Well now that we have the long awaited title for the sixth book in the series, everyone is buzzing with one question "Who is the half blood Prince". Now, I know that this will probably make me about as popular as ragweed but I feel that there is a strong possibility that the Half Blood Prince is none other than Harry's cousin Dudley Dursley.

The fact is that for a long time we have been hearing rumors that there are things going on with the Dursley's that we might not expect. We also have heard that there will be a person coming into some magical powers who didn't realize they could do magic before. There are also a lot of rumors swirling around that Petunia is actually a Squib which even though she is can not do magic would still technically make her a witch and then since we all know that Vernon is pure muggle through and through then Dudley would be half wizard/half muggle = half blood.

Look at what is introduced to us about Petunia in book five. She obviously knows much more about the magical world than she has ever let on previously, including her interaction with Dumbledore. Also Dudley was very seriously affected by the dementors which shouldn't have happened if he didn't have some form of magical blood in his veins and also Petunia was very clearly terrified about whatever it was that he heard or saw when the dementors came near him. Also, Dudley does share a blood line with Harry on his mother's side so it is possible that even if it wasn't from Petunia per say that his magical ability could be from the Evans bloodline anyway stemming from Lilly's abilities.

What if Petunia knew from the start that Dudley would be a wizard and obviously from her own hatred of the wizarding world combined with Vernon's desire to be as normal as possible she made a deal with Dumbledore. She agreed to take in Harry, but in exchange, Dudley was never to come of age in the wizarding world. In essence, Dumbledore was to wipe him off the magical map. No letters, no Hogwarts, no nothing. Dudley was to live his life as a Muggle. However, now that Voldemort is back, what if that pact is broken and there is no choice but for Dudley to join the wizarding world.

The question would be… will Dudley do so willingly and will his attitude change. Will he join his cousin and fight with him side by side? Who knows? Could make for an interesting twist though. Also while I parish the thought of Dudley ruling anything, let's not forget that maybe the term "Half Blood Prince" may refer to something other than a physical monarchal reign.

Finally, let's not forget what Dumbledore said to Harry at the end of book five,"You arrived not a pampered little prince, but as normal of a boy as one could expect under the circumstances."

Clearly, the idea of a pampered selfish little prince does not sit well with Dumbledore. But perhaps there is a reason that he chose those words with Harry in contrast to Harry's spoiled selfish cousin.

7/4/04