My two knuts worth

[Flying Ford Anglia]

No: HPFGUIDX 7563

Responding to Leilani, who said:

<<<I joined the group a few days ago and have nearly gone blind 
perusing the archives.  Here are some thoughts/comments.  Forgive me 
if they have been discussed.>>>

Welcome Leilani.  The archives here are a wee bit daunting, it's true 
(the length of "Goblet of Fire" is a mere trifle in comparison) and 
topics resurface now and then.  

You've raised some interesting questions. Can I register a quick `no' 
vote on Grandpa Dumbledore and a R/He marriage
and move on to the 
others? <g>

<<<1.  Harry does not receive the accolades he deserves for the 
amazing feats he has performed.  After all, he has overcome evil 
personified and preserved the very existence of wizards and muggles 
alike, several times now.  He should at least get his own room at 
Hogwarts.>>>

Cosseting Harry by giving him a room of his own surely wouldn't fit 
Dumbledore's apparent plan to toughen Harry up for his future role.  
He would want to develop humility and modesty, as well as strength 
and talent, in his protégé.  More to the point, I think Harry would 
view a single room as a penance rather than a luxury, as it would 
isolate him from his friends and give the other students (especially 
Ron) even more reason to resent his fame and fortune.

<<<2.  The Dursleys are child abusers.  You would think someone in 
the neighborhood or a teacher would have recognized that and turned 
them in before Harry was old enough to go to Hogwarts.>>>

It's true that someone could and should have noticed the stark 
contrast in physique and dress between Harry and Dudley and concluded 
that Harry was unfairly disadvantaged.  However, people aren't always 
attuned to the various forms child abuse can take and questions that 
should be asked are often left unsaid.  If the Dursleys' neighbours 
didn't hear the sounds of violent physical abuse, they would perhaps 
have assumed that nothing was wrong.  They would, thus, have 
overlooked the mental torture, psychological threats and deprivation 
suffered by Harry, most of which were achieved with hardly a raised 
voice.

In the UK, the recent case of Fred and Rosemary West brought this 
type of `hidden' abuse home in chilling fashion.  The Wests lived in 
a cosy suburban house, where Fred killed more than a dozen young 
people, including one of his daughters, while his wife Rosemary 
helped him dispose of the bodies in their home and under their 
garden.  Throughout their childhood, the Wests' other children 
experienced unbelievable psychological torture right under the noses 
of their respectable neighbours.  It sounds unbelievable that it took 
so long to come to light, but it happened.  

<<<5.  The descriptions of relationships of house elves to their 
masters sometimes sounds uncomfortably erotic.  "She bound him to her 
with her own special brand of magic".  Ewww.>>>

Elven eroticism? That's an unusual perspective!

Neil