Ooh, that's a sound theory. I do wonder about the other wizarding schools, though. We don't really have any idea what they're like and how they're run and whether they're busy producing evil wizards, do we? Besides the visitors at the Triwizard Tournament, we don't see much of other schools at all.

They probably do care about that, as well as the long arm of the law, but most people probably have to believe they are doing the right thing somehow or other. Because their parents did it and They Grew Up Fine(the "damn it," is mostly implied) Or if they're too permissive, he'll be spoiled. Take your pick, even down to "Magic freaky." And, love him or not, they did get him through that baby stage...there was never a moment of fondness, or anything? I suppose it says more about me than the Dursleys that I don't really believe that would be true. Maybe almost...maybe Harry believes that, but it's dumb to hem and haw about Snape and leave that to stand.

they did get him through that baby stage...there was never a moment of fondness, or anything? I suppose it says more about me than the Dursleys that I don't really believe that would be true.

Yeah. I mean, there's never a moment of kindness, in ten years? Really? Dudley and Harry never team up against the adults? And if they're that abusive, they're surprisingly calculating in the way that the abuse never quite becomes actionable under the law. (Well, it is actionable, really, but no one ever notices.)

In reality, any child treated like Harry would have grown up with a serious case of attachment disorder (that's what it's called, right?), and probably would never be able to create or maintain a normal human relationship--at least not without serious therapy.

The annual Christmas gifts, for instance: why send anything at all?

Right? And, for that matter, why keep Harry at all?

I don't have any problems with either of these. The Dursley's are very much concerned with appearances and making sure they are doing what society dictates. Harry is a violation of social norms and thus they keep him locked up and hidden away. But, he is also their orphaned nephew and society says they must care for him. They can hide how WELL they care for him, but they have provided him a bed and food (barely). And social norms dictate sending a gift without specifying how nice it needs to be.

If that were true, yeah. But then there was that kid on the Wire, season 4, who was too nice for the street so his moms wanted the kid left in juvie to toughen him up.(Even she couldn't admit she didn't give a shit, although I'd say that was true.) Even the arresting officer was like "really?" (His father in prison showed some compassion, ultimately.)

Dudley ultimately does become less of a cartoon character saying Harry is his hero. Rowling had the good fortune of her very first series being a best seller and making her richer than the Queen of England. But that came with the minor misfortune of learning her trade in a book read by millions, rather than having a modest success with her first series and only becoming famous after her skills matured. Not even playing the world's tiniest violin. I'll bet given the choice she would not have undone hr success. But I suspect a lot of the flaws come from simple inexperience.

Yeah, remind me to spend half a second tonight feeling sad over her lack of craft.

I just finished reading the most recent Mercy Thompson book by Patricia Briggs, River Marked. I loved it, of course! So, I checked her website to see when the next Mercy book would be out and it said, Spring of 2013! I may just have to re-read the entire series if I have to wait that long.

Call for Abstracts:

Game of Thrones and Philosophy
Edited by Henry Jacoby
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series

Submission Guidelines:

1. Submission deadline for abstracts (100-500 words) and CV’s: July 6, 2011
2. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: August 22, 2011

Kindly submit abstract (with or without Word attachment) and CV by email to: Henry Jacoby (jacobyh@ecu.edu)

There is a list of possible topics at the link.

In regard to the Hunger Games - do they rig the lotteries to pick the contestants? so they can go for maximum anguish?