Innocent Alby?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 122956


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, happydogue at a... 
wrote:
> I realize in all that this is just a story but...I always wondered 
why social  services of some type didn't step in.  I realize that 
there were no outer  signs of abuse such as bruises or broken 
bones but -- teachers must have questioned the fact that one 
child in the family has everything and the other doesn't even have 
clothing that fits and broken glasses.
>

Pippin:
Harry, in the words of the social service worker who denied child 
care benefits to JKR, is coping too well. Or to put it more kindly, 
I'm sure that even in prosperous Little Whinging there were 
many children suffering more than Harry was, and social 
services had their hands full with them. 

But Petunia could never make Harry look too ridiculous, because 
the magic interfered.  And Harry was not routinely beaten or 
starved. Though he was sometimes made to go without food as 
a punishment, he never had to do so long enough to hurt him.   
And Petunia doesn't seem to have objected to him sneaking 
food from the fridge (or maybe she thought it was Dudley.)

If Harry ever complained about being confined to the cupboard, 
he probably couldn't get the school authorities to believe him. 
How can a kid who says the wind must have blown him up to the 
top of the chimney or that he has no  idea how he turned his 
teacher's wig blue have any credibility? The teachers probably 
felt sorry for Petunia having to cope with this kid who was an 
incorrigible liar.

Pippin