Petunia's eyes

[louiselux]

JKR goes out of her way in OotP to advertise the fact that Petunia's eyes are nothing like her sister's eyes, to the extent of putting the thought in brackets when Harry is looking at her.

Petunia's eyes are large and pale, like Luna's and Mrs Norris's, or even Narcissa's. Come to think of it Petunia and Narcissa both share a certain superior attitude towards the world, even if, if they ever met, Narcissa would consider Petunia the scum of the earth, being both a muggle and terribly middle class to boot.

Or are Vernon and Petunia social-climbing lower middle class? I'd guess the latter, I think. I bet Vernon used to work on the shop floor of that drills factory he now runs. They're so desperate to make sure everyone knows their status, as though they're hiding slightly less impressive beginnings.

Anyway, to get back to the point, JKR certainly seems to be making some sort of point about Petunia's and Lily's eyes being very different, but what it might mean I've no idea.

Comments

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Possibly there is a special reason why Lily was a witch (other than spontaneous muggleborn), and Petunia isn't, hence the difference in the eyes.

I like this idea, because it might explain why Petunia became (and still is) so jealous of her sister. Some sort of special occurence that meant Lily got chosen or given magical powers and Petunia did not.

[temaris.livejournal.com]

Do we ever get told which was the elder of the two?