CHAPTER DISCUSSION: PS/SS 4, The Keeper of the Keys

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 187861

Janelle wrote:
> 7. When Vernon is telling Hagrid that Harry's not going to Hogwarts, it's not until Hagrid mentions Dumbledore that he really explodes and starts YELLING.  What does Vernon know about Dumbledore? 

Carol:
Vernon must have read the letter that was tucked into Baby!Harry's blankets. Anything else he knows must come from Petunia, who never met DD (before HBP) and certainly would not have confessed to Vernon that she had corresponded with him. Probably she told him that DD was the headmaster of Hogwarts and from what she could gather from her sister, a "barmy old codger" (to borrow DD's own phrase). I doubt that he knows any details beyond DD's being (supposedly) a "crackpot old fool" (Vernon's own words). He may know about the protective magic that DD put on the house, but he doesn't seem to know as much about it as Petunia does, so maybe she only told him about the letter--or he read it without fully understanding the implications.
 
> 8. Hagrid asks Harry not to mention the magic that he did at Hogwarts.  Why isn't Harry at all suspicious of Hagrid?  Why is he so quick to trust someone he just met who's already asking him to keep secrets?

Carol:
Hagrid is rescuing him from the Dursleys, can perform magic of sorts, knows about his parents (sort of), and brought Harry a birthday cake. What's to mistrust if you're an oppressed eleven-year-old boy?

Carol, thanking Janelle for the additional questions