

Occasion, Petunia and her husband almost send Harry out of their house but she receives a Howler from Albus Dumbledore and decides not to send the boy away.īefore the Dursleys leave Privet Drive to go into hiding, Petunia almost wishes Harry good luck, suggesting that she does feel a tiny sense of familial attachment to her nephew however her self-imposed hatred of Harry and magic prevent her from doing so, and she leaves without a word. Harry assumes that the "awful boy" was his father, James, but in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he learns via memories that it was actually Severus Snape, who knew both Lily and Petunia when they were children.

When Harry and the rest of her family look at her strangely, she explains that she heard "that awful boy" telling Lily about them years ago. After the Dementors attack Harry and Dudley, Petunia states that she knows Dementors guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. Petunia has more knowledge of the wizarding world than she is initially willing to admit. The gift echoes Harry's Dursley-sent Christmas presents, which are never pretty or welcome. She had no contact with Lily after her marriage to James Potter and the birth of her nephew, Harry, though she did send the family a "horrible vase" that baby Harry broke while riding on a toy broom. Afterwards, Petunia grew cold towards the school and, by extension, towards the wizarding world in general. In fact, she was envious and resentful of Lily's magical abilities and went so far as to write to Dumbledore, pleading to be allowed to enter Hogwarts. According to Petunia, her parents were proud of having a witch in the family, but Petunia saw her sister as a freak. Her whole family is made up of Muggles, except for Lily, a Muggle-born witch. Her eyes are large and pale, quite unlike Lily's. She is described as a blonde (though dark-haired in the films), bony woman with a "rather horsey" face and a very long neck, and spends most of her time spying on her neighbours. Petunia Dursley is Harry’s aunt, Lily Potter's sister, Vernon's wife, Dudley's mother and Marge's sister-in-law. Vernon is portrayed by Richard Griffiths in the film series. On a deleted scene on the Blu-ray/DVD release, Vernon and Harry's departure plays out like the novel however, Vernon shows no sentiment whatsoever. In the film version, he leaves without even a word to Harry.

When the Dursleys decide to leave Privet Drive to go into hiding, Vernon nearly shakes Harry's hand good-bye, though he ultimately cannot bring himself to do it. Vernon also has an aversion to imagination, to any references to magic, and anything even slightly out of the ordinary in the first book, when Harry mentions dreaming about a flying motorbike, Vernon responds by angrily bellowing that motorbikes do not fly, despite Harry's protests that it was only a dream. In fact, while discussing the Dementor attack with Harry, Vernon actually hopes aloud that Harry will receive the death penalty.

Unlike Petunia, who proves to have a slight feeling of familial loyalty to Harry, Vernon seems to hate his nephew so much that in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he is willing to throw him out of the house, knowing that doing so would put him in grave danger. He and Petunia never informed Harry about the magical world, including how his parents died they explained it away as a car crash. Uncle Vernon and his wife have grudgingly raised Harry from an early age. He is also the director of a drill-making firm, Grunnings, and seems to be quite successful in his career. He is very much the head of his family, laying down most of the rules for Harry and doing most of the threatening, as well as spoiling Dudley. Vernon is described as a big, beefy man, with hardly any neck, and a large moustache. Vernon Dursley is Harry's uncle, Petunia's husband (and therefore Lily Potter's brother-in-law), Dudley's father and Marge's brother. The name " Dursley" derives from the small town in Gloucestershire, near Rowling's birthplace. They are all Muggles, and despise all things related to magic – and anything out of the ordinary in general – and the Wizarding World, especially the Potters. The Dursleys live at Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging in Surrey, England. In order to ensure Harry's safety, Albus Dumbledore placed him in the Dursleys' care when he was a baby. The Dursley family are Harry Potter's last living relatives. From left to right: Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia, Harry Melling as Dudley, and Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
