Well, this is the question that got chosen on JKR's site FAQ poll. In her answer, Jo asked us to mull over why Dumbledore said, "Remember my last!" as opposed to, "Remember my letter!" She goes on to explain that there was more letters before the one that was left for Petunia on the doorstep with Harry when he was one.
I personally feel it's because Dudley is a wizard
Petunia noticed strange things happening in Dudley's first year of life, so she contacted Dumbledore (not sure how she knew to contact him). Dumbledore confirmed her fears in the 'last' letter and somehow placed a spell over Dudley so he couldn't use his magic, therefore he wouldn't find out about it. He also kept him off the Hogwart's list, so Dudley didn't get the letter at age 11. If Harry is no longer welcome in the house, Dudley will find out he is a wizard and so will Uncle Vernon. I think this is Petunia's worst nightmare.
When dumbledore went to the Dursley's in the Half Blood Prince, he said that they harmed Dudley. I think it's because they have shielded him from his wizarding side

I don't know about that. Wouldn't he have seen the dementors in OotP? Unless that part of being a wizard was messed up just like using his powers when Dumbledore put a spell on him. Hey, maybe thats what he saw when they were attacked. But I might have to doubt this one. Otherwise when someone is sleeping, Dumbledore could put the exact same spell on them to prevent them from doing magic.............I DUNNO

I don't think DD would ever put a spell on someone in order to prevent him to use magic or know that he's a wizard because his mom wants too! Freedom's very important for him (remember that he gave money to Doby)..he can choose for his own life.

I thought that JKR had confirmed that neither Dudley or Petunia definitely were magical? And Dumbledore would never deprive the gift of magic to anyone - not even, I believe, Riddle because it goes against his attitude.

Yeah He can't be a wizard because If He went to a potion class He would eat a cauldron full of poison and say
"Yum Yum"

"Wouldn't he have seen the dementors in OotP?"

well, we never actually know that he didn't see the dementors. Dudley didn't really say anything during his parents' quesitoning, Harry did most of the talking. So even though I don't believe Dudley or Petunia are magical, we don't know for sure. I highly doubt it though. It would completely rewrite our whole opinion of them. And it's too much information to introduce this late in the series.

If Duddley were a wizard it would have been recorded at the MoM like all wizard births are, which means he would have recieved a letter from Hogwarts on his 11th birthday. he didin't recieve a letter and DD wouldn't not send a letter simply because a person's parents don't like wizards.

I personally don’t think that Dudley is magical either, although I would like to contest the point that Dumbledore would never shield someone from the wizarding world. What if Petunia refused to keep Harry unless DD agreed to keep Dudley out of Hogwarts? Would DD relent to Petunia’s request in order to save Harry – especially considering that he’s the one who has to kill Voldemort?

Peace,
Prof McG

Ten points to Gryffindor

That would work with her fearing "remember my last Petunia" note. She would then have to send Dudley to Hogwarts, or at least own up to the fact that he's a wizard. But he hasn't showed any magical abilities...

Sorry,to be a little bit impolite but no way!!!!! Dudley couldn't see dementors for sure..and he didn't get any letters from Hogwarts..It's impossible. (sorry for my bad English, i'm not an english speaker you see..).But that's what i'm thinking of course....Sorry..

hi everyone.

i hope im not posting this in the wrong place its my first post.

i read an interview with jk where she said that someone who we already know about int he books is actually a wizard.

my idea was that it was dudley. i think that this would explain how aunt petunia knows so much about the wizarding world. also i believe that the reason harry was allowed to live with them was that she made some an agrement with dumbledore to make sure that dudley never found out about his powers in exchange for giving harry a roof over his head. i also believe that this is what dumbledore was reminding her about in the howler in the order of the phoenix.

hope this makes sense

i was wondering what people thought about this.

i agree its going to be one of the dursleys, how many other muggles do we know? unless its a squib... maybe filch will start to become a wizard?

PS when did she do this interview? it might mean mrs figg

I thought it could be Aunt Petunia. In an interview someone asked JKR if there was something more to Petunia and Jo got cagey about it and said there was, but that she was not a squib, though that was a good guess.

I wonder if Petunia was invited to go to Hogwarts when she was 11 but turned it down. She could be refusing to accept that she is (or could have been) a witch. On her website Jo said that Petunia never did and never will perform magic, though. But maybe she had the potential to...

I share feathermade's view, I guess it may be Aunt Petunia. She knows pretty much about the wizarding world, probably more than she would only through her sister. It would make sense to me that she did not accept this fate of hers and had chosen a life without magic, completely refusing everything connected to magic.

However, as feathermade has already pointed out, JKR mentions on her website that Petunia won't perform any magic, and this makes me kinda unsure everytime I think about that. But I'm positive that the secret wizard is not Dudley... he has in my opinion nothing wizardish on him; he is nothing more that an extremely spoiled child without any special skills (except for bullying people).

yes if its any one of the dursleys it would be aunt petunia becuase she has a family backround of wizardry from her sister and i think the howler that she got was DD telling her basically i know the truth about you and i dont think you want Vernon to know.

im positive theres a secret wizard we dont know about but its not one of the dursleys.....definatley not dudley cuz hes just a fat spoiled kid who bullies people(wow great magical talent kinda like draco cept fer the fat part) also i dont think it could be petunia because even though she knows alot about the wizarding wolrd she had a sister who told her everything about the wizarding world when she came home for the holidays?!?! ex.( book 5 when harry n dudley get home after dementor attack Petunia says that Lily and James told her about them before after she overheard them talking if im wrong then correct me ) havent you ever thought about that... im still not sure who it is but its definatley not one of the dursleys.... also witht he dumbledore howler he told harry that it meant that she had to protect harry for her sister even tho she highly despised her she still cared for her and her family(lily's)

What makes a person a wizzard?

What makes a person a person?

Could it be Grawp? The centaur dude? A house elf? Give 'em a wand and see what they can do.

I'd bet on Grawp at this point. The Dursleys are too obvious, and we just have not met that many other muggles, who are still alive.

About the only other muggles I can think of, are Hermione's parents, but they are dentists, and wizzard dentists are almost as hard to imagine as mother dementors...

Voldemort's mother? No, she would be about 90-120 years old.

Since Hagrid's a wizzard, the odds that Grawp could be trained into a wizzard are pretty good.

I agree with some of you who said Petunia is probably the secret wizard/witch. It just makes some sense, because you can tell she's hiding something with all she 'doesn't know' about the magical world. How old was this interveiw? Was the interveiw before the 5th book, because maybe she was talking about Ms. Figg and its way out of date?

i don't think that Grawp could be a wizard, because Hagrid got the magic throug his Dad, and his dad is not the dad of grawp, right?

hermione's parents coulnd't be because as you said, they're just dentists.
one of the dursleys would be possible, but it can't be vernon. Petunia may be: "the force is strong in our family" (ok, star wars VI), but he may had suppressed her talents.
Or she had suppressed dudley, just like ant said in his post...
but he'd have strange things happened around him and he would've seen the dementors...
not filch, would be too weird!
but who else could it be? somebody from dumbledores family (i know, there's another forum topic)???
really hard...

i definitely don't think it's filch or mrs figg, because they'd love to do magic and can't. when the dementors were gone and mrs figg came she would have done something, just anything...or no! she said she saw how the dementors came, so she would have performed magic then! and she could have seen the dementors, but i don't think she did, because at the hearing even harry thought she had just seen a picture...

grawp is a giant and not a wizard. so it can' t be him...!? maybe he could do magic, but he wouldn't be a wizard because of it! in book 4 the people of the ministry also thought it could have been winky who conjured the dark mark, so elves can do magic! but they are still elves, aren't they? so i don't think grawp could ever be a wizard.

and i also don't think it's mark eavans... jo wouldn't lie, would she?

but aunt petunia is possible... there are much good reasons...

As has been pointed out already, JKR has already debunked the Aunt Petunia will show magical tendencies rumor, though I really liked the idea.

I think it would make for a very interesting twist if Uncle Vernon started to be able to use magic--he wouldn't know what to do with himself. The thought is actually making me chuckle.

It doesn't seem like there are many other options anyways--I seem to recall her saying something that would disqualify Dudley from being the one. I think it was something to the effect of, "Dudley is just Dudley--nothing more, nothing less".

im so confused

been searching my brains to try and think who this wizzard could be.

it cant be someone from dumbledores family because the only person we know about is his brother and he is the barman in the hogs head.

oh well think i should read the books again (yey finnaly another excuse!!)

oh btw DoubleD im a girl. ant is short for Anthea

I'm just curious, ant, where did you see this interview? Is it online? can you post a link? Or was it something online or on tv? I'm just curious, because like someone else pointed out, when she gave the interview might tell us whether or not she was referring to ms figg, and the exact words she uses might also help us in trying to figure out who she is talking about.

yea i have never seen this interview and i would like to see it or hear it or w/e...but ive changed my mind from before it could be Aunt Petunia...it could because of some reasons you guys have said.. Like she says that she doesnt know anything about the wizarding world....but when a question arrises about the WW then she either quickly answers like saying that Lily told her about it..or she changes the subject to something completeley off topic..

I just got one thought in my brain:
We're nearly sure it'll be someone from the dursleys, what about Dudley's aunt Magda who was made flying in book three.
But she wouldn't have her memory changed if she was a wizard, wouldn't she?
to ant: did I say sth. different?

I dont think it will be any Dursley.
Maybe, like with Dumbledore's patronus and the Order's communication, it was also hinted.

In PS/SS Piers Polkis heard Harry talking to the Boa Constrictor. Parseltongue is a magical quality and therefore a magical tendency.
If Piers heard him that is a magical quality so he was showing magical qualities

I think you got most of them. Personally, there is no way I'm going to be able to figure it out myself. I guess I'll just wait to find out, but that's a long wait. *sigh*

I'm going out on a limb here and say it's a possibility that Dudley is a wizard.

Point 1: JKR said that there will be an unknown wizard among the characters already introduced, so there's really no one else.

Point 2: In OoP, when Harry and Dudders were attacked by the dementors, the whole area went dark and after conjuring his patronus, Harry found Dudley in a curled on the ground with his arms over his face and his mouth tightly closed. Now Harry did tell Dudley to keep his mouth closed, but falling down in a defensive motion like that tells me that Dudley may have seen the dementor, or at least felt it...do you have to be a wizard to even feel the dementors?

Point 3: Petunia may have made a deal with Dumbledore; if she keeps Harry, if Dudley's name ever came up in that book that McGonnagall has (by the way, do kid's name get put in at birth or on their 11th birthday), Dumbledore would not allow a letter to be sent out and a spell would be put on Dudley to supress his magical tendencies. That would explain the "remember my last!" howler. At this point, I don't see anyone else who could be an unknown wizard, except Uncle Vernon, but I couldn't see that happening.

I believe Dudley is a wizard. At the beginning of HBP...

I agree for the most part but I think the "appalling damage" was letting Dudley get so fat and spoiled. He's has to be a wizard....there is no one else. Aunt Petunia also spoke of weird things happening to Dudley when he was a child too. What happens if Dudley finds out? Will he hate himself? Can he still learn if he's almost 17 by the end of HBP?

Yeah. To correct myself, if Dudley IS a wizard, the appalling damage is spoiling Dudley to stop him asking questions - or alternatively getting angry and doing anything wizardy - like Harry before he found out he was a wizard. They could be doing to it stop him losing his temper (more than normally), and this saves them explaining what happened AFTER he realised he's a wizard too.

im sorry but highly doubt dudley would be a wizard becuase if he was there would have been some sign that he was, like how harry when he was mad made the glass disapear and dudley fell in with the snake and i remember somwere else that wizards know there kids are by these little misshaps and such.

My point is that Harry only makes things weird happen when he is really angry (Marge, Dudley's mates chasing him or annoying him). When Dudley begins to lose his temper (the presents, remember, in PS) the Dursley's always try to make him feel better right away, often by continuing to spoil him, so he doesn't ever get angry enough to do weird things.

I read this in another post. What if one of Hermione's parents is magical?


MOD EDIT: You have been around long enough to know better. See Albus Wan's post below.

Hi, crissyanthemum. Even with relatively few posts, you've been around for a while, so I expect you've been by the rules at some point. I'd like to invite you to follow the rules link in my signature for a brief refresher.

This post is just a reminder that one-liners are not permitted. Please elaborate more in the future--it seems like there would be plenty more to say about your theory, so I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or any of the moderators or prefects.

Well, let me elaborate then, sheesh. I read in a Prisoner of Azkaban post that somewhere in POA, Sirius mentioned Hermione's mother, Elizabeth. I have not researched this, but since we have a small pool of suprise wizard applicants, could one of Hermione's parents be non-muggle?

Maybe Dudley's a squib and the Dursleys hate magic because the Potters are so much better than them. <-- Dudley's dream
That could explai why he hates Harry so much, but it's still a very stupid idea.

i have two answers to this question

well i dont think dudley is a wizard.

for as i know dudley could not see the dementors when they attacked him and harry.

and also dudley would have been accepted into hogwarts
(hogwarts isn't only to learn magic it is also there to control it)

ok so...

you say that Dudly's mom made it possible to keep him away from knowing that he was a wizard (if he is one) ,but the only problem with your theory is that in the 1st book Petunia mensions that she and Vernon tried to keep Harry as normal as possible....but if they could keep Dudly away from the truth why not Harry too???? They wanted a normal family and if they where using a method on Dudly then why did they let Harry find out he was a wizard and receivet he Hogwarts letter???????

JKR has stated in interviews that "There is a character who does manage in desperate circumstances to do magic quite late in life, may perform magic in desperate circumstances." JKR has further stated that it will not be Petunia Dursley. So who will it be? In my opinion, it will be Dudley Dursley.

There is much conjecture in what I am about to write, but I have tried to back this theory up with a combination of canon, quotes from JKR, and plain old common sense. I would love to hear your comments on this theory (either for or against), so here it goes…

Every character of import in the Harry Potter series has very clear logical motivations for their thoughts and actions - except the Dursleys – they are still, after 6 books, merely cartoon characters. Why do they feel the way they do about magic? Why do they treat Harry the way they do?

What we’ve gotten so far is that Petunia had to play second fiddle to Lilly, so in essence, she was (and still is) jealous of Lilly. This is complete rubbish. Is there anyone who really believes that “horse faced” Petunia would all of a sudden be more popular if “pretty, intelligent, charming, cheeky” Lilly Potter wasn’t a wizard? Petunia certainly was jealous of her sister, but not because she was a wizard.

As for Vernon, he wants to appear “normal”, which is a very British (and American) cultural trait. While I can’t argue that this may explain a little of Vernon’s attitude towards magic, it does not explain why the mere word “magic” gets him pretty close to having a coronary.

In short, these “motivations” are convenient, shallow and one dimensional in attempting to explain why the Dursleys are so pathologically freaked out by magic, and why they treat Harry as badly as they do. In a series of books full of well developed characters, the Dursleys are the “wicked step mother” found in fairy tales – it just doesn’t add up.

But what if, at a very early age, something happened to Dudley? Or more to the point, what if an infant Dudley made something happen? Something that couldn’t be logically explained. Their behavior towards Harry and their attitudes towards magic start to leave the fairy tale realm of “because they’re just mean people” and start to enter the realm of living, breathing, 3 dimensional characters who will do anything to protect their only child from the fate that befell Petunia’s sister.

JKR has stated in interviews that we will find out what Dudley saw during the Dementor attack. At first, I took this to mean that we would be privy to some dark memory from Dudley’s past. But what if what Dudley saw that night was simply the Dementor itself? Muggles can’t see them – wizards can. Not knowing anything about magic, Dudley simply assumed that Harry conjured the Dementor.

In HBP, Dumbledore says “You did not do as I asked. You have never treated Harry as a son. He has known nothing but neglect and often cruelty at your hands. The best that can be said is that he has at least escaped the appalling damage you have inflicted upon the unfortunate boy sitting between you.”

Should we take Dumbledore at face value here? Is he simply talking about the fact that Dudley has been spoiled rotten? Or is there more to it? Let’s not forget that when young Tom Riddle first realized he was “special” (a wizard) is when he was angry. Furthermore, strange (magical) things would happen when Harry was angry (or scared). Vernon and Petunia sure do expend an awful lot of energy to make sure Dudley is happy (or to put it another way – not angry) always. All parents, even one’s that spoil their kids rotten, have limits, but the Dursleys never seem to reach those limits with Dudley, do they? It’s almost as if they’re scared of him becoming angry.

Furthermore, does Vernon really seem like the type of person who would put up with anyone smacking him over the head with a walking stick? Or throwing temper tantrums because he got one less birthday present than the previous year? Well, does he? Yes, he puts up with these things, but do you really think it’s in his nature to do so? I don’t. I think the Dursley’s want to shelter Dudley from his magical talents, and the easiest way to do that is to make sure that he doesn’t get upset, and that, I think is the appalling damage that Dumbledore is referring to. It also explains why they treat Harry as badly as they do – because if Dudley has magical abilities they don’t want him to discover, having Harry around is dangerous, and his very existence at Privet drive could undo everything they have been trying to accomplish for the last 17 years.

So, assuming I’m right, when will Dudley be under so much duress that he will accidentally perform magic? My guess is that the death eaters will attack Harry at Privet Drive the minute he turns 17, and Dudley will either be trying to protect one of his parents or himself when it happens.

So that’s pretty much it. Like I said, it’s a lot of conjecture and guesswork, but I believe it is at least plausible, and doesn’t contradict canon in any way. Thoughts?

That is a very well thought out and explained editorial. However, here is the problem I see with it: Why didn't Dudly recieve a letter. JK said in an interview (I read it yesterday. I don't remember which one, though, as I read several) that children of muggles recieve their letter by messenger much in the way Hagrid does for Harry. Would not Hagrid have given Dudley a letter too? Even if there was only one magical episode, if dudley was a wizard, then he would have recieved a letter, because a magic quill records the name of every wizard child born down in a book at birth.

As well, I do not think that the character that will perform magic will be a child or youth. The phrase "rather late in life" seems to me to be an absolute comparison, rather than a relative one. In other words, it seems that the age at which the first bit of magic is performed is not to be compared to the age at which other students show their first signs of magic (think "he is too old to begin the training" in Star Wars Ep. 5). Instead, it seems to me to be fairly straightforward, that is, it happens "late in [his] life." This could simply mean that the person will die shortly after, but the colloquial usage of the phrase usually refers to someone that is old (i.e. "late in [their] life"). Thus, I think it will be someone who is a squib and is old. So it should either be Filch or Mrs. Figg.

-fish

I'm not so sure I agree with you that Dudley never received a letter. Harry's first letter was found with the regular muggle post. It's my belief that the hundreds of owls that were deluging Privet Drive, and Hagrid tracking them down happened because they didn't allow Harry to see or reply to the letter.

The only times we have ever seen anyone be invited to Hogwarts were in the cases of Tom Riddle and Harry Potter - bioth of whom were orphans. Just as Dumbledore did not ask the head of the orphanage (who was, in effect Tom's legal guardian) if she would allow him to go to Hogwarts, he also did not care about what the Dursleys had to say about the matter because they weren't his parents.

To put it another way, if Hermoine's Muggle parents had written back to Hogwarts with a "thanks but no thanks - Hermoine is going to be a dentist just like us" reply, would they have tracked Hermoine to the ends of the earth? I doubt it. I think it is quite possible that the Dursleys received a letter for Dudley a year before Harry's letter, and wrote back that they weren't interested in having him attend Hogwarts which they were completely entitled to do because they were his parents.

It would be hilarious to see Dudley do magic
This is a well thought out theory, and it almost got me convinced. But something in JKR's words makes me think otherwise. The fact that magic will be done in "desperate circumstances" means, almost certainly, that the person will not be preparing for it. And since it will come up unexpected, he/she must know at least some basics in order to do magic, right? You can say that Dudley can make something magical happen when he is angry, like Harry or Riddle, but again, what JRK said ("does manage..to do magic") makes me think that the person purposefully tried to do magic; it didn't happen by accident. So, I think it will be a Squib. Filch or Mrs. Figg, maybe (savingharry read my mind =).

Well I agre with bluezz I think it will probably be some sort of squib. It would be funny if it wound up being Filch of something. Well anyway, Dudley could not be a wizard. Something mysterious might turn up about him, but it wont be that. He could not see the dementers when they attacked him, therefore he cannot be a wizard.

-Horace Slughorn

Dudley a wizard? i never thought about this in a million years. sure there is a small possibility that he may be a squib but not a wizard. I think that if he were a wizard he also would have recieved a letter from hogwarts or one of the other wizarding schools informing him that he is a wizard and he has magical abilities. but he never got one so there is one reason why dudley cannot be a wizard. also do you think dumbledore would endanger harry with another wizard in the house. remember that he left harry with a family that were indeed muggles and udmbledore knows this as well a a few others as well. harry would be safe, according to dumbledore, with a muggle family rather than a wizarding family. that is another important thing to remember. plus there is also no history or documentation of dudley using magic so that rules out the possibility again of him being a wizard.