Identifying with Muggles - The Dursley and 'Terrifying' Abuse

[Bruce Alan Wilson]

No: HPFGUIDX 158325

bboyminn:
"In other words, legally the Dursley are Harry's defacto
guardians by the mere fact that the are his CLOSE and
only living relatives. <snip>"

a_svirn:
"One cannot be "legally defacto guardians". If you are guardian 
de facto it means you are guardian in all ways but legal. As for 
the Dursleys, they were Harry's guardians, because Dumbledore 
decided so, not because of any laws muggle or wizard. <snip>"

BAW:
Perhaps a better way of putting it is 'presumptive' or 'default' 
guardian. Normally, an orphan's guardianship falls to his/her 
nearest bloodkin unless there is good reason.
 
> BAW:
> Since when do Muggles attend Hogwarts? 

a_svirn:
"I might be wrong, but I think Jordan meant that muggle *parents*
aren't offered an option to refuse a place at Hogwarts for their
children. The Dursleys certainly weren't."

BAW:
Which of the Dursleys' children were sent to Hogwarts against 
their will?  Harry was NOT their child.  If his parents had put 
him down for Hogwarts before they died, his guardians should 
honor that wish.  For all we know, that was part of what Petunia 
agreed to when she took Harry in.  In PS/SS, Hagrid seems to be
shocked that Harry hasn't any idea what is going on; he assumed 
that the Dursleys would have told him.

a_svirn:
"We don't know about ministry officials. As for Hogwarts professors
we've seen how they go about explaining things to muggles, haven't 
we?  Hugrid hunted them to the end of the earth and intimidated 
them, to say nothing of inflicting bodily harm on their son. He 
did explain some things to Harry, but he certainly didn't explain 
anything to the Dursleys, much less offered them a choice. As for 
Dumbledore, he simply used magic on the orphanage's matron to 
confuse her. That hardly sounds like offering a choice, I'd say."

BAW:
On her website, JKR says that ministry officials sometimes do that.  
Hagrid was a special case; Harry's parents had put him down for 
Hogwarts, and Hagrid (and probably everyone in the WW who was 
involved) had assumed that the Dursleys had told him.  I think that 
Tom Riddle's case was special, too, as the orphanage matron wasn't 
Tom's parent--and wanted to get rid of him in the first place, so
DD was just easing matters.  We know that Harry's Evans grandparents 
were delighted to send Lily to Hogwarts.  We don't know what was 
said to Hermione's parents because it hasn't been relevant to the 
story, but they went along with her to Diagon Alley to get her 
supplies, so it seems that they are OK with her going to Hogwarts.

As I've said before, we know that mageborn children have magical 
'breakouts.' How many python or Aunt Marge incidents would it take 
for most parents to be glad to know that it was possible to bring 
things under control, and think that sending their little witch or 
wizard to a special boarding school--and remember, boarding school 
is much more a 'mainstream' option in the UK than in the US--is
a small price to pay?  I'm sure there is some sort of provision for 
muggle parents who throw a magesport but are against sending the 
child to boarding school; JKR hasn't told us because it is not 
relevant to the plot.  Perhaps that is what Lupin did before coming 
to Hogwarts--giving in-home magical instruction to wizardling
children--muggleborn or others--whose parents for whatever reason 
prefered not to send them away.

Ken:
"Hogwarts students need a science education as much as anyone 
else. Magic in the Potterverse has to be viewed as an extension of 
ordinary physics not a denial of it. A science program that only 
teaches astronomy can hardly give students the breadth that they 
need and if you divorce it from other disciplines you can do at 
best a poor job of teaching astronomy. <snip>"

BAW:
Is there ever a real explanation about what goes on in Arithmancy?  
The name of the teacher (Professor Vector) seems to indicate that 
it probably includes more than simple arithmatic and geometry; it 
probably includes at least algebra/trig, and perhaps (at least at 
NEWT level) a little calculus.

Hickengruendler:
"In reality, yes. However, as the first chapter in PS informs us, 
the story begins on a Tuesday. It is Tuesday evening, when Hagrid 
and Baby Harry finally arrive at Privet Drive (after having done 
who knows what ;-) ), therefore it was on a Monday, when James and 
Lily died. But I don't think it matters much. JKR quite obviously 
doesn't care for dates."

Dave:
"That's Why I have always asserted that it is pointless to try to
assign definite RW dates to the events of the books, e.g. Harry was
born in 1980. Things just don't work out -- full moons on the wrong
dates, anachronistic Playstations, etc., etc. And now I think we can
add this as a further example. <snip>"

BAW:
In Dorothy L. Sayer's preface to GAUDY NIGHT, she says that the 
internal chronology of her books will reveal what year it was 
supposed to have occurred, but that she didn't mention several 
important events of that year and made the phases of the moon 
conform to the needs of the narrative; she reminds us that
all novels are really set in Cloudcookoland.

B.A. Wilson