book_icons just got a nice crop of OotP icons...

[conuly]

Not the best ever, but MUCH better than movie icons. And it occured to me that there's a huge flaw (or ten) in the Harry Potter books, in this case Petunia. She has the potential to be a truly interesting character (much like the twins, who are barely one person, let alone two, and who could've been SO MUCH BETTER WRITTEN) and instead she's really just a cariacature of the "wicked stepmother" person. But she's not really that bad... is she? Her good deeds (taking in Harry, not kicking him out after the incident with the dementors) aren't ever explained.

Honestly, there's so much I want to know about the woman. Why does she hate her sister? I know, her parents favored Lily, but did they, or did she just think they did? And what ever happened to Harry's grandparents anyway? Did she ever get along with Lily, or was it a rivalry from the beginning? Did Lily dislike her as well? Seriously, she can't think of one good thing about her only sister?

Of course, the books aren't about her, but that's not the point. I still wanna know what happened before! No worries, though, the way things are going I'm sure there'll be a couple of prequels, maybe a sequel or two. Can't imagine they'll actually answer my questions, though.

Comments

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

Rawr... hey, at least you want to know more about a character who people know about. If I ever mention Terry Boot to anyone, most people look at me strangely... Oh Terry how I love thee...

[conuly]

*waits* Okay, tell me, who?

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

He's a Ravenclaw, same year as Harry, was bleeding at the dueling club, and was a member of Dumbledore's Army. He was seen on a total of two pages before OotP came out, and then he was on a few more pages. He's friends with the guy Ginny's dating, and one other guy.

[feathered.livejournal.com]

Exactly. There are LOTS of characters who are mentioned a lot and never, ever given an once of backstory or personality. Not that all of the characters *could* be given the respect they deserve, then the books would be even more massive than they are now, but Ms. Rowling could at least make an effort to write them more interestingly. *grumbles* Like Petunia! Or Lavender Brown and her friend! Or even *any* of the Weaslies. Draco too, come to think of it. There's no explanation to his actions except, "He's a slytherine and his father is/was a death eater."

[conuly]

Draco really ought to be interesting, considering that we know his father is prone to emotional abuse.... But no. He's just "a random bad guy".

[moroveus.livejournal.com]

I wonder how well it would go over if I made a Simon Legree icon for the Book Icons community?

[wetcircuitry.livejournal.com]

Petunia hated Lily simply because she was a witch. I think it was because Lily was "different" (I think Petunia comes out and says "freak") and Petunia and Vernon don't much care for anything out of the norm. However, it may have been more that she was jealous because Petunia shows contempt that their parents were proud of Lily having magical abilities. Petunia may have felt left out.

But yeah, it's because Lily had magic.

[conuly]

That's not a real answer, though. WHY did Petunia feel that way? Did her parents actually favor her sister? Did she have those feelings towards "non-normality" before her sister went to school, or did they develop because she hated her sister? What makes Petunia Petunia?

[wetcircuitry.livejournal.com]

My own theory is that her hatred for "non-normality" (good word, by the way) rose out of her sister's abilities. I think her parents were proud of Lily, who was "special" in a sense, and Petunia felt left out because she was not magic. Her attitude grew into "Well, what's so special about being a freak?!" I don't think her parents did favor Lily, but that Petunia saw it that way.

I think it's a possibility that Petunia later got over it, and misses Lily and loves Harry, but for some reason she just refuses to show it -- perhaps she doesn't want to admit she was in the wrong for so many years?

It'd be interesting to know. Maybe it'll be revealed sooner or later, in a heart-to-heart with Harry or something.

[meteorie.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way! I thought it was really interesting in the fifth book, when she started talking about the dementors. It was the first time she had actually talked about magic, and it started to show a bit of her character by talking about magic seriously. At least until they tried to kick Harry out of the house :)

I think Petunia was always jealous of Lily, but Lily getting into Hogwarts really pissed her off. I think Lily was always one of those people who is better than their sibling(s), and then when she started learning magic and her parents were proud, Petunia felt like she wasn't as special. So, she just started hating everything about magic.

I wish that J.K. Rowling would develop more characters.. I loved how in the fifth book Harry was more of a depressed character, instead of having the usual "I shall overcome!" type attitude in the earlier books. I also liked how the author did the part with Neville's parents. I would really like to see more characters with dark backgrounds!

I didn't mean to type all that, but I love talking about the HP series!

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

I was always pretty annoyed with the depressed Harry of OotP. I mean, hero-Harry was annoying, but I think angst-Harry was much worse. He was a jerk at times.

[feathered.livejournal.com]

I was annoyed too, but really, it's realistic. My little brother is fifteen, and he has incredibly similar behaviours. He is also a jerk at times. I would probably complain if Harry didn't act angsty... I mean, that's what being a fifteen-year-old is all about! (No offense meant, I am just speaking in terms of personal experience.)

[conuly]

*giggles* We were all that way at 15, except Joey is, what, 16? You can't admit what you were like at 15 until you have the time to go back and realize that. I didn't know I was a brat growing up until I was grown up, and now I realize... man, I was a brat.

No offense, Joey, just most people don't have that sort of self-awareness and can't see themselves change. Or maybe you weren't like that at 15, I don't know, you're pretty responsible/mature.

[meteorie.livejournal.com]

I agree! It always annoys me when a book has a totally unrealistic teenage character in it, no matter what the target audience is.. and in this case, even though the target audience is supposedly children (I still agree with this, but whatever) the character still develops different personality traits that a normal person would.

[meteorie.livejournal.com]

But I don't see why he should be a happy character all the time. He had a terrible past, and he still has a tough time. I liked the depression-Harry because it made the books feel.. more mature.. like, I've been reading HP books since I was 11 and I can still identify with what's going on. The books get more mature (okay, within reason) as the characters get more mature. Although I agree that depressed-Harry was a bit of a jerk :)

[minkhollow]

I read a drabble quite some time ago where Petunia was at Hogwarts and then magicked herself out of it, or something. 'S been a while since I read it, and I couldn't even tell you where to find it.

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

Rawr... hey, at least you want to know more about a character who people know about. If I ever mention Terry Boot to anyone, most people look at me strangely... Oh Terry how I love thee...

[conuly]

*waits* Okay, tell me, who?

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

He's a Ravenclaw, same year as Harry, was bleeding at the dueling club, and was a member of Dumbledore's Army. He was seen on a total of two pages before OotP came out, and then he was on a few more pages. He's friends with the guy Ginny's dating, and one other guy.

[feathered.livejournal.com]

Exactly. There are LOTS of characters who are mentioned a lot and never, ever given an once of backstory or personality. Not that all of the characters *could* be given the respect they deserve, then the books would be even more massive than they are now, but Ms. Rowling could at least make an effort to write them more interestingly. *grumbles* Like Petunia! Or Lavender Brown and her friend! Or even *any* of the Weaslies. Draco too, come to think of it. There's no explanation to his actions except, "He's a slytherine and his father is/was a death eater."

[conuly]

Draco really ought to be interesting, considering that we know his father is prone to emotional abuse.... But no. He's just "a random bad guy".

[moroveus.livejournal.com]

I wonder how well it would go over if I made a Simon Legree icon for the Book Icons community?

[wetcircuitry.livejournal.com]

Petunia hated Lily simply because she was a witch. I think it was because Lily was "different" (I think Petunia comes out and says "freak") and Petunia and Vernon don't much care for anything out of the norm. However, it may have been more that she was jealous because Petunia shows contempt that their parents were proud of Lily having magical abilities. Petunia may have felt left out.

But yeah, it's because Lily had magic.

[conuly]

That's not a real answer, though. WHY did Petunia feel that way? Did her parents actually favor her sister? Did she have those feelings towards "non-normality" before her sister went to school, or did they develop because she hated her sister? What makes Petunia Petunia?

[wetcircuitry.livejournal.com]

My own theory is that her hatred for "non-normality" (good word, by the way) rose out of her sister's abilities. I think her parents were proud of Lily, who was "special" in a sense, and Petunia felt left out because she was not magic. Her attitude grew into "Well, what's so special about being a freak?!" I don't think her parents did favor Lily, but that Petunia saw it that way.

I think it's a possibility that Petunia later got over it, and misses Lily and loves Harry, but for some reason she just refuses to show it -- perhaps she doesn't want to admit she was in the wrong for so many years?

It'd be interesting to know. Maybe it'll be revealed sooner or later, in a heart-to-heart with Harry or something.

[meteorie.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way! I thought it was really interesting in the fifth book, when she started talking about the dementors. It was the first time she had actually talked about magic, and it started to show a bit of her character by talking about magic seriously. At least until they tried to kick Harry out of the house :)

I think Petunia was always jealous of Lily, but Lily getting into Hogwarts really pissed her off. I think Lily was always one of those people who is better than their sibling(s), and then when she started learning magic and her parents were proud, Petunia felt like she wasn't as special. So, she just started hating everything about magic.

I wish that J.K. Rowling would develop more characters.. I loved how in the fifth book Harry was more of a depressed character, instead of having the usual "I shall overcome!" type attitude in the earlier books. I also liked how the author did the part with Neville's parents. I would really like to see more characters with dark backgrounds!

I didn't mean to type all that, but I love talking about the HP series!

[joeymew.livejournal.com]

I was always pretty annoyed with the depressed Harry of OotP. I mean, hero-Harry was annoying, but I think angst-Harry was much worse. He was a jerk at times.

[feathered.livejournal.com]

I was annoyed too, but really, it's realistic. My little brother is fifteen, and he has incredibly similar behaviours. He is also a jerk at times. I would probably complain if Harry didn't act angsty... I mean, that's what being a fifteen-year-old is all about! (No offense meant, I am just speaking in terms of personal experience.)

[conuly]

*giggles* We were all that way at 15, except Joey is, what, 16? You can't admit what you were like at 15 until you have the time to go back and realize that. I didn't know I was a brat growing up until I was grown up, and now I realize... man, I was a brat.

No offense, Joey, just most people don't have that sort of self-awareness and can't see themselves change. Or maybe you weren't like that at 15, I don't know, you're pretty responsible/mature.

[meteorie.livejournal.com]

I agree! It always annoys me when a book has a totally unrealistic teenage character in it, no matter what the target audience is.. and in this case, even though the target audience is supposedly children (I still agree with this, but whatever) the character still develops different personality traits that a normal person would.

[meteorie.livejournal.com]

But I don't see why he should be a happy character all the time. He had a terrible past, and he still has a tough time. I liked the depression-Harry because it made the books feel.. more mature.. like, I've been reading HP books since I was 11 and I can still identify with what's going on. The books get more mature (okay, within reason) as the characters get more mature. Although I agree that depressed-Harry was a bit of a jerk :)

[minkhollow]

I read a drabble quite some time ago where Petunia was at Hogwarts and then magicked herself out of it, or something. 'S been a while since I read it, and I couldn't even tell you where to find it.