What I have a hard time with in the canon...

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 96241

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "daled7350" 
<daled73 at e...> wrote:

> What continually niggles at me when I try to relax and enjoy the 
 Potterverse is the belief that any child who had endured the 
loveless  world of psychological abuse that Harry lived in from 
age 2 till 11,  wuld be undamaged enough to be able to make 
friends with Ron and  Hermoine the way he does. 
<<snip>>
> Has this been addressed, and has someone come up with a 
satisfying  answer as to why, according to the canon, it didn't 
happen? <<

Welcome, Dale! Some of the list's favorite theories are:

* Harry's development is no more realistic than Cinderella's and 
should be enjoyed for what it is 

* Lily or Dumbledore put some magical protection on him. They 
knew he might have to live either with the juvenile and 
unpredictable Sirius or the stultifying Dursleys, and appropriate 
precautions were taken.

*Harry, and magical children generally, are extremely resilient to 
both physical and emotional trauma. 

If the latter, it is at least consistent. The children from happy 
families are never homesick and the Muggleborns quickly adjust 
to their new surroundings--no culture shock for them! JKR lets 
us know that distance is developing between  Dean and 
Hermione  and their Muggle parents, but we never see any tears 
or anguish about it.

Pippin
who wonders how current  Muggleborn Hogwarts students 
manage without their cell phones