Dudley Dursley

**Dudley Dursley**  is a character in the *Harry Potter book series*.

He is the Muggle cousin of Harry Potter and the only child of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. He is a bully who gets very spoiled by his parents. He finds out about the wizarding world when he is eleven. He is attacked by a Dementor when he is fifteen which forces him to confront who he is. Dudley eventually changes into a better person and is kinder towards Harry. Dudley, Vernon and Petunia have to spend a year in hiding during the Second Wizarding War for their protection.

## Biography

### Early life

Dudley was born in June 1980, and was the only child of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. Dudley and Petunia would stay at home when Vernon went to work. He was spoiled and would throw tantrums to get what he wanted, but Petunia and Vernon were unfazed by the way he acted.

Petunia had connections to the wizarding world through her Muggle-born sister, Lily Potter, and Dudley had one cousin, Harry Potter. Petunia and Vernon wanted a normal life for Dudley, so he and Harry had not met for the first year of their lives.

He was one year old when Lily and her husband, James Potter were killed. A day later, the house was watched by Minerva McGonagall. McGonagall saw Dudley demanding Petunia buy sweets, and had a bad opinion of their family. Later that day, Dudley was joined by Harry when Vernon and Petunia had to take him and raise him with Dudley. Dudley then spent the next few weeks pinching and prodding Harry.

For ten years, Dudley bullied Harry. He broke Harry's glasses by punching him on the nose. Dudley was given a second bedroom to store toys, so Harry had to live in the Cupboard under the Stairs. Every toy Dudley was given was soon discarded in that bedroom, including a TV he put a foot through when he found out his favourite show was cancelled. He even had a small tank he run over a neighbour in.

Dudley and Harry attended St. Grogory's Primary School. He had a gang which he used for bullying, and their favourite punching bag was Harry. He was better at running than Dudley and once managed to jump and land on the roof of the school, certainly by using magic, to get away from Dudley.

In June 1985, Aunt Marge attended Dudley's fifth birthday party. She beat Harry around the shins with a walking stick to stop him beating Dudley in a game of musical statues. In December 1985 to December 1990, she gave Dudley a computerised robot.

At Dudley's tenth birthday, Harry stepped on Ripper's paw and got chased up a tree. Marge would not call Ripper off Harry for hours. Dudley laughed silly and the whole Dursley family was delighted at the entertainment. Another time, Dudley thought it was funny when Petunia cut Harry's hair in an absurd way.

### Philosopher's Stone

Ten years later, Dudley turned eleven. He was given everything he wanted, including a new computer and a racing bike. Harry thought a bike was strange because Dudley was fat and inactive. Dudley was very unhappy when he found out he had less presents than he got last year. Petunia told him he had Aunt Marge's present, and she would buy him two new presents when they went out.

Dudley got a birthday treat every year and had decided he wanted to go to the zoo. He was bringing a friend, Piers Polkiss who was in Dudley's gang. He got was upset when he found out Harry had to go too, because their baby-sitter had cancelled. He wailed while Petunia told Dudley she would not let Harry ruin their day, but he was just pretending to be annoyed and stopped when Piers showed up. En route to the zoo, Dudley laughed when Vernon shouted at Harry.

Dudley and Piers got anything they wanted at the zoo. In the reptile house, Dudley made Vernon try and wake up a boa constrictor, but the snake found him annoying and kept sleeping. Because it later woke up for Harry, Dudley punched him out the way to see it. He and Piers were leaning into the glass when Harry caused it to vanish using magic. Dudley screamed while the snake escaped, and elaborated a story of what happened to say he had been attacked by it.

Harry was locked in the cupboard for ages because of what he had done. In that time, Dudley broke a few presents including a new camera and a remote control airplane, and he knocked Arabella Figg down in a new racing bike when she crossed the road in Privet Drive on her crutches. He had friends around to Privet Drive nearly every day in the summer and they would play Dudley's favourite game of "Harry-hunting".

He later found out he was accepted to attend Vernon's high school, Smeltings Academy. He was taken to get a new school uniform, where he was given a stick. He paraded around the house in the new get-up and loved having a stick. He took to beating everything and everyone he could, which annoyed Harry. Petunia thought Dudley looked very grown up in the new school uniform, Vernon was very proud, but Harry was trying not to laugh.

Dudley was ordered by Vernon one day to collect the mail. He demanded Harry go instead, but Harry demanded Dudley do what he was told. Vernon told Dudley to whack Harry but he dodged it. Harry found a letter sent to him and Dudley saw Harry trying to open the letter. He told Vernon, who took the letter, but tried to hide it from Dudley and Harry when he and Petunia saw who sent it.

They told Dudley and Harry to leave the room but Dudley hit Vernon on the head with the stick. Vernon threw Dudley and Harry out the room, and they fought each other to try and listen in at the door. He would later learn from Petunia that Harry would now be staying in the second bedroom.

Dudley was devastated about losing the bedroom and threw a huge tantrum, demanding they kick Harry out instead. He threw a pet tortoise through the greenhouse window in anger. Dudley fought Vernon and Harry for a second letter and lost. Two days later Dudley was shocked by the arrival of twelve letters and asked Harry who on earth would want to write to him. On Sunday, he and Petunia run out the living room when around thirty letters got into the house.

Vernon soon told everyone they were leaving Privet Drive for a few days. Dudley wanted to bring a TV and Playstation. Vernon drove around to the forest, a plowed field, a bridge and a parking lot. Dudley thought he had lost the plot and told Petunia they had to go home because he wanted to watch "The Great Humberto". Vernon instead took the four to the Hut-on-the-Rock.

Petunia gave Dudley the best blanket she could find. Harry counted down the minute to midnight on Dudley's watch. When the watch reached midnight, Dudley was woken up by a very loud knock on the door. He asked where the cannon was, which Harry thought was an odd thing to say. Dudley was frozen in fear when he saw Rubeus Hagrid.

Hagrid talked to Dudley, but he run away to hide behind Petunia when Hagrid said he was a great lump. Hagrid made Harry food and Dudley looked interested, but Vernon told him not to eat anything. Hagrid agreed he was fat enough. Dudley heard Hagrid tell Harry everything about the wizarding world. He soon got angry at Vernon and tried to turn Dudley into a pig, but he just achieved a pig's tail. Dudley run out the room screaming with Vernon and Petunia.

Dudley became very scared of Harry and wouldn't even be in the same room with him for the whole of the holidays. He even Dudley run out of a room screaming when Harry announced he was there. Vernon, Petunia and Dudley took Harry to King's Cross, before taking Dudley to have the pig's tail taken off by a doctor.

### Chamber of Secrets

Petunia, Vernon and Dudley collected Harry from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at the end of the school year. Harry thought Dudley looked scared of him.

Dudley had grown in confidence because Harry was banned from using and speaking of magic, but he was fearful of him even saying anything connected to the wizarding world. He teased Harry on his birthday because he knew what day it was, and he hadn't been given any cards and presents. Harry used fake spells to tease him and he told Petunia.

Vernon had a important business meeting and he had a plan for how he wanted the family to behave. Dudley had to be polite and complimentary. Petunia thought he was lovely and hugged him, but Harry thought it was funny. Dudley was charming, taking their guests coats and guiding them to the living room. A few days later, Dudley was dumb-founded when he was woken up and found Harry escaping their house in a flying car.

### Prisoner of Azkaban

Dudley was taken outside by Vernon and Petunia one day to look at Vernon's new car, and they started bragging about it very loudly so their neighbours could hear. By then, Dudley was fatter than ever and very lazy. He didn't like having to walk between the kitchen and the living room, causing Vernon to install a new TV in the kitchen. Dudley sat watching the TV in the kitchen every day and couldn't stop eating, gaining several chins.

When Aunt Marge arrived at Privet Drive to stay for a few days, Dudley waddled into the hall to say hello and she grabbed and kissed him. He let her do that because he was being paid by Vernon and Petunia. Harry saw a twenty pound note in Dudley's hand. Marge doted on Dudley during her visit and kept giving him presents. On her final day at the Dursleys, Petunia cooked a special dinner. For dessert, Dudley ate four slices of pie. When Marge and Harry started arguing, she inflated like a balloon and flew up into the sky. Dudley didn't notice what was happening because he was watching the TV. Harry and Dudley didn't speak to each other for a year when he run away shortly after.

## Appearance

When Dudley was a baby, he was said to look like a very large beach ball. At the age of eleven, Dudley had smooth blond hair and watery, blue eyes. He was even larger by then and looked very much like Vernon. He had a chubby pink face and hardly any neck.

## Trivia

* Dudley was given many presents by Vernon and Petunia throughout childhood and these included:
	+ A small working tank
	+ First TV set
	+ Parrot
	+ Air-rifle
	+ Books
	+ New computer
	+ Another television
	+ Racing bike
	+ Cine-camera
	+ Remote-control aeroplane
	+ 16 new computer games
	+ Video-camera

* Harry once wanted to buy a book, Curses and Counter-Curses in order to curse Dudley but Hagrid stopped him because he should not use magic out of school unless he's in danger.

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ In *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 3, Harry finds the "month old" camera which was brought for Dudley's recent birthday, and he finds it a week before 31 July, Harry's birthday, meaning Dudley was born in late June of 1980.
2. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 2
3. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 2
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 1
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 2
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 3
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 4
8. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 6
9. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 17
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 1
11. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 3
12. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 1
13. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 5