Concerns for Harry's Well-Being

[Anne]

No: HPFGUIDX 53608

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Lea Moggach <d_lea25 at y...> 
wrote:
> Or did Dumbledore consider Harry's treatment to be good training 
for what would obviously be ahead in life for him (ie bullied by 
Draco Malfoy and the return of Voldemort)?  Maybe Harry wouldn't have 
been able to handle those situations as well if he'd been pampered 
early in life.  I don't know, I just know that the treatment he 
received from the Dursleys has always bothered me hugely.<<

This was discussed within the past 2-3 months (sorry, I'm at work 
finishing my lunch, no time to dig through the archives). As I 
recall, the general feeling was that there were some strategic 
reasons why Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys:

* What doesn't kill you makes you stronger -- living with the 
Dursleys for almost 10 years made Harry touigher, more self-reliant, 
and possibly more introspective than if he'd lived with 
people who treated him in a more loving way. He might actually be 
*too* self-reliant sometimes, but now he at least has Ron & Hermione 
to help him figure things out re: Voldemort and other baddies.

* Somehow, being with blood relatives may have offered him more 
protection against LV than if he'd lived with non-relatives.

* The fact that Harry was living in the midst of lots of Muggles, 
rather than in a community full of wizards, might have made it harder 
for LV to find him, and/or or easier for DD to set up magical wards 
around the Dursleys' house to protect Harry. Not to mention we 
suspect at least one witch or wizard was placed in the vicinity to 
help keep an eye on him (the Mrs. Figg theory).

* The Dursleys, for whatever reason (perhaps we will find out in 
OoP), seem to have a pathological fear of all things magical. They 
refused to tell Harry not only the truth about his parents, but also 
the truth about him being a wizard. So Harry spent 10 years 
completely unaware of both his own fame within the wizarding world 
and the reasons for his unusual abilities. Dumbledore, knowing that 
Harry would eventually have to face Voldemort again (and again, and 
again), may have thought it was better for Harry NOT to grow up being 
fawned over as "The Boy Who Lived". (viz. the reaction of various 
wizards he runs into during his childhood, e.g. the man in the green 
cloak who bows to him in the bakery).

I hope that's a reasonable summary of the discussion we had on this 
list a few weeks (or maybe it was months?) ago. At least it happened 
since Thanksgiving 2002, which is when I started reading this list. 
If anyone else remembers any conflicting (or more cogent) reasons, 
I'm sure they'll let us know :-)

Anne U
(who has Faith that JKR will reveal at least a little more on 6/21/03)