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

[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.