Dumbledore: treatment of Dursley's and obligations to Harry

[JLen1777 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 142913

 
Lupinlore:
>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. And 
> yes, what was going on at the Dursleys WAS  child abuse and if 
> Dumbledore turned a blind eye and did not intervene  he WAS an 
> accessory thereto.  And no, the safety of the wizarding  world is NOT 
> an excuse and no, the idea that Harry "might" be in danger  somewhere 
> else is NOT an excuse.


 
 
 
Jaimee: (sorry... this is a long post)
 
I have seen some insightful arguments from those who think Dumbledore's  
actions were merited toward the Dursley's, and those who think it was  
reprehensible.  I also understand both sides of the argument:  AliveButAbused!Harry is 
better than Dead!Harry as opposed to the argument  above posted by Lupinlore 
under (Re: ...once again Dumbledore!Abuse  -  a Balanced Approach).  Each side 
has a decent argument, and I have enjoyed  watching the debate (even if I was 
afraid of getting hit by a stray bludger  meant for someone else) :)
 
But I do wonder why we assume Dumbledore did not try to do more on Harry's  
behalf?  In OotP which is the basis of much of the discussion I have seen  
(along with the 3rd chapter of HBP), Dumbledore says that in his first year at  
Hogwarts, Harry arrived, "neither as happy or as well nourished," as he had  
wanted, which says he had higher hopes for the arrangement than took  place.  
And, he tells Harry that he left a note with Petunia explaining how  important it 
was to protect him through his mother's blood, and (this is my  speculation, 
not canon) I believe he had hoped that, though she took him  grudgingly, she 
would eventually open her heart, as well as her home.   Harry then realizes 
that the howler was also from Dumbledore, which he admits,  but it is not 
explicitly stated whether or not these two points are the ONLY  times Dumbledore 
corresponds with Petunia.  It could be assumed, but as far  as I remember, it is 
not stated outright.
 
Now, if Dumbledore watched Harry "more closely than he could imagine," then  
we can assume he probably knew Harry was not treated well by the Dursley's  
even before his first year, and from what he has said we can assume he felt  
that the charm he placed on Harry, protecting him while he was with Petunia  was 
the truly the only way he thought he could protect Harry  from Voldemort.  
With this in mind (and mind you, this is pure  speculation), what's to say he 
didn't correspond with Petunia to appeal to her  compassion?  Other options could 
have been reporting it to muggle  authorities, who may have placed him in 
another home, breaking the protection he  had with Petunia.  His other recourse 
then, was the MOM.  
 
I believe it possible (not necessarily true, but possible) that he did  
appeal to Fudge or others in the ministry (Scrimgeour?) to "talk" to the  Dursley's 
about their treatment of Harry, and they declined for various reasons  
(because they were muggles, etc...)  THIS could be part of the disagreement  between 
DD and the MOM.  DD may have told them that he found it highly  ludicrous 
that they expected Harry to help them with "public relations," after  years of 
not helping Harry as he had asked.
 
Now I know all of that was highly speculative, but it does not seem beyond  
reason to me.  There are some who would say that DD knows magic and could  have 
resorted to other ways to get Harry better treatment, but what could he  have 
done that would not have made him as bullying and abusive as the  Dursley's?  
After all, others are already criticizing him for his behavior  in Ch. 3 of 
HBP.  Finally, I just want to mention that DD, throughout the  series has been 
a man that leaves choice up to the person (he seems to be an  existentialist 
at heart).  He could have tried to lead Voldemort in a  better direction, but I 
think he ultimately believes people should find their  own way, as I think he 
was hoping the Dursley's would do, and they failed  miserably.  Still, I 
think it's possible he did try other ways to get  Petunia (and maybe Vernon) to 
treat Harry better, but seeing things from Harry's  perspective, we are simply 
unaware.
 
(Again, sorry so long...) and thanks for all the spirited debate, its been  
enjoyable!

Jaimee


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]