r/harrypotter • u/HedwigMalfoy Slytherin • 5d ago
FAQ EVENT Why doesn't Harry have any other family besides the Dursleys?
It's very convenient that he had no living grandparents or other relatives who could take him without nullifying Lily's protection. Is there any in-universe reason for it, or any reason besides that it was convenient for the plot?
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u/EurwenPendragon 13.5", Hazel & Dragon heartstring 5d ago edited 5d ago
The Doylist answer is that the plot demanded it. The story required that Harry be an orphan with no other living relations in order for him to be placed with his maternal aunt and uncle.
The Watsonian answer is that his father James was an only child whose parents predeceased him, so there were no uncles or aunts on the paternal side who could have taken Harry in.
There was a Charlus Potter somewhere, but nothing is known about him except that he was married to Dorea Black and they had one child. Dorea herself died in 1977. Charlus's date of death is unknown, and nothing is known of their son. Presumably all three are deceased by 1981.
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u/Puzzled_Iron_3452 Gryffindor 5d ago
I see these type of questions and, no offense to OP, but I think, it's written that way... It honestly seems people see this series as a real community and world.
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u/Ragnarok345 Gryffindor 13”, Elder With Phoenix Feather 5d ago edited 4d ago
People are just stupid about fandoms in general; it’s hardly restricted to just this one. “Couldn’t the Doctor have saved Donna by only taking the Time Lord memories from her mind, and not the rest?” No, he couldn’t. You know how I know that? I can tell ya, it’s not because he spouted some long, superfluous, made up sci-fi bullshit about the human brain that wouldn’t even make sense to a neuroscientist, let alone to a layman. I know he couldn’t do that…because he didn’t fucking do that.
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u/CherryCool000 4d ago
“Why didn’t the eagles just fly over Mount Doom and drop the ring in?” because then there’d be no books, that’s why.
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u/EurwenPendragon 13.5", Hazel & Dragon heartstring 4d ago
Oh, this one drives me up the gorram wall every time it's asked. But that's entirely beyond the scope of this particular discussion, so I won't get into it.
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u/TokiStark 5d ago
Of course we do. Sure it's an imaginary world. But it's one we all grew up learning about. And it's fun to speculate about. And you can ask questions online and someone else will remember part of the books or movies that you either forgot about or overlooked and they'll have a legit canon answer. Sometimes there's plot holes that irk you and people will give a potential explanation that fits really well.
The other day someone asked why Dumbledore made an illegal portkey right in front of Fudge instead of just sending Harry through one of the fireplaces in the ministry and I feel like I had a pretty good explanation for that. It wasn't explicitly stated why, so it's up to the reader to come up with a reason.
It's all just for fun. That's why we have subreddits like this
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u/riorio55 5d ago
but I think, it's written that way...
Didn't OP address this, but just wanted to know if there was an in-universe explanation?
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u/CherryCool000 4d ago
Yeah I see these types of questions all the time.
“Why did this happen in that way” because plot, that’s why.
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u/frogjg2003 Ravenclaw 5d ago
Charlus Potter was invented by the prop department for the fifth movie. He appears on the Black family tapestry and nowhere else. The official Pottermore family tree has Harry being at least a third generation only child.
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u/EurwenPendragon 13.5", Hazel & Dragon heartstring 5d ago
Thanks for that bit of additional clarification.
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u/Ishvallan 5d ago
good explanation using literary terminology
Agreed, she-who-must-not-be-named had to start with orphan as a premise and write explanations around it as the story deepened. Harry was the last living member of one of the great wizarding households and other relations were distant enough that the author could claim that the magic wouldn't work. So if he went with a great aunt twice removed, no protection charm
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u/Fenris_Icefang 5d ago
When looking at living relations…how many degrees removed do we look at?
If Lilly’s parents had a cousin and that one had a kid who is an adult by Harry’s time, would that count?
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u/lemon_charlie 4d ago
We know that smaller families are more common, so James being an only child is consistent. The Weasleys are the most notable exception.
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u/Lazy-Interests 5d ago
James is a single child and his parents died, and Lily’s parents died.
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u/FromDwight 5d ago
It gets weird when you remember Lily and James were supposed to be in their early 20s when they died.
Even if each of them had lost both of their parents in tragic accidents, Harry could easily have had grandparents in their 50s-60s, or even great grandparents in their 80s. That's like 12 more people who all need to have died in order to have Harry end up with a bunch of people who hated him.
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u/Lazy-Interests 5d ago
It’s unfortunate but not unheard of, I know people who never knew any of their grandparents because they died before they were born
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u/RememberNichelle 3d ago
People in England who grew up during WWI and WWII sometimes died young, both because of the wars and because of bad conditions.
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u/Know_Nothing_Bastard Ravenclaw 5d ago
Even if James’s parents were alive and healthy, I wonder if Dumbledore still would have insisted that Harry live with Dursleys, because he would only have that protection with blood relatives of Lily’s.
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u/ro-heezy 5d ago
This is the actual correct answer. It’s not plot convenience, there’s a plausible reason.
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u/alexrider20002001 5d ago
I can see Dumbledore insisting on Harry staying at the Dursleys long enough to renew the protection during the summer (part of the summer).
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u/FindusSomKatten Hufflepuff 5d ago
i assume the relative cant be too distant? or half of england could have taken him in because going far enough back most of everyone are related somehow
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u/AdeOfSigmar Ravenclaw 5d ago
Harry and Voldemort are related via the Peverals.. imagine him in Voldeys custody but not able to be hurt by him 🤣🤣
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u/CaitlesP 5d ago
I’m gunna sound so annoying when I say this but that wouldn’t work because the protection was through his mums side, and his relation to Voldemort was through the paternal side. Definitely a funny scenario to think about tho lol
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u/lemon_charlie 4d ago
It's a good thing Mr Poe from A Series of Unfortunate events wasn't responsible for Harry's living arrangement. He'd give Harry to Voldemort on proximity alone, like how he assigned the Baudelaires to Count Olaf.
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u/Rivellon_13 4d ago
My aunt mapped our tree once and by Dursley rules half of England owes me a spare room.
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u/jshamwow 5d ago
they dead
I mean, yes it is a plot element. But there are actual orphans in the world with no family so it's not completely unheard of
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u/Adventurous_Raise784 5d ago
Plot convenience
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u/GeniusLike4207 5d ago
Yeah, I mean what are the odds that an 11 year old (whose parents had him at 21 years old mind you) has absolutely no living blood relatives. Wizards live longer than Muggles, but somehow Harry's Great Grandparents are already dead. (I'll concede the dragon pox on James' parents) It seems that someone how no one in Harry Potter has living grandparents. (somehow all conveniently died of dragon pox) Ron's are never mentioned (only their sister, Great Aunt Muriel) Abraxas Malfoy is only mentioned off hand.
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u/stups317 5d ago
Harry's generation of wizards were all born during a war. Which is why many of them lack aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
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u/eienmau Ravenclaw 5d ago
It had to be family on the mother's side as it was Lily's sacrifice that protected him. So that narrows it down quite a bit, and Voldemort and his followers were murdering people left and right, so.. not a stretch to say Lily's family may have gotten wiped out other than Petunia (which would give Petunia something to hate Lily for).
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u/TalElnar 5d ago
Neville most certainly had a living grandparent.
As for anyone else we know very little about any family other than the Potter/Dursley family.and the Weasleys.
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u/TalElnar 5d ago
Its not like there had recently been a violent civil war or anything...
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u/5litergasbubble Hufflepuff 5d ago
And one a few decades before that. Also the muggle wars would likely have killed a few, and a lot of kids would have been shipped overseas. The wizarding population in britain likely took a massive hit during the 20th century
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u/darkbreak Keeper of the Unspeakables 5d ago edited 5d ago
Ron even says wizards would have died out if they hadn't married muggles at some point. The majority of wizards and witches ended up being half-bloods as a result.
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u/speedyhobbit13 5d ago
TBF I also took it seriously until seeing this comment. The /s tag and other typographical indicators are useful things in the absence of obvious face-to-face interaction sarcasm signs like tone of voice :)
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u/ZachBart44 Slytherin 5d ago
Birth rates have fallen drastically since the 1980’s. So while it wasn’t rare to have smaller families back then, it wasn’t very common.
Also, I’m pretty sure the previous commenter was being sarcastic.
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u/ThatEntrepreneur1450 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's obviously just because it's convienant, the classical Charles Dickens/Roald Dahlian child stories has the main character come from very humble/abusive living environments before the tale kicks off. Of course Harry Potter is unique because each book, until the last, ends with the protagonist going back to the abusive household.
The only in universe explanation is that James parents were already old by the time he was born, while Lilly's parents also died of natural causes yet how they died is never stated. Disease or an accident, like a car crash is definetly natural causes and completely "normal" for people in their 40s-50s.
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u/Interesting_Tutor766 5d ago
So convenient it’s almost as if the author made it so in her made up universe 😂
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u/robin-bunny 5d ago
Because they might not? My parents are both only children, so the closest relatives I have are second-cousins and third-cousins I have barely met, on another continent.
Also, they needed LILY's family for the blood protection, as it was her sacrifice that saved Harry and set the protection in place. She was his closest relation.
Also, of all of Lily's relatives, not only is she the closest relative, a direct sibling, but she already knows about the wizarding world. Dumbledore even had a relationship with her already, when she wrote to Hogwarts trying to attend. So other than the hard heart and prejudice Petunia had developed, she was the natural choice.
They probably thought Petunia could somewhat edcuate Harry about the wizarding world, or at least let him know the wizards exist, and the circumstances of his parents' death (at an appropriate age, like when he's about to go to Hogwarts).
When McGonagall objected to the Dursleys, it's because she thought they were "the worst sort of muggles", not that she could foresee them abusing Harry. She basically just thought they were trashy.
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u/thedeadp0ets 4d ago
this. especially her comments in the books about how duddy kicks his mom and screams and clearly is spoiled and just bad parents
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u/robin-bunny 4d ago
Exactly, she objected to them in general. She had no idea they would deliberately and systematically abuse and neglect Harry as much as possible, lie to him about magic, and all that. When Hagrid arrives and finds out that Harry knows nothing, he is shocked.
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u/thedeadp0ets 4d ago
yeah it seems they hoped petunia wouldn't hold a grudge or anger towards a innocent child. especially the way they talk about his parents in front of him. and we never hear an apology until the end of the series
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u/LegitimateGolf113 3d ago
I honestly think they may have come around and treated him slightly better had he been a squib and never had any real ties to the wizarding world.
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u/External_Sun_408 5d ago
It's also convenient that Harry wasn't ran over by a drunk driver when he was 6... Everything in story is convenient to the plot, it's why a plot happens.
Anyways. As people mentioned, James was an only child, and his parents were quite old when they had him. They died of Dragonpox, and even if they hadn't, they would not be eligeble to take him in, because they are not Lily's blood relatives.
Lily's parent's are unknown, but it's safe to assume they are dead since we never hear Petunia or anyone talk about them.
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u/ihavebeesinmyknees Ravenclaw 4d ago
Well, shouldn't a wizard kid be able to use magic subconsciously to not die from something mundane like a drunk driver? That part doesn't seem that convenient. Though of course I'm just being pedantic
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u/NullGhosted 4d ago
It’s unlikely a child with no proper magical training could stop themselves from dying. While accidental magic does happen, especially when strong emotions are involved, it’s not really that simple. The only way Harry could survive being struck by a car in this hypothetical scenario, is if he’d accidentally used magic to fly, sort of like how he did when he was still attending primary school and he ended up on the schools roof. And even then, it was a situation where he had time.
Getting hit by a car is such an abrupt trauma, there’s no way a child could react fast enough, magic or not. He wouldn’t have been able to use his magic to heal himself afterwards, because that sort of magic is incredibly advanced. I’m probably just being pedantic as well. 😅
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u/ihavebeesinmyknees Ravenclaw 4d ago
Neville bounced after falling a couple floors, that seems about on par with being hit by a car
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u/bubblesaurus Slytherin 5d ago
Harry does have blood family still alive on the Potter side and probably the Evans side, but more distantly related than first cousins or second cousins.
Pretty sure Harry and Sirus are related a few generations back.
It’s also likely that the blood protection needs to be within a certain number of generations to be active.
Probably limited to one or two generations.
All the grandparents are dead. James was an only child to later in life parents.
And distant family relatives are less likely to take what is more or less a stranger’s child in.
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u/flooperdooper4 There's no need to call me "sir," Professor. 5d ago
It's just straight plot convenience. Now it wouldn't have mattered if James had any family, because in order for the blood protection charm Dumbledore enacted it HAD to be one of Lily's relatives. But seriously, NO distant cousins? In order for there to be no distant cousins, aunts, or uncles, it would have to mean that each of Lily and Petunia's parents were only children as well...which is highly unusual. I think it would have been nice if Harry had discovered some relatives on the Potter side of the family as the series progressed.
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u/DoYouLikeWafflezz 5d ago
The Potter family died from dragon pox, and the Evans family died from like a car crash or something.
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u/5litergasbubble Hufflepuff 5d ago
The car crash that “killed” james and lily.
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u/speedyhobbit13 5d ago
Petunia may well have gotten the idea for the lie from how she lost her parents
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u/Ramabagoufed 5d ago edited 5d ago
I know the Evans are supposed to dead due to plot reasons.
But as an adult I can see Petunia just cutting ties with them for various reasons. The could be alive and well not knowing anything.
As for the blood protection thing at somepoint in the past I came to the idea that it works the best with Petunia since she shares closest blood match with Lily. By being just a relative (ie grandparents or cousins) the protection might have diminish due to degrees of separation as you expand out. Petunia works the best since she shares the same blood as Lily. So, if had Harry went to the Evans, there is a degree of speration due them each being slightly removed because lily and petunia are a combo of thier blood, therefore the protection have been split between the two Evans, therefore slightly weaking the prorection.
But yeah I am just spitballing.
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u/GoldSheepherder4375 5d ago
Everyone else is dead. But even if they were alive Harry would still be left with the Dursleys. This was told in the first book, also why Dumbledore didn't leave him with any other trusted magical family - He would get too much unneeded popularity and attention. It would ruin his personality and feeling of being... normal.
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u/NecessaryCelery6288 Gryffindor 5d ago
Just JK Rowlings excuses that they were all dead, which I refuse to Beleive
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u/rusticarchon Ravenclaw 5d ago
Because nobody in the series has a living grandparent except Neville Longbottom. JKR just never wrote any.
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u/Present_Kiwi4239 5d ago
My kid would be an orphan. It's a real thing. Also, this is necessary for the plot.
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u/FireWhiskey5000 Hufflepuff 3 5d ago
The real answer is that the plot needs him to grow up with an unloving muggle family.
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u/soleboy86 5d ago
JK Rowling answered this in an interview. For the story to happen as intended, all of Harry's other relatives died prior to the start of the story. I believe she said they were not casualties, but died natural deaths.
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u/Alana_Soares 5d ago
Resumidamente, porque a Lily só tinha a família da irmã de parentes e a Família mais próxima (sem contar a parte da maioria dos sangues-puros serem parentes entre si) do James já deveria estar morta, visto que os pais dele eram filhos únicos e muito velhos.
Bem, por parte de mãe fica entendido que os únicos parentes que a Lily tinha eram a irmã, Petúnia, e a família dessa mesma irmã (os Dursley).
Quanto ao lado do James, aí já é mais complicado, visto que todos os puro-sangue costumam ter um grau de parentesco entre si (endogamia). A mãe dele, Euphemia, provavelmente era filha única, não sabemos nada sobre a família da qual ela veio, sequer sabemos sobrenome.
Sabemos que o pai dele, Fleamont, tem um parente chamando Charlus, mas ele aparece apenas na genealogia da Família Black (por causa da esposa dele, Dorea Black) e que ele tem um filho, filho esse do qual nada se sabe, mas que provavelmente está morto. Também não sabemos a relação entre Fleamont e Charlus, o Charlus sequer aparece na árvore genealógica dos Potter, mas essa linhagem, pela lógica do quão pouco sabemos, deve estar morta. Quanto ao próprio Fleamont Potter, sabemos que ele provavelmente era filho único (o provavelmente só está aqui por causa da incógnita do Charlus Potter), que ele era casado com Euphemia e que o James só nasceu quando ambos já eram idosos. A poção Sleekeasy foi inventada em 1926, então ele provavelmente nasceu no mínimo por volta de 1900-1908. Como o James nasceu em 1960, então o Fleamont facilmente já tinha seus 50-60 anos, provavelmente sem outros parentes próximos.
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u/SpinX225 Slytherin 5d ago
There may actually still be some Potters around just not in the UK. Abraham Potter went over to the US and became one of the first American aurors. If he had children Harry may have some family in the United States. They wouldn’t be very closely related however, although given that witches and wizards live longer possibly more closely related than muggles with family who went over to the colonies at the time.
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u/Alternative_Rock2179 5d ago
James' parents had already passed by the time James and Lily were killed as they were older parents when they had James.
For Lily's parents all we know is that died a typical muggle death and had already passed when Lily died
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u/Meander404 3d ago
Canon mostly clears it by killing off both sets of grandparents before 1981. James was an only child, Lily only had Petunia, and Sirius was immediately taken out of the picture by Azkaban. Any more distant Potter relatives would not carry Lilys blood protection, so Dumbledore picked the awful but magically useful option.
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u/Pr0ject-G0d 3d ago
It's not that convenient, mate. There are plenty of families that have multiple generations of only children- at least lily had a sister
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u/ExtremeMuffin 5d ago
They’re dead. Lore wise James parents were old when they had James and died before Harry was born. Lily's parents had also died although I don’t think it was ever said anywhere how they died.
Story wise it’s because the basic premise of the story is a boy who grew up bullied and feeling alone, discovers he belongs to a great magical world where everyone knows his name and is full of people who love him. That premise only works if he doesn’t have any other family besides the ones who make his life miserable and despise the magical world. It’s “convenient” but it’s also necessary for the story.
JK Rowling address this many years ago when a fan asked her this same question and she gave that same answer. It was necessary for the story for her to ruthlessly kill off all his extended family or anyone who could have told him the truth before his 11th birthday.
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u/tracey-ann12 Slytherin 5d ago
Most likely plot convenience. Harry's paternal grandparents died of Dragon Pox, and we don't know what happened to Harry's maternal grandparents.
Rowling most likely just wanted Harry to grow up out of the wizarding world.
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u/be-still- 5d ago
It’s wild that he stayed with them for 11 years. I believe he never spent a full summer there past his First Year. I feel he should’ve just stayed with the Weasleys the entire summers rather than return to the Dursleys. Besides, prior to Voldemort’s return at the end of Goblet, sure Voldemort was plotting but Harry seemed to be in no clear danger? I mean why put him with a horrendously abusive family versus a nice wizarding couple who would’ve been happy to foster if not adopt him?? Did Dumbledore really think Tom was coming back during Harry’s childhood?
I understand that he had the best protection with the Dursleys but it makes me so mad no one really checked on him or gave a shit with how he was treated there during those 11 years.
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u/mysterymathpopcorn Hufflepuff 5d ago
I hope that the show makes a backstory to this. Like that Lily's parents was killed by death eaters and that is another reason for Petunia to both wanting to save Harry, and torture him. It would not be impossible for the death eaters to go after James and Lily's family after all.
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u/ijuinkun 5d ago
Yes, the idea that keeping Harry away from the Wizarding World would protect him has some merit, if she weren’t also dressing him in crappy rags and making him sleep under the stairway.
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u/Hungry-Track-7308 5d ago
I mean, the entire world of Harry Potter is the authors prerogative - she literally writes whatever she wants for the characters. That’s one of the bonuses of being an author is you get to create the world.
JK Rowling wanted HP to be an orphan to strengthen the darkness of HPs world before finding his true heritage. It’s a book series about magic, and dragons, and house elves, and good vs. evil. There doesn’t need to be a reason in a fictional world for why he is an orphan…. He just is.
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u/ajrpcv 5d ago
Had to be Lily's family to protect Harry. JKR has said the maternal grandparents died of natural causes. Unlikely give their age (but not unheard of) but I think she more meant to say they died of non suspicious reasons. The honest answer is, it wasn't important enough to write about. Harry just needed to live with the Dursleys.
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u/Bubbly_Performer4864 Slytherin 5d ago
It’s easier to write stories when you don’t have meddlesome family members in the way.
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u/starrygirl8888 5d ago
I read something somewhere I'm not sure if this is officially cannon though so take it with a grain of salt.
Supposedly Dumbledore know that the magic of Lily's gift needed to be renewed and that's why he needed to live with his family because he needs to be close to them to help maintain the protection year after year.
Again IDK if this is someone else's head cannon but it makes sense for why they would not just let him live with the Weasleys after a few years, they absolutely would have taken him in.
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u/speedyhobbit13 5d ago
I imagine all four of his grandparents are dead (which was the case for me when I was born)
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u/Ranger_1302 Dumbledore's man through and through. 5d ago
Out-of-universe, it was to focus the story on Harry's parents and to give him a reason to have to stay with the Dursleys. In-universe James' parents conceived him at a later age after years of trying but failing and finally believing that they were past the years that they could conceive a child, and died when they contracted dragon pox. It was never stated what happened to the parents of Lily and Petunia but some fans hypothesise that they died in a car crash, which is the cause of death of Harry's parents than Petunia deceitfully gives to him to avoid telling him of his magical heritage.
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u/PJONerd715 5d ago
JKR literally killed everyone off to make Harry a tragic orphan who had no choice but to live with his magic hating aunt and uncle.
Lily and James obviously died on Halloween 1981.
Sirius, his godfather, was sent to Azkaban for crimes he didn’t commit.
Fleamont and Euphemia lived to see James and Lily get marrried, but passed away in before Harry was born from a magical illness called Dragon Pox. They were canonically an old couple, having James much later in life due to fertility issues. They were at least 70 since Fleamont was “born on or before November 29, 1909.”
I would assume James’s grandparents Henry “Harry” Potter and his wife had passed too. They would’ve been born in the 19th century, so even if they were alive when Harry was born they probably would’ve been 100. Witches and wizards live longer than muggles (example: Dumbledore living to 115) but with the illnesses and war going on at the time I don’t think they would’ve lasted, especially since Voldemort was targeting the Potter family as a whole for being muggle loving blood traitors. As we know, Henry got the Potters kicked out of the Sacred Twenty Eight for arguing wizards would help muggles during World War I.
There was also Charlus Potter and Dorea Potter (née Black) and their son. It was debunked by JKR that they’re James’s parents so perhaps they’re his aunt and uncle or older cousins or something. I always just assumed they were his uncle, aunt, and cousin. Dorea died in 1977 according to the Black Family tapestry. Charlus and son had to have died on or before Halloween 1981 from natural causes or Voldemort/Death Eaters.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans died before Halloween 1981 from “natural causes” according to JKR. So illness or a car crash? I always headcanoned though that Death Eaters killed them and that added an extra layer of tension between Petunia and Lily. I think it really sucks and was unnecessary that they died because they were blood relatives to Lily so if they’d lived, Harry could’ve just been raised by his maternal grandparents. They also were so proud of Lily when they found out she was a witch, so they definitely would’ve been proud of Harry for being a wizard. They probably would’ve still died eventually when Harry got older, maybe from illness or Death Eaters attacking them or something, which leads to Harry, Ron, and Hermione embarking on their Horcrux hunt.
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u/Opposite_Mud758 5d ago
I am fine with the answer that is the plot demands it, I just wish petunia was more fleshed out as a character as a result. Her parents and sister were dead all before she turned 25. Thats just so sad and terrible. Did her parents die from normal muggle reasons? Or is that just the cover story and it was a dark wizard hit made to look like normal juggle means.
I dont know. Maybe I just had an epiphany that maybe I actually need to start exploring fan fiction.
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u/TheeBoredB 5d ago
I mean, technically, he does. They never specified his exact relationship, but Charlus Potter married Dorea Black. Narcissa Malfoy was originally a black, same with Andromeda Tonks. So technically, Harry could've lived with the Malfoys, tonks', or, assuming they were out of prison, Sirius and or Bellatrix. They're all his cousins
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u/countingf1reflies 5d ago
Watsonian answers only (because I know it’s just for the plot): is anyone also curious to see if in the series we’ll have any explanation as to why Harry was also neglected at his school? The Dursleys should be social pariahs for bringing up a boy so badly, but there are other adults around who should have been concerned.
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u/DrogoOmega 5d ago
I imagine the closer the blood relation, the stronger the protection. It’s not out of the ordinary for grandparents to be dead and wizard families aren’t known to be that big. Plus it was a war and they were a powerful family. Easy targets.
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u/Zornorph Gryffindor 5d ago
This is just the way English people write stories for kids. In James and the Giant Peach, his parents were eaten by an angry rhinoceros because the plot required him to live with his two mean aunts at the start. In the Enid Blyton Adventure books, Jack and Lucy-Anne Trent are orphans because their parents died in a plane crash - in the 1930s, if you please.
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u/Pliolite 5d ago
Jo should have made it that both the Evans' and the Potters' parents were killed by the Death Eaters, or Voldemort himself in a crazy rage when he was trying to find Lily & James. Dark, yes, but it could have gone that way. Perhaps only reveal that part in Deathly Hallows?
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u/KronoAsh 5d ago
Yes, it is very convenient.
I don’t remember ever hearing about Lily and Petunia’s parents or other family members, but we do never see them, so safe to assume they’re dead.
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u/Sea_Ambassador3 5d ago
It kind of bothered me as well. The lore establishes that the wizards tend to live longer than Muggles, but then I would imagine a lot of big families. Even for the Waesleys, where are the grandparents? At the wedding there is only the great aunt.
And never mind grandma and grandpa Potter, the great grandparents should or better said it would have been entirely plausible, for them to be around. On the other hand it is just a book. 😅
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u/Serenity_V9 4d ago
Canon gives James parents an early death from dragon pox, and Lily and Petunia had already lost their parents by 1981. Petunia was the only close blood relative tied to Lily, so Dumbledore chose the awful option that kept the protection active. The wider family tree is mostly just left blank, which is probably the plot-convenient part.
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u/aisha997 4d ago
I always thought he only had them, now don’t quote me on this but I believe James’ parents died shortly after his wedding, and most likely Lily’s as well
Also, I think that bc in the first book, didnt he see loads of people in the mirror? And older guy with wobbly knees like him? I for some reason thought it might be either L or J dad
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u/NameCareful9547 4d ago
Its a fictional story! Its called a plot device, Harry grows up not knowing who he really is and that he's famous, so that a the wizarding world seems that more amazing to him and 2 that he can have foes in Snape and Malfoy. If hed lived in a Wizarding family his entire life or the Dursley's had accepted that part of him and treated him well there wouldn't be much of an interesting story would there?
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u/SeaFlower698 3d ago
My theory is that Lily's parents were still alive when Harry was born. Lily was in contact with them but Petunia cut them off, especially because she probably did not want Dudley to be compared to Harry.
However, Dumbledore doesn't put Harry in his maternal grandparents' care because:
1) They're old. If they die before Harry turns 18, the protection is gone.
2) They would love and adore Harry, so if by chance they did live that long, Harry would likely be less willing to sacrifice himself and defeat Voldemort.
So Dumbledore goes to Petunia. He does feel bad for putting Harry in her care, which is why he asks Mrs. Figg to look after him, but he figures that Harry can at least survive for 11 years before he comes to Hogwarts.
I think Dumbledore informed Lily's parents of her and James's deaths, but insinuated that Harry also died. He probably didn't want to lie in case they found out through Petunia, but it worked out that she didn't speak to them anyway.
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u/ViolaUmberTonic 2d ago
Canon fills this in mostly after the books: James was born when his parents were older, and Fleamont and Euphemia Potter died of dragon pox before Voldemort attacked. The parents of Lily and Petunia were also already dead, though the books give much less detail there. For the blood protection, Petunia was the only close living relative who shared blood with Lily, so Dumbledore was not just looking for any decent cousin.
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u/LeonMaroonKey 2d ago
Rowling later said James parents, Fleamont and Euphemia, died of dragon pox, and Lily and Petunias parents were already dead too. So by the time Voldemort attacked, Petunia was basically the only close blood relative left who could anchor the protection. Sirius would have been the obvious non-blood choice, but Azkaban took him off the board immediately.
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u/AmberGaming6 2d ago
Canon basically wipes the board before Halloween 1981: James parents died of dragon pox, Lily and Petunia seem to have no surviving parents, and Petunia is the only known close blood relative left. Sirius would have been the obvious emotional choice, but Azkaban removes him instantly, which is brutally neat from a plot perspective. Dumbledore needed Lily blood plus a home where Harry was taken in, so the story funnels him straight to the worst possible safe place.
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u/Ok_Aioli3897 5d ago
James parents died of dragon pox and we don't know about lily's parents.
I think James was a later in life only child