[caltheous]

A Butterbeer for Aunt Petunia
By Texas Lupine

Abstract:
Petunia Dursley wanted no part of the wizarding world, but it kept intruding on her life. This essay takes a semi-sympathetic look at Harry Potter’s guardian aunt as a child and as an adult. It attempts to explain why she treated Harry so shabbily and concludes that Petunia was, after all, one of the good guys.

Biography:
Texas Lupine is the author of two non-fiction books and dozens of magazine articles. She keeps Harry Potter on a handy shelf near her writing desk, along with The Lord of the Rings, Harriet the Spy, and various tellings of the King Arthur story.

This essay can be read here.

This post has been edited by caltheous: 28 March 2009 - 06:08 PM

[syren]

I think that the Dursley's most valuable legacy to Harry was the selflessness their treatment instilled in him...the selflessness that enabled him to unite the Hallows and make his own sacrifice.

[Ravenclaw_Runner92]

This is such a great essay! Your view is really interesting and really humanize Petunia, and gave great motives for her actions. After reading this, I do not sympathize for her, but I do understand her, thank her, and drink a butterbeer for her.

[kamion]

JKR made it quite clear why Petunia abhorred magic, your essay underlines it perfectly.
She however never made it clear why Vernon abhorred magic and reading your essay it sort became clear to me that Vernon's behaviour could very well be the result of the fight he had with his Petunia the day she took Harry in.
She must have defended the reasoning of protecting Harry with Vernon first, who had no bloodties with this orphan and neither the nature of being protective over the weak and funderable.
It is of course pure speculation, but quite possible that Petunis had threatened to leave taking Harry and Dudley with her when Vernon not accepted Harry in their home. It was probably the only real domestic fight Vernon had with his wife and it went bad enough for him not to risk it again. When Petunia says in OotP:
" the boy will have to stay." he deflates like an old tyre in no time.

[coralys]

Great essay. Petunia is a character I've been thinking a lot about since Deathly Hallows. I didn't think that JKR could change my perception of Petunia so late in the game but with just a few glimpses into her childhood in book 7 she made me understand her character much better. I can't imagine what it would be like to discover that magic and Hogwarts was real but that I couldn't be a part of it. So I felt really bad for her. But then I remember how she kept a child locked up in a cupboard and didn't feed him regularly.
Very interesting theories on Vernon, too.

[rosepug]

Excellent and thought-provoking essay! Thanks!

[Roseann]

Thank you for writing this essay you said everything I was thinking but do not really have the time to say. Great Job ROAR

[PenelopeG]

This is such a great essay! I found it (and the leaky lounge) by doing a search on Aunt Petunia today. I was having the same, rather sympathetic feelings for her and felt she really loved her nephew, but could not get over her bitterness and jealousy from the past and took it out on him (the talented, special boy, like her talented, special, good-looking sister who was adored by her parents and won the hearts of Severus and James).

It hit me today that the two sisters were pregnant at the same time, and did not communicate with eachother during this time (most likely anyway), so not only was a surprise baby left at her doorstep, but the surprise baby of her (surprise!) now-dead sister whom is the same age as her demanding one year old son. She learns her sister (that she was once very close to) is gone, and she learns they both were pregnant and neither shared it with the other, and she learns that she is required to care for this boy or else he will be in danger- she doesn't really have the option to say no.

Aunt Petunia may have given up on having more children of her own simply because she had two boys to care for now. She may have given up on properly disciplining her son because with Harry around, the new priority was to make sure her son didn't feel left out or lesser. She may have sacrificed more than anyone realized.

[AussieSheila]

DH p42 "She stopped and looked back. For a moment Harry had the strangest feeling that she wanted to say something to him: She gave him a odd, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but then, with a little jerk of her head, she bustled out of the roomafter her husband and son."

I apologise if this has been discussed earlier, but what did Aunt Petunia want to say?

I wondered if the letter Dumbledore left with Harry also asked Petunia not to mention Snape to Harry. Snape made it a condition of helping Dumbledore that nobody would know that Snape loved Lily. But Petunia already knew about Snape's love. Dumbledore would have needed to spell out to Petunia that Harry was not to know about the early friendship of Lily and Snape.

Remember that in OOTP she talked about "that boy" discussing dementors with Lily. Harry thought she meant James, because he couldn't imagine Petunia knowing any other wizards.

Of course, she may have wanted to wish him luck!

[Buckbeak26]

I read this essay this morning and liked it. There are certain things that I will never understand about Vernon,Petunia, and Dudley, but I also raise my glass of butterbeer and toast her as well.

By the way In OOTP when Dudley is attacked by the dementors we never find out what his worst memory is. Does anyone have an idea?