Etiquette

[Rachel Ellington]

No: HPFGUIDX 142699

I am a day behind on my posts, sorry if this is repetitive.
 a_svirn:
> And did you notice: Harry was not even remotely delighted with this 
> little demonstration. He was anxious to leave. Wonder what he was 
> reminded of. 

Valky said:
Now this I absolutely agree with, but I will have to think on it some
more. My first intuition is that Harry felt disgusted that Dumbledore
afforded the superficial pompness of custom his bother, and maybe he
was reminded of the Dursley's themselves pressing their civility on
others to gain the upper hand. Any other thoughts? 

RE says:
My thought was that the Dursley's inability to feign any sort of mannered behavior highlights the fact that they are racists (towards the WW).  The Dursley's jump through hoops to impress only those they deem important, failing to realize that Dumbledore, although a wizard, is the most "important" person they know.  Their reaction to DD's civility magnifies their ill treatment of Harry, their utter disregard for his nurture, emotions, difficulties, his very life.  Harry already knows intimately what horrid people they are and seeing DD humiliate them in this way must be slightly embarrasing for him-they are as horrible as Harry thinks and DD knows this fact and HAS known this fact all along, yet DD has never stood up to the Dursley's before this for the terrible treatment they have inflicted on Harry.   A day late and a dollar short on DD's part, I would say.  Although, it was rewarding that someone FINALLY told the Dursley's how horrible they are.

a_svirn:
What do you mean "for a change"? We have seen wizards being rude to 
them on Harry's behalf from the book 1.

RE says:
 I don't think this is necessarily true.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley attempt to do the right things: writing letters asking if he may join them at the Quidditch World Cup, for example.  I think when we see the OotP stealing Harry away at night after tricking the Dursley's, it's not a rudeness to them, but a way to avoid potential trouble.  When the group threatens Uncle Vernon at the end of OOTP, I view this as a coarse way of protecting Harry.  I view the manner in which the Dursley's have treated Harry as very close to psychological abuse or neglect.  They make him live in a cupboard, they lock him in his room and barely feed him, they ignore his birthdays, they treat him like a slave, they tell people he is a juvie. These are not people that should be afforded manners or civility in my opinion.  

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