Harry's family (was: Petunia)

[slgazit]

No: HPFGUIDX 114192

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Bex" <hubbarrk at r...> wrote:
> >  I'd always 
> > assumed the people Harry saw in the Mirror were only his dead 
> > relatives (not actually them, but conjured by Harry's mind's eye), 
> > otherwise, wouldn't Dumbledore have sent him to live with any 
> > other living relatives besides the horrid Dursleys?  I think it's 
> > in the books somewhere that Harry has no other living relatives 
> > but Dursleys.
> 
> Yb again:
> Yes, exactly my thinking. If these people were alive, Harry could 
> live with them. I don't know if it's stated in canon flat-out, but I 
> would assume that if there was ANY option besides the Dursleys, DD 
> would have taken it.

I too think the relatives in the mirror must have been dead but even
if they were not, the Dursleys were still the only choice, because of
the blood protection:

1. He had to live with his mother's kin since it was her blood
sacrifice that protected him, not his father's. Thus none of the
Potters would do.

2. I imagine that the closer the relative the stronger the protection.
A sister has more common genes than an aunt or uncle. Assuming that
Lily had no other siblings nor live parents, the only choice was Petunia.

Incidentally I always wondered about the fact that some of the people
in the Mirror had Harry's eyes but they were referred to as "the
Potters" in the book (don't have it here but believe it says something
like "the Potters smiled and waved at him"). Either JKR made a mistake
or not all of them were Potters. That said, could muggles actually see
anything or show in the Mirror? My guess is no, just like they can't
ride a broom, use a wand or see the Leaky Cauldron.

Salit