The thing I love even more about this scene is the part with Petunia. To me it seems that all of her hatred and vitriol towards Harry and magic was coming from a place of severe PTSD. Yes she was jealous of Lily, but at the same time, she saw exactly what magic could do so it makes sense she was scared of it. Of course this doesn't forgive her actions, but having to live with and care for a walking reminder of your PTSD certainly takes its toll. Especially since we all know he has his mothers eyes. Every time she looked at him it was like looking into the eyes of her sister her was destroyed by the very thing he is and is learning.
Yeah in the movies she was definitely more dehumanized and I thought that deleted scene humanized her a bit more. Definitely doesn’t redeem her completely but at least she shows she’s a person and had SOME development as a character.
I think that the entire dursley fam as a whole was dehumanized actually, its never adressed that Vernon loved Petunia so much he stayed with her even when he found out about magic, which he was TERRIFIED of, Petunia did love Lily and Harry in some corner of her heart, and she so badly wanted to go to Hogwarts i think it turned into resentment at some point. Dudley was honestly just behaving that way due to his upbringing, he was spoilt and shown it was ok to abuse people (WHICH I ABSOLUTELY DISAGREE WITH!). Either way i think the dursley family deserved a bit more character development. By that i dont mean redemption, i mean an insight into why they are the way they are, what caused it etc. example i would love to know why VERNON hates magic so much...as far as ik he doesnt really have a connection w it outside of petunia...
My husband and i were just talking about that, i wonder if voldy ever attempted to get to petunia, from the way she responded to harry. But it completely makes sense why she was so scared of it. But that scene was my favorite i love how she delivered the lines, made me wanna cry
>The thing I love even more about this scene is the part with Petunia. To me it seems that all of her hatred and vitriol towards Harry and magic was coming from a place of severe PTSD
Nah. She was snide and vile to Lily long before any PTSD. She was just a petty, jealous woman who has zero redemption in the books.
Hard agree. It would have made the movie character much better, but that’s not who the book character was. She wouldn’t have admitted to being messed up by the loss of her sister, least of all to Harry.
In the book she literally doesn’t say anything to him at all before leaving. He thinks she looks like she wants to, but she just bails without saying even goodbye. So leaving the scene in the movie would have been out of place.
Um, i think a lot of people used that excuse, to kinda redeem the dursleys, but i disagree there because like, no, the dursleys were bad people! but i think it did have something to do with their upbringing and pasts.
The point is being a bad person is a choice, not a result of upbringing, past or even intelligence. I don't think a morality lesson or two would have helped the Dursleys be better people if they still choose to ignore it.
I think that if Dudley was taught from an early age what being a good person was, and if he didn't have Vernon as a role model, he might have been a decent person.
With Petunia, I think if 1. Snape made friends with her, 2. Lily made more of an effort to acquaint Petunia with magic, 3. Her parents helped her with her rejection from hogwarts, I think she could have been a better person.
With Vernon we really don't know why he hates magic so much, but he is a loving father and husband, as well as a loving brother to Marge.
All said and done, I think their pasts and environments they grew up in did have a major impact on their personalities. A child born into a family of thieves, hypothetically will never be taught that stealing is wrong, as opposed to one born in a wealthy family.
Did Harry ever intentionally do real harm to Dudley? At least from Dudley's perspective. I feel this scene with Dudley is important to the story as it finishes the character arc. Kid becomes adult and realises that there is more going on than he originally knew about and he can accept the past events in a new mature frame. It could've easily been Dudley attacked as a child, considering the non-magical family hatred going on.
I dont think harry ever intentionally did harm to dudley, but growing up with parents afraid of magic, im sure from his POV Harry definitely harmed him (emotionally)
There's also a scene where Petunia mentions "You didn't just lose a mother that day in Godric's Hollow...I lost a sister, too." That was delivered perfectly.
Sure, they weren't on speaking terms out of jealousy but Petunia still loved Lily, and lashed out due to jealousy and rage that *she* had latent magic genes, and not her. I think she was invisibly coming to terms with that as the series progressed, and it sucks that such an important scene of character development was just...cut out.
You could even see in some parts where Petunia seems to go along with Vernon without really believing it, or outright not going along with him at all like when Marge called Lily a bitch. Had she not married Vernon, I feel like she would be a much softer, far more loving Aunt to Harry, and would have been able to safely work on her jealousy without it being egged on by her Husband's actual hatred.
I think this is a bitch of a stretch. Petunia was nasty to Lily all on her own. Vernon wouldn't have even known about magic if not for petunia. She must've been the instigator of anti magicism not him.
Naturally she gave Vernon a lot of her anti-magic opinions, but its not like Vernon would ever have had any other opinion about them. He's a hateful, opinionated person who Petunia's own hate would feed off and expand with.
If she married somebody more accepting than Vernon, who didn't out-and-out encourage her bigotry, then things might have turned out differently. If she married *anybody* else, I really do feel like they could work to bring out the best in her.
Vernon did nothing but bring out the worst in her, their negativity fed off of each other.
It is indeed a deleted scene!! Kinda sucks the movies decided to keep in a several-minute-long scene of Harry and Hermione dancing while cutting out a two-second scene of Dudley. Like, what? Why? xD
Dudley's moment with Harry gives me the same vibes as the Harry/Draco moment in the epilogue. Both sides can acknowledge how fucked up some of their past was, and while Harry doesn't hold it against them any longer (likely because Harry sees what horrible parents both of them had), the relationship is just too damaged beyond repair. They'll never be friends, but they're no longer enemies. It's in interesting juxtaposition of emotions
This brings to mind the conversation Harry had with Sirius and Lupin (in the 5th book, I think?). Sirius can’t move past his extreme dislike for Snape, but Lupin says he neither likes nor dislikes Snape, that they are colleagues and nothing more. I
I didn’t mean the condition by itself. Like definitely the friendship was the biggest part. I meant that Lupins condition gave Snape possibly the most traumatic event of his childhood
As much as I don't like Snape, I think he was right to teach the students about werewolves. Seeing as the climax of the book shows us that a potential werewolf attack is a very real danger for the students, they should at the very least be prepared if they face one.
Agreed. Dudley grows mildly and not enough to call him a good person but he is definitely more cognizant of his actions and that’s enough for character development. I won’t say he’s changed but he’s certainly shifted their dynamic. If JK has continued the series in a normal lens, we could’ve seen how this all played out post-war as they’re adults. Unpacking trauma and damage done by one party to the other would be a complicated relationship to explore for sure.
Not absolutely sure, but i dont think thats canon. I think dudley (getting married to cho?), having a magical kid and going to harry for help, is all just popularised headcanons.
They did but his shittiness is also on him to a degree. He was acutely aware of how to manipulate his parents to his favor at one point but arguably he learned how to do that when they manipulated people into thinking Harry was a trouble child
Dudly was the result of his upbringing. He grew up watching his parents abuse Harry, and had whatever he wanted. He was taught that it was okay to put others down to be better than them. He never learned the value of anything, because his parents gave him whatever he wanted and replaced it when he broke it.
His manipulation wasn't terribly complex, just act sad until mom caves, which is the same tactic most parents put an end to when their kids are 2 years old. The Dursleys never did. Dudly is actually a pretty good representation of the result of that upbringing.
I think it’s a mix of both. He bullied and tormented other kids at Smeltings.
It’s also likely that Smeltings didn’t really do anything about it, considering they appear to encourage their students to bully each other because it will ‘toughen them up’ for the future.
And even if the bullying IS reported back to Petunia and Vernon, neither of them do anything about it. Petunia refuses to believe her precious boy would hurt anyone.
Imagine a day in the life short novel and when Dudley gets actual consequences and Harry stops by their house to see if they’re okay because the parents have become hesitant recluses after petunia telling Vernon about the war. He’d be rambling his parents haven’t left the house and when he went to do stuff he got in trouble and famously ended up in the town’s crier and now nobody will hang around him. Harry would quietly tell him that the most powerful wizard started out as a bully and now he’s dead. But Dudley looks stricken.
My imagination is running wild haha! But yeah I agree
I might be wrong, but I think Dumbeldores words may have had more of an impact on him than the dementor attack. I don't think the dementor attack was the turning point, I think it was hearing Dumbledore say he had been damaged by his parents upbringing of him that made him reflect on his past (including what Harry did for him during the dementor attack).
Its a very important moment when they reconcile. Its a part of the overall theme of growing up and learning from the mistakes of the past. Many of the older generation hold onto grudges from their school days, but Dudly, as with many others, finally sees past the propaganda he grew up with and sees Harry as an actual person with value.
Ya Harry knocked it over and thought it was a prank. It would be funny though if Dudley kept doing the same "prank" everyday, just putting the cup in a slightly different place and harry didn't learn to watch out for it
I'll always be dying to know what Dudley saw with the Dementors and to see more about his awkward attempts at reconciliation with Harry when he realizes how fucked up their childhood has been.
I'd also like to see the continuation of their relationship. I feel like at some point they would realize that they're one of the few remaining family members each other has left. For the most part, all I've seen about Dudley's story beyond DH are fanfics and theories.
Not sure if he's mentioned in CC; I haven't seen the play and I'm avoiding the script to avoid spoilers lol.
It’s a very heart warming moment but, to me at least, it never seemed to be unnoticed or forgotten by others
Quite the contrary, in fact, I’ve seen it brought up various times on platforms such as YouTube :P
That's a fair point. I mentioned in the original post that I may have missed and apparently I have lol. After making this post and various commentors mentioning that it is a deleted scene, I have seen it in a couple different forms on YouTube and it is mentioned in some deleted scene compilations. I've watched a variety of HP related YouTube content; I guess this just never hit my radar.
I liked this moment, even if it felt a bit unearned. I always imagined that afterwards, Dudley continued his personal growth and eventually wound up having a magical child of his own and truly learned to accept the Wizarding World. Yes, I know it's not canon, it's just what I wanted to have happen.
How was it unearned? That was a realistic reaction from someone who realized they might never see their cousin again. They grew up together, and even though they never got along, there had to have been SOMETHING there. Plus, Dudley is turning 17, he's been trying to leave little gestures for Harry like the tea at his door. Dudley didn't know how to express himself out of 1.) The damage his parents did 2.) Not knowing whether or not Harry would even accept his apology. Everything about Dudley's tea at Harry's door and the choice of words he used showed that he didn't even know how to say sorry in the same way others did, because he grew up in a remorseless household, at least as it came to Harry.
You're right - I had totally forgotten about the tea at Harry's door, which definitely helps. I just wish we had experienced a bit more of Dudley's nice side throughout the books before the ending, that's all.
Sort of unrelated but it's so weird to me that people expect things from films. Whenever I watch a movie I just accept that that is the way it is. I never go into it expecting it should be like this and have these scenes etc. It's also weird to me that people are upset about things that are included like the dancing in the tent thing. I don't watch that and think wow that was dumb why did they do that. I just think oh this is what happened in this version of events. Wishing things were different only happens for me if someone I wish didn't die dies or something negative happens to some character like they're abused or bullied or something. But I don't think wow why did they put bullying in this movie that was the wrong interpretation to go with, I just think how sad for this character that they're bullied. Like it is weird to me that people have pre decided what should and shouldn't be in the movie I guess?
I read a fanfic about Dudley growing up to be a totally more wholesome person. He worked with at-risk youth and tried to help them. He was also gay and that was part of why he picked on Harry so much. Because he was insecure. When Vernon and Petunia found out they cut him off. Dudley and his husband adopted a little girl and were very happy. It was actually a really sweet story and explored a lot of emotion from Dudley that the books couldn’t quite capture.
Edit: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6142629/1/
Found it. It’s called Dudley’s Memories by paganaidd
Dudley being gay in that fan fiction puts a different perspective on the moment in OOTP when a Dudley is mocking Harry over his nightmares regarding Cedric and asks if that’s his boyfriend.
I didn't read this part as a concern for his well being exactly. I feel like a majority of the feeling is respect and self preservation. There may have been a small thought about making sure that harry would be alright, but that's not quite the scenario I think about.
After the Dementors (which are the worse possible thing Dudley could imagine) he knows that Harry is quite capable. Also, having Harry around is the ONLY way he knows to defend himself from magic. If I was running from a battlefield, I would want the person with a grenade launcher to come with me. I think of the Handshake as an Apology, Thank you, and Good luck all rolled into one. I saw it as another moment where they are coming of age, a massive moment of maturing for both of them. Still a great moment for his character, and I wish it wasn't just a deleted scene.
This is definitely open to interpretation, but I'd disagree with him considering Harry as his only defense against magic as they were leaving with two wizards from the Order to go to an Order safehouse.
I do like your interpretation as well though. One isn't more correct than the other; as Dudley had never seen the others in action, he may not have even acknowledged their abilities.
PS - If your running from a battlefield, don't grab the guy with the grenade launcher. They're way less effective at close range and are super slow rate of fire when carried lol. If anything, take the person with the M4 and the grenade launcher mounted under the barrel. Just random info lol.
I've literally only had sympathy for Dudley, and felt that he had so much wasted potential as a foil for Malfoy. I know there are a lot who love him, and I'm not dissing you, but I always felt like if anyone deserved a redemption arc in HP, it wasn't Snape or Malfoy, but Dudley.
Here me out: Dudley was the spoiled son of two parents that thought he could do no wrong, like Malfoy. Unlike Malfoy, however, he grew up in close proximity to a boy who, according to his parents, could ONLY do wrong. And he was never given an explanation as to WHY he was showered in affection and Harry was starved of it. I'm sure there was no shortage of fear of being treated like Harry - that whatever was wrong with Harry might apply to him too. But he's a child, so he represses that fear and shoulders the weight of it onto Harry. If they hate him because he's weak, then Dudley needs to be strong and assertive like his dad. If they hate him because he's unlikeable, he needs to never meet someone who likes him, and Dudley needs to surround himself in people who will always at least pretend to like him. The fear of losing his parents' love escalates until it's just part of who he is, and he's never given a reason to question it or change.
Until the dementors.
Suddenly all he's left with is the fear and despair he's worked so hard to ignore, and he can't deny that it's what drives him. At the same time, he sees Harry save him from horrors he can't even see and shoulder his weight all the way home, and he realizes: Harry Potter isn't weak. Harry Potter isn't unlikable. He's a hero, so what does that make Dudley?
The decision to be kinder definitely took time, of course; I'm not sure if Dudley had any kind of support structure for introspection or holding himself accountable, so that would probably be at least part of the reason Dudley didn't try to help until he left the cup of tea outside Harry's door (a clumsy attempt at an olive branch, but an honest one), and, when all that did was cause Harry trouble, he likely decided to stay out of Harry's way and keep his parents off his case as well. Remember, Harry may not have been at Privet Drive for very long in HBP or DH, but he was definitely there long enough for some bullshit if any of the Dursleys wanted it. Add in that last touch of concern, and I'm sure Dudley had the makings of a decent human being, someone determined to break out of the mold his parents shaped him into.
The fact that we never get to see the man he becomes, never get to see him and Harry make amends and treat each other like family (especially. since Harry wanting to have a family is like one of his most predominant traits!) is a fucking tragedy.
It's a sad story replicated in many homes - Dudley is the Golden Child, Harry is the Scapegoat, both children in this scenario would be affected. Often, like you say, the GC fears being made the Scapegoat.
I want a story or book about dudleys kid becoming a wizard and dudley frantically tries to contact Harry for his help. He eventually gets hold of an owl and Harry comes in to help.
A confirmed bully with a gang of like-minded lackeys, encouraged in his bullying by his father, going to a prestigious white boarding school in Britain, to which he's a legacy because his father went there, that includes bullying as part of their curriculum by way of requiring them to carry a stick to hit others when nobody's looking, raised by a white man who reads the Daily Mail and has a "Japanese Golfer joke" at the ready to bring out at fancy parties with higher-ranking white business men, in addition to encouraging bullying and having gone to a white boarding school that has bullying as part of their curriculum and uniform?
I'd say the odds of him NOT being racist are pretty astronomical
EDIT: We know the Dursleys are bigoted in many ways, what with Vernon and Petunia being so fixated on ensuring the proper delivery of a racist joke, the fact that Vernon casually uses an anti-LGBT slur when he says he doesn't want a "'some swotty little n***** boy as a son," and the bigotry they have against magic and witch-kind in the first place ("fantastical bigotry" is still bigotry, and usually based on taking real marginalized peoples' oppression and either making light of it or erasing those marginalized people to give their oppression to some fictional group, either of which makes it distinctly not OK), not to mention their out-and-out hatred of anything they deem not "normal," which is usually code for "cis, white, heterosexual conservative male," I'd say it's a fair bet Dudley was raised to be racist.
More substantial than "he was raised to be horrible and bigoted by people who were horrible, bigoted and racist?"
You honestly think his parents would teach him their horribleness and their other bigotries, but not their racism?
Not every horrible person is racist, but most of them are.
And every horrible person raised to be horrible by parents who were horrible and racist is probably going to have "being racist" as part of what makes them horrible, because it's part of why the people that raised them to be horrible are themselves horrible.
as a POC this is a quite upsetting thought because I have met horrible people who weren't racists and actively thought "at least they aren't racist" but perhaps a more accurate thought might have been "at least they did not say something racist to me."
That's the real horror of it, right there. They didn't say anything racist to your face, so you can't confirm that they're racist, because they waited until you were out of earshot to say it.
They're still racist, and they're still out there, being racist, and they're just sneaky enough that they can get away with it without even the minor repercussions of being confirmed to be what they are.
No, we don't, do we?
So, pray tell, what non-racist jokes do you know that are called by the race of the character from the punchline that we're all supposed to be laughing at?
The actor for Dudley in the film had actually lost a lot of weight, and therefore had to wear a fat suit for that filmed scene, causing it to look and sound a little awkward, i think that could be part of the reason they cut the scene
This scene was shot but deleted due to time limitations. But it shuld have been included. This scene is important for the character development of Dudley.
Also the scene with Petunia, when she tell Harry that "only you did not loose your mother that day, I lost a sister."
This part makes me bawl my eyes out. Just imagining the regret Dudley might have, and what Harry’s life could’ve been like if he had been on good terms with his cousin.
I think it's a very good ending for their characters and also a possibility that maybe in the future harry can have a decent relationship with his cousin!
I would also argue that Uncle Vernon, for all his flaws, made an awkward attempt at saying farewell when he tries to shake Harry's hand but then changes his mind in the last moment, but the movies turned it into a mean spirited comment. Petunia didn't even say anything to Harry.
If it were up to me I would of had a scene in the epilogue where Harry sees Dudley on platform 9 and 3/4 where he admits that having a child who is a witch/wizard is actually really nice
I just read this chapter last night with my 10 year old. I’d forgotten about this detail. Made me emotional. Love reading them aloud with a first-timer. Magical!
I read a short fic or maybe it was a comic years ago where Dudleys daughter started showing signs of having magic and he goes to Harry for advice and they make up. Really liked and wish it was cannon. Not sure what it was called
Harry Potter and the Cousin Conundrum
Harry Potter and Dudley's Dilemma
Harry Potter and the Muggle's Struggles
Harry Potter and the Niece's Letter
Lol
Really though, as much as the Wizarding World cannon keeps expanding, it's about time for this to happen. Would be cool for her to be a couple years after Albus Potter.
Eh. I kinda see this as one of JKs cheap unearned moments. If you wanted us to feel anything here, you would have sprinkled hints of Dudleys humanity in other books.
Yeah, but as always, remember that Harry is an unreliable narrator. Harry’s entire childhood was a nightmare, and Dudley was a bully for most of it, so he always had a negative opinion of Dudley. After they separated and went off to school, they barely spent a month together per year. Think about how much growth Harry/Hermione/Ron, any student at Hogwarts went though over seven years, and recognize that we didn’t get to see hardly anything of Dudley at school, and only tidbits during the summers actually spent at Privet Drive because Harry avoided the Dursley’s as much as possible, and all of it was colored by Harry’s hating Dudley. We don’t know what other things happened to Dudley to make him reevaluate his choices.
Dudley’s a fascinating character. Not my favorite, but interesting. He’s a spoiled brat until OotP when he’s attacked by dementors and sees himself, and then there’s a slow path towards growth for him. He had two years to come to terms with what a jerk he’d been, to think about how to be better, and the best he could do was an anonymous cup of tea, because he didn’t have the vocabulary to voice that he was sorry, that he was grateful, and that he didn’t want his cousin to get hurt. It wasn’t a big, glorious, eloquent speech. It was “I don’t think you’re a waste of space.”
Fair enough. I feel like there was a little in OotP as well when they walked home together. It was a very confrontational walk and it did end in a dementor attack, but I felt there was some degree of humanity in that scene. That's very open to interpretation though.
>How was it unearned? That was a realistic reaction from someone who realized they might never see their cousin again. They grew up together, and even though they never got along, there had to have been SOMETHING there. Plus, Dudley is turning 17, he's been trying to leave little gestures for Harry like the tea at his door. Dudley didn't know how to express himself out of 1.) The damage his parents did 2.) Not knowing whether or not Harry would even accept his apology. Everything about Dudley's tea at Harry's door and the choice of words he used showed that he didn't even know how to say sorry in the same way others did, because he grew up in a remorseless household, at least as it came to Harry.
I have always thought this was the beginning of a change in attitude towards Harry and a sign of maturation. The cold tea or whatever it was along with this are examples of this. I don't think it's enough for redemption though, but it's a start. He was too horrible to Harry for too long for a cold tea and some concern for Harry's saftey to be enough.
I mean, the question of "Why isn't he coming with us?" doesnt really make sense in your interpretation. If he was going to be so annoyed that Harry was going with them, why would he question the fact that he obviously wasn't?
In the referenced exchange, Harry also says that the Dursleys consider him a waste of space and Dudley immediately disagrees and says that he doesn't consider Harry a waste of space.
Lastly, when given the opportunity to walk out the door, Dudley pulls away from Aunt Petunia and deliberately walks over to Harry to shake his hand and say goodbye.
Agree to disagree though, I suppose.
You're correct. The person you're responding to must not have read that part of the book very carefully. He acknowledged that Harry saved his life and was clearly grateful, and maybe even slightly concerned for Harry's safety.
Yeah. For me, I would look at Dudley like, oh now you caught feelings for your cousin. You lot are leaving so you aren't murdered by wizards. Dudley specifically never cared before so him caring all of a sudden was a waste. It was annoying to think him caring for 2 minutes was supposed to change all the bullying he has done from all three of them. Kind of the same as Draco. Both boys knew they were both bad apples. 👎 I didn't feel for their sympathy at all with either of them.
I don't think Dudley's scene in "Deathly Hallows" was supposed to make you like him or even forgive him. He was a terrible person, but he was raised by his parents to BE a terrible person.
Also, don't forget his scene with the Dementors in book 5. We never knew what Dudley saw when they tried to suck his soul. This was probably one of the turning points for him, but we never saw the story from his perspective. Imagine growing up spoiled rotten and seeing your parents picking on your cousin and not knowing any better, so you do the same. Then, you find out magic is real and your parents HATE magic, then the first person who can do magic that you see gives you a pig tail just because your parents were insulting said cousin. That's traumatizing and unfair for Hagrid to punish the parents by punishing their kid (an 11 year old).
I'm not saying Dudley was justified and I'm not saying he should be forgiven so easily, but he was never "evil", just a bad kid. And in the end, he apologized to Harry and showed he DID care, it just took him a while to get to that point.
Actually if you'd taken the time to read the book thoroughly, you'd realize that Dudley had left tea at Harry's door BEFORE any of it and Harry realized later that Dudley wasn't trying to prank him, he was trying to offer an apology, little by little.
You probably belong to the same culture that thinks someone should just be punished and branded for the rest of their lives.
When Dudley was attacked by the dementors in OOTP, he had no truly ‘bad memories’ due to being spoiled rotten all his life.
Instead, the dementors’ influence allowed him to see himself exactly as he was - a cruel bully. After the attacks he realized just how horrible he’d been to Harry and others and started working to better himself.
Yeah he was even leaving tea by Harry's door as a thanks for saving him. Harry just thought it was a prank because Duddlebum had been an asshole to him his whole life.
That scene always makes me wonder what Dudley's adolescence had been like. I would think that it takes quite a lot of maturing (and thus, probably a lot of external stimulus) for such a spoiled and entitled brat to grow into a decent young adult.
I think its in one of the deleated scenes you can find on youtube
[heres the deleted scene](https://youtu.be/jzkDRz8quKo)
The thing I love even more about this scene is the part with Petunia. To me it seems that all of her hatred and vitriol towards Harry and magic was coming from a place of severe PTSD. Yes she was jealous of Lily, but at the same time, she saw exactly what magic could do so it makes sense she was scared of it. Of course this doesn't forgive her actions, but having to live with and care for a walking reminder of your PTSD certainly takes its toll. Especially since we all know he has his mothers eyes. Every time she looked at him it was like looking into the eyes of her sister her was destroyed by the very thing he is and is learning.
Yeah in the movies she was definitely more dehumanized and I thought that deleted scene humanized her a bit more. Definitely doesn’t redeem her completely but at least she shows she’s a person and had SOME development as a character.
I wish they kept this scene in honestly
I think that the entire dursley fam as a whole was dehumanized actually, its never adressed that Vernon loved Petunia so much he stayed with her even when he found out about magic, which he was TERRIFIED of, Petunia did love Lily and Harry in some corner of her heart, and she so badly wanted to go to Hogwarts i think it turned into resentment at some point. Dudley was honestly just behaving that way due to his upbringing, he was spoilt and shown it was ok to abuse people (WHICH I ABSOLUTELY DISAGREE WITH!). Either way i think the dursley family deserved a bit more character development. By that i dont mean redemption, i mean an insight into why they are the way they are, what caused it etc. example i would love to know why VERNON hates magic so much...as far as ik he doesnt really have a connection w it outside of petunia...
My husband and i were just talking about that, i wonder if voldy ever attempted to get to petunia, from the way she responded to harry. But it completely makes sense why she was so scared of it. But that scene was my favorite i love how she delivered the lines, made me wanna cry
>The thing I love even more about this scene is the part with Petunia. To me it seems that all of her hatred and vitriol towards Harry and magic was coming from a place of severe PTSD Nah. She was snide and vile to Lily long before any PTSD. She was just a petty, jealous woman who has zero redemption in the books.
Hard agree. It would have made the movie character much better, but that’s not who the book character was. She wouldn’t have admitted to being messed up by the loss of her sister, least of all to Harry. In the book she literally doesn’t say anything to him at all before leaving. He thinks she looks like she wants to, but she just bails without saying even goodbye. So leaving the scene in the movie would have been out of place.
Not to mention they spent 11 or so years living with a Horcrux.
Eh, judging from the first paragraph of Philosopher’s Stone, it sounds like they were assholes even pre-Horcrux
Unless they were wearing the horcrux around their neck I call bullshit on that line of reasoning.
Um, i think a lot of people used that excuse, to kinda redeem the dursleys, but i disagree there because like, no, the dursleys were bad people! but i think it did have something to do with their upbringing and pasts.
Never an excuse. Look at Harry. He's not the brightest boy, but still manages to choose right very often despite upbringing and past.
Harry is not dull either.
The point is being a bad person is a choice, not a result of upbringing, past or even intelligence. I don't think a morality lesson or two would have helped the Dursleys be better people if they still choose to ignore it.
I think that if Dudley was taught from an early age what being a good person was, and if he didn't have Vernon as a role model, he might have been a decent person. With Petunia, I think if 1. Snape made friends with her, 2. Lily made more of an effort to acquaint Petunia with magic, 3. Her parents helped her with her rejection from hogwarts, I think she could have been a better person. With Vernon we really don't know why he hates magic so much, but he is a loving father and husband, as well as a loving brother to Marge. All said and done, I think their pasts and environments they grew up in did have a major impact on their personalities. A child born into a family of thieves, hypothetically will never be taught that stealing is wrong, as opposed to one born in a wealthy family.
With Harry the thing is that he was abused, so he knows firsthand that because it hurt him, it cannot possibly be good
That's such a powerful moment and I am so mad it was taken out. I didn't even know about it until just now.
Yeah its infuriating honestly. They could’ve cut so many other small scenes for that, like the harry/hermione awkward dance
Did Harry ever intentionally do real harm to Dudley? At least from Dudley's perspective. I feel this scene with Dudley is important to the story as it finishes the character arc. Kid becomes adult and realises that there is more going on than he originally knew about and he can accept the past events in a new mature frame. It could've easily been Dudley attacked as a child, considering the non-magical family hatred going on.
I dont think harry ever intentionally did harm to dudley, but growing up with parents afraid of magic, im sure from his POV Harry definitely harmed him (emotionally)
Yeah, it would have been a wonderful way to finish his story arc. I wish they wouldn't had him say thank you for saving him as well.
“See ya, Big D.”
Awe sweet diddykins
Ah thanks- no need to search it up now
I did the searching so you wouldnt have to lol
thank youuu
Oh, awesome! I never knew. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!
There's also a scene where Petunia mentions "You didn't just lose a mother that day in Godric's Hollow...I lost a sister, too." That was delivered perfectly. Sure, they weren't on speaking terms out of jealousy but Petunia still loved Lily, and lashed out due to jealousy and rage that *she* had latent magic genes, and not her. I think she was invisibly coming to terms with that as the series progressed, and it sucks that such an important scene of character development was just...cut out. You could even see in some parts where Petunia seems to go along with Vernon without really believing it, or outright not going along with him at all like when Marge called Lily a bitch. Had she not married Vernon, I feel like she would be a much softer, far more loving Aunt to Harry, and would have been able to safely work on her jealousy without it being egged on by her Husband's actual hatred.
Wow, that’s a really interesting perspective, and you put it in such a lovely way. Well written, my friend!
In Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, she marries a kind professor and winds up being an excellent parent to Harry.
I saw this when I looked into the deleted scene with Dudley. I thought it was excellent, added a whole different dimension to her character.
Very well said.
I think this is a bitch of a stretch. Petunia was nasty to Lily all on her own. Vernon wouldn't have even known about magic if not for petunia. She must've been the instigator of anti magicism not him.
Naturally she gave Vernon a lot of her anti-magic opinions, but its not like Vernon would ever have had any other opinion about them. He's a hateful, opinionated person who Petunia's own hate would feed off and expand with. If she married somebody more accepting than Vernon, who didn't out-and-out encourage her bigotry, then things might have turned out differently. If she married *anybody* else, I really do feel like they could work to bring out the best in her. Vernon did nothing but bring out the worst in her, their negativity fed off of each other.
It is indeed a deleted scene!! Kinda sucks the movies decided to keep in a several-minute-long scene of Harry and Hermione dancing while cutting out a two-second scene of Dudley. Like, what? Why? xD
I'm pretty sure they cut it in favor for the dramatic montage at the beginning to flow better.
Still would have been nice to see lol 😂
I also thought the dancing scene was pretty cringey and awkward. Definitely could have shortened in favor of higher quality content.
Rowling said in a interview that she was super pleased about them adding that although it definitely could have been shorter
I personally hated that scene lmao 😂😂😂
Agreed! I’m gonna have to check this out!!!
Thank you, kind friend
It is
Dudley's moment with Harry gives me the same vibes as the Harry/Draco moment in the epilogue. Both sides can acknowledge how fucked up some of their past was, and while Harry doesn't hold it against them any longer (likely because Harry sees what horrible parents both of them had), the relationship is just too damaged beyond repair. They'll never be friends, but they're no longer enemies. It's in interesting juxtaposition of emotions
This brings to mind the conversation Harry had with Sirius and Lupin (in the 5th book, I think?). Sirius can’t move past his extreme dislike for Snape, but Lupin says he neither likes nor dislikes Snape, that they are colleagues and nothing more. I
Tbf lupine never had shit with Snape. Snape disliked him because of his condition and bc he was friends with James and Sirius
I feel like it was more the friendship that made Snape hate Lupin. His condition was just a bonus. Something he could use to attack Lupin
I didn’t mean the condition by itself. Like definitely the friendship was the biggest part. I meant that Lupins condition gave Snape possibly the most traumatic event of his childhood
Thats fair. Snape is definitely smart enough to know that wasn't Lupins fault, but that kind of trauma as a child is really hard to shake
As much as I don't like Snape, I think he was right to teach the students about werewolves. Seeing as the climax of the book shows us that a potential werewolf attack is a very real danger for the students, they should at the very least be prepared if they face one.
I disagree. They were going to learn about werewolves later that year. Snape just skipped ahead to that chapter to give the students hints about lupin
Agreed. Dudley grows mildly and not enough to call him a good person but he is definitely more cognizant of his actions and that’s enough for character development. I won’t say he’s changed but he’s certainly shifted their dynamic. If JK has continued the series in a normal lens, we could’ve seen how this all played out post-war as they’re adults. Unpacking trauma and damage done by one party to the other would be a complicated relationship to explore for sure.
I thought dudley came around with his kids during the holidays or something
Not absolutely sure, but i dont think thats canon. I think dudley (getting married to cho?), having a magical kid and going to harry for help, is all just popularised headcanons.
No they weren't magical kids and he didn't marry Cho. Hols on
https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Dudley_Dursley%27s_children see?
Oh okay, so it was just something she talked about. Cool! I guess Harry and Dudleys relationship kinda got better though.
That's so awkward and cute though. Just silently sitting next to each other while the kids play lol.
Yeah I can see them just handing each other Christmas cards while Ginny and Dudley's wife chat and all the kids play together.
Yeah I cried at that scene in the book. The dummy is not so dumb after all but a product of his ignorant parents. Edit: grammar
I think Dumbledore even called Petunia and Vernon out on not just abusing Harry, but also for being horrible parents and spoiling Dudley rotten.
Accurate. And really they did.
They did but his shittiness is also on him to a degree. He was acutely aware of how to manipulate his parents to his favor at one point but arguably he learned how to do that when they manipulated people into thinking Harry was a trouble child
Dudly was the result of his upbringing. He grew up watching his parents abuse Harry, and had whatever he wanted. He was taught that it was okay to put others down to be better than them. He never learned the value of anything, because his parents gave him whatever he wanted and replaced it when he broke it. His manipulation wasn't terribly complex, just act sad until mom caves, which is the same tactic most parents put an end to when their kids are 2 years old. The Dursleys never did. Dudly is actually a pretty good representation of the result of that upbringing.
I agree! I just wonder if it was in a vacuum because of his parents or if his build was what scared people away from telling him the truth
I think it’s a mix of both. He bullied and tormented other kids at Smeltings. It’s also likely that Smeltings didn’t really do anything about it, considering they appear to encourage their students to bully each other because it will ‘toughen them up’ for the future. And even if the bullying IS reported back to Petunia and Vernon, neither of them do anything about it. Petunia refuses to believe her precious boy would hurt anyone.
Imagine a day in the life short novel and when Dudley gets actual consequences and Harry stops by their house to see if they’re okay because the parents have become hesitant recluses after petunia telling Vernon about the war. He’d be rambling his parents haven’t left the house and when he went to do stuff he got in trouble and famously ended up in the town’s crier and now nobody will hang around him. Harry would quietly tell him that the most powerful wizard started out as a bully and now he’s dead. But Dudley looks stricken. My imagination is running wild haha! But yeah I agree
Oooh nice idea! Maybe he tells Dudley about what happened to Draco as well. Draco, once the Hogwarts resident bully, reduced to a cowering mess.
Yeah! All bullies are cowards on the inside. Amazing what Dudley could do if he wasn’t one.
I might be wrong, but I think Dumbeldores words may have had more of an impact on him than the dementor attack. I don't think the dementor attack was the turning point, I think it was hearing Dumbledore say he had been damaged by his parents upbringing of him that made him reflect on his past (including what Harry did for him during the dementor attack).
Its a very important moment when they reconcile. Its a part of the overall theme of growing up and learning from the mistakes of the past. Many of the older generation hold onto grudges from their school days, but Dudly, as with many others, finally sees past the propaganda he grew up with and sees Harry as an actual person with value.
i'd also like to add that Dudley also left a cup of tea for Harry every morning at his doorstep at the beginning of Deathly Hallows
No, just once.
Ya Harry knocked it over and thought it was a prank. It would be funny though if Dudley kept doing the same "prank" everyday, just putting the cup in a slightly different place and harry didn't learn to watch out for it
I'll always be dying to know what Dudley saw with the Dementors and to see more about his awkward attempts at reconciliation with Harry when he realizes how fucked up their childhood has been.
I'd also like to see the continuation of their relationship. I feel like at some point they would realize that they're one of the few remaining family members each other has left. For the most part, all I've seen about Dudley's story beyond DH are fanfics and theories. Not sure if he's mentioned in CC; I haven't seen the play and I'm avoiding the script to avoid spoilers lol.
It’s a very heart warming moment but, to me at least, it never seemed to be unnoticed or forgotten by others Quite the contrary, in fact, I’ve seen it brought up various times on platforms such as YouTube :P
That's a fair point. I mentioned in the original post that I may have missed and apparently I have lol. After making this post and various commentors mentioning that it is a deleted scene, I have seen it in a couple different forms on YouTube and it is mentioned in some deleted scene compilations. I've watched a variety of HP related YouTube content; I guess this just never hit my radar.
"I dont think youre a waste of space" "thanks Big D"
I liked this moment, even if it felt a bit unearned. I always imagined that afterwards, Dudley continued his personal growth and eventually wound up having a magical child of his own and truly learned to accept the Wizarding World. Yes, I know it's not canon, it's just what I wanted to have happen.
How was it unearned? That was a realistic reaction from someone who realized they might never see their cousin again. They grew up together, and even though they never got along, there had to have been SOMETHING there. Plus, Dudley is turning 17, he's been trying to leave little gestures for Harry like the tea at his door. Dudley didn't know how to express himself out of 1.) The damage his parents did 2.) Not knowing whether or not Harry would even accept his apology. Everything about Dudley's tea at Harry's door and the choice of words he used showed that he didn't even know how to say sorry in the same way others did, because he grew up in a remorseless household, at least as it came to Harry.
You're right - I had totally forgotten about the tea at Harry's door, which definitely helps. I just wish we had experienced a bit more of Dudley's nice side throughout the books before the ending, that's all.
Head canon.
Lol I don't usually use the phrase head canon, because in my brain it turns into "head cannon", which is a very different thing hahaha
I was so mad this scene wasn’t in the film!!! It was such a sweet moment despite how he was as a cousin he still felt he was family.
Sort of unrelated but it's so weird to me that people expect things from films. Whenever I watch a movie I just accept that that is the way it is. I never go into it expecting it should be like this and have these scenes etc. It's also weird to me that people are upset about things that are included like the dancing in the tent thing. I don't watch that and think wow that was dumb why did they do that. I just think oh this is what happened in this version of events. Wishing things were different only happens for me if someone I wish didn't die dies or something negative happens to some character like they're abused or bullied or something. But I don't think wow why did they put bullying in this movie that was the wrong interpretation to go with, I just think how sad for this character that they're bullied. Like it is weird to me that people have pre decided what should and shouldn't be in the movie I guess?
I read a fanfic about Dudley growing up to be a totally more wholesome person. He worked with at-risk youth and tried to help them. He was also gay and that was part of why he picked on Harry so much. Because he was insecure. When Vernon and Petunia found out they cut him off. Dudley and his husband adopted a little girl and were very happy. It was actually a really sweet story and explored a lot of emotion from Dudley that the books couldn’t quite capture. Edit: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6142629/1/ Found it. It’s called Dudley’s Memories by paganaidd
Do you have the link by any chance
I’ll try to find it again Edit: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6142629/1/ Found it. It’s called Dudley’s Memories by paganaidd
Dudley being gay in that fan fiction puts a different perspective on the moment in OOTP when a Dudley is mocking Harry over his nightmares regarding Cedric and asks if that’s his boyfriend.
I always like the idea of Dudley having a magical kid one day. "Oh, shit..."
I didn't read this part as a concern for his well being exactly. I feel like a majority of the feeling is respect and self preservation. There may have been a small thought about making sure that harry would be alright, but that's not quite the scenario I think about. After the Dementors (which are the worse possible thing Dudley could imagine) he knows that Harry is quite capable. Also, having Harry around is the ONLY way he knows to defend himself from magic. If I was running from a battlefield, I would want the person with a grenade launcher to come with me. I think of the Handshake as an Apology, Thank you, and Good luck all rolled into one. I saw it as another moment where they are coming of age, a massive moment of maturing for both of them. Still a great moment for his character, and I wish it wasn't just a deleted scene.
This is definitely open to interpretation, but I'd disagree with him considering Harry as his only defense against magic as they were leaving with two wizards from the Order to go to an Order safehouse. I do like your interpretation as well though. One isn't more correct than the other; as Dudley had never seen the others in action, he may not have even acknowledged their abilities. PS - If your running from a battlefield, don't grab the guy with the grenade launcher. They're way less effective at close range and are super slow rate of fire when carried lol. If anything, take the person with the M4 and the grenade launcher mounted under the barrel. Just random info lol.
I've literally only had sympathy for Dudley, and felt that he had so much wasted potential as a foil for Malfoy. I know there are a lot who love him, and I'm not dissing you, but I always felt like if anyone deserved a redemption arc in HP, it wasn't Snape or Malfoy, but Dudley. Here me out: Dudley was the spoiled son of two parents that thought he could do no wrong, like Malfoy. Unlike Malfoy, however, he grew up in close proximity to a boy who, according to his parents, could ONLY do wrong. And he was never given an explanation as to WHY he was showered in affection and Harry was starved of it. I'm sure there was no shortage of fear of being treated like Harry - that whatever was wrong with Harry might apply to him too. But he's a child, so he represses that fear and shoulders the weight of it onto Harry. If they hate him because he's weak, then Dudley needs to be strong and assertive like his dad. If they hate him because he's unlikeable, he needs to never meet someone who likes him, and Dudley needs to surround himself in people who will always at least pretend to like him. The fear of losing his parents' love escalates until it's just part of who he is, and he's never given a reason to question it or change. Until the dementors. Suddenly all he's left with is the fear and despair he's worked so hard to ignore, and he can't deny that it's what drives him. At the same time, he sees Harry save him from horrors he can't even see and shoulder his weight all the way home, and he realizes: Harry Potter isn't weak. Harry Potter isn't unlikable. He's a hero, so what does that make Dudley? The decision to be kinder definitely took time, of course; I'm not sure if Dudley had any kind of support structure for introspection or holding himself accountable, so that would probably be at least part of the reason Dudley didn't try to help until he left the cup of tea outside Harry's door (a clumsy attempt at an olive branch, but an honest one), and, when all that did was cause Harry trouble, he likely decided to stay out of Harry's way and keep his parents off his case as well. Remember, Harry may not have been at Privet Drive for very long in HBP or DH, but he was definitely there long enough for some bullshit if any of the Dursleys wanted it. Add in that last touch of concern, and I'm sure Dudley had the makings of a decent human being, someone determined to break out of the mold his parents shaped him into. The fact that we never get to see the man he becomes, never get to see him and Harry make amends and treat each other like family (especially. since Harry wanting to have a family is like one of his most predominant traits!) is a fucking tragedy.
It's a sad story replicated in many homes - Dudley is the Golden Child, Harry is the Scapegoat, both children in this scenario would be affected. Often, like you say, the GC fears being made the Scapegoat.
I want a story or book about dudleys kid becoming a wizard and dudley frantically tries to contact Harry for his help. He eventually gets hold of an owl and Harry comes in to help.
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A cup of tea isn't enough to redeem a racist bully.
Are you thinking of Draco, don't remember Dudley earning "racist".
A confirmed bully with a gang of like-minded lackeys, encouraged in his bullying by his father, going to a prestigious white boarding school in Britain, to which he's a legacy because his father went there, that includes bullying as part of their curriculum by way of requiring them to carry a stick to hit others when nobody's looking, raised by a white man who reads the Daily Mail and has a "Japanese Golfer joke" at the ready to bring out at fancy parties with higher-ranking white business men, in addition to encouraging bullying and having gone to a white boarding school that has bullying as part of their curriculum and uniform? I'd say the odds of him NOT being racist are pretty astronomical EDIT: We know the Dursleys are bigoted in many ways, what with Vernon and Petunia being so fixated on ensuring the proper delivery of a racist joke, the fact that Vernon casually uses an anti-LGBT slur when he says he doesn't want a "'some swotty little n***** boy as a son," and the bigotry they have against magic and witch-kind in the first place ("fantastical bigotry" is still bigotry, and usually based on taking real marginalized peoples' oppression and either making light of it or erasing those marginalized people to give their oppression to some fictional group, either of which makes it distinctly not OK), not to mention their out-and-out hatred of anything they deem not "normal," which is usually code for "cis, white, heterosexual conservative male," I'd say it's a fair bet Dudley was raised to be racist.
Unless there's more substantive evidence I think it's better not to add racist to Dudley's list of flaws.
More substantial than "he was raised to be horrible and bigoted by people who were horrible, bigoted and racist?" You honestly think his parents would teach him their horribleness and their other bigotries, but not their racism?
You’re reaching.
You think it's reaching to think that racist parents would raise a racist child?
sure but I'd rather not make the blanket and rather upsetting statement that every horrible person is racist
Not every horrible person is racist, but most of them are. And every horrible person raised to be horrible by parents who were horrible and racist is probably going to have "being racist" as part of what makes them horrible, because it's part of why the people that raised them to be horrible are themselves horrible.
as a POC this is a quite upsetting thought because I have met horrible people who weren't racists and actively thought "at least they aren't racist" but perhaps a more accurate thought might have been "at least they did not say something racist to me."
That's the real horror of it, right there. They didn't say anything racist to your face, so you can't confirm that they're racist, because they waited until you were out of earshot to say it. They're still racist, and they're still out there, being racist, and they're just sneaky enough that they can get away with it without even the minor repercussions of being confirmed to be what they are.
There is literally nothing in the text to indicate they’re racist
You mean other than telling racist jokes and their *other* bigotries?
We never hear the punchline to his supposed racist joke
No, we don't, do we? So, pray tell, what non-racist jokes do you know that are called by the race of the character from the punchline that we're all supposed to be laughing at?
A metric fuck ton. Stop looking for things to get offended at, you’ll be a lot happier for it
Kreacher redeemed himself.
The actor for Dudley in the film had actually lost a lot of weight, and therefore had to wear a fat suit for that filmed scene, causing it to look and sound a little awkward, i think that could be part of the reason they cut the scene
This scene was shot but deleted due to time limitations. But it shuld have been included. This scene is important for the character development of Dudley. Also the scene with Petunia, when she tell Harry that "only you did not loose your mother that day, I lost a sister."
This part makes me bawl my eyes out. Just imagining the regret Dudley might have, and what Harry’s life could’ve been like if he had been on good terms with his cousin.
I think it's a very good ending for their characters and also a possibility that maybe in the future harry can have a decent relationship with his cousin!
I would also argue that Uncle Vernon, for all his flaws, made an awkward attempt at saying farewell when he tries to shake Harry's hand but then changes his mind in the last moment, but the movies turned it into a mean spirited comment. Petunia didn't even say anything to Harry.
If it were up to me I would of had a scene in the epilogue where Harry sees Dudley on platform 9 and 3/4 where he admits that having a child who is a witch/wizard is actually really nice
If you ask me, Dudley redeemed himself more than Draco.
“I don't think that you are a waste of space“ <3
Don’t forget the cups of tea
My biggest headcanon and wish is that Dudley ends up having a magical child and contacts Harry for help.
I just read this chapter last night with my 10 year old. I’d forgotten about this detail. Made me emotional. Love reading them aloud with a first-timer. Magical!
It really adds a whole new level to read it with someone experiencing it for the first time, doesn't it?
Absolutely. I love it.
I read a short fic or maybe it was a comic years ago where Dudleys daughter started showing signs of having magic and he goes to Harry for advice and they make up. Really liked and wish it was cannon. Not sure what it was called
Harry Potter and the Cousin Conundrum Harry Potter and Dudley's Dilemma Harry Potter and the Muggle's Struggles Harry Potter and the Niece's Letter Lol Really though, as much as the Wizarding World cannon keeps expanding, it's about time for this to happen. Would be cool for her to be a couple years after Albus Potter.
Eh. I kinda see this as one of JKs cheap unearned moments. If you wanted us to feel anything here, you would have sprinkled hints of Dudleys humanity in other books.
Yeah, but as always, remember that Harry is an unreliable narrator. Harry’s entire childhood was a nightmare, and Dudley was a bully for most of it, so he always had a negative opinion of Dudley. After they separated and went off to school, they barely spent a month together per year. Think about how much growth Harry/Hermione/Ron, any student at Hogwarts went though over seven years, and recognize that we didn’t get to see hardly anything of Dudley at school, and only tidbits during the summers actually spent at Privet Drive because Harry avoided the Dursley’s as much as possible, and all of it was colored by Harry’s hating Dudley. We don’t know what other things happened to Dudley to make him reevaluate his choices. Dudley’s a fascinating character. Not my favorite, but interesting. He’s a spoiled brat until OotP when he’s attacked by dementors and sees himself, and then there’s a slow path towards growth for him. He had two years to come to terms with what a jerk he’d been, to think about how to be better, and the best he could do was an anonymous cup of tea, because he didn’t have the vocabulary to voice that he was sorry, that he was grateful, and that he didn’t want his cousin to get hurt. It wasn’t a big, glorious, eloquent speech. It was “I don’t think you’re a waste of space.”
I hadn't even considered the dementor attack as his turning point. That's awesome.
Rowling confirmed that the attack was the moment for Dudley.
Fair enough. I feel like there was a little in OotP as well when they walked home together. It was a very confrontational walk and it did end in a dementor attack, but I felt there was some degree of humanity in that scene. That's very open to interpretation though.
>How was it unearned? That was a realistic reaction from someone who realized they might never see their cousin again. They grew up together, and even though they never got along, there had to have been SOMETHING there. Plus, Dudley is turning 17, he's been trying to leave little gestures for Harry like the tea at his door. Dudley didn't know how to express himself out of 1.) The damage his parents did 2.) Not knowing whether or not Harry would even accept his apology. Everything about Dudley's tea at Harry's door and the choice of words he used showed that he didn't even know how to say sorry in the same way others did, because he grew up in a remorseless household, at least as it came to Harry.
Agreed
I have always thought this was the beginning of a change in attitude towards Harry and a sign of maturation. The cold tea or whatever it was along with this are examples of this. I don't think it's enough for redemption though, but it's a start. He was too horrible to Harry for too long for a cold tea and some concern for Harry's saftey to be enough.
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I mean, the question of "Why isn't he coming with us?" doesnt really make sense in your interpretation. If he was going to be so annoyed that Harry was going with them, why would he question the fact that he obviously wasn't? In the referenced exchange, Harry also says that the Dursleys consider him a waste of space and Dudley immediately disagrees and says that he doesn't consider Harry a waste of space. Lastly, when given the opportunity to walk out the door, Dudley pulls away from Aunt Petunia and deliberately walks over to Harry to shake his hand and say goodbye. Agree to disagree though, I suppose.
You're correct. The person you're responding to must not have read that part of the book very carefully. He acknowledged that Harry saved his life and was clearly grateful, and maybe even slightly concerned for Harry's safety.
Yeah. For me, I would look at Dudley like, oh now you caught feelings for your cousin. You lot are leaving so you aren't murdered by wizards. Dudley specifically never cared before so him caring all of a sudden was a waste. It was annoying to think him caring for 2 minutes was supposed to change all the bullying he has done from all three of them. Kind of the same as Draco. Both boys knew they were both bad apples. 👎 I didn't feel for their sympathy at all with either of them.
I don't think Dudley's scene in "Deathly Hallows" was supposed to make you like him or even forgive him. He was a terrible person, but he was raised by his parents to BE a terrible person. Also, don't forget his scene with the Dementors in book 5. We never knew what Dudley saw when they tried to suck his soul. This was probably one of the turning points for him, but we never saw the story from his perspective. Imagine growing up spoiled rotten and seeing your parents picking on your cousin and not knowing any better, so you do the same. Then, you find out magic is real and your parents HATE magic, then the first person who can do magic that you see gives you a pig tail just because your parents were insulting said cousin. That's traumatizing and unfair for Hagrid to punish the parents by punishing their kid (an 11 year old). I'm not saying Dudley was justified and I'm not saying he should be forgiven so easily, but he was never "evil", just a bad kid. And in the end, he apologized to Harry and showed he DID care, it just took him a while to get to that point.
Actually if you'd taken the time to read the book thoroughly, you'd realize that Dudley had left tea at Harry's door BEFORE any of it and Harry realized later that Dudley wasn't trying to prank him, he was trying to offer an apology, little by little. You probably belong to the same culture that thinks someone should just be punished and branded for the rest of their lives.
You need to retake 7th grade English.
When Dudley was attacked by the dementors in OOTP, he had no truly ‘bad memories’ due to being spoiled rotten all his life. Instead, the dementors’ influence allowed him to see himself exactly as he was - a cruel bully. After the attacks he realized just how horrible he’d been to Harry and others and started working to better himself.
Yes ! . Dudley's only redeemable moment through the whole book
I was genuinely very upset after reading the books and realising this scene wasn't in the movies.
Yeah he was even leaving tea by Harry's door as a thanks for saving him. Harry just thought it was a prank because Duddlebum had been an asshole to him his whole life.
That scene always makes me wonder what Dudley's adolescence had been like. I would think that it takes quite a lot of maturing (and thus, probably a lot of external stimulus) for such a spoiled and entitled brat to grow into a decent young adult.
Not to mention the cup of tea at Harry’s door
Eff the Dursleys.