Acceptable Abuses?

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 96307

pippin wrote: 
This is a wizarding child we're talking about. Even if Petunia 
could endure the screams (which I doubt), an unhappy Harry 
wouldn't be stuck in his playpen or the cupboard under the stairs 
for  long--not unless he wanted to be.  

He *likes* being by himself , at any rate more than he likes being 
with Dudley, Vernon and Petunia. After all when he's locked in 
his cupboard Dudley can't use him for a punching bag, Petunia 
can't make him do chores, and Vernon can't yell at him. And he 
knows how to get out--in PS/SS he thinks that he'll wait till he's 
sure the Dursleys are asleep before sneaking out to get some 
food. He was a nocturnal prowler long before Dumbledore gave 
him the invisibility cloak. And they don't shut him in for days and 
days as a rule, though maybe they would have if no one noticed 
his absence. The longest stretch he ever spends in the 
cupboard is when Mrs. Figg is out of action, laid up with her 
broken leg--I don't think *that's* a coincidence. 
Not all babies are cuddlers; some actually reject it. And it's very 
hard for even a well-intentioned adult to bond with them if that 
happens. Harry is never comfortable being held.


vmonte responds:
I was talking about 2 year old Harry, not 7,8,9,10, and 11 year old 
Harry. Of course by this time Harry has learned how to survive in the 
Dursley home.  I find it hard to believe that a 2 year old child does 
not need love or cuddling.