The Dursleys might not be the worst people in the Harry Potter series, given that there are dark wizards and witches like Voldemort, but they are awful people in their mundane, mean ways. As Harry’s guardians, they should have looked out for him and cared for him, but instead, they were mostly neglectful and often cruel.
Some of the things they did to Harry could be considered abusive, and growing up with them was very traumatic for Harry. We’ve ranked the worst and most dangerous situations that they put Harry through.
10 Being verbally abusive at times
The Dursleys, especially Vernon, often called Harry names or pointed out the things that were wrong with him. They were harsh and critical, and they never had a nice thing to say about him. They also lied to others and said that Harry was a criminal with severe mental health issues.
While maybe none of this was technically dangerous, abusing someone in this way does a lot of damage to their brain and can lead to depression and other serious problems.
9 Not caring that Dudley and his friends bullied Harry
Petunia and Vernon always thought that Dudley was a perfect child despite the fact that he was objectively a mean bully. They spoiled him endlessly which is probably why he was such a bully in the first place. When Harry was a child, Dudley and his group of friends bullied him all the time.
They would go so far as to beat him up whenever they could, but Vernon and Petunia didn’t care at all how Dudley treated him. While they might not have known the extent, it’s unlikely they would have stopped it.
8 The time when Vernon tried to choke Harry
The Dursleys did so many awful things to Harry in the books, it’s hard to rank them. During the summer before Harry’s fifth year, Harry was sitting under the window trying to hear the Muggle news for any signs of Voldemort’s activity.
When Mundungus Filch appeared and made a big bang, Vernon believed Harry Had done magic. He tried to strangle Harry, but Harry’s magical ability shocked Vernon so he wouldn't harm him.
7 Making him live in a small cupboard under the stairs
For most of Harry’s childhood, he was forced to live in a small, cramped cupboard under the stairs. It was not until the letter arrived saying “the cupboard under the stairs” that they let him move into the extra bedroom.
While, once again, it’s possible to live in a small room like this and be fine, the psychological damage they did to Harry, and the way they stunted his development, cannot be underestimated.
6 Giving him less food than Dudley
Another thing that the Dursleys did to Harry that’s quite abusive is how they would keep him from eating enough food. This was especially the case when Dudley was put on a diet in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
But, even during other times, they seemed to control how much Harry could eat and didn’t want him to have more than Dudley. Not letting him get enough nutrition could have led to severe health problems.
5 Leaving him home alone without supervision all of the time
While the Dursleys would sometimes have Arabella Figg watch Hatry, especially when he was younger, they also sometimes left him home alone.
While Harry learned to take care of himself form a young age because of their negligence, leaving a child alone like this is risky, and it's’ clear they didn’t care about his safety.
4 Letting him stay up in a tree for hours because of Aunt Marge
Aunt Marge was even worse to Harry than Petunia and Vernon. She constantly verbally harassed him. But, the worst thing she did was to let one of her bulldogs chase him up a tree and then left him for hours.
The Dursleys didn’t put a stop to this, and in fact, they thought it was funny. Harry could have fallen from the tree and hurt himself easily not to mention just how cruel this was.
3 Leaving him alone at King’s Cross when he was 11
When Hagrid finally finds Harry and tells him he’s a wizard, he lets him know when he needs to be at King’s Cross to catch the Hogwarts Express. The Dursleys drop him off, but they think it’s hilarious when platform 9 ¾ doesn’t seem to exist.
Instead of trying to help him, they leave him there while laughing. They don’t worry at all about if he makes it somewhere safe, and there are so many things that could have gone wrong leaving someone that young alone like that.
2 Locking him up in his bedroom
During the summer before Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, the Dursley’s punish him because of the things that Dobby does.
They lock him in his room, put bars on his windows, and only let him out a couple of times a day to use the bathroom. Basically placing him in jail is beyond cruel and unusual, and they only feed him things like cold soup a couple of times a day.
1 Trying to kick him out of the house
While living with the Dursleys was awful for Harry, and they treated him so poorly they likely should have been jailed, the most dangerous thing they did was try to kick him out.
Unfortunately, the magical protection placed on Harry because of Lily’s sacrifice meant that Voldemort couldn’t find him while he was there. So, when Vernon tried to kick him out after the Dementor attack, he could have been killed.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/2VTUm6w
0 Comments