why Dumblelore does what he does/ Harry's self esteem

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 33089



> 
> Catherine wrote:
> 
> One things for sure--growing up with the Dursleys would do nothing 
> for anyone's self esteem.
> 
I don't know about that.  The usual assumption is that being praised 
and told how wonderful you are throughout your childhood develops 
self esteem.  However, I think that it is possible that 
accomplishment itself has more to do with developing true self esteem 
than kind words.
Dumbledore certainly has shown that he doesn't know everything and 
that he can be misled (ie Quirrel, Sirius Black, fake Moody etc.), 
but I suspect that if he was close to the Potters, he must have known 
something about Lily's family. Since he told McGonagall "Can't you 
see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that (ie 
the fame in the WW for something he can't remember) until he's ready 
to take it?"
I suspect that he knew that Harry would not have an easy time of it 
with the Dursleys, but that he was counting on him to be strong 
enough and humble enough as a result of his time with them, to be 
able to cope with his fame and the attention he would receive when he 
enters the Wizarding world in 10 years.  And, in  spite of how truly 
horrible they are to him, it seems that Dumbledore was right.  Harry 
truly is strong enough to not have his "head turned" by the 
adulation.  Would he have turned out as well, growing up with a 
loving and doting wizarding family?
I'm certainly not endorsing the way the Dursleys treated him (abuse 
and neglect), and in RL they should be doing time.  However, JKR is 
not a very sentimental writer, and I think that they are used in the 
books as a device to help show the sharp contrast between Harry's two 
worlds.

Jo