Harry's summer in the 6th book

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 100964

bowlwoman wrote:

I think there's going to be an attack at Privet Drive this summer. 
And Vernon will die.

First, let me state some facts. I'll weave it all together after I 
list them. I apologize in advance for the length of this post.
snip 
1) Someone will learn magic at a late age 
2) This will be Harry's shortest stay at Privet Drive
3) We know that some of the professors have spouses
snip 
6) The Dursleys have spoiled Dudley rotton
7) A lot of child wizards first use their talents when they are 
scared and angry
8) Dumbledore has some hold over Petunia to guarantee that she will 
continue to offer Harry a home with her.


vmonte responds:

Good post!  I've gone back and forth on whether JKR was talking about 
Dudley or Petunia. You've made very good arguments for Dudley, so I 
have nothing to add here.  Below are some other thoughts from a 
previous post of mine.  

Dudley relives a lost memory from his childhood through the Dementor 
attack. I think that the Dementor that attacked Dudley made him 
remember something he saw as a baby. 

>From OOTP (Page 30, U.S. version): "All dark," Dudley said hoarsely, 
shuddering. "Everything dark. And then I heard....things. Inside m-my 
head..."

Petunia then responds in a way that makes it seem that she is worried 
that her son may be losing his mind:

"What sort of things did you hear, popkin?" breathed aunt Petunia, 
very white-faced with tears in her eyes. 

But maybe Petunia was worried that Dudley might have remembered 
something that happened in the past. Something he should not have 
seen.

"But Dudley seemed in capable of saying. He shuddered again and shook 
his large blond head, and despite the sense of numb dread that had 
settled on Harry since the arrival of the first owl, he felt a 
certain curiosity. Dementors caused a person to relive the worst 
moments of their life...What would spoiled, pampered, bullying Dudley 
have been forced to hear?"

Petunia may have been threatened by Voldemort. She probably knows him 
up close and personal, and not by listening in on her sister's 
conversations. Voldemort may have gotten to Petunia (when he was 
searching for the Potter's) before he reached word from wormtail. He 
may have threatened Petunia or her son with a dementor. In fact 
Dudley's worst memory may be that he previously had an encounter with 
a dementor as a baby! (I don't think that Dudley's worst fear was 
getting a pigtail.)

Dudley may realize the fear he caused to others while he was a bully 
and may give Harry important information from his vision. (Rowling 
has said that she feels sorry for Dudley because his parents actions 
towards him amounts to child abuse and that they have not prepared 
him for the real world.)

Rowling has stated that someone will gain magical powers late in life 
and that it is very rare in the wizard world. Petunia and her family 
may be put in another life and death situation and Petunia's magic 
may emerge. She may end up killing someone important to the death 
eaters because she takes them unawares.