Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing Hogwarts, the sorting hat, the house system and some of the muggle characters
from then series. More specifically, I’m going to be assigning the unassigned- placing
Vernon and Petunia Dursley in to the Hogwarts houses that I see fit. In a previous standalone
video I sorted Dudley, so if you haven’t seen that then go and check it out, but today
I’m going to be discussing his parents.
Now- sorting occurs at the sorting ceremony- an annual tradition at Hogwarts that falls
at the beginning of the school year. The function of the ceremony is to assign new students
to one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Students are sorted
using the Sorting hat, a sentient hat that once belonged to Hogwarts Founder Godric Gryffindor.
Recognizing that they each valued very different traits in students, hence the rationale for
having 4 houses in the first place, each founder passed on the main criteria for their particular
house to the hat. The student then places the hat on their head, and is assigned to
a house based on which founder they resemble most.
To perform it’s task, the hat uses legilimency, which is the art of magically navigating through
a person’s mind. The hat will navigate the layers of the wearers mind, and, after careful
consideration, announce its decision loudly so that all can hear.
If the hat senses great bravery, Gryffindor is the likely choice. If the hat senses great
intelligence, Ravenclaw is the likely choice, if the hat senses that someone is a hard worker,
Hufflepuff is the likely choice, and finally, if the hat senses that someone is hungry for
power, then Slytherin is the likely choice. Something to bear in mind, however, is that
just because someone is sorted in to, for example,Gryffindor- proving their bravery,
it doesn’t mean that they aren’t hard working, ambitious or clever- it just means
that their bravery is perhaps a slightly overarching character trait. This type of logic applies
to all of the other houses as well.
Without further ado- let’s dive in to the sorting of Vernon and Petunia Dursley.
When Harry’s parents were murdered on Oct 31st 1981, the decision was made that Harry
would be raised by his aunt Petunia and her family. Part of the reasoning for this was
that Harry would remain protected by his mother’s loving sacrifice, so long as he could still
call the Dursley residence home. Furthermore, the life of fame and fortune that Harry was
destined to have may not have been a good start to the young boys life. So where did
he go instead? A place where he couldn’t have been treated any less famous - the Dursley
residence.
The Dursley family was comprised of Vernon (the father), Petunia (the mother) and Dudley
(the son). Though they hated any and all things magical, and were perhaps the antithesis of
the sort of family that should adopt Harry, they were the safest option. However, while
Harry was certainly ‘safe’ from the Dursleys, at least from a physical standpoint, it was
not a good environment to grow up in.
They were always massively critical of Harry and certainly didn’t like anything that
was out of the ordinary- a tall order when you’ve adopted a magical young boy. They
showed blatant favouritism toward their actual son- Dudley, forced Harry to live in a cupboard
under the stairs, tried to prevent him from attending HOGWARTS, and always hid his past
from him. So, to which house do these monsters belong?
Vernon Dursley was an English Muggle born and arguably Harry’s biggest tormentor.
He was head honcho in the Dursley household, and worked an office job for a company called
Grunnings in London. He was a very ‘safe’ individual, and didn’t like anything out
of the ordinary. He had very predictable, ununique perspectives on the world- and had
a strong aversion/disliking of anything that contradicted his own world view.
So- where would I sort Vernon? He wasn’t brave, not in the slightest, and this immediately
removes Gryffindor from the equation, as you’ve at least got to be somewhat brave to be in
Gryffindor house. He certainly wasn’t an intellectual, nor was he particularly studious,
and I think that this also eliminates Ravenclaw as a potential option. This leaves Huffle
and Slytherin. Hufflepuff could work for him, and I say this purely because he’s a hard
worker, but I think that the safest bet is Slytherin. Slytherin house is responsible
for producing the most ‘evil’ wizards, and from this I can reasonably derive that
they have the least tolerance when it comes to other world views. This sounds just like
Vernon. Furthermore, one of the most important traits for a Sytherin is ambition- something
that Vernon had a lot of. His quirks aside, he was a very driven career man, and wanted
to do whatever it took to get to the top. Furthermore, while aspirations of getting
to the top can often indicate that someone is a hard worker, like a Hufflepuff, I am
of the impression that Vernon would take whatever shortcuts he could- which makes him more of
a Slytherin.
This brings us to Petunia. Petunia Dursley, born Petunia Evans, was the sole surviving
blood relative of Harry Potter, and the sister to Harry’s mother- Lily. In spite of this,
she was unusually cruel to Harry when he was growing up, and treated him the same way that
Vernon did. Despite her obvious despicable nature, the cold-hearted, evil Petunia that
we’re introduced to in the books and films wasn’t always so bad. In fact, nearer the
beginning of her childhood she was actually just a normal young girl that got along with
her sister- the same sister that she would later despise. LIly’s magical accomplishments
started off quite small, and though Petunia didn’t think much of them at first, she
eventually began to feel the onset of jealousy. As Lily’s magic grew stronger, she received
a considerable amount of attention from her parents for her gifts, and I think that Petunia,
who had none, just felt left out. Though Petunia was jealous at this stage, she didn’t yet
hate her sister.
In 1971 Lily received her letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was
a momentous occasion for the family- most of them anyway - the youngest daughter of
the Evans’ family was a witch! When Petunia saw Lily receive her letter, she felt a rush
of emotions - confusion, anger- but most of all, jealousy, and despite not being magical,
she felt compelled to write a letter to Dumbledore himself, asking to attend the school. Hoping
to be a part of the magical school herself, Petunia stated her case to Dumbledore- and
asked if she could study there with her sister. However, given that Petunia was not magical
in any way, Dumbledore had to politely decline Petunia’s request to attend the school.
From that day onward, Petunia denounced magic entirely- it was a world that rejected her-
and the pain that she felt from her rejection manifested itself in the form of anger toward
her sister- whom she would now refer to as a ‘freak’. Unfortunately, it turned her
in to a very bitter, dark person, but I do think that, DEEP DEEP down, there was an element
of good to Petunia. However, this certainly doesn’t excuse any of the horrific behaviour
that she has exhibited.
Petunia is perhaps the hardest person to sort, ever, as it’s certainly not as simple as
‘she did bad things’ - therefore she is in Slytherin. Petunia was a complex character
with many layers, and, had she not been rejected by the wizarding world as a girl, could have
turned out to be very different. She doesn’t really have one characteristic that meshes
exceedingly well with any one house, though I do have an argument for why I feel that
she is, oddly enough, a Gryffindor.
When Harry Potter was left on their doorstep after Lily & James Potter had been murdered,
with only a note explaining what had happened, she must have felt a surge of emotions. First
of all, this was the first time that she had been informed that her own sister was dead.
Petunia and Lily didn’t get along for the majority of their lives, but there was a time
when they were children that they would proudly declare their sisterhood. Petunia’s biggest
fault as a person was that she allowed her rejection from the magical world to transform
her into a bitter, cruel person. However, I don’t think she ever wanted to be that
person, she just lacked the strength of character to deal with her own circumstances. Her main
problem was just that she was weak- and I think that, in the moment that she realized
her own sister was dead, she showed a considerable amount of courage by taking in Harry. Not
only was this boy a constant reminder of the world that had rejected her, it was also a
constant reminder of her dead sister- the sister that she never got to make amends with.
Facing this situation day in and day out would have been exceedingly difficult, and though
she didn’t do it graciously, she still opted to raise Harry and to keep him safe.
As for Dudley, go and check out the link in the description.
What do you guys think? Where would YOU sort Vernon and Petunia Dursley? I’d love to
hear what you guys have to say on this matter. Comment down below.
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Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY