A child is, by definition, WRONG

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 120063


Meri wrote : 
" To say that Harry should sit back and trust the adults in his life
to do what is best for him is to ignore the fact that the adults in
Harry's life don't always know what is best for him and didn't always
act in his best interest."

Del replies:
That's true of any adult in any kid's life.
But as Phineas reminded Harry, following DD's orders never got him
into trouble before.

Meri wrote:
" Case in point: the Dursleys. For a decade Harry lived with him and
learned that he couldn't look to adults for help or care or trust.
They certainly never acted in Harry's best intersts, whether it be by
practically starving him, forcing to sleep in a tiny cupboard,
punnishments that kept him locked up for days at a time or barring his
windows. Ten years of these kinds of experiences will train a kid not
to trust grownups to do what is best. "

Del replies:
I understand your point, but :

1. Harry can talk, walk, write, read, and so on. So the Dursleys did
get quite a few important things right.

2. The extreme punishments you mentioned were for extreme situations.
They were in no way part of his routine life.

3. Don't mix up the examples. Barring the windows and keeping him
locked up for days happened *after* Harry started going to Hogwarts,
and they were always related with magic. They weren't part of his
pre-Hogwarts growing-up (as implied by "ten years of these kinds of
experience")

Meri wrote :
"And he was right: someone was trying to steal the Stone and if Harry
hadn't made it there when he did, there is every possiblilty that
Quirell!Mort would have figured out how to get the Stone from the
Mirror of Erised. "

Del replies :
Actually no, the evidence points to the contrary : QuirrellMort wanted
to use the Stone, so by definition he would never have managed to get
it. And DD was on the way back anyway.

Del