Harry and the Dursleys

[mervin180 at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 22210

Hello!  I am new to this group, and I cannot express how wonderful it 
is to interact with other adult Harry Potter fans.  This is a 
wonderful group! A little about myself...I am a 20 year old American 
college student studying English and Political Science.

I'm sorry if this topic has been covered before, but something that 
has piqued my curiosity with each book has been Harry's evolving 
relationship with his Dursley relatives.  

Trying to live with the Dursleys has been one of the major challanges 
in Harry's life thus far, and as Harry grows older he does not let 
the Dursleys control his life so much, and he seems better able to 
stand up for himself.  

By the end of GoF, Harry has faced more danger, heartache, and stress 
than anyone could imagine possible for a 14 year old boy (even one 
who is a wizard.)  There may not be anything the Dursley's can do 
that is worse than all of the stress of the triwizard tasks, 
experiencing the death of a classmate, and whitnessing the rebirth of 
a supremely evil wizard bent on immortality and world conquest. When 
faced with that, anything the Dursleys could dish up may not seem 
anymore annoying than a bee sting - painful and irritating, but not 
so important. Harry now has bigger problems to worry about.

I don't think that the Dursleys' opinion of Harry or Harry's opinion 
of the Dursleys will necessarily change.  Harry gets quite upset when 
the Dursleys show disrespect towards his mom and dad.  I don't think 
this will change as Harry's loyalty to his parents is becoming an 
important component of his personality.  But it will be interesting 
to see how much effect the Dursley's abuse and negligence will have 
on Harry in the future.  

Angela