Dudley the victim

[jenny_ravenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 43150

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Richelle Votaw" <rvotaw at i...> wrote:

>Draco Malfoy is as much of a victim as Dudley is. Draco's only the 
way he is because his parents raised him that way.  Lucius has raised 
his son to be a carbon copy of himself.  Expressing hatred toward 
Muggle borns, etc.  Yet this does not excuse Draco's actions toward 
Harry and co.  Neither does it excuse Dudley's actions toward Harry.  
There comes a time when a child has to take a stand on their own to 
decide for themselves what is right whether or not their parents 
agreed with it.  So far neither Dudley nor Draco have chosen to take a 
stand for what's right. Instead they follow in their parents 
footsteps.  Their upbringing is no excuse for their actions.>

Ah, but I never said that Dudley should be excused for his actions.  
He certainly knows that hitting Harry is wrong, but Dudley is clearly 
unhappy at home with his parents, so he takes it out on Harry.  Dudley 
needs to be on that diet and he needs to learn that the way he treats 
Harry is inexcusable, but that should come from his parents or from 
Harry, not Fred and George.

As far as Draco goes, quite a few people do believe that Draco is 
abused by his father.  I don't subscribe to that belief.  Lucius is 
teaching his son quite poorly, but Draco, unlike Dudley, can do wrong 
in the eyes of his parents.  He does get disciplined, unlike Dudley, 
whose parents tend to give him even more toys, trips and food when he 
is unhappy.  Lucius at least communicates with his son.  The Dursleys 
have nothing that even resembles communication with Dudley.

I hate what Lucius has taught Draco.  To tell your children that they 
are superior to others is a terrible thing to do.  But is it abusive?  
That's hard for me to say yes to, because Lucius himself believes he 
is teaching his son the right thing.  The Dursleys teach Dudley 
absolutely nothing; he can't even count past 30 at age 11!

--jenny from ravenclaw *********************