Summer with the Dursley's--improved this year?

[FredRocksMySocks]

We know that in the past, Harry's friends and protectors have tried to give Harry a better summer, by giving Harry advice on how to deal with them (not telling about the no magic out of school rule, talking about his convict godfather, and now this year with moody and lupin and everyone confronting them) Any predictions about how Harrys summer is going to go, Dursley wise? Do you think they'll lighten up?

[otto lupin]

i think he will get same old stuff

[wahsup86]

I think he will get treated better (obviously, becuase at the begining of every book Harry's home life has improved to some degree over the last year). But not to the effect Mr./Mrs. Weasely and everyone else would hope.

[familiar]

Oh, something will happen to ruin it all. It wouldn't make a good story if everything always turned out right for Harry. Harry may have an open communication channel to the OOTP, but what if something happens that prevents communication and the Dursley's find out? Vernon is just about to the end of his rope with Harry and he may start looking for ways to attack (either verbally or physically).

[wahsup86]

I don't think so, I'm Pretty sure Mad-Eye scared Dursely straight into acting nicer.

[Elektra]

I think we've gotten to the point in the story now that the Dursleys aren't going to provide as much opposition for Harry; first, their treatment of him has improved slightly every summer he's come home, second, I think they'll respond to Mad-Eye's threat and provide Harry with enough elbow room that he'll feel as comfortable as he possibly can at their house, and third, the challenges for Harry are now going to be of a much more serious nature, and come from events surrounding Voldemort/Death Eaters/Dark Creatures more than the Dursleys. If anything, I think the disturbances during the upcoming summer are going to be the result of some major attack, such as what he was waiting to hear about last summer, probably against Hermione and her parents, in order to draw Harry out from under the protection of Privet Drive. It will be a major struggle for him to know what to do, since he'll probably still be dealing with his guilt over the death of Sirius, and will remember if he had obeyed Hermione's warning in the first place it might not have happened, and so he won't know whether to trust the information or not. But still, he's Harry, and an attack on Hermione and her parents would not only be personal because it's Hermione, but because it's reminiscent of the attack on his own family, except the Grangers are even more defenseless. He'll want to rush to her aid, but the Order will probably step in to protect her instead, as well as come and get Harry before he rushes off and does something rash, and take them all to Grimmauld Place.

Geez, I might as well just start writing a fan fic...;)

Elektra

[you know who!]

as wahsup said i think vernons too scared of madeye to do anything bad

[big_cho_fan]

Yeah vernons too scared to make life hell for harry yet again. I think it will get better but it will still be harsh for harry.

[Arissya_00]

YEAh, I know, probably Vernon will still be rude and all, but he won't dare to lock Hary up remember in GoF Vernon let Harry go to the World Cup only because he was afraid that a mad murderer would come knocking at his door because he was HArry's Godfather. SO yeah, I would definately say it can improve. "If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send somebody along" I think this is true, with all that happened, dementors, Voldemort, and all that chaos, Harry's summer will definately improve.

[Wakkachuta]

I think that this summer the Dursleys will leave him well alone, he'll be able to do whatever he likes, Uncle Vernon probably wont complain about the owls as much, Harry will visit Mrs Figg, and we may learn some more about Aunt Petunia.
Having said that, Uncle Vernon and Dudley will probably hate Harry just as much as ever, if not more for allowing those 'freaks' to talk to him like that. But overall I think Harry that, in terms of the Dursleys, Harry will enjoy himself more, but he'll still be brooding and mourning over Sirius' death and having nightmares about that, too.

[Daveydee]

Difficult one to call.

Of course Dudley now owes his life to Harry. Petunia, with her knowledge of Dementors etc will also recognise this. What tack will she take to keep him within the protection of her home - he will be 16. She can hardly keep a 16 yo locked in a bedroom. Maybe we will see a complete change in their attitude towards Harry.

It's one part of Book 6 that I'm absolutely itching to read about, particularly with the prospect of more revelations about Petunia and the wizarding world.

[Ecthelion]

It is difficult to tell. They can react in a number of different ways that are to us, not easily apparent. As of now, I am thinking they'll pull the 'ol snape thing and just act as if he isn't there. But there are a couple of new inputs from this book that will stop that from happening and cause other reactions.

One, Harry saved Dudley's life, and as ignorant as Petunia likes to fiegn, she knows this and it will be hard to ignore. Two, Dudley potentially saw Harry cast a real spell that took a form of a huge stag, and for a muggle, that would be downright scary. Three, Vernon and Petunia know that holding Harry is a danger to them.

These all to clear little know hows of the Dursleys is going to effect the way the view, and as the topic of this thread is dedicated, treatment. And as Daveydee said, I am looking forward to seeing Petunia's reactions now that it became totally apparent that she knows more than we think.

[LionHeart14]

Well we all know the Dursleys are evil, prats and generally just mean people. And yes, each year they have been just a tad nicer to Harry - but only out of fear (the old saying "people only fear what they don't know" or however it goes comes to mind).

As such, I think that the Dursleys owe Harry for saving Dudley's life, but I think it will cause them to dislike him even more (no evidence really to support that off the top of my head) - they will not be nice to him, they will tolerate him. I just think they'll keep their criticisms down to a low, and as soon as Harry is old enough they're going to boot him out the door.

[jmk623]

Just like when Vernon was afraid of Sirius, it'll be the same with Mad-Eye. Harry probably won't be treated like a normal person, the Dursleys' will be just forced to acted a bit more nicer to him.....or just pretend again that he doesn't exist.
Vernon probably can't say anything about owls anymore, and Harry'll be getting his OWL scores during vacation. They can't throw him out because of Petunia(recived the Howler). Harry'll get along somehow and be with the Order at the end of the summer.

[Nickel]

I think Vernon will start out the summer as he normall does, making Harry's life miserable. BUT- after a quick visit from someone (I'm hoping it's Moody) he'll change his tune. Don't forget old habits are hard to break and Vernon defiately has a habit of treating Harry like garbage.

[impatient]

I think that as soon as his OWL results arrive everything will change. He will go from the boy who should be good to the boy who has teh certs to say he is bloody good! Point being I think he will get his own way more by using some of that intelligence he has stored up! I wouldn't be surprised if Hermione came to stay - I think that Hermiones parents may be introduced to teh Dursleys and that they will somehow spend the summer together.

[Steffie]

well the owl results are coming at the end of july and so far harry has almost always departed shortly after the end of july, so there will happen something with his owls/the dursleys and a lot of moody ;)

[impatient]

Hi Steffie, you're right with the July thing - something always happens! Why do you think we'll see a lot of moody - do you mean at the dursleys?

[Cat]

I bloody well hope things don't go better for him. I want to see the Order of the Phoenix scare the Dursleys!

[Mutant for Hire]

The question is, what happens with Dudley gets his O-levels?

And what if he tries to beat up Mark Evans and gets hit with some wild magic? Who will take the blame for it?

[Siriusly_Addicted]

Originally posted by Mutant for Hire (original post (http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?postid=441638#post441638))
The question is, what happens with Dudley gets his O-levels?

And what if he tries to beat up Mark Evans and gets hit with some wild magic? Who will take the blame for it?


Good point about Mark Evans. If he's possibly a wizard (according to some theories in other threads), is it significant that he apparently wasn't able to do a Harry and get away from Dudley & Co.?

[Steffie]

well when harry did "a harry" he was scared or angry at the time, but mark was described as giving dudley lip while being beaten up (so not that scared or angry at the time). Maybe Mark knows he'll be able to get back at dudley in a year's time or else he's a brave, but stupid 10-year-old ;)

[Prof.Aze]

I think this year would be fine. And maybe Petunia has already told Vernon why she didn't let Harry go in chapter 2. So it could be better.

[imperfect prefect]

maybe Harry will finally get a birthday celebration from the Dursleys :) yeah and his present will be clean new socks lol

[Magi]

Harry will probably be a non-entity. He can do whatever the heck he likes (as long as he doesn't get in the way, or goodness forbid, do magic), and the Dursleys won't raise an eyebrow.

[lunalupe18]

I think that the Dursleys won't change their attitude one bit. Harry will just put up with being stuck at their house a little more. One part of him might even enjoy it, the part where he could be alone to think without having to worry if anyone would bother him.

[Sirius Black]

It will probably be much better, at least from Petunia. I think she will treat him better, no chance for Vernon though. Dudley will be be as sour as usual. But do you think Harry might tell his Aunt and Uncle about the death of Sirius?

[Auror77]

I'm afraid that Harry will still be so sad about Sirius that he won't frankely care about how he's treated. It'll probably take alot out of him just to write an owl to them(the Order) saying he's fine.

[jeanie beanie]

I think that Harry will be depressed and mopish when he first gets back to the Dursleys. They will ignore Harry for the most part, although I think Aunt Petunia will kind of surreptitiously watch Harry for clues as to what's happening with the Voldemort situation.

Oh and FredRocksMySocks, I wouldn't worry too much about almost hitting a stop sign. As long as you don't run into a wall, another car, person or other living creature, you're doing fine. ;)

[Elektra]

well when harry did "a harry" he was scared or angry at the time, but mark was described as giving dudley lip while being beaten up (so not that scared or angry at the time). Maybe Mark knows he'll be able to get back at dudley in a year's time or else he's a brave, but stupid 10-year-old ;)

Actually, the fact that he "cheeked" Dudley kind of reminds me of Harry at that age. Remember his first Potions class with Snape? How he smarted off to him? We don't see him doing it much with Dudley, because he probably would have been locked in his cupboard without food for a few weeks, but Mark doesn't have to worry about that. He can tell off bullying Dudley just like Harry told off bullying Snape. It doesn't mean he wasn't scared, just that he had moxy. More than likely Dudley had already decided to beat him up, and Mark was just defending himself in the only way he could, and Dudley justified his behavior afterwards by saying the kid gave him lip. I think Mark will probably be a Gryffindor.

I also don't think his inability to escape Dudley suggests he doesn't have magical ability; although Harry was able to magically avoid Dudley and his gang a couple times, it's pretty clear that they did beat him up on a regular basis. For all we know, Mark has had some magical escapes as well, but he wasn't lucky enough to get away from Dudley this time.

It's a good thing Hogwarts kids can't use magic outside of school, though, because Dudley is really racking up wizarding enemies. I hope for his sake the Ministry doesn't decide to lift the ban now that the war has started and the kids might need to protect themselves at home. Well, maybe not really, I mean, who wouldn't like to see Dudley sprout another tail... :evil:

Elektra

[hesdead-dealwithit]

Am I the only one who thinks Mark Evans is a red herring? If he's Lily and Petunia's nephew, that would mean either petunia is a squib and Lily is not a mudblood (she is - snape said so and harry must be half blood) or two wizards came from the same mostly muggle family. Also, there would be an unnamed brother or Lily and Petunia, and Harry, we already know, had no living relatives when he was one, and Mark Evans was 4 years unborn. So Mark Evans will NOT be at Hogwarts!!

Anyway, that's off-topic. I personally think that the Dursley's will just avoid Harry as much as they can, even more than between Books 1 and 2 if that's possible. Harry, meanwhile, will not take anything from them - look at his behavior to dudley in OotP - and overall I think the summer will be better in terms of the dursleys than those in the past. (It will be worse in that the deaths and attacks Harry expected in Book 5 will have started) Look for Petunia to be saying nothing but hanging around.

[TheBoss]

im not thinking the Dursley's relationship is goona change at all.. they know he can do magic, he's done it twice and not been expelled.. *shrug* at least thats what they are going to think.. although i like Lupin and Moody helpin him out, or at least trying, i dont think its going to have much of an effect.. they'll prolly just ignore him again! old habits die hard...

[humongoratdropping]

Well, I don't think it would matter how the Dursley's would treat him over the summer (not that this thread is pointless, it's actually quite interesting) because Harry's going to need Prozac (or some other antidepressant) because he's going to be really, really, depressed about Sirius.

[Bee]

I think Vernon will just ignore Harry completely, Petunia will try to make some half-hearted attempts to be nice, and Dudley will be too afraid to look at him. A little will change, he won't be bullied to death anymore, but not much.

[jasper]

It improves in at least one way-- it turns out to be short.

I think scaring Vernon is a little dangerous. When he got scared about the dementors, the first thing he wanted to do was chuck Harry out. I think with the Order trying to scare him too, Vernon's reaction could turn out to be the opposite of what Harry needs.

[gred&forge4ever]

I think that we will find out more about Petunia and the wizarding world. I think that she and Harry will become closer. Just a gut feeling

[jasper]

A short stay at the Drusleys is an interesting prospect and I think there is thread which discuses the summer with the Drusleys and why it might be should. Should these two threads be merged?


Hey, Tane, can you post a link? I don't remember that other thread.

[Nycade]

Originally Posted by hesdead-dealwithit
Am I the only one who thinks Mark Evans is a red herring?
Nope, Dead, I totally agree. I think there are only two possible reasons he could be there:
1) A red herring, as you said, or
2) She needed a last name for a little boy Dudley and his friends were beating up, and Evans popped into her head. It's possible, although JKR doesn't usually make mistakes like this.
Another thing people seem not to remember is that Evans is a VERY common last name... it in no way means Harry must be related to him.

About this summer at the Dursleys'... I don't think Petunia would refuse to keep him any longer. Dumbledore would quickly put an end to any idea like that. Remember the Howler at the beginning of the fifth book- moments after Vernon said Harry had to leave, the Howler arrived (hmm... it just occurred to me that it must be a VERY fast owl, either that or Dumbledore has some sort of seer quality). Petunia seems to be frightened of Dumbledore, even more than she hates Harry. I don't think she'd get rid of him.

I agree, Tane, that something bad is most likely what will happen to mean Harry has to leave, though I'm sure he'll be happy to be going back to the wizarding world regardless of what happens. It doesn't surprise me that this will be his shortest summer yet at the Dursleys, since the Order and ministry will have a lot to do to defend themselves against Voldemort. Even more importantly, I don't think the Order will leave him there long because of the failed watching system last year. They'll want to protect him.

[jasper]

Okay, in that case, I didn't say Petunia might refuse to keep Harry.

I don't think the threads are the same. In this thread, really we should be talking about how the Dursley's will treat Harry this summer during his stay-- short as it may be.

[jasper]

That would be good- Harry directing some of his anger at them. If he's still super angry this summer, they at least deserve to have him shouting at them after they way they've always treated him.

What if we see him taking on some of the spoiled Dudley role, demanding everything, and threatening to throw a tantrum (or call on his friends) if he doesn't get it? Hee hehe.

What wouldn't the Dursleys do for him to keep those wizards out of the neighborhood? They might run for it again. They could take another vacation to the rock out in the sea.

[lemondrop]

I think that Harry will try to get information out of Mrs. Figg. Maybe about how she knows Dumbledore.

Maybe we will see the other way that the Order communicates. The Order will be waiting to get frequent Owls from Harry. But it seems like they won't be sending Harry any 'real' news because although the ministry may not be as hot to intercept owls to and from Harry, DEs might.

[thinkpink38]

In my opinion, improvement and the a Dursleys does not go in the same sentence, perhaps Moody did scare him, but that won't stop the Dursleys from being so *****y!

[NYCwitch920]

I don't think it will be better than any other summer. I'm sure Vernon will be a bit nicer but I don't think he would be able to bottle up his anger towards Harry for very long. Something will probably happen, resulting in the arrival of the Order.

[rotsiepots]

It improves in at least one way-- it turns out to be short.

I think scaring Vernon is a little dangerous. When he got scared about the dementors, the first thing he wanted to do was chuck Harry out. I think with the Order trying to scare him too, Vernon's reaction could turn out to be the opposite of what Harry needs.

I'm actually quite disappointed that we won't see much of the Dursleys in their natural environment for very long. I was desperate for Harry to interact more with Petunia in OotP, so if he's not around Privet Drive for long enough to learn anything new I fear I'm going to be let down again.

Then again there's nothing to infer that the Dursleys won't be going wherever Harry ends up so I can remain hopeful.

Alas.

[Picko]

It's difficult with book six being apparently the shortest time he spends with the Dursley's, as it was he barely had any interaction with them in OotP.

That said I'm sure for what it's worth it'll be better. The Dursley's have shown in the past that they are easily intimidated by wizards and that will therefore ensure that it's at least tolerable for Harry.

[Ellen]

Things will have certainly changed at the Dursleys. How is the question. For example, previous to OotP, most stories that had Harry saving Dudley from some big league evil resulted in the Dursleys finally appreciating Harry. Instead, when it happened, Vernon was on the verge of throwing Harry to the wolves to protect his family. But, that said, let's take a look at things -

Dudley - We don't really know his reaction to the whole Dementor thing. We don't know what he saw or how it effected him long term. We don't know if he knows Harry saved his life - or that it was important to Harry to save Dudley's life. It was his first instinct. He didn't have to think about it.

Now, is Dudley capable of grasping this? If he didn't, is there any situation where Petunia might have explained it to him? For example, if Dudley was begging her not to take Harry back this summer or if Dudley was simply freaked out by the experience and needed someone to explain what happened to him? If no one's explained what happened or if Dudley couldn't bring himself to ask his parents questions about magic, will Dudley demand answers of Harry?

I see three routes. Dudley believes Harry was behind what happened to him and, while maybe more afraid of him than ever, sees Harry as a real threat to his life and well being. The meeting with the Order would have simply strengthened that feeling. If he gets an opportunity or thinks Harry's about to attack, this Dudley will turn on him in a heart beat. Don't discount him because of his lack of magic or brain power. Remember Kreacher.

Or, Dudley may realize Harry didn't attack him but may also realize he was caught in the crossfire of an attack aimed at Harry. The fact that Harry saved him either didn't register or doesn't weigh in against this fact. This Dudley won't turn on Harry if turning on him looks more dangerous than staying on his good side or keeping him around. He won't help an enemy of Harry's if it looks too dangerous. He might not help them anyway if they frighten him more than Harry.

The third possibility is that Dudley knows Harry helped him and that he may even want his help (explaining what happened, giving him some way to feel safe again [depending on what he saw and how it effected him, Dudley may have a massive case of post-traumatic stress syndrome]).

Vernon - He's the one I see as dangerous. He was perfectly willing to get Harry killed. He's already physically attacked him and tried to choke him. Petunia talked him out of kicking Harry out, but she had to put two things on the line: the Dursley terror of what the neighbors will think and her relationship with Vernon (remember how he was trying to placate her at the end?). If fear of the neighbors can be worked around (he's had a year to work up cover stories for getting rid of Harry) or if it becomes less important (if he discovers his neighbors are "freaks" [Mrs. Figg is a squib and he learns Mark Evans in a wizard (if he is)]), he might do anything. That leaves his relationship with Petunia. If she won't back down from protecting Harry, I could see him dumping her.

That leaves only his fear of the Order. If he convinces himself he can escape them or fix things so they won't blame him (we saw him try something like this once in book 1, even though logic was pretty much against him from the start), he'll do what he likes.

Petunia - She's become the wild card. The fact is she actually cares about Harry, enough so that, when push came to shove, she was willing to risk danger to herself, Vernon, and even Dudley to protect him. If it was a choice between Vernon leaving her and protecting Harry, would she make the same decision? What if Vernon was taking Dudley with him? Or would Dudley stay with Petunia? I have no idea anymore which way she'll jump.

I also have no idea what Petunia's real feelings towards Harry are. Fear has played a bigger part in how she's treated him than I thought - fear for him as well as fear of magic and wizards. Is it bigger than dislike? Is it actually possible, in her own, warped way, that she doesn't dislike Harry at all? I don't know. The big question, will she protect Harry no matter what or will she abandon him when it all hits the line, is a mystery to me.

The other question is whether or not Voldemort and the DEs might try and attack the Dursleys. Will the protection to Harry shield them in any way? Will they die? Or, if they survive, what if the house is destroyed? The magic protecting Harry works so long as he can call home the place where his mother's blood dwells. If that place is destroyed, can Petunia still protect him? Does this raise the possibility of running to the Evans' house (if they are relatives)? What about Grimmauld Place? It Privet Drive is destroyed (assuming Vernon and Dudley are out of the picture, for the moment), I can see Harry dragging Petunia off to the well protected Headquarters. Putting aside the problem of getting her past the Fidelius Charm (Harry's ability to get past things like that in a crisis is amazing, although I don't know if it's [I]that[I] amazing), trying to convince Petunia to feel at home in any wizard's house, much less this one (assuming she needs to regard the place as a home for the charm to work), could make bypassing the Fidelius Charm look like small potatoes.

[jordmundt6]

Ellen--good analysis.

However--Dudley doesn't strike me as intelligent enough for any sort of complicated thought process. While Petunia may have understood and accepted the explanation and Vernon let what he understood of it pass, to Dudley everything except the parts about what he felt were gibberish. It is unlikely Dudley will be an ally. He may try to turn on Harry, but unless he's backed by his gang and Harry's forced not to use his wand, the damage he could actually do AT Privet Drive wouldn't be serious (hopefully). If our budding hooligan starts to bring guns home or actually figures out how to use a rifle then it's a whole new ballgame but absent that, Dudley will probably be an annoyance. It would be intriguing if Dudley accepted that Harry helped him in a time of direst need, but the most that would do is create an unspoken truce between them.

You're absolutely right. Vernon IS the dangerous one. He will continue to try to throw Harry out of his house and he may succeed by Book Seven. So unless Petunia grows a spine for more than 15 seconds Vernon and the new rifle I'm sure he's buying will be not only a nuisance, but a tremendous danger to Harry (though I doubt Vernon will attempt physical contact again).

Petunia is the most interesting--When her mask was forced off she actually seemed like Harry's family for a couple of minutes and the understanding that sprang up between them might even have allowed her to answer some of those burning questions. It will take another severe shock, but I look forward to the day when the mask is forced off entirely for a long period of time and the font of information that Petunia is repressing comes spilling out of her mouth. My guess is that this probably won't happen before Book 7 (so we have a looong wait). But I don't think things will get any better than they were just after Harry's 11th birthday. Remember, he'd just moved into his new digs in the spare bedroom and was openly reading his spellbooks and nothing had been said about Hedwig restrictions yet. The Dursleys, rather than rant at him treated him as if he physically didn't exist and that treatment got a little boring after awhile but proved to be their period of least interference. I don't expect things will ever return to that--in fact, given the heightened danger I'd expect things to get progressively worse.

[TheFifthMarauder]

I think it's safe to say that the Dursleys will be treating Harry differently, now that we know that Petunia's knowledge of the wizarding world is more than "Oh, they wave wands and say weird words", Dudley was saved by Harry, AND that Vernon is afraid of Moody ( :p ). Also, Harry now knows that Mrs. Figg is a Squib. Like Auror77 said, Harry might be too depressed about Sirius' death to really care about how the Dursleys treat him. Hopefully members of the Order can come and visit...

[Chloe]

I agree, fifth mauruder- harry is definitely too depressed about sirius too care....
When he comes home, he'll just ignore them... dudley will probably be in to much shock, and he'll probably pretend harry isnt alive as usual

[daz]

Well there will be exchanges between big D and Harry as we find out what he worst memory was from the demetor

[Dominor4]

Whether or not Harry's stay with the Dursleys will be better this year is an interesting question. For one thing, Harry now knows why he has to go there every summer and will no longer be kept in the dark about what's going on. Both of these issues caused Harry the most grief last summer, but now that they're gone, I really can't see this summer being all that bad. I expect strange happenings will be reported on the news, Dudley will continue on his path from spoiled kid to criminal hoodlum, and Uncle Vernon will be just as horrible as always. However, there might be some interesting new developments between Petunia and Harry. As for Harry himself, I think he's going to to be hibernating in his room for the whole summer, digesting the loss of Sirius and the prophecy, and staying out of everyone's way. As usual, some strange occurence will happen that will draw Harry out of the house and back into the wizarding world. I know most people think there will be some sort of Voldemort related attack at the Dursleys in book 6, but I wouldn't be so sure. I think Voldemort now has a much bigger plan to kill Harry, that won't come into effect until book 7. His job now is to start taking over the wizarding world, and destroying all who protect Harry or work against him (especially Dumbledore), as well as learning more about Harry himself.

[Cat]

He can interact with them in a week. So much can be revealed in a day.

I don't think life with the Dursley will ever improve. I'm not sure it will be any worse, though - I mean to say that, if he leaves, it might not be because of the Dursleys. I think Mr Dursley might have been at his peak of unpleasantness in OotP. What can he do now? He can't hurt the boy, he can't chuck him out... I'm not sure, but I don't think he can even use the fact that Harry can't perform magic outside of school against him now (does passing the OWLs mean that you can?). Even that thick head should be able to sense the uneasy climate... magic has become very scary.

[Vequihellin]

I think that in terms of the Dursleys, 'improved' is an arbitrary definition! :lol: I think that Harry will be in the most danger he has ever been in (apart from the AK being cast in his direction at 1 year old obviously) this summer and Dumbledore did say that Harry had to spend some time at his Aunts house for the magic to remain doing whatever job it is doing. I think that Petunia Dursley, after that sudden realisation of what had happened and the very strange 'communication' between Petunia and Harry, I think that summer with the Dursleys will at the very least be less hostile. We never did find out what Dudley was afraid of and I think that the memory of it will keep him well away from Harry. Uncle Vernon will be as detestable as ever but the electric shock thing he got might have served as a bit of a warning/reminder and Aunt Petunia no doubt knows of the MoM incident and although she may not be outwardly sympathetic, I think that there has been an understanding of sorts passed between her and Harry and their relationship will never be the same again.

Veq.

[Nymphadora*]

I don't think Harry's summer will be that much improved. Dudley will laugh and jeer at him like always, but he won't forget the Dementor accident in a hurrry. He'll be too afraid to go near Harry again. Vernon will be the same...detestable and moody,especially about all those owls the previous summer. Now, i don't think Petunia will change all that much. Probably maintain her usualy quiet nature. I don't think there will be a bond between Harry and her. I think that there are too many past experiences and vindictive feelings in the past that tarnished the already quite distint relationship between the two. Just because she is keeping Harry in the house, doesn't mean she WANTS to. She feels obligated to, because he can't go on his own at his young age, she doesn't know what Dumbledore might do if he found out that she let Harry go,and if Harry was hurt or killed, she would feel responsible either feeling guilty for letting him wander out there by himself, or be in trouble from Dumbledore-who might go near her family,which i think is one of her biggest fears of keeping Harry-being attacked or associated with wizards.

[Ellen]

In Phoenix, when Harry tells the Dursleys Voldemort is back, there is something he can't explain in the way Petunia looks at him that makes him realize she is his mother's sister. Rowling emphasizes Petunia's eyes in this - "Her large, pale eyes (so unlike her sister's)."

Was this another glimmer of Legilimency? Technically, in his link with Voldemort, Harry has been doing a rough kind of Legilimency previous to this.

Now, whether he practiced what Snape was teaching him or not (and he has lots of motive to do make up work), Harry has learned something of how it's done. He's more sensitive to it and he also has a magical link with both Petunia and Dudley as well as Voldemort. In their case, it's through the magical protection of his mother's blood.

Harry may be getting answers from Aunt Petunia whether she wants to give them or not - and whether or not he wants to get them that way.

He may get a better view of Dudley's worst fears than he ever wanted to.

[Cat]

Am I the only one who thinks Mark Evans is a red herring? If he's Lily and Petunia's nephew, that would mean either petunia is a squib and Lily is not a mudblood (she is - snape said so and harry must be half blood) or two wizards came from the same mostly muggle family. Also, there would be an unnamed brother or Lily and Petunia, and Harry, we already know, had no living relatives when he was one, and Mark Evans was 4 years unborn. So Mark Evans will NOT be at Hogwarts!!


I didn't see this post before, but better late than never.

I agree that, whoever Mark Evans is, he will probably not be at Hogwarts. Firstly because Lily was Muggleborn, the Evans family were Muggles and though a Muggle family can produce two magical people (Is that the case with Colin and Dennis Creevey?), it can't be that common.

Mark Evans must also live in Little Whinging or thereabouts. We were told, when Mrs Figg stood up in court, that there were no magical people in the area. They have the potential Hogwarts students on record, it's how they send out the invitations letters, so they would know about him.

I'm not sure about him being entirely meaningless, though. It is quite peculiar that a boy mentioned briefly in the book should have the same surname - common as it is - as one of the most pivotal characters in the series, the hero's deceased mother. Her maiden name was first introduced to Harry in this book, too, so it rings out bells. I'm not even going to bother guessing who Mark Evans might be. I simply think he's mysterious, just mysterious, until proven otherwise.

[Puffskein]

I agree that, whoever Mark Evans is, he will probably not be at Hogwarts. Firstly because Lily was Muggleborn, the Evans family were Muggles and though a Muggle family can produce two magical people (Is that the case with Colin and Dennis Creevey?), it can't be that common.

I don't think this is solid evidence by itself, since magic doesn't seem to be inherited by the genetic rules we know, and if a milkman can have two wizard sons then a larger muggle family could produce a few wizards scattered about. But anyway, I doubt that Mark will be a wizard, since it sounds like the Dursleys are Harry's last maternal relatives, and Harry is the only wizard registered locally.

I would very much enjoy seeing the Order coming up the Dursleys' garden path, but it might be too repetitive of the Weasleys' visit in GOF. There could be interesting repercussions from the Dementor incident (how will we learn what Dudley heard?), and it would be good to find out just how much Petunia knows about magic. Another wild-card factor is Voldemort's activity - it's time for the Muggles to start noticing odd happenings, that'll make Vernon even more jumpy.

[ravenclaw02]

While I don't think that his summer will be vastly improved, I do think that both Petunia's knowlege of the magical world and Dudley's debt to Harry (for saving him from the dementor) will play an important part in the next book. I do think that there will be a slight improvement, but that it'll more likely be the Dursleys just leaving him alone. I hope that we'll get to know what Dudley's worst memory was - for some reason, I think that it might be important. Also, do you think that Harry will tell the Dursleys about Sirius' death? As far as they know, he's still alive, which could be advantageous to Harry ... what do you all think?

[Vequihellin]

Going back to the point about Petunia not really wanting Harry but being too afraid not to, if you recall, after the howler, she had a sort of sad resigned demeanor which makes me think that deep down she cares more for her sister than she's letting on. Nevertheless, jealousy and bitterness are very powerful and as such they are overriding this. The nasty little voice in her mind is telling her that Lily was always the favourite and always got the best stuff - even magical powers but I think that after the Dementor/Howler incident, she has had a year to brood on what happened alone in the house (Dudley will be at boarding school and Vernon at Grunings) and I think that the howler and the realisation that Voldemort is back may have forced her into confronting feelings and thoughts that she had buried 14 years before. Therefore, even if she is not OUTWARDLY different, I still think that things between Petunia and Harry will never be the way they were before.

Veq.

[Spirit]

I think that it won't be any better. So what if Moody made that threat? It sure looked like Harry would have a much better summer at the end of PoA, when Harry told them he had a murderer who had escaped prison for a Godfather, and that wasn't much better. They let Harry do what he wanted, but they weren't nicer to him. I think that things will be the same.

[Abhishek]

I have a feeling this is the last we will be hearing of the Dursleys or most of them. Voldemort has been discovered and the second war has begin. He hates muggles and these are the most important muggles in the book. So I think Vernon and Dudley will snuff it and we will see the dark mark hovering over privet drive in Chapter 1 or 2. Nice way to begin the book. Petunia will escape because she is not full-muggle.

[dobby_rocks]

I think harry summer will be better and even if it isnt JK said it would be his shortest stay he will be there for 5 days or 2 weeks or something

[Sirius Potter]

For Harry's sake I hope it gets better...and with that warning to the Dursley's in the 5th book, I have some confidence that things will get better unless they want some enemies.
~Sirius Potter

[mevam]

Having just lost another close connection, I don't see how Harry will be able to think any positive thoughts this summer. The Dursley's have been less on his mind and less of an influence than they were when Harry first started to attend Hogwarts.

[jen15poms]

I think that the only improvement to Harry's stay with the Dursleys this summer will be its short length! I really can't see Uncle Vernon warming up to Harry any time soon, no matter what he has learned about Petunia's promise to Dumbledore. I think he will be just as glad to leave the Dursley's this summer as he has been in the past.

[Silkeng]

I think that the only improvement to Harry's stay with the Dursleys this summer will be its short length! I really can't see Uncle Vernon warming up to Harry any time soon, no matter what he has learned about Petunia's promise to Dumbledore. I think he will be just as glad to leave the Dursley's this summer as he has been in the past.

I agree completely I don't think any of the Dursleys are going to warm up to harry after that incident with the Dementors. They may treat him a little differently since they were warned about it, but I think the only real relief Harry will have this summer after his fifth year is to stay a shorter amount of time at the Dursley's than the years before. Although, having them mistreat Harry and get thier comeuppances from a fully grown wizard, would be an amusing scene (and well I can always hope :rotfl: )

[OrlisGrape]

I think it will be better now, becuase of the threat of Mad Eye hanging over the Dursleys heads. I think Uncle Vernan will be more cautious and Harry will be more Respected. And now Aunt Petunia's secret is out and she knows that Voldemort is back, I think she'll be treating Harry better! I hope!

[DarkMark27]

I think that Harry's stay at the Dursleys will definately be better in the summer. Besides from the fact that it will be his shortest stay, one reason is that Petunia and Vernon hate people of Harry's kind and they do not want a visit from Mad Eye or Tonks. Imagine the look on their faces seeing the whole neighborhood staring at Tonks with bright pink hair walking up the garden path to talk to them.
Im not saying that both Petunia and Vernon are going to treat Harry like they treat Dudley, but Harry should definately see an imrovement in their behavior.

[Polychrome]

Actually, Order of the Phoenix gives me the feeling that Harry will be getting along very well in the upcoming summer, at least with Petunia.

Let's face it. She knows more than she has let on all these years, and Harry's one curious kid. Not to mention that when the dementors attacked Dudley, the reality of the situation seemed to hit the Dursleys like a ton of bricks. And then there's Dumbledore. He also seems to know more than he lets on. (As usual.) He made an interesting statement, that Petunia really was "your mother's sister".

Also, if you look at it, relations between Harry and the Dursleys have been improving over the years, no matter how little. Now, I believe JKR did say it'd be his shortest stay yet. Most likely whatever happens will be out of his or the Dursleys' control. Something like illness or an attack on the house I'm guessing.

[Nephel]

Now, I believe JKR did say it'd be his shortest stay yet. Most likely whatever happens will be out of his or the Dursleys' control. Something like illness or an attack on the house I'm guessing.

Yes, now that Voldemorte has surfaced, Harry is vunerable at Privet Drive. Along with Harry's vengeful tendacies, he could do something irrational. So Dumbledore needs to extract Harry from Privet Drive and re-locate him to somewhere safer.

[Albusdaughter]

I don't think Harry's relationship with the Dursleys will improve in the slightest. Their hate is based on fear not reason, if they could hate a tiny baby they can certainly hate him age 16, they are likely to blame him for endangering Dudley rather than be grateful to him for saving him.

Here's an idea - whaddya think of this? I have been wondering whether Dumbledore might pay a little visit to Privet Drive this summer. He seemed to regret keeping Harry in the dark at the beginning of OotP and acknowledged that this was a mistake, and now Harry knows about the prophecy the reason not to tell him things has gone.

Since Harry is so pivotal to the fight against Voldemort Dumbledore has a vested interest in his well-being and as everyone has been discussing Harry is likely to be a basket case! What with grief over Sirius, guilt about being tricked by Voldemort and thus inadvertantly getting Sirius killed and nearly his friends too and starting to deal with the ramifications of the prophecy Harry is not going to be a happy bunny even without the Dursleys! However busy Dumbledore gets with the war he could make time for Harry and this critical time for his well-being.

Then there is the little matter that Harry still has not mastered Occlumency. Since Harry now knows the details of the prophecy and Voldemort still doesn't it would seem that it is important Harry learns ASAP. Dumbledore said that it was a mistake for him not to have taught Harry himself so maybe he will rectify this next summer.

Arguing against myself, JKR gives Harry seemingly impossible trials so that he can overcome them, why should book 6 be any different?!

[MonicaG]

Ever since JK said that this will be Harry's shortest summer at the Dursley's ever, I've been thinking- maybe, ironically, it will be the first time Harry won't really want to leave.
Hear me out on this -
This doesn't mean I think the Dursley's will treat him better - I think in general their treatment of Harry will be in line with what we've seen in the past (Though I better find out what Dudley saw when the dementor's attacked (it's what I most want to find out in book 6!)- and Petunia better speak up a bit too!) It's just that I think, like in OoTP, Harry will be depressed, and laying in his room, like how he was acting when the advanced guard came for him- Remember after learning about the prophecy he feels disconnected from people all the time, not knowing if he wants to be alone or with a crowd. I just don;t know if he'll be ready yet to face his friends. He'll have to let Ron and hermione in on the prophecy at some point, and as long as he is at the Dursleys, most likely being treated as if he is invisible, he doesn't ahve to deal with these feelings.

To get back on topic- I don't think the outward treatment of Harry by the Dursley's will change, but Harry's perception of this treatment, or rather his reaction to it may change. Also, the dursley's, particualrly Petunia, may also permanently have their perception of harry change. This may mean that for a moment Petunia will again drop her guard. I think this is very likely.

And one more thing, just becuase this will be Harry's shortest stay at the dursley's doesn;t mean it will be the shortest page-wise, as I believe Cat mentioned, a day can reveal a lot- and JK may write many details about a very short amount of time. His short stay, in my opinion, won't be action packed, but I bet, for the reader, it will be detail/information packed.

[Stephie]

I think that Harry is probably a bit disconnected in many ways. That doesn't mean that his summer will improve much, but he's still gonna grieve over Sirius. And if Siriu's death doesn't have a glitch in it, Sirius will be mentioned a lot in Harry's mind. So this doesn't make a person feel better.


Most likely, Haryr will not react to the Dursleys much and they'll begin to quit bugging Harry. Which is, of course, what he wants. Right?

[bowlwoman]

I think there's going to be an attack at Privet Drive this summer. And Vernon will die.

First, let me state some facts. I'll weave it all together after I list them. I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

We know a few things from JKR's chats:

1) Someone will learn magic at a late age
2) This will be Harry's shortest stay at Privet Drive
3) We know that some of the professors have spouses

What we know from the books:

1) Harry will get his OWL's sometime during the summer
2) Dudley was able to sense the presence of the dementors
3) Fudge was not certain that SQUIBS could see dementors
4) McGonagall was so adamant that Harry become an Auror that she said she would tutor him herself if he needed it
5) Snape only lets people with an O in Potions into his NEWT class
6) The Dursleys have spoiled Dudley rotton
7) A lot of child wizards first use their talents when they are scared and angry
8) Dumbledore has some hold over Petunia to guarantee that she will continue to offer Harry a home with her
9) Dementors were dispatched to Privet Drive by Umbridge to get rid of Harry.
10) The dementors have joined VM
11) Harry must stay where his mother's sister calls home in order to continue to be protected

Here's the theory in a nutshell:

There will be an attack on the Dursley home during the summer by the Voldemort camp. VM will know where to strike because the of the inforamation provided from the dementors that Umbridge sent in OotP. During this attack, Vernon will die. We will discover that Dudley is a wizard, but DD and Petunia were keeping it a secret for 16 years. Harry will also get his OWL's and be one grade below Snape's acceptance criteria for NEWT Potions. Harry, Petunia and Dudley will go to stay with McGonagall for the duration of the summer, to protect Petunia and Dudley and so Harry can be tutored by her in Potions and join the NEWT Potions class in the fall. Because Petunia no longer owns a home and is a refugee with other wizards, the protection on Harry is no longer in effect for the following summer.

Here's my reasoning:

JKR said that someone will learn to do magic late in life. I believe that's Dudley. There's a lot of circumstantial evidence to back this up. First, Hagrid told Harry in PS/SS that he was a wizard. When Harry denied it, Hagrid asked if he had ever made strange things happen when he was scared or angry. The Dursley's have always made sure that Dudley was never upset or scared. During the first birthday of Dudley's we see, he was about to pitch a fit because he had 2 fewer presents that the previous year. Petunia was quick to chime in and offer 3 more presents in order to placate him. Petunia is also always fawning over Dudders and trying to keep him "happy." I don't think Vernon has any idea, because he doesn't really fawn over Dudley. He just says stuff like "He's like his father, wants his money's worth" and spoils Dudley to make a differentiation between his son and Harry. He hates Harry, and what better way to abuse him than flaunt something under his nose.

I also think Dudley will do magic because of the Dementors scene in OotP. It was never stated if Dudley could SEE the dementors, and I think that's a very important omission on JKR's part. Dudley said everything went dark, he got very, very cold, he remembered awful things and he felt like he would never be happy again. Those are the exact symptoms wizards state when describing a dementor experience. Even Arabella Figg used almost the exact same words at Harry's Ministry hearing. At that time, Fudge inquired if SQUIBS could see dementors, to which Figg replied they could. In PoA when Lupin is describing the dementors to Harry, he uses the same descriptive phrases that Dudley uses, then says that Muggles can sense them, but only because they feel depressed. I think that dementors can only attack wizards, otherwise they would be running Muggles unable to protect themselves down by the droves. The fact that Dudley COULD describe the effects leads me to believe he's a wizard incognito.

I think hiding Dudley's ability is the reason that Petunia has been keeping Harry all this time. I speculate that in the letter DD left with Baby Harry, he stated that Dudley has the talent, gift, whatever. I think he struck a deal and told Petunia that if she kept Harry in her house, then he would not tell anyone of Dudley being a wizard and take him off the rolls for Hogwarts. He then proceeded to tell Petunia how to ensure that Dudley wouldn't spontaneously do magic as a child and then threatened to reveal Dudley's secret if she kicked Harry out. That was the point of DD's telegram in OotP, to remind Petunia if she broke her end of the bargain, then he would spill the beans about Dudley. If this is true, then it's likely that McGonagall knows, since she's the one in charge of the entrance roster.

Which leads me to the next point. There has to be some reason to reveal this. I think the way to do it is for VM to attack the Dursley home. He most likely knows where it is located because Umbridge sent dementors there during the summer before Harry's 5th year. Since the dementors have now gone over to VM, he has this information.

During this attack, I think Vernon will be killed. Vernon is one of JKR's least favorite characters and he is really adding nothing to the plot anymore. His death at the hands of VM would force Petunia to finally admit what she has been denying her whole adult life, that she can't escape from the wizarding world. With Vernon dead and her home destroyed, she will be forced to go into hiding because of her relationship with and the protection of Harry. In order to safeguard what's left of her family, I think Petunia will elect to hide out with wizards, and I believe McGonagall will be the one.

Harry will receive his OWLS this summer, and I think he will be one grade away from admittance to Snape's NEWT Potions class. In order to become an Auror, he needs NEWT Potions. McGonagall stated in OotP that she would tutor Harry if he needed it, and I think she'll make a deal with Snape to tutor Harry and if he's up to scratch by the beginning of school, Snape will let him in. The Snape/Harry relationship is too vital to the plot for Harry not to have a class with him, and since I doubt Snape will be teaching DADA anytime soon, Harry must be in the NEWT Potions class.

McGonagall will now need to tutor Harry as well as help protect Petunia and Dudley. McGonagall most likely knows about Dudley because she controlls the entrance rolls for the school. If a name was struck, then she probably did it. She's also a member of the OotP as well as Harry's Head of House, so she would be perfect for keeping tabs on the Dursleys. I think this will happen outside of Hogwarts, probably in the private residence of McGonagall. JKR stated that some professors have spouses, and since we've never seen/heard of them at Hogwarts, I assume they live off campus. This shows it's possible for McGonagall to have a house somewhere, and I bet that's where they'll wind up for the duration of the summer.

Implications for the summer before Harry's 7th year:

Because Petunia no longer has a home or husband and never had a job outside the home, I have a feeling she's going to be pretty destitute. Keeping Dudley spoiled and keeping up with the Joneses can't have been cheap, so I bet there's not a lot of spare cash, at least not enough to buy/rent a new dwelling. She may not even have enough to send Dudley back to school, if he even goes back after his 5th year. I think she'll be on the run. I think the best poetic justice would be for she and Dudley to stay with the Weasleys during Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts. :D

Because Petunia now has no home, Harry will no longer have the protection from VM. DD states, "You only need return there once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, there he cannot hurt you." If Petunia had another home of her own, then yes, Harry could go there and be protected. My theory is that Petunia won't, so the summer before Harry's 7th year will be an interesting one to say the least. He will have no safe house, no place of absolute refuge. Just in time for all heck to break loose.

bowlwoman

[Shadow_Princess]

Whoo boy, that is quiet a theory.
Some of it makes sense, but I ain't to well today so a lot doesn't make sense to me! :eyebrows:
But I like it and now we just have to wait and see if it comes true or not!

[Albusdaughter]

Actually the protection on Harry would still hold as Dumbledore said:
'While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister.' OotP Ch.37 p.737 (UK version)

So 4 Privet Drive is relevant only as long as Petunia lives there. So if she moved to the Burrow or anywhere else Harry would be protected there. Come to think of it Dudley is a blood relative of Harry and Lily too, might not that be good enough?

Love your theory bowlwoman, and if it turns out to be right I will be blown away!

[bowlwoman]

I thought about that, but to me the passage means something different.

Here's the whole quote (OotP, US Hardback, pg 836):

"While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can STILL CALL IT HOME, there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that ALLOWING YOU HOUSEROOM may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years." (emphasis mine)

I read this as Petunia has to be the one offering, not just that he lives in the same place as she does. If Dudders and Petunia had to room at the Weasleys, then it wouldn't be Petunia's call to allow Harry to stay, it would be Molly's.

Like I said before, if Petunia gets a new place and allows Harry to live there during the summer, then yes, the protection would still be in effect. I think she'll be on the run, tho, without a home that's wholly hers. At that point, Harry honestly has no place to call home, so the protection won't work.

Someone on a different board mentioned that Petunia might temporarily inherit 12 Grimmauld place because Harry isn't of age, and yes, 12 Grimmauld Place is available, but we don't know what's going to happen to it. It's very possible that Harry will inherit, but we don't know if Sirius left a will and I know nothing about inheritence laws in the UK. Narcissa or Tonks' family could inherit it, since they are cousins.

It's also being used as the headquarters of the Order, which has DD as a secret keeper. It's very likely that Harry CAN'T tell Petunia about the house, because of the Fidelius Charm. Even if he could, I think he would elect to keep the house as the HQ of the Order. Now, maybe Petunia/Dudders could live there instead.

bowlwoman

[moon781]

wow that is insane, but plausible.

I doubt Dudley is a wizard, he is too stupid(and I mean that in the nicest possible way). Although Crabbe and Goyle are wizards and they are not quite the sharpest tools in the shed either so you never know.

As for Vernon if he dies, good riddance.

I don't know that LV will come after Harry at privet drive. He still doesn't know the details of the prophecy so will he really be keen to come after Harry before he finds out(he already made that mistake once) and also does LV know that Harry is protected there? I would think he has an idea of it because Harry hasn't been attacked at home by LV yet.

I do think that privet drive will be worse off for Harry regardless of what happens. First he will be miserable no matter what because of all his emotions surrounding what happened to Sirius. I see him being reclusive this summer and well into his next year at Hogwarts. Next after losing the only real family he has, he has to go back to the Dursleys who barely acknowledge he exists.
He may have gained Moody and Tonks' threat, but he lost the threat of his godfather. And there is the whole dementor episode in which Vernon is still real angry about.

[ProngsUK]

maybe the fact that harry lives in privet drive is covered by a secret keeper so LV cant find out where he lives?!?

sorry if some1 has already said this. i havnt read them all :sad:

[Argog42]

I think if nothing else, this will be a very informative summer for Harry. I have been dyeing to find out what Dudely remembered in "Dudley demented". (Cute chapter title, by the way Joe) There is a very interesting theory floating around,that I really wish I could take credit for. It goes that somehow Harry transfered his memorys to Dudley during the attack. I don't know how plausable that theory is, but it would be very interesting to see what happens between them if Dudley has gotten a glimpse into Harry's life.
I agree totally about Petunia being the wild card. I would be very interested to find out just how much she knows about the magical world, and exactly how she knows it. And I would love to know more about what happened between her and Lilly. Rowling playcated us with Petunia's run on speech in book one, but I'm not convinced we have the full story there. Just like most of us knew that we didn't have the full story on Snape. I think we have plenty more to learn about Petunia. This is backed up by Rowlings style. In the first few books, in the first few reads, the characters look cardboard cut-out simple.
But we should have all learned by now that Rowling makes a point of giving her characters range and complicated history. Fudge,Snape,James just about everyone. I thought what she did with Snape in OotP was really great writing. She managed to show Harry that our parents are only human and that even the people we would love to feed to the giant squid have their reasons sometimes.
Vernon, on the other hand. So far he has seemed like one of Rowlings most stagnet characters. Not all that much depth to him is there?(Yet atleast.) I can see him being tolerable to Harry out of fear, but not kindness. I think Petunia might just let down her walls a little. If she realises that Harry is grieving in a bad way, she just might decide to find out why. I think she carrys the hate of Lilly's memory very close to her, because if she lets her guard down she might start to grieve herself. I'm not convinced that she has fully dealt with her sisters death yet. Having a peice Lilly living under the stairs since the day after she died might have actually helped her put it off.I might be way of base, but that's just my view of cannon so far.
I am still debating with myself about where Rowling will send him. Order Headquarts seems the obvious choice, but I myself would like to see him somewhere else.
Thats all for now. Great ideas everyone.

[moon781]

[QUOTE=Argog42]But we should have all learned by now that Rowling makes a point of giving her characters range and complicated history.


This is a very good point. It makes me think that there is more to Dudley or Vernon rather than Petunia. Petunia has the whole her witch of a sister in her background. Vernon and Dudley are the only ones who seem to have the range and depth of a teaspoon.

[noodle]

I think there's going to be an attack at Privet Drive this summer. And Vernon will die.
(...)
11) Harry must stay where his mother's sister calls home in order to continue to be protected
(...)
Ok, so I think your theory does make sense in some aspects bowlwoman, however if Harry staying in Privet Drive ensures his protection, then surely it would be impossible for him to suffer an attack while staying there?

[Wilson]

I actually expect his time at the Dursley's to be the most enjoyable part of the book for Harry. It has pretty much always been the worst time, although slowly improving, I entirely expect him to be treated like a son this time. And every book so far has had a 'Harry stopping something bad' moment at the end, this time I'm expecting the LV and the Death Eaters to have the upper hand at the end when the Hogwarts year is over.

[bowlwoman]

Ok, so I think your theory does make sense in some aspects bowlwoman, however if Harry staying in Privet Drive ensures his protection, then surely it would be impossible for him to suffer an attack while staying there?

Well, Harry would be protected, and most likely Petunia and Dudley, since they also share Lily's blood. Vernon, doesn't, however, so that's one reason I suggested only he might be killed.

The house could be attacked if Harry wasn't home (and I personally think it might be vulnerable even if Harry IS home, but that's another discussion). It's only Harry that receives the protection, not the entire house. I doubt DD put an Unbreakable Charm on the walls, so I bet a couple of good blasts would knock it down. Look what the Weasley's accomplished in GoF just coming through the fireplace.

bowlwoman

[moon781]

ooh interesting idea about book 6 ending on a bad note with DE in charge somewhere. I think this would go along with how Jo said that seven is more like a continuation of six. For the reader waiting for book7 this is not good, but for the series itself this could be really exciting.

[HpFreak726]

i think that the summer with the dursleys in book 6 will be a little more interesting that usual because of whatuncle vernon was informed of at king's cross. i think the dursleys are likely to be more scared now of moody than they had been of sirius black

[Sporklift]

Somewhere, perhaps it was on Mugglenet under Book Six, it was mentioned that we will learn what Dudley really saw when he was face to face with a dementor. If he could actually see it...

I like the theories about Petunia having some magic up her sleeves. (In fact, I like all the theories, I just don't agree with all of them.) I too think that Dumbledore must have offered some inducement in exchange for keeping Harry. Perhaps it is to keep her own secret. I was looking up about language of flowers and Petunia seems to mean "Am not proud". If she knew she was of the wizarding orientation she certainly is not proud of it. (Lily, for those of you who are interested, indicates purity or modesty.) Harry now has a gaping hole in terms of family that he may be looking to fill.

[csteck]

I wonder what happens to a secret when the secret keeper dies?

Let's say VM kills Dumbledore, who IS one of his top 2 targets (Dumbledore and Harry), does that mean that Grimmauld Place becomes visible?

So if this theory about the summer is right and let's say Aunt Petunia and Dudley go to stay at Grimmauld...does that mean if Dumbledore dies that VM can go after AP and D and kill off Harry's last protection? Or since VM can now touch Harry, do AP and D not matter to VM anymore?

[Weasleytwin]

Ok, so I think your theory does make sense in some aspects bowlwoman, however if Harry staying in Privet Drive ensures his protection, then surely it would be impossible for him to suffer an attack while staying there?

The way I read it is that Voldemort couldn't attack Privet Drive (and the Death Eaters could not attack it under Voldemort's orders). My own theory is that some Death Eater (not following Voldemort's orders, but intending to impress him by bringing him Harry) will attack Privet Drive. My guess is that Wormtail would be the most logical person to do this-maybe he did something to upset Voldemort and that's why we didn't see him during OotP. I think he messed up somehow and will try to redeem himself by doing something like this.

[Gibs]

Harry has a lot going for him this time. I don't know if anyone has said this, but Harry has now come of age, which means he can do magic legally (so can Ron and Hermione). Apparition tests are going to happen which means Harry will have to leave the Dursleys, which is probable why his stay will be so short. So he can do magic now without the Dursleys really doing anything, and he had Moody and then rest of the order threaten the Dursleys. So i think he is in a good state.

Maybe it has actually come of time where Dudley and maybe Petunia start warming up to Harry. I know it sounds weird but it could happen. I think Petunia loved her sister but hated James because she thought he was going to end up getting her sister killed.
I have always thought that Petunia and Lilly were friends maybe even best friends. Maybe she didn’t overhear all that stuff she said she did, yet perhaps Lilly told her about it. Petunia might finally see her sister in Harry because of the total change of mood he will be in

[bowlwoman]

I don't think Harry comes of age until the 7th book. He'll turn 16 at the beginning of this one and the age you legally become a wizard adult is 17.

This is a really good idea for the 7th book, if my theory doesn't pan out.

bowlwoman

[Gibs]

oh, thats right. I was thinking about the bloody twins and thinking they were in there 6th year in OotP.

[electricgrrrl]

I think that one of the reasons that it may be improved is because of the warning that the Dursley''s recieved at the end of OotP. Vernon knows that Harry isn't allow3d to perform underage magic, so he really couldn't fear him that much. Moody and company that warned Vernon may be something more to fear. After-all, they are certainly not in any trouble of performing underage magic, and besides, I highly doubt that Vernon would want the chance of neighbours seeing a bunch of shady looking people wandering around all the time.

[moon781]

The summer may be the better part of his year, but that is not saying much! Afterall, since LV is now out in the open, there should be lots and lots of deaths and terror all over the place. This will not be a happy book.

[moon781]

The summer may be the better part of his year, but that is not saying much! Afterall, since LV is now out in the open, there should be lots and lots of deaths and terror all over the place. This will not be a happy book.(and I can't wait!)

[muggledeedee]

I think Petunia turns around, starts treating Harry better, not like a son mind you, but not giving him trouble all the time - I think he will be left to his own devices much of the time but I think I could see Petunia starting to make some overtures of being nice to him.

[Layla]

I really think Vernon took what Mad Eye told him to heart and we know that he's seriousely scared of wizards so I guess Harry's stay will be drastically imporved this time... Besides, JKR did say that he gets his shortest stay in Privet Drive in Book 6 meaning it's less than 4 weeks (OoP) which leaves very little opportunity for foul play - or am I underestimating the Dursleys' ability to make life hell for Harry?

[TerrierMom]

I think Uncle Vernon, away from the Order, will relax and think he is safe in returning to his bullying ways with Harry. It's not just Harry Vernon bullies, he bullies others as well, anyone he thinks is an inferior. Remember the lines in SS/PS about him yelling at people at Grunings, and calling up looking for someone to complain to about Harry's Hogwarts letters? Leopards can't change their spots and neither can Vernon. I think he'll do this within the first 2 weeks of Harry being at Privet Drive, thus causing the Order to arrive and deal with it. I doubt Harry will spend more than 2 weeks, or 3 at the most with the Dursleys.

[mevam]

I think that Harry might well get the silent treatment from the whole Dursley family, beyond the extent to which he experienced it before. They will be scared silly of bothering him since they were rather intimidated by the Order members, and Petunia being the snob that she is won't want to do anything that could result in Order members ruining her precious reputation at Privet Drive.

The Dursleys are scum, and always will be, and so I would not be setting any bets on their improved treatment of Harry. Dudley and Vernon hate Harry, and Petunia only just manages to tolerate Harry's prescence. I think that the silent treatment will suit Harry just fine, he's never been too fond of continuing communicating with one of the worst families he's ever had the unfortunate experience of meeting.

[Mundungus Fletc]

I hope they don't treat him any better. The image of Vernon opening the front door to see Moody or Tonks on the doorstep and all the neighbours watching is just too good to miss.

[Layla]

I hope they don't treat him any better. The image of Vernon opening the front door to see Moody or Tonks on the doorstep and all the neighbours watching is just too good to miss.
:rotfl:

Priceless!!!

[Classical_Wizar]

oh, thats right. I was thinking about the bloody twins and thinking they were in there 6th year in OotP. the twins were in their seventh year in Order of the Phoenix

[electricgrrrl]

I'd love to Vernon to do something to Harry so that Moody, Lupin and Tonks have to show up. I would love to see him try to explain that to his neighbors. Perhaps they could levitate him on the front lawn, or put some curse on dudley so that everytime he opens his mouth he gains ten pounds or something. It could add a little humour to a book that will surely be very dark.

[moon781]

Poor (yeah right) Dudley has been tortured already. It is definately Vernon's turn.

[Knight Bus]

Adele: Will poor Harry be stuck at the Dursleys' all next summer?
JK Rowling replies -> Not all summer, no. In fact, he has the shortest stay in Privet Drive so far.


That is from the World Book Day chat on 3/4/04 so I guess that you can say that Harry's summer will be improved by the fact that it will be a short stay. The Dursleys are scum and in their way as evil as Voldemort and I hope they get what they deserve by Book7.

[Fate]

I also read the World Day quote. Better Summer this year I think. A short stay with the Dursleys, that has to be good. However, What if Harry's short stay comes from someone getting attacked. Say the Weasleys. Scabbers was there for 12 years. He knows the house inside and out. Sounds like a pretty good target for LV and hisDeath Eaters. Getting rid of Harry's friend, bringing Harry out of the protection from number 4. So many ways to look at this, Mind mind is blowing.

[glugunkwen]

I think the Dursleys will be really, really paranoid with Harry back in the house. I do wonder if we will see more of a relationship develop between him and his Aunt. In the beginning of OotP, Harry feels a connection with his aunt for the first time - would be interesting to see if that's developed.

[aggiefan1206]

I do know that Jk says he has the shortest stay yet in book 6. So i think that either they will treat him better or they will treat him alot worse. I have a feeling harry is going to have a lot to think about he will be mad at himself about sirius. He also has to continue to realize what he is going to have to (kill voldemort, or be killed). I hope they treat him better or for some reason i can see Petunia treating him better. Mabe secretly mabe she will tell harry some aobut his mom behind vernons back. Petunia will understand more of the danger that surrounds harry

[Coria]

Summer before year 6 will be worse than ever before, because Harry's gone through too much. I mean, he nearly had a nervy breakdown in the last book! Sirius died! (So they all say...) It's going to really suck for him, especially because they all know that he has to be there for a while at least. Anyway, I hope he can get passed this phase he's going through. It's depressing!

Bring back Black!!

[Remus Black]

Same old, same old.
I'd love to just dangle a doughnut in front of Dudley if he was like chained to a chair just to torture him.
Oops got off topic :p.

[TaraBrady]

I think you're right, aggiefan. Petunia definitely has some explaining to do, and I think Book 6 will be the time to do it. I really hope we get to hear the particulars of the deal with Dumbledore right from Petunia. I'm also rooting for Petunia to be the person who does magic 'quite late in life.'

I don't expect Harry's actual situation at the Dursleys' to change for the better, however. Vernon would never allow that!

[TheGreatest]

J.K. has said that this will be Harry's shortest stay ever at the Dursleys. And has also confimred that MARK EVANS is not an important part of the story, his name was jsut a coincidence.

[Padfoots_Realm]

Since it will be shorter..maybe it really will be improved..less Dursleys..Yay

[SquibOnline]

Members of the order threatened the Dursley's in kings cross at the end of the 5th book, so it may get a little better.

[Phane00]

I believe his next summer with the Dursleys will be Harry's worst summer to date. I know JK said that his stay will be shorter, but it's the reason that the stay is shorter that bothers me. I don't think the Dursleys are going to be as much of a bother to Harry as they were before, just another round of silent treatment.
However, this summer Harry will have two things weighing him down: Sirius' death and Voldemort's attacks. Harry will spend the majority of his summer wallowing in grief over Sirius' death and how he had a part in it. His dreams about Sirius will make the Cedric ones look like a Saturday Morning Cartoon.
Then there's Voldemort, brought out into the open for all the wizarding world to see. Voldemort doesn't strike me as the type to stay hidden. IMHO, in his mind, everyone knows he has returned. It's time to make them fear him again. Time to terrorize the world and make them run and hide. Time to reclaim the title of Most Feared Wizard in a Century. Up to the end of book 5, all we have seen of Voldemort's actions have been through stealth and espionage, all things meant to be kept out of the public eye. Now, we the readers, need to learn why everyone feared one person so much that they were afraid to say his name.

[Denyse]

I think the Dursleys will be too afraid of someone showing up at their door, for all their neighbors to see. I don't think they'll be nice or anything but I definitely think they'll leave Harry to himself.

[atherella]

I wonder if Harry will perhaps begin to work on practicing his Occlumancy? Now that he knows that LV can plant false images in his head, that will give him something to work on over the summer.

As for this summer being better, I'm hoping that Petunia begins to treat Harry a bit more fairly, even if she has to do so behind Vernon's (rather large) back. I am personally hoping that Mad Eye has to show up to hassle Vernon, at least a bit.

[CarrieM]

What keeps running through my mind is that as long as Petunia's alive, Harry has Lily's protection. Dumbledore told Harry this when Harry still can't keep Voldemort out of his head. If Voldemort kills Petunia and/or the Dursleys, that protection will go up in smoke. Plus, imagine the publicity/terror that would be generated by killing the (Muggle) relatives of the Boy Who Lived. If Voldemort doesn't put two + two together and at least try to strip away some of Harry's protection via the Dursleys, I will be highly disappointed in his villianess. Also, since JKR stated that in Book 6 that Harry's stay at the Dursley's will be the shortest ever, I have my suspicions that an attack directly on Privet Drive might occur in the next book.

As far as treating him better, I don't think so. They will most likely try to ignore him until the attack, then they will say every nightmarish thing Harry has imagined being thrown at him for what he sees as putting everyone in danger and being the cause of so much death. If they survive.

~Just my crazy theory.

[Theodorre]

it will most likely... Hmm wait now I think it is HArrry that yeah...

[Rwraith]

I think Harry will leave on his own because he'll realize the danger that his presence is putting the Dursleys in. He may not like them but I don't think he would want them to get hurt.

[Spencer28]

According to JKR, this is to be the shortest time Harry's spent at the Dursley's. I'm looking forward to seeing why. Tom Riddle is the Half Blood Prince.

[flipfloputz]

Yes, JKR said that this would be the shortest stay at Privet Drive yet. He may be sent to Hogwarts, or he could be taken to the OOtP again, but that would be sort of predictable. I doubt he'd go to the Burrow.

[WishfulAnimagus]

I'm not sure this fits in with this thread but I'll post it anyway. Dumbledore said something like as long as Harry can call Privet Drive home he's safe. But since he went to Hogwarts he has always felt that this is 'far more of a home than Privet Drive ever was'. Surely that means he no longer has protection in Privet Drive?

[TerrierMom]

But Petunia dwells at Privet Drive, and the protection Harry enjoys is due to her. It doesn't matter that Harry thinks of Hogwarts as his true home, that's not how the ancient magic works.

[gymmuggle]

Things are going to be very different this summer. What with the dementor attack, and Aunt Petunia remebering things last summer, its not going to be the same. The world now knows that Voldemort is back and he is a threat to all...When you think about it though...by Harry living with the Dursleys, that could possibly make number 4 Privet Drive a very safe place because of Petunias' compeltion of Dumbledore's charm on Harry. Theres also the fact that the Order will send for him if they dont hear from him at least every 3 days.

[RemusLupinFan]

I agree with gymmuggle that things will definately not be the same this time around, with the dementor attack on Dudley (and Harry), the Howler to Aunt Petunia, and the threats made to Uncle Vernon at the train station by Mad-Eye Moody. I believe the Dursleys will try even harder to ignore Harry while he's staying with him. I do think this year will be a better one because it will be the shortest stay on Privet Drive so far, and that's got to count for something. I think it would be interesting if Harry didn't write to the Order for three days just so they'd come and take him away (although I don't think Harry will actually do this). All in all, I'm glad this will be Harry's shortest stay with the Dursleys, the poor kid needs a break from that awful bunch.

[Ellen]

Just so long as Harry has enough time to sit down Aunt Petunia and start asking some hard questions (and here's hoping he has sense enough to do this and to wait until Vernon's gone to work and Dudley is off harrassing the neighborhood).

Oh, and long enough for Petunia to answer.

[Hlao Roo]

It shouldn't really matter in the beginning of Book 6 how the Dursleys treat Harry. The fact of the matter is that Sirius's death is still fresh in Harry's mind and he will still be recovering from the shock and will still be devastated as we saw at the end of Book 5. I don't think the Dursleys will play as big of a role in Book 6 as they did in 5, as Harry will likely have to leave within the first month on some buisness. It's always possible that the Dursleys will treat him a little better though.

[Kidney Pie]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I think because voldemort has Harry's blood that the protection offered to Harry is no longer very strong, even at the Dursleys. And Harry may go home, because Dumbledore doesn't realize the protection is significatly weaker. Or maybe Dumbledore knows this, but still thinks this is the best he can do for Harry. Maybe the protection is weaker but is still slightly better than letting Harry stay at Hogwarts. But in the end, maybe Voldemort can show up at the Dursleys house and walk right up in there. If he does, maybe Harry will barely escape, and maybe he will have to take Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley with him to escape Voldemort. Imagine the Dursleys stay at Hogwarts. I started a story about it, but I haven't finished it because I was so busy. I'd like to write some more on it though. I keep putting it off.

[prongfoot]

Someone's probably said this but I think the summer will be really good compared to all the other ones with the Dursleys one because this summers going to be the shortest with the Dursleys. What Moody said may have some impact on how they treat Harry they may not treat him as bad but they won't treat him good though.

[Dementor Dave]

Hmmm... does a massive Dementor/Death Eater attack count as an improvement? :evil: Ohh, that'd be very interesting, lots of fun for the Dursley's. And hey, Harry would be out in record time!
-Dementor Dave

[ravenfeather]

okay, so JKR said that this will be harry's shortest summer yet at privet drive and how that will play out is a mystery to me. however, with her latest revelations via her FAQs on her official website, she's as good as told us that petunia is a squib. JKR reveals that lily's GRANDPARENTS were muggles, implying that her parents were wizards... making petunia a squib. i wonder if harry will finally find that out and what that will contribute to the dynamics on 4PD. if harry finds out, i wonder if vernon and dudley will find out, too. in which case, their whole world may come crashing down. i suppose that would make harry particularly eager to get out of that house for the summer.

[Kimmetje]

okay, so JKR said that this will be harry's shortest summer yet at privet drive and how that will play out is a mystery to me. however, with her latest revelations via her FAQs on her official website, she's as good as told us that petunia is a squib. JKR reveals that lily's GRANDPARENTS were muggles, implying that her parents were wizards... making petunia a squib. i wonder if harry will finally find that out and what that will contribute to the dynamics on 4PD. if harry finds out, i wonder if vernon and dudley will find out, too. in which case, their whole world may come crashing down. i suppose that would make harry particularly eager to get out of that house for the summer.

I like the idea as JKR said it was going to be a beginning she could've used for CoS.

I don't think things are going to be better, as in;he get's more food and all.

Question; don't the Dursley's think Sirius Black is still alive? If they think that Harry's life could indeed be better.

[Liv4Sirius]

I have a feeling that the Dursleys will do more for Harry. Like they'll buy him more close, take him more places, and feed him better simply out of fear that "harry's kind" will come and visit them again. But as far as being nicer to Harry and making him feel "welcome" into their family, i doubt anything will change.

[Wizard13]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I think because voldemort has Harry's blood that the protection offered to Harry is no longer very strong, even at the Dursleys. And Harry may go home, because Dumbledore doesn't realize the protection is significatly weaker. Or maybe Dumbledore knows this, but still thinks this is the best he can do for Harry. Maybe the protection is weaker but is still slightly better than letting Harry stay at Hogwarts. But in the end, maybe Voldemort can show up at the Dursleys house and walk right up in there. If he does, maybe Harry will barely escape, and maybe he will have to take Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley with him to escape Voldemort. Imagine the Dursleys stay at Hogwarts. I started a story about it, but I haven't finished it because I was so busy. I'd like to write some more on it though. I keep putting it off.

Yeah, thats a weird but neat theory. I dont think anyone would like it much, and Malfoy would have a field day about Harry living with muggles. They wouldnt like all the magic either. No, I think Harry will go with the Weasly's, wherever they go. He will think of them as his family.

[Da_Chinkster]

I dont think it will change that much. The Dursleys if anything will just be more afraid of Harry, and he will have more freedom, but they will not show him and love or care which in my view is what he needs more than anything. When he eventually goes to live with the Weasleys he will get the love and care he needs as well as having a lot more fun being around his friends. I think when LV took Harry's blood it meant that LV could touch him, I think it is a different magic which surrounds the Dursley's house, although still from his mother's love it still protects Harry from LV

[Lord Nicholai]

the animosity between harry and the dursleys will always be there...so in that sense there will be little change. I think mad eyes threat was meant to stop things from getting worse...remember Harry parted with the dursleys on even worse terms then ever before.

[kiggy]

We know that as long as Harry can call the Dursley's "home" he is safe..but are the Dursley's themselves "safe"?...I don't recall ever seeing anything to lead me to believe that their house was protected or anything..Am I wrong?..So maybe the Dursley's will be attacked by Voldemort this summer..(?) And maybe Harry would have to defend the Dursley's and save their lives from Voldemort..which would probably be tough for Harry..but he would have to make the choice to either let them parish or to save them..But Harry would come through and save them and then things between them would be forever different...(?) far fetched?..Just a thought.

[eMMy_026]

I dont think that Harry is up for a great summer..but it should be improved.

[Lirio]

I'd never thought obout the possibility that the fact that LV and Harry share a blood bond means that the protection Harry has from his aunt may be significantly weakened. However, now that I've heard it, it makes perfect sense.

All we know about Harry's summer is that this will be the shortest stay at Privet Drive yet. But just because it's a short stay doesn't mean its going to be a happy one. I think that the Dursleys are too afraid of the Order (and Harry) to mistreat him in any way...but I doubt that they'll suddenly be nice to him. They'll probably end up ignoring Harry for all the time he's at their house...

[ramones]

I think Harry has to start training and he can't do magic outside of school, so maybe he'll go back to Hogwarts.

I think that his stay at Privet drive will be better. First of all, Vernon will be afraid of the Order. And maybe DD will tell Petunia about Voldemort's return. Dudley will be too afraid, considering what happened with the Dementors.
I wonder if Petunia will be nicer. I'm sure Vernon is going to be a little confused, his wife knows more than he thought.

[atherella]

If the blood protection is no longer in place for Harry at Privet Drive, why would DD even bother sending Harry back there? When Ron wanted Harry to stay with him for the summer in OotP, we found out why he HAD to go back to the Dursleys. DD knows how awful the Dursleys are and how unhappy and poorly Harry is treated there. If the protection there is no longer valid, I imagine DD would keep Harry with the Order members to keep an eye out on him. That gleam in DD's eyes meant something for sure. We may not be privy to just what it is yet, but DD knows exactly what he is doing, IMO.

[aggiefan1206]

That is a possibiliy but harry does have the shortest stay yet weather thats because of his treatment or something else i dont know. I think that Petunia may make things more bearible mabe she will start telling harry things when vernon is not around. Dudley i dont think we will see a change but harry did kinda save him from the dementors. Vernon he may treat him better because he dosent want Mad eye and them showing up. That would be interesting though. I think it could be better but it could also be worse. I am thinking that harry is not in the best mood at the beginning of book 6

I believe the blood protection still works or Dumbledore would not have sent him back to the Dursleys. ALso we get that whole explination as to why he goes back. Just because Voldemort has harrys blood in him dose not necisarrily mean that he isent protected. In away Lily protection is still there. In away i think her and james give harry confidence at times or he thinks about how his parents stood up to voldemort and Harry for the most part has fought like a man and got out of everything alive so far. I think he is fine at the Dursleys and if they find out its not im sure Dumbledore would find a better place for him

[Lord Nicholai]

the question is why would DD take harry away from the place hes safest? If this is his shortest stay, then why? does the dursleys even have anything to do with the lenght of the stay?

[aggiefan1206]

Ramones i agree with you i htink harry needs to start training full time he has a huge task to accomplish

THe shortest stay i would say is a huge question in what is going on. It could be that they find out that he is no longer safe there. Well i guess we just have to wait and see

I wonder that as well

[Kidney Pie]

If Petunia is a squib then that means Dudley is a Squib too. And then his name would totally fit because he is a "Dud" hehehehehe.

[Alienet51]

The summer will be one of Harry's worst in his life, i'm sure Harry would love nothing more than a full out attack on him, it would be better than what will meet him at Pivet Drive. The Dursleys will completely ignore him worse than before, except for perhaps a conversation with Dudley and Petunia, (wonder if Dudley will tell Harry what he saw in his head when the Dementor was near him) but Uncle Vernon will not have any part of this and make life hard. I'm sure that with all the time on his hands, Harry will drift between, studying as hard as he can to avenge Sirius, and depression, replaying the scene of Sirius's death a thousand times over, and thinkin it is all his fault, he'll be reading up on death and magic. He may become obsessed. In the end though since it is his shortest stay yet, at least this horrible summer will not be long. Why does he leave i am not sure, though the protection Dumbledore gave him is complete and total while he stays there, that means the Dursleys are pretty well protected too, plus how many OOTP members will be watchin Harry this time. The only other safe place for Harry is at Sirius's old house, but being there wont be much better, since he will probably have to confront Kreacher...Gonna be a tough summer

[jpp3000]

it will be a tough summer for harry, short but tough, but also harry will figure out how much petunia knows about the magical world, which will make it alittle bit better for harry

[red_fairy]

Didn't she say it would be his shortest stay yet? That is definitely an improvement in itself. I still think Vernon and Dudley will be jerks. I'm not sure about Petunia though.

[BlackChidori]

When JKR said this would be Harry's favorite summer the first thing that popped into my head was this:

With the Ministry admitting Voldemort is back and all, they might lift the ban on underage wizards (possibly just in muggle families, or in all families), because it would be a bother to send owls to every person trying to fight Voldemort or his Dark Creatures and then clear them in a trial or whatever

Or, since the Ministry admitted that Voldemort is back, and since they have a record of Trelawney's prophecy (well, had) in the DoM, they must know that Harry and Voldemort will be going at it a lot. So they might make him a special case (AGAIN) and allow him to do magic at anytime.

If this happens, the Dursleys treatment of Harry might be mroe fearful, and tehrefore nicer, or they could treat him genuinely nice because they want him to use magic for themselves or something ("Harry make Dudley skinny!")

And then about the theories that Petunia refused to go to Hogwarts and is actually a witch who will learn magic late in life, maybe Harry will teach her? ha ha i seriously doubt it but that would be interesting

[mckinnon81]

I can see Harry haveing a better summer this year, I don't think he will see much of Vernon or Dudley (with Dudley being a boxer and they said he was good in the OotP, he may go off to a tournament, leaving Harry with Petunia). Petunia will start to open up to Harry when the others are not around and tell him things of the past. Making it a very interesting summer.

[hpfan_08]

Ya I think it will improve, because it won't be as long. So therefore not as long=less Dursley's.
Also, it could be improved through what Mad Eye Moody did to Vernon at the trian station. That could scare Vernon into treating him better.

[McKinnon02]

Harry didn't tell the Dursleys that his grandfather was innocent... what makes you all think he'll tell them that Sirius is dead? That way, he not only has the threats Moody made working for him, but the threat of Sirius as well.

[BlackChidori]

Sirius was his godfather, not his grandfather

And is Vernon and Dudley do go away, and Harry is allowed to do magic outside of school, then it would be an even better opportunity for Harry to teach Petunia

[McKinnon02]

Oops. Godfather. And I seriously doubt the ministry will let him do magic outside school until AFTER he graduates. He may be extraordinary, but he's still subject to the same rules as everyone else. It was probably no different for dumbledore (but then again it may have been, as he himself wrote several of the ministry's current rules).

[sere35]

He is anything but under the same rules as everyone else. The whole series is about Harry getting away with stuff others would get in trouble for.

[McKinnon02]

I meant not so much on the ministry's part, but on his own. We VERY rarely see him use his powers to his own advantage- they're always to the benefit of others, or to save himself from a very evil tyrant.

[Kobila]

I don't believe Harry will be putting up with the Dursleys any longer. He's older and less likley to allow such behavior, as early as POA he was taking the initiative to get the heck out! And he was only 13 than! Imagine how little he stand at 16. I imagine he will be at Ron's by the time his birthday rolls around. Personally I think it's about time he had a decent birthday with friends and his adopted family, the Weasleys. Lord knows he deserves a bit of fun!

[BlackChidori]

Harry is of course subject to the same rules as everyone else, at least he always was (until Fudge went psycho trying to get him convicted)

But still, the Ministry must already know about the prophecy seeing as how they had a record of it in the Department of Mysteries, and now they've accepted Voldemort is back.

It should be obvious to them that Voldemort will be after Harry. So maybe they'll let Harry use some defensive type magic, or maybe they'll try to give him some protection (though it will probably turn out to be useless, if not worse)

[crookshanks1177]

I don't believe Harry will be putting up with the Dursleys any longer. He's older and less likley to allow such behavior, as early as POA he was taking the initiative to get the heck out! And he was only 13 than! Imagine how little he stand at 16. I imagine he will be at Ron's by the time his birthday rolls around. Personally I think it's about time he had a decent birthday with friends and his adopted family, the Weasleys. Lord knows he deserves a bit of fun!

I was thinking along those same lines myself. I also read somewhere I don't remember where (So of course it's not definate) that this summer would be the shortest summer he spent at the Dursley's then any of the summers he was with them through all the books written so far. So I'm thinking either the Dursley's will make him mad and he'd end up leaving or Voldemort or someone on the outside will force Dumbledore to have to arrange someone to have to get him again.

[MoodyHarry]

...that this summer would be the shortest summer he spent at the Dursley's then any of the summers he was with them through all the books written so far.

JKR said this in an interview (probably Edinburgh book festival) that Harry would have the shortest summer. Most likely the Dursley's will ignore Harry in the beginning. Something will happen at the Dursley residence that will force Harry to get out of the house. He will no longer be safe at Privet Drive. At the same time, we will probably learn more information about Petunia, her past and her correspondences with Dumbledore.

[crookshanks1177]

JKR said this in an interview (probably Edinburgh book festival) that Harry would have the shortest summer. Most likely the Dursley's will ignore Harry in the beginning. Something will happen at the Dursley residence that will force Harry to get out of the house. He will no longer be safe at Privet Drive. At the same time, we will probably learn more information about Petunia, her past and her correspondences with Dumbledore.

Yea that is pretty much what I assumed but it is always a possiblity that the Dursley's have part in why he leaves so soon. We'll only know when the book is finished. :blush:

[Kobila]

I wonder if he'll go to the burrow or some other place the order is meeting at, that is if the headquarters moved. He might only have to stay at the Dursleys for a few weeks so he wouldn't set up at a hotel again like in poa.

[hermy_weasley2]

I can see Harry haveing a better summer this year, I don't think he will see much of Vernon or Dudley (with Dudley being a boxer and they said he was good in the OotP, he may go off to a tournament, leaving Harry with Petunia). Petunia will start to open up to Harry when the others are not around and tell him things of the past. Making it a very interesting summer.


I think you might be right. After reading OoTP, I think Petunia is influenced a lot by Vernon and other people around her. I think she she thinks she has an image to keep up, and if anyone found out the truth about Harry that it would somehow harm her reputation. I don't think it's anything personal towards Harry or even the wizarding world in general, she's just too afraid of what others might think. Vernon, with his important business deals, arrogance and completely Muggle fear of magic feeds her fear of that, and without him around she wouldn't be nearly as bad as she is now.

Maybe she had the same fear when she was younger or very low self-esteem which made her feel how she does towards Lily. She might've been afraid that if people found out her sister was a witch they'd think she was weird and she'd lose whatever popularity she had, hence the whole "they were proud of having a witch in the family" (or something like that) thing.

I hope she and Harry at least resolve some issues that they have over the summer. You never know, when JKR says it'll be his shortest stay at the Dursleys it doesn't have to mean he's going back to the wizarding world.

[Sitamma]

One thing that did not sit well with me at the end of book 5: Harry's (albeit, failed) use of the Cruciatus curse in the MoM. That's an unforgiveable, complete with Azkaban time. How does the Ministry know when someone casts an unforgiveable? Does the victim have to give testimony, or is there a trigger system (similar to the one that alerts the Ministry to the use of under-age magic)?

Will Harry be held accountable for the Cruciatus curse, and if so, could that be the reason he has to leave the Dursleys early?

[GrangerExpress]

I think he will have a much better summer only because he won't be at the Dursley's very long. The Dursley's are also much more scared of him after what they have learned over the last yr, and probably scared of what people like Dumbledore and Moody will do to him if they don't show him kindness.

Harry will probably leave around his birthday to head to the Order's Headquarters to be with other members (his real family in my opinion). It will be very important for him to be with his friends and "real family" bc they will be able to help him with his emotions in losing his godfather and his troubles with Voldemort. Look for Harry to have a better summer in the sense he won't have to put up with the Dursley's, but as far as the grand picture, he will have a lot more on the plate.

[Snidget66]

We saw Harry at the end of OotP. When Malfoy confronted him, he didn't care and was going to hex him even told Snape that he was doing so. I don't think that Harry is going to take anything from anyone.And I think that everyone will stay clear out of his way.

He'll probably be let off the hook at times when he will get in trouble (and I assure you he will, he is Harry after all). Yup, I think though that Harry will have greatly matured by this book.

[Godrics_Heiress]

JKR has mentioned that Harry will have the shortest stay with the Dursleys. Why would this be so? His stay might be improved this year in terms of getting out of the Dursleys' clutches sooner, but it really isn't an improvement if Harry was forced to leave them because of some imminent danger. It's definitely interesting to note why Harry will have to leave them sooner. An attack by Voldemort's minions perhaps? Or it is simply just that it's not safe anymore for Harry to stay with the Dursleys?

[LooNy_LuVgood]

Well I think Harry will at least get to watch the news with out hiding in the flowers this summer!! But I think it'll be a very...informitive summer. JKR says we'll learn more about Petunia in book 6. I think something will happen that wil cause the Order to come to take him to Grimmauld place earlier than planned. But what about Grimmauld Place?? Does Harry inherit it, who gets ownership of # 12?
Sorry guys, I'm kinda all over the place in this post. :blush:

[ComicBookWorm]

She said it would be his shortest stay, not his favorite stay.

[Tane]

Yes I agree with that comicbookworm, JKR stated that we would not be seeing much of the Drusleys in the next Harry Potter book. JKR did state that we would see them a lot more in the final book, I wonder how much more because it sounds as though we might be seeing them more than we have done in any of the first six books.

[Snidget66]

All we know is that his stay will be short. Harry is going through a tough time right now. I don't think he'll care much about what the Dursleys do or say.

[LooNy_LuVgood]

JKR did state that we would see them a lot more in the final book, I wonder how much more because it sounds as though we might be seeing them more than we have done in any of the first six books.

Where did you hear that?

It sounds like either Harry will be there for and extremely long period of time during the summer or he will be seeing them sometime during the school year. Do you think any of the Dursleys will die in the future books??

[HPrules]

i liked where Sitamma was going...what happens now that he tried to use an unforgiveable curse? do the rules count if you use it against a Death Eater or Voldemort himself? I doubt that Harry will have to go to trial again b/c everyone has to kiss up to him now.

Let's brainstorm of what has already at the Dursley's:
SS--> Hagrid comes and rescues him
CoS--> nothing...Ron and the flying car (?)
PoA--> blows up Aunt Marge and leaves
GoF--> Quidditch World Cup with Weasleys
OotP--> Dementor "incident" and trial
<correct me, please, if i got one wrong>

What about a funeral type thing for Sirius? What if he goes to #12 Grimmauld Place and works there for the Order?

[ikuko]

I don't think there could be any trial. Unless Harry would ask for it. He and Bellatrix are the only ones who know that he attempted - and failed - to use a forbidden curse. As Fake Moody said, it is a serious magic, and just saying the words does not mean you perform the curse. He did cause some pain to Bellatrix, but he was not able to perform the curse as it was meant to be performed. It was perhaps wrong of him, but not enough to land him in Azkaban. Come on, I am pretty sure that little kids once in a while playing in usingh unforgivables, but until they CAN do it it is not a real crime. Responsibility comes with ability.

And ALL HAIL TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE TREVOR!!!!

[BlackHeart]

Do you think any of the Dursleys will die in the future books??
It's probably wrong to say this, but i hope so.

[ComicBookWorm]

I think that the most likely event would be an attack on the Dursleys. I have also considered the possibility of a funeral for Sirius. In that case, Harry may also get to see his parent's graves.

[BlackHeart]

I think that the most likely event would be an attack on the Dursleys. I have also considered the possibility of a funeral for Sirius. In that case, Harry may also get to see his parent's graves.
You know what, an attack on the Dursleys wouldn't be out of the question....

Think about it. Harry is protected as long as he lives at home with them. Voldemort can't touch Harry there. BUT, there's nothing to say that old Voldy can't touch the Dursleys. What if Voldy kills the Dursleys? Harry would no longer be protected there. Hmmmm. :eyebrows:

And I don't think JK would not attack the Dursleys, seeing as how she just had a Dementor attack Dudley.

[ikuko]

There is one event I would like to see while Harry is residing with Dursleys this year. Aunt Marge. She was visiting a year before Harry started at Hogwarts, and then in the third year. I'd say she is due for a visit. Perhaps Dursley's would like to discourage her from coming, but I do not see her as a type that can be discouraged. Would be fun to observe Dursleys torn between making a show for Marge that everything is as usual, and fearing that Harry's friends might show up on their driveway any second.

[Kimmetje]

The person above me has a great post and I hadn't thought about that myself. I think it would be a lot of fun to read about Marge again and the timeline makes sense as well. I think that this time HP might be send of to his school earlier and be at Grimmuald Place as it would not be safe for Marge either and maybe like on the night that Harry would leave a great riat would take place. I'm actually thinking this will really happen. The riat would be fun too.

[Wairay]

Well, it's supposed to be his shortest stay ever at the Dursleys. With so much happening in the other books, I don't think Rowling will focus much on the happenings in Privet Drive for the next book.

[kenmarekestrel]

I think that Harry will spend about 3 weeks with the Dursleys and a lot of that will be spent at Mrs Figgs now that he knows what she is. He may also learn more about Aunt Petunias past and how much she really knows about the wizarding world, although the family will probably treat him as if hes not there most of the time. Also, as someone said before, he'll probably have another meeting with Aunt Marge which would be very interesting!
Another thing I thought of was that the new Minister of Magic may be more understand of Harry's position and give him a bit of "breathing room" in regards to the underage magic law or even an early apparating licence, considering he is being hunted by the most dangerous wizard in the world and all his minions.
Life with the Dursleys will probably be much the same but only slightly improved now that they have the threat of Mad-Eye Moody or Tonks walking up their front path!

[mckinnon81]

I think that Harry will spend about 3 weeks with the Dursleys and a lot of that will be spent at Mrs Figgs now that he knows what she is. He may also learn more about Aunt Petunias past and how much she really knows about the wizarding world, although the family will probably treat him as if hes not there most of the time. Also, as someone said before, he'll probably have another meeting with Aunt Marge which would be very interesting!
Another thing I thought of was that the new Minister of Magic may be more understand of Harry's position and give him a bit of "breathing room" in regards to the underage magic law or even an early apparating licence, considering he is being hunted by the most dangerous wizard in the world and all his minions.
Life with the Dursleys will probably be much the same but only slightly improved now that they have the threat of Mad-Eye Moody or Tonks walking up their front path!

I agree. With everything that has happened with Fudge, and how he neglected to tell people sooner about what was hapening everyone will start to distrust him and a new Minister will be sought. With the war about to begin and Harry being "in the middle" so to speak, I see the new minister being a bit more helpfull towards Harry and giving him some space. This will allow harry to find his place again in the Wizarding world. Giving him an early apparate license will be valulable with DE after him and with magic he will probably need to perform in order to stay alive. Some circumstances need to be taken in to consideration with everything that has happened.

[jasper]

A short stay doesn't mean it will be a short chapter. It could be only one week, but if that is the case, it will surely be an action packed, eventful week.

[ikuko]

A short stay doesn't mean it will be a short chapter. It could be only one week, but if that is the case, it will surely be an action packed, eventful week.
Very true. In fact, the very information about the shortest stay ever is a clue to some intense plot developement. DD obviously deems Harry's stay at Dursleys essential for his safety. He would not cut it short unless he absolutely has to. If this year the stay is going to be "shortest yet" it means that something extraordinary must happen to force Harry away from Privet Drive.

[lewis8604]

It will be improved only because it will be the shortest nothing else. Harry will have to go through something in order to get him out of there early. He even knows he's supposed to be safe there so he plly won't fight being there as much

[MoodyHarry]

Harry's stay at the Dursley's will be short because the blood protection that had protected Harry for so long is gone. The reincarnation of Voldemort, using Harry's blood most likely destroyed that protection that they had. I'm guessing that V or others will plan to or actually descend upon the Dursley's, DD will suddenly realize it and haul Harry out of there ASAP.

[Rapunzel]

If the blood protection was completely gone after GoF, why did Harry have to go back to the Dursley's at all that summer?

[C8H10N4O2]

If the blood protection was completely gone after GoF, why did Harry have to go back to the Dursley's at all that summer?I'm thinking that only the charm his mother used on him is broken, not the charm Dumbledore put on Harry/the Dursley's home. That charm should still be in effect, since Dumbledore explained to Harry, in the present tense, that as long as he called it home, he was protected. However, there is a good chance something will happen to reduce its strength, causing Harry to be pulled out quicker than in OotP.

Or the Restriction Against Underage Use of Magic is lifted or modified, and he is more likely to be allowed in the Order, which I doubt.

Or, what I think is most likely, it is easier to protect Harry at #12 Grimmauld Place, since it wouldn't be weird for people to follow/observe him there, as opposed to the Dursley's where any guard placed on Harry would still have to be covert. I think this is why he will be moved, just to make guarding him easier. If he didn't have to return to maintain Dumbledore's charm, then I think he would have gone straight there from Hogwarts.

[MoodyHarry]

If the blood protection was completely gone after GoF, why did Harry have to go back to the Dursley's at all that summer?

The blood protection is probably not completely gone but instead is weakened, which would make it easier for V to attack the Dursley's. Also, we don't know the extent of the protections that DD placed on the house. There is probably another reason to it that JKR hasn't told us yet. Remember, there is something peculiar about Petunia.

Having Harry at 12 Grimmauld Place is an issue too because there are no adults to take care of him. There would only be order members going in and out of the house. Harry is only 16 and at that age, he might destroy the house. :lol: The Weasley's could take him in but who knows why they don't. Most likely because of the protection factor.

[ikuko]

There is another event that could happen while Harry is staying with Dursleys I would love to see in the books. We know how vain Dursleys are. Imagine them seeking - and eventually gaining - an accointance with an illustrous (muggle) family. How they will hope that connection with their young son would help Dudley in life. Only to find that the very son in question, instead of going to Eaton as expected, is actually a classmate and an admirer of Harry Justin F-F :D I know I am just fantasising, but wouldn't you love to see Vernon's face?

[Ashkins]

Yes it will be improved. He is almost 16 years old. Old enough to go and try to get a drivers license if he desired. (depends on the age where he lives) He is not a kid anymore. The
Dursley's have to treat him better than they have since they know people will be watching him. Harry will also be able to go to Mrs. Figg's house to visit and keep up to date on all the information going on in the magical world.

Will the Dursley's like it? No way. But to bad so sad.

[Nicole]

If this is to be Harry's shortest stay with the Dursleys, then he will be leaving there before Aug.3 (the date, according to HP-Lexicon, that Harry left in CoS). Even though the Dursleys should treat Harry better, I think he will be glad to leave.

[Other dates: PS/SS Sept. 1 (with a little break on Harry's birthday), Aug. 6 PoA, Aug. 24 GoF, and Aug. 6 OotP]

[Snidget66]

I don't think that Harry would care even if the Dursleys are nicer to him (which I doubt). Harry will have too much on his mind to care what's going on with the Dursleys because he has enough problems to deal with.

[crumseekerlynch]

If they don't they will have to answer to some pretty angry wizards, and I don't think they would want to do that.

[Yankee Squib]

I have read somewhere that the Dursleys are not going to have much of a role in the upcoming books! Having said that I think that since the ministry of magic now knows that LV is back for sure they will try to protect Harry, which could be Mr. Fudges biggest mistake. DD said that Harry would be safe staying with the dursleys because of the protection of old magic. (family?, Love!?!?!) If the Ministry of Magic removed him from that protection it could endanger Harry & the muggle kin, (Dursleys).

[luv2read]

What if Harry is threatened at the Dursley's by the DE's or Voldemort himself and Harry reverts to his "hero complex" and in trying to protect the Dursleys, he leaves early? We've seen him protect Dudley once already with the dementors. Maybe he will try apparating on his own? I also think that there is now a history of underage magic and I'm guessing it will continue in the upcoming summer for Harry, just wondering how it might pan out. Will it be as protection, out of anger at family or to flee the Dursleys.

[gena7180]

I am not sure that being the shortest stay at the Dursley's will mean that it will be an improved stay. Do we think that Harry will have a good birthday with friends this year since he has to leave before Aug 3?

[wol]

I hope they don't treat him any better. The image of Vernon opening the front door to see Moody or Tonks on the doorstep and all the neighbours watching is just too good to miss.

Well, actually I like the idea of Dudley getting into trouble with the law, Social Services being alerted and a social worker coming to the door who turns out to be Tonks in disguise. Now that would embarrass the Dursleys big-time.

[Danielf22]

I hope its something exciting, I always liked reading about the hyginx (*sp) he got into at the Dursleys. I would like to see him go terrets and just walk down the street jinxing people. But alas that wont happen.