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

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 118172


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:
> 
> Pippin wrote :
> " We saw what happened when the WW intervened to see that 
Harry got his letters. The Dursleys went nuts."
> 
> Del replies :
> Nope. Vernon only went nuts when the letters kept coming. But 
Harry's circumstances improved greatly after the first letters : he 
was moved to the spare bedroom for example. <

Um, not really. Harry was moved, but the letters kept coming 
because Harry wasn't getting them. The next day Vernon was 
already boarding up the mail slot and trying to hammer nails with 
a slice of fruitcake. That was his reaction to being watched--his 
reaction to being pressured was to buy a gun and take his family 
on the run--even Dudley thought he'd gone mad. 

Vernon was hoping the letters would go away, but if they had, 
Harry would have found himself back in the cupboard in short 
order, with extra punishments for all the trouble he'd caused. 
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon did treat Harry differently once 
he'd returned from Diagon Alley--but by then Harry had a wand. 
Petunia at least would know what that meant. Without one, I 
doubt that pressure from outside would have worked.

It's Harry's ability to defend himself that made the Dursleys treat 
him differently, IMO. 

Pippin