More to Petunia than meets the eye

[Peggy Wilkins]

No: HPFGUIDX 159205

Yesterday I proposed:

On 10/7/06, Peggy Wilkins <enlil65 at gmail.com> wrote:
> It seems likely that we'll find out in Book 7 what circumstances
> account for all of these things.  For your entertainment, here is a
> wacky proposal... quite wacky, but interesting, I think.
>
> What if ... as a girl, when she and Lily were at home, Petunia somehow
> got ahold of or was given Polyjuice Potion to take on Lily's
> appearance.  The idea here is that she could then go back to Hogwarts
> in Lily's place.  This little deception would have required the
> deliberate assistance of another witch or wizard in order to keep her
> supplied with Potion; it would have also required the real Lily to be
> stashed away somewhere, just like Crabbe/Goyle and Moody had to be
> stashed away when they were Polyjuiced.
>
> Of course the deception would have been doomed to eventual failure
> since Petunia would have been unable to practice magic in the
> classroom.  Without further assistance from someone in her classes,
> she would be very rapidly found out.
>
> What if, like Hermione in COS, Petunia eventually got some bad
> Polyjuice which transformed her into a partial something-or-other,
> perhaps a cat like Hermione, or some other Hogwarts pet.  As we saw
> with Hermione, it was quite difficult to undo.  Imagine how mortified
> Petunia would have been; and her deception would certainly be
> uncovered to the point that it would become a disciplinary matter for
> the school, involving headmaster Dumbledore.  If word got out, it
> would be a big scandal.
>
> So the idea is this: Petunia and the student colluding with her to
> carry out the deception would both be in BIG trouble.  Petunia herself
> could have needed some enchantment to return her normal appearance if
> she couldn't otherwise be "cured".  The student should have been
> expelled; but perhaps with Dumbledore's generous nature he or she was
> given a second chance.

And one day later I realize what is wrong with this: Dumbledore meets
Petunia for the first time in HBP.  They have corresponded previously,
but have not met in person.  I now have to consider that any scenario
where Petunia could have gone to Hogwarts to be highly unlikely.

Well, I knew it was unlikely anyway; but it was fun to think about.

-- 
Peggy Wilkins
"We Kingly Pigs"
enlil65 at gmail.com