When searching the harry potter websites i came accrues a piece of information about aunt petunia which got me thinking. It was from an interview with J.K. Rowling and this is what it says "You might have got the impression that there is a little bit more to Aunt Petunia than meets the eye, and you will find out what it is. She is not a squib although that is a very good guess". She says here that she is not a squib but she then adds that it was a very good guess. So maybe she has/had something to do with the magical world. My theory is that when Lilly Evans (as she was then) got her letter inviting her to Hogwarts she agreed to go there and found that it was the most brilliant thing that ever happened to her, but i think that Pertunia also got one, (before or after, whatever the age difference is between them) but she turned it down and from then-on regretted it deeply which caused great hatred towards her own sister.
This might be a ridiculous theory or it might not but i want to know, what does everyone else think?

Mmm. There have been a lot of theories put forward about this. There have been a few threads here about it, but I think most of them dealt more with the specific issue of Petunia being a Squib and what exactly went on between her and Dumbledore about the howler she was sent.

I think it was pure jealousy more than anything else. I'm not sure she would have turned an invitation like that down. I know she wants to be normal and all that, but I think that's more deflective, because she can't be what her sister was. Possibly it stems from her treatment by her parents. From what she says about her parents being so proud of her, how wonderful it was that Lily was a witch and so on, it must have left Petunia feeling very inadequate and left out, which probably created some level of resentment. All twisted emotions stemming from jealousy, IMHO. But her parents are probably not totally without blame. Why one would be a witch and one not though...who knows? Maybe there were witches further back in the Evans family tree somewhere because it does seem as though her parents knew something about the wizarding world, at the very least. To be able to say 'ooh, we have a witch in the family', you know?

Yeah, I never had much sympathy for Petunia before, but when you consider how out-of-place and inadequate she must have felt, you have to feel just a tiny bit sorry for her.

That's what I like about the "bad" people in these stories. Aside from Voldemort and Lucius...and Greyback...ooh, and Bella....I don't think there is anyone who is wholly bad without some attempt somewhere along the line to explain the reasons why they turned out the way they did, if you look for them. Maybe there's a key there to figuring out who's going to die in book seven....

Hiya!
Pure intellegence-this thread is!!!
I agree.....Petunia might be jealous!
Or probably may have received Hogwarts letter and then later expellled!Or...there might be family problems....
think of this...LIly Evans's FAMILY was never mentioned!We know only petunia....some thing like family disputes...or that some of the family members may have died because of Lily!
Even better-Petunia may really LIKE Lily,but to help herself get out of the grief of her death...she might be only acting!

Those are good theories!!!!!!!!!

Chels. l

i think it's jealousy why petunia hates lily so much... she could have been a witch! honestly, if one of my sistesr was a witch and me not! well, i wouldn't hate her, but i don't know how mad i'd be! i'd march up straight to DD! *g* lol
well, i think that's it, but because petunia didn't want to admit her jealousy, she hid behind the 'want-to-be-normal-mask'... yeah, she maybe really wants to be normal by now, but i bet she would give everything -even now- to go back in time and be a witch -if she could...
when lily became a witch she said she hated everything and everyone that was not normal... lily says what she thinks, she's not quiet and says nothing if there's something she doesn't like... and that attracts attention -poor petunia! so 'undursleyish' lol

Perhaps Petunia lied when she was talking about her sister being a witch and her sister getting all the attention and what-not. For one thing, she seems to be keeping her some of her knowledge about the wizarding world away from Vernon. It seems probabble that she lied to him so he wouldn't run away from her or something.

Wow! All of your theories are quite interesting. But really, I think that she was just jealous. I don't think that Lily and Petunia's parents treated Lily better than Petunia, but I think Petunia just felt left out that she was normal and her sister was special. By the way, whose older, Lily or Petunia?

It's sort of like when there's only one kid in the family, and then the new baby comes, the older kid is so jealous of the baby because the kid feels the baby is getting all the attention. Perhaps Petunia is older, and was always jealous of her from day 1.

I think it's mainly pure jealousy. Petunia was jealous of Lily's magical abilities, as well as all the attention, and how much her parents nurtured her sister. I've seen it happen between me and my little sister.

However, I do believe that something happened between the 2 at a young age. I've completely lost my train of thought on it....its been a long day....but when/if I ever remember, I'll post my theory!

Hmm, some great theories here.

It's, er, been a while since I read fully the books, if I'm honest (Yes, I know, shock-horror and dramatic background-music sounds). But there's a really nagging thought eating away at the back of my brain that's going to have me jumping for all six books and reading non-stop until I've answered it.

And it's this question:
Was Lily always as perfect as she seems?

Because if she was, then I suppose Petunia's only problem with her sister was one major jealousy issue. I'm an older sister, myself (though not that much older ), and I can definately associate with some of Petunia's jealousy, especially when my dear sister is rewarded for the most bizarre of things that I'd be completely ignored for - which usually means school-work. She gets rewards for great work, whereas it's supposed to be customary to me. So unfair, but you know ...

Anyway, off topic, but as I was saying, Petunia could only have been jealous if Lily was as wonderful as we've always heard, and that her being accepted at Hogwarts acted as a catalyst, or something.

But, what if there was something else for her sister to be angry with her over? I'd like to know if something happened between them while they were young, maybe something outside of the whole 'you're-a-witch-and-I'm-not-so-I'm-going-to-resent-you-for-the-rest-of-my-life thing Petunia's got going on, here.

Or then there's even that really crazy theory that I heard not so long back about Petunia having her beady eyes upon James during their last few years, maybe if Lily had James over during the summer holidays, or maybe if James met the family after school had finished. That might explain it. She'd have been jealous about Lily going to Hogwarts, and then find that Lily got the guy and Petunia was stuck with Vernon. Nothing against him, I'm sure she loves him, but then, I'd be feeling kinda sorry for myself if my sister got, say David Tennant while I was stuck with Bob from the corner shop down the road ... (Just made that up, so sorry to any Bobs out there, I don't know a Bob, myself).

But hey, jealousy must be a big key to her resentment towards Lily. I don't really believe that Petunia completely hates Lily, because 'hate' is such a strong word. But whatever it is that happened to give her such a dismal opinion of her late sister, I hope we find it out with Book Seven.

I'll agree with the jealousy thing. As with misshaunted, I too am an older sister, to one sister who is 16 months younger and to another sister who is just under 4 years younger. In the past I have been pushed aside in favour of my middle sister because unlike myself and the younger one, she was the smart one. She always got good grades, she was always getting awards for thing I'd never even heard of and she basically excelled in everything she did. This lead to some resentment, but not alot, since I was more artistic then she was so that made up for it. When it came to anything for Art she was the one pushed aside in favour of myself or our younger sister.

This could be the same for Petunia. Lily could have been the smart one at school (providing that she was sent to a normal school since no-one knew she was a witch), always getting the awards, always getting the best grades. And Petunia could have been the one shoved aside when Lily brought these - trophies we'll call them - home. This could quite easily lead to resentment. And when Lily was sent the letter and their parents made a fuss about it, it would cause the wounds to be cut so deep that there was no way to heal them. Resentment would have lead to hatred when Lily came home in the holidays, talking about the 'wonderful' life at Hogwarts and what would Petunia have to show for the semesters work? A grade, that's it. She didn't have the ability to make a potion or cast a spell, so she would have hated that Lily could do it. As she said in PS/SS -
Proud being the key word. I daresay they were never proud of Petunias work, always comparing it to Lilys. I do feel sorry for Petunia though. It would totally suck to grow up with someone who was more advanced then you in every way. Think X-Men. They have abilities normal people can only ddream about. That's probaly what it was like for Petunia. She wanted to have the same abilities as Lily, but when it didn't happen she made herself hate it, to say it was un-natural. Just like if you, as a child, didn't get the lolly you wanted and your sibling got it. You convince yourself it wouldn't have been nice anyway. I bet that's what Petunia did to ease the pain of rejection.

As for the 'She is a Witch but refused to go to Hogwarts', well I'm gonna say no way since it goes against my arguement! But it is a good theory.

Is it possible that Aunt Petunia knew something about Lily? Like something bad? Something that could jeoporadize something huge?

"Was Lily really that good?"
_______________________________



that got me thinking.......what if Lily really wasnt so amazingly talented, so nice, so innocent? Could this have something to do with whatever her and James became when they got out of school? what if Petunia is really jealus/bitter becuase Lily really WASNT as good as everyone thought? could lily have been....dare i say it.......Bad?
JKR's old notes contain a phrase that has harry saying "So you think MY PARENTS stole the scorceror's stone?"
JK rowling didnt put the conversation in the books, and the whole part was forgotten, but what if Rowling still wanted Lily and James to be dangerous?

SORRY SO OFF TOPIC!!! IREALLY AM! but still....just a thought.....

I think that everyone is forgetting about the original post here, where it was quotes of JK Rowling saying It would then seem as thought the people who were saying something along the lines of Aunt Petunia possibly being magical and turning down going to Hogwarts or something to that effect would be more plausible. Possibly that is the reason that she resents Lily so much, because she was the one that got to experience all of these wonderful things in the wizarding world and Aunt Petunia missed her chance. I think there is more to it than just disliking Lily just for being magical... because seeing as JK said aunt petunia being a squib was a good guess but not quite the answer.... it leaves us to believe that there is something more to Aunt Petunia then meets the eye and that we haven't gotten the full picture of her yet!

i think she petunia doesn't hate her i just think that she was jeolus. I mean really when lily was away at school all that her parents would talk about was lily and when she went back home all they did was give her the attention. and so i guess her jeolusy turned to hate.

Maybe Petunia was always dreaming about magic when she was little. When Lily actually got to live that dream she was crushed. This caused her to hate her sister. I do think that Petunia knew more about the magical world than we know. In The Order of the Poenix, when Harry is convincing Vernon that dementors exist, Petunia blurts out that they guard Azkaban then comes up with the excuse that she heard James talking about them. I don't think that the Durleys ever met James let alone spent much time with him. It really makes you wonder.

Is it possible for Aunt Petunia to be like Merope? Merope wasn't "taught" how to use her magic, except for basic commands from her father, Marvolo (fact check?). I belive Aunt Petunia is able to do magic, but she simply does it in secret. Remember the first few years Harry was at Hogwarts? They'd basically lock his stuff up. I bet she was snooping around in it. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if she used magic in this upcoming installment.

Here's a thought: Was Lily adopted? Petunia is never mentioned to have the distinctive red hair and green eyes Lily had. If Lily was not their parent's biological child but Petunia was, she must have been very jealous-- even more jealous then normal -- when her parents lavished attention on her. And if Lily was adopted, that opens up huge possibilities. Were her real parents a witch and wizard? Why did they let her go? And of course, it makes half of Harry's family completely unknown.

i think there is a possibilty that she could be adopted afterall didnt JK herself say that something would be revealed about lily that is major. maybee that is it and apart of it. but to agrue the point the other way me and my brother look nothing alike we're as different as night and day so in that since i dont think it matters. as for her jealousy, JK has always portrayed the dursleys as greeding and wanting the best. Magic is the one thing that she can never attain. the ultimate goal in her sisters life that she cant reach. because of this she hates it and deams witches and wizards freaks. same with harry and dudley magic is the one thing that dudley will never attain. thats why the jealously is there.
but anyway adoption thats an interesting point i could see it go both ways.

i don't agree that petunia was just jelous of lilly and that's it. based on jkr's quote, i think that there is somthing elce to it. we can rule out her being a squib, so the only two options left are that she either has the capacity to be magical or she doesn't. i'm pretty sure that i remember reading a quote of jkr's that said petunia would not use magic in the 7th book, so i think that she is just nonmagical. assuming that's true, i agree that it is plasible, even highly likely, that lilly was adopted. twp brought up a good point that petunia doen't have green eyes or red hair. while it is genetically possible that the two sisters could have different colored eyes/hair (especially since red hair and green eyes are recessive), jkr seems to make a point of showing how family members look very much a like...all of the weasley's have "flaming red hair" and are either short and stocky or tall and lean...lucious and draco both have light blonde hair, walk the same way, have the same sneer, etc. that said, i think that the adoption theory is the most likely.

After just rereading OotP i think that adoption is unlikely. in the chapter The lost Prophecy, Pg. 836 dumbledore speaking

"that your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering protection he never expected, a protection that flows in you veins to this day. I put my trust, therefore, in your mothers blood. i delivered you to her sister, her only remaining relative.... yet shetook you, and in doing so she sealed the charm i placed upon you. your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shieldi i could give you... while you can sitll call lome 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 lyou and her sister. her blood became your refuge."

Now this bond could not have been formed if Lily and Petunia werent blood relatives. so either dumbledore has been counting on a bond that doesnt exsist and harry really has been vunerable all this time, or they really are blood relatives. now this brings up other thoughts that dont belong here but the blood bond was essential so are they really sisters?Hmmm dont know but without reading into or thinking too hard this says they have to be blood.

I think it may be Jealousy, but Jk Rowling's comments brought up some interesting questions. Mostly because she said Petunia wasn't a squib, but that it was a good quess. SHe has something to do with magic, but I don't know if she was a witch or not.

mmb...
i was just about to post the same info. i was at a party yesterday and when i brought up this topic one of my hp-crazed friends remembered the quote that you posted. it seems that the simplest explanation is that petunia and lilly are related, though i have an obscure theory that i'm not even sure i my self believe: lilly and petunia could be "blood sisters" in the same way that members of some cults are "blood brothers". basically, two or more people cut themselves and "exchange" blood. again, i'm not even sure if i believe this could explain the blood thing, but it is a possibility.

If their not blood sisters than harry has been vunerable this entire time and Volde wouldnt even know it Volde knew that the magic protected him at his aunts house because of the death of lily and so he figured he wouldnt even try to get at harry at the dursleys. so the thought of the bond was enough to keep volde away. hmm if it turns out that lily is adopted volde will be kicking himself for not trying to get at him. did i make any sense i dont think that i got my point out correctly. but it would make an interesting twist.

Interesting theory!!

I think that in the 7th book, all will become clear though, i think that Aunt Petunia is a very interesting character though, but JK hasn't really described Petunias histroy too much, maybe its a huge build up for the truth in the 7th book!!

I don't think petunia hates her sister i think she was just jeolus of her. I think she loves her very deep down. I guess she (petunia) didn't feel loved by her parents.

I really think that she is purly jealous of Lily
Beacause of the rant she went of in the
1st book when Hagrid came and got harry
Although she may have something magical
in her. Just maybe!

petunia isn't hateful of her sister i don't think just a bit jealous. she has seen what her sister can do and it seemed like lily may have gotten a lot of the attention in her family instead of petunia. lily was a witch and petunia wasn't i mean who wouldn't be jealous of their sister at some point. but yet again there is that theory that petunia may be an heir and that she could have some magical abilites but wouldn't she have been asked to go to one of the wizarding schools if she did perhaps have some magic in her. or is she a squib...who knows.

I think petunia hates Lily becuase she was their parents favourite seeing as she could do magic. In the first book petunia says that they were very proud of her. She must be very jealous to bo thrown aside like that.

I agree with phoenix, and for all we know maybey Petunia has had a secret wish of becoming a witch herself. But again Petunia can't be a squib, none of her parents are wizards so that wouldn't be possible.

I don't think that Aunt Petunia can do magic. I think that it is simply jelousy that her parents were so found of Lily because she could do magic. What child doesn't dream of being able to do magic, and then one day she finds out that her sister is magical and she isn't. I would be pretty upset if my sister could do magic and I couldn't. I also don't think that Lily is evil. As for her larger role in the seventh book, it's probably just about something she does for Harry, like sacrificing herself for him. I don't know, it doesn't seem like her to do something like that, but she doesn't seem magical.

The whole "Petunia is a Squib" thing is impossible because Lily was muggle born and a Squib is a person born to a witch and a wizard with no magical powers, which sucks, 'cause that would've been cool!

I think that Petunia hates her sister purely out of jealousy. I hate to repeat everyone, but that's what I truly believe. I mean, you heard/read the way she was ranting about her in the first book. She sounded so cynical and bitter about the way her parents favoured her sister. I think that she wanted the attention that Lily had, but due to her ordinariness, she could never win it over.

But, when I think about what Petunia could be, the only conclusion I can think of is that she was... a possible witch. Just, her powers weren't strong enough. *shrugs* We won't know until book seven, now will we?

i say that she is actually a witch but has withdrawn herself from the wizarding world. There could be many reasons.- 1 - she fell in love with vernon dursley, a muggle, and wanted to stay with him- 2- with everything going on about The Dark Lord she could have thought that it was safer in the muggle world or-3 - she got expelled from hogwarts or chose not to return for some reason and never finished her training.

personally, I believe it is jealousy that really makes her "hate her sister"

I also think that she doesn't really hate her sister.... I think she just says more than she really feels... I think deep down she loves her sister and that is why she is housing Harry... but she still has bitterness towards her sister and therefore does not spoil him....

i bet people have already said this...

*waiting for book 7*

I actually like the theory, that Petunia turned down the Hogwarts letter. It seems to fit exactly in on why she is so jealous. But then again, in the book, Aunt Petunia made it seem that Lily was so proud of herself when she got her letter, and got all the attention from the family. Maybe, Petunia got a letter, but did not recieve any attention, even though she was equal with Lily, or maybe she didnt. Hmm... now I have confused myself quite a bit...

-Horace Slughorn

I think that Petunia was the type of person who craved originality and special-ness. I don't think she was ever any more than a Muggle, which made her feel jealous towards her sister. But I think that Petunia's jealousy turned into more after a while.

Notice how throughout the entire series, none of Harry's grandparents are mentioned? Wouldn't it make sense that Harry and Dudley would've visited Petunia's parents throughout their childhood? So, I think that the Evans' died somehow, due to magic.

Whether DEs came after them or not, I don't know. But I think that if they did die at the hands of witches and wizards, this would give Petunia even more of a reason to detest Lily.

Knowing Petunia, she would've come up with a reason to blame Lily for their parents' death that went somewhere along the lines of, "You freak! It's your fault they're dead! Those people knew you and they got revenge on you by killing mum and dad!"

What do you think?

i think the reason Petunia hates lily so much is because lily is a witch and everyone made a big fuss about it and everyone made lily look like the greatest thing in the world then made petunia look like nothing....

I just thought about something to back up what I said before that Petunia probably got a letter but turned it down... which is why she was so jealous of Lily. If Aunt Petunias rant in the first book when Harry finds out he is a wizard... Petunia says "Our parents were so proud[i] the day she got her letter" they wereproud[u] not surprised or anything, but proud. That sort of makes it seem as though they already knew about the wizarding world and were just sort of waiting to see whether Lily would get accepted too. Maybe once Lily accepted the invitation to Hogwarts they were proud because they had someone in the family who actually wanted to study witchcraft. It would make perfect sense then as to why Petunia was jealous.... she had so listen/watch when Lily came home for holidays all of the new things she was learning and Petunia was jealous because she had missed her chance and was not regretting it.

Nah. I don't buy it. If she was a witch she would have shown signs. It says in the books that Harry is the only wizard in the area, that is why they can tell when he cast spells. By location, so if Harry used underage magic, then it would come up as Petunia's name. I think that Petunia just felt left out and as though her parents loved Lily more than her. And she became jelous, and from jelous escalates anger and then hatred. That is why I think she hates Lily so much.

Oh wow, I just read part of another post for a different topic, and what the person said would makeso much sense! What if the reason Patunia hates Lily is that they're parents weren't muggles, but squibs! And then Lily ended up having magical powers, but Petunia wasn't fotunate enough to get them as well. And we know from Mrs. Figg's case that the ministry doesn't acknowledge squib's in the wizarding world, so to them and everyone else, it would seem that Lily was muggle born. I know it is a far chance of beig true.... but it seems like the type of thing that J.K. would do.... and it would make perfect sense... Petunia was jealous that Lilywas lucky enough to inherit powers when she had to stay home with her squib parents and not get to go off and have all of the experiences that Lily was able to have... What do y'all think!??! Too far fetched?

That makes absolutely perfect sense! I remember seeing an interview when I was erm..must have been about 9-10, and JKR was on it and she said that Harry learned more about his past in book seven. That is all I remember. I think that is perfect, I would love for that to happen, I really hope it does. That is an excellent theory.

I think that she 'hates' Lily because of Jelousy..
Lily was pretty..Petunia could have felt like the 'ugly sister'
Lily was a witch..which caused her to get more attention than Petunia growing up..
Lily met James..and had a happy mariage and was in love..maybe her parents didn't approve of Vernon or maybe she was never truley happy or truley in love with him.
All of that pent up hatred and pushing off to the side..and I doubt Lily meant for that to happen..but I think that she was just a jelous sad kid..always trying to live up to Lily..and the memory of her. She probably thought there was no way to compete with Lily..to be better than her..so she eventually gave up and just started to hate her for what she was and what she had..then when Harry shows up on her doorstep after her sister 'tragically' dies...she must have been upset and mad..I mean Lily was out of her life..and now her son was in it..it seems like it reopened a wound that was never really healed. So I think that she takes out the hatred and jelousey on Harry. Like how Snape takes out his hatred for James on Harry.
Courtney

i just reread the whole part of the book that hagrid shows up to give harry his letter.
Marymerupert. the actual statement says "that letter" not "her letter" so i doesnt completly imply at all there that petunia had recieved a letter. I still think that her haterid comes from jeolusy and nothing more lily had something that petunia couldnt have.

okay I think that just possibly the evan's are descendants of salazar slytherin. think about it, that might be the significance of her green eyes? and the sorting hat almost put harry in slytherin. But don't worry, harry's father is still a true griffindor so it's okay this would show that not all slytherins are bad. (oh and when lily received her letter her parents were proud. not surprised)

now you might say that this is impossible, because 3lily is from a family of muggles.
what if lily's parents and maybe even her grandparents were squibs, but her great grandfather or great grandmother were descendants of salazar slyrtherin?

oh and I wrote this theory before, i'm not sure if it was on a different site, but i can't find it here, so i'm sorry if i already wrote it here

well, there have been things that say a person will try doing magic but at a later age then is normal, but i could have sworn it said not petunia.

it would be interesting if that had happened though. i think petunia was jealous that she wasnt gifted in magic becuase she probably could have done some good in the wizarding world and would have been closer to her sister.

Yah I agree with Oliver, she was jealous of Lily because she didnt have magical powers and wasnt as, maybe, popular.. Just like I think she envys Harry because hes a complete package and Dudley, sad enough, is not.

I don't know if Lily is older than Petunia, but in this theory, she is...

What if, Lily got the letter at 11 years of age, while Petunia was 10. What if she was excited to see her sister go, maybe excited she would go as well? In Christmas break, she might've followed Lily around, spy on her, see if she used one tiny spell...we don't know if Lily ever got a letter about Underaged Wizardry. When petunia turned 11, she secretly hoped for the letter, it never showed. She felt annoyed, embarassed, and angry, they had picked her sister, but not her. So she shut magic out of her life, she shut her sister aswell. I think she felt jealous and betraid..maybe, after she didn't get into Hogwarts, she expected for Lily to quit, but when she didn't, she was angrier.

so a couple of posts back someone asked about the grandparents. well i found this interview question posed to JK on the subject and it should clear up many questions.



so i think that clears up a bit if theres more to the plot in the whole parentage debate what do you think

Why does Petunia Dursley hate her sister? Why?!!? Because her sister was pretty and magical and she didn't have too much neck and she didn't look like a horse Lily was everything she was NOT. I mean if I turned out like a horse and my sister didn't then I'd be a bit sour too.

I was thinking about this a while ago...I think Petunia hates her sister because she was jealous! Like, Petunia wanted to go to Hogwarts and become a witch...and Petunia probably hated it how Lily got all the attention form her paretns because she was a witch.

I think that there is one main answer to this question. She's jealous. Lily was everything that Petunia isn't and she hates her for it

Well thinking that she also got a letter is sucha simple yet great theory.
If its not that i rekon that its because of jealousy that she hates her. She always says how perfect her sister was. but then she alwasy says that her parents were so excited that they had gotten a witch for a daughter. So if Petunia wanted to be like her sister and loved by her parents she could have taken up the offer. or maybe it made her feel so sick that her sister was so popular with her parents she just coudlnt take up the offer.