Dudley Demented (???)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 107236

> Antosha wrote:
> 
> There's another possibility. Professor Lupin points out to Harry
that the reason that he reacts so strongly to dementors, and the
reason they are so drawn to him, is that his worst memory is
particularly horrible, and therefore delicious to the creatures.
> 
> Perhaps Dudley's worst memory is, in fact, also quite traumatic, so
that a) one of the dementors sent to attack Harry is drawn instead to
his cousin and b) the dementor has a particularly chilling (if I may
use that word) effect on Dudley. <snip>
.

Carol responds:
Then again, there are two Dementors, only one of which could suck the
soul out of Harry. The other, being what he is, isn't going to watch
quietly while another human (wizard or Muggle doesn't matter) is
nearby. It wouldn't matter what Dudley's worst memory was, as long as
he had one. (And we know he has at least two--a pig's tail and the
tontongue toffee.) What would really matter is that he had some sort
of happiness to suck out. (It's happiness, not misery, that they feed
on. The bad memories are what's left after the happiness is gone.
Remember Hagrid's description of the memories he was *left with* while
he was around them? His father's death, the loss of Norbert--I forget
the other one.))

I think maybe there's a bit of movie contamination here. In the movie,
the Dementors are unmistakably attracted to Harry. In the book, he
*reacts* strongly to them. That's not quite the same thing.

Carol, who thinks that if the Dementors fed on unhappy memories and
left you with happy ones, they wouldn't be quite so frightful (except
for the soul-sucking and their slimy, bony hands and eyeless faces).
Yecch!