JK Rowling writes new short, reveals Dursley background
By CM Towle
Harry Potter author JK Rowling wrote a new short about the Dursleys and posted it on Pottermore.
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Harry Potter fans enjoying the interactive Pottermore website had the opportunity to discover some new writing about the horrible Dursleys on the occasion of Dudley Dursley’s birthday on June 23. Visiting the Cupboard Under the Stairs extract and examining the outside table yields the reward of the new short that unlocks the backstory of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. Rowling talked a bit about her naming of the two characters, saying that Vernon was a name she never liked and she always gave unlikable female characters the name of Petunia when playing games with her sister.
As for the infamous last name of the Dursleys, Rowling said she picked it rather randomly from a town in Gloucestershire, saying only that she liked the sound of it. Amazingly, Rowling has never visited Dursley, but assured everyone that she was sure it was filled with “charming people” and hopefully none of the dastardly Dursleys that populate her books.
The short story itself describes the first meeting between Harry’s parents, Lily and James, and the Dursleys. During the meeting Vernon patronizes James, who is simply amused by the man. He expresses his disdain for wizards, much as he does later in the books, saying that they must live on unemployment. When James tries to explain the wizard bank of Gringotts, Vernon storms out, which everyone knows is an excellent way to win an argument.
For Petunia’s part, she decides not to have Lily be her bridesmaid, unwilling to be shown by up her sister’s witching abilities. After that there’s no further contact between the two until she is informed of Harry’s birth via a letter. A letter that she promptly trashes.
Rowling explains that Vernon’s later bad treatment of Harry was due to his resemblance to James, whom Dursley obviously built up a great hatred for. Perhaps not coincidentally, that is also largely the reason why Professor Snape treated Harry badly as well. Rowling revealed that she initially wanted to redeem Petunia in some way by the final book, but it ended up that she had to stick with the woman’s unlikable character.
The obvious dislike from the Dursleys towards Harry’s deceased family was hinted at throughout the book, but never explicitly addressed like it is in this short. Essentially it all came down to a first impression. Vernon patronized James, while the latter perhaps none-too-subtly mocked his soon-to-be brother-in-law. This, coupled with Petunia’s resentment of her sister, created the stew of dislike that festered between the Dursleys and Harry for the series’ entirety.