PS Chapter Three: "The Letters from No One"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* “‘They stuff people’s heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall,’ [Dudley] told Harry. ‘Want to come upstairs and practise?’ ‘No thanks,’ said Harry. ‘The poor toilet’s never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick.’” Much as I like this sort of witty repartee, it doesn’t really seem in character for a sufferer of the sort of abuse Harry undergoes.



* New theory: the books are actually the authorised biography of Harry Potter. Whoever wrote it didn’t do their research properly and just relied on Harry’s reminisces; the Dursleys’ abusiveness is just his ploy to get sympathy and never really happened, which is why Harry never comes across as an abuse victim, and the plot-holes are all a result of Harry’s memory/skill at making stuff up being faulty.

* Smeltings boys wear funny uniforms and attack each other with sticks. So basically it’s like a non-magical version of Hogwarts, then.

* I’m surprised the Dursleys would send Harry to school without the proper uniform. Even if they don’t care about Harry himself, they’d surely want to avoid any negative gossip from the other parents.

* So Dumbledore clearly knows enough about Harry’s situation to send the letter to “The Cupboard under the Stairs”, but has done absolutely sod all to improve his treatment. (From the way the Dursleys react, it looks like a stern letter would have been enough.) What a jerk.

* Dudley’s never touched his books, unlike the famous bookworm Harry Potter.

* So Hogwarts’ way of making sure Harry gets his letter is to just keep sending ever-larger numbers of them? Erm, OK...

* I can’t imagine a hotel that serves stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes for breakfast would stay in business very long. Even the really cheap hotels don’t have food this actively unappetising on the menu.

* Dudley only knows the days of the week because of television, unlike Harry, who apparently doesn’t know them at all.

* We’re probably meant to think that the “funny crunching noise” outside is Hagrid approaching the shack, but I seriously doubt it would take him two minutes from landing on the island to knocking on the door.

* “[M]aybe he’d wake Dudley up, just to annoy him,” said no abuse victim ever.

Comments

[vermouth1991.livejournal.com]

* So Dumbledore clearly knows enough about Harry’s situation to send the letter to “The Cupboard under the Stairs”, but has done absolutely sod all to improve his treatment. (From the way the Dursleys react, it looks like a stern letter would have been enough.) What a jerk.

This. So much for the unrelenting letters being a fantasy homage to Amnesty International, if RL organisations can have that kind of power (being able down the abused people down to the exact jail cell or hole-in-the-ground and then make letters and packages go through, among other powers) but then sat on their asses and refused to do anything further such as sending angry letters directly into the dictator's house (that kind of people would be terrified if the "We know where you live" trick gets turned on their own heads), they'll lose all credibility and moral high ground. Bah.

[sunnyskywalker]

Maybe since the Dursleys mistreat Harry whether he's done anything or not, he figures he might as well mouth off occasionally and get some satisfaction out of the deal? I mean, it's not like being polite would get him a proper bedroom or a Dudley who never hits him. If Dudley's probably going to hit Harry when he wakes up anyway, why not wake him up early and get some revenge?

He might not have the most typical (or stereotypical?) reactions, but it looks like the Dursleys did drum their "don't ask questions" rule into him far too well. He never trusts adults really, and doesn't trust anyone to actually listen to evidence and decide fairly--he always expects that people believe what they want depending on whether they like you, the way the Dursleys act toward Dudley and Harry. (Which tendencies Hogwarts reinforces, sad to say. But Harry had those problems before he got to school.) All his angry lashing out later also might make sense as tendencies he had from living with the Dursleys which got severely exacerbated by all the trauma at Hogwarts. Not to mention his tendency to judge everyone who doesn't believe him about something as a nasty enemy on par with the Dursleys (who also never believe him), and to generally sort everyone into the groups of "good people who are nice to me" and "bad people who are not nice to me." How far does Harry ever really get out of that cupboard, mentally?

Smeltings sounds so much like Hogwarts it isn't even funny. Wrestling team, dueling club/DA...

Definitely weird about the uniforms. Do the Dursleys really want the school calling on Harry's first day to ask whether there's something wrong? I don't think they'd even want anyone asking whether they're too poor to afford a proper uniform, never mind if there's anything else wrong. I mean, they might try to explain any "funny happenings" as Harry being a disturbed orphan, but why go announcing it beforehand with the clothes? Why not hope he'll slide under the radar instead of announcing straight off that their family has abnormal stuff going on?

It seems like Dumbledore could have sent a letter based on Mrs. Figg's reports that they should make sure Harry has clothing that fits and glasses that aren't broken, at least, and they would have done that much out of fear. Which would at least make him look less "weird" to his schoolmates--better than nothing. But he never bothered...

Amnesty International

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

Oh, ugh. I used to participate in their letter-writing campaigns, back in the 80's (and celebrated the release of a prisoner of conscience we'd been writing for!) But I hadn't caught the echo. Which, yes, is just... the power AI has is moral suasion and the power of truth (and the threat of exposure); the power Hagrid exerts when he picks up Harry is greater force (and the promise of secrecy). Which Hagrid exercises merrily, illegally, thoughtlessly, and brutally.

Equating them in any way is just--pure ick.

[nx74defiant.livejournal.com]

They stuff people’s heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall,

Montague wishes that was all Gryfindors did.

Once we find out DD has Mrs. Figg reporting on Harry's treatment it brings a very dark cloud on DD. We can no longer think DD is just naive - thinking they are family, and families take care of there own. Knowing how Harry is treated and given that he was responsible for Harry's placement, DD should feel a responsible for Harry's treatment. A few letters from DD and Harry's childhood improves. No the Dursley won't love Harry, but they would see to it that he was well cared for.

[penguinsuzie.livejournal.com]

Why did Harry even open the letter in front of his family?

//* So Hogwarts’ way of making sure Harry gets his letter is to ust keep sending ever-larger numbers of them? Erm, OK...//

If they'd shown up months later they might have found Harry Potter crushed to death by Hogwarts acceptance letters.

//* I can’t imagine a hotel that serves stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes for breakfast would stay in business very long. Even the really cheap hotels don’t have food this actively unappetising on the menu.//

They're probably the only hotel in the area. With the cornflakes being stale maybe the Dursleys are their only recent guests.