Petunia a witch?

[KathyK]

No: HPFGUIDX 131399

Hi everyone!

Wow, Brianna, you've pulled me from lurkdom!  It's been a while and 
I'm all sorts of rusty.  You've all been warned. :-) 

Also apologies to Brianna as I've rearranged her post a *tiny* bit.

Brianna:

> I am not sure what to make of JKR's statement about
> Petunia, but I've always wondered about her kitchen.
> It's sparkling clean. I've thought about it being
> unnaturally clean,  and wondered if magic was
> involved. But this portrait of Petunia could simply be
> a joke on the bored and meaningless life of a suburban
> housewife. 

KathyK:

Petunia, Petunia...one of my very favourite characters.  What's her 
deal?  Is she our latent witch, destined to surprise her family at 
the critical moment, revealing at last, perhaps even to her own 
astonishment, that she is not so different from her dearly departed 
sister?  She, too, can perform a bit of magic if need be?  

If she is to play this role, I cannot imagine that her magical 
ability is something she is aware of, using it to keep her muggle 
kitchen so spectacularly clean.  To what purpose?  To me, she 
clearly hates her sister and her magical abilities, whatever the 
reason--and there are several options to choose from--so I find it 
difficult to see a logical explanation that she's been doing magic 
to keep her home the spotless, gleaming wonder that it is.  Nor do I 
think the sort of accidental magic Harry sometimes demonstrates is 
to blame for the cleanliness of the Dursley home.  

I could easily be mistaken given my poor recollection of canon at 
the moment, but the wandless magic was something wizards rarely 
display unless under some sort of stress.  Housecleaning may cause 
*me* an inordinate amount of anxiety, but I have a sneaking 
suspicion for Petunia, in her well kept suburban home, it is a 
rather normal activity and not cause for much worry and distress.  
Unless, of course, she's so worried about making sure her home is 
the most orderly in the neighborhood, she's been for years 
inadvertantly using magic in keeping up her home.  :-P

Brianna:

> I wonder if this character is going to have to pick up a wand to 
> defend her family, and be capable of some real magic.

KathyK:

I have to say, Petunia being the one to use magic later in life, is 
one of the few things that would disappoint me in the next two 
books.  It wouldn't be a surprise, given JKR has essentially removed 
Dudley from the running with her "What you see is what you get." 
comment at the Edinburgh Book Festival (15 August 2004).  Not to 
mention her cryptic answer to whether or not Petunia is a squib.  
She gave her muggle status, but she had to throw in that "but" 
afterward, didn't she?*  

Who is left, if we remove Petunia from the running?  Arabella Figg 
and Filch?  They're squibs, and Mrs. Figg has already played her 
part in surprising us with her Squibness.  As far as Filch goes...it 
wouldn't be interesting at all.  And Vernon sure ain't gonna be it.  
Petunia is the most interesting and logical candidate.  She's got a 
witchy sister and nephew.  There's more to her than we already 
know.  While I think Petunia's story is more than interesting 
without adding in her doing magic to the mix, it seems to me she's 
set to play this part in the series, during some emotionally charged 
and life-threatening moment, of course. 

Brianna:

<snip, rearrange>
> And, does she know any of Lily's old friends? 

KathyK:

Possibly.  I'd say it's likely, in fact.  And if you want to take 
our dear Petunia at face value in OOP, Ch 2 *and* assume "that awful 
boy" she mentioned was James, then I'd say yes.

KathyK, who has managed to keep herself distracted from the wait for 
HBP by loathing her job, seeing Star Wars, Spamalot, and watching 
four seasons of Alias in the past month...but has now run out of 
diversions

*Link to Edinburgh Chat Transcript:
http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2004/0804-ebf.htm