Thread 213971743

>sister runs off to magic lala land with some dude
>find out later they got themselves killed, no idea how
>hear they had a child, now have to take care of it
>house, clothe, feed and raise this kid for 11 years
>for better or worse, the kid is part of your family
>suddenly, the magical people want the child
>wishing to protect the child from the same fate as the mother tell him "no"
>wizard thugs begin harassing you
>this goes on for weeks
>try to escape
>they send some giant, bearded enforcer who threatens your family and makes a pig tail grow on your son's ass
>the child is taken away
>next summer the kid comes back
>told you're supposed to take care of him again... or else!
>all sorts of weird shit starts happening
>now living at the mercy of forces you don't understand
and the Dursleys are supposed to be the villains in this story?

>for better or worse, the kid is part of your family

They treat Harry like shit though, because Rowling is a hack

>>213971798
doesn't matter. even if you "mistreat" your child, you'll still protect him if some strangers come and want to take it away. Besides, Harry wasn't even mistreated. Getting hand-me-down clothes and not having an en-suite bedroom is "mistreatment" to Rowling. Harry ate regularly, wasn't beaten and wasn't starved. Sometimes he had chores to do, god forbid he contributes a little bit after being dumped on these people. And not once does Harry think to use some of his mountain of gold to chip in for the food. Still expects to eat for free. He gets his own room after first year of Hogwarts, at 12yo. Yeah, the Dursleys were running a real fucking gulag...

>>213971798
>Rowling is a hack
It's not a Rowling-specific issue. The idea of parents/parental figures being horrid people is a keystone of British children's literature. Look at the stories of Roald Dahl or Charles Dickens.

>>213971743 (OP)
Nah, they needed to be knocked down a peg.
They got off lucky if you ask me.

yeah they were pretty terrible people, OP.

>sister runs off to magic lala land with some dude
>find out later they got themselves killed, no idea how
>hear they had a child, now have to take care of it
>house, clothe, feed and raise this kid for 11 years
>for better or worse, the kid is part of your family
>suddenly, the magical people want the child
>wishing to protect the child from the same fate as the mother tell him "no"
>wizard thugs begin harassing you
>this goes on for weeks
>try to escape
>they send some giant, bearded enforcer who threatens your family and makes a pig tail grow on your son's ass
>the child is taken away
>next summer the kid comes back
>told you're supposed to take care of him again... or else!
>all sorts of weird shit starts happening
>now living at the mercy of forces you don't understand
>and the Dursleys are supposed to be the villains in this story?

>>213971920
Point is their own son didn't do any chores and was massively spoilt in comparison

>>213971743 (OP)
She wrote them as caricatures in a silly Roald Dahl like children's story.
When Rowling tried to turn the series into a gritty realistic Young Adult story, the caricatures became monstrous child abusers in retrospect.

So yeah, like anon said >>213971798
Rowling is a hack

>>213972371
>the caricatures became monstrous child abusers in retrospect.
Did they? The Dursleys were pretty consistent throughout the seven books. Vernon was still a silly fat man in book seven.

>>213972371
>the caricatures became monstrous child abusers in retrospect.
Not even close. If anything the Dursleys became less of a threat over time as Harry grew up. In books one and two Harry was still too small to act against them since he had no other place to go. But book three onwards Harry stopped giving a shit about them and they stopped trying to torture him as well. The only exception to this was in book five when Dudley was attacked by Dementors and that made Vernon mad enough to tell Harry to get out of the house (quickly rectified by Dumbledore's letter to Petunia)

even harry thought taking care of your ungrateful sister's son for 10 years without any notice, any explanation, out of the blue that was kinda retarded idea and just forgive them isn't it?

>>213972930
>quickly rectified by Dumbledore's letter to Petunia)
Dumbledore made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

>>213972742
That deleted scene was solid, and I like how Dudley turned around by book 6

>>213973095
The Dementors sucked the happiness out of him and this shifted his perspective enough to realize what he was becoming.

>>213971743 (OP)
>>for better or worse, the kid is part of your family
They sure as shit didn't treat him as such.

What about Emma though? What about her ass? Look at her, she's showing it to you. She's saying "Hey, big boy, you want some of this?"