Dursley's charmed, bribed, afraid?

[gkjpo <kristen@sanderson-web.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50940

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tom Wall <thomasmwall at y...>" 
<thomasmwall at y...> wrote:
> Maybe the letter also clued them in about Mrs. Figg?
> We're never really told exactly *how* it is that 
> the Dursleys know her, are we? It seems a little
> serendipitous that they'd just HAPPEN to meet her
> somewhere.  Probably more likely that Dumbledore
> told them in the letter something like "...blah blah 
> blah and I cannot stress to you how important it is
> that he stay safe, so if you ever have reason to go
> off and need to leave Harry to be babysat, then 
> contact Arabella Figg at this address and she will be
> glad to keep watch over the boy."
> 
> Or something like that. After all, she lives two streets
> away from them, so it's not as though they're just outside
> in the garden chatting together or anything.
> 
> -Tom

Uh, is she there?  The letter was written and delivered right after 
Harry's parents died.  Was there time to find a place for Arabella to 
live and get her there in order to be mentioned in this letter?  Even 
if you account for the "missing 24 hours", I find it hard to believe 
that Dumbledore spent that time house hunting.  Also, the threat from 
the dark side was dimished somewhat at that point with Voldemort gone 
(Dumbledore probably spent his time verifying that - or, maybe he was 
setting MAGIC DISHWASHER in motion :).

In addition, I offer a Star Wars reference.  Luke lived with his aunt 
and uncle who knew all about his past and his family.  They didn't 
even tell Luke about Obiwan and discouraged him when he asked calling 
him a crazy old man.  They did this because they knew that Ben was a 
Jedi and they didn't want Luke to become one even if he was "strong 
in the force".  His uncle even went so far as to force Luke to keep 
working the farm so that he wouldn't run off to the royal academy and 
possibly discover his father's world.  The Dursleys strike me as very 
similar.  They are trying to trounce the magic out of Harry.  There 
is no way they would allow him to associate with a person they know 
to be magic for fear that that person would teach Harry about his 
past and how to use his powers.  

I think it's much more likely that Mrs. Figg moved quietly into the 
neighborhood soon after Harry arrived and became a friendly neighbor 
who offered to babysit whenever necessary.

Kristen (posting this the second time since my browser went haywire)