Harry *wasn't* abandoned

[abracew]

No: HPFGUIDX 68841

Pippin said:
 
> Mrs. Figg says all this when Harry asked  why she never told him 
> anything all the times he came round before, that is, when she 
> was babysitting him as a youngster. She couldn't tell him 
> anything *then* because Dumbledore thought he was too young 
> to keep her secret. But that changed at the end of GoF:
<snip>
> It makes sense that Mrs. Figg would have tried to get Harry  to 
> come round to her house before talking to him rather than 
> spilling the beans in front of a street full of nosy neighbors, all
> of  whom are deeply suspicious of Harry, and on any other night 
> would have been " about their usual car-washing and 
> lawn-mowing pursuits."  She knows that the Ministry is looking 
> for an excuse to further discredit Harry. Having a conversation 
> about the wizarding world on a public street could have gotten 
> them both in trouble. But since Harry had already gone and done 
> actual magic, that wasn't a consideration any more.



First post ever, so please be patient!

As I have been re-reading the books (as I am sure everyone else is 
doing) I noticed that Mrs. Figg is mentioned in the first book.  
American version, p. 22 (when planning for the zoo) 
"'Bad news, Vernon,' she [Petunia] said, 'Mrs. Figg's broken her 
leg.  She can't take him.'....Every year, Harry was left behind with 
Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.  Harry hated 
it there.  The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him 
look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned."

Perhaps DD had Mrs. Figg move into the neighborhood when Harry 
arrived?  She obviously was a frequent babysitter for the Dursley's 
and withheld her identity for the entire time she was there.  
Perhaps DD simply told her to keep a tighter watch on Harry in this 
past year of his life?

--abracew