Petunia's Eyes

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 169900

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "anne_t_squires"
<tfaucette6387 at ...> wrote:
>
> 
>  
> > Deeoblockedo:
> > 
> > Thinking along these lines what if Petunia is also a witch - not
> > a squib - but was digusted at having magic as she didn't want to
> > have magical powers.  As she never went to a magical school to
> > learn how to do magic this would tie in with JKR saying that she
> > could not perform magic.
> >
> 
> Anne Squires:
> 
> The following quote from JKR is found on her website.  It is from
> Sunday 15 August 2004, J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival.
> 
> Link: http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=80
> 
> Is Aunt Petunia a Squib?
> 
> Good question. No, she is not, but—[Laughter]. No, she is not a Squib.
> She is a Muggle, but—[Laughter]. You will have to read the other
> books. You might have got the impression that there is a little bit
> more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye, and you will find out what it
> is. She is not a squib, although that is a very good guess. Oh, I am
> giving a lot away here. I am being shockingly indiscreet.
> 
> 
> Anne now:
> 
> So there you have it, "She is a Muggle."
>

Ken:

Not so fast. "She is a Muggle, but—[Laughter]." What *was* JKR
laughing about???

We do have the example that Merope gave up her powers at the end or
lost them to traumatic shock. I have to agree with Debi, Deeoblockedo.
and some others that it is at least possible that Petunia too was a
witch. Her dislike of witchcraft seems intense and deep. It might be a
native personality trait, not a reaction to Lily. She might just have
lost her magical power by turning her back on it and refusing
Hogwarts. Rowling says she is being indiscreet in the quote above.
Telling us that Petunia is not a Squib, that she is a Muggle is hardly
indiscreet. Lily would not have been a Mudblood if her parents were a
witch and wizard so we knew that Petunia wasn't a Squib already and
she gives every appearance of being a Muggle. So where's the
indiscretion? Is it hiding behind that pair of buts?

I'm not one to stifle speculation but I do think that Petunia and Lily
being unrelated is a dead end, at least as far as the protection
provided by Privet Drive is concerned. It will expire anyway when he
turns 17 and that should happen within the first 200 pages of DH, I
would think. Whether Harry lives or dies by the end, I presume he will
survive past page 200. An attack at the Dursleys before he is 17 might
happen if a plot twist makes it possible but it isn't likely to be
fatal. I'm a bit perplexed by the importance that DD puts on this
protection anyway. It only applies while he is at the Dursleys, Harry
can be attacked anywhere else. Keeping him safe between school years
is important of course. I just can't see any reason why those few
weeks between the end of HBP and his 17th birthday would be so
critical to DD. After his birthday Harry will be exposed anyway.
Unless there is more to it than that it would seem a bit pointless for
Harry to go back "home" in DH. DD wants him to do it, even if only
"briefly". What would a brief visit accomplish? On the face of it only
a few moments of protection. Unless there is more to it.

Ken

PS: My apologies to any list members who got private messages from me
that appeared to be posts to the list and were wondering why. Our DSL
link has been down for a few days while ATT-Yahoo danced around as
long as they could before telling me that the DSL modem they made us
buy when we signed on had failed and that *we* were responsible for
the cost of a new one. For some reason this caused YahooGroups to see
my email address as bouncing and for some reason *this* caused all my
recent posts to all my YahooGroups to go out as private emails instead
of posts to groups. There never was anything wrong with our email
account, I could monitor it at work via the web. I think it is all
fixed now....