Let’s talk about Dudley Dursley
So I’m re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in anticipation of the movie this summer, and of course, the beginning is all about Dudley facing a few dementors (I’m sure I’m not the only one who wished he would’ve gotten hauled off to Azkaban, right? RIGHT?). Here’s a few facts about our favorite ickle popkin:
Dudley Dursley is the only son of Vernon and Petunia Dursley of number four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Dudley was born on June 23, 1980 [Y0] [see Timeline: Dudley Dursley]. As a baby, he was chubby and had blond curls. He screamed for sweets, had tantrums which involved throwing his cereal at the wall, resembled a large pink beachball wearing different colored bonnets, and on November 1, 1981 [Y1], he learned the word "won’t."
Dudley loves all things material and edible and views happiness in direct correlation with the amount of presents he receives. He is soon to continue the Dursley tradition by attending the prestigious school of Smeltings. Dudley and Harry don’t really get on, but Dudley is kind enough to give Harry his old, if somewhat big, clothes.
Harry’s aunt Petunia married a Muggle named Vernon Dursley presumably around the same time Lily and James got married, as their son Dudley is the same age as Harry. The Dursleys live in the Surrey town of Little Whinging and are mortally afraid of Harry’s magical abilities — and despise him. Although the Dursleys outwardly seem to be a respectable family, they treat Harry with disrespect and intense dislike and, when he was younger, physical and emotional abuse. The film versions cast them as upper middle class but there is ambiguity in the books as to whether this is the case. The family’s characters seem to imply they are actually upper level working class with aspirations to a higher station. They have been Harry’s reluctant guardians since he was a year old, although Harry will leave the Dursleys forever when he turns seventeen. Vernon’s sister Marge Dursley, a dog breeder, sometimes visited Vernon and Petunia, and used to terrorise Harry (these visits seem to have ended since Harry inflated her to a massive size when he was thirteen).
And here’s a great video of a whole bunch of Diddykins (and Vernon) clips:
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4 opinions for Let’s talk about Dudley Dursley
Redfox
May 15, 2007 at 13:15
I think Dudley is a wizard and we will discover this in Rowlings 7th book. Dudley has been spoiled and kept happy his whole life, but is there more to that than stupid parents? My answer is yes. Do you remeber in the Half Blood Prince when Dudley and Harry are attacked by dementors? Well clearly, Dudley knew they were there because he became all upset and even got sick. I think this is because he is remembering some magic he had done when he was younger, or he could simply see the dementors (and only wizards can see dementors). However this is a minor clue of his magic. In the last book, when Dumbledore visits the Dursleys, he tells them all that Harry is not nearly as damaged as Dudley. This is probably because Aunt Petunia made a deal with Dumbledore; she would take care of Harry if Dumbledore put a spell so Dudley wouldn’t do magic anymore. In the next book i bet this problem will arise because Dumbledore is dead so his spell will have lifted. As for the whole spoiled child thing, I think the Dursleys got Dudley whatever he wanted so he wouldn’t get upset, because as we saw with Harry, his magic occured when he was particularly upset. For example, in the 1st book, Dudley starts to get upset because he doesn’t have enough birthday presents and Aunt immediatly calms him down. Lastly, JK Rowling stated in an interview that either a muggle or a squib is really a witch or a wizard and the only people we know of are Filch, Mrs Figgs, Aunt Petunia, Dudley, and Uncle Vernon. Now to you, who seems like the most reasonable person? I am not positive that this is true, but it does seem pretty likely doesn’t it? After all, Wizard blood does run in the family, and both Lily (Aunt Petunia’s sister) and Harry are magical.
Nancy
Jun 8, 2007 at 13:09
Actually, I always thought that Uncle Vernon could be a wizard. He’s the one that’s always upset about it, but you make a good point about Dudley.
Tom
Jun 15, 2007 at 04:15
I think Dudley is definately aq squib, who has had his magical powers hidden from him when young. In an interview jkrowling says that someone who is not believed to be magic performs some magic in the seventh book. This is almost definately going to be Dudley
Juliette
May 24, 2008 at 06:27
DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ DEATHLY HALLOWS!!!!SPOILER!
I don’t think so I mean Petunia was just jealous of her sister so why would she try to stop her son from doing magic if she actually wanted to do magic herself (don’t forget the letter to dumbledore when she was a kid) And clearly all that the Dursleys want is the happiness of their child….
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