[HPforGrownups] Chapter Discussions - Chapter One, Dudley Demented

[pennylin]

No: HPFGUIDX 68252

Hi --

Great summary, Pip!

<<<<<<<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.>>>>>>>

No, I don't think it's necessarily a change per se.  He was watching TV with them in PoA only because it happened to be on during meal-time, and whatever the Dursleys are guilty of, they don't deprive Harry of meals on a daily basis.  But, I don't have the sense that at anytime he was allowed to watch TV with the family just for pure enjoyment.  He thinks wistfully of being able to watch whatever he wanted on the TV at the beginning of PS/SS.

<<<<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?>>>>>>>>>>>>

I suspect he finds Harry impossible to hold due to some magical power emanating from Harry, wandless magic as it were.  

This passage is the beginning of what I think is a most .......er.......*interesting* bit of phallic wand imagery in the first chapter.  "...at the same time pulling from the waistband of his jeans a thin wooden wand as if he were unsheathing a sword."  

*Unsheathing*?  Interesting word choice, that.  

Later on in this chapter, we have the exchange between Dudley and Harry:

<<<<<<<<<<<<"Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?

"What thing?"

"That -- that thing you're hiding."  

Harry grinned again. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

I think I said I didn't smile or laugh much during my tense first reading of OOP, but I believe I definitely had a sly grin on my face when I was reading those passages. 

Okay.  Well, anyway ....... back to Pip's Most Excellent Summary...........

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

Yes, I think this first chapter sets the tone for the rest of the book in many ways.   

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

Yes, I think he in effect has been abandoned.  The adults surely must have realized what effect the entire experience in the graveyard in June would have on Harry and forseen how shut-off and frustrated Harry would feel.  

<<<<<<<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?>>>>>>>>>>>>

I think he was a good role model in many ways, and even in this particular instance, he's giving Harry a baseline for judging the "right" course of action.  

<<<<<<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?>>>>>>>>>

Oh, I think Harry was just releasing frustration and realized that Dudley would be too afraid of the magic to provoke Harry with any more physical bullying as in the past.  

<<<<<<<<<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?>>>>>>>>>>>

I agree with Marina that it would have been completely jarring if Harry had tried to explain the nightmares to Dudley.  Dudley couldn't possibly have the framework necessary to even begin to understand the terror and trauma Harry experienced.  And, let's face it: two males in mid-adolescence aren't too likely to come to any real emotional understanding of each other, given their past history especially.  Harry is lashing out because he realizes he *has* been upset in his sleep and it's no doubt humiliating to him to realize Dudley overheard his terror.  And, interestingly, we see that Dudley is capable of more than just physical bullying, when push comes to shove.  He's *not* as stupid as he looks if he was able to use the psychological bullying in this manner.

I couldn't help wondering: do you suppose Harry was later able to keep himself from crying out in this way in his dorm at Hogwarts?  Not that Ron or Neville or even Dean would tease him about it, one would think, but Harry is very proud.  We know Harry's had nightmares at school in the past ..... I have some memory of Hermione saying that Ron had mentioned it to her, but maybe nothing quite so severe as this.  

Penny

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