Crazy thought......

[whizbang]

No: HPFGUIDX 89675

Berit wrote:
> > But I accept that Harry might not have been an eyewitness to the
> > incident himself but might have overheard Dudley and his gang
> > bragging about it 

Whizbang: I believe Harry says, "I heard you did Mark Evans two 
nights ago."  OotP  It was secondhand information.  Hard to guess 
where he may have heard it though.

Kathryn wrote:

> And as for why he would memorize Mark's details when he doesn't  
> remember a lot of the students at Hogwarts that is a point against 
> your argument too ... if he can't remember kids he lives with for 
> nine months of the year why is he going to recognise a kid who 
> he's only seen for a few weeks each year for the last four years 
> (before he became a wizard Harry wasn't allowed out of the house 
> much, remember, and the kid's 5 years younger than him so I
> doubt he knows him from primary school). No he memorized the name 
> and details when he overheard them (in my opinion) because he 
> *did* have a good reason to do so, he could use them to make 
> Dudley think he knows a lot more about him than he actually does, 
> which is bound to worry the boy, especially since he is also torn 
> between looking on Harry with scorn (as the kid he's bullied all 
> his life) and fearing his magic.

Whizbang:  
This becomes an interesting problem.  The name does roll off Harry's 
tongue a little too easily.  I can't say any explanations for that, 
so far, are entirely satisfying.  It can't be because they know he's 
their cousin.  Harry doesn't seem to know his mother's maiden name 
until he goes into the pensieve.  I have a feeling that Mark is 
someone known to both Harry and Dudley, somehow.  
Perhaps he's the ringleader of a gang of ten year olds from the next 
territory over that's selling cigarettes to Dudley and Co.  Or maybe 
Dudley is forcing kids to pay protection money to keep 
his "dangerous criminal" cousin away from them and Mark wouldn't pay 
up.  Cheeky.

-Whizbang