CHAPDISC: PS/SS 1, The Boy Who Lived

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 187694


> Alla:
> 
> 
> Again, do I think the fact that Dumbledore would have **have to** ask Dursleys even beg to take Harry in is horrifying? Yes, I do, however this is a set of facts Dumbledore has to deal with.
> ...

Pippin:

I think he does deal with it. Not that he isn't arrogant -- heck, it's arrogant to oppose Voldemort at all. But the letter allows him to conceal his feelings and affect a casual air about a matter  of desperate importance to him, both for Harry's sake and for the sake of Dumbledore's plans. 

  This is Petunia we're talking about. If she knew how much it mattered to Dumbledore that she take Harry in, she'd have said no. He's the one who turned her down when she begged him to let her go to Hogwarts. She wouldn't pass up a chance to spite him for all the gold in Gringotts, IMO.

When Dumbledore visits the Dursleys in HBP, he deals with the matter of Harry continuing to stay with them until the age of 17 as if it were an afterthought, and yet it has to be the only real reason he's there.  He acts as if he's  angry only because the Dursleys ignored his wishes -- too bad Harry suffered but at least he hasn't suffered as much as Dudley.  

Dumbledore is not about to let the Dursleys know how much he cares personally for Harry, for the exact same reasons he didn't want Voldemort to know. It would give them a power over him he doesn't want them to have.

> Pippin: 
> > If the Dursleys dumped Harry in an orphanage or anywhere else, Dumbledore would be able to find him as easily as Hagrid found him in the hut on the rock.  Harry is evidently not unplottable. 
> <SNIP>
> 
> Alla:
> 
> And if Petunia did not notify Dumbledore that she shipped Harry off to orphanage, he would have known that how?

Pippin:
The spell of protection only lasts as long as Harry can call Privet Drive his home. Dumbledore would know  if it was broken, IMO. The Ministry was monitoring the house too, and they seem to know whether Harry is there or not pretty quick.

As far as Harry hurting himself by accidental magic, that could happen anywhere. It would be detected through the trace. Wizards don't need to check in person for that. 

It's true wizards tend to overlook the possibility of non-magical mishaps and attacks, but I think that's because they are truly rare. Ariana's case was so unusual that no one ever suspected what had really happened to her. 

Pippin