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".