Theory on Petunia

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 156635

Carol earlier:
> > Spoiled Dudley had his tongue swollen and nearly choked on it in
GoF. He was nearly soul-sucked by a Dementor in OoP and, IMO, relived
the toffee memory, surely his most terrible moment, as the Dementor
came near him. <snip>
>
> Ken responded:
>
> Dudley has given some testimony on what he experienced when the
dementor attacked him. In general he describes feeling horrible, cold,
really cold, and as if, as if , as if you'd never be happy again?, the
last with help from Harry. A little more specifically he says it was
dark, everything was dark and then I heard *things* inside my head
(emphasis Dudley's). When prompted to describe what the things said he
is unable to. If you can pull a toffee out of that scene my hat's off
to you. I don't think the toffee was that big a deal to him and he
certainly would be able to talk about the toffee incident. Whatever he
saw was horrible, not being the butt of a practical joke. <snip>

Carol responds:
Dudley didn't really provide "testimony" regarding that memory, but I
agree that it was something horrible because we know that Dementors
force you to relive your worst memories. And the only really horrible
thing that has happened to Dudley in canon is nearly choking on his
own tongue and having it tugged on by his mother, which must have been
extremely painful. The only other possibilities I can think of are the
snake incident and being given a pig's tail by Hagrid, neither of
which seems to me as terrible as thinking that you're going to
suffocate *and* have your tongue ripped out and being absolutely
powerless to do anything about it. Of the three canonical incidents,
I'd say that fearing that you'll choke on your own tongue is the most
terrifying.

Notice that before the ton-tongue toffee incident, Dudley clasps his
hands over his bottom, obviously trying to protect it from attack. In
the Dementor incident, he clasps his hands firmly over his mouth. Yes,
Harry has told him to do so, but why would Dudley obey Harry unless he
believes him? He knows from the toffee incident that his mouth is
vulnerable to magic, his tongue having turned into "a great slimy
python" that nearly choked him, and he clamps it firmly shut.

I guess we disagree about the nature of the toffee prank, which to you
is a practical joke and to me is really horrible, involving gagging,
terror, pain, and helplessness. I'm sure it was what Dudley saw in the
Dementor-induced memory. Nothing else we know of in canon, aside from
the mere presence of the Dementors, would induce such terror. And I
can see why the idea of reliving it would make him vomit. I don't
think he was in any shape to talk about about the incident, and
stating that he felt cold and everything was dark was about all he
could manage. The part about never feeling happy again was supplied by
Harry. Dudley just agreed to Harry's words.

For the record, Dudley's words consist of "*Him*" (meaning Harry),
"*Was*," when Harry states that it wasn't him who attacked Dudley,
"pointed his wand at me," "All dark. Everything dark. And then I
h-heard *things.* Inside my head." But Dudley is incapable of saying
what he heard. Then we have "T-tripped. And then--." "Horrible. Cold.
Really cold." "Felt...felt...felt...as if...as if..." and a "Yes" in
response to Harry's "As if you'd never be happy again." (OoP Am. ed.
25-31).

Dudley is in no condition to tell his parents what memory he was
reliving, or rather rehearing. (BTW, the Dementors being blind
themselves, seem to inspire only aural memories. Harry *hears* his
mother screaming and his father shouting. I don't think the flash of
green light appears in the Dementor-induced memories, including the
Boggart!Dementor ones, but I could be wrong.) Dudley is not
particularly articulate at the best of times and incoherent here,
managing only the few words and phrases quoted above in six pages of
dialogue.

What would terrify pampered Dudley Dursley? Magic, and particularly
his most recent encounter with it, the ton-tongue toffee incident.

Carol, wondering if what Dudley heard was his mother screaming and his
father bellowing, in which case it's no wonder he couldn't describe
what he heard even if he hadn't been in shock from the Dementors