Dursleys abuse

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 117472


Alla:
> P.S. Strangely enough, I tried to think about any possible 
defense 
> of Dursleys and ... well, I failed.
> 
> It is very easy for me to imagine the defense of Snape. For 
> Dursleys, well, I see none. One can say that Dursleys did not 
ask  for Harry to be brought to live with them. True, they did not. 
But  to me, the sister does have some kind of obligation to take 
care of  her orphan nephew if necessary, so this defense does 
not sit well  with me, either.<
> 

Pippin:
She doesn't, you know. She could have sent him along to the 
orphanage, or put him in foster care. She wasn't Harry's 
godmother and she hadn't accepted responsibility for Harry 
before he got dumped on her.

Once she accepted the responsibility, she could have done 
better by Harry -- but then again, her idea of "better" is the way 
she treats Dudley, which is why I think Dumbledore was wiser to 
leave her alone than to force her to be "nice" to Harry.


And while I can't say much in Petunia's defense, I could certainly 
understand if the British equivalent of child protective services 
had more pressing cases on its hands. I would hate to think of it 
devoting its resources to investigating the Dursleys while other 
children were being *routinely* beaten, starved, kept home from 
school because they had no glasses or shoes, etc. 

There's also the fact that a wizard child as powerful as Harry was 
as out of place in a Muggle household as Grawp was in the 
forest, where he had to be chained up for his own protection. 
We've heard about a few upsetting incidents, but we also know, 
from the occlumency lessons, that Harry has forgotten quite a bit 
about his childhood, including, apparently, an incident with a 
dragon. 

I'm sure if the Dursleys had any idea that it was good for Harry to 
sleep in that cupboard they'd've removed him forthwith, but a 
windowless bedroom isn't a bad idea if you are worried about 
wizards who need eye contact in order to curse you, especially if 
even a curse that bounces off is likely to cause a good deal of 
damage to those around you.

Pippin