. 527:
[Sirius] "And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the 
dementors without trial."

[Sirius] "I saw the dementors bringing him in..." (referring to 
Barty Crouch, Jr.)

p. 529:
[Sirius] "He [Jr.] died about a year after they [dementors] brought 
him in.... So old Crouch lost it all.... One moment, a hero, poised 
to become Minister of Magic... next, his son dead, his wife dead, 
the family name dishonored, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a 
big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started 
feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son... The conclusion was 
that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the 
top job..."

So what do we learn from this?

1) Fudge became Minister at least a year after the Potters died, 
maybe even two.

2) The dementors were in place before Sirius was put in Azkaban.

We know that Sirius was arrested the day after the Potters died.

PoA, AmVer, Chap. 10, p. 207:
[Madam Rosmerta] "But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The 
Ministry of Magic caught up with him the next day!"

Thus, it is entirely possible that Petunia could have overheard 
James and Lily talking about the dementors. But, I DON'T THINK SO!!!

Listen to what she says:
OotP, AmVer, Char. 2, p. 31-32

    "They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban," said Aunt Petunia.
    Two seconds' ringing silence followed these words and then Aunt 
Petunia clapped her hand over her mouth as though she had let slip a 
disgusting swear word. ... Harry's brain reeled. ...
    "How d'you know that?" He [Harry, I'm assuming] asked her, 
astonished.
    Aunt Petunia looked quite appalled with herself. She glanced at 
Uncle Vernon in fearful apology, then lowered her hand slightly to 
reveal her horsey teeth.
    "I heard -- that awful boy -- telling /her/ about them -- years 
ago," she said jerkily.

OK, so she did know what they were, though she's never let on. She 
knows what Azkaban is, as well. This slips out: it doesn't seem like 
she's dragging the information out of her memory; on the contrary, 
it is pretty fresh. She looks at Vernon in apology: she is NOT 
supposed to know this, since they both (supposedly) abhor magic, and 
Harry is the only connection they have to the magical world. She has 
a few seconds (probably several) to think of something to say, but 
her mind isn't running too quickly, so her excuse (** see below **) 
is jerky. She's heard about dementors since 15 years ago, that's for 
certain.

Not that she may have /not/ heard about Dementors from Lily and AB 
(Awful Boy). She and Vernon (from PS/SS) pretend she doesn't even 
have a sister, and when he refers to Lily in the first chapter, he 
says "/her/," the same way Petunia does in the quote above. Lily and 
James may well have talked about dementors and Azkaban. They were in 
the Order, so they may have discussed captured DEs and Petunia may 
have overheard them once or twice. But, PS/SS says that "Mrs. Potter 
was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years." 
(AmVer, p. 2). So, either Petunia had been seeing the Potters 
without Vernon, or she heard them talking several years earlier 
(>3), when James and Lily were almost or fresh out of school, a 
little young for the Order. Therefore, IMO, Petunia has heard of 
dementors more recently than before Harry was dropped on their 
doorstep, and she probably knows a /lot/ more about the WW than 
Harry, Vernon, or Dudders suspects. No, I don't think she's a squib, 
or a witch with under-developed powers, but she knows plenty.

~Yb, with a post that was apparently eating its Wheaties today. My, 
it got so BIG...