[HPforGrownups] Chapter Discussions - Chapter One, Dudley Demented

[the firey chasm from whence it came]

No: HPFGUIDX 69343


><snip>
>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.

Possibly, in a sense. I think I'd interpret it as a symptom of depression, 
actually. We do find out later that he's been having nightmares about 
Cedric all summer, and we know he's worried about V. being back. I think he 
is probably going through a depression caused by the traumatic events at 
the end of GoF, by V.'s return, by not hearing any news from R. and H. and 
finally on top of all of that by the Dursley's continuing mistreatment of him.

>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.

Remember, the last time the Dursleys saw him was in the beginning of GoF, 
when Mr. Weasley had demolished their living room and Dudley's tongue got 
swollen by that Ton-Tongue Toffee. So yes, I'd say their hatred of him is 
increasing.

>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?

I suspect she was doing this to keep a closer eye on him for the Order. 
Harry's too old to need a babysitter anymore, so she was probably hoping to 
develop a relationship with him and watch out for him that way.

>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?

I think it's a continuation of a previous theme. The Dursleys seem pretty 
inclined to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to Dudley's 
behavior: ie: they ignore his weight for a long time, make excuses for his 
poor grades, deny that he's really a bully ("He's a boisterous little boy, 
but he wouldn't hurt a fly!", Petunia says at some point I think in PoA.). 
So it's just a continuation of their not seeing what an asshole their son 
really is, and especially their own role in encouraging him in that direction.

><snip>
>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.

Well, there's an awful lot Harry doesn't tell them, for good reason. The 
Dursleys get really bent out of shape hearing the slightest thing about the 
WW, so what was Harry supposed to do? I think not telling them a lot of 
things is simply a matter of survival for him at this point. I don't think 
Harry would do anything to really harm the Dursleys, notice that he did 
actually save Dudley from the Dementors, which he didn't strictly have to 
do. I'd say that Harry has more reasons to distrust the Dursleys than they 
have to distrust him. But yes, he does keep a lot from them, obviously. But 
it's their own fault for never letting him talk about the WW in the first 
place.

>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?

Good question! I suppose it would depend on whether or not anyone has ever 
Apparated in her presence before...

>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?

He didn't want to be held, so he probably did some inadvertent magic to 
keep him from doing so. We've seen examples of him doing uncontrolled, 
wandless magic before, this is probably just another example of it. And 
it's more likely to come out in a situation of high emotional stress.

>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?

Could be. His temper does wind up being a big issue that year, doesn't it? 
He's getting to be an angsty, angry teenager. Can't say I blame him, really.

<snip>
>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?

Not entirely, but they are getting to be with each other and in the WW, 
while he's stuck at the Dursleys, with no explanation as of yet as to why 
he has to stay there. It's not necessarily fair of him to be angry at them, 
but I think it is understandable to some degree.

>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?

Harry can be rash at times, yes. He's very inclined to go rushing in where 
angels fear to tread, that's shown at the end of the book when he's ready 
to rush off to Sirius' rescue before finding out if he's even really there 
at the MoM for sure. He's very much a bold, daring Gryffindor so I think 
worries that he might do something rash are probably justified.

>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?

Apparently he was right that nobody would be as worried about it, because 
he mentions to them later about his scar hurting and their reaction is 
pretty much, "well your scar hurt all last year too, didn't it?". I think 
that the dark corridor dreams should have been taken more seriously though, 
in light of the fact that they turned out to be really V.'s obsession with 
finding the prophecy in the DoM.

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

Not at all, but he doesn't know that. He's being watched after all, and the 
OoTP does eventually come to get him and take him away to Grimmauld Place. 
But they're not emotionally there for him, but there are things going on 
that make that difficult to do, not the least, Harry's own attitude towards 
anyone who tries to help him.

>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.

A more dangerous Dudley, no doubt. I see a criminal record in Dudley's future.

>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?

Hard to say, really. I think you could make a case for either one, but both 
would be simplifying it too much for my tastes. Sirius is a good man who 
genuinely cares about Harry, on the other hand he's also a man with some 
serious (no pun!) flaws. He was a bully as a teenager, nearly killed a 
classmate as a teenager, has been reckless as an adult, is moody and 
despondent as a member of the Order. I think in some ways he hasn't really 
grown up, perhaps has never really had a chance to grow up. He was put in 
Azkaban as a young man, after all and when he got out was always on the run 
for his life. This might not have given him much of a chance to develop 
into a more stable character.

>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?

He's definitely getting some revenge here. He's not as scared of Dudley 
anymore, I think his experiences with taking on V., as well as Malfoy and 
the Slytherins at Hogwarts have made him far less easy to intimidate than 
he used to be. Hard to say which one is showing more restraint, though if 
the Dementors had come along, I'll bet you anything Harry would have hexed 
Dudley. He was about to as they arrived anyway.

>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?

Because Dudley has been his enemy since day one, and we don't usually talk 
about our weaknesses to our enemies. Just one of those things. Besides, it 
ties in with him never mentioning anything about the WW to the Dursleys, 
which is something they've always encouraged, btw.

>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?

Harry knows some good curses and hexes by now, so yes, I'd say it's pretty 
dangerous. I don't think he'd have used an Unforgivable, or even if he did, 
I don't think it would have worked (he was far angrier at Bellatrix at the 
end after all, and it didn't even work then), so there's a limit as to 
*how* dangerous it would have been. But yes, probably dangerous enough to 
land him in the hospital, if he really wanted to. I think this scene is 
very understandable though, considering how mercilessly Dudley's always 
bullied him in the past.

>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?

Considering that Dudley knows nothing about magic and certainly nothing 
about Dementors (can't even SEE dementors, since he's a Muggle), yes this 
is a fairly sensible reaction. Harry was pointing a wand at him, all of a 
sudden strange things happen that can't be explained. What's he supposed to 
think? And he doesn't necessarily know whether knocking him out cold would 
stop it, but violence seems to be the main way that Dudley's learned to 
deal with problems, so it's not surprising he would try to give Harry the 
'ol "one-two".

>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?

I'm not sure, perhaps the lumos spell does work if the wand is only nearby, 
rather than in your hand. Or perhaps this is another example of wandless 
magic. I think wandless magic does tend to come out in times of crisis, 
emotions out of control, or emergencies. JKR has said that you can't do 
really good magic without a wand, so I don't think that wandless magic is 
really something you can *learn* to do, it seems to be something you do 
whether you want to or not, though a degree of self-control is probably 
learned to prevent it from happening all the time.

>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?

IIRC, the Patronus is produced as he's picturing their faces. I'd count 
that as a happy thought, even if the overall context was fear of losing them.

>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?

I think Dudley is just in shock. Remember, Muggles can feel Dementors, even 
if they can't see them. We know this because Lupin told Harry this in PoA. 
I don't think it's a sign of magic in him, I think he's just reacting in a 
typically panicky way. So I don't think he saw the Dementor, and he 
certainly had no idea what it actually did.

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

I think it's just a sign that Harry's a decent person. He hates Dudley, but 
that doesn't mean he wants him dead or without his soul.

~dream