Chapter Discussions - Chapter One, Dudley Demented

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 68149

Hi!

To kick off our Order of the Phoenix Chapter Discussions, we're 
starting with a summary of Chapter One (surprise!).

I've included the questions that occurred to me as I summarised the 
chapter. Rather than put a long list of questions at the end, I've 
placed them where they arise naturally from the text.


Order of the Phoenix Chapter One

Chapter Discussion Summary and Questions

This chapter starts with Harry hiding under a flowerbed, trying to 
hear the TV news without being seen. It establishes that Harry isn't 
a cute little boy any longer; he looks pinched and unhealthy, his 
jeans are dirty and the soles of his trainers flapping.

Is this a choice of Harry's? Previously his clothes have been 
secondhand and too big for him, but there was no mention of their 
being worn out or dirty.

He is hiding because his relationship with his Aunt and Uncle is so 
bad that they won't willingly watch television with him. They grind 
their teeth and question him. We hear Uncle Vernon express suspicion 
at Harry's interest in the news.

Is this a change in the relationship between Harry and his foster 
parents? In PoA Harry is eating with the family and watching TV with 
them.

Harry sees Mrs Figg, and the reader is told that she has recently 
taken to asking him round for tea. Harry wants to avoid her. Is this 
a foreshadowing? Is Harry  unknowingly avoiding support and help 
that he could have been given?

Aunt Petunia tells Uncle Vernon that their son Dudley is out for tea 
at the Polkiss's. Harry knows that this is a lie, and that Dudley 
and his gang hang around and engage in petty vandalism each evening. 

Is this lack of knowledge about their son a development of the 
Dursley's? Or a continuation of a previous theme?

The news comes on and is harmless. There is nothing of interest to 
Harry; we find out that he has been waiting for some incident that 
shows Lord Voldemort has come out into the open. 

Was Uncle Vernon right not to trust Harry? Harry did have an 
ulterior motive for watching the news, which he hasn't shared with 
them.

Harry hears a loud crack, his aunt screams and he leaps to his feet, 
pulling his wand out. Did Petunia recognise the crack as the sound 
of someone apparating? 

Unfortunately, he hits his head on the open window. Uncle Vernon 
grabs him and demands that he puts his wand away. Suddenly he finds 
Harry impossible to hold. 

Why?

Vernon thinks that Harry made the loud noise. Petunia seems more 
interested in why Harry was lurking under the window. Both Aunt and 
Uncle accuse Harry of being up to something. They demand to know 
what news the Owls are bringing him. Harry has to admit that the 
Owls aren't bringing him any news. Harry loses his temper and stalks 
off. He knows he'll be in trouble later.

Is this a signal that Harry's temper is going to cause him a lot of 
trouble this year? 

Harry is sure that the sound was somebody Apparating/Disapparating. 
He wonders if it might be Dobby. As he continues to think about it, 
he becomes unsure, and wonders if he's not so desperate for contact 
from the wizarding world that he's reading too much into what might 
have been an everyday noise. We find that the Daily Prophet contains 
no news of Voldemort's return, and that Ron and Hermione have been 
told not to tell him anything important in case their letters go 
astray.

Harry is angry at Ron and Hermione – so angry that he threw their 
presents away (which he now regrets). Again, is this another 
foreshadowing – is Harry's anger mainly harming himself? He feels 
that they are enjoying themselves at the Burrow while he is stuck at 
Privet Drive. Does this prove to be fair?

Harry feels that he is much more capable than Ron and Hermione, 
having survived the graveyard at the end of GoF. His godfather is 
advising caution, which Harry feels is reasonable – though he finds 
it galling to be warned about rashness by Sirius. 

Is Sirius assuming Harry is James? Is Harry normally rash?

We find that Harry is having nightmares about Cedric's death in the 
graveyard. He's also dreaming about a strange dark corridor. His 
scar prickles constantly. He doesn't think that Ron, Hermione or 
Sirius would be interested in that. Is this a reasonable assessment, 
or is he again pushing away support and help that was available?

After a mere four weeks, Harry is full of impatience. He feels 
abandoned by Dumbledore, his friends and his guardian. Has he been 
abandoned?

Dudley and his gang go by the park where Harry is sitting. Dudley 
has changed from the overweight boy he used to be. He has become 
athletic, and an Inter School Boxing Champion. His huge size is now 
muscle rather than fat.

Does this signal the beginnings of a future change in Dudley? Is it 
the first signs of a reformed Dudley? Or a more dangerous Dudley? 
Harry thinks Dudley is now more dangerous – the neighbourhood 
children are more frightened of Dudley than of the `hooligan' Harry.

Harry longs to hex Dudley, or show Dudley's gang how scared Dudley 
is of Harry. But he knows that if he uses magic outside of school, 
he risks being expelled. So he lets Dudley's gang walk by, and 
doesn't call attention to himself. He thinks to himself that this is 
exactly the opposite of what Sirius would have done.

Harry feels unhappy because he's taken the sensible option. He knows 
Sirius wouldn't have taken the sensible option. Does this show 
Sirius as a good or a bad role model for Harry?

Harry knows that he's expected to get in at the same time as Dudley, 
so he heads off towards Privet Drive. Instead of ignoring Dudley, he 
deliberately catches up with him and starts teasing him. He siphons 
off his frustration into Dudley. Dudley, meanwhile, does not attack 
Harry physically. Harry taunts Dudley because Dudley has been 
beating up 10 year olds. Dudley responds by saying that Harry would 
be scared to fight him without his wand, and anyway, would get 
expelled if he used it. Dudley also points out that he's won against 
older, heavier opponents.

Is Harry just trying to get back at Dudley for his past bullying? Or 
is Harry trying to bully Dudley? Who is showing more restraint? Why?

Dudley counter-attacks Harry, by telling Harry that he's been crying 
out in his sleep `Don't kill Cedric'. Harry's also been calling out 
for his dead mother and father to save him from Voldemort. This 
makes Harry so angry that he pulls out his wand.

Why doesn't Harry explain the nightmares to Dudley?

Dudley is as scared of the wand as if Harry had pointed a loaded gun 
at him. He keeps yelling at Harry to point it away from him. 

Is Harry doing the equivalent of pointing a loaded gun at Dudley? 
How dangerous is a wand in the hands of an angry teenager? Does 
Harry think he's doing anything dangerous?

As Harry is pointing his wand at Dudley, all the lights vanish and 
the night suddenly becomes icy cold. Dudley seems to detect the 
Dementors, he shivers as though he's been dropped in an icy bath.

Dudley thinks that it's Harry causing these effects and hits him. Is 
this a sensible reaction? If Harry *had* been producing the dark and 
cold, would knocking him out have stopped it? 

In the event, Harry is half stunned and his wand is knocked out of 
his hand. In the crisis, Harry tries to protect Dudley. He warns him 
to keep his mouth shut.  He also manages to light his wand without 
touching it. Is this an example of true wandless magic? Could it be 
useful to Harry to learn to do spells without his wand?

Harry tries to produce the Patronus, but he can't think of happy 
enough thoughts. The Dementors hands are closing on his throat when 
he realises that if he doesn't do something, he'll never see Ron and 
Hermione again.

Is this a *happy* thought? Harry produces his best and most powerful 
Patronus's not when he is concentrating on a happy memory, but when 
he's thinking that he's about to lose something that makes him 
happy. His friends. Is this in keeping with Lupin's instructions in 
PoA, that a Patronus is produced by concentrating on a happy thought?

The Patronus saves Harry, and Harry then turns his Patronus on the 
Dementor attacking Dudley. Dudley is clamping his hands over his 
mouth. Muggles are not supposed to see Dementors – is this a sign 
that Dudley has magic in him? Or is it a sign that Dudley trusts 
Harry more than Harry thinks?

Is Harry rescuing Dudley a sign of Harry's inner goodness? Or does 
Harry care for his cousin more than he thinks he does?

Harry is stunned at the appearance of Dementors in Little Whinging. 
He then sees Mrs Figg running towards him, and moves to hide his 
wand. She yells at him to keep his wand out in case there are more 
Dementors




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