Mm. I think Dudly should probably be a squib. (Tangent: initially typoed "squid", which inspired a momentary vision of a very different fic indeed. <grin>) Harry's childhood should still have bumps in it, and a Dudley jealous of the attention Harry gets for his magic would be one of them.
Learning distrust of Dumbledore is a big plus in my book. While in canon he's undoubtedly a well-intentioned person who isn't anything like the manipulative mastermind we see in some fics, he's still prone to big blunders caused by his tunnelvision over the "greater good". Teaching Harry to analyze motives and to weigh benefits would be something I suspect Snape would do... And for when we get that far down the road, might incline Harry more towards taking Slytherin as a house after all. Assuming Draco doesn't still turn him off entirely.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Learning distrust of Dumbledore is a big plus in my book. While in canon he's undoubtedly a well-intentioned person who isn't anything like the manipulative mastermind we see in some fics, he's still prone to big blunders caused by his tunnelvision over the "greater good". Teaching Harry to analyze motives and to weigh benefits would be something I suspect Snape would do... And for when we get that far down the road, might incline Harry more towards taking Slytherin as a house after all. Assuming Draco doesn't still turn him off entirely.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.