[HPforGrownups] Re: The Dursleys and Harry: Neglect or abuse?

[annegirl11 at juno.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 115250

Sherry said:
> Even sleeping in the  cupboard
> under the stairs coul be considered to be abuse, if it is the 
> reason he is small and kind of scrawny, as he's described in the first
book.  

It's called "failure to thrive." My cousin is a pediatric nurse, and
that's one criteria her hospital relies on for suspecting abuse. In at
least one instance she told me about, an infant's failure to thrive was
the tip of the iceberg, and it was a good thing the doctors kept an eye
on the kid's case based on the FtT issue alone.

I *despise* the Dursley's treatment of Harry, and it frustrates me to no
end that those chaps are supposed to be kid-lit fun, so we're not
supposed to wonder why Sirius or any of Harry's teachers never called the
police. Grrrr HATE HATE. 

Last nite I fell in love with an eminently satisfying AU fic called
"Stealing Harry" by Copperbadge in which Sirius and Remus find out about
Harry's treatment when he's eight years old and simply pluck him from the
Dursley's home. Sirius saying "You're lucky I don't kill you" to Vernon
was just. *Neat.*

Aura

~*~
"I have a high self-esteem problem."
- Carson, QE
Fanfic and original stuff at www.homepage-host.uni.cc/w/ofnone