Fic and Art: Prompt 35

[dudley_mod]

Title: Remember/Forget
Author: kerplankia
Prompt: 35. It all comes down to the Dementor attack, doesn't it? That's what changes Dudley. I'd like to see an internal monologue, a stream-of-consciousness maybe, about how it felt, what he saw, what he realised and how it changed him, his new perspective and what he intends to do with it.
Pairing, or gen: Gen

Comments

[straydog733]

There are a ton of nice little moments in here; it is really made in the details. The sour smell is such a visceral way to describe the fear, something that clings to everything he comes across. Everything here just feels so cloying, especially the line "every breath is just a pause before he vomits".

I like how you built the entire Dursley household out of fear. Dudley has his long-held fears about the cupboard, but Vernon and Petunia have their (honestly well-founded) fears about the safety of their family when Harry is around. Dudley is attacked four times in the books, if I remember correctly (snake, pig-tail, tongue, dementors). The snake was unintentional, but Harry still did it. The pig-tail and tongue were at the hands of people Harry considered friends, people he had drawn into the house, and the dementors only came across Dudley because he was with Harry. As horrible as they are and as much as Dudley deserves it, Vernon and Petunia are right when they say that their son is not safe when their nephew is around. I like that your fic really brings that forward.

[kerplankia]

I have always thought that Vernon acts the way he does because of fear; fear of the unknown, fear of the different. I am glad that this came across!

Thanks.