Aunt Petunia

Book 5: HP & the Order of the Phoenix Forum

Aunt Petunia is one obstacle to Voldemort gaining power. He wants to kill Harry, but he can not touch him as long as Harry is living where his mother's blood dwells. Hmmm. Are there any things being done to protect Aunt Petunia? She is a muggle and would be easy to kill, so do you think Dumbledore has certain precautions in place?

Yeah, her personality come within 20 meters of her and you'll spontaneously combust!

Yeah, she could scare them away with more than that sour puss of hers.

Well, I'm really starting to wonder some things about old Aunt Petunia!!
Like... is she really a muggle? Is it possible that she's more than we know? More than she knows?

I think her parents were squibbs. That is why they were so pleased to have a witch in the family. I think she may have powers, but too feeble to get her into Hogwarts. That would explain her attitude with her sister.

Or, she never wanted to have any powers as a witch, so she never tried. Maybe she just has always despised magic!!!

That is just the thing. We don't know. I am thinking the surprise with her will be that she really stands up for Harry. She realizes that he is in danger, and she may not love him, but she does not want him dead. Don't you wish we knew exactly what the letter Dumbledore left with baby Harry on the doorstep said?

Yes, I do want to know what that ENTIRE letter said. And I have a feeling that she and Dumbledore are the only two that know the EXACT contents to that letter. And, I think that in the end, she will have a real change of heart. But, if she does, it will be a miracle. She just hasn't shown one kind bone toward him (where there was love involved)!

It is also hard to love someone you expect to die. I think that was another barrier. She thought that one day Harry will be killed, so she never even tried to love him. And I do think that she was the ONLY one to see that letter.

OH, and for all those Daniel Radcliff is too boring as Harry people. How would you expect him to act after years with the Dursleys? High strung, jovial? Of course he was subdued!

Hey, that's a great point. I wonder if she's put that wall there, because she thought that Harry would get killed off! HMMMM!!! Good going, Sherry.

I think that Daniel plays a very good Harry. I think that there are times that he needs to loosen up a bit... but, for a kid that had nothing before this, he's doing a great job!

What do you think Aunt Petunia would do if she found out Mrs. Figg was a squib?

Daniel is doing better. I watched the trailer for POA. Neville and Draco look so different!

I think that she will freak if she finds out that the old lady with the cats is a part of the wizarding world!!! She won't like it one bit.

Yeah I can just hear her now:

"keep those wicked cats away from my Dudley-diddy-kins!"

Oh god... and Harry would be in the bushes, using his wand, making those cats following that fat little baby pig all over the place, giving him the "evil eyes" and twitching their tails at him!

Yeah, he could plant cat hair in Dudley's room!

Wouldn't that be a hoot?

If Aunt Petunia finds out about the cat, I am betting that Uncle Vernon buys a really big, ugly dog or borrows one of Aunt Marge's bulldogs.

Oh man... yep, I could totally see Vernon getting a fat, mean and ugly pitbull, or something that would be a reflection of their bodies, and attitudes!

Another question is does Aunt Petunia know whatever this big secret is about Lily?

I think that Aunt Petunia is much more than meets the eye.
This woman is carrying around some dark secrets, that Vernon doesn't even know about.

Oh yeah… the way she obeyed Dumbledore in chapter 2 of OotP… it was suspicious. Probably it’s just something like, the protection spell that ‘works’ through blood lines is also protecting her family, not just Harry, only Vernon can’t understand it at all so she doesn’t tell him about it.

She would not want Vernon to think she is a freak like her sister. I still wonder if she has a small amount of magical ability.

Do you guys also remember how she seemed to know about the dementors? I don't think her reason was true. I think she just made it up to cover up her slip of tongue. I also agree that she is hiding something about her connection to the magical world, and I am sure we will know about it before the series ends.

Suppose, and this is going out on a limb, but what if Petunia was a student at Hogwarts and got expelled. You never know.

Well, she is an adult, and very repressed, so I would assume she can control it, or she blames it all on Harry.

Yeah... what if she WAS a student, and failed miserably, and can not stand the thought of magic now?!

Maybe it's buried so deep within her subconscience... maybe she's got a split personality, and this personality really hates magic. Or, she was jealous of her sister, because she was different.

There are just so many possibilities, and there is NO telling which one JKR will do.
Though, I would LOVE to find that Aunt Petunia isn't a simple muggle, but oh, so much more.

Yes, I want to find out that Petunia has a deep dark secret. I also want her do care if Harry is well.

Wouldn't it be something to find out that she's loved Harry all these years, but because of her jealously of her sister being a witch, and her husbands hatred and fear of the wizarding world, that she's has to act like this toward Harry????

It is possible. I personally believe, she does not allow herself to love him. He is a marked "man" and I don't think she would allow herself to care.

Good point...

Then again, maybe the series will end, and the Dursley's, including Petunia, will not change their tune toward Harry.

I don't think after years of abuse by them, Harry could love them or even feel comfortable around them.

Yeah, their new found love would seem like a trick to him, for such a sudden change of heart is not natural.

Well, Harry and Petunia could possibly come to an understanding, because she IS his mother's sister.

But, you're right... he's got a lot of resentment toward them from many years of emotional abuse.

Ummm, emotional AND physical AND mental abuse, I think.

True AM, they would never let Harry eat very much, made him sleep in a cupboard.

Which was filled with dirt, bugs and spiders!!! I hate spiders!!!

Oh, I know... was just saying that the emotional abuse goes deep.
He's been through so much, and I believe that it's made him a stronger person now for it.
He knows how good life is now, and he doesn't want to have to lose it.
He will fight for it.

Question is... will Aunt Petunia step up to the plate and help!!!

I can understand the Dursley's fear of magic.... but, I can NOT understand the treatment that Petunia allows to be dished out to her own relative. Harry has never done anything to her... and yet, she allows this.

Well, in not ever telling him the truth, I'm sure that made a difference.
He never knew that he was a wizard, and therefore, he wasn't able to study up ahead of time.
If he had always known the truth, I believe that he would have been raised being taught the defense against the dark arts, and that he would be extremely good in it now.

Oh, I know... but, he could have been taught, without being such a huge part of the wizarding world. Like, Dumbledore could have set it up where Harry would be taught while there at home... and the Dursley's wouldn't be able to stop it. Know what I'm saying?

I think that not knowing made Harry humble and eager to learn. He wanted to prove himself.

I think the fact that Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys and did not contact him, was a sign of faith. Faith that Harry would grow into a powerful wizard, that no matter how terrible his life was, that Harry would be the best of both his parents.

Faith and hope, I think. He had Mrs. Figg to watch on him too, just in case.

And the cats. No, I meant that he did not tell Harry about his parents because he knew Harry would turn out just fine. That Harry had the makings of a fine wizard.

Dumbledore will have precautions but will his precautions work?

Well we know they will work well enough to get Harry to book 7.

Seriously, I think that the precautions will work in book 6, but perhaps not in 7. The strange thing about Voldemort is that he is half muggle, but does not seem to understand basic muggle emotions.