[Artemisia] Harry Potter

[Stephanae Baker]

*laugh* Okay, okay, I give!

Belladonna


On Jul 25, 2007, at 4:45 PM, Andrea Waddell wrote:

> It was both kinds of abuse in this case.  Because of the situation  
> (long story) I'm not legally allowed to go into details on a public  
> stage.  However, both boys were emotionally and physically abused,  
> as well as a fairly long-standing history of neglect and  
> abandonment when they were finally put into state custody.  If you  
> want the story on a one-on-one basis, find me at Baron's War and  
> I'll tell it to you.I would argue about Harry never demonstrating  
> that neediness, though.  I can't remember if I actually posted my  
> thoughts or if I just thought them.  I think that one of the  
> reasons that Harry never specifically shows the same signs we would  
> be used to of a child in that situation is that he is immediately  
> thrust into the limelight, where almost every adult and child  
> around him is in awe of him.  He has an overabundance of attention,  
> so he is allowed to partake of it at his whim.  He feeds into it at  
> times, then draws back entirely.  He is sporadic and unreliable in  
> his emotional state, especially once he comes to rely on other  
> people emotionally, which is another sign of a child from an  
> abusive/neglectful/abandoned past.  When he does start to really  
> trust his friends, he starts lashing out at them (book 5, I never  
> really believed that was ALL Voldemort).  He is the championed hero  
> from the very beginning, and he excels at most of what he does.  He  
> is also trying to do better, craving that success and  
> accomplishment.  And, he is not raised in an environment of  
> complete disregard.  Only as the inferior child to a much favored  
> child.  He is usually fed, and can sneak food when he is hungry, he  
> is taken on trips, when he doesn't go on them he spends the days  
> with (I can't remember her name...the squib down the street with  
> the cats), who is nice to him.  No, it wasn't an ideal childhood,  
> far from it.  But, until he was discovered to have magic and has  
> found his home where people care for him, he is not truly ignored  
> by the Dursleys.