Is Vernon so Bad?

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 92928


> Christopher:
> Something that has been debated often on this group is            
> the 'dreadfulness' of Vernon Dursley, who is one of               
> Harry's 'carers' after his parents died.  While I quite agree that 
> he is a horrible man, I must note that all we know of him if from 
> Harry's POV. There are a few facts in his favour:
  

> -Vernon provides an excellent and above-average standard of living 
> for his family and even provides Harry with enough food to live.  
> That is a better achievement than most families do in this day and 
> age.
>>>>>>>>

Pip!Squeak:
In the UK? Providing a child with enough food to live on is an 
achievement? Even a homeless family in bed-and-breakfast would 
expect to be able to give their child enough to eat.

Harry would be better off in foster care. They would not only feed 
him, they'd make sure he had decent clothes instead of Dudley's cast-
offs. For example, his social worker would have made sure he had a 
new school uniform (which would cost about 30 GBP if it was the 
standard grey pullover/white shirt/grey trousers).
 
Christopher:
> -Vernon is a caring parent who only wants the best for his son. 

Pip!Squeak:
True.

Christopher:
> Now, to some extent Dudley has been spoiled, but in OOP, he has 
improved himself enormously.  Vernon was right when he said 
that 'Smeltings' would be the making of him, although this was 
partly against the wishes of his mother, who insisted that he was 
only 'big-boned'.
>>>>  

Pip!Squeak:
So Dudley is better off at school than at home? His home life is so 
bad for him that his teachers take better care of him than his 
loving parents? It's hardly a point in Vernon's favour.

Christopher:
> -Vernon is concerned enough about his family that he is willing to 
throw Harry out on the street (which would offer the chance of 
punishment, whether Muggle child protection services, or 
Dumbledore), in order that Voldemort might look for him elsewhere 
and ignore the merely Muggle Dursleys'.  He must know (from Lily and 
James' deaths if nothing else) that the wizarding world can kill.
>>>>>>>>>

Pip!Squeak:
So, basically, he's willing to kill a child to protect his family. 
He's willing to throw Harry out to his death, so long as it's not 
him or his. Sorry, but I would have felt a lot more respect for 
Vernon if he'd at least said 'get in touch with some of your 
wizarding friends and find someone to take you!' before he'd started 
saying he didn't want Harry in the house. But he doesn't. He wants a 
fifteen year old boy out, with no thought about where he will live, 
how he will make a living, whether he will live once Voldemort 
starts looking for him.
  
> Christopher:
> -Vernon clearly loves his wife, enough to comply with her request 
to keep Harry even after the Dementor attack.
> >>>>>>

Pip!Squeak:
True. I have no doubt that Vernon and Petunia love each other.
 
> Christopher:
> Yes, Vernon treats Harry in a dreadful manner, but is that not 
understandable?  Harry represents a clear and present danger to his 
family - like standing next to an unexploded bomb - both by 
attracting attention from Voldemort and by acts of underage, 
uncontrolled, magic.  Further, Harry is not directly related to 
Vernon, stronger men than he would be unhappy about providing for 
such a child.  Its not 'right', but it is understandable.  
> >>>

Pip!Squeak:
Harry is not directly related to *Vernon*, but he is directly 
related to both Vernon's wife and Vernon's son. If nothing else, 
Vernon's treatment of Harry has probably had an indirect effect on 
Dudley - who must wonder what might happen to him if he ever fell 
out of his father's favour. Vernon's treatment of Harry has also 
deprived Dudley of a normal sibling relationship (which Harry and 
Dudley *would* have had, if Harry had been treated as a regular 
member of the family).

Put it this way - if James had been black, instead of white, and 
Vernon's problem had been that his nephew 'attracted attention' by 
being a black child in a white family - would that be 
understandable? Harry's problem is that his father is a wizard and 
he takes after him. In other words, Vernon judges him by his blood. 
His race. His 'oddness' in that smug, suburban, white, middle-class 
family. And instead of seeing the threat to Harry as a danger that 
*Harry* should be protected from, he sees the threat to Harry as a 
threat to him and his. It's entirely selfish, and takes no account 
of the risk to a child who has done absolutely nothing to deserve 
it - except by being born.
 
> Christopher:
> So, is Vernon so bad?

Pip!Squeak:
I'm afraid so. Petunia, bless her, is a better prospect. She has 
shown faint signs of caring for Harry, even if she shows no love. 
It's usually Petunia who tries to make sure Harry has some food, 
some clothes, goes to school and stays where he's safe. Unlike 
Vernon, she doesn't seem to want Harry *dead*, even if she prefers 
him out of her sight.

Pip!Squeak