DD, the Dursleys, and Identifying with Muggles in Potterverse

[Sydney]

No: HPFGUIDX 158067


Pippin:

> 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:

Harry's location isn't a secret.  The Ministry certainly knows where
he is.  If the ministry knows, the DE's know.  You don't have to 'call
attention' to Harry, he's the most famous kid in the world and the
DE's top target.  It's not like they're going to forget he's there and
only be reminded if Dumbledore draws their attention! 


> 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.

Sydney:

What about Lupin (ooops... forget I said that! <g>)?  McGonnegal? 
Moody?  Kingsley, who blended right in as the PM's secretary, so is
probably pretty good at Muggle relations? Hestia or some of the other
Order members?  Dumbledore himself? 


Pippin:
> 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. 

Sydney:

Really? I thought they were caricatures of ordinariness, not portraits
of people who are nearly insane and need to be handled with kid
gloves!   You can see Dudleys by the score on any British street.If
they were so fragile, surely we wouldn't be encouraged to laugh at
their blustering in the face of magic?


Pippin:

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.

Sydney:

The DE's could have used that lever any time, if it was available to
them.  They know where Harry is;  if they were actively after him,
they could hang around his house for two hours and get the picture on
their own.  

Pippin:

> 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. 

Sydney:

It's not Petunia's blood protection that I have to suspend disbelief
to buy.  I'm cool with the idea that Harry had to live with them. 
It's the idea that it made sense for Dumbledore to vanish completely
for 10 years, do nothing for another six, and yet that he could come
down from On High and berate everyone as though his hands were clean
here and there was nothing he could have done about how the Dursleys
were treating Harry.  Harry's treatment starts improving as soon as he
realizes he's a wizard and can threaten the Dursleys with implications
that his friends will help him (he does that between PoA and OoP, I
believe).  When Harry was three or five, that would have been an
adult's responsibility.  That is, Dumbledore's.


-- Sydney