DD's dilemma + owl post

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 126386


Jen said: (snipped with a big wave to Jen)
> I can't say for sure, but if you removed the Dursleys from the 
story 
> and had Harry raised with Wizards, or made the Dursleys different 
> characters or even changed the scope of the DD character to more of 
> an interventionist type, I think some of the magic would be lost. 
> 
> In the first scenario we wouldn't get to see Harry enter the 
magical 
> world for one thing, as he'd already be there. That was the hook 
for 
> me, the magic of the story--Harry got a one-of-a-kind oppoortunity 
> to leave behind this totally disastrous life to be a *wizard*. Who 
> can't relate to having someone appear and say, 'this isn't who you 
> really are, let me show you the magical world you really belong 
to." 
(snip the rest)

Now Ginger:

I totally agree.  It's the ultimate "wish fulfillment".  Now, not 
many of us check the sky daily for an owl inviting us to join the WW, 
but we all have our wishes.  How many of us play the lottery?  How 
many (especially in our teen years) dream of meeting that special 
someone who will be our soul mate?  How many cheer for the underdog 
team in the World Series or Superbowl if "our" team isn't playing, or 
go totally mad if our team is in it?  And that's just us adults.  
Remember what you wished for as a child?

The lower the circumstances, the greater the fulfillment.  A 
destitute mother of 3 working 3 jobs winning the lottery fills us 
with the warm fuzzies more than a CEO winning it.  Cinderella gets 
the slipper, not her evil step-sisters.  And how 'bout those Red 
Sox?  The more the hero needs the wish to be fulfilled, the more we 
cheer for them when it is.

And so it is with Harry.  Had the Dursleys been a loving family, 
Harry's entrance into the WW would have been interesting, but he 
would not have garnered the sympathy he did coming from a loving 
family.  As it was, we cheered with him.  He didn't make an entrance, 
he made an escape.  And we cheer that escape in every book as the 
Durslays keep giving him (and us)reason to wish for it. 

It just jacks the emotional level up a notch.  The Dursleys can 
be "as bad as they wanna be" and as long as Harry keeps coming out 
the winner, we'll cheer for him.

Plot device?  Yes, but it's got us hooked!
Ginger, who rather enjoys the Dursleys, just because it's so fun to 
root against them.