Marjorie Dursley

Marjorie “Marge” Dursley is the older sister of Vernon Dursley and a Muggle with a profound dislike for her nephew-in-law, Harry Potter. A breeder of bulldogs by trade, she is a cruel and unpleasant woman who shares her brother's prejudiced worldview. Her primary role in the series is during Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where her vicious insults about Harry's parents provoke him into performing a significant act of accidental, underage magic, leading to her being magically inflated like a balloon.

Marjorie lives in the country, where she breeds bulldogs and leads a life largely separate from her brother's family, though she visits on occasion. She held a deep-seated prejudice against Harry Potter from a young age, believing the lies told by the Dursleys that he was a delinquent attending “St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys”. In the summer of 1993, Marge visited the Dursley home at Number Four, Privet Drive for a week-long stay. During her visit, she relentlessly tormented Harry, comparing him unfavourably to her nephew Dudley Dursley and offering to kennel him with her dogs. The visit culminated in a dinner where Marge, having had too much brandy, launched into a tirade against Harry's parents. She slandered his father, James Potter, as a jobless layabout and his mother, Lily Potter, as a “bad egg” with “bad blood”. Enraged by these insults, Harry lost control of his magic and inadvertently caused Marge to inflate, swell into a monstrous balloon, and float up to the ceiling. After Harry fled the house, Marge was attended to by the Ministry of Magic's Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. They punctured her and modified her memory, erasing any recollection of the incident. Marge is mentioned again in the summer of 1995, when Dudley recounts that her favourite bulldog, Ripper, had to be put down after it savaged him. Despite her supposed distress over the loss of her dog, she still visited the Dursleys for tea, indicating her relationship with her brother's family continued.

Aunt Marge is described as being very similar to her brother, Vernon: large, beefy, and florid, with a “huge, purplish face” and very little neck. She has small, mean eyes and a mannish appearance. Her personality is domineering, cruel, and deeply prejudiced. She is loud, opinionated, and enjoys bullying those she perceives as weaker, particularly Harry. She believes firmly in corporal punishment and “firmness” as the only way to raise children. The only creatures for whom she shows any affection are her twelve bulldogs, especially her favourite, Ripper. Her hatred for Harry appears to stem from her belief that he is a flawed and ungrateful burden on her “decent, hardworking” brother.

Marjorie Dursley is a Muggle and possesses no magical abilities. She is entirely ignorant of the existence of wizards and the magical world, believing the false cover stories provided by Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

• Bulldogs: Marge owns twelve bulldogs, which she breeds. Her favourite was a particularly vicious one named Ripper. She often left her other dogs with a neighbour, Colonel Fubster, when she travelled.

• Vernon Dursley: Marge is very fond of her younger brother and shares his bombastic personality and worldview. She believes he is a model of decency and success.
• Dudley Dursley: She adores her nephew, whom she calls “Dudders” and “my little neffy-poo”. She frequently gives him expensive gifts and praises him as a “fine boy,” blind to his spoiled and bullying nature.
• Harry Potter: Marge holds Harry in complete contempt. She actively enjoys insulting and demeaning him, considering him a waste of space and a product of “bad blood”. Her cruelty is a direct catalyst for Harry's decision to run away from the Dursleys.
• Petunia Dursley: Marge's relationship with her sister-in-law seems cordial but distant. She often treats Petunia as little more than a domestic servant during her visits.
• James Potter and Lily Potter: Though she never met them, Marge harbors a vicious and false opinion of Harry's parents, presumably fed to her by Vernon. She calls James a “drunken layabout” and insults Lily's character, which ultimately proves to be her undoing.

• Marjorie: A medieval English form of Margaret, from the Greek margarites, meaning “pearl.” The name is deeply ironic given her abrasive and unpleasant character. Alternatively, the name contains the word “mar,” meaning to spoil or damage, which reflects her ruinous effect on any environment she enters.
• Dursley: J.K. Rowling chose this name after a town in Gloucestershire, England, which she has stated she found drab and uninspiring, suiting the family's personality.

• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Marjorie Dursley was portrayed by actress Pam Ferris. The film visually depicts her inflating and floating out of the house into the night sky, a slight departure from the book where she only hits the ceiling before the Ministry of Magic arrives. (film)