Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

3

Chapter 3—The Dursleys Departing

Summary

Vernon is calling Harry downstairs, so he puts the mirror fragment with the things he’s taking on his journey and heads down. The Dursleys are dressed to travel, but Vernon wants Harry to sit down. He says that he doesn’t believe any of the nonsense they’ve been told about their home no longer being safe, that they’re staying. (Apparently this has been a regular occurrence for the past month.) This time he tells Harry that he thinks it’s a plot to get their house. Harry laughs him off and reminds him of the house Sirius left him. Harry reexplains the situation to him, but Vernon thinks they should qualify for Ministry protection. Harry explains again that they think the Ministry has been infiltrated. Vernon says that if they do accept the protection they’ve been offered, he wants Kingsley. Harry explains again that Kingsley is protecting the Muggle Prime Minister, and that Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle will be sufficient for the job.

When Vernon continues to fret, Harry goes off at him, reminding him that the accidents they’re seeing on television aren’t accidents, that Voldemort likes to kill Muggles, and that there are plenty of other terrifying beings at his disposal, including dementors. The mention of them frightens Dudley, who hadn’t thought there could be more than the two who attacked them. Vernon asks about work, about school, but Dudley says that he wants to go with the Order. Harry knows the argument is won and leaves to finish packing. The doorbell rings and Harry heads downstairs to greet Hestia and Dedalus. They explain the plan to the Dursleys—to have Vernon drive them all ten miles from the house, then Disapparate to a predetermined destination. They tell Harry to wait briefly for his guard; Moody was going to take him by Side-Along Apparation, but the plan has changed. They are trying to time time Harry’s departure with the Dursleys Apparation exactly, so that the protection breaks at the same time.

Hestia makes to wait in the hall to give Harry and the Dursleys privacy, but Harry assures her that it’s not needed. Vernon gives a stilted goodbye, Petunia won’t look Harry and the eye and merely asks if Dudley’s ready. By the time his aunt and uncle reach the living room entrance, Dudley expresses his confusion—he can’t understand why Harry isn’t coming with them. Vernon insists that Harry doesn’t want to, which Harry confirms, but still Dudley won’t leave—he wants to know where Harry is going to go. When it’s clear that Petunia and Vernon don’t know, Hestia and Dedalus are appalled. Hestia can’t believe that they don’t realize his importance, but Harry explains that they thinks he’s a waste of space… which Dudley denies. Harry is shocked by the admission, and thanks his cousin. Dudley then reminds Harry that he saved his life. Harry suddenly realizes that the cup of tea he stepped on might not have been a booby trap after all, and he isn’t quite sure how to react to this outpouring of emotion from his cousin.

Petunia begins to cry over her son’s sweetness, and his gratitude (at which points Hestia mentions that he didn’t actually thank Harry, only said he wasn’t a waste of space, but Harry knows that’s a practical declaration of love from his cousin). Vernon presses everyone about leaving, so they begin their exit. But Dudley approaches Harry and makes to shake his hand. Harry asks if the dementors turned him into a different person, and Dudley claims he doesn’t know. They shake hands and say goodbye. Petunia is the last to leave, not realizing that her husband and son have already made their way to the car. She bids her goodbye, but stops and looks back. Harry gets the feeling that she wants to say something to him, but she doesn’t manage it, and heads out the door.

Commentary

I feel sometimes as though the book is trying to reassure of us certain unsinkable truths; in a universe where the true depths of a person’s character is often brought to light no matter how much you personally come to dislike them… Vernon Dursley will always be the worst. Because really, there’s not a single thing he says in this chapter that makes me feel bad for the guy, even knowing that he’s being forced to uproot his life for the foreseeable future.

There’s that point in the chapter where Harry explains (again) that they have to hide because Voldemort would probably torture them for information, or use them as bait to get Harry to come and rescue them, and Harry and Vernon both look at each other—and Harry wonders if they’re thinking the same thing. My assumption is that they’re both either thinking that he’d never come to their rescue in a million years… or that they’re simply wondering if he would. Which is sad, either way.

There are plenty of readers who didn’t like the final appearance of the Dursleys, mostly because we get nothing from Petunia after all these years. On the one hand, I get it—after years of silence, it would have been nice to get some closure, some small gesture. (I think it’s pretty telling that the movie does give that a moment to Petunia, almost like an apology.) On the other hand, there’s an aspect of realism to this departure that I appreciate. Petunia has worked very hard all her life to stay detached from Harry; it would be a poor choice to start caring, to try opening up even a little now. In fact, I’d argue that her hysterical weeping over Dudley’s gesture to Harry is Petunia dealing with it. That outburst of emotion directed toward her son rather than her nephew is honestly all she can manage. It’s not what we’d like to see, but it makes more sense than a sudden confession, a teary anecdote about Lily, a hug.

With Dudley, the change makes sense and also plays into Rowling’s theme of each generation improving on the one before it. Harry and Dudley are going to do better than their parents did, and this doesn’t actually come out of nowhere for Dudley—he’s had two full years to think about what happened during that dementor attack, to fully metabolize the fact that his cousin’s ability to do magic (the very thing his parents are terrified of) is the only thing that saved him. He has the chance to consider what it means that Harry is accustomed to these sorts of terrors, and to wonder what that says about his life. And Dudley doesn’t overdo it, doesn’t try to be Harry’s pal or tell him he cares about him. He just acknowledges that his family should ask about what’s coming for Harry, about where he’s going. He knows very little about Harry’s position in this other world, what he’s meant to do. But he’s not going to pretend that his cousin is invisible anymore.

And Harry, poor Harry, has no means to handle this sudden shift. It’s telling that his sarcasm comes through in the discomfort:

Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too unwieldy for expression before mumbling, “You saved my life.”
N

ot really,” said Harry. “It was your soul the dementor would have taken. . . .”

I mean, I love Sassy Harry, but this is a coping mechanism. How do you respond to concern and respect from someone who treated you like a mat for wiping dirty shoes on your entire life? He just barely manages a real reply before Dudley walks out the door. And while we know that Harry and Dudley do keep in touch (Rowling has said that they exchange Christmas cards and occasionally get together so their kids can play), this easily could have been the last time they spoke. He’s protected himself so well against their abuse that it never occurs to him that one of them might have something kind to say. He’s not prepared.

Then we get that final moment with Petunia, where it almost seems that she’d like to say something to him. And it’s such a painful ending, but it still feels correct. For all that Petunia wants to reach out, she’s made it a job to keep Harry away. Breaching that gap is too much, is not something that she prepared herself for either—it’s surprising enough that Dudley does it on her behalf. So she leaves without a word, knowing that her nephew is being hunted down by the very same wizard who murdered her sister.

His odds aren’t exactly good, and she knows it. And in that moment, I can’t really fault Petunia for staying away.