Petunia and love for Lily? NOT

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 137257

Jen: I snipped out this one idea from Marianne's post because it's
been nagging at me all day. I returned to the Edinburgh book
festival notes, where JKR made this comment to the question, "Is
Petunia a Squib?" "Good question. 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."

The only thing I can think of related to being a Squib is denying
your own magical powers. We see in HBP that Tonks loses some of her
powers because of emotional upset. And Merope cannot use magic until
she's away from the influence of her abusive father. So could you
completely lose your powers if you deny having them? If Petunia has
always lived as a Muggle, she must be as good at compartmentalizing
her feelings as Snape is! And that would mean denying Lily and all
she stands for. Petunia's perceived hatred for Lily was not
jealousy, but contempt for her *choosing* to openly live the life of
a witch.

vmonte:
Petunia is definitely the witch that will show powers late in life. I
also think that Petunia was definitely jealous of the attention Lily
received from her parents--hence Harry now receiving nothing but
contempt from the Dursleys. I don't see a moment of enlightenment for
Petunia either, but it would be nice.

I have a bad feeling that the Dursley house is going to be attacked
in July when Harry turns 17. The DE's will be prepared for a
confrontation with Harry but not with Petunia. It sounds like this
late bloomer, according to JKR, is suppose to show signs of their
power during a moment of crises.

I remember reading a story once of a jeweler that went berserk during
a burglary. Armed gunmen came into his store to rob him and his wife,
who also worked there. The jeweler panicked, grabbed his gun, and
started shooting wildly. After it was all over, not only did he hit
all the gunmen, he also inadvertently killed his wife.

I could see Petunia lose it in this way.

Vivian