What will happen to Harry at 16?/Protection

[Peggy]

No: HPFGUIDX 72421

<snip>
>Ravenclaw Bookworm:
> Dumbledore tells Harry (p836, US) "While you can still call home 
the 
> place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched 
> or harmed by Voldemort....You need return there only once a year, 
> but as long as you can still call it home, there he cannot hurt 
you."
> 
> I read this as Harry was safe from Voldemort, but not necessarily 
> from anyone else.  So the dementors weren't affected by the "bond 
of 
> blood".  The word "there" in the last sentence of the quote tells 
me 
> that LV can't hurt Harry while he is with Petunia, but he could if 
> Harry is out in public somewhere - like the Ministry.  I guess the 
> next question is how big is the "there" - just the house, or all of 
> Little Whinging, etc?
> 

Peg:

I *think* it's only the actual house.  Hearth and home are very old 
ideas (the Roman family hearth was, I think, lighted from the fire 
tended by the Vestal Virgins, but I'm probably wrong, since I'm 
writing "off the top of my head").  And I think this magic applies to 
harm from anyone--remember that Vernon Dursley got a nasty shock when 
he actually laid hands on Harry.  I think Vernon just got a taste of 
what the magic does, I don't think Harry did "unconcious magic."  And 
no, I don't think Dursley has been beating up Harry all along.

I think the idea of the old magic is that the hearth and home are 
sacred and inviolable, and, so long as Harry goes "home," such as it 
is, that place is the one outside of Hogwarts where he is genuinely 
safe from Lord Thingy.  I don't think hanging out at the playground, 
on the streets, or anywhere else has the same power.

Now, let's see if I can sum this up properly:

The ancient magic that protects Harry seems to be associated with the 
place where his blood kin live.  He renews the power of the spell, 
which is associated with his relative's dwelling place, by returning 
there once a year.  The power remains with the place, not with Harry.

When the Weasley boys rescued him in CoS, when he ran away in PoA, 
and when he attended the Quidditch World Cup in GoF, he wasn't 
actually safe when he was away from "home."  But.  During CoS and 
PoA, and during the first part of GoF, LV wasn't incarnate, and his 
minions weren't too active.  So it was *relatively* safe for him to 
be away from the charmed property.  

Now, with LV fully incarnate and starting up his old, nefarious ways, 
it's much more important for Harry to get to the Dursley's.  And, 
when things get really bad, to get inside and stay there.  That's a 
rotten thing to do to a kid, really.

Peg