Harry Potter's Grandparents

[Nurvingiel]

Harry Potter's grandparents on both his mother and father's sides have been noticeably absent from the series. Now, J.K. Rowling has mentioned at least two characters (Blaise Zabini and Dean Thomas) whose backstories she had to unfortunately delete.

However, not having Harry's grandparents in the story at all leaves some serious questions. They are his family, don't they care about him? The Evans grandparents are briefly mentioned by Petunia, who sounds bitter that they were proud that Lily was a witch. They seem to have had a falling out with Petunia, but why would they abandon Lily's child? Harry has to live with the Dursleys because of Lily's protection, but they could at least attempt to be a part of his life.

Then we have James's parents. As far as I can tell, they were both wizards, and fairly wealthy. And as wizards, they have even less reason to not be in contact with him, since Harry is at Hogwarts and they could easily send him an owl. Nothing suggests that they would abandon Harry either, but we know even less about James's parents than we do of Lily's. The Potters seem to have been a presence in the wizarding world though - Draco seems to know about them. I get the impression he didn't just want to be friends with Harry because of the Boy-Who-Lived thing, but also because his parents are wealthy purebloods (stupid term, but Draco would use it).


I have a few theories about their absence, but all these ideas have holes:

1. The Evans and Potter grandparents have both been killed by Voldemort's followers, and neither the Dursleys nor Dumbledore see fit to tell him.
Problem: Lupin, Sirius, and possibly Hagrid would have known, and IMO would have told him.

2. James and Lily went into hiding before Lily had Harry, and thus their parents never knew about him. The Dursleys wouldn't care to contact anyone in the wizarding world, nor would they do something on Harry's behalf (unless forced/scared into it).
Problem: Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, and other members of the wizarding community would know both the Potters and Harry, and put them in touch.

3. Speculate. Discuss. What do you guys think? What does the almost complete absence of Harry's grandparents say to you?