Petunia Dursley (née Evans)

[Benu_Horus_2006]

I noticed there was no thread on Petunia.

Here goes...

I have a Petunia-centered scene. It is after HBP. Harry returns from the funeral. Petunia has learnt of Dumbledore's death. Would she have a tussle (verbal one) with Vernon, regarding Harry's lodging at 4,Privet Drive.

Also, Would she start to take care of Harry, during the summer or continue to ill-treat him?

*P.S.* I couldn't figure out if Petunia fit into the Minor Characters slot or the Major one.

[ms. leading]

Would she have a tussle (verbal one) with Vernon, regarding Harry's lodging at 4,Privet Drive?
I doubt it. She's the type of woman who lets her husband makes the decisions. She'd always let him dicipline Harry, when he was her nephew and hers to look after. She would have kept what ever feelings she had quiet. If the argument were to ever have come up, Vernon suggesting that Harry leaves, she might have repeated her 'the boy will have to stay' if she truly feared for his life.

Also, Would she start to take care of Harry, during the summer or continue to ill-treat him?
Theres no evidence to suggest that she would have, I'm sure we would have seen it mentioned somewhere if it was in her character to do so. I doubt Petunia would have changed her ways at all, even if she thought Harry was mourning Dumbledores death. But I do think if she knew about it, his death would have startled her, because she did have a connection with him in the past. But it wasn't a positive connection, he denied her a place at Hogwarts which led her to then hate the entire Wizarding world.
Petunia wouldn't start to be kinder to Harry just because Dumbledore died, because she didn't care for him when he was a child, when he needed her most.

Hope that's helped in some way.
~ Cassie

[Mudblood_and_Proud_of_it]

I do think it would be OOC for Petunia to start treating Harry nicer just because of a death. For one thing, Vernon would notice and give her a hard time about it. For another, I don't think she really...could. She's spent so much time being nasty to him, I think she wouldn't be sure how to proceed by being nice to him because he would get suspicious, if that makes sense (which I'm not entirely sure it does). For example, in DH she was about to say something to Harry, but she didn't because so many years of being nasty to him combined with the threat of Uncle Vernon's dissaproval was too much and she said nothing.
Hope I helped...

[Azhure]

I agree. I mean, Petunia has always treated Harry horribly (I'm not sure if that's the best word). Harry's parents had both died when he was left on the Dursley's doorstep. They took him in, yes, but they treated him with disdain. I know Petunia didn't like Lily, but if she was going to be nice to Harry after Dumbledore's death, wouldn't she treat him nicely from day one (after James and Lily died)?

Also, Petunia doesn't really know much of Harry and Dumbledore's relationship. He's the school Headmaster. That doesn't usually mean a father/son relationship, or even a friendship, between them. Naturally, you would be affected by a death of a Headmaster, but to the extent where Petunia actually comforts Harry... I just don't think it would happen. I know Dumbledore came to the Dursley's house in HBP, but it's not like he openly acts like anything more than a Headmaster or someone who just likes Harry as a student.

Hope that helped!

~~Azhure~~

[cmwinters]

I have a Petunia-centered scene. It is after HBP. Harry returns from the funeral. Petunia has learnt of Dumbledore's death. Would she have a tussle (verbal one) with Vernon, regarding Harry's lodging at 4,Privet Drive.

Erm, I'm not sure I read this properly; would she tussle with Vernon and say Harry SHOULDN'T stay? Possibly, but I doubt it.

Would she stand her ground and say that he HAD to stay? Depends.

Remember Petunia's scenes at the beginning of Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince? Dumbledore basically blackmailed Petunia. She'd apparently written him a letter begging to be let into Hogwarts and he refused (since she has no magical ability) and as a result, she turned her back on all things magical (not all that unusual given she can't really use magic). But I think one of the stipulations of her keeping Harry was that Dumbledore agreed to act as if he didn't know who she was, or that she'd once begged to be allowed to go to that freak school that her freak sister went to.

The blood protection only worked over Harry assuming that Harry was able to call Privet Drive home (because he needed to live with someone related to his mother, since it was his mother that gave her life for him).

So it may depend on when Vernon mentioned the funeral and what have you. If Harry had already been at Privet Drive for some time (and "some time" could be anything from two hours to two weeks, I'd assume), then I *THINK* the blood protection would hold because when he was leaving the protection of Hogwarts, he was "going home" to Privet Drive.

Now, you could theorise that he had to be under what amounts to Petunia's protection until he was seventeen and of age, and not do that without breaking canon. Because if the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord KNEW that they wouldn't be able to touch Harry because of the protection, they wouldn't have gone after him at the beginning of DH in the first place.

Also, Would she start to take care of Harry, during the summer or continue to ill-treat him?

She'd probably just ignore him. At sixteen, almost seventeen, he's completely self-sufficient.

[kathryn_malfoy]

I personally think that when Vernon was not around she would be kinder to Harry. Many times Petunia does things that do show that she cares about her nephew even if only a little bit. I do not think she would change drastically though.

Petunia is no tthe kind of person to stick up to her husband. At any point if Vernon were to learn of her kindness he would approach Petunia. Petunia seems too weak to do anything truly against her husband.

[Benu_Horus_2006]

My fic falls in the AU category (due some alteration in the canon facts).
So could I alter Petunia's character to such an extent that she starts taking care of Harry, etc.. ???

[leahsm2]

Harry has already gone through a major depression when Sirius died, (not to mention the toll Cedric's death took, and that was right before Summer Vacation) and no one seemed to notice. They tell anyone who'll listen that he goes to a school for the criminally insane, and to be quite honest, if I were Harry and my nasty Aunt Petunia tried to be all friendly like to me at this late date, I'd tell her . . . Well, I'd have issues with it.

So, it could actually be entertaining to watch!

[XhayleeXblackX]

So could I alter Petunia's character to such an extent that she starts taking care of Harry, etc.. ???

I, like Leah, think that Harry would have a slightly major problem with this. I also do not see Petunia suddenly changing. Even after Harry "saved Dudley's life", she did nothing to acknowledge him for it. Dudley is the only who ever took Harry for a human, not a freak.

In order for Petunia to change to the extent that she would take care of Harry as a son, something HUGE and drastic would have to happen, but I don't know that there is such a thing. To her, Harry is the living representation of what she could never be, what her sister was, what she envied. That's a lot of resentment to put aside and suddenly take care of Harry. I just don't see it happening unless very well written and backed by her's and Harry's characterizations.

-Haylee

[Mudblood_and_Proud_of_it]

I have a new question
What do you think Petunia was like when she was younger?
I'm writing a poem that takes place during that time, and I'm trying to portray Petunia correctly. I think that we've seen that she can be bossy (in Snape's memories), but I wonder what she acted like when she was totally ignorant of the Wizarding World. I think she only acts bossy when something out-of-the-ordinary happens, but what was she like the rest of the time? Any ideas?
I want to portray her like she was a nice person in the begining before all that Wizarding stuff. Is that plausible? Its also obvious she looks up to her sister (she even wrote to Dumbledore to ask if she could come to Hogwarts like her sister). But what about her general personality? Any input is greatly appriciated.