Chapter Discussions - Chapter One, Dudley Demented

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 68565

Pip!Squeak and Wendy have provoked some thoughts in me:

> (Pip!Squeak)
> >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.
> 
> (Wendy)
> This is something which really confused me, especially on my second
> reading. Not because Harry gets angry, but because he really is 
*lying* to
> the Dursleys. The owls most definitely ARE bringing him news - we 
learn a
> page or two later that he's getting the Daily Prophet delivered 
every
> morning. The paper may not be printing the news he wants to see, 
but the
> owls are bringing him the news.

Annemehr:
No, Harry's not lying here.  Actually, I think Vernon knows the owls 
have been bringing Harry a wizard newspaper.  Even if Vernon doesn't 
know about Harry getting the Prophet delivered, Harry is telling the 
truth as far as he knows; he doesn't see anything in there about 
Voldemort.  There is no *real news* in what the owls are bringing 
him.  It does cost him something to admit to Vernon that he can't 
find out what's really going on.  It also cost *me* something to 
find out later that if he'd just gone beyond the front page he would 
have been able to glean a few grains of info, but that's another 
chapter.  Poor Harry, he does seem to make too many assumptions when 
he could find out more by just digging a little deeper...


> (Pip!Squeak)
> >Instead of ignoring Dudley, he 
> >deliberately catches up with him and starts teasing him (...) 
Harry taunts Dudley because Dudley has been 
> >beating up 10 year olds.(...)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?
> 
> (Wendy)
> Good questions - I'm not sure I see a difference between wanting 
to "get
> back" at Dudley and Harry actually bullying Dudley himself. A bit 
of the
> victim becoming the bully here. I think in this scenario Dudley 
shows more
> restraint, but it's because he's afraid of Harry, not because he's 
morally
> superior or anything like that <g>. This particular scene concerns 
me just
> a bit, because Harry's behaviour did surprise me - we've seen him 
be cheeky
> before, but this was the first time I actually saw him being mean 
spirited
> without being specifically provoked.

Annemehr:
I seem to be one of few people who aren't worried by Harry's actions 
in this scene.  Harry most certainly (to my mind) *is* provoked -- 
by the knowledge that Dudley & co. have been beating up children.  
Harry knows all too well what that entails, and he's completely 
disgusted.  Granted, he doesn't discuss it with him as a child 
psychologist would, but I think he makes himself pretty clear.  This 
was a "go, Harry" moment for me.  I've also been enjoying watching 
Harry gradually come out from under the collective Dursley thumb 
through the series, so the fact that Harry was easing some of his 
own frustrations at the same time is a bonus.

Does that make me bloodthirsty?

Wendy:
> And I don't
> think I like the idea that Harry might be "special" in the way he 
is able
> to use magic - that no one else other than him can do wandless 
magic. I'm
> happy to think of Harry as very, very talented and exceptionally 
powerful,
> but I think it would be hokey for Harry to have "super-powers" that
> *nobody* else has. Although that may be where the series is 
leading (what
> with the prophecy, and all). But it would seem to go against the 
whole
> "choices" theme - if Voldemort can only be killed by some special, 
inborn,
> one-off power of Harry's, then where exactly does a choice come 
into play?

Annemehr:
Oh, agreed!  Definitely!  The only super-power he could have that 
would sit well with me would have to be in his character or his 
love, not a magical power -- a power that anyone could chose to 
have, if they really wanted.  I do think JKR would agree, so I'm not 
too worried. ;)  Still, I could accept that Harry is uniquely 
*placed* in a position to defeat Voldemort by the choices of V and 
Lily, and then *chooses* what to do about that; after all, all our 
lives are profoundly affected by other people's choices, yet it 
matters greatly what we choose to do with the consequences.

Wendy again: 
> And finally, a question that occurred to me which wasn't mentioned 
here:
> There are several mentions of there being a drought in the 
Southeast this
> particular summer. I wonder if there is some significance to this 
for Harry
> and the WW, in addition to the difficulties and lack of sleep it's 
causing
> the residents of Privet Drive in having to get up at all hours of 
the night
> to water their gardens in secret. <G>

Annemehr:
You know, this is a good question!  That part did seem important at 
the time I read it, but then it just completely fell off my radar.  
Hmm -- maybe it was to symbolise the other "droughts" Harry was 
experiencing at the time: the dearth of news and the lack of contact 
with the WW (the letters from Ron and Hermione being so 
unsatisfactory that they were more of an irritant than otherwise).  
It all goes well with Harry's pinched and undernourished appearance, 
too, doesn't it?

Annemehr
just beginning to realise how much stuff is actually in this book...