Dursleys - Wizards

[justcarol67]

I (Carol) wrote:
A Muggle (okay, Muggleborn, if you insist) in Slytherin, home of
pureblood pride? And a late-bloomer, entering Hogwarts at sixteen?
He'd get the bullying of his life--and well-deserved, too! <snip>
  
Carol, who notes that JKR has stated in an interview that there
*might* be hope for Dudley's redemption, but who is quite sure it
won't come through the revelation of his magical powers!


Marita Jan responded:
I'm really having a hard time with this concept, and I guess I missed
it's origination.  
> 
> I've just started reading (I think this makes the 4th go 'round) the
books again, and as I've been going through SS again, I've been
looking for specific clues that might point toward this happening in
book 6 or 7. 
> I just don't see it.  With all the mention of things that just
"happen" around Harry before he got his letter, there's no mention of
anything remotely similar occurring to Dudders.  And if there's anyone
who would find a self-serving use for any sort of magical powers, it
would be him.
> 
> So....fill me in.  Where does this theory come from and why?

Carol replies:
Actually, I can't tell you where the theory comes from because I
happen to agree with you that Dudley is a Muggle and nothing but a
Muggle. I was just going along with the thread and pointing out that,
in the unlikely case that Dudley developed magical powers at age
sixteen and was allowed to enter Hogwarts at that age (as a first-year
because he'd have no magical training whatever!), he probably wouldn't
be sorted into Slytherin. The teasing he'd receive for being five
years older than everyone in his class would be compounded by teasing
and hexing for being a Muggleborn, making his life entirely miserable.

*But* richly as he might deserve such a fate, I agree with you that
there's no evidence whatever that Dudley has magical powers. I, for
one, believe JKR's repeated assertions (in every book and in at least
one interview) that *all* of the Dursleys are Muggles. That's what I
meant by my postscript: if he's redeemed, it won't be through magical
powers.

Sorry if my intention was unclear.

Carol, who firmly believes that the person who will develop magical
powers "late in life" is the elderly Squib, Mrs. Figg