Ton-Tongue Toffee != Bullying
So, recently I read a post by someone talking about the role of the hero in fiction (and even in reality) and it was interesting, though I'm not sure if I agree with all of it. But one thing about it really bothered me. They called the Ton-Tongue incident in the Harry Potter books bullying. For those of you who don't read the books or need a refresher, that's where the Weasley twins drop some Ton-Tongue Toffee on purpose to get Dudley Dursley to eat it, and he obliges them, causing his tongue to grow huge, spilling out of his mouth and onto the floor. While this was not very nice, it wasn't bullying. Why? Well, because of the intent and the way it was carried out.
Bullying is when you use your size and strength to intimidate other children to get what you want, like extorting their lunch money or getting them to do your homework for you, or to make fun of them, like, stuffing them in their own locker or flushing their head in the toilet. Bullying requires you to physically threaten others on a consistent basis, because bullying is about keeping the rest of the people in constant fear of you (not even your henchmen are totally free of this fear).
The Ton-Tongue Toffee incident is more of a practical joke, in my opinion. A practical joke is a short stunt used to make the other person look funny by humiliating them. Are practical jokes nice? I don't think they are. But they're not bullying. They don't (usually) require a person to use their physical strength or size to make them happen. Rather, they rely on a person blindly walking into a trap. Like, offering a person gum which turns their teeth black, or stretching plastic wrap over a toilet bowl. Bullying requires you to force the other person into the humiliating or painful situation. Practical jokes require you to make the choice to put yourself into that situation. If you don't take the gum, or go to a different toilet stall, the joke fails. Likewise, if Dudley had not picked up the toffee and eaten it, the joke would have failed.
Secondly, I highly doubt that the twins saw it as cruel as some people seem to think. I don't think they really took into account the fact that he was a muggle and that therefore his tongue growing like that would be a horrifying experience for him. I mean, they've eaten creams that turn them into canaries. Growing your tongue temporarily is probably a little on the mild side for them. And yes, it was temporarily. Ton-Tongue Toffees are a part of their joke product line. All of which is temporary. All of which they first tested on themselves. If they wanted to be intentionally cruel to Dudley, they would have done something like dropped the candy that makes you sick (to get out of class, blanking on the name, sorry)... and not given him the other half.
The post also mentions the incident with Marietta (permanent pimples on her face that spell the word "sneak"), and I have to say that I don't really consider that bullying either, but that's because I think it's much worse than bullying. Although, if she knew what would happen if she ratted them out, I would have said that she deserved it. As it stands, I think it was bad form and Hermione should be ashamed. Besides which, if you don't tell people what the consequences of their actions will be, you're not using the consequences to your advantage. The punishment exists to prevent the crime from happening through fear of that punishment. (Incidentally, if someone can show that Marietta knew that she'd be disfigured if she betrayed them, please do so, because you will change the way I view this incident.)
Bullying is when you use your size and strength to intimidate other children to get what you want, like extorting their lunch money or getting them to do your homework for you, or to make fun of them, like, stuffing them in their own locker or flushing their head in the toilet. Bullying requires you to physically threaten others on a consistent basis, because bullying is about keeping the rest of the people in constant fear of you (not even your henchmen are totally free of this fear).
The Ton-Tongue Toffee incident is more of a practical joke, in my opinion. A practical joke is a short stunt used to make the other person look funny by humiliating them. Are practical jokes nice? I don't think they are. But they're not bullying. They don't (usually) require a person to use their physical strength or size to make them happen. Rather, they rely on a person blindly walking into a trap. Like, offering a person gum which turns their teeth black, or stretching plastic wrap over a toilet bowl. Bullying requires you to force the other person into the humiliating or painful situation. Practical jokes require you to make the choice to put yourself into that situation. If you don't take the gum, or go to a different toilet stall, the joke fails. Likewise, if Dudley had not picked up the toffee and eaten it, the joke would have failed.
Secondly, I highly doubt that the twins saw it as cruel as some people seem to think. I don't think they really took into account the fact that he was a muggle and that therefore his tongue growing like that would be a horrifying experience for him. I mean, they've eaten creams that turn them into canaries. Growing your tongue temporarily is probably a little on the mild side for them. And yes, it was temporarily. Ton-Tongue Toffees are a part of their joke product line. All of which is temporary. All of which they first tested on themselves. If they wanted to be intentionally cruel to Dudley, they would have done something like dropped the candy that makes you sick (to get out of class, blanking on the name, sorry)... and not given him the other half.
The post also mentions the incident with Marietta (permanent pimples on her face that spell the word "sneak"), and I have to say that I don't really consider that bullying either, but that's because I think it's much worse than bullying. Although, if she knew what would happen if she ratted them out, I would have said that she deserved it. As it stands, I think it was bad form and Hermione should be ashamed. Besides which, if you don't tell people what the consequences of their actions will be, you're not using the consequences to your advantage. The punishment exists to prevent the crime from happening through fear of that punishment. (Incidentally, if someone can show that Marietta knew that she'd be disfigured if she betrayed them, please do so, because you will change the way I view this incident.)