Summary
Many believe theHarry Potterbooks should’ve always been a TV series. And even though the eight-film franchise from Warner Bros. left an indelible mark on the fan psyche, HBO’sHarry Potterreboot TV series could still earn its Exceeds Expectations O.W.L.S. by expanding on certain characters and themes.
J.K. Rowling’s belovedHarry Potterbooks about the Boy Who Lived and the Wizarding World he inhabited have too many characters that didn’t quite get the fulfilling on-screen arc they deserved. Take, for example, Professor Albus Dumbledore (RIP) not getting the funeral from the books ora one-dimensional Ginny WeasleypostThe Chamber of Secrets. But one character started as a bully, and almost got a swing at redemption before the scene was edited out for pacing and flow. Perhaps, now, his time has come.
TheHarry PotterFilm Series Deleted Dudley Dursley’s Redemption Scene
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were perfectly horrible to their nephew, Harry Potter, and their cruelty rubbed off on their son, Dudley. The same age as Harry, Dudley grew up to be quite a bully and, accompanied by his friends, was known to pick on his cousin. Whether with his antics in the books or the memorable performance by Harry Melling in the Warner Bros. film franchise, Dudley Dursley was easy to detest (though never more than Dolores Umbridge). And yet, unlike his parents, Vernon and Petunia, Dudley got a brief moment of redemption in the books that didn’t quite make it to the movies. At least, not officially.
InHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry turned seventeen, and the powerful magic Dumbledore evoked to keep Harry safe as long as he called his aunt’s house ‘home’ ended. WithLord Voldemort and his army of Death Eaterspoised to attack Harry, there was a plan to get not just Harry to safety but the Dursleys too, lest they be captured and tortured for information. Two scenes from this particular moment, when the Dursleys leave home, were deleted from the movie version. One was a scene with Aunt Petunia, where she talks about losing her sister to Harry. The other was an awkward but sweet moment between Harry and Dudley.
As Harry watches the Dursleys about to get into their car, a confused Dudley asks his father, “I don’t understand. Isn’t he coming with us?” Vernon says, “Absolutely not,” asking Harry if he wants to come with them, to which Harry says the same, adding, “Besides, I’m just a waste of space. Isn’t that right, Vernon?” Even as his disgruntled father ushers him into the car, Dudley slowly walks over to Harry, the air getting deeply awkward between them, and offers Harry his hand to shake. Suspecting a final prank, Harry cautiously shakes his cousin’s hand, but then Dudley surprises him even further by saying something nobody expected.
I don’t think you’re a waste of space, Harry.
This deleted scene has a massive fan base, uniting book and non-book fans in their disappointment that it wasn’t kept in the film. Harry Melling’s impeccable enunciation of Dudley’s awkwardness at showing emotion before his cousin for the first time while defying his father’s orders makes this a perfect end to Dudley’s arc. Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry smiling and calling him “Big D,” a friendly nickname that Harry had mocked but now used endearingly, and the micro-expressions from both actors made this moment more impactful. Maybe the TV series could have all this and more in store for Dudley?
HBO’sHarry PotterTV Series Could Give Dudley Dursley A Proper Arc
TheHarry PotterTV series fromHBO is putting together quite a castand has receiveda ginormous cash infusion, which it will surely need since it has big shoes to fill and plans to devote one season per book. And perhaps, there’s enough room for a layered arc for Dudley Dursley that portrays his journey from being a bully to a gradual ally, starting with the summer before the fifth year, inThe Order of the Phoenix, when Harry saves Dudley from a Dementor. It is a pivotal moment in Dudley’s life.
According to the book, Dudley has taken up boxing and is a junior heavyweight champion. And yet, the Dementor attack is the first time he has felt powerless. He realizes Harry could’ve left him behind, but he didn’t, and that Harry wasn’t some freak but a powerful wizard. Despite the Potters’ deaths, the threat of a dark wizard to Harry’s life hadn’t quite sunk in for the Dursleys. But the Dementor attack in Little Whinging changes that, and for the first time, Dudley and his parents realize just how dangerous it could get. AndDudley begins to change.
Dudley doesn’t appear in the sixth movie, but inHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Princechapter 3, “Will and Won’t,” Dumbledore visits Privet Drive. He reprimands Vernon and Petunia for their abuse of Harry while calling Dudley an “unfortunate boy” because of “the appalling damage” that his parents inflicted on him, from which Harry was saved because he wasn’t pampered or indulged. Dudley is, at first, confused, but it’s not a stretch to imagine that something was finally breaking through to him, because he stops bullying Harry after that.
InHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry steps on and breaks a cup of cold tea kept right outside his bedroom door. He assumes it must be another one of Dudley’s pranks. However, at the time of their parting, Dudley tells him he doesn’t think Harry is a waste of space and thanks him for saving his life. And Harry realizes the tea might’ve been a gesture from his cousin to reach out. The farewell scene in the book is much more elaborate and effective, with Harry jokingly asking Dudley if the Dementors blew a different personality into him, and Dudley shrugging and shaking Harry’s hand.
The HBOHarry Potterreboot, thus, needs to give Dudley Dursley a chance to show his good side.
