Dumbledore & Dursleys-What DD Knew

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 123325


<SNIP>
> 
> 
> 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??


How about a howler saying "Let the kid out of the closet?"  How about
an observation that the best way to appreciate mushrooms is to BE one
for a weekend?  How about simply doing the same thing the Order did at
the end of OOTP and saying "If you treat this child horribly you'll
have me to answer to."?


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


Granted.  But we don't know that yet and THAT is why Albus is still on
the hook.  If indeed Petunia drove a VERY hard bargain that Albus
accepted with a VERY heavy heart (and both of those VERY's have to be
there) I would say then that Albus IS off the hook.

But that brings up the problem of the end of OOTP.  If it is not OK to
threaten the Dursleys in the past, why is it now?


> 
> 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!"


Once again, we don't know.  But I find it hard to believe that Albus
would have been totally without the ability to bribe/threaten, cajole
even in this scenario.  


> 
> 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.

Which once again in no way lets DD off the moral hook and in fact
shoves him on deeper.  I'm sorry Susan, but if DD had any form of
leverage and didn't use it, he is a party to child abuse, nothing more .


> 
> 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

Once again, it would be understandable but in no way clears him of the
moral outrage of participation in child abuse, and in fact deepens his
complicity.  The ONLY way Albus can get off is if he had no leverage
whatsoever he might have used to make Harry's life with the Dursleys
better.


Lupinlore