Snape, mostly (was:Re: My Officially First Deathly Hallow...

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 172871

spaebrun wrote:
> 
> (the  whole Petunia thing has
> no purpose in Snapes memories, in my opinion. It  should better have
> been addressed at the beginning, before the Dursleys  leave). 
>  
Melissa responded:  
> Well it did answer the often asked question of what was the identity
of the horrible boy whom Petunia overheard talking to Lily about
dementors.   

Carol responds:
It also shows that little Severus distinguishes between Muggles like
petunia and Muggleborns like Lily, unlike Lucius Malfoy and some of
the other pureblood supremacists who don't think that Muggleborns
belong at Hogwarts and write people off family trees for marrying a
"Muggle" who, in Andromeda'a case, is actually a Muggleborn wizard
(Ted Tonks). While Sev dismisses Petunia as just a Muggle (and does
some wandless and presumably accidental magic that brings a tree
branch down near her head because she's being so nasty to him--shades
of harry and Aunt Marge) and he has good cause to hate the one Muggle
of his acquaintance his father (I suppose that Eileen can't hex Tobias
without getting into some sort of trouble for attacking a Muggle,
otherwise it's hard to see how a Muggle could bully a witch and her
precocious wizard son), he doesn't have the same prejudice against the
Muggle-born Lily. In fact, he's excited about the possibility of
informing her that she's a witch (though his revelation doesn't quite
go as planned). Later, he doesn't seem to realize that a Muggleborn
won't be accepted into Slytherin. He doesn't seem to have been brought
up with the Slytherin ethic, though he must have privately developed
the idea that wizards are superior to Muggles.

The scene also shows that Lily and "Tuney" started out on good terms,
but Lily's magic and Petunia's jealousy came between them. From the
time she gets her Hogwarts letter and Petunia receives her kindly
rejection from Dumbledore, Petunia's sour grapes turn lucky Lily into
a "freak." Her parents being proud to have a witch in the family
couldn't have helped. I know that Petunia's reaction was spiteful and
childish, but I still feel sorry for her. And like so many characters
of her generation, she couldn't let go of childhood grudges and
jealousies and resentments. At least she knew who Dumbledore was when
she found Lily's baby and DD's note on her doorstep.

Carol, wondering if JKR will ever reveal what was in that letter