Summary
In the firstHarry Potterbook -The Sorcerer’s Stone, Albus Dumbledore leaves Harry with a letter tucked inside his blankets outside Number Four, Privet Drive. In a couple of hours, Petunia opens her front door to put the milk bottles out and screams out loud when she finds Harry on her doorstep. In the weeks that follow, the toddler Potter is pinched and prodded by Vernon and Petunia’s son, Dudley. Ten years later, Harry is all grown up, although not well-fed and certainly not as healthy as people his age, he’s alive nonetheless. He’s endured harsh living circumstances at Dursleys, and in school as well. Dudley and his gang bully him at any chance, and Vernon and Petunia look down on him. They restrict him to the cupboard under the stairs and later, move him to the smallest bedroom upstairs only after Number Four is bombarded with Hogwarts acceptance letters.
Vernon and Petunia are biased toward their nephew and the likes of him, and they seldom speak about his parents. Harry is told his parents died in a car crash and that’s how he got the lightning bolt forehead scar. He’s forbidden to ask questions about his parents, and Vernon is committed to stamping magic out of him. Harry’s life before Hogwarts is a miserable affair, but things change for the better the midnight the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School, Rubeus Hagrid collects him from the Hut-on-the-Rock. In the firstHarry Pottermovie, Harry finds out the truth about his parents – thatJames and Lily were murdered by Lord Voldemort. He also learns he is a wizard, and most of all, the fact that he has been misinformed by his aunt and uncle.
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The Dursleys Depart From Number Four, Privet Drive
In chapter 3 ofHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the Dursleys are forced to leave behind their home and go into hiding. Harry fears they can become a target of Voldemort’s attack while Vernon thinks it is “claptrap” and a ploy to steal his house. Harry is correct as the Dursleys are indeed in danger from Lord Voldemort, Death Eaters, Dementors, and even Inferi. Harry and the older wizards believed thatthe Ministry of Magicis infiltrated, so contrary to what Vernon expects, the Dursleys cannot count on government protection either. Even though Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley explain the dangers of staying put in Number Four, Uncle Vernon still needs a bit of convincing.
The family knows that once Harry turns seventeen,the Bond of Blood charmthat Dumbledore had cast on him, and that Petunia sealed by allowing him houseroom, would break. Voldemort is thus likely to hurt Harry and target the people he lives with. Once again, Uncle Vernon’s illogical arguments force Harry to reiterate:
“The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by holding you hostage I’d come and try to rescue you.”
The Dursleys are offered the best protection by the Order, and Harry explains that Voldemort is behind the awful events reported in the news. He attributes all the disappearances, derailments, crashes, and explosions to him. Harry further adds the Dark Lord likes to kill people for fun, including the Muggles. He tells them that the fogs arecaused by the Dementors, and as their son, Dudley had had a run-in with them inThe Order of the Phoenix, he is alarmed at the very mention. After putting much thought into it, Dudley, followed by Vernon and Petunia decide to go with people from the Order.
The Fate Of The Dursleys
Aunt Petunia avoids looking at Harry, while Vernon manages to say a “goodbye.” As for Dudley, he’d changed after the Dementors' attack and asked his parents why they were leaving Harry behind. Dudley shakes hands with Harry, and Aunt Petunia marches out, without looking at him. Dudley’s final goodbye and the words, “I don’t think you’re a waste of space,” to Harry are signs that he wants to improve his relationship with Harry once the chaos is over. He even admits that Harry saved his life, while Harry jokes thatthe Dementors had blowna different personality into him.
The fact thatHarry Potterauthor J.K. Rowling says Dudley is on cordial terms with his cousin as an adult means that he’d begun to accept his family’s linkage to the Wizarding World (perMTV). Dudley and Harry remained to be on Christmas-card terms with one another. Dudley went on to get married and have two Muggle children of his own, who occasionallysaw Harry’s children. While the cousins remained in touch, it seems that Harry never got to see his Uncle and Aunt ever again.Harry Potter and the Cursed Childrevealed that Petunia died due to unknown reasons sometime before 2020. Portrayed by Fiona Shaw inHarry Potter, Aunt Petunia remains a disliked character from the franchise. The same can be said about her husband - the stingy Uncle Vernon.
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