CHAPDISC: DH3, The Dursleys Departing

[Laura Horowitz]

No: HPFGUIDX 177200

Petra wrote:
But does Vernon believe that Harry would come to Vernon's loved
ones' rescue...does Petunia?

Does Dudley?  It seems to me that Dudley and his parents have had a
bit of a parting of the ways in how they perceive Harry.

Laura:

Our view of others reflects our general world view, don't you
think?  So Vernon would never imagine anyone he disliked so
intensely putting him- or herself at risk for Vernon, because
Vernon would never think of doing such a thing.

Petunia and Dudley, though, are a different story.  Dudley is the
easier one.  Harry rescued him once, thereby apparently earning
Dudley's permanent respect and gratitude (and well deserved they
are too!). So Dudley would expect Harry to  do the same again, and
I think Harry would.

Petunia, though, remains something of an enigma.  Why did she even
take Harry in the first place?  Given what we know about her and her
relations with Lily, we might have expected her to want to cut off
that part of her life after Lily died.  We know that they had
polite, if not cordial, relations during the time Lily was married
to James, because we know they exchanged Christmas gifts.  But
Petunia never got over her resentment and shame about her lack of
magical status.  And 11 years of being responsible for Harry seems
to have revived her jealousy and bitterness, if her hissy fit in PS
(when Hagrid comes to take Harry) is any evidence.

In the Potterverse, love is the most powerful force of all.  But
family loyalty, even without love, is quite a force itself.  Maybe
Petunia agreed to take Harry in the first shock of hearing about
Lily's death.  But her allowing him to stay through his childhood is
another matter.  DD's first letter must have told Petunia that Harry
would be in mortal danger anywhere but in her home.  But why did she
care, really?  Is she a more compassionate person than we have been
shown?  Is she acting out of guilt for her resentment of Lily and,
possibly, her ambivalent feelings about Lily's death?  Is she just
worried about what people would say if she threw her nephew out with
nowhere to go?

There's still more to Petunia that we know, it seems to me.  But I
think that she would know perfectly well that Harry would come to
her family's rescue.  And that would not make her happy.