Twins and Dudley

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 145761

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at y...>
wrote:

> Carol responds:
> But the lengthening and swelling of Dudley's tongue was not
> some funny little prank like turning Neville (momentarily) 
> into a canary when Neville ate a canary cream. Now if *that*
> had happened to Dudley, I'd have laughed.
> 
> But choking on one's tongue, asphyxiating, is a horrible way to
> die, and I'm sure that Dudley thought he was dying .... Dudley 
> was choking and suffocating, and he was in pain from having his 
> tongue pulled. ...edited...
> 
> Carol, ...


bboyminn:

Once again, I point out that the Ton-Tongue Toffee was a line of trick
sweets that the Twins intended to sell to their friends and fellow
students. Death by suffocation was NOT a very likely outcome. I have
said before that all reason and logic says the the Ton Tongue Toffee
was a self-limiting joke just like the Canary Creams. In time,
Dudley's tongue would have probably returned to normal on its own, and
other than a brief panic, he would have been no worse for the wear. Of
course, I freely admit that Dudley doesn't know that. 

I think that if Dudley was suffocating, he was suffocation on panic
and not on his tongue. True, inducing panic is still not a very nice
thing to do, but have you ever seen a trick play on someone that WAS a
nice thing to do? No one likes being the butt of a joke. No one likes
to be humiliated by a joke. However, the people watching the joke
usually think it's hysterically funny. In fact, the 'butt' of the joke
would most likely also think it was funny, if it was being played on
someone besides himself. 

But let's face it, cruel jokes are part of human culture. Have you
ever seen 'Punked'. Some of those pranks are panic inducing and very
unpleasant. But when the prank is reveal, the person who is the butt
of the joke usually takes it gracefully.

Let us remember also that Dudley is hardly an innocent victim here. He
has no problem going out and vandalizing the play park, throwing
stones at expensive car, and beating up helpless little kids while his
friends hold them down. It's not like the Twins play a joke on Mother
Teresa. (Although, I have no reason to think Mother Teresa didn't have
a sense of humor.)

So, assumptions that Dudley was dying are, I think, greatly exagerated. 

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn