CHAPDISC: DH3, The Dursleys Departing

[Laura Horowitz]

No: HPFGUIDX 177244

 Laura Lynn Walsh <lwalsh at ...> wrote:
 In the face of what he perceives as danger, he [Vernon] can't
> seem to make his mind up what to do.  He has the certainty to
> act, but can't seem to reason beyond that to decide what would
> be the BEST kind of action.

Kneazlecat (more useful than Laura in this post!):
I was going somewhere else with my question, but you're absolutely 
right.  Vernon is the head of a big business, so you'd think he 
would be able to make decisions, but when it comes to Harry, he 
flails around like the floor has just give way under him.  Maybe 
it's because dealing with Harry is fundamentally Petunia's 
prerogative.

Laura wrote:
> Like Snape, when Petunia looks at Harry, she sees Lily's eyes and
> James' hair and body type.  I think this reminds her continually of
> what magic stole from her - a younger sister who looked up to her
> and loved her.  Magic, Snape, and James stole Lily from her.  And,
> in some ways, they also took her importance to the family away.
> As a first born, she assumed she had a special place, then along
> came Lily, who not only had a special talent, it was a talent their
> parents appreciated.  She was permanently deposed.

Kneazlecat:
Are you, by any chance, an oldest child?  *grin*  Again, you make a 
pont I hadn't thought of.  The surface reading is that Petunia is 
simply jealous of Lily, but yes, the departure of Lily into the 
magical world would have had a powerful effect on the Evans family.  
Whereas the Grangers seemed to take it in stride (but Hermiione had 
no sibs to wory about), the Evanses perhaps didn't handle things as 
equitably as they could have.  It almost makes you feel sorry for 
Petunia.  Almost.

Laura wrote:
> Perhaps there is some unfinished business between them [Harry and 
Petunia], butPetunia has long since squandered the opportunities to 
develop a relationship with Harry.  And, like Voldemort, I think she 
is too full of resentment to go beyond that.  And Harry, who doesn't 
yet understand why she resents him, has given up on her, so he
can't reach out either.

Kneazlecat:
I'm not so sure.  Petunia is the only living person who knew Lily 
all of her life, so Harry may indeed want to contact her so he can 
learn more about his mother.  I don't see him having any problem 
doing that, and I bet Petunia would be relieved to talk to someone 
about Lily who would understand the whole magic/Muggle problem.  She 
just might want to meet Harry without Vernon knowing about it. 
 
Laura wrote:
> Dudley is a bully.  A bully fears losing.  I think Dudley's worst
> memories would have been of a time when he felt lost or
> incompetent at something.  <snip> In fact, his size may be a
> partial response - if he is big and scary enough, then he won't be
> vulnerable.

Kneazlecat:
Maybe the Dursleys were the type of parents who tried to protect 
their child by instilling fear in him-of germs, foreigners, 
strangers, etc. etc. etc.  If so, and it seems very in character, 
that might account for the feeling of vulnerability underlying 
Dudley's bullying.

Kneazlecat wrote:
The ways in which Harry arrives at and leaves Privet Drive every 
year are significant.  What are your thoughts on this?  

Laura wrote:
<snip> JKR doesn't like too much repetition, so tries to think up 
something completely different each time.

Kneazlecat wrote:
Sure, but that's the easy answer.  And I do think there's more to it 
than that.  I'll wait and see what other answers people may give 
here, but I do think that Harry's emotional growth can be traced in 
the ways he departs from and returns to Privet Drive.

Kneazlecat wrote:
11. How the Order was operating since Dumbledore's death?  

Laura wrote:
> It seems to me that Moody has taken over as leader.  <snip>  I 
think that is another reason why his death hit them so hard.  They 
lost Dumbledore, Snape (as far as they know) is a traitor, then 
Moody gets killed. <snip>  It means that others have to
> step up to the plate, but it also means a certain loss of 
direction for a while each time.

Kneazlecat wrote:
I wonder if that's one reason why Remus proposed going along with 
the trio.  Maybe he knew he was one of the senior members after 
Moody died and for whatever reasons, he didn't want the 
responsibility.