...once again Dumbledore!Abuse - a Balanced Approach

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 142859

Lupinlore:
> But actually, that isn't the issue, anyway.  The issue is, I think, 
> the fact that JKR was not at all clear with that final speech in 
> OOTP.  It simply puts Dumbledore in far too bad a light for 
> an "epitome of goodness."  And I do think she means us to take that 
> at face value.  
> 
> Why does it place him in such a bad light?  Because it raises the 
> idea that he knew what was going on at the Dursleys (in fact knew in 
> advance it would go on) and did not intervene forcefully to put a 
> stop to it, as it was his absolute moral duty to do.  There is NO, 
> and I repeat, NO, excuse for turning a blind eye to child abuse.  

Pippin:
in the broad sense, yes,  we're all guilty for every real-life, flesh and 
blood child who's suffering at this moment and we, not being
fictional,  have no excuse if we're not doing something about it. 

But the bottom line for me is that just as people don't like being locked
up, whether they deserve to be or not, people don't like being
ordered about, even if the orders would be good for them. They will 
rebel, eventually,  no matter how powerless and intimidated they seem 
to be. That's what happened with Kreacher, and it would have happened 
with Vernon and Petunia. Dumbledore's intervention might have handed 
Harry straight to the death eaters. 

It might soothe the moral indignation of some readers to see 
Dumbledore take ineffectual steps, because at least he would 
seem to be doing something. But that's the Ministry's path and 
we know what JKR thinks of it.

The only reason it was safe for Dumbledore to admonish the 
Dursleys in HBP, IMO,  was that the WW was now alerted to Voldemort's
return and the Dursley's protection was about to run out anyway. All
the same he doesn't demand that the Dursleys defend Harry, thus
risking that they could betray him. He gives them a choice.
If  they did deny Harry their protection, there was
little left to lose and  Harry  could take refuge with 
the Weasleys with the full resources of the Ministry
and its aurors on alert to protect them -- unlike the situation after 
Voldemort had fallen and everyone felt safe.

I think Dumbledore let go with fifteen years of anger and frustration
when he set those glasses bouncing off the Dursley's heads. All the
same he showed admirable restraint, IMO. I would have used the
fire-irons. I do wonder very much what happened in the ten minutes
while Harry was off packing his trunk. It seems to me JKR engineered
that interval very carefully. Any ideas?

Pippin