Dudley Dursley is
Harry Potter’s cousin, son of
Vernon and
Petunia Dursley. He takes pleasure in tormenting poor Harry and can be seen throughout
J.K. Rowling’s
Harry Potter series to grow fatter with ever-multiplying chins. He is finally put on a diet by his pediatrician in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, forcing the rest of the household to diet with him, eating sparing meals like grapefruit halves.
Dudley is also very spoiled, getting upwards of 30 presents every year for his birthday (and throwing a fit if he doesn’t get more every time than the last year) and managing to whine his way into anything he wants. Both of his parents treat him as the favorite, and they're very proud of their "Duddykins" for going to
Smeltings.
Many readers laughed when he got his
just deserts in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire after eating a toffee that
Fred and
George Weasley had dropped. They were busy starting a candy manufacturing business and wanted to see what would happen when some of their products were eaten, so they decided to tempt Dudley and see what happened. Well, when he ate the toffee, his tongue swelled up to an incredible size and the Weasley's father
Arthur had to magically shrink it back to size. Dudley was even more scared of wizardry after this encounter, having already been involved in an incident where he ended up with a pig’s tail.
Dudley Dursley appears in all four
Harry Potter novels:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Look for the fifth book
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to come out sometime in 2002.