Vernon Dursley

Vernon Dursley is Harry Potter's maternal uncle, the husband of Petunia Dursley and father of Dudley Dursley. As a non-magical person, or Muggle, he holds a deep-seated fear and hatred for magic and anything that deviates from his ideal of a normal, respectable life. He is the director of a drill-manufacturing company called Grunnings. For the first decade of Harry's life, and intermittently thereafter, Vernon serves as one of his primary antagonists, subjecting him to neglect and abuse. He represents the mundane, prejudiced, and intolerant world that Harry is forced to endure before his entry into the wizarding world.

Vernon Dursley lived a completely ordinary life and was proud of it. He met his future wife, Petunia Evans, at a London office where he was a junior executive. He was utterly conventional, which appealed to Petunia, and they began dating. He took an immediate dislike to Petunia's sister, Lily Evans, and her boyfriend, James Potter, upon meeting them, finding them strange and “un-Dursleyish.” After marrying Petunia, they settled at Number Four, Privet Drive, in Little Whinging, Surrey. Their life was upended on 1 November 1981, when they discovered their infant nephew, Harry Potter, on their doorstep. A letter from Albus Dumbledore explained that Harry's parents had been murdered by Lord Voldemort and asked them to take the boy in. Though they did so reluctantly, Vernon and Petunia raised Harry with contempt and cruelty, forcing him to live in a cupboard under the stairs for ten years and treating him as a servant. On Harry's eleventh birthday, Vernon went to extraordinary lengths to prevent Harry from receiving his Hogwarts acceptance letter, culminating in a frantic escape to a Hut-on-the-Rock. His efforts were thwarted by the arrival of Rubeus Hagrid, who revealed Harry's magical heritage. Throughout Harry's time at Hogwarts, Vernon's home remained Harry's reluctant summer residence due to the powerful blood protection tied to it. His interactions with the wizarding world, such as the Weasley family's visit via the Floo Network or Dumbledore's visit in 1996, were always met with fear, rage, and indignation. During the Second Wizarding War, the Dursleys were identified as targets by Voldemort due to their connection to Harry. In the summer of 1997, they were forced to abandon their home and go into hiding under the protection of the Order of the Phoenix. Vernon remained hostile and suspicious of the wizards protecting him until the very end, leaving his nephew with a grudging, awkward handshake.

Vernon is described as a “big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.” He is prone to turning various shades of red and purple when angry, which is often. His personality is defined by his obsession with normalcy and status. He is materialistic, prejudiced, narrow-minded, and has a violent temper. His greatest fear is that his neighbours will discover the “abnormality” of his nephew, which drives much of his abusive behaviour. He is the director of Grunnings, a drill company, a profession that perfectly matches his boring and rigid worldview. He is both a bully and a coward, quick to intimidate those he perceives as weaker (like Harry) but terrified of those with real power (like Hagrid or Dumbledore).

Vernon Dursley is a Muggle and possesses no magical abilities whatsoever. His significance lies in his complete lack of magic and his violent opposition to it, which provides a stark contrast to the world Harry belongs to. His only “skill” in dealing with magic is to deny its existence, shout at it, or attempt to flee from it.

• Number Four, Privet Drive: His obsessively neat and ordinary suburban home.
• Company Car: A symbol of his professional success and status.
• Rifle: He armed himself with a rifle to defend his family from the sender of Harry's Hogwarts letters, though it proved useless against Rubeus Hagrid.
• Television: He owned a new television which was destroyed during the Weasleys' attempt to retrieve Harry via the Floo Network.

• Harry Potter: Vernon viewed his nephew as a dangerous freak and a parasitic burden. His relationship with Harry was defined by systematic abuse, neglect, and a desire to “stamp the magic out of him.”
• Petunia Dursley: His wife. They shared a dedication to a conventional lifestyle and a mutual fear of magic. Vernon was the dominant figure in the marriage, and Petunia typically supported his decisions regarding Harry's mistreatment.
• Dudley Dursley: His son. Vernon adored and spoiled Dudley, viewing him as the epitome of a fine, normal boy. He was willfully blind to Dudley's faults and encouraged his bullying nature.
• Marge Dursley: His sister. Vernon shared a close relationship with Marge, as they had similar brutish personalities and a shared contempt for Harry and his parents.
• James Potter and Lily Potter: Vernon detested his in-laws, considering them to be irresponsible “freaks.” He refused to have any contact with them after one disastrous dinner meeting.
• Wizarding World: Vernon held an all-encompassing hatred for wizards and witches, whom he saw as dangerous and abnormal. He was particularly terrified of figures like Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid.

• Vernon: A common English name of Norman French origin, derived from a place name meaning “alder tree grove.” In the context of the character, the name projects a sense of stuffy, old-fashioned Britishness.
• Dursley: The name of a real market town in Gloucestershire, England. J.K. Rowling chose the name because it sounded “dull and forbidding” to her. (J.K. Rowling interview).

• In the Harry Potter film series, Vernon Dursley was portrayed by the late actor Richard Griffiths.
• J.K. Rowling has stated that Vernon's intense dislike of Harry stems partly from Harry's strong physical resemblance to James Potter, whom Vernon disliked from their very first meeting. (Pottermore).
• Rowling has also described the Dursleys as “reactionary, prejudiced, narrow-minded, ignorant and bigoted,” representing some of her “least favourite things.” (J.K. Rowling interview).
• A scene depicting a final reconciliation between Harry and his uncle was considered for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but was ultimately cut, as Rowling felt it would be untrue to their characters' natures. (J.K. Rowling interview).