DD at the Dursleys: Why do people dislike the scene?

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 157531

lupinlore:
> The second, and more important purpose, is to correct some severe 
> mistakes JKR made in OOTP.  The DD that came out of that book 
simply 
> was not the DD she wanted to sell.  He wasn't an "epitome of 
> goodness," etc.  By providing that scene she managed to partially 
> (although I think still not entirely) wrench the Dumbledore train 
> back onto the correct track.

zgirnius:
I don't think Dumbledore's character was in need of rescuing after 
OotP. And if it did, I think his actions at the end of HBP went a lot 
farther in that direction than this scene. If his fault is as you 
seem to suggest some degree of willingness to expose others to 
dangers and unpleasantness in the struggle to defeat Voldemort, his 
saving grace is that he does not except himself from those dangers 
and unpleasantnesses himself, not that he hexes some vile, nasty 
Muggles. 

It was nice to see, I suppose, that he did not approve of the 
Dursleys, but it had never seemed to me otherwise. And the specific 
way he dealt with them does have that Fred-and-George-I'm-a-better-
wizard-than-you-ha-ha tone that some readers understandably don't 
like. Personally I found the scene somewhat amusing, the flying mead 
glasses were clever, but I could have done equally well without it, 
and might have preferred a magic-free scene for the second purpose 
you propose. (For comic relief, it worked fine).