Harry left at the Dursleys (Was Re: Plot in OotP)

[nrenka]

No: HPFGUIDX 118079


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" 
<dumbledore11214 at y...> wrote:

> Alla: 
> Dumbledore left Harry at Dursleys. Well, we are ready to look for 
> deep answers, but what if indeed he simply had no other choice, 
> that harry would not be safe anywhere else? What if the simple 
> answer is indeed a true one? 

It's not the whole measure of the situation, but I honestly think 
that the safety angle is continually underrated.  First of all, to be 
slightly meta about it, I think JKR considers it important, given her 
comments of "If DD were Harry's relative, why would he have had to go 
to the Dursleys?"

Keep in mind what Bellatrix and posse were able to do to two fully-
trained Aurors, who had canonically defied Voldemort three times 
(although god only knows what THAT means).  That means that they were 
scary enough to take on some fairly high-powered wizards and wipe the 
floor with them in a particularly unpleasant way.  Baby Harry surely 
would have been in for worse, if he'd been obtainable.  No, whatever 
protects Privet Drive must be really fairly strong.  Although that 
raises the questions of traceability, etc. there.

Now, this doesn't fully address why Dumbledore didn't intervene 
there, but I think we have more coming there per comments about his 
letter to Petunia, and the coherent if ungratifying resort of how 
Dumbledore doesn't *force* people.  That is to say, he lets people 
make their own mistakes.  (side note: I note in passing that I do not 
buy the extremely manipulative Dumbledore theories--he strikes me as 
something of a classical liberal in how he generally lets people work 
things out on their own--I'm thinking in part of all the cases in CoS 
where he asks Harry if he has something to say, looks him in the 
eyes, but doesn't push it.  DD *must* be using Legilimency, but he 
leaves Harry to act or not on his own.  Hard canon to the contrary 
appreciated, as always.)

-Nora gets back to operatic heaven with a new recording of Iphigenie 
en Tauride that is provoking squees of joy and amazement