Essay: Vernon & Petunia Dursley
Rowling writes about the backstory of Harry’s aunt and uncle.
Calendar and Dates
Vernon proposed to Petunia during the time Lily was in her final year at Hogwarts, which would be between September 1977 and June 1978.
Interesting facts and notes
This essay revealed that Lily and Petunia, and therefore Snape, grew up in the town of Cokeworth. The town is one of the places Vernon drives the family to in order to escape the letters from Hogwarts (PS2).
"... in an attempt to throw off the letters that arrive from Hogwarts on Harrys eleventh birthday, she and Vernon fall back on the old superstition that witches cannot cross water."
Apparently, Vernon and Petunia moved into the house on Privet Drive immediately after getting married. Since Rowling has stated that she thinks of the the "big and square" house as befitting the director of a firm, one wonders how Vernon could have afforded it at that stage of his career.
Memorable lines
[Petunia] met the extremely unmagical, opinionated and materialistic Vernon Dursley. Large and neckless, this junior executive seemed a model of manliness to young Petunia. He not only returned her romantic interest, but was deliciously normal. He had a perfectly correct car, and wanted to do completely ordinary things, and by the time he had taken her on a series of dull dates, during which he talked mainly about himself and his predictable ideas on the world, Petunia was dreaming of the moment when he would place a ring on her finger.
Words and phrases
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
