Petunia the Seer

An original editorial by Amanda.

There's something very fishy about dear Aunt Petunia. Why would she be so, well, jealous of her sister Lily? Because, let's face it- if she weren't jealous, she wouldn't have had her little outburst on Harry's 11th birthday. If she weren't jealous of her sister for having magic, she just wouldn't care about her. But she despises her sister with all her might. The reason? Petunia Evans Dursley is a seer.

In an interview with Jo, it was confirmed that Petunia was not a squib nor a witch, but there was something very different about her. Who says you have to be a witch to be a seer? Seers tell the future using the 'inner eye', and no outside magic is required.

Petunia also shares the large, pale eyes (so unlike her sister's) of Trelawney. Pale eyes have been seen through the ages as signs of magical powers. In Merlin's times, all the magicians had white hair and blue eyes. In the book, 'The Giver', by Lois Lowry, all the people who had the ability to "see beyond" had pale eyes.

Jo actually HINTS that Harry might have seer blood in him. In OotP, Tonks asks Harry if he has any seer blood in him. What better way to plant an idea? Harry answers quickly and moves on. A little suspicious, isn't it? If Harry had seer blood, it would make him more receptive to Voldemort's thoughts and what was going to happen. After all, how do we know that the attack on Ron's father over Christmas in OotP happened exactly when Harry saw it? After he woke up, time passed as Neville got McGonagall and they went to see Dumbledore. That would have taken at least 10 to 15 minutes, during which time the attack could have happened. Harry would have seen the future.

And there are instances when Petunia might have used an 'inner eye' as well. Why would she care if Harry needed to be protected by keeping him in her house and putting her whole family in danger? Could she have foreseen that it would, in the long run, help their family? Knowing Petunia Dursley, she would be much more likely to do something for others if it helped her as well.

Getting back to the jealousy issue, Petunia would've most likely started showing signs of an 'inner eye' at an early age. Since seers seem to run in families, the Evan parents would not have been very alarmed, simply very proud that their daughter had such a rare gift. But what if that daughter was not the one to be accepted to Hogwarts? What if their other daughter turned out to be... a witch? The Evans would have bee thrilled, of course, that they had two such lucky daughters. But when two daughters have different gifts, one can be very jealous of the other... such as in ancient mythology, where Jo gets many of her themes. The sister with the lesser gift would turn her back on the other and let the jealousy grow until it turned into pure hatred - explaining the hatred of magic and love of order in Mrs. Petunia Dursley. Petunia is, most definitely, a seer. Only one question remains - what does that make Dudley?

5/18/05

Posted by: Nicole

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