Lily and Petunia

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 176481

 "dreadr" <dreadr at ...> wrote:
>
> Does anyone besides me wonder at how Lily and Petunia grew up?
> Obviously, if they were in a position to interact with Sev as
> children on a regular basis then one would assume (oh help,
> there's that word) that they were far from affluent. One doesn't
> get the picture from the few comments that I remember that they
> were abused (as Snape apparently was), but if they lived near
> Spinner's End, then possibly they were a mill family and had
> very little. I find it somewhat curious that nothing was ever
> said about their parents and I don't recall anyone asking JKR.
> 
> If this was their background, then it might explain a lot of
> Petunia's attitudes -- i.e. her jealously of her sister (after
> all, Lily apparently married into money), her obsession with
> status, and even her almost paranoid attitude about cleanliness.
> Thoughts?

Potioncat:
I grew up in a Southern (US) town that had many textile mills. Often 
the mills built housing for the workers. So that the common workers 
had small houses, the foremen had nicer homes and the managers had 
even better accomodations. I imagine it was similar in British mill 
villages. (Does anyone know?) 

So here's my best guess. Mr Evans was either a manager or an 
executive for the mill. Mr. Snape was a regular laborer. The Evans's 
house would have been farther away from the chimney, in a better 
area. But all of the children may have used the same playground. 
Whether the children of the managers would be allowed to play with 
the working children might depend on the parents or on the customs of 
the community.

Now, I'm not sure if the factory in Spinner's End would have been a 
textile mill or how dirty it would have been. That big chimney put 
out something! I can imagine it was hard to keep the houses and 
laundry clean. You hang the wash out on the line, and it gets all 
gray and sooty from the smoke. (grey underpants). 

So we have Petunia, vexed by frog spawn, and soot all over the place 
and she's constantly cleaning to hide the traces of mill life and 
magic. 

I'm not sure if this sort of mill would really have been functioning 
at this time---or if JKR gave any thought to that detail. Obviously 
the community that Tuney, Sev and Lily played in has changed quite a 
bit by the time we see it in HBP.

But, that's my take, again based on Southern mill villages and 
stories I've heard.