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Family surprise
Harry's parents died. He's stuck with his uncle, aunt and cousin. He
has nowhere else to go and no other family to turn to. Seems like a very
depressing situation. Do you really think that's it, there's no family
surprises left and the only thin line of light in the clouds is the prospect
of maybe... just maybe one day he can move in with his godfather?
I don't think so, do you? Besides uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia and cousin
Dursley, we never heard anything about any possible living family. In
the Mirror of Erised he saw his parents, grandparents and family who passed
away. Is there really not any living family left? We don't know for sure
if besides Petunia, his mother had no other brothers and sisters. And
what about any brothers or sisters from his father? How about distant
family, cousins of his parents for example.
The Dursleys seem like the worst option to have placed Harry. Maybe Dumbledore
choose them for a reason, we know that this way he would grow up without
the hype of him being famous. But it could also imply that Dumbeldore
had other options, other family to choose from. Who and where might this
remaining familymembers be?
You also may have heard the speculation that in book 5+ Harry's parents
might return in the story as ghosts. A nice thought and a good probability.
But do we know 100% sure they're dead? We know Harry was protected by
his mother by Old Magic which even Voldemort hadn't foreseen. If this
Old Magic is so powerful that it can protect against ¤ Avada
Kedavra, why didn't they use it on themselves? Maybe there was no
time to protect all of them, maybe it could only work on children or maybe
there's other reasons. But on the other hand, maybe this Old Magic has
simpler ways that only decrease the Death Curse effect, or make it temporary
instead of deflecting it completely. There could be several ways to avoid
the ultimate result of death, giving possibilities that his parents are
not dead but explain what really had happened. Were his parents buried?
Do wizards get buried at all? Harry never visited their grave or their
remains.
I've received feedback stating
"JKR already confirmed that in an interview several times.... she
said that they are indeed dead and no spell can reawaken the dead".
Well this certainly shines a different light on the theory above. Or maybe
I should say a different shade of light.... So they actually really died,
and they won't be reawakened. Ok...But this does not exclude them from
playing a role as dead-people... HP books also have ghosts and Harry's
parents appeared at end of book 4 from his wand (Priori Incantatem). It
still leaves the option they appear again... dead and not reawakened from
the dead. Maybe Harry visits the place where they went or has contact
with them through some type of means.
But let's not expect too much of this one... JK does seem to rule it out
Another, although it doesn't seem very likely, is the question whether
Harry doesn't have any brothers or sisters. We all assume he's an only
child and always has been. But as for the other question, do we know this
100% for sure? Never has been given any indication he might have, and
we don't see any in his parent's fotoalbum so maybe it's a bit too far
fetched.
Anyway, it's something else to keep our eyes out for in the coming books
;)
By the webmaster
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