Here's my new theory about Petunia Dursley, based on the following questions at the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince website.
What did Dumbledore's Howler to Aunt Petunia mean? ('Remember my last'?)
Dumbledore is referring to his last letter, which means, of course, the letter he left upon the Dursleys' doorstep when Harry was one year old. But why then (you may well ask) did he not just say 'remember my letter?' Why did he say my last letter? Why, obviously because there were letters before that… Now let the speculation begin, and mind you type clearly, I'll be watching…
P.S. It has been suggested that I am wrong in saying that Dumbledore's last letter was the one he left on the doorstep with baby Harry, and that he has sent a letter since then concerning Harry's illegal flight to school. However, both Dumbledore and I differentiate between letters sent to the Dursleys as a couple, and messages directed to Petunia ALONE. And that's my final word on the subject - though I doubt it will be yours :)
Will there be, or have there been, any "late blooming" students in the school who come into their magic potential as adults, rather than as children?
No, is the answer. In my books, magic almost always shows itself in a person before age 11; however, there is a character who does manage in desperate circumstances to do magic quite late in life, but that is very rare in the world I am writing about.
Based on all that, I'm guessing Petunia does have magic, at least some, and may even have received her own Hogwarts letter - if so, obviously she refused it for whatever reason. I'm guessing she does do some magic in a later book. If so, it would probably be to save Dudley; I think he's the only one she cares for that much. I don't think she'd do it to save Harry, since she didn't seem to mind the idea of throwing him out among the Dementors (Book V) until DUmbledore's Howler arrived.
In other news, I'm a little worried about my parents, since I didn't remember to give them either a housekey or my phone number before leaving for work this morning. I've tried calling but they haven't answered. I hope they're clever enough to take the key that lives in the front door; though I wouldn't be surprised if they just decided to stay home and sit by or in the pool all day and go out tomorrow instead.
Posted by dichroic at October 6, 2004 01:18 PM