Dudley Dursley never got much attention in the Harry Potter Kino, which meant the most intriguing mystery about his character was completely ignored. Although never a main character, Dudley has something of an individual arc in these Harry Potter Books. In the end, Harry’s cousin even made clumsy amends for his bullying over the years. Dudley realized that Harry had saved his life during the Dementor attack Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix And therefore, recognition was renewed for him. However, that’s not all that happened during this scene at Privet Drive.
When Harry and Dudley first returned to the Dursley home after the Dementor attack in Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixThe muggle boy still believed that his cousin had attacked him. It wasn’t until Harry explained about the Dementors that Dudley realized that he had been attacked by a terrible beast and that Harry was the reason his soul was still in his body. Of course, Harry had no idea that the Dementor attack had changed his cousin like that. however, There is a moment in the Order of the Phoenix Book in which Harry ponders (but never solves) a mystery involving Dudley.
Dudley heard something during the Dementor attack that changed everything
Harry became curious as to what Dudley’s worst memory might be
in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix In the book, Dudley explains to his parents what he experienced when the Dementors attacked. He said that everything was dark and that he began to hear “Thingsinside his head. This greatly disturbed Vernon and Petunia, but Harry was immediately intrigued. He knew that Dementors forced a person to experience their worst memories. Since Harry had always considered Dudley’s life perfect, he couldn’t imagine what it would have been like for his cousin to hear:
“But Dudley was unable to tell. He shivered again and shook his big blond head, and despite the sense of paralyzing dread that had settled on Harry since the arrival of the first owl, he felt a certain curiosity. Dementors caused A person to relive the worst memories of their lives… What would Dudley be forced to hear the rotten, twisted, bullying memories?
The subject of what Dudley heard during the Dementor attack was never brought up again in the Harry Potter books, and the next time this character was brought into any focus, it was during his great farewell in Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows. However, the fact that author JK Rowling wrote it indicates that she knew exactly what Dudley was experiencing. It’s not a mystery ever solved on this page, however This is a detail that must have contributed to the change in Dudley’s character during the following two books. Of course, the Harry Potter Movies cut all this nuance – but the books could have contained more clues.
The Harry Potter books may have contained subtle clues about Dudley’s worst memory
Dudley’s memory must have involved Petunia
This chapter in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the first time that Harry had ever considered that Dudley’s life could not have been perfect. As it is, this is not his only revelation. Harry mentions several times during this sequence that the Dementors coming to Little Wing have caused his two worlds – magical and Muggle – to collide. After he told his aunt and uncle that the Dementors attacked because Voldemort had returned, Harry noticed the terror and fear on Petunia’s faceWhat shocked him. For the first time, he realized that Petunia was more affected by Lily’s death than she let on:
She looked at Harry like she had never looked at him before. And suddenly, for the very first time in his life, Harry fully appreciated that Aunt Petunia was his mother’s sister. He couldn’t say why it hit him so hard. Very strong at the moment, but he wasn’t the only person in the room who had an idea of ​​why Lord Voldemort was back, had never in her life looked at him, pale eyes (so different from her sister’s ) were not narrowed in dislike or anger: they were broad and fearful that Aunt Petunia held all of Harry’s life—that there was no magic and no world but the one she inhabited—seemed to have fallen away. “
Harry realizes in this chapter that Petunia has been putting on a show all these years. She did pretended that the magical world didn’t exist and that she didn’t care about her sister’s death, but it wasn’t true. The fact that this information was presented in the same chapter in which Harry became curious about what Dudley heard from the Dementor is probably not a coincidence (literature rarely contains coincidences). Therefore, Petunia’s secret fear and pain that resulted from Lily Potter’s murder may have something to do with the Dudley mystery.
When Harry is around a Dementor, he hears his mother dying – a memory from when he was just a baby. It might be fitting, then, that when Dudley is around a Dementor, He hears how his own mother reacts to the news that her sister has been murdered. Petunia would never have allowed Uncle Vernon to see her pain, but perhaps she would have allowed herself to break down and grieve when she thought no one but her toddler (who she thought wouldn’t remember anyway) was around. The long suppressed tears and screams would have been terrible and terrible for the young boy.
Certainly, reliving the moment in which he heard his mother’s sad screams over Lily’s death would change Dudley’s perspective on Harry.
Certainly, reliving the moment in which he heard his mother’s sad screams over Lily’s death would change Dudley’s perspective on Harry. Over the next couple of years of reflection, he may have realized that his life was never what he thought. Although dense, even Dudley could eventually understand that His family abused Harry, not because the boy was bad, but because of all that suppressed pain.
The Harry Potter movies completely cut the consequences of the Dementor attack
The whole story of Dudley was neglected
Although Dudley could have seen and heard any number of things when the Dementor attacked him, it makes sense that it would have something to do with Harry and Petunia. The combination of Harry saving his life and the realization that his mother had taken her grief out on Lily’s son would surely have been enough to make Dudley reconsider his behavior. So, in Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows, Dudley shook Harry’s hand as they said goodbye, passively apologizing Because how he treated him all these years. It’s an impressive story, but the Harry Potter Kino missed it entirely.
In fact, the Harry Potter Kino completely missed all the consequences of the Dementor attack, except for Harry’s near expulsion. The moment really shook the Dursley household and showed Harry a side of his aunt he had never seen before. Petunia never earned any redemption – her treatment of Harry was far too extreme for that. however, She and Dudley are comically awfully related to individual characters Vicariously hurt by Voldemort’s crimes. The Harry Potter Movies let them do one thing, but the books reveal that they are much more complicated than that.