Petunia Dursley (née Evans) was a Muggle, the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and the older sister of the Muggle-born witch Lily. During her childhood, she broke up with her sister, because she was jealous of her magical abilities, and thus stopped any contact with the wizarding world. She married a muggle, Vernon Dursley, and they had a son, Dudley. However, when Lily was killed by Lord Voldemort, she was sent her nephew, Harry Potter. She gave him a home, but disliked him and treated him badly. In 1991, when Harry went at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she became very angry. She and her family left their home in 1997, in order to be protected from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. After the Second Wizarding War, she had several grandchildren. She also remained in contact with Harry.
Biography
Early Life
Petunia looks on with worry at her sister and Snape.
Petunia is the oldest child of Muggles Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and had a sister, Lily, who was two years younger. Petunia did have a good relationship with her sister, however, Lily was quite "talented" at doing some unusual things, such as making a flower's petals move, without touching them. Petunia found this to be quiet disturbing and often wanted Lily to "make it stop."
Lily's discovery of being a witch
Petunia eventually learned by Severus Snape, a boy who lived near their house, that Lily was a witch. When her sister received a letter from Hogwarts confirming that she was a witch, Petunia wrote a letter to Albus Dumbledore, asking if she could also study there. Even though the Headmaster rejected her kindly, that rejection caused Petunia to be very jealous of Lily. That jealousy then created a certain disdain and loathing for the Wizarding world, one she frequently took out on her sister, often calling Lily a "freak." After that point, she barely talked to her sister; well into adulthood, she even pretended that Lily didn't exist. She hated Severus Snape, who dragged Lily away from her and made Lily stand out.
Petunia was also acquainted with Severus Snape, even before Lily received her Hogwarts letter. Snape treated her disdainfully and she heartily disapproved of him, and never made any secret of it.
Family life
Petunia had little contact with her sister once they had grown up (though she did send her a horrible vase over Christmas), partly to do with her jealousy of Lily being a witch. At some point before 1980, Petunia married Vernon Dursley, and their son, Dudley was born on June 23, 1980. The family settled into Little Whinging where they took pride in being "normal."
Giving home to her nephew
Petunia's nephew causing 'trouble'.
This changed on November 1st, 1981 when Petunia opened her door to find a baby on her doorstep. The child turned out to be her sister's son, Harry Potter. A letter had been left by Albus Dumbledore, explaining the circumstances of Harry's arrival, including the deaths of her sister, Lily, and her brother-in-law, James. She was the only member of the family that has her sister's blood running through her which ensured the protection of Harry and her family from Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters so she reluctantly agreed to take her orphaned nephew into her home, she then took into the family's responsibility not to tell Harry or anyone else about the fact that Harry was a wizard.
Petunia, however, didn't treat Harry as a welcome addition to her family. A constant reminder of her sister and the world she herself had been refused entrance to, she treated Harry like a disease, even keeping him in the cupboard under the stairs as a bedroom for much of his childhood. She deliberately spoiled Dudley and neglected Harry, who were both around the same age, in turn, showing him no affection or love. She forced him to do all of the chores while Dudley was free to do anything he pleased. Petunia also told Harry that his parents had died in a car crash and that the scar on his forehead came from that same accident. She didn't let Harry ask any questions about his family.
Harry's letter from Hogwarts
When Harry's Hogwarts letter arrived in 1991, she supported her husband's decision to keep the truth from Harry. They constantly tried to burn or rip the letters but they found that nothing was helping to stop the letters coming to Harry, so Petunia and the rest of the family moved to different places to try to outrun wizards until finally being tracked down by Rubeus Hagrid. When Hagrid forced the issue of Harry's origin, Petunia lost control and let loose all of the resentment she'd held about Lily's life.
Throughout the next several years, Petunia still permitted Harry to remain in her home over the summers, recharging the blood protections that kept him and her family safe from Lord Voldemort throughout the rest of the year.
Dudley's attack and contact with the wizarding world
Petunia upon seeing Dudley Dursley after a Dementor attack in 1995.
In the summer before Harry's fifth year, Dudley and Harry were attacked by Dementors, and were only saved by Harry performing underage magic. She unintentionally revealed some knowledge of the Wizarding world by telling Vernon what Dementors were. When asked how she knew, she said that she heard "that awful boy" and Lily talking about them. When Vernon ordered Harry out of the house, she reluctantly stepped in after a Howler (later revealed to have been from Dumbledore) arrived telling Petunia to "remember my last."[1] Petunia cloaked her decision to allow Harry to stay in that she knew it would appear strange to the neighbours if Harry suddenly vanished. Whether this was the true reason for allowing her nephew to remain there or perhaps a glimmer of family loyalty, was left unsaid.
Hiding from Death Eaters
In the summer of 1997, the blood protections were due to expire. Petunia, Dudley, and Vernon were placed under the protection of Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones, both members of the Order of the Phoenix.
Just before the group left Privet Drive, Petunia watched her son offer the first words of acceptance Harry had ever heard and burst into tears on Dudley. Petunia walked towards the door to leave, looked back at Harry and opened her mouth to speak, but shortly after she pursed them back up and walked out. Petunia wanted to wish Harry luck, but decided against it because of her resentment to the wizarding world and she thought it showed weakness.
Later life
In later life, her only son Dudley married and had at least two children, making her a grandmother and mother-in-law to Dudley's wife. Harry has said to have been on "Christmas Card" terms with Dudley and his family and went to visit them occasionally, which his children hated.[2]
Physical Appearance
Petunia is a thin, blonde-haired woman, and described as having "nearly twice the usual amount of neck."[3] It is also mentioned that she looked like a horse when she pursed her lips.
Personality and traits
Petunia is very nosy and often spends her time spying on her neighbours and has to have everything very clean. Petunia over loved her family and it showed, her son was spoiled and both her husband and son were overweight. Petunia's role in her family was to be a housewife and wait hand and foot on the men of her house, excluding Harry.
Petunia shocked looking for owls to see that Harry got a letter from Hogwarts, as his sister.
Attitude Towards Magic, Wizards, and Witches
Petunia is frequently heard referring to wizards and witches as "freaks." When Lily left for Hogwarts for the first time she referred to it as a place for "weirdos," a place where they may be "separated from normal people" for the safety of the latter. In 1995 she received a Howler from Dumbledore not helping in her liking for the Wizarding world.
Petunia's attitudes toward the Wizarding world most probably stem from her deep desire to attend Hogwarts only to be rejected. After Lily's invitation to attend, Petunia wrote Dumbledore, asking that she also be permitted to study there. Dumbledore's kind rejection seemed to have resulted in severe jealousy towards Hogwarts and the wizarding world in general.
In 1997, Petunia realised that she didn't hate her nephew so much, and she attemped to explain Harry about her jealousy, and that it was the reason she disliked magic so much. It is possible that she told him about those things after the Second Wizarding War.
Relationships
Family
Petunia may have had a good relationship with her parents. However, they made her jealous when they were showing their interest on Lily's magical abilities, and favoured her. It is known that they had died by the time Petunia had a son.
Lily and her son, Harry.
Lily Evans was Petunia's only sibling. They were very close and always played together. When Lily started developing her magical powers Petunia was torn between her curiosity and her disapproval of magic. She tried protecting Lily when she became friends with Snape, a young boy who lived nearby and called Petunia a "Muggle", which to her was an insult even though she had no understanding of the meaning of the word.
Come the time of her sister's Hogwarts acceptance letter, Petunia was heartbroken she hadn't been asked to attend. She wrote to Hogwarts headmaster asking if she could attend and received a polite and kind letter saying she had no magical ability. Upset with her rejection Petunia went on to loathe the wizarding world and her sister. She called her sister a freak on her visits back from Hogwarts. Though despite her new hate for her sister, Petunia would later bring up Lily's only son after her death.
Vernon Dursley
Vernon Dursley.
Petunia was married to Vernon Dursley. She always showed love towards Vernon. Petunia's role in her family is to do all the housework whilst her husband Vernon works. She obviously cooks all the meals, and seems to overfeed her family, excluding Harry Potter.
Neither Vernon or Petunia had the say in their house. Their lives were controlled around the two children, Dudley and Harry. Dudley's word was final, and Harry, since he was a wizard, meant that Petunia and Vernon had no control over the matters involving the Wizarding world. So both Petunia and Vernon are the adults, but neither really has control of the family.
It is unknown if Vernon knew that his wife wanted to attend Hogwarts herself in the past.
Dudley Dursley
Petunia with her son on her lap.
Dudley was Petunia's first and only child. Petunia did however bring up two boys, one who was her sister's. The amount of love and affection she gave was not shared equally and it was obvious that she didn't like Harry. Petunia gave in to every demand of Dudley's, one summer McGonagall spotted Dudley kicking his mother so she would buy him sweets, which she did. Petunia massively spoiled Dudley, resulting in him being very overweight; she denied it for many years though, calling it baby fat. She gave him anything he wanted and comforted him through tantrums. Petunia and Vernon would awfully spoil Dudley as if their family was a millionaire.
Petunia also deliberately put Dudley's word before Harry's even if Harry was right. She appears to have loved him very much and burst into tears every time he said something that wasn't cruel or mean. Even when Dudley was a teenager she called him "Diddy-kins" and names that one would call a baby.
Petunia over indulged her only son and as a result his upbringing was spoiled and he turned out to be a nasty piece of work, this was until his cousin Harry rescued him from a Dementor attack, which Dudley thought of highly. Dudley was the one to bring the family back together and Petunia showed how proud she was of him when she burst into tears and sobbed when Dudley showed affection for Harry.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter, her hated nephew.
- Harry Potter: "What's this?"
- Petunia Dursley: "Your new school uniform."
- Harry Potter: "Oh, I didn't realize it had to be so wet."
- — Petunia Dursley[src]
Petunia never showed any love and affection at all towards Harry only because he reminded her of Lily and the wizarding world. She treated him as if he were a waste of space, giving him the cupboard under the stairs at first and making him do all the chores. She, along with Vernon, ignored most of Harry's birthdays and gave him something minor like a toothpick when they didn't.
She didn't accept Harry as a second son and never gave him the love and affection he needed and craved from her. She also helped to keep him out of the Wizarding world and tried to make themselves look as normal as possible as part of her attempts at hiding Harry from other people. When Harry left to search for Voldemort's Horcruxes in 1997, Petunia was almost able to bring herself to wish him luck and admit that her poor treatment of him was born out of jealousy, but backed out at the last moment and left without saying a word[4].
Petunia would later become an aunt-in-law to Harry's wife Ginny Weasley, and the great-aunt to Harry and Ginny's three children; James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna. Although Harry's relationship with her son Dudley had mended to the point that they remained on "Christmas card terms" and visited occasionally, it's unknown if Petunia herself ever had contact with Harry again.
Severus Snape
Snape first met Petunia during their childhood. Snape was a boy who loved Lily, and was interested on her magical abilities. That made Petunia jealous. Snape and Petunia strongly disliked each other, from the first minute they met each other. Petunia disliked him because of his poor economic status and for his friendship with Lily. She was also jealous that Snape told Lily she was a witch, something that Petunia was not. Petunia also called Snape and Lily “freaks,” during their first day at Hogwarts. While on Hogwarts Express, Snape expressed his disdain for Petunia, making Lily angry with him. Even when Petunia was an adult, she still disliked Snape, calling him “that awful boy,” when she remembered him. Although they had one thing in common, they both hated Harry for very different reasons.
Etymology
Petunia's name is the meaning of flower and the origin of the name is English. Petunia's maiden name was Evans. Evans is a Welsh or English surname derived from the given name Evan[5]. As a Welsh name, Evan means "young warrior"; it can also be considered a form of the name John, meaning "God is gracious"[6].
Petunia's married surname is Dursley. Dursley is a town in Gloucestershire, England. J. K. Rowling has commented that she visited the place as a child, and hated it, which likely affected her choice of surname for the awful family, remarking "I don't imagine I'm very popular in Dursley".[7][8]
Behind the scenes
- The role of Petunia Dursley is played by Fiona Shaw.
- Her appearance in the films is somewhat different than the books, where she is described as being "blonde and horse-toothed." Actress Fiona Shaw is neither of these things, nor do the film makers attempt to do so with wigs or prosthetics.
Appearances
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)[9]
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Dumbledore was referencing the last letter he wrote Petunia explaining the familiar protection Harry had in Petunia's care.
- ↑ J. K. Rowling Talks Marriage, Writing and More at Open Book Tour Stop in New York City
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- ↑ J.K. Rowling and the Live Chat, Bloomsbury.com, July 30, 2007
- ↑ Behind the Name: Evans
- ↑ Behind the Name: Evan
- ↑ Wikipedia:Dursley
- ↑ 2001 BBC Online Chat
- ↑ Fiona Shaw to reprise Petunia Dursley role in Deathly Hallows