Piers Polkiss

"*Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.*"
— Description of Piers[src]
**Piers Polkiss**  was a character in *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* and *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*. He was a Muggle and friend of Dudley Dursley, who went to the zoo with the Dursley family and Harry Potter on Dudley's eleventh birthday. He was also in Dudley's gang.

## Biography

Piers was a friend of Dudley who attended St. Grogory's Primary School and he was part of his gang with Malcolm, Dennis and Gordon.

### Philosopher's Stone

"*Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?*"
— Piers telling Vernon about Harry and the boa constrictor[src]

In June 1991, he was invited to the zoo by the Dursleys' for Dudley's eleventh birthday. Before he arrived at 4 Privet Drive, Dudley was pretending to have a tantrum about Harry having to go with. He stopped when Piers rung the doorbell. He and Dudley laughed at Harry in the car on the way to the zoo. Harry was talking about a flying motorbike he had dreamed of last night and Vernon shouted at him.

Vernon and Petunia brought Piers a large chocolate ice-cream and later lunch in the cafe. Harry tried not to walk with Dudley and Piers because he was worried they would hit him. They then went to the reptile house, where Piers noticed Harry talking to a boa constrictor which was sleeping when he, Dudley and Vernon had looked at it. He shouted for Dudley and Vernon to look again and he and Dudley leaned their faces into the glass. Harry was knocked over and accidentally made the glass pane vanish. Piers and Dudley were frightened and both screamed when the snake escaped.

In the car on the way home, Piers told Vernon that Harry was speaking to the snake, and he invented a tall-tale about how the snake had tried to kill him. It was not until Piers went home that Vernon shouted at Harry.

Piers spent nearly every day of the summer at Privet Drive with Dudley and their three other friends, and played a game they called "Harry-hunting". He was accepted to attend Smeltings Academy with Dudley from September.

### Order of the Phoenix

"*Nice right hook, Big D*"
— Piers to Dudley[src]

Four years later, he and Dudley were still friends and he was still part of his gang. They spent every evening of the summer hanging around Little Whinging, vandalising the park, throwing stones at people and smoking. Dudley lied to his parents one evening saying he was having dinner at the Polkisses' house when they were actually out causing trouble. The gang had beaten up another child much younger than them. Harry overheard Piers telling Dudley he had thrown a good "right hook" before returning home. The next day, they planned to hang out at Gordon's house.

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ Piers was in Dudley's class and the same age he was. Dudley was born in June 1980. To attend school together, Piers had to be born in this time period.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 2
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 3
4. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, Chapter 1