Dursleys abuse

[Renee]

No: HPFGUIDX 117500


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:
> 
> Alla wrote :
> "What was asked of Dursleys, IMO was an emergency, which under any 
> other circumstances (I hope) Dumbledore would not do.
> 
> I think that under those circumstances Petunia had to take Harry 
in 
> (which she did) and treat him decently, if not lovingly(which she 
did
>  not) ."
> 
> Del replies :
> I still disagree. There's no law that says that we should love our
> kids, and there's definitely no law that says that we should love 
our
> orphaned nephews. It might be a moral thing to do for some people, 
but
> that doesn't mean that Petunia *had* to treat Harry lovingly.
> 

Renee:
What I would suggest is that we don't treat Petunia too much like a 
separate entity. There's Vernon, too. He resents being saddled with 
his wife's baby nephew - the boy is in no way related to him, so he 
doesn't feel a shred of obligation there. 

Quite possibly - gasp - Petunia actually loves Vernon, or at least 
did so when Harry entered their household. Vernon hates the boy, and 
she's simply not prepared to turn against him on Harry's behalf. I 
never get the impression she's the dominant partner; does she put 
her foot down more than once?  

Renee