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The Dursley Family, 'perfectly normal, thank you very much'

DumbleDebbie View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 12:45 AM Post #1
Dodgy Cauldrons Dealer Posts: 1,683 Joined: 7:58pm April 7, 2006 Location: Maine	QUOTE Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. And thus we are introduced to Harry's only living relatives, the Dursley family. OK, here's your chance to let those lovely Dursleys have it! And while you're venting your spleen, here are a few Dursley-related questions to get the thread started: What was the Dursleys' motivation for taking in Harry? They seem to me a very selfish lot. What possible benefit might the Dursleys have gained by giving Harry houseroom? How much did the Dursleys know of Hogwarts before the arrival of Harry's letter? Why do the Dursleys' consider magic 'dangerous'? Is it just 'dangerous' to their desired reputation to be 'normal'? Is it 'dangerous' because they know Lily and James were murdered? Is it 'dangerous' because of some other interaction they've had with magic? What was the motivation for 'swearing to stamp out that dangerous nonsense'? Why did they work so feverishly to try to block his entrance to Hogwarts? Why do they seem so terrified of Harry discovering the magical world? Debbie -------------------- 'It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.' ~ APWB Dumbledore "Caput Draconis" :D Congrats Knight62442 Werewolves! Awooooo!!!

yellowjelo View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 12:54 AM Post #2
Perusing the Magical Menagerie Posts: 87 Joined: 3:42pm December 23, 2006 Location: U.S.A	Well I think that there motivation to take in Harry has alot to do with what was inside that letter Dumbledore left with Harry when he was a baby. --------------------

Summersky View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 01:08 AM Post #3
Just Through the Brick Wall Posts: 13 Joined: 6:54pm June 4, 2006	I think Harry protects the Dursleys as much as Petunia protects him.

davidenglish View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 01:12 AM Post #4
Official Singer of the Sorting Hat Song Posts: 6,422 Joined: 3:12pm July 22, 2005 Location: Lost in Hermione's beaded bag	What was the Dursleys' motivation for taking in Harry? He is a blood relation. And, I gather, the only blood relation Petunia has left. They seem to me a very selfish lot. What possible benefit might the Dursleys have gained by giving Harry houseroom? I'm not sure selfish is the word wanted. And I'm not sure they are looking for some benefit. More likely they are trying to avoid Dumbledore's wrath. How much did the Dursleys know of Hogwarts before the arrival of Harry's letter? Dear me! Petunia must know plenty. She'd have seen and heard her sister go on about Hogwarts for 7 years. She'd have known all about owl post, Azkaban, The Daily Prophet, the Hogwarts Express, Diagon Alley, and perhaps even Hogsmeade. Vernon knows some, but probably only what Petunia has seen fit to tell him. Why do the Dursleys' consider magic 'dangerous'? Is it just 'dangerous' to their desired reputation to be 'normal'? Is it 'dangerous' because they know Lily and James were murdered? Is it 'dangerous' because of some other interaction they've had with magic? First, I think Petunia must feel jealous. She had a sister with a gift she didn't have. Second, she and Vernon probably think 'magic' is a kind of cheating. It's not real work; so it must some how be wicked. Third, it really was dangerouis. Petunia would have known all about the rise of Voldemort and the Death Eaters and the war that eventually killed her sister and brought Harry to her door. They probably want none of their neighbours to notice anything abnormal and they probably don't want to attract the attention of any Death Eaters either. What was the motivation for 'swearing to stamp out that dangerous nonsense'? Why did they work so feverishly to try to block his entrance to Hogwarts? Why do they seem so terrified of Harry discovering the magical world? Harry's connection with the Wizarding World makes them connected too. Think of the Communist black list of the 1950s. If Peter's brother Paul is a Red, he might say "Who cares?" But he'd suspect that all his phonecalls were being tapped and his mail opened. He'd feel guilt by association. He might be denied a security clearance or a job promotion or have his contract cancelled. That's how a blacklist works. It's like a teacher giving detention to the whole class when only a couple of troublemakers were responsible. There is also the dynamic of authority. Every parent or guardian must face the moment when the child is as tall and as strong as they are and brute force cannot be used to settle arguments. Eventually, the child becomes stronger than the parent. The teenage years can become a contest of wills. This post has been edited by davidenglish: Jan 6 2007, 01:13 AM -------------------- Come the words that bubble Up through broken laughter, Sweeter than spring-water, "Gods, I am so happy!"

devnet View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 01:28 AM Post #5
Spellotaping Monster Books of Monsters Posts: 2,505 Joined: 1:09am March 17, 2006 Location: in the dungeons with Professor Snape brewing some Calming Draught for the GREs and LSATs	QUOTE(DumbleDebbie) What was the Dursleys' motivation for taking in Harry? Petunia got something in return. The protection worked both ways; Harry was protected as long as he could call 4 Privet Drive home and Petunia, Dudley and Vernon were protected as long as Harry lived there. QUOTE(DumbleDebbie) They seem to me a very selfish lot. What possible benefit might the Dursleys have gained by giving Harry houseroom? Again, I think its because they were offered protection in exchange for taking Harry in. QUOTE(DumbleDebbie) How much did the Dursleys know of Hogwarts before the arrival of Harry's letter? Well, Petunia would have known something about Hogwarts. Now how much she told Vernon is up for debate. QUOTE(DumbleDebbie) Why do the Dursleys' consider magic 'dangerous'? Is it just 'dangerous' to their desired reputation to be 'normal'? Is it 'dangerous' because they know Lily and James were murdered? Is it 'dangerous' because of some other interaction they've had with magic? A combination of all three! QUOTE(DumbleDebbie) What was the motivation for 'swearing to stamp out that dangerous nonsense'? Why did they work so feverishly to try to block his entrance to Hogwarts? Why do they seem so terrified of Harry discovering the magical world? Having a newphew attending Hogwarts doesn't exactly fit their model of normalacy. Plus, given the whole reason why they ended up with Harry, they were probably afraid of becoming victims themselves. -------------------- Prophecy 2007 icon by theonlysong Thanks fw00per!

melj1213 View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 08:15 AM Post #6
Scribbulus Everchanging Inks Changer Posts: 1,321 Joined: 4:10pm September 28, 2005 Location: Sat in the Leaky Cauldron with Harry, Ron Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna - drinking Butterbeer!!!	QUOTE * What was the Dursleys' motivation for taking in Harry? Well for a start they just found him on their doorstep one morning - it's not like they had a choice really! They could of course contacted Social Services and had him taken to an orpanage/adopted, but how would they explain away the way they came to have Harry? "How do we have Harry? Well we just found him on the doorstep one morning".... Also Petunia knew that Lily and James were wizards, so will have know Harry was a wizard - therefofe by taking him in they could have been trying to stop anyone else knowing.... QUOTE * They seem to me a very selfish lot. What possible benefit might the Dursleys have gained by giving Harry houseroom? I think that DD explained what had happened to James and Lily and why Harry was special, and told them they had to take in Harry. And I think that by taking Harry in, they thought they could prevent Harry from returning to the WW - because if he didn't know about it, he couldn't ever go back QUOTE * How much did the Dursleys know of Hogwarts before the arrival of Harry's letter? Well I think they knew of it, well Petunia knew what it was and everything, because she heard about it from Lily when she came home in the holidays. I think she would have told Vernon about the place - but exaggereated it to sound worse than it is. QUOTE * Why do the Dursleys' consider magic 'dangerous'? Is it just 'dangerous' to their desired reputation to be 'normal'? Is it 'dangerous' because they know Lily and James were murdered? Is it 'dangerous' because of some other interaction they've had with magic? I think it may be partly to do with James and Lily, but i also think that they regard it as dangerous because it is something which they have no knowledge of and so don't know what impact it will have on their 'normal' lives. I mean they even punished Harry for doing or saying things which they regard as magic references - like when Harry says he had a dream about a flying motorbike on the way to the zoo, Vernon has a total fit - but it was only a dream - I often have weird dreams!! QUOTE * What was the motivation for 'swearing to stamp out that dangerous nonsense'? Why did they work so feverishly to try to block his entrance to Hogwarts? Why do they seem so terrified of Harry discovering the magical world? I think this ties in with both of the questions directly above, because Petunia has some knowledge of the WW (which from some of her remarks when Hagrid arrives she appears to be jealous of) which I think she is biased against, because of her jealousy, and has exaggerated it when telling Vernon - who is determined not to let Harry go into the WW as well...also it is again something which is out of their comfort zone, which they have a limited knowledge of. And of course if DD told them about LV's atack in the letter, they may have been apprehensive about having links with such a dangerous place, as it may have repercussions on them This post has been edited by melj1213: Jan 6 2007, 08:18 AM -------------------- My name is Jean Valjean! And I'm Javert. Do not forget me 24601! Long live Les Mis! Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon, doesn't mean we all have!--Hermione

jadedragon View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 02:23 PM Post #7
Monster Book Stacker Posts: 395 Joined: 6:34am January 28, 2005 Location: At home in Norway, running to escape from Norbert.	Hmmm... Petunia says she doesn't like her sister, but the real reason is that she's obviously jealous on Lily. Not only because their parents favoured Lily, but also because Lily married James and Petunia got stuck with Vernon. Could it be that Petunia had a thing for James...? He was very handsome, young and outgoing. Anyway, I think that's the reason why she hates Harry as well; she doesn't want him too to discover the wonderful world that Lily was allowed to enter but not her. It's sort of like Snape; he hated James because James was clever and handsome (and bullying) and now he hates Harry too. And we suspect that Snape had a thing for Lily! Phew! --------------------

wasps View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 02:54 PM Post #8
Kibble Boy/Girl at the Magical Menagerie Posts: 297 Joined: 2:49pm June 11, 2005 Location: omaha, nebraska	Staying with the Dursley's was necessary. If Harry had grown up in the WW, there's a great chance he'd have ended up like Draco. Or killing himself. Either one. Growing up with everyone thinking you're some sort of god (and knowing about it) could be very odd. -------------------- "It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road." -Holden Caulfield The Plug Collector < my wizard rock outfit

Velse View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 03:07 PM Post #9
Eeylops Owl Cage Cleaner Posts: 235 Joined: 12:36pm October 25, 2006 Location: New Jersey	I confess to an ongoing fascination with the Dursleys, who to me have a very un-characteristic Muggle attitude to magic. Hagrid tells Harry that wizards hide from Muggles because they'd all want magical solutions to their problems, and that certainly makes sense to me! So why do the Dursley's hate the magical world so much? Wouldn't they try to stick Dumbledore for some magical lawn food, at least? I imagine that Petunia may have wanted magical goodies or help at some point in her youth, but Lily (or James, or someone... I've read it speculated that "that awful boy" was actually Sirius) refused to help her. So like the fox who couldn't reach the grapes and declared that they were sour, she rejected all magic as unworthy of her. As to Vernon, what is his motivation? Does he feel less of a man because he can't do magic (as James could)? It seems to me that he is a pretty obnoxious, bullying individual in any case, and we all know how polite James was to obnoxious people. Maybe they had a fight and Vernon was humiliated? I've also wondered about the wedding(s) and what may have taken place there--were Petunia and Vernon embarrassed? Showed up? What went wrong? That said, looking at evidence from later books, I also think it quite plausible that something to do with Lily's experience in the Order or even Lily and Petunia's parents' death exposed Petunia to the dangers of the wizard world, making her want a total separation. If Lily and James have defied Voldemort three times, then she may have been involved. So Dumbledore's protection would mean everything to her, making her compliant with his request that she take care of Harry. -------------------- How will you learn if you don't read Scribbulus? Emily and Nina

DumbleDebbie View Member Profile	Jan 6 2007, 11:47 PM Post #10
Dodgy Cauldrons Dealer Posts: 1,683 Joined: 7:58pm April 7, 2006 Location: Maine	I think the key to why the Dursley's took Harry rests with the letter Dumbledore left with him the night he dropped him on the doorstep. We do not now know nor may we ever know the contents of that letter. We do know that when Petunia was reminded of it she immediately said "He stays", no ifs, ands or buts about it. I'm of the opinion that the Dursleys took Harry for purely selfish reasons. When Lily died her protective love and her sacrifice generated something that saved Harry from being murdered. Dumbledore later told Harry that the blood of his mother would protect him as long as he could call the Dursley's house "home". Much like the Passover story where the blood of an innocent lamb protects the entire household from the death angel, I think it's quite possible that the power generated by Lily sacrificing herself for Harry, enhanced by something Dumbledore did, has not only been protecting Harry. I think it has been protecting the Dursley's at well. And I think that was part of what was in Dumbledore's letter he left with Harry. The Dursleys are so adamantly against Harry going to Hogwarts. I wonder if maybe the letter also said that a protection had been placed on the house, one that would remain until Harry came of age and became a fully qualified wizard. Maybe in her own version of logic Petunia figured if Harry never received a wizard's training, they'd always be safe? I also think that the 'something more' to Petunia is that she's someone's Secret-Keeper. My first impulse is that she's Dumbledore's Secret-Keeper, but a close second in my mind is perhaps she's Lily's Secret-Keeper. Debbie -------------------- 'It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.' ~ APWB Dumbledore "Caput Draconis" :D Congrats Knight62442 Werewolves! Awooooo!!!