Dumbledore & Dursleys-What DD Knew

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 123312


SSSusan:
> > I think I *can* still see DD choosing to leave Harry there, even 
> > if he knew how he was being treated, but what I'd need to know 
> > is, DID he check back?  If he did and decided what was happening 
> > was still preferable to the risks Harry would face in the WW, I 
> > might be able to live with that.  For me, I'm more distressed by 
> > the notion that he might not have checked back at all.  And 
> > *that's* the part I'd really like to have JKR explain.

SSSusan note:  Steve addressed this issue quite well in 123291 & 
129292.

Lupinlore added:
> IMO you are setting up a false set of choices, Susan.  That is, you
> seem to be implying that Albus' only choices are to leave Harry at 
> the Dursleys and not interfere, or else remove him from the 
> Dursleys and place him in the WW.  I think what Alla and I and 
> others are saying is that even if the WW was too dangerous, WHY 
> DIDN'T DD MAKE THE DURSLEYS ACT BETTER?  It seems very difficult to 
> conceive that there was no way he could put pressure on them, 
> UNLESS he had to enter into some kind of binding agreement NOT to 
> interfere.  And THAT I think is what we want to know, WAS ALBUS 
> PREVENTED FROM INTERVENING?  If so, then the morals of the 
> situation slide in one direction.  If not, he just CHOSE not to 
> intervene for whatever reason, then they slide radically in the
> other direction.


SSSusan:
Fair enough to describe the situation this way, rather than how I 
previously did.  SO now you've gotten me to start considering a whole 
*new* set of questions. (Oh, joy! :-))

With what power, would you say, could DD MAKE them act better?  Do 
you mean threats of magical punishment?  Threats to turn them over to 
muggle social services?  Threats to take Harry away if they don't 
behave themselves??

What if "willingly" IS a part of the protection equation?  If it is, 
then I see problems with ANY type of threats.

Even if "willingly" isn't a necessary component, let's look at it 
this way.  If DD is right about the basic requirement that Harry 
reside w/ a blood relative, then The Dursleys are DD's only choice.  
If we're right about the Dursleys' feelings about Harry, then they 
really don't like him much.  So what would they do if DD threatened 
them in some way?  Well, it seems to me they might just say, "Fine.  
TAKE the damn kid.  We won't abide by your 'requirements,' and we 
don't want the bother of him anymore!"

THEN what would DD have done?

This whole questioning makes me think that whomever it was who first 
suggested that DD offered some additional protection for the Dursleys 
as a whole (or of Dudley at least), in exchange for taking Harry in, 
was correct.  Petunia doesn't seem to want him, but she keeps him, 
and she tells Vernon he MUST allow Harry to stay.  Yet we've seen DD 
doing no threatening 'til that point; we've seen DD interfering in no 
way.  There must be a REASON Petunia said yes in the first place, 
short of a threat, and all I can think of is that it was an OFFER, 
rather than a threat:  an offer of protection extending to *them* as 
long as Harry resides there a part of each year.

So now that I've said that, I can anticipate an argument that DD 
should have tightened the screws a little over the years.  Could've 
said, "Eh, Petunia dear, I see that you're really being quite nasty 
to little Harry.  You'd better straighten up or the protection deal 
for YOU ALL is off."  Then again, if he did that, they might 
say, "Fine.  You take him and we'll fend for ourselves."  And then DD 
is stuck w/o the blood protection for his little protege.

If that's the correct scenario [DD offered protection to the Dursleys 
if they took Harry in], then it's sort of a symbiotic, or perhaps 
more accurately a co-dependent, relationship: DD needed the Dursleys' 
help, the Dursleys needed DD's protection, but nobody wanted to push 
too hard or go too far with demands for fear the other side would 
balk at the deal.  Sheesh.  No WONDER DD stayed out of it!

Siriusly Snapey Susan