Protecting Students

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 189395

 
> AM now - Indeed. And Hogwarts, The Burrow and the Quidditch World Cup, if nowhere else, certainly seem to be safe enough for Harry, even after Voldemort is resurrected, and Death Eaters are much more active. Little Whinging, on the other hand, is subject to a Dementor attack. Harry had to be at Privet Drive for the protections, and had to be mistreated for the story, but if you believe Voldemort is not finished, and if you believe your main chance of finally defeating Voldemort is Harry Potter, you don't leave him under the sole protection of an unknown spell, a family of Muggles who can't stand him, and a squib. Unless you're Dumbledore.

Pippin:
Prior to their defection, no one thought the dementors would go anywhere so far from Azkaban without orders from the Ministry, and indeed they did not. After the split between the Ministry and Dumbledore, there was supposed to be a wizard on guard at Privet Drive all times,  not just Mrs. Figg. Unfortunately one of the  wizards was Mundungus Fletcher, who left his post. Nonetheless, the dementors did not approach Privet Drive. Harry was elsewhere in Little Whinging when they attacked. 

We could, of course, blame Dumbledore for choosing an unreliable person, but his options at that point were limited. Few wizards  could be counted on to resist both the Ministry and Voldemort. And it must be said in Mundungus's favor that he did not leave under pressure from either. 

Also, the love magic was not an unknown spell to Dumbledore, who had apparently been studying love magic for some time. It was unfamiliar to Voldemort, which is why Dumbledore chose it. 

I agree though that the purpose of the set-up is not to analyze various ways of protecting Harry but to explore what kind of circumstances could force a caring person to put a helpless person in a painful situation. 

The Burrow and the World Cup were under special protection while Harry was there, and at Hogwarts there was Dumbledore. And yet we see that the DE's were eventually able to infiltrate all three places, while they never were able to penetrate Privet Drive.

Pippin