What will we learn about Petunia in Deathly Hallows? v.2

[olive632]

Originally Posted by charmed100

Sirius maybe, but no one else knew that peter was the secret keeper so he cant have told Hagrid.

What Jo said was that when the secret keeper dies the secret dies with them not what happens when the person or thing being hidden dies, or perhaps more importantly the person that cast the spell. I belive Lilly must have perfomed the charm in order for only her, James, Peter and Sirius to know who the secret Keeper was. So I have always pressumed that Lilly cast the spell and when she died it ended as we saw with DD spell in the HBP.

Yes I know what you mean about Hagrid now knowing about Peter being the secret keeper but he could have had the knowledge of Godric's hollow by a written piece of paper like Harry did in OotP for grimmauld place, he was told that dumbledore was the secret keeper by sirius after.

[hgrwfan]

I am of the opinion that Petunia is a witch. JK just says that Petunia is a muggle and not a squibb. She could have said that Petunia is non magical and put an end to the rumors but she said she is not a squibb but is a muggle. Would a magical person who has decided to live the life of a muggle be for all intensive purposes be just a muggle? I think so. But Petunia I think went further than that and asked that DD bind her powers so that she can't perform magic. She probably asked him to make sure Dudley wouldn't be magical also.

[charmed100]

Originally Posted by olive632

Yes I know what you mean about Hagrid now knowing about Peter being the secret keeper but he could have had the knowledge of Godric's hollow by a written piece of paper like Harry did in OotP for grimmauld place, he was told that dumbledore was the secret keeper by sirius after.

Thats true I had thought that, but then i thought wouldnt Dumbledore have recgonised the handwritting?? He can recognise the style of magic so wouldnt he be able to tell the handwritting of an ex pupil??

Originally Posted by hgrwfan

I am of the opinion that Petunia is a witch. JK just says that Petunia is a muggle and not a squibb. She could have said that Petunia is non magical and put an end to the rumors but she said she is not a squibb but is a muggle. Would a magical person who has decided to live the life of a muggle be for all intensive purposes be just a muggle? I think so. But Petunia I think went further than that and asked that DD bind her powers so that she can't perform magic. She probably asked him to make sure Dudley wouldn't be magical also.

She has said petunia is not a witch

JKR.com Rumors Question Aunt Petunia will start exhibiting magical tendancies. Answer No, she wont. Aunt Petunia has never perfomed magic nor will she ever be able to do so.

We can assumee that as she has never done magic she has never been able to as we know from Harry in the PS before wizards are trained they can perfom magic without knowing what they are doing.

[limi]

I'm pretty certain it doesn't work that way. Being a witch/wizrds mean that you are able to do magic, that you have the potential, but it doesn't require you to use it. Harry was a wizard every since he was born, even though he didn't knowingly use magic untill he was 11 years old.
Muggles, by definition, cant' do magic at all, if they want to or not. JKR said Petunia is a muggle, twhich means that she never was able, nor would she ever be able, to do magic. I'm pretty sure JKR has conrifmed that the late bloomin witch/wizard isn't one of the Dursleys.

[imperfection]

Originally Posted by hgrwfan

I am of the opinion that Petunia is a witch. JK just says that Petunia is a muggle and not a squibb. She could have said that Petunia is non magical and put an end to the rumors but she said she is not a squibb but is a muggle. Would a magical person who has decided to live the life of a muggle be for all intensive purposes be just a muggle? I think so. But Petunia I think went further than that and asked that DD bind her powers so that she can't perform magic. She probably asked him to make sure Dudley wouldn't be magical also.

Thats wayyyyy off!

I think its simple, she isnt a squibb, and is a muggle...that only means one thing=she is a muggle!

The only thing huge about her is that she has been in contact with Dumbledore, and i think there is more to her relationship with certain wizards/withes..

[hgrwfan]

Originally Posted by imperfection

Thats wayyyyy off!

I think its simple, she isnt a squibb, and is a muggle...that only means one thing=she is a muggle!

The only thing huge about her is that she has been in contact with Dumbledore, and i think there is more to her relationship with certain wizards/withes..

That is the beauty of the thread discussions. You can have your opinion and I can have mine. One thing is certain, only a few short days and hopefully all questions will be answered .

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by hgrwfan

But Petunia I think went further than that and asked that DD bind her powers so that she can't perform magic.

Can you supply one instance of canon where such a thing (to any magical person) was done, or even hinted at? Why is such a thing not used on lifers in Azkaban to reduce the load on the guards (who are no longer the dementors; the dementors weren't always the guards before HBP, either)?

[hgrwfan]

Originally Posted by Nicole

Can you supply one instance of canon where such a thing (to any magical person) was done, or even hinted at? Why is such a thing not used on lifers in Azkaban to reduce the load on the guards (who are no longer the dementors; the dementors weren't always the guards before HBP, either)?

Good point. I don't have cannon to support my theory but it really was just a theory. I presented the idea, and indeed it is farfetched but I like it just the same. I was trying to explain why Petunia and DD would need to have correspondence other than the night baby Harry was dropped off. And that howler sounded particularly threatening to me "Remember my last, Petunia"

Just to answer your question about why it was never hinted it at: a possible idea would be because magic does not seem to be something that people want to renounce. Meaning, everybody who is magical, likes being magical. It doesn't seem like people would be looking to give that up. Looking at the people we know to be squibbs they seem to want to be magical (i.e Filch, and maybe Arabella Figg). So it wouldn't be an option for most witches or wizards unless you absolutely didn't want to be associated with magic like Petunia doesn't.

It is off the topic, but do we really know how the lifers in Azkaban are being contained now. As powerful as Lucius is couldn't he just use some wandless magic or something. Couldn't all of them really for that matter.

[Knox143]

Could Petunia have been under the invisibility cloak the night of the confrontation at Godric's Hollow? If she was Harry's real mother, her plan to conceal him from Vernon in the muggle world would have obviously failed and she could secretly make plans to return him. I'm going to stick with my "Petunia is Harry's mother" theory until the book is released, I don't know how it all adds up and refutes most canon, but intuition keeps drawing me to this conclusion, JKR is a fantasy writer after all.

[charmed100]

Originally Posted by Knox143

Could Petunia have been under the invisibility cloak the night of the confrontation at Godric's Hollow? If she was Harry's real mother, her plan to conceal him from Vernon in the muggle world would have obviously failed and she could secretly make plans to return him. I'm going to stick with my "Petunia is Harry's mother" theory until the book is released, I don't know how it all adds up and refutes most canon, but intuition keeps drawing me to this conclusion, JKR is a fantasy writer after all.

I really don’t see where this idea that petunia is Harry's mum came from?
Harry is described as looking exactly like his dad with his mother’s eyes, petunia and Lilly have different coloured eyes, and i have never seen any hint about James and petunia having an affair.

Also wouldn’t people such as Remus and Sirius have known if Lilly was taking in her sisters child? Although she may have kept it secret from the world at large the Potters obviously trusted Sirius above all others why wouldn’t they have told him. Also Voldemort must have found out some how that Lilly was pregnant? He is a master at Occlumency so surely he would have seen through the lie, we know he faced the potters three times.

As for petunia being there, its possible but we start the story with the Dursleys waking up the morning after, we know it took Hagrid all day to fly from Godricks hollow to surrey, and there wouldn’t have been anyone there to side long apparent with her home.

I still believe that petunia wanted to be magic, tried to talk to Dumbledore about it and when she learnt she was unable to learn it she let jealousy and hatred for the world consume her.

I think her usefulness to Harry will be in giving him some snap shot into his parents esp Lilly’s past perhaps one that shows us why Voldemort would have let Lilly live. I don’t think petunia knows that she has important information; I just think it is something she picked up by being nosey. Perhaps it’s even about the mirrors she may have seen James using them and be able to give Harry some kind of hint there.

[uptownsquirrel]

Well I read an editorial (I did not write that editorial. I just agree with it.) where Petunia actually liked her sister Lily and was interested in the wizarding world. However, their relationship worsened when James Potter came into the picture. So I believe that Petunia's secret is that she actually liked her sister and knows more than she appears to know about the wizarding world.

[dumbleISdead]

Originally Posted by hgrwfan

I am of the opinion that Petunia is a witch. JK just says that Petunia is a muggle and not a squibb. She could have said that Petunia is non magical and put an end to the rumors but she said she is not a squibb but is a muggle. Would a magical person who has decided to live the life of a muggle be for all intensive purposes be just a muggle? I think so. But Petunia I think went further than that and asked that DD bind her powers so that she can't perform magic. She probably asked him to make sure Dudley wouldn't be magical also.

well the problem with her being a witch is that Jo stated that at no point her life has she ever performed magic

[unconvinced]

Originally Posted by dumbleISdead

well the problem with her being a witch is that Jo stated that at no point her life has she ever performed magic

Also I think Jo shot it down fully on her website.

Originally Posted by uptownsquirrel

Well I read an editorial (I did not write that editorial. I just agree with it.) where Petunia actually liked her sister Lily and was interested in the wizarding world. However, their relationship worsened when James Potter came into the picture. So I believe that Petunia's secret is that she actually liked her sister and knows more than she appears to know about the wizarding world.

Yeah I read that one as well, I liked the points it making about Petunia hating Harry becuase he reminds her of James to whome she feels she lost a sister.

[Queen_Princess]

Originally Posted by uptownsquirrel
Well I read an editorial (I did not write that editorial. I just agree with it.) where Petunia actually liked her sister Lily and was interested in the wizarding world. However, their relationship worsened when James Potter came into the picture. So I believe that Petunia's secret is that she actually liked her sister and knows more than she appears to know about the wizarding world.

I myself read that to and it could be possible. I sort of agree wih it. Probaly the reason why Petunia hates Harry is because he looks like his father. I am not sure if it's true but is is possible.

[unconvinced]

Originally Posted by Queen_Princess

I myself read that to and it could be possible. I sort of agree wih it. Probaly the reason why Petunia hates Harry is because he looks like his father. I am not sure if it's true but is is possible.

Perhaps that will be where him having his "mother's eyes" will become important.

[IgoRetla]

I still think that Petunia wanted to go to Hogwarts with her sister, and corresponded with Dumbledore to go--and was disappointed. I think the "horrible boy" was Pettigrew...and I wonder if Petunia used a love potion from someone to land Vernon. I Thus explaining the "boy between you" comment.

[creativeamanda]

I don't think Petunia has magical tendencies. That being said, I'll speak from experience. I have a sister. She and I have not talked to each other in months. Not that I don't want to, but because I really cannot stand the life she has chosen for herself and am trying to throw in some tough love. This choice of hers makes me in no way love my sister less. I just feel that her defining choices are going to lead to her downfall. That being said, I can see Petunia's dilemma. Although my sister has made those choices which I do not approve of, I feel an amount of closeness to her that transcends my dislike for her life. Petunia may feel, not being very knowledgeable about Lily's life, that she is in a lifestyle that is destructive. Petunia is further in a battle of wills of sorts with her husband, whom I think is a real villian in the book(not the real villian, a real one)--a controlling husband who gets what he wants when he wants it and cares little for the feelings of anyone but his son and sister. Vernon wins this battle of wills, but this cannot change the inward feelings that Petunia has toward her sister and therefore also her nephew, Harry. I don't think Petunia hates Harry. I think she has tried to protect him but at the same time has the "battered wife syndrome". Vernon bullies Petunia to agree with him and although we never see him strike her, I also get the feeling that Vernon emotionally abuses those around him who are weaker in nature.

[potterposse]

I think :

Aunt Petunia hid the fact Dudley is a wizard. She couldn't face the fact that her perfect son was one of "them", so she never gave him the letter. And the only reason he never was harrassed with letters like in SS/PS previously with Harry, is becuase he was to go to a different wizard school. Dumbledore didn't want Harry and Dudley to be in the same place, due to him bullying Harry. Dudley is the late blooming magician.

[charmed100]

Originally Posted by potterposse

I think :

Aunt Petunia hid the fact Dudley is a wizard. She couldn't face the fact that her perfect son was one of "them", so she never gave him the letter. And the only reason he never was harrassed with letters like in SS/PS previously with Harry, is becuase he was to go to a different wizard school. Dumbledore didn't want Harry and Dudley to be in the same place, due to him bullying Harry. Dudley is the late blooming magician.

Its possible but Jo has said that when Dumbledore said remeber my last he meant the letter given to petunia when Harry was left on the door step, so he cant have written to her about Dudley being a possible wizard.

As for the idea of Dudley going to another school, surely they wouldnt have given up that easily?? perhaps if dudley said he didnt want to go but would they really just let some one not know? he also has never shown any of the magical signs that Harry did like making things happen without knowing how

[MimsieBug]

maybe petunia had powers, but somehow they got taken away or she lost them when she was very young? Use of underage magic? some kind of accident?
not too sure!