[HPforGrownups] Re: Harry and the Dursleys

[David Burgess]

No: HPFGUIDX 54659


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> imamommy wrote:
>> Another thing: why *didn't* the Dursley's turn Harry over to
>> an  orphanage?  I sure would like a peek at the letter
>> Dumbledore wrote them.  What could he possibly say that would
>> have compelled them to keep him?  And why would they keep him
>> if they never intended to even try to love him?
>
> Would anyone believe that maybe the Dursleys' actually have a soft spot
> for Harry?  I know, I know they treat him like garbage, but deep
> down inside there's a little iddy biddy love.
>
> Greicy
>

I don't think so.  From a technical (craft/storyline) perspective, Harry
needs to be completely on his own, to the point that the only people who
care for him are absent and all those present mistreat him, to invoke the
maximum empathy from the reader.  The inference needs to be that Harry is
alone in the world, and the only support he has is while we are reading
and cheering for him.  I know: "Someone watched Neverending Story with the
grandkids again...."

>From a story perspective, I've been through SS/PS about a dozen times and
I keep coming away from that with the feeling that Petunia is either
really psychotic/psychopathic, or she really has a 'hard-on' for Harry. 
Her disgust and hatred for the boy is palpable, even through the written
page.  In fact, she hates Harry so much that she has over compensated with
"the pig in knickers", just to make it even more, abundantly clear just
how much she really, really hates Harry.  These are not the acts of
someone that has the least bit of positive feelings for him.

Another component - I'm convinced that Harry's size and stature are not
genetic.  He's described with terms like 'slight' and 'scrawny'.  Clearly,
he is underdeveloped, which I take as an indication of systematic
malnutrition over most of his early years.  There's no indication in canon
that I can find, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Harry's primary
care-giver when he was a baby was Vernon.

In SS/PS, at least until the Wizarding World invades his home, Vernon
seems to view Harry as something that gets him into trouble (with Petunia,
the neighbors, etc.)  Other than being bossy (which is a character flaw
for lots of folks), I don't get the feeling of complete loathing I do from
Petunia.

Even as late as GoF, Vernon's big complaint was that the Postman was
laughing about the letter's postage.  The book even describes his feelings
as being embarassed by the attention....

I've advanced a theory that Petunia has a much bigger axe to grind with
Harry than we've been privy to.  We'll see - in fact, I'm guessing that's
one of the answers associated with, when JKR says "Harry will ask
questions that people have been thinking 'why hasn't he asked that
question before' in this book..." (paraphrased from the A&E Interview).

There are still thousands of posts in the archives that I haven't read
(yet) and I'm sure this has been hashed out a hundred time, but I
definitely think that there is something much deeper than Petunia just
being a jerk.

Petunia grew up in a house where there was at least one passably talented
witch at least 3 months out of the year.  She even spits out her parents'
words as invectives: "Oh look, we have a witch in the family."  Her
feigned ignorance of the Wizarding World is flat ridiculous.  Her status
as a Squib is possible and might be the basis for hating wizards, but that
still doesn't explain how that has translated to such intense loathing of
a child that has never really done anything to deserve it.  The reach is
just too far for my taste.

Vernon, between being a relatively average Muggle and being completely
ignorant of the WW should be a little afraid, especially after the Potters
"got themselves blown up".  Heck, his first-hand experiences with magic in
first half a dozen chapters of SS/PS alone (the haircut, Harry on the
roof, the snake incident at the zoo, the owls, the flurry of Hogwarts
letters, and Hagrid and the pigtail) would be enough to scare the cr*p out
of anyone.  Never mind how terrifying the Fluepowder incident must have
been later.  His experiences with magic to-date clearly make his feelings
well earned.  Petunia should, at the very least, be aware, if not used to
it.  If nothing else, she should have (as an absolute minimum) known that
Harry's Hogwarts letter would be coming.

I'd really like to know the contents of the letter Dumbledore left with
Harry.  It might shed some light on this.

-- 
Dave Burgess