Why Harry stay with the Dursley's

[rja.carnegie at excite.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19992

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Scott" <insanus_scottus at y...> wrote:

> It might not have been in the Daily Prophet with a map when Dumbly 
> first put Harry on the doorstep, but I see no reason to think that 
> people couldn't find out if they wished to do so. I also see the 
> flipside which that Harry's home could have been swamped with 
> grateful wizards all trying to get a look at "The-Boy-Who-Lived" in 
> his infancy.

End of Chapter 2 of PS indicates that on several occasions,
Harry's met wizards in the street or while out shopping -
but not at the Dursley's house.  Dobby manages that, though -
perhaps from house-elves' unexplained affinity for houses,
their mysterious powers, or because Dumbledore (as
Chief House Elf :-) lets him through.

If Hogwarts is the greatest wizarding household in the country
(_not_ excluding the Ministry of Magic), or in the world, then
Dumbledore as head of that household may be a person respected
by every other house's elves - even if he isn't an elf himself,
he may be honorary head of their clan.  I'm considering
Lord Baden-Powell's relationship with the Boy Scouts...

(And the junior girls' arm of the Baden-Powell military-industrial
complex is named, in Britain, after a species of elf or fairy -
they are the Brownie Guides, www.brownieguide.org.uk apparently.)

Robert Carnegie
Meretricious!

(This is my new .sig.  It's out of a Gilderoy Lockhart book indicia,
it's a spell that lets me write like he does and get away with it)