I thought demtors could only affect witches and wizards. Why did they affect Dudey when they were in the tunnel under the highway? Was he able to see Harry lifted off the ground and pinned against the wall? Just curious on what others thought - maybe you can expalin it to me. Thanks

Only witches and wizards (and squibs) can *see* dementors... however muggles can feel the cold and despair that they bring along with them. They affected Dudley because all though he couldnt see them, he was in such a close range to them that he got the same affects as anyone else would have. I believe what Dudley saw was his true self - how he really treats others and what not - which is why his attitude towards Harry changed.

So he just couldnt see them, but he could feel them all the same.

Ok, so this may sound really out there but please hear me out. Just suppose that Dudley was a wizard but his parents would never allow him to go to hogwarts. I mean, he does have family that have wizarding abilities. Vernon and Petunia would protect Dudley from being anywhere near magic. This could explain why the Dementors had such a profound affect on him. Yes, muggles can feel despair and the cold but this my explain the whole reason why the dementor tried taking his soul.

It's a good thought, but if Dudley was a wizard, he would have been able to see the dementors himself. Even if his parents had refused to allow him to go to Hogwarts, he still would have shown magical abilities and still possessed the qualities associated with being a wizard. That wouldn't have disappeared when his parents refused his admittance to the school. And we have never been shown even an inkling that Dudley possessed some magical ability.

Besides, JKR has already stated that Dudley was not a wizard. Sorry.

As for why the dementor tried to perform the kiss on Dudley, I can only assume it was because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the wrong person. They were after Harry and he just happened to be with the person they were looking for. Just like when Harry was at the lake with Sirius. They were after Sirius, but because Harry was with him and trying to defend him (even though I realize that Dudley wasn't trying to protect Harry but he was with him nonetheless), they tried to take Harry's soul, too. Guilt by association.

~That makes sense. But we know that Merope Gaunt essenstially "lost" her magical powers because she was so distraught at the loss of her love Tom Riddle Sr. She just didn't have it in her to perform magic anymore. In my mind that possibility also exist for Dudley. He may not be a wizard but that is because his parents may not have allowed that to take effect. With the absence of magical training, and combined with the brainwashed thinking, I think it would be possible for all magical ability to leave Dudley, leaving him distinctly Muggle.
Of course we would never have been shown an inkling that Dudley possessed some magical ability...his parents would never allow that and Dudley was raise fearing and believing that all magic was somehow inferior to "normal" people. Would he tell if he accidentally shattered a glass or something? No way.

Of course you are probably correct in assessing that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time but the cool thing about this theory is that even though it stretches the imagination, it could work.

Well, Merope was skilled, even though her magic was repressed while she was with her father. But she did have control over her magic as an adult and once she got away from her father. When Tom left, she did decide to not use magic again. Her control of her magic allowed her to do this.

But, if you think of DD's sister, it ended up being the death of her. She didn't have the skill or control to be able to surpress her magic. But because of what happened to her with those boys, she feared it and tried to anyways. The magic kept exploding out of her every now and then when it built up. Who knows, this may have happened to Merope, too, if she had been around longer. She didn't have to surpress her magic for long before she passed away. If she had lived and continued to surpress it, the magic might have started exploding out of her, too.

So, I can't see Dudley being able to surpess the magic successfully if DD's sister couldn't, no matter what Petunia and Vernon did. I'm sure if he was a wizard and had tried, magic would have started exploding out of him at times causing a lot of problems.

Who's to say that dementors don't "kiss" muggles? This could perhaps explain psyche patients, and perhaps even trauma patients, that go into a vegetative-state. Maybe the dementors took the opportunity to suck their souls and left an empty shell of a human? Muggles don't know about dementors and therefore would have no explanation why people are comatose. Yes, a severe brain injury will do that, but I'm talking about people who haven't had head trauma (or other severe bodily injury). You hear about cases where a patient "just slipped into a coma" for no apparent reason, since their other symptoms seemed to be non-threatening.

Just a theory!

But as for Dudley, I think it was a combination of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person and the fact he was such an awful excuse for a human!

Okay, I've enjoyed reading this thread...however I feel like this whole..."does Dudley have magical powers or not" has gotten a bit farther than JK's words. She says that Dudley, when attacked by the dementors, saw what he was like and saw how cruel he was and thus began to change his ways.

Also, she never stated in the books that muggles could not be affected by dementors...they just cannot see them. They can still feel the cold, horror feeling that they spread throughout the world.

So Dudley could have easily been attacked by the dementors....especially because all they want is to suck the happiness out of people and if they can take their souls. I don't think dementors care if they are muggle or qizard souls...what do you guys think??

I totally agree with Harry James Potter..

Dudley cannot be a wizards and he can never have showed any signs of magic. JK told us, he saw how awefull he was when the dementors attacked him. That's it. I cannot think of the possibilty that he was a wizard but his parents supressed it... it's not possible, the magical community would know that he was a wizard..

I agree with Insomnia- Dudley was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if he wasn't with Harry, maybe the Dementors wouldn't have affected him at all. And JKR has never showed even a teensiest trace of magic from Dudley and that just proves he wasn't a wizard, and anywayyy im sure ravensblood didn't say Dudley was a wizard - he was just supposing and it was a theory, not a fact.

~cupcake

I actually liked ravensblood's theory about Dudley even though I have read the series and press releases and know what JKR says about Dudley not being a wizard. And that has absolutely nothing to do with him being my husband

Anyways, I wanted to ask a question.

Do you suppose that Dudley's encounter with the Dementors finally convinced him that magic was real and that his parents were full of misconceptions? Do you think this affected Dudley's relationship with his parents...especially his father?

I read this thread and looks interesting. I support ChannelingGinny's theory ...

Could it be that you think wizards exists? Because I do! And I'm always trying to explain thing that can't be explained with science, or have a complicated way, by the existence of magic.
Anyway, Dementors do affect Muggles as well as wizards; the only thing they can't do it seeing them. And agree with you in that of Dudley was in the wrong place, in the wrong time, and that's why Dementors tried to kiss him. Wizards and Muggles' souls means a delicious meal for them with no differences. I think they don't have preferences at time's meal
Do you suppose that Dudley's encounter with the Dementors finally convinced him that magic was real and that his parents were full of misconceptions? Do you think this affected Dudley's relationship with his parents...especially his father?
I think it could be. We can picture that when saying Harry goodbye, that he kind of 'rebels' against his father (ok, not literary, but he delays the departure only to inquire about Harry). Maybe it didn't change his mind the following week, maybe not even the following month, or maybe yes, but a thing is certain: he had to have changed in some way. I don't think he could have fully accepted magic or wizards; perhaps his change was only concerning to Harry.
I'm still wondering what was so terrible to make him change, though. If somebody could answer that ... I'll give you a prize

Dementors effect everyone. Wizards are the only one who can see them and repel them. And squibs. I doubt Dudley saw harry get picked up since he ran into the second one. Im sure he could feel the second dementor but didnt know what was happening. However he could feel the effects as he told them to his parent.

Do you suppose that Dudley's encounter with the Dementors finally convinced him that magic was real and that his parents were full of misconceptions? Do you think this affected Dudley's relationship with his parents...especially his father?
Im pretty sure Dudley never doubted the existence of magic after Hagrid gave him a pig's tail in Philosophers Stone. I'm not sure you can rationally explain away the violet light and sudden appearance of a pig's tail. Would be fun to watch the Dursleys try though
I'm not sure it really affected their relationship - if you remember, Dudley actually accused Harry of making him temporarily 'demented'. The whole family teamed up and ganged up on Harry, so I don't think it was at this point that Dudley's relationship with his father weakened - if anything it strenthened as they united against Harry.