DD, the Dursleys, and Identifying with Muggles in Potterverse

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 158053

 
> Sydney:
> 
> I think he's totally free to chastise the Dursleys.  In fact, I wish
> he'd done it ages ago.  But if he uses magic to push them around and
> humiliate them, then, yeah, it does sort of make him look like a
> hypocrite.
> 
> Is Dumbledore a big 'muggle-rights' champion? He's certainly
> supporting the rights of diverse magically-powered people, but I can't
> remember where he's specifically supporting non-magic rights.

Pippin:
I haven't got my books with me to check, but doesn't LV call
Dumbledore a champion of Muggles and mudbloods in
the graveyard in GoF?

Even if Dumbledore didn't use magic, his enemies would be
quick to accuse him of it if they thought there was an advantage.
Also, if Voldemort's servants realized what Harry was gaining
by the Dursleys protection and thought they could lever Harry out of
it by making a scandal about how he was being treated, they certainly 
would. So Dumbledore has an incentive not to draw their attention,
doesn't he?

> Sydney:
> 
> By 'other methods', do you mean calling child services or something? 
> That might be a bad idea (although given the Dursley's middle-class
> dread of scandal, maybe it would have worked) but on the other hand
> just dropping by every once in a while to show that someone out there
> gives a crap about what happens to Harry when he was, say, five, might
> have slowed down the abuse a little.  And by 'show someone cares' I
> don't mean whack them with a curse, I mean, just call them like a
> civilized human being, have a G&T , say, 'Look, none of us thinks this
> situation is optimal, but how can we make it work better for everyone?
> and by the way you should know this kid DOES have friends out there'.

Pippin:
Does he? Who can Dumbledore trust with Petunia's life? Hagrid and
Arthur, but we've seen that they aren't much at Muggle diplomacy.
I have a feeling Fred and George were able to enter the house only
because they were under age at the time. 

My point is the Dursleys aren't 'civilized human beings'. They're
holding it together by the skin of their teeth, disturbed enough to 
abuse the son they love deeply. They are not people who could be
straightened out with few counseling sessions. They are seriously
messed up. And if the DE's realize that, they can easily use that as
a lever to have Harry taken away.

We know that Petunia can withdraw her protection from Harry, since
Dumbledore visited her in HBP to make sure she wouldn't.  So
she's already accepted a less than optimal situation, ie having Harry
in her home. It's not a given that she had to accept Harry just
because he's her kin. It's canon that Aunt Marge wouldn't
have thought worse of her.

I think you're right, the real trouble is buying into the situation.
It would be easy to accept that Dumbledore has a mystical 
power to protect Harry because his goodness makes it so. 
In fact some of us seem to think that he *must* have such 
a power and are angry at him or at JKR for not letting him use it. 

Instead we're presented with a situation where Petunia, and
Petunia alone, has a mystical power to protect Harry because 
Lily's virtue and Lily's blood made it so. There's no
logical foundation for that (and it wouldn't help if there was,
it'd be like midichlorians) -- we just have to believe it or not.
That is a bit difficult, like a religion where the priests, no 
matter what horrible things they might do as individuals,  
have a sacred power  that lay people, no matter 
how kind and decent they might be, do not. 

Pippin