Muggle born magical sibs?

[heather the buzzard]

No: HPFGUIDX 130185

Heather the Buzzard:

>>I think it's possible -- if for instance, muggle-born wizards are just
>>random, say 1 in a million births -- then it's highly unlikely for
>>siblings to be magical.  Unlikely, but not impossible.  Colin and 
>>Dennis
>>would be like the lottery-winners.  Perhaps there's something important
>>about them, though, that will be revealed later.
>>    
>>
Laura Ingalls Huntley wrote:

>
>Actually, we know, per JKR's explanation, that magical ability is 
>determined by genes.  Now, if magical ability is genetic (even 
>funky-JKR-genetic), then that means that there must be magic genes 
>floating around out there in the general Muggle population, and that 
>any muggleborns are the result of these genes combining in the right 
>way.  Therefore, while producing a muggleborn might be rare (two 
>Muggles with the right recessive or inactive genes must bear a child, 
>and that child must get the right combination of genes from its 
>parents), once you already *have* a couple (i.e. Colin's parents) that 
>are capable of producing a magical child, the chances of them producing 
>*another* magical child are actually relatively quite good .
>  
>

Yes, I see what you mean.  I hadn't been aware that JKR had invoked 
genetics, but I guess it does make sense.  :)  Mea culpa!

Back to the issue of Petunia though... if she *did* have some magic 
ability, then what happened to it?  Her complaints about Lily were that 
her parents adored having a witch in the family, they were so proud of 
her.  It seems, to me anyway, that her primary dislike of Lily was the 
favouritism rather than the magic itself -- she grew to hate the magic 
because of the favouritism, rather than the other way around.

If she did have any magic herself, she would have been invited to 
Hogwarts, and we still have no evidence of that.  People have speculated 
that she might have 'refused' the invitation, but that would only be 
possible if she originally hated magic -- which, as stated above, I 
don't agree with, myself.  If her primary motivation was 
love-and-acceptance-from-parents, she would have gone in order to be 
like Lily.

Hang on now.  Do we know who the elder sister is?  If Petunia were the 
elder, and had refused the invitation (maybe thinking her parents 
wouldn't approve), and THEN Lily had accepted and gotten all the 
positive response from the parents, Petunia could be kicking herself for 
having decided wrong and then gone all 'sour grapes'. 

I don't think we know their relative ages, do we?  Only that they bore 
children around the same time so they're not too far off in age.

The fly in this ointment is -- if Petunia had been offered a place at 
Hogwarts, then some of the long-term staff would know about it... and 
would probably have mentioned it to Harry at some point.  Back in the 
first chapter of PS McGonagle complains about those muggles... wouldn't 
she be likely to know if there was more to Petunia?

Of course, there IS more to Petunia, something that does have to do with 
the WW.  She knows more about it than she cares to admit (viz. her 
knowledge of Dementors) and she has some sort of pact with Dumbledore.  
I wonder if it's something like Hermione and Rita Skeeter -- Dumbledore 
knows something that she did and is keeping quiet while she protects 
Harry.  I think it's something more than that though.  She was so 
shamefaced and stunned and quieted at receiving DD's Howler.

I still don't think she's magic.  And she's not a squib by definition -- 
she would have to have magical parents for that.  But there's some 
mystery about her.  Gosh darn it!

heather the buzzard