Muggles
Muggles

Dursley family

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Dursley family

The Dursley family is a Muggle family with which Harry Potter lives after being orphaned in 1981. Mrs. Dursley is Harry’s maternal aunt. The family consists of Vernon Dursley, his wife Petunia, their son Dudley, and Vernon’s sister, Marge.

Family

Vernon Dursley (married to Petunia, sister: Marjorie "Aunt Marge" Dursley)

Petunia Evans Dursley (married to Vernon, sister: Lily Evans Potter)

Dudley Dursley (son of Vernon and Petunia, cousin to Harry Potter)

 

Commentary

Etymology

"Rowling said about two-thirds of the names are invented, 'like Quidditch and Hagrid.' The others are names that she collects. 'Often they turn up in my books,' she said, noting that Dursley the last name of Harry's aunt and uncle is the name of an actual town in England. 'Just say the word to yourself. Doesn't it sound dull and forbidding?' Rowling gave the name to the phlegmatic and boorish aunt and uncle who take Harry Potter in after his wizard parents are killed by the evil Voldemort."(SLG)

"I kind of collect unusual names. You have to be very careful about telling me your name if you do have an unusual name because I'll probably put you in a book ... and I make a lot of the names up. But mostly maps. Maps are a great source for names ... Dursley and Dudley and Snape are all places I can't visit anymore obviously." (BP)

Pensieve (Comments)

Tags: families unpleasant

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