magical theory - Wouldn't Aunt Petunia know that Harry couldn't use magic outside school?

The answers to this question got me thinking. Aunt Petunia probably spent her childhood with Lily and though she was bitter, was probably in close contact with her at least until she finished Hogwarts. Wouldn't she have known beforehand that they weren't allowed to use magic outside of school?

Answer

Lily actually broke the rules several times and did magic outside of school. As Petunia screams in Philosopher's Stone:

"Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that school – and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats.”

JK Rowling was apparently asked about this enough that it became an FAQ on her website, in which she reveals that Aunt Petunia was telling the truth. Lily really did do magic outside of school.

Aunt Petunia is exaggerating a little; you have to allow for her state of mind when she started shrieking these things. However, just like her son, Lily was not averse to testing the limits of the Statute of Secrecy, so you can safely assume she will have had a few warning letters – nothing too serious, though.

Petunia may have seen the magic as a child, but not realized what the letters Lily was receiving were saying.

Comments

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