[the_old_crowd]Dudder Late Magic (WAS Re: Some questions)

[Talisman]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Rebecca Bowen" 
<dontask2much at y...> wrote:
>snip of further discussion<

Talisman:
Came to post my response to your rebuttal, and see that you've
given more thought to the late-bloomer business.

The following response covers my interpretation of that--which I
don't find to be a throw away comment. It seems to have been
important to her to make the exception.
(Sorry for the weird spacing, I was indenting to set off quotes, for
reading ease, and Yahoo has scrambled it all. I'll try to fix it
here in preview mode--but who knows how it will come out.)

Rebbeca:
>Maybe, maybe not. If you're a believer of JKR's interview answers,
then here's
>one for you from 2004: >snip wysiwyg comments<

Talisman:
Thanks, Rebecca, I've already seen it. Let's just say that I read
all of Rowling's interviews, with interest. *Believer* might be too
strong a word. However, I do believe she works very hard to cover
her tracks. ::cough::Regulus::cough::

You may also recall her explanation, when cornered, about the whole
*Remember my last* nonsense:

*It has been suggested that I am wrong in saying that
Dumbledore's last letter was the
one he left on the doorstep with baby Harry, and that he has
sent a letter since then
concerning Harry's illegal flight to school. However, both
Dumbledore and I differentiate between letters sent to the
Dursleys as a couple, and messages directed to
Petunia ALONE. And that's my final word on the subject - though
I doubt it will be yours :)*


Readers may be recalling other favorite equivocations, but these
will suffice to make the point. In that light, let us begin...

It's nice that you acknowledged some of her other interview
statements, but I think you may have been too dismissive. We'll
take a closer look at those, and others.

Let's start with the late-bloomer business.

Will there be, or have there been, any "late blooming" students
in the school who come into their magic potential as adults,
rather than as children?

No, is the answer. In my books, magic almost always shows
itself in a person before age 11; however, there is a
character who does manage in desperate circumstances to do
magic quite late in life, but that is very rare in the world
I am writing about.
Barnes and Noble interview, March 19, 1999

Let's review:
1. No one comes into their magical potential after they have reached
adulthood.
2. Magic people almost always show some sign before age 11.
3. Someone older than 11 but not yet an adult will show their first
sign of magic--in desperate circumstances--before the series is
finished.

Not a great many candidates, really. What, Piers Polekiss rises to
the moment?

There are no heretofore non-magical teenagers in the Hogwarts
milieu, we don't know any of the neighbors at 12 GP, so that leaves
the Privet Drive crowd.

We also know, or should, that a battle is slated for chez Dursley,
preferably before July 31st, which will provide the requisite dire
circumstances.

Considering the choices in the Privet Drive neighborhood, I think
you have to find it much less wrenching to have Dudley cut a spark,
than to have the sudden illumination of a background gang member.

>Kneasy:
>OK. So the late bloomer ain't Petunia or Dudders. Who's left?
>The squibs - Filch or Figg. Place your bets...

Talisman: Unless you read the late bloomer comment as *No,...I
mean...yes,* the adults are out. And that's just it, who is left?

Rebecca finds the WYSIWYG statement controlling. That is to say,
she reads it to say that Dudley is not magic now--and never will
be.

She also can't accept the idea of a Dudley redemption--choosing to
characterize any such event as a *180* (of course we have to careful
not to stumble into the argumentative fallacy asserting that no
change can occur except the most extreme change.)

Yet Rowling has said:
'You should keep an eye on Dudley. Itfs probably too late for
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. I feel sorry for Dudley. I might
joke about him, but I feel truly sorry for him because I see
him as just as abused as Harry.
Garcia, Frank. "Harry Pottermania" Cinescape, 16 November 2000

Apparently Rowling doesn't think it's too late for Dudley. He is not
beyond redemption, she has sympathy for him, and seems to have
*something* interesting in store for him--else why bother keeping an
eye?

Be consoled. Many redemptions start with small steps. Itfs not all
Road to Damascus.

The business about no back story is meaningless. Back story refers
to events that happened before the narrative began. That is, before
the gray Tuesday morning of Book 1, Chapter 1, i.e. roughly the
first year of Dudley's life. I'm quite content to believe it was an
uneventful year of filling diapers and demanding more food.

The question of little page time in HBP is evident, but the
allowance of *a bit more* in Book 7, is not. What exactly is a bit?
Is that a bit of an understatement? An allowance of two pages? Five?
Half a chapter?

Again, we know Harry has been instructed to return to Privet Drive.
If DD's so-called blood protection is going to prove worthwhile, at
all, it's now or never. Must be an attack.

That would count as a bit more, eh?

We expect to find out how Petunia got all her WW info, and what hold
DD had over her to compel her to both take Harry in and keep him
after the Book 5 dementor attack.

And as for Dudley specifically....

In addition to being capable of redemption, and worth keeping an eye
on, Rowling has given us:

I want to know what Dudley does with his life.

That is a question I would love to answer, but it will ruin
some surprises. I will only say that Dudley's privileged
existence starts to change for the worse in Book 4.
Barnes and Noble interview, March 19, 1999

My, my. Dudleyfs denouement involves surprises. How surprising--
for *just Dudley,* that is. Maybe wysiwyg--but not what youfre
*going* to get. No back story, but a surprising future?

Does this mean that Dudley's road to better personhood is going to
be sweetness and light? That he an Harry will embrace and exchange
friendship bracelets? Hardly.

Nor do I expect him to be a shinning hero warrior, battling three
DEs with his left hand.

All he has to do is reach deep and pull out a little something, when
it's down to do-or-die. A bit of a distraction, a temporary
obstacle. Whatever it is, it will inure to Harryfs benefit--if
only because it will be against a common foe.

Though, to reach any progress toward redemption I do think he has to
acknowledge a changing attitude toward Harry. An intention to be
helpful on this occasion, for starters.

I also think that whatever is coming will be quite rough on old
Dudders. Plenty of satisfaction coming for all his rotten ways.

Rowling: Yes, he wants to get back at Dudley. He's a human
boy, and we the readers want him to get back at Dudley. And,
in the long term, trust me, he will.
O'Malley,Judy. Book Links, July 1999

And finally, yes. Whatever Dudley saw when he faced the dementors,
it's apparently plot worthy.

Amy: What did Dudley see when he faced the Dementors in book
five?
JK Rowling replies -Ah, good question. You'll find out!
JK Rowling's World Book Day Chat, March 4, 2004

Itfs a secret. She wants to save it for a surprise. Itfs worth
knowing.


So what about:
I am sorry if there are Dudley fans out there, but I think you
need to look at your priorities if it is Dudley that you are
looking forward to. [Laughter]."
J K Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Sunday, August 15,
2004.

Well, letfs see. If Dudley is just a dud, I suppose all the mystery
and intimations of surprise are disingenuous. If there are some
surprises and redemption in Dudleyfs future, the notion that there
is nothing to look forward to isn't quite true.

It's that happy conundrum, was she lying then or is she lying now?

Of course we can accept the fact that she is trying to be
misleading, and then find a reconciling interpretation.

If there are people out there who think that Dudley will rise up to
be the hero of Book 7, fancy him to be the *real* chosen one, dream
of going steady with him, or even hold out hope that he will end up
in a pot of jam--they are insane.

On the other hand, people who expect the Durselys to get a major
thumping in Book 7, will not be disappointed. This fact carries
with it the necessity of some amount of page time involving their
circumstances. A chapter will do, give or take.

Moreover, Dudley can end up eating a great deal of humble pie, and
still manage to do *something* right. I expect there to be some
basis for Rowing to distinguish between Dudley's path, and the elder
Dursleysfone-way trip to the rubbish pile. I expect there will be
some surprises specifically involving Dudders, and I see no one else
so well positioned to be the late bloomer.

Love to hear more about your interpretation.

Talisman