Comments on: Dudley Demented

By: HentaiTenshi

HentaiTenshi — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:24:36 +0000

@elizabethauthor and Casey- FINALLY I see people who agree with me! I understood a lot of what Harry was going through. Granted, I probably wouldn’t have yelled as much, but when everything’s beginning to go to hell all around you and no one’s telling you anything about it… you go a little crazy. I thought it was pretty funny actually, though I did feel a *little* bad for Hermione. I’m not sure where I read it but someone made a interesting theory about Harry’s attitude. Later in the books It’s always shown how when Voldemort goes through high emotions Harry can feel them. In fact, whenever Harry’s around DD Voldemort’s hatred and anger towards him begin to seep through and affect Harry. Considering that this is the first year with Voldemort on the rise I wonder just how many emotions Harry goes through are actually being manipulated by the bond? Neither of them are aware of how the bond actually works until later so…

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:04:01 +0000

I was probably the only person who didn’t think of Lily Evans when I read about Mark. (Maybe I’d forgotten her maiden name at the time. And, as Rowling said, “Evans” is a common surname.)

By: Billie

Billie — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:04:44 +0000

Something we read right over in this chapter is that Mrs. Figg has been trying all summer to get Harry to come to tea at her house. We can’t blame Harry for declining and avoiding her, given how unpleasant his visits with Mrs. Figg have always been. But imagine how much better his summer might have gone if he’d accepted. She might have been looking for an opportunity to tell Harry that she was a squib watching out for him on Dumbledore’s orders. She could have answered some of his burning questions and made him feel much less cut off from the magical world.

By: n8

n8 — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 01:20:58 +0000

@casey i think he saw the true nature of himself, the nullying he did, the way his parents treated him like he was still a baby, he must of realized that he can’t live like this anymore

By: Casey

Casey — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:31:56 +0000

I did read that, John, but it doesn’t really tell us much at all. “He saw himself”. I guess I would have just liked a more specific answer. What exactly did he see about himself? What were the exact images or voices that he heard? That’s my question. Not just generality.

By: John Kearns

John Kearns — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:25:42 +0000

Casey, I think the quote that you’re asking about (re: Dudley) is on the page. It’s the last section before the comments (‘The Final Word’).

By: Casey

Casey — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:52:54 +0000

I’m with you elizabethauthor, this is my absolute FAVORITE book of the entire series. Why? I think much of it has to do with the fact that, as one of the younger readers, I was around the same age as Harry when I read this book, and I was going through a deep state of depression in my life (eventually being diagnosed). Everything Harry was feeling, I was feeling, and it added so much richness to the book for me. I wanted to shout at everybody, and Harry did it for me. I made rash decisions, and so did Harry. I connected to him more than I ever had. I could not put the book down. It went everywhere with me, and I just kept flipping pages. Not to mention, the end battle in this book is effing AMAZING. I haven’t read so many chapters as quickly as I had at the end of this book. It was, and always will be, my favorite Harry Potter novel, and I’m looking forward so much to reading it along with this site. Thank you again, John, for your brilliance!

I also have to wonder what Dudley was hearing in his head during the time he was attacked. Does Jo ever explain this in any interview? Has anyone ever asked? I’d be really interested to know her thought process on it, as I’m just as curious as Harry is to find out just what Dudley’s worst moments were, and why they would give him such an incredible change in character.

As for Mark Evans, I don’t remember ever wondering about who this kid was. The name was just another name to me. But I do remember reading a fan fiction where Mark Evans actually *did* end up going to Hogwarts in Harry’s sixth year (after having been saved by Harry from being beaten up again in Little Whinging the summer before).

By: Mee

Mee — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:11:07 +0000

I definitely liked this book the absolute least of all the books in the series. Harry just seemed so egotistical at many parts of the novel often causing unnecessary strife for himself and other characters. While Harry’s actions are often “very brave and very stupid” a lot of his actions leaned more on the stupid side. Finally, I just think there were so many ways that this book could have ended without the death that could easily have been avoided if Harry had been using his head.

By: Fiery Ginny

Fiery Ginny — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:56:42 +0000

yeah…I definitely started giggling uncontrollably when I saw that Mrs. Figg was indeed apart of the wizarding world. I was like no way! and I had to re-read that section multiple times. Dudley is indeed going to start going through changes. I’m curious as to what he saw/heard exactly when the dementors got so close to him. Did he see all the horrible things about himself, and that he is actually only a bully (like most bullies are) because he is self-conscious? Perhaps even sharing his mother’s unhealthy jealousy of Harry (and Lily’s) Magical abilities?

By: elizabethauthor

elizabethauthor — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:04:41 +0000

I’m surprised that so many people here didn’t see the Mrs Figg thing coming, given that as others have said she was mentioned at the end of GoF, but then I don’t know how big a gap or how many re-reads you guys had between the two books, or whether you were already in the online fandom. Like Mark Evans, it was one of those things that a lot of fans were pretty convinced on. They also thought, since Jo had said in an interview that the next DADA teacher would be a woman, that Mrs Figg might be it.

OotP is my favourite book. It seems to be the kind of marmite book of the series, people seem to either LOVE it or are a bit cold towards it. Harry’s moodiness didn’t bother me, in fact I loved it. It irritates the heck out of me when I see characters taking all kinds of frustrating rubbish from people without hardly arguing back, which is usually the case if it’s an adult doing frustrating things towards a kid. If I were Harry I’d want to shout too, though I probably wouldn’t. Dumbledore frustrates me a lot more then Harry in this book, but in an entertained way, and I have forgiven him based on his good intentions.