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PRIVET DRIVE — J.K. Rowling once again served up some morsels to appease the undying hunger of her fans Tuesday when she revealed background information about the mean and nasty Vernon and Petunia Dursley.
With a surname derived from a town not far from where Rowling grew up, the Dursleys met at work, where Petunia quickly became smitten by the “deliciously normal” Vernon, according to the exclusive content published on Pottermore.
Rowling revealed Petunia was scared to confess to Vernon that her sister, Lily, was a witch attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and she did so tearfully.
A shocked Vernon said he did not hold it against Petunia, but he despised both Lily and her then-boyfriend, James Potter, by the end of their first meeting, where he learned about flying broomsticks and Gringotts bank.
The Dursleys did not hear from the Potters after they received Harry’s birth announcement, which Petunia threw away.
Petunia raised Harry “grudgingly” and Vernon’s distaste for James Potter contributed to his opinion of Harry.
“The Dursleys are reactionary, prejudiced, narrow-minded, ignorant and bigoted; most of my least favourite things,” Rowling wrote. “I wanted to suggest, in the final book, that something decent (a long-forgotten but dimly burning love of her sister; the realisation that she might never see Lily’s eyes again) almost struggled out of Aunt Petunia when she said goodbye to Harry for the last time, but that she is not able to admit it, or show these long-buried feelings.”
Rowling added she decided to keep Petunia’s goodbye to Harry true to her character throughout the books.
To read more detailed information about the Dursleys and other exclusive content revealed Tuesday, visit Pottermore with a login or visit time.com.
