Harry's family (was: Petunia)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 114232

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "slgazit" <slgazit at s...> wrote:

Bex:
> > >  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:
> > 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.

<snipped>

Geoff:
This got discussed at some length way back when Mark Evans was in the 
frame, before JKR torpedoed the poor mite.

In message 85255, I wrote this in the question as to whether the 
Dursleys were Harry's /only/ relatives....

"Going back to the night when James and Lily were killed, there was a 
conversation between Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. `I've written 
them a letter.' `A letter?' repeated Professor McGonagall 
faintly
'Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a 
letter? There people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a 
legend - 
.' `Exactly', said Dumbledore
.. `It would be enough to 
turn any boy's head
. Can't you see how much better off he'll be, 
growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?'" (PS 
pp.15-16). Reading between the lines, I seem to sense that, at some 
point, possibly quite early, Dumbledore went to see Petunia 
personally to underline the importance of Harry's protection; this 
would also be borne out by the Howler which he sent to her early in 
OOTP. Does it appear that he had to go to her as the only surviving 
relative? Possibly the only one close enough to invoke the protection 
of family blood.

I have mentioned on a couple of occasions that when my father died in
1994 and I went through his address book to notify people, 
I "discovered" a family relative about whom I knew nothing; the lady
concerned was a first cousin of my father and the link led back to my
great grandparents. It is fairly obvious that Dumbledore was very
close to James and Lily Potter. "'Naturally,' said Professor
McGonagall. `James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather
than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding
himself
 and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him
offering to be the Potter's Secret-Keeper himself.'" (POA p.153).
This implies very close friendship. So Dumbledore would know from
conversations with Lily that Petunia was her nearest relative. But
would it follow that he knew there were /no/ other relatives? Would
the matter of more distant relatives of Lily have surfaced in
conversation with Dumbledore? Do we discuss distant and half-
forgotten family members with close friends? Not often. Dumbledore is
intelligent and knowledgeable but not omniscient. To be fair, he may
not be aware of the existence of other family members.

Let's consider a similar situation to the one I experienced
personally. Petunia's comments imply that the Evans were a magical
family. "'But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and
Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family'" (PS
p.44). If you go back to, say, Lily's great-grandparents and trace
back down other arms on the family tree, there are probably members
of the family who Lily may not have remembered or who were distant
enough either genealogically or geographically to not register
consciously with her; hence the possibility of Mark Evans being a
distant relative."

Obviously, the last comment is no longer valid but the general view 
that there could be other relatives holds good. 

Geoff
Enjoy Exmoor and the 
heritage West Somerset Railway at:
http://www.aspectsofexmoor.com