The following are supporting characters in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. For members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, Hogwarts staff, Ministry of Magic, or for Death Eaters, see the respective articles.
The Dursleys
The Dursley family are Harry Potter's last living relatives. To ensure Harry's safety, Albus Dumbledore placed him in the Dursleys' care when he was a baby. The Dursleys live at Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging in Surrey, England. They are all Muggles, and despise all things related to magic – and anything out of the ordinary in general – and the Wizarding World, especially the Potters.
Vernon Dursley
Vernon Dursley is Harry's uncle, married to his aunt Petunia. Vernon is described as a big, beefy man, looking somewhat like a walrus, with hardly any neck, and a large moustache. He is very much the head of his family, laying down most of the rules for Harry and doing most of the threatening, as well as spoiling Dudley. He is also the director of a drill-making firm, Grunnings, and seems to be quite successful in his career. He regularly reads the Daily Mail.
Uncle Vernon and his wife have grudgingly raised Harry from an early age. He and Petunia were often hostile to Harry and never informed him about the magical world, including how his parents died; instead explaining it away as a car crash. Vernon detests Harry to the degree of locking him up as a form of punishment. During the summer of Harry's second year of Hogwarts, Vernon puts bars on Harry's window to keep him at 4 Privet Drive. His plan is soon thwarted by the Weasleys, who rescue Harry in their father's flying car. Vernon also has an aversion to imagination, to any references to magic, and anything out of the ordinary.
When the Dursleys decide to leave Privet Drive to go into hiding, Vernon nearly shakes Harry's hand good-bye, though he ultimately does not bring himself to do it. In the film adaptation, he leaves without even a word to Harry although a deleted scene showing Dudley and Harry's reconciliation shows him saying "This is farewell".
Vernon is portrayed by Richard Griffiths in the films.
Petunia Dursley
Petunia Dursley is Harry's maternal aunt, Lily Potter's older sister, Vernon's wife, Dudley's mother, and Marge's sister-in-law. She is described as a bony woman with blonde hair (though dark-haired in the films) that she passed down to her son, a "rather horsey" face and a very long neck, and spends most of her time spying on her neighbours. Her eyes are large and pale, quite unlike Lily's. Her entire family, except Lily, is made up of Muggles. According to Petunia, her parents were proud of having a witch in the family, but Petunia saw her sister as a freak. In fact, Petunia was envious and resentful of Lily's magical abilities and went so far as to write to Dumbledore, pleading to be allowed to enter Hogwarts. Dumbledore gently denied her enrolment. Afterwards, Petunia grew bitter towards the school and, by extension, towards the wizarding world in general.
Petunia has more knowledge of the wizarding world than she is initially willing to admit. After the Dementors attack Harry and Dudley, Petunia states that she knows Dementors guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. When Harry and the rest of her family look at her strangely, she explains that she heard "that awful boy" telling Lily about them years ago. Harry assumes that the "awful boy" was his father, James, but in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he learns via flashback memories that it was actually Severus Snape, who knew both Lily and Petunia when they were children. On one occasion, Petunia almost throws Harry out of their house, but when she receives a Howler from Albus Dumbledore, she decides not to send the boy away due to the agreement she had made with Dumbledore. It is later revealed that she wished to be a witch as a child.
Before the Dursleys leave Privet Drive to go into hiding, Petunia almost wishes Harry good luck, suggesting that she does feel a tiny sense of familial attachment to her nephew; however her self-imposed dislike of magic prevents her from doing so, and she leaves without a word. In the film version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, she leaves Harry without showing any sentiment; however, in a deleted scene on the Blu-ray/DVD release, Petunia shows acknowledgment of the wizarding world, and ultimately deep sadness and remorse for the loss of her younger sister Lily, reminding Harry that she lost a sister as well. In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Petunia Dursley is mentioned as having died a few years after Harry's second son Albus Severus started studying at Hogwarts.