Theory od Dudley and Theory on Petunia

Sat Aug 5 00:44:58 UTC 2006

No: HPFGUIDX 156527

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com,

> Brothergib says:
>
> >> The following Q&A appears on JKR's site;
>
> 'Aunt Petunia will start exhibiting magical tendencies.'h
> 'No, she won't. Aunt Petunia has never performed magic, nor will she
> ever be able to do so.'

Kelly now:
      I think this squashes the "Petunia as part house elf" theory,
because if she was, whether she knew it or not, she would have or have
had some magical tendencies at some point.

"Brothergib again:
> I have to be honest, I think this rather puts an end to the
> possibility that it might be Dudley as well. The obvious candidate
> appears to be Filch. We even have evidence that he has taken a
> course to help bring out his magical qualities. <snip>
>
> It is also possible that it could be Mrs. Figg. <snip> <<

Kelly responds:
   Why do you think this eliminates Dudley as a candidate to do magic
later in life? That question is from a Barnes and Noble interview from
1999. The entire interview can be found on the Quick Quotes Quill site,
but here is the exerpt:

'Will there be, or have there been, any "late blooming" students in the
school who come into their magic potential as adults, rather than as
children? By the way, I loved meeting you, and hearing you speak, when
you came to Anderson's in Naperville. I can hardly wait until you tour
again.

Ahhh! I loved the event at Anderson's. It was one of my favorites. That
is completely true. No, is the answer. In my books, magic almost always
shows itself in a person before age 11; however, there is a character
who does manage in desperate circumstances to do magic quite late in
life, but that is very rare in the world I am writing about.'

     I interpret this as: whether or not any students come into their
magic potential as adults and then go on to attend Hogwarts. JKR answers
"no". This means that there are no adult students in the school.
      I also think it is fair to say since JKR states that magical
ability almost always shows itself by age 11 that someone who realizes
their magical ability at 17 or 18 years old would be considered to
blossom quite late in life.
      IMO the only thing we are sure of is it will not be Petunia. Dudley
is just as likely as Filch, Ms Figg or any other non-magical character
we have seen. I only hope that it will not be a fringe character with no
real ties to the major plot. In any case we won't know for sure until
Book 7.

     I have an interesting theory on Dudley regarding his magical
ability. Suppose he was magical from birth and Lily was the first to
recognize it. Suppose Lily used this as a way to mend fences with her
sister. Petunia, knowing full well how Vernon would take this news,
decided to prevent Dudley from becoming a wizard. JKR has already shown
us that Merope's powers were weakened by abuse and her father thought
her a squib. The same holds true for Neville, who was considered a squib
until he "bounced" when he fell from a window. Hermione, a fairly decent
witch, had no clue as to her abilities until she got her letter from
Hogwarts. We know Harry and young Tom Riddle had uncontrolled outbursts
of magic before they found out they were wizards, but these are two of
the most powerful wizards in the world.  So maybe it is possible to
prevent some wizards from learning of their abilities.

Petunia then either:
           1) Severed all ties with Lily, James and Harry, hoping to
prevent Dudley from experiencing any "wizarding stimuli". This would
explain her hatred of him when she is forced to take him in.

       OR
           2) Asked Lily for help. Lily told Petunia it was possible to 
prevent Dudley from becoming a wizard. Maybe she cast a charm on him to
do this. Maybe not. In this case Lily was Petunia's safety net. Lily was
the link to keeping Petunia's family together.

      I personally am going with option 2. Petunia could have kept up a
secret relationship with Lily, hoping to keep Dudley a "muggle". I've
always found her remarks in SS/chaper 1, pg 7 odd. Vernon asks if she
has heard from her sister lately. Petunia, shocked and angry, replies
"No, ... why?"  not, "... you know I don't speak to my sister ..." It's
almost as if she were afraid that he had found out she was communicating
with Lily. If they were in touch it would explain how Petunia knew about
so much about the wizarding world, including Voldemort.
      It's just a theory.

      Then on another subject abergoat offers:

> <snip> Petunia seems to be personally scared of Voldemort and
> seemed unpleasantly surprised that the protection on the house
> would end a year earlier than expected; <snip> and finally, JKR
> tells us we will see more of the Dursleys in book 7.

Kelly responds:
      Petunia is scared of Voldemort alright. Voldemort was gaining power
for 10 years before he killed James and Lily. These were the years they
were at Hogwarts. I am sure Lily came home with many stories about this
great dark wizard Voldemort, as well as stories about the only one he
ever feared. Even if she had no relationship with Lily she could have
easily overheard the stories. Then Lily and James are killed, baby Harry
is plopped on their doorstep. Dumbledore, is sending her owls, telling
her Voldemort did it, and that she must care for Harry to keep him
alive. Not only that but a few years later  she finds out that she has
one less year of protection than she originally thought. That's pretty
heavy stuff for someone in denial about the wizarding world.

  Rebecca now:
> <snip> I *do* take note of the fact twice JKR's response about
> Petunia has been consistent: there's more to Petunia "than meets
> the eye." So, if you recall, Harry's POV more than once is that
> Petunia looks nothing like Lily. What if this is by design,
> specifically that Petunia's looks have been magically altered in
> some way by Dumbledore so she doesn't resemble Lily, at least to
> wizards? The protection afforded the Durselys takes on a double
> meaning by Harry's return there every year reinforcing Petunia's
> visage if she is indeed being disguised.

Kelly now:
      Possible but unlikely. Voldemort knows where Harry has been staying
and of the protections there. He says this in GOF, during his rebirthing
speech. There would be no need to alter Petunia's appearance, Voldemort
already knows where Harry is.
      As far as Petunia looking nothing like Lily that could just be
coincidence. There are many siblings that look nothing like each other.
We also have to remember that this is Harry's opinion and he has only
seen pictures of his very young mother, usually in happy times. I
believe Aunt Petunia is older than Lily, and has definitely had more to
worry about in the last 10-15 years, possibly causing that pale, drawn
appearance. She has also never dealt with Harry in a "happy or positive"
way. Maybe if she smiled every once in a while he'd see more of a
resemblance.

Kelly, whose air conditioner is broken and has had enough of the heat
wave in NYC, hopes that the heat has not affected her judgement in this
post.

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