#plus after what my biological mother put me through the fact that people can't see

[sage-nebula]

Least-favourite HP character, aside from Snape?

Hmmm … maybe Petunia Dursley?

I mean, don’t get it twisted—both Petunia and Vernon are obviously horrible, for more or less the same reasons. If I dislike Petunia more than I dislike Vernon, it’s by a very small margin—like, a 1% margin. But I’ve been thinking a bit on this lately, and when I think about the books and then compare them to fandom trends, it makes me realize both something about the characters themselves, as well as how fandom perceives characters, and especially how fandom tends to perceive female abusers vs. male abusers in terms of how guilty they are of the act, as well as how likely it is that they can be (or should be) redeemed.

To be more specific—I think it’s obvious to see why Vernon is often perceived as the main instigator behind Harry’s abuse, as well as The Definite Worst™ of the two. He’s the one that creates the most bluster, the one that is the loudest, the one that takes action more often than not. He’s loud, he’s aggressive, he’s in-your-face. He definitely scares Harry for a time (though it’s worth it to note that Harry is wary of Petunia, too, but more on that in a minute). On top of all of this, he’s a man, and society has conditioned us to see men as more likely to be abusers, whereas we’re conditioned to see women more as nurturers / victims. This is the exact reason why female abusers are so often unreported. (Additionally, taking it back to fiction from a real world context, you’re more likely to see male abusers portrayed than female—and in fandom, particularly since many fic writers and the like are women, you’re more likely to see male characters who either a.) are abusers, or b.) could be abusers focused on, while female abusers are likely to be ignored / toned down / redeemed. We see this even in Pokémon fandom; although Lusamine abuses her children more on-screen, versus Ghetsis’ surprise reveal as an abuser at the end of BW, Ghetsis is the one who is seen as irredeemable while so many people clamor for a happy ending for Lusamine. I’m not saying Ghetsis should be redeemed, mind you; I’m saying they’re both vile, but only one of them is consistently excused by fandom, and gee, I wonder why?)

However, although it’s easy to see why Vernon is often unquestionably interpreted as the worse of the two / Petunia is often seen as the one who can be redeemed, what I’ve actually come to realize is that not only is their abuse equally as bad (e.g. Vernon is not the only one who gets physical with Harry; Petunia threw a soapy frying pan at Harry’s head in the beginning of Chamber of Secrets because he babbled nonsense “spells” at Dudley to scare him; she then made him pull weeds in the garden despite how hot it was and how physically taxing that can be as further punishment), but that it could be interpreted that a lot of Vernon’s blustering and outright action is a direct result of what he thinks Petunia wants, i.e., she’s actually the one in control, and his horrid behavior feeds off hers.

There are two things that make me think this. The first is the very first chapter of Philosopher’s Stone, which is largely from Vernon’s point of view. Vernon goes about his day noticing the strange happenings around the city: all the owls, the people in cloaks, whispers about the Potters, et cetera. He grows increasingly unnerved by this, not only because he likes ordinary things and dislikes magic, but specifically because he knows that Petunia will be upset:

He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking … no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn’t such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn’t even sure his nephew was called Harry. He’d never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn’t blame her—if he’d had a sister like that … but all the same, those people in cloaks …

And lo and behold, he’s right:

Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters …

Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He’d have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. “Er—Petunia, dear—you haven’t heard from your sister lately, have you?”

As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn’t have a sister.

“No,” she said sharply. “Why?”

“Funny stuff on the news,” Mr. Dursley mumbled. “Owls … shooting stars … and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today …”

“So?” snapped Mrs. Dursley.

“Well, I just thought … maybe … it was something to do with … you know … her crowd.”

Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he’d heard the name “Potter.” He decided he didn’t dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, “Their son—he’d be about Dudley’s age now, wouldn’t he?”

“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

“What’s his name again? Howard, isn’t it?”

“Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.”

“Oh, yes,” said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. “Yes, I quite agree.”

All throughout that scene, what we’re presented with is a Vernon who is afraid to talk to Petunia about this, and a Petunia who is very harsh, direct, and angry. This is not to say that Vernon likes magic, of course; it’s made quite plain all throughout the chapter that he thinks the people in cloaks are vagabonds, that he thinks they are hooligans who need to get jobs, et cetera. He’s not any more fond of magic or strangeness than Petunia herself is. However, despite Vernon’s own aversion to such things (and the disdain he has for those things in his own head), it’s pretty evident that between the two of them here, when it’s just the two of them, the one who is actually dominant and in control of the situation is Petunia. Vernon didn’t call her earlier in the day, despite hearing things about a “Harry Potter,” because he was afraid of upsetting her. And later that evening, when he feels he can no longer put the conversation off, he mumbles, he has a lot of hesitation in his speech, he chickens out of mentioning the fact that he heard about the Potters earlier in the day, and his heart sinks as he agrees with her that Harry’s name is “nasty” and “common.” Vernon is afraid of Petunia’s reaction in this scene, not the other way around.

The other thing that makes me think that Vernon overcompensates for Petunia’s own feelings on the matter comes from Order of the Phoenix, after Petunia receives the Howler. Here’s the scene in full:

“Hang on,” said Uncle Vernon, looking from his wife to Harry and back again, apparently dazed and confused by the unprecedented understanding that seemed to have sprung up between them. “Hang on. This Lord Voldything’s back, you say.”

“Yes.”

“The one who murdered your parents.”

“Yes.”

“And now he’s sending dismembers after you?”

“Looks like it,“ said Harry.

“I see,” said Uncle Vernon, looking from his white-faced wife to Harry and hitching up his trousers. He seemed to be swelling, his great purple face stretching before Harry’s eyes. “Well, that settles it,” he said, his shirt front straining as he inflated himself, “you can get out of this house, boy!”

“What?” said Harry.

“You heard me—OUT!” Uncle Vernon bellowed, and even Aunt Petunia and Dudley jumped. “OUT! OUT! I should’ve done this years ago! Owls treating the place like a rest home, puddings exploding, half the lounge destroyed, Dudley’s tail, Marge bobbing around on the ceiling and that flying Ford Anglia—OUT! OUT! You’ve had it! You’re history! You’re not staying here if some loony’s after you, you’re not endangering my wife and son, you’re not bringing trouble down on us, if you’re going the same way as your useless parents, I’ve had it! OUT!”

Harry stood rooted to the spot. The letters from the Ministry, Mr. Weasley and Sirius were all crushed in his left hand. Don’t leave the house again, whatever you do. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR AUNT AND UNCLE’S HOUSE.

“You heard me!” said Uncle Vernon, bending forwards now, his massive purple face coming so close to Harry’s, he actually felt flecks of spit hit his face. “Get going! You were all keen to leave half an hour ago! I’m right behind you! Get out and never darken our doorstep again! Why we ever kept you in the first place, I don’t know, Marge was right, it should have been the orphanage. We were too damn soft for our own good, thought we could squash it out of you, thought we could turn you normal, but you’ve been rotten from the beginning and I’ve had enough—OWLS!”

The fifth owl zoomed down the chimney so fast it actually hit the floor before zooming into the air again with a loud screech. Harry raised his hand to seize the letter, which was in a scarlet envelope, but it soared straight over his head, flying directly at Aunt Petunia, who let out a scream and ducked, her arms over her face. The owl dropped the red envelope on her head, turned, and flew straight back up the chimney.

Harry darted forwards to pick up the letter, but Aunt Petunia beat him to it.

“You can open it if you like,” said Harry, “but I’ll hear what it says anyway. That’s a Howler.”

“Let go of it, Petunia!” roared Uncle Vernon. “Don’t touch it, it could be dangerous!”

“It’s addressed to me,” said Aunt Petunia in a shaking voice. “It’s addressed to me, Vernon, look! Mrs. Petunia Dursley, The Kitchen, Number Four, Privet Drive—”

She caught her breath, horrified. The red envelope had begun to smoke.

“Open it!” Harry urged her. “Get it over with! It’ll happen anyway.”

“No.”

Aunt Petunia’s hand was trembling. She looked wildly around the kitchen as though looking for an escape route, but too late—the envelope burst into flames. Aunt Petunia screamed and dropped it.

An awful voice filled the kitchen, echoing in the confined space, issuing from the burning letter on the table.

“REMEMBER MY LAST, PETUNIA.”

Aunt Petunia looked as though she might faint. She sank into the chair beside Dudley, her face in her hands. The remains of the envelope smoldered into ash in the silence.

“What is this?” Uncle Vernon said hoarsely. “What—I don’t—Petunia?”

Aunt Petunia said nothing. Dudley was staring stupidly at his mother, his mouth hanging open. The silence spiraled horribly. Harry was watching his aunt, utterly bewildered, his head throbbing fit to burst.

“Petunia, dear?” said Uncle Vernon timidly. “P-Petunia?”

She raised her head. She was still trembling. She swallowed.

“The boy—the boy will have to stay, Vernon,” she said weakly.

“W-what?”

“He stays,” she said. She was not looking at Harry. She got to her feet again.

“He … but Petunia …”

“If we throw him out, the neighbors will talk,” she said. She was rapidly regaining her usual brisk, snappish manner, though she was still very pale. “They’ll ask awkward questions, they’ll want to know where he’s gone. We’ll have to keep him.”

Uncle Vernon was deflating like an old tire.

“But Petunia, dear—”

Aunt Petunia ignored him. She turned to Harry.

Prior to the Howler arriving, Vernon has absolutely no qualms about screaming at Harry. He “inflates,” he “bellows,” he screams in such a way that Harry feels flecks of spit hit his face (ew). It’s more than obvious—as it has been for the past four books prior to this one—that Vernon has absolutely no problem being loud, aggressive, and abusive to Harry.

But that changes when Petunia gets the Howler. Note that although Vernon “roars” at Petunia to drop the Howler, she doesn’t. She doesn’t even attempt to. Nor does she show any real reaction to the fact that he ordered her to drop it because it could be dangerous. Instead, she points out that it’s addressed to her—and this is, understandably, exciting for her (in an odd, frightening way), because she has always wanted to be part of the magical world despite the fact that she’s a muggle, hence her loathing of Lily. Regardless, Vernon yells at her to drop the letter—presumably using the same volume he was using when he was trying to kick Harry out of the house—but Petunia doesn’t react to that. She’s not scared of him.

Then the Howler explodes, Petunia gets her message, and Vernon goes hoarse. He stammers as he tries to ask her what that meant, what just happened—but she ignores his questions. She stays silent. And when Vernon asks after her again, the dialogue tag says that he does so timidly. This is not a word usually used to describe Vernon, and what’s really interesting here is that Petunia hasn’t actually done anything yet. Just like he did in the first chapter of Philosopher’s Stone, though, Vernon is cautious about upsetting her. Given that he’s asking this timidly, one could say that he’s afraid of upsetting her, especially since he has no idea what that Howler was on about. And then, when Petunia says that Harry has to stay, Vernon is still only able to stutter and sputter, weakly trying to counter what she’s saying, but unable to do so. It’s not that he agrees with the neighbors, but rather that Vernon cannot argue with Petunia, and never has been able to. Despite how aggressive and violent he is toward Harry, Vernon has never once shown that toward Petunia. Rather, what we’ve instead seen is that Petunia is harsh, angry, and snappy with Vernon in ways that he is not with her. (Of course, that chapter ends with Vernon screaming at Harry, “YOU HEARD YOUR AUNT, NOW GET TO BED,” but that just proves my point, tbh.)

What I’m getting at here is that while Vernon is clearly the one who instigates most of the abuse toward Harry in a way that is eye catching (e.g. he drags Harry to his cupboard, gets in his face and screams, et cetera), one interpretation of this could be that Vernon overcompensates because a.) Petunia is also of the opinion that Harry should be abused and mistreated, given that she hates him because he’s Lily’s son, and b.) having Harry there makes Petunia unhappy, which makes her angry, which stresses Vernon out / makes him angry, which he then takes out on Harry. It’s a vicious cycle; because Petunia lashes out at Vernon (and she does lash out at him when she’s upset—the first chapter of the first book shows this), Vernon in turn lashes out at Harry. And if nothing else, all three Dursleys use Harry as a punching bag for their emotional outlets (Dudley literally learned this from both of his parents), so if Vernon is feeling stressed or upset because Petunia is stressed or upset, then it’s very likely he’ll take it out on Harry, no doubt while complaining about Harry to Petunia, who will agree and feel relieved that Vernon agrees with her about how awful Harry is, regardless of whether or not Harry actually did anything wrong.

The point that I’m trying to make here is—over my many years in this fandom I’ve seen this tendency to treat Petunia as if she’s just going along with Vernon’s hatred and abuse of Harry, or to try and view Petunia as the one most likely to get fed up with the abuse and whisk Harry away somewhere to love him and treat him with care. I think, though, that this is an incorrect interpretation of her character brought about by the fact that a.) Vernon’s abuse is much more bombastic (particularly in the movies, because again, that soapy frying pan scene from the book has stuck with me since childhood), and b.) people are conditioned to see men as abusers more readily than women, who are stereotyped to be more nurturing and loving. Therefore, since Petunia is a woman, people more readily want to make her have a change of heart, wherein she sweeps Harry up in her arms and protects him from mean, nasty Vernon. The truth of the matter is that both Petunia and Vernon are horrid, but if we’re going to actually look at the power dynamics between the two, Petunia is actually the dominant one in their relationship, and a potential read of the situation could be that Vernon is worse than he might otherwise be (in terms of actual action, not attitude) because of Petunia—that he overcompensates because he thinks that’s what she wants. (Hence why he’s so confused and stammers so much when she says Harry has to stay. He thought she would also want Harry gone; the fact that she doesn’t is confusing to him, and reduces him to asking after her “timidly,” to “deflating,” to stammering and stuttering because he doesn’t know what to do.)

TL;DR:

If I had to pick a least favorite character after Snape, it would have to be Petunia and Vernon, but with Petunia disliked a little more than Vernon given the fact that I’m not at all fond of fandom’s tendency to try and excuse / sweep away her abuse / put her in leather pants. I can understand the feeling of wanting Harry to have one blood relative that’s not horrid to him (and after the majority of the series, he does have one—Dudley is the Dursley who is redeemed, as he should be), but Petunia Dursley is not, and would never be, that relative.