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Petunia, "More to her, then meets the eye"

AccioFirebolt View Member Profile	Jan 8 2007, 02:21 PM Post #1
Flesh-Eating-Slug Catcher Posts: 148 Joined: 9:40pm July 20, 2005 Location: Practicing DADA for the DA in the RoR	ok...so I was reading some of the things J.K. Rowling has said about Aunt Petunia... Like "There is more to her then meets the eye, but she isn't a squib, but its a good guess"...that makes me wonder, does she posses magical powers and yet she chooses not to use them? Did maybe she as well get into Hogwarts and chose not to go. Maybe this is why she resents Lily so much?! Not only that but J.K. Rowling stated also that there have been other letters between Petunia and Dumbledore...could this be referring to letters about her attending hogwarts? Let me know what you guys think..could be silly, could have already been brought up if so i'm sorry... -------------------- "Harry'll tell me and Hermione everything you say anyway!" said Ron hotly. "Won't - Won't you?" "'Course I will," Harry said. Ron and Hermione beamed. True friends....

secunda View Member Profile	Jan 8 2007, 02:32 PM Post #2
Gambol and Japes' Research Department Posts: 1,364 Joined: 9:49am November 10, 2006	hasn´t jo said that she was a real muggle? never used magic and never will? why does she think beeing a witch makes one a freak? her family wasn´t anti-magic, so it was no inherited prejudice. how much older than lily is petunia? did she know a wizard befor her little sister was born? where did the evans live? are bellatrix and lucius her age? was she bullied by their gang. did they have a great time chasing muggles and hexing them? -------------------- Molly for Minister Lupin is lovely you can only be weak, if you are allowed to be strong. my fanfic:Eileen´s Curse Detector Junk Shop For a girl from Slytherin loving Snape would not be the bad-guy-syndrom.

jonestastic View Member Profile	Jan 8 2007, 02:40 PM Post #3
Perusing the Magical Menagerie Posts: 89 Joined: 5:19pm December 30, 2006	I believe there is a well-written essay on this topic at Mugglenet that basically sums up what you just said. Located here. I believe it possible that Petunia could be the older sister and got her letter first, denied the invitation (thinking her parents would be embarassed or ashamed), and then was shocked to find out that Lily would recieve her letter shortly after and that after she accepted, her parents were actually proud. Petunia tries so hard to be normal... It would only be natural, in this position, to become bitter after Lily went off to Hogwarts. The Dursleys admit to attempting to "squash the magic" out of Harry. So perhaps if you choose to deny magical training, you never gain much control over your powers and they somewhat linger, never strengthening, or possibly dwindle away. This well could have happened to Petunia. QUOTE(secunda @ Jan 8 2007, 02:32 PM) [snapback]1057858[/snapback] hasn´t jo said that she was a real muggle? never used magic and never will? "No, she is not, but-[Laughter]. No, she is not a Squib. She is a Muggle, but-[Laughter]. You will have to read the other books. You might have got the impression that there is a little bit more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye, and you will find out what it is. She is not a squib, although that is a very good guess. Oh, I am giving a lot away here. I am being shockingly indiscreet." [when asked if Aunt Petunia is a Squib] This post has been edited by jonestastic: Jan 8 2007, 02:47 PM

redshelle74 View Member Profile	Jan 8 2007, 02:50 PM Post #4
Cauldron Bottom Measurer Posts: 135 Joined: 2:49pm January 5, 2007 Location: Tessering through space and time.	Good points. I personal think it would great payback for Petunia, to all of asudden have to use her magic ( of course figurung she has any), boy wouldn't Vernon freak! When it is mentioned That she has received other letters, really got me thinking and wondering. I sortta hope she does. What a laugh. -------------------- "I'll ask you a riddle. What do you have the most of, the more you give away?" "Oh, love, I suppose." A wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

Eilish View Member Profile	Jan 8 2007, 03:27 PM Post #5
Just Through the Brick Wall Posts: 13 Joined: 1:31pm December 6, 2005 Location: ...a parallel chinaverse...	I’m not sure Petunia has any magic. Only because of what she says in the first book: "I was the only one who saw her for what she was -- a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" -PS. Petunia (this is based on the assumption that she’s the older sibling) would have known that her parents would have been proud if she herself had been a witch, because they would have discussed the letter with her. She’d only have been 11, so her parents would surely have read the letter and been involved in her decision. Maybe resentment springs from deep-rooted jealousy? From the descriptions we've gotten of both Lily & Petunia, we can assume that Petunia was a very plain-looking child. I would think that after Lily was born (still going with the older sister deal), and as they got older, Petunia (with “horsey teeth”) began to feel her plainness very acutely next to the vibrant red-haired, green-eyed Lily. There’s a certain amount of smugness in being an older sister, but smugness could wane after a time, when your younger sister begins to surpass you in looks. That can be hard, depending on one’s nature. And can erode a girl’s self-esteem, fragile in formative years. (Do we know how far apart Petunia & Lily are in age?) In the midst of this, Lily receives her Hogwarts letter, widening the difference between them into a chasm. Not only is her sister prettier, but she’s a witch, making her special. It’s something else Petunia can’t do. Or, more like, she can’t control. Both looks & the wizarding gene are accidents of birth. Maybe Petunia’s as horrid to Harry as she is because it’s something she can control. Does she feel guilty that her sister was killed? That if she hadn’t cut Lily off so completely maybe things would have been different? Maybe Petunia has no power, but you can never know. But then wouldn’t it make sense that she’d treat Harry like one of her own out of guilt? To make up for the way she felt about Lily? Unless she vowed to “squash the magic” out of Harry because magic is what killed her sister? Sorry, this is more basic motives than possible possesion of magic by Petunia. This post has been edited by Eilish: Jan 8 2007, 03:40 PM -------------------- "Maybe not," she said darkly, returning to her translation again, "but at least my happiness doesn't depend of Ron's goalkeeping ability." -Hermione; OotP

harryluvsginny View Member Profile	Jan 8 2007, 05:13 PM Post #6
Just Through the Brick Wall Posts: 7 Joined: 4:45pm July 21, 2005	I honestly don't know what to think about petunia. She like we all know isn't a squib and she can't do magic because it isn't something that one easily hides and if she could she would have come out and shown her parents that not only Lily could do magic thus making her parents proud of her as well. So no, she cannot use magic. So that eliminates a lot and gives us absolutely no options left! I don't know what Lily could be hiding.

jadedragon View Member Profile	Jan 8 2007, 05:33 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, in my opinion, 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! --------------------

theseer View Member Profile	Jan 16 2007, 03:19 PM Post #8
Professional Diagon Alley Window Shopper Posts: 66 Joined: 2:54pm May 19, 2006 Location: Reading Fablehaven to help mw wait patiently.	I was reading the mugglenet FAQ poll archive and came upon the poll question about this. I think it was very interesting that letters were sent to Petunia, and just Petunia, before Harry was left on her doorstep. We do either have to assume that she had also been invited to Hogwarts and rejected the offers, or she was recieving them once she had been married and was being asked for assistance concerning her sister. There would be no other reason to contact her other than school or for help. DD doen't just write random muggles letters. Could she have been asked to hide Harry, or take care of some business that Lily could not being in hiding and all? And where are those letters now? I, for one, find the creaking stair very suspicious and very undursley-like. I would also like to point out that Petunia could not be a squib no matter what. A squib is a non-magical child born to magical parents. She would have been a witch who chose not to practice. Very rare I imagine. -------------------- "i like a quiet life, you know me." -Harry Potter

Lacrimosa View Member Profile	Jan 16 2007, 04:47 PM Post #9
Being Eaten by the Pea Soup Posts: 18 Joined: 10:44pm January 9, 2007 Location: NJ	Theseer brought up a really good point about the creaking stair. i agree that it is very undursley-like...However, I do have my own theories. Actually, only one, about Aunt Petunia... I think that she was always jealous of Lily, because she was which, something Petunia was not. when the war started, and Lily joined the OOTP, we all know both muggle and wizards comunities were in danger. After all, before "The-Boy-Who-Lived" voldie had no one to fear. I believe that Lily had to save her sister from a problem. from some sort of situation that had to do with wizards, and that could be why Petunia is so afraid of magic...when you read HBP everytime Dumbledore Took out his wand they, Dursleys, looked scared. this could also explain why she wanted to keep Dudley away from her sister, to protect him. also, this could explain why she took Harry, Petunia had a life debt with Lily, and like Snape, the only way they could pay them, Lily and James, back was by keeping Harry safe. this could also explain bout the letters with DD. may be DD was reminding Petunia of this Life debt through those letters. well, this is my theory, i'm not so good at explaining things but I hope you got the point. -------------------- "It's the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more." - Albus Dumbledore.

Zujin View Member Profile	Jan 16 2007, 11:26 PM Post #10
Getting Fitted for New Dress Robes Posts: 48 Joined: 2:57pm May 26, 2005	You know that spell that DD shot a VM in OoTP, I know this may sound random but follow me, I have a theory that since DD could not kill VM he would try to strip him of his magical powers. It would definately be a fate worse than death for VM, maybe Petunia isn't a Wizard or a muggle really, maybe she got all of her magic removed somehow. I know it sounds crazy, but there has been crazier. -------------------- In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people very angry and was widely regarded as a bad move.