Harry Potter Theory: Dursleys & the Horcrux

A prevalent theory circulating in the Harry Potter fandom posits that the Dursleys' mistreatment of Harry was a consequence of his unknowing harboring of a horcrux within him. Advocates of this theory often draw parallels to Ron's mood deterioration when wearing a horcrux as evidence. However, I aim to counter this notion with a comprehensive examination of the narrative and character dynamics. Buckle up as we embark on a journey to debunk this theory and shed light on the complexities of the Dursleys' behavior towards Harry.

Let’s dive in!

Petunia Evans-Dursley

First off, let’s address the glaringly obvious. Literally in the opening paragraph of Sorcerer's Stone, it describes the Dursley family as thus: 

“Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.”

Right off the bat, we learn that the Dursley’s pride themselves on not engaging in anything they consider to be out of the ordinary. But we also find out when they hide in the hut on the oock that Petunia knew Harry was a wizard this entire time, but she only has negative things to say about Lily.

"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school-and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was -- a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"

We don’t find out until we see Snape’s memories in Deathly Hallows that this is because Petunia was actually jealous of Lily’s magical abilities and even tried to write a letter to Albus Dumbledore to BEG him to join Hogwarts regardless of her lack of magic. 

Lily glanced toward her parents,who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce. 

“You didn’t think it was such a freak’s school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you.” 

Petunia turned scarlet. 

“Beg? I didn’t beg!” 

“I saw his reply. It was very kind.”

This suggests to me that Lily had no issue with magic as a kid until the moment Snape tried to hurt her by dropping a branch on her. It mostly seems like she wanted to preserve the relationship she had with her little sister despite all of the new changes that were pushing them apart. Psychologically speaking, there is definitely a lot of jealousy here, but it mostly seems to stem from being left out. During the school year while her sister was living at Hogwarts, it is entirely possible that was the time when her bitterness grew as she was stuck in the non-magical world of her parents. Not to mention she would have had to travel with them to Diagon Alley once a year and be temporarily surrounded by the world she could never be a part of. We don’t get to learn much more about Petunia’s childhood other than the few moments in Snape’s memories, so a lot of this is coming from context clues. 

We do learn from the Official Harry Potter website that Petunia left home as soon as she was able to and pursued a typing course in London, from which she acquired an office job and met Vernon Dursley. The website describes him as “deliciously normal”, which to Petunia must have been a welcome change from all the craziness that happens in the Wizarding World. Rowling goes on to say that Petunia was so content with her new life away from magic that she was actually afraid to tell Vernon about Lily but he told her that “he would never hold it against her that she had a freak for a sister”, which was essentially the cherry on top. Upon meeting Lily and James, it was said that Vernon intentionally tried to patronize James by making digs at James about cars and finances. JK Rowling explains that in her comfort away from “objects that behaved strangely, from teapots that suddenly piped tunes as she passed, or long conversations about things she did not understand, with names like ‘Quidditch’ and ‘Transfiguration’”,  Petunia began to embrace her prejudices against her sister and Vernon wholeheartedly supported her. When Lily sends her sister a birth announcement for Harry, it is said that Petunia threw it in the bin with a contemptuous look. Rowling goes on to say that Petunia “spent the rest of Harry’s childhood punishing him for her own choice” to cut her sister out of her life. 

All of this is blatant proof that Petunia Dursley was prejudiced against the Wizarding World for much longer than Harry was even alive.

Horcruxes

During the time the Golden Trio has the locket, we learn a little about the effect horcruxes have on the person carrying it. While Ron is wearing it, he’s moody and insufferable. The darkness of the soul of Voldemort seems to seep into the caretaker on the horcrux. We see this first in Chamber of Secrets when Tom RIddle tells Harry that “Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted”. This suggests that even within an inanimate object, Voldemort’s soul still has a sentience that can influence others. 

Also, we learn in Chamber of Secrets that by bonding with a horcrux, it has even more influence over you, as seen when Ginny starts losing time after “pouring her soul” into the diary. Using these clues, I am confident that a horcrux can only influence its caretaker and not everyone within its vicinity. Based on that, we can conclude that Harry would have been the angry and sullen one, as he is the caretaker of the horcrux that lives within him. 

In Deathly Hallows, the Golden Trio goes to the Ministry to get the locket from Umbridge. Harry makes the comment that she seemed happy “upholding the twisted laws she had helped to write.” Nobody in the vicinity of Umbridge seems affected by the locket. In fact, it could be argued that Voldemort’s darkness enhanced her own and she invited the influence he had over her without knowing where it was coming from. 

Therefore it can be said that Voldemort’s horcruxes ONLY influence the person who is taking care of the cursed item. 

Bonus Thought

Why isn’t Harry influenced by Voldemort’s soul within him? Because of the ancient love protection that his mother left on him. Voldemort, as we know, is the product of a love potion that his mother, Merope Gaunt, gave to a muggle man, Tom Riddle. The absence of real love here being the most obvious difference between Harry and Tom’s conceptions. This essentially corrupted Tom’s soul right from the beginning. During her pregnancy, Merope stopped administering the potion in hopes that Tom had naturally fallen for her in their time together, but he hadn’t and he left immediately. It was then that she stopped using her magic completely and essentially gave up her will to live. (Within many common magical cultures, it is said that energy from the mother is transferred to each child, creating a soul connection between them. Using this theory, I think Merope’s magical energy was transferred to her son in utero when she made the decision to give up her powers. This could be why Voldemort is considered to be so strong.) BUT Merope also didn’t love her child the way Lily loved Harry, and so he wasn’t born with the innate ability to see light in the world because love was completely absent from every moment of his life, from the moment of conception. 

This drastic dichotomy between Harry and Voldemort could definitely explain why the horcrux inside Harry doesn’t affect him. His mother’s love must have somehow tempered the anger of the horcrux and created a kind of magical cocoon to protect Harry. 

- The Researcher -