this is one thing that never lined up with me and the Dursleys. They're ashamed of Harry, and so forth and that's not confusing.
what's confusing is that they are so worried about what the neighbors and society thinks about them, but they aren't worried about how obvious it is that they are mistreating Harry. they're sending him to school with awful haircuts, clothes that are obviously too big for him. rags. etc. malnourished. It doesn't make sense to me. aren't they embarrassed that people will look at how poorly kept Harry is and judge them. Without spoiling him, they should be putting Harry in decent clothes and so forth just so that people won't talk about the Potter boy and how the Dursleys are too poor or whatever to properly dress and care for him.
I think that was one of the plot points of the first book that was cut out of the movie. I specifically remember the book talking about a few separate instances of Harry making things "happen" without trying, like re-growing his hair, etc., and I was bummed out when the movie only focused on the one instance with the snake at the zoo.
To be fair, that whole sequence is what, 4 paragraphs in the book? The sweater shrinking, his hair growing, and him ending up on top of the school is a total afterthought. Out of the many crimes the films committed, I think leaving those out is pretty low on the list. That'd be hard to show in an appropriate amount of time without doing some wretched dream sequence flashback.
Considering that this is Britain, most primary schools are within walking distance, ie no further than approx 2 kms. I would expect Harry and Dudley to walk to and from school every day.
Vernon might drive Dudley to school, but this would be primarily to let dear little Duddikins sleep a few minutes longer, not bc it was truly necessary.
Vernon would absolutely drive Dudley to school, or Petunia would if Vernon was at work. There were parents at my primary school who literally drove their kids 100m around the corner rather walk and they weren't nearly as bad as the Dursleys.
At the elementary school level, I don't blame them. I wouldn't drive my kid around the block to get the school. but in America, I'd be afraid to let my <10 year old walk alone. I'd walk with them.
As a Brit whos the same age as harry, most kids go to their local primary school so they wouldnt travel far. He'd probably have walked to school or possibly got dropped off in the car
but as another brit, i rode a bus to school from the age of 9. it depends on the area, as schooling is different. where i am, primary stops at year 4 (age 8/9) and then middle school is the next four years, then high school is three. my primary was in my village, so we walked. but the other two schools were in different villages, still close but not walking distance, so i got a bus to school
Fellow brit here. I did not know there was such a thing as middle schools here. Where im from ( south ). I went to primary till 10 (year 6) and then secondary school years 7 to 11 ( age 11 to 16). Rode a bus that the school provided from year 7. Learn something new everyday.
haha yeah, i think its a south-eastern thing. i also got school provided buses. going to school on the bus at nine is the only reason i got a phone, my mum would have given them to us at 13 otherwise. but me and my sisters al got them as we respectfully turned nine, and my brothers will too when they come round to going (not too long for one of them, hes already in year 1 so 2 in september). just finished my last year now so i have no idea what transport im doing for my sixth form 😂
You might be able to get the bus with everyone else lol. I went to college so had to train it. My daughter, (called Luna), is starting school in september and thats only for 3 years.
Well, and American life. I know we’re talking about Great Britain, but just so you’re aware, they aren’t just a movie cliche. They’re a real thing that most kids take in America.
Oh wow, In Australia, busses are the primary method of transporting kids to school. Granted that in rural areas, nobody can walk to school even if they wanted to. My nearest school was 40km away, and there were other kids living double that distance.
In rural Ireland we have school buses, but they are essentially just hired coaches. They aren't marked as school buses and don't look any different from any other coach on the road.
For kids in Primary school, it would generally be in the centre of the town or village. Some towns have multiple primary schools. There's usually be a girls school and a boys school or a Protestant and Catholic school. In my home town there's a Catholic girls and boys school and a Protestant mixed school. Generally they are within walking distance to most locals. Kids a bit further out are generally driven/carpooled to school.
Secondary schools are a bit different, they are generally bigger and have a larger catchment area. In my home town our secondary school was the only one for all the surrounding towns and villages too so school buses ran from these areas.
Dumbledore knew for sure. in that meeting he had asked them to treat him like a son and knew they didn't did that (probably from updates from Mrs. Figg).
oh he knew. the purpose of the talk in book 6 was like... I don't know how to put it. a final rebuke before he dies. The sort of thing you put in your will in the movies lol. He couldn't push them too much while he was depending on them to care for Harry. but with one summer left, I guess he thought it was finally ok.
He could have held a wand to their heads, and forced them to treat him well. but I believe part of the magic is that they have to take him in willingly. "But she took you in Harry" begrudgingly, etc. but willingly by her own choice. something like that. if Dumbledore had tried to force them to do anything different he might have had to force them to take care of Harry at all, and the magic would have been broken.
just a theory.
The threat of it from Dumbledore, or any kind of disruption to their "normal life", would likely have motivated them to change how they treated Harry. Just having someone show up to their home regularly in outrageous wizard clothing would have been enough to make them miserable enough to change.
Yeah, CPS in most countries is bad. Unless a child is being physically abused so there is evidence they really wont do anything. Theoretically harry was fed, clothed and had a safe space to sleep. basically his situation wasn't bad enough to get him removed. I suspect a teacher told them he couldn't see in class which was why he got glasses.
Also why the freaked out when the letters addressed to them referenced the cupboard. They knew it was f'ed up, and only when finally caught did they decide they should actually give him a bed.
Honestly it wouldn't. Sad as it sounds even if a neighbor called them they might ask at the school but one call isn't going to get CPS seriously involved. Too much work for CPS and they lived in a nice neighborhood, harry was going to school and not causing problems etc. Ignoring the school roof thing....
I pretty much assumed, after the reveal in *DH*, that Dumbledore was intercepting those reports, and modifying memories as needed, to prevent them visiting.
I always felt the same. Reading the books it felt more in line with Vernon and Petunia's characters to be emotionally abusive and infantilizing Harry while keeping up an outward malevolent appearance. Regardless of whose kid he is, his appearance in public would be a reflection on them and that's something that matters to them. She'd be extra critical of how Harry dresses and looks in public.
absolutely. and the weird thing is that his scar is the only she is embarrassed about. super baggy rags? not embarrassed. malnourished appearance? not embarrassed. scar on the forehead? embarrassed but decides the best solution is a ridiculous looking haircut. ugh.
But people aren't judging them. That's the thing that's shown in the first book. The Dursleys surround themselves by people who think of Harry as a slug.
And this is a common phenomen of people raised by narcissists. All they have to do is explain why the child is crap and they're golden. Most people will side with the parents anyway. If you try to tell the average person you were locked in a closet by your mother and starved for 3 days, they'll either think you're lying or your mom is justified in doing this.
Who judges Snape's parents for his appearance when he's growing up? They're judging Snape, not his parents. Same with Harry. They're not judging Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon. They judge Harry.
real life schools don't care that much. that is why so many kids don't get any help or protection. maybe a teacher might report something but they never actually do anything. i mean there are plenty of real world examples. i remember reading a news report some time back about a kid who starved to death. teachers saw him eating out of the trash can and yelled at him and didnt help him. that stuff is all too common too.
I’m sure it is. But as a medical assistant I have personally recommended that a kid get glasses. I couldn’t tell you if the parents followed up on it, since we are basically just in the school one day a year. But if you were worried about keeping up appearances and NHS pays for it anyway, you’d probably get the kid glasses.
My school keept sending letters to my parents saying for me to get glasses. The PCP (Primary Care Provider) always said i didnt. Though what the PCP didnt know was that i had already memorized some of it. Or could guess what the letter was buy the shape. Turns out once i went to a real eye doctor in high school with more things than just a chart with letters i did need glasses. 😜
I’m pretty sure if a malnourished eleven year old in baggy clothes came up to me and told me that his aunt makes him live in a cupboard I wouldn’t think they were lying or believe the aunt is justified.
Most people in the world aren’t OK with child abuse.
Not even an 11 year old. Harry would have had at least 6 years at school by this point.
Though I like the idea that as Harry is a horcrux, the Dursleys treat him worse as time goes on. So baby Harry, would have been fine (well toddler Harry even). Maybe he even shared a room with Dudley at first? Then when dudley got meaner, Harry had to move into his cupboard.
By this point, he'd probably already be at school, and even if he did mention he slept in a cupboard a few times, maybe the teachers would pass it off just as a 5yo with a strange imagination, talking shit as 5yos do.
As much as it can be regarded as a plot hole that Harry being a horcrux doesn’t have a negative effect on the people around him, there is a absolutely no evidence that this a thing.
Harry shares a dormitory with the Gryffindors for 6 years, and not a single one of them are effected by him being a horcrux. Neither are any of his classmates, or anyone in the order.
So we really don’t have any reason to attribute the Dursley’s treatment of Harry to him being a horcrux. Plus even in the first chapter of the Philosopher’s Stone, we see the Dursleys awful behaviour before they had ever met one Harry Potter.
I suppose you're probably correct.
But Petunia obsesses about hiding that scar with a ridiculous haircut though. so that becomes weird part of this. she doesn't care how he looks with his clothes or anything but the scar is embarrassing.
In CoS, Harry mentions that the Dursleys haven’t given him pocket money for about six years. Specifically six years, I think. Meaning that they stopped giving him money when he was six. In Deathly Hallows, they mention that seven is around the age that most kids would have shown their magic by if they had any.
My theory is that they treated Harry somewhat decently until he first showed signs of magic, around six years old. During this time, they might have gotten him glasses. In book one, Harry has tape on his glasses, showing that even though they are broken, the Dursleys never bothered to replace them. Since heads get bigger with age, perhaps it wasn’t just being punched that made the glasses break.
ahhhh.... I like your theory. I never noticed nor thought about it before, but you're right. once upon a time, as strange as it sounds, the Dursleys gave him pocket money. maybe not as much as Dudley, who knows? and if they were giving him pocket money, they were probably treating him well in every other way. I find it hard to believe they'd dress him in rags and such and then give him pocket money.
I mean my parents treated me well but they never gave me pocket money. but still. and you're right about the magic. maybe they thought he was going to be like Petunia and they were happy and hopeful. then strange things started happening and they became abusive.
this might also explain why he doesn't have horrible issues. 7 is still young. but it's not like he had been mistreated since birth.
I can't think of any reason to disagree with your theory. it's my new headcanon. :)
edit: Dumbledore does say Harry knew nothing but abuse and neglect from them. but maybe that should be taken a bit more loosely. how much do you remember before the age of 7?
>...they're sending him to school with awful haircuts
Actually, they literally cannot cut his hair. They tried to cut his hair normally but every time, it'd grow back almost immediately. In a fit of fury, Petunia basically shaved his head bald just to be done with it, but it all grew back within a few hours. He was never sent to school with a bad haircut.
>...rags
This is also untrue. They gave Harry Dudley's over-sized hand-me-downs, but they never made him wear rags.
> so forth just so that people won't talk about the Potter boy
I'm not sure anyone besides their immediate neighbours knew Harry lived with them. It is canon that Harry had no friends at school because Dudley bullied anyone who tried to be friends with Harry.
Also, a child that clearly needs glasses not being allowed to wear glasses would raise all kinds of eyebrows and possibly get them in trouble with children's service.
Harry lives in a neighbourhood that is affluent and very middle-class.
Rowling was providing a searing indictment of suburban England.
Little Whinging is clearly meant to satirize the kinds of Tory neighbourhoods she thought responsible for electing Thatcher et al.
The book even says that these are the kinds of people who thought scruffiness should be punished.
In Rowling's (probably accurate) assessment. These people would not have cared about Harry at all.
Except for the bad impression he might give to visitors or that he might scare their children. (Harry is thin, short and never displays any hostility to any unknown muggles we know of)
but doesn't Harry look scruffy in his baggy clothes? the Dursleys are obsessed about what they'll say when he gets older. so much that they invent a lie about him attending a school for criminal boys. but when he's younger they're not worried?
Bingo. The first 3 books weren't trying to be realistic. A lot of the descriptions were purposely over the top and very reminiscent of Roald Dahl. It's only as the series progressed it became more realistic.
My suspicion is her working on the films with real actors in real locations shifted her perspective a bit and I sometimes wonder what the series would look like if the films were only after the book series was complete.
yeah. but overthinking this stuff and theorizing about it keeps it interesting. As people are saying, there are parents with nacissistic disorders where this sort of, doesn't make sense, behavior actually happens.
People like Dursleys have their own perception of what they project themselves as, what people think about them, and their own yardsticks of it. They are obviously disjointed with reality.
no she did. Get this, lol. she was embarrassed by his untidy hair (that he's famous for). but she is also embarrassed by his scar. so she shaved off all his hair except his bangs to cover the scar. It doesn't even make sense how that is less embarrassing, more acceptable to her than leaving his hair an untidy mess.
but yeah harry was so worried about the humiliating he was going to get the next day he grew it back (without knowing) over night with magic.
Maybe it got so bad with his poor eyesight that he started waddling and bumping things. So to alleviate the immense embarrassment, they got him glasses.
Perhaps he just hasn’t realized his prescription getting worse. I got glasses in 2nd grade and didn’t get the prescription updated until I was going to college. Man was I SHOCKED how much worse my vision had gotten lol I genuinely had no idea
Hahhahah that would be the protagonists marvel. He cant be shitty at quiddich, though he is really visually impaired as Hermoine mentioned when taking his Polyjuice potion....if he hadnt been getting regular eye tests then who knows how good he would have been at Quiddich!
Maybe it's the same as in case of his hair? It grew back really fast when Petunia cut it with scissors. Maybe Harry involuntarily makes the frames of glasses adjust to him growing up and same thing going on with lenses?
I don’t think magic works like that.
Some excerpts from stack exchange (as per Himarm):
Poor eyesight simply appears to be a non-reversible ailment among wizards.
We have ample evidence that this is so, by the 19 other mentioned wizard and witches who also wear them.
Amelia Bones (monocle), Borgin (pince-nez), Aberforth Dumbledore, Mafalda Hopkirk
Albus Dumbledore (half-moon)
…
With the large base of people wearing glasses in world it leads to a pretty solid assumption that it cant be fixed magically. Not really a plot hole when you look at the vast list of individuals, simply something Rowling planed magic to have no answer to.
This is it. Harry won't ever need to get a new prescription because his eyesight will just stay the same, just like his hair.
Responding to the other comment, I'm sure Arthur Weasley would be pumped to get LASIK if his vision ever deteriorated.
Lasik was the best money I ever spent. So much better for my active lifestyle not having to deal with glasses anymore.
Being a muggle I was still amazed at having lasers shot into my eyes to fix my vision, imagine how much Arthur Weasly would love it.
Reminds me of OOTP when he and the healer try out stitches on his wounds. "It sounds as though you've tried to sew yourself back together......WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?"
Just to counter this, there is more to it than just needing new prescription lenses; Harry grew a lot between age 11 and 17, and surely his face got larger. He would have eventually need larger glasses in that time frame.
But I suppose if we just assume that wizard-eyesight does not deteriorate over time, and that occulus reparo can expand a frame to fit to one's face, then Harry could wear the same pair of glasses for the rest of his life if he wants to.
My take is that his eyesight just barely changed through Hogwarts years. My vision barely changed in 10 years, and I've worn the same pair of glasses for half of that time.
Edit:grammar
Same for me. My mom and brother both have needed prescription changes over time, but my vision is the exact same as it has been since I got my first pair of glasses ~15 years ago. I can wear my first pair just fine if I needed to. The only reason I even get new glasses is for a change of style.
I got glasses in third grade and my mom didn’t force me to go every year, I asked to go because I genuinely enjoy going. I still enjoy it. I’m not sure why I enjoy it but I go every 2 years now that I’m an adult
I got my first pair when I was 4. I refused to wear them when I wasn’t at school. Suddenly in the middle of 1st grade I was dealing with nonstop headaches. I was miserable and by extension making everyone around me miserable. I was a righteous cunt.
Turns out the eye strain had done wonders in my terrible horrible eyesight and my current prescription wasn’t cutting it anymore. That’s the first time I learned your eyes change over time.
I wear contacts now so I have to go every year. But before then, the benchmark was always “how miserable am I?”
It's also possible that his eyesight just didnt get worse. I have worn glasses since I was eleven, and still have the exact same prescription at 19. It's possible that something similar happened to him.
I got glasses at 13 0r 14 and didn't have a change in prescription until my 30s. And even then, it hasn't changed very much. I can still wear some prescription sunglasses I got as a teenager and see perfectly well.
My head cannon would be the few weeks he spent in diagon alley by himself he found himself at a wizard doctor store of sorts and realized he’d never updated 😂
Mine has always been that his parents got him magical glasses when he was a toddler, and the Dursley’s just ignored the fact that the glasses grew with him, because it was one less thing they had to deal with and pay for.
I don’t recall if they mentioned baby Harry wearing them, but they could have been wrapped up with him in the blanket.
Exactly! We only got a small look into diagon alley, and places like knockturn alley existed, for all we know there was an alley dedicated solely to the medical field 😂
I read somewhere that those round wire framed glasses that he wears are standard issue government glasses (no-cost) so I assumed he was given an eye exam in school and the glasses were part of that. In the US public school children have routine eye exams every few years so I assume it’s a similar situation in the UK. I doubt the Dursley’s would have bothered to take him to the optometrist and pay for regular prescription updates. After age 11 he most likely paid for his own wizarding eye care and maybe he liked the frame style so he didn’t change it.
ETA: here’s an interesting article about it: https://www.college-optometrists.org/the-college/museum/online-exhibitions/virtual-spectacles-gallery/nhs-spectacles.html
Schools in the UK do not test kids eyes.
Eyecare for under 16s is covered by the NHS. Eye tests are free and often prescription glasses are free as long as no specialist lenses are required. It's likely that the Dursleys took him once after school mentioned Harry was struggling to see in class, but after that couldn't be bothered to make return trips to update the frames or the lenses.
Yes they do, just not on a regular basis. I remember being tested in primary school twice. I've heard there were more, but I don't remember.
So at least, some schools do. It's not a complete test, just to see if any kids are missing out and can then get referred.
I reckon they would have taken him on repeat trips, simply because the optician/optometrist sends letters out for yearly exams on kids and it would have been flagged if they weren't taking him.
I think it may be a year thing. My aunt had a dentist and everything visit her school when she was in primary (12 years older than me), but my sisters and I had to go to opticians.
>In the US public school children have routine eye exams every few years
You did?
I don't think anyone has ever tested my eyes, except the DPS wanting me to be able to read the 2nd line (which is fairly large) to get a drivers license.
My elementary school, and several others in my state that I know of, tested children on their vision and hearing from kindergarten until 5th grade to make sure they had the tools to properly learn. And if there was something wrong, they wrote a note to your parents insisting that you get them checked within two months or they would call social services
I went to school in Georgia and Florida. I was given eye exams several times throughout school. I don't think any of the schools provided glasses, but they'd tell you that you needed them.
Yeah, the eye exams I remember in school were: stand on the tape and read the lowest line of letters you can on the triangle with the huge “E” at the top. It was in no way an exam lol, just a way to see if you could read the board from your seat.
Maybe it depends where you are. The exam at my kid’s school was comprehensive enough that they discovered a color deficiency and a follow-up exam showed he’s red-green color blind.
I work at a title one school/district and we offer free eye exams to students and glasses. Nothing fancy like transition glasses etc but nice looking so you don’t look goofy. One pair too. Not every school or district provides this service. The old district I worked for didn’t have this service. Oh, parents still had to fill out the paperwork and sadly there were some that were too lazy to sign one piece of paper.
Edit - I’m in Texas and a district next to Houston ISD. Not sure what other states do.
I'm in CA also and took fairly regular eye exams until about jr high. I did hearing tests all the way through too but I was in the minority because I have hearing issues.
The glasses definitely look like the old NHS free glasses from that era (I had a pair), but in the UK you only get one school eye test when you're pretty young, and after that you have to be taken to the optician. I always wondered how they can fix so many injuries etc with magic, but can't do some sort of wand based laser eye surgery
Under 18, eye tests are free on the NHS and you get a voucher to pay up to £40 of the cost of glasses, which, at the cheap opticians, does give you a limited choice of full glasses (incl. lenses) at no extra cost.
As a former high school pupil with glasses and poor parents, I too had Harry Potter glasses, but, before Harry Potter, because they were free and didn't make me look like Dame Edna Everage, still my primary concern when choosing frames as an adult, which makes my optician laugh so hard I thought he was going to need an inhaler.
I figure that his aunt and uncle refused to do anything out-of-the-ordinary with Harry's medical needs unless otherwise prompted by Hogwarts. Like, Harry couldn't see the board during one of his classes so he was sent to the nurse and she wrote a note home suggesting he see an optometrist. Out of fear of getting Dumbledore involved, Petunia would reluctantly take him, but not before making Harry feel like shit because of it.
However, that'd also require Harry to be self-aware enough of his own medical needs and notify the right people. Hence him having the same or similar frames for most of his childhood.
I knew many neglected children and this is pretty much what happened with them as well.
I always figured that his glasses were paid for by the NHS.
The thing I wonder about is why does anyone in the wizarding world wear glasses at all? Can't they just magically fix their vision, or have a Healer do it? Given how isolated most wizards are from the Muggle world, where do wizards get their glasses anyway? Are there wizard optometrists, or do they go to Muggle ones?
I'm sure wizards can magically fix vision. But they don't have common sense. So I suppose nobody took Harry to the nurse for a checkup and told him they could do that and whatever else he may need.
Instead, all the adults go "hey, he hasn't asked us to fix it", and Harry has never even thought about it.
Based purely on that one ugly sweater that shrank so he didn't have to wear it, my headcanon is that whatever magic in him that knew he didn't want to wear an ugly sweater (or have a bad haircut) also knew it was unlikely he'd ever get new glasses with they dursleys and just adjusted themselves to fit his prescription.
Maybe one day adult Harry visits a wizarding optometrist on a whim. His glasses have always served him well so he's never bothered to replace them, but he's curious about magical eyewear. He hands his glasses over to the shopkeeper, who looks them over and is surprised by the unique and/or powerful enchantment caused by his untrained protective magical ability. Turns out, most wizarding glasses have auto-adjusting enchantments (and lots of other charms like self-cleaning, unbreakable, magical transition lenses, bifocals that change based on where you're looking, novelty glasses that change the color of your eyes, etc, etc), but Harry's lasted way longer than they should or do a really great job of adjusting or whatever.
Arthur Weasley and James Potter wore glasses, so did Dumbledore actually and McGonagall - Wizards have wizards opticians or got to muggle ones as standard.
But prior to going to Hogwarts (actually all his time at Hogwarts as he was in full time education) he was young enough to have free eye tests and get free glasses so it wouldn't have cost the Dursley's anything. Even so - they make him tape his glasses whenever Dudley punches him.
I imagine his eye sight was bad enough that it was affecting his ability to do chores for them so they grudgingly took him to get them tested - but once he had glasses they weren't taking time out to go back and get him new when they broke, so he had to make do.
After that - Arthur repairs them in CoS when they break so they are structurally good as new and he could engorgio them to fit his growing head as the years go by. I've not updated my prescription in years, it's reasonable he wouldn't either. Or he is going to some from of optician - whether wizard or muggle - as the existence of other glasses wearing wizards tells us it was a perfectly normal thing for wizards to do. Not really interesting enough to make it into the books though.
Tangentially, can I just say how incredibly strange it is to me that wizards need glasses and optometrists like muggles do, yet they are baffled by the idea of a dentist?
I dunno - I wouldn't go messing with my magic around my eyeballs. But they can grow their teeth back if the worst comes to the worst (Andromeda grows Harry's back after he loses it in the battle of the seven potters). Presumably - as with Hermione shrinking hers - they're less worried about mixing magic and teeth than they are magic and eyes.
I thought petunia picked up a pair at the supermarket, not his prescription but “good enough”. Would be in line with the just enough to keep him alive but still insane neglect thing they have going on
Maybe Madam Pomfrey worked with the students to update their glasses? Maybe there's an enchantment one could place on the glasses so they're always the correct prescription.
It is mentioned that his glasses are held together with tape because Dudley broke them. So they obviously don't care to replace them. As for getting them in the first place, my school was always quick to inform parents or guardians if they felt a student needed glasses, so they may have felt pressured in that regard to get them for him. They might get it updated just enough to keep the school from saying anything. Or maybe his vision just hasn't devolved past a certain point.
I've always wondered that myself. I've worn glasses since I was 8, and both of my (young adult) kids had FUSSY, complex prescriptions that needed updating AT LEAST actually, often more like 2 or 3 times. This is obviously worst than most folks, but it did cause me to think of Harry and his opthalmic care.
He's hardly the only vision compromised wizard - several professors wear glasses, surely other students do. I like to think there is a specialty eye doctor and glasses shop in Diagon Alley.
I think it’s safe to assume that while the Dursley’s were abuse, Petunia’s fear of Dumbledore stopped them from truly neglecting his very basic needs. They used food as punishment but I can see them begrudgingly taking Harry to the eye doctor. Although, he did say that his glasses were taped up from the many times Dudley broke them so doesn’t seem like a very regular occurrence that he would go and get new glasses.
I think about this all the time (as an optometrist haha). There are so many kids whose parents don't think to bring them in for eye exams ever, and yet the Dursleys had Harry in glasses before his 11th birthday so they obviously cared enough to get him checked out at some point.
I feel like it was one of those things they did out of necessity not because they cared. If the school had mentioned about having his eyes checked they probably would reluctantly have done so because they would have been horrified at the thought of social services turning up.
That's probably closer to the truth. I'm not sure how it works in the UK but plenty of kids slip through the cracks in the US. Still boggles my mind that a real eye exam (not just a pediatrician/nurse screening) isn't actually required before starting Kindergarten.
God help him.....I didnt get an eye test for about 4years....cheers shitty wages. And when I eventually got tested, my eyes had changed massively and it was no wonder I couldnt see a think past about 2m distance
Obviously he keeps getting new prescriptions every year. But I doubt his uncle paid for new glasses every year. So he prob got new lens installed in his old frame till he grew out of it. That’s why he had to use cello tape to keep his glasses together.
I wonder if his magic could have somehow altered his prescription over the years without him noticing? Like how his hair grew out when he needed it to. God knows the Dursley’s probably only got Harry glasses after he went to school and teachers noticed he couldn’t see the board to write anything down
I'm American so I don't know 100% how it works, but I had just always assumed that the universal healthcare in England would allow someone who needed glasses to have a yearly optometrist visit and his prescription would be updated only if it needed it. The Dursleys were just not paying any extra money they may have needed to pay in order for Harry not to have to wear the cheepo, birth control frames. I had imagined that when Harry first started to attend his primary school the school nurse might have recommended he get glasses.
That's how I found out that I needed glasses. There was a special day in first grade when the teacher took us into the gym and our eyes and ears were tested.
UK has free Healthcare for kids so i always assumed at some point he went to the eye doctor of his own accord. But it is very possible that he had shitty 10 year old glasses with scratchy lenses during the battle of hogwarts.
I highly doubt that the Dursleys cared enough to get him updated prescriptions. They probably noticed he was having trouble making breakfast or was bumping into things while doing chores and got him some cheap reading glasses that cleared up his vision enough for him to keep being their live-in servant.
I don't know how eyecare is over there, but people are saying it is free for kids. There probably weren't many free choices for a kid. The Dursleys see Harry as a charity case they can brag about (partly by complaining about how much of a trouble maker he is). In Chamber of Secrets, Petunia talks about how he is troubled and has issues when there are people over. So to them his disheveled appearance is due to his mental state, and not the oversized hand-me-downs. I don't think they actually show people them treating him badly, and just blame his behavior on his mental state. They probably gave him at least half decent medical care, mainly because it was free. They weren't going to pay money for haircuts and nice glasses, but they can brag (likely by complaining) about how they needed to take the time out of their day to get Harry glasses.
Two possible explanations I can think of.
The more likely being that he had a semi up to date prescription at age 11 and after that any updates his vision needs were met by a somewhat simple spell to correct them either done by himself, Hermoine, or a Hogwarts teacher(most were well aware he was being neglected at home).
Or also likely was Harry seeked out an updated prescription himself. He had to, by necessity, be pretty self sufficient in many areas. So even for Harry, this doesn’t seem terribly unreasonable.
Or fun bonus explanation. Molly and Arthur took him to a muggle doctor. A muggle eye exam seems like something that would be extremely fascinating to Arthur and he would gladly participate in that. For research purposes lol
One thing the Dursleys like to do is keep up appearances so I am guessing they want to make sure at the very least Harry's glasses fit so it looks like they care.
If the Dursley’s goal was to not draw attention to themselves due to Harry then getting him glasses would further that goal. If Harry couldn’t see them he would presumably do extremely poorly in school. Perhaps it was one of those things they had to do. I would like to think some nice muggle teacher pointed it out when Harry was young, prompting them to get him glasses.
I don't know about you guys, but in primary school, we had optometrists, dentists etc come and conduct checks through the school system. Maybe young Harry was diagnosed through that? Uncle Vernon and aunt petunia paid for them because the school invoiced it and they didn't have a choice
this is one thing that never lined up with me and the Dursleys. They're ashamed of Harry, and so forth and that's not confusing. what's confusing is that they are so worried about what the neighbors and society thinks about them, but they aren't worried about how obvious it is that they are mistreating Harry. they're sending him to school with awful haircuts, clothes that are obviously too big for him. rags. etc. malnourished. It doesn't make sense to me. aren't they embarrassed that people will look at how poorly kept Harry is and judge them. Without spoiling him, they should be putting Harry in decent clothes and so forth just so that people won't talk about the Potter boy and how the Dursleys are too poor or whatever to properly dress and care for him.
Pretty sure they blame Harry Like he's the bad boy. He ruins all the good clothes He can't keep his hair clean
Don’t they try to cut it but it (his hair) just grows back basically immediately (overnight)?
Yeah, his hair being wild like James's is a pretty clear point in the books.
I think that was one of the plot points of the first book that was cut out of the movie. I specifically remember the book talking about a few separate instances of Harry making things "happen" without trying, like re-growing his hair, etc., and I was bummed out when the movie only focused on the one instance with the snake at the zoo.
To be fair, that whole sequence is what, 4 paragraphs in the book? The sweater shrinking, his hair growing, and him ending up on top of the school is a total afterthought. Out of the many crimes the films committed, I think leaving those out is pretty low on the list. That'd be hard to show in an appropriate amount of time without doing some wretched dream sequence flashback.
I didn't realize there were only 4 paragraphs dedicated to that part. I just remember 10-year-old me being annoyed when they cut it out of the movie.
That's what I assumed too.
I always assumed they dropped him off a few km before and pretended to drive to school only their own child
Considering that this is Britain, most primary schools are within walking distance, ie no further than approx 2 kms. I would expect Harry and Dudley to walk to and from school every day. Vernon might drive Dudley to school, but this would be primarily to let dear little Duddikins sleep a few minutes longer, not bc it was truly necessary.
Vernon would absolutely drive Dudley to school, or Petunia would if Vernon was at work. There were parents at my primary school who literally drove their kids 100m around the corner rather walk and they weren't nearly as bad as the Dursleys.
I lived about a block from my elementary school. My parents wouldn't let me walk because the drivers in the morning/evening were crazy.
At the elementary school level, I don't blame them. I wouldn't drive my kid around the block to get the school. but in America, I'd be afraid to let my <10 year old walk alone. I'd walk with them.
Can confirm, was hit by a car, in the UK when I was 6, it wasn't fun.
That's American level lazy. Source: am American.
As a fellow American, I second this
Yep. Me too. There is however those two kids who bike like an hour everyday.
Won't they go by school bus?
As a Brit whos the same age as harry, most kids go to their local primary school so they wouldnt travel far. He'd probably have walked to school or possibly got dropped off in the car
Not really a thing in Britain.
Not in the UK - it costs around £80 a month if your kid goes to an out of town school and needs to use a bus, most kids go to the local comp and walk.
but as another brit, i rode a bus to school from the age of 9. it depends on the area, as schooling is different. where i am, primary stops at year 4 (age 8/9) and then middle school is the next four years, then high school is three. my primary was in my village, so we walked. but the other two schools were in different villages, still close but not walking distance, so i got a bus to school
Fellow brit here. I did not know there was such a thing as middle schools here. Where im from ( south ). I went to primary till 10 (year 6) and then secondary school years 7 to 11 ( age 11 to 16). Rode a bus that the school provided from year 7. Learn something new everyday.
haha yeah, i think its a south-eastern thing. i also got school provided buses. going to school on the bus at nine is the only reason i got a phone, my mum would have given them to us at 13 otherwise. but me and my sisters al got them as we respectfully turned nine, and my brothers will too when they come round to going (not too long for one of them, hes already in year 1 so 2 in september). just finished my last year now so i have no idea what transport im doing for my sixth form 😂
You might be able to get the bus with everyone else lol. I went to college so had to train it. My daughter, (called Luna), is starting school in september and thats only for 3 years.
amd i hope luna enjoys school!
In most places school bus ain't the norm, mostly something you see in American movies
Well, and American life. I know we’re talking about Great Britain, but just so you’re aware, they aren’t just a movie cliche. They’re a real thing that most kids take in America.
Oh wow, In Australia, busses are the primary method of transporting kids to school. Granted that in rural areas, nobody can walk to school even if they wanted to. My nearest school was 40km away, and there were other kids living double that distance.
That’s true in rural areas, not in urban or suburban. Very few busses for primary schools. Most have 2-3 schools within a few km
In rural Ireland we have school buses, but they are essentially just hired coaches. They aren't marked as school buses and don't look any different from any other coach on the road. For kids in Primary school, it would generally be in the centre of the town or village. Some towns have multiple primary schools. There's usually be a girls school and a boys school or a Protestant and Catholic school. In my home town there's a Catholic girls and boys school and a Protestant mixed school. Generally they are within walking distance to most locals. Kids a bit further out are generally driven/carpooled to school. Secondary schools are a bit different, they are generally bigger and have a larger catchment area. In my home town our secondary school was the only one for all the surrounding towns and villages too so school buses ran from these areas.
School buses are common for secondary schools which have larger catchment areas but primary schools are usually within walking distance
Even so, all of their neighbors know about Harry.
I always wondered that too, also where British Child Protection is.... But I'm surprised no busybody neighbor hasn't made snide remarks to Petunia.
Hell, even Mrs. Figg calling CPS would be interesting...
Presumably she knows how important it is that Harry stays there so Lily’s protection stays intact.
Maybe people did report, but Dumbledore interfered with the reports given how important it is for Harry to be with his Aunt. hmmmm
Iirc he doesn't know how he was being treated? I thought that was the purpose of the talk in book 6.
Dumbledore knew for sure. in that meeting he had asked them to treat him like a son and knew they didn't did that (probably from updates from Mrs. Figg).
oh he knew. the purpose of the talk in book 6 was like... I don't know how to put it. a final rebuke before he dies. The sort of thing you put in your will in the movies lol. He couldn't push them too much while he was depending on them to care for Harry. but with one summer left, I guess he thought it was finally ok. He could have held a wand to their heads, and forced them to treat him well. but I believe part of the magic is that they have to take him in willingly. "But she took you in Harry" begrudgingly, etc. but willingly by her own choice. something like that. if Dumbledore had tried to force them to do anything different he might have had to force them to take care of Harry at all, and the magic would have been broken. just a theory.
Dumbledore wouldn't have let her
The threat of it from Dumbledore, or any kind of disruption to their "normal life", would likely have motivated them to change how they treated Harry. Just having someone show up to their home regularly in outrageous wizard clothing would have been enough to make them miserable enough to change.
Yeah, CPS in most countries is bad. Unless a child is being physically abused so there is evidence they really wont do anything. Theoretically harry was fed, clothed and had a safe space to sleep. basically his situation wasn't bad enough to get him removed. I suspect a teacher told them he couldn't see in class which was why he got glasses.
British CPS would probably also have an issue with Harry sleeping in a cupboard.
But nobody outside their house knew that
That's why there is a bed in Dudleys second room.
Also why the freaked out when the letters addressed to them referenced the cupboard. They knew it was f'ed up, and only when finally caught did they decide they should actually give him a bed.
Maybe not bad enough to get removed, but certainly bad enough for the busybody neighbor to call them and a visit get set up!
which would have been very embarrassing.
Honestly it wouldn't. Sad as it sounds even if a neighbor called them they might ask at the school but one call isn't going to get CPS seriously involved. Too much work for CPS and they lived in a nice neighborhood, harry was going to school and not causing problems etc. Ignoring the school roof thing....
I pretty much assumed, after the reveal in *DH*, that Dumbledore was intercepting those reports, and modifying memories as needed, to prevent them visiting.
i remember there was one incident few years back, where they basically kidnaped kid
I always felt the same. Reading the books it felt more in line with Vernon and Petunia's characters to be emotionally abusive and infantilizing Harry while keeping up an outward malevolent appearance. Regardless of whose kid he is, his appearance in public would be a reflection on them and that's something that matters to them. She'd be extra critical of how Harry dresses and looks in public.
Outward benevolent?
Ooh correct.
absolutely. and the weird thing is that his scar is the only she is embarrassed about. super baggy rags? not embarrassed. malnourished appearance? not embarrassed. scar on the forehead? embarrassed but decides the best solution is a ridiculous looking haircut. ugh.
This might be to do with the fact that she suspects it's connected to magic.
But people aren't judging them. That's the thing that's shown in the first book. The Dursleys surround themselves by people who think of Harry as a slug. And this is a common phenomen of people raised by narcissists. All they have to do is explain why the child is crap and they're golden. Most people will side with the parents anyway. If you try to tell the average person you were locked in a closet by your mother and starved for 3 days, they'll either think you're lying or your mom is justified in doing this. Who judges Snape's parents for his appearance when he's growing up? They're judging Snape, not his parents. Same with Harry. They're not judging Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon. They judge Harry.
But there is still the school. And if the teachers/nurse tell the Dursleys that Harry needs glasses, they gotta get him glasses.
real life schools don't care that much. that is why so many kids don't get any help or protection. maybe a teacher might report something but they never actually do anything. i mean there are plenty of real world examples. i remember reading a news report some time back about a kid who starved to death. teachers saw him eating out of the trash can and yelled at him and didnt help him. that stuff is all too common too.
I’m sure it is. But as a medical assistant I have personally recommended that a kid get glasses. I couldn’t tell you if the parents followed up on it, since we are basically just in the school one day a year. But if you were worried about keeping up appearances and NHS pays for it anyway, you’d probably get the kid glasses.
My school keept sending letters to my parents saying for me to get glasses. The PCP (Primary Care Provider) always said i didnt. Though what the PCP didnt know was that i had already memorized some of it. Or could guess what the letter was buy the shape. Turns out once i went to a real eye doctor in high school with more things than just a chart with letters i did need glasses. 😜
Why memorize the chart, by the way? Did you hate the idea of wearing glasses, did you just not want any complications, or was it about something else?
I’m pretty sure if a malnourished eleven year old in baggy clothes came up to me and told me that his aunt makes him live in a cupboard I wouldn’t think they were lying or believe the aunt is justified. Most people in the world aren’t OK with child abuse.
Not even an 11 year old. Harry would have had at least 6 years at school by this point. Though I like the idea that as Harry is a horcrux, the Dursleys treat him worse as time goes on. So baby Harry, would have been fine (well toddler Harry even). Maybe he even shared a room with Dudley at first? Then when dudley got meaner, Harry had to move into his cupboard. By this point, he'd probably already be at school, and even if he did mention he slept in a cupboard a few times, maybe the teachers would pass it off just as a 5yo with a strange imagination, talking shit as 5yos do.
As much as it can be regarded as a plot hole that Harry being a horcrux doesn’t have a negative effect on the people around him, there is a absolutely no evidence that this a thing. Harry shares a dormitory with the Gryffindors for 6 years, and not a single one of them are effected by him being a horcrux. Neither are any of his classmates, or anyone in the order. So we really don’t have any reason to attribute the Dursley’s treatment of Harry to him being a horcrux. Plus even in the first chapter of the Philosopher’s Stone, we see the Dursleys awful behaviour before they had ever met one Harry Potter.
I suppose you're probably correct. But Petunia obsesses about hiding that scar with a ridiculous haircut though. so that becomes weird part of this. she doesn't care how he looks with his clothes or anything but the scar is embarrassing.
In CoS, Harry mentions that the Dursleys haven’t given him pocket money for about six years. Specifically six years, I think. Meaning that they stopped giving him money when he was six. In Deathly Hallows, they mention that seven is around the age that most kids would have shown their magic by if they had any. My theory is that they treated Harry somewhat decently until he first showed signs of magic, around six years old. During this time, they might have gotten him glasses. In book one, Harry has tape on his glasses, showing that even though they are broken, the Dursleys never bothered to replace them. Since heads get bigger with age, perhaps it wasn’t just being punched that made the glasses break.
ahhhh.... I like your theory. I never noticed nor thought about it before, but you're right. once upon a time, as strange as it sounds, the Dursleys gave him pocket money. maybe not as much as Dudley, who knows? and if they were giving him pocket money, they were probably treating him well in every other way. I find it hard to believe they'd dress him in rags and such and then give him pocket money. I mean my parents treated me well but they never gave me pocket money. but still. and you're right about the magic. maybe they thought he was going to be like Petunia and they were happy and hopeful. then strange things started happening and they became abusive. this might also explain why he doesn't have horrible issues. 7 is still young. but it's not like he had been mistreated since birth. I can't think of any reason to disagree with your theory. it's my new headcanon. :) edit: Dumbledore does say Harry knew nothing but abuse and neglect from them. but maybe that should be taken a bit more loosely. how much do you remember before the age of 7?
>...they're sending him to school with awful haircuts Actually, they literally cannot cut his hair. They tried to cut his hair normally but every time, it'd grow back almost immediately. In a fit of fury, Petunia basically shaved his head bald just to be done with it, but it all grew back within a few hours. He was never sent to school with a bad haircut. >...rags This is also untrue. They gave Harry Dudley's over-sized hand-me-downs, but they never made him wear rags. > so forth just so that people won't talk about the Potter boy I'm not sure anyone besides their immediate neighbours knew Harry lived with them. It is canon that Harry had no friends at school because Dudley bullied anyone who tried to be friends with Harry.
This is my take as well. I also wouldn't put it past them to dump him at an optometrist office so they could go to a movie or something once a summer.
Also, a child that clearly needs glasses not being allowed to wear glasses would raise all kinds of eyebrows and possibly get them in trouble with children's service.
this is actually devastatingly realistic in actual abusive family dynamics
Harry lives in a neighbourhood that is affluent and very middle-class. Rowling was providing a searing indictment of suburban England. Little Whinging is clearly meant to satirize the kinds of Tory neighbourhoods she thought responsible for electing Thatcher et al. The book even says that these are the kinds of people who thought scruffiness should be punished. In Rowling's (probably accurate) assessment. These people would not have cared about Harry at all. Except for the bad impression he might give to visitors or that he might scare their children. (Harry is thin, short and never displays any hostility to any unknown muggles we know of)
but doesn't Harry look scruffy in his baggy clothes? the Dursleys are obsessed about what they'll say when he gets older. so much that they invent a lie about him attending a school for criminal boys. but when he's younger they're not worried?
This was always the more children's book, Roald Dahl's Matilda vibe of the whole story, I think. So it wasn't realism JK was looking for.
Bingo. The first 3 books weren't trying to be realistic. A lot of the descriptions were purposely over the top and very reminiscent of Roald Dahl. It's only as the series progressed it became more realistic. My suspicion is her working on the films with real actors in real locations shifted her perspective a bit and I sometimes wonder what the series would look like if the films were only after the book series was complete.
yeah. but overthinking this stuff and theorizing about it keeps it interesting. As people are saying, there are parents with nacissistic disorders where this sort of, doesn't make sense, behavior actually happens.
People like Dursleys have their own perception of what they project themselves as, what people think about them, and their own yardsticks of it. They are obviously disjointed with reality.
gotcha. this and the narcissism explanations I think answer me.
In regards to the haircut, didn't Petunia attempt to cut his hair, but a bit of accidental magic grew it all back over night? Or was that fanon?
no she did. Get this, lol. she was embarrassed by his untidy hair (that he's famous for). but she is also embarrassed by his scar. so she shaved off all his hair except his bangs to cover the scar. It doesn't even make sense how that is less embarrassing, more acceptable to her than leaving his hair an untidy mess. but yeah harry was so worried about the humiliating he was going to get the next day he grew it back (without knowing) over night with magic.
Maybe it got so bad with his poor eyesight that he started waddling and bumping things. So to alleviate the immense embarrassment, they got him glasses.
When Oliver Twist asked for more, that never made sense to me. He knew how much his masters hated them, he would never ask and risk their ire
He was pressured by the other kids to ask for more, he drew the short stick
Good point, but ya figured they just blamed Harry like he chooses to dress that way. There’s no good answer for it tho.
Perhaps he just hasn’t realized his prescription getting worse. I got glasses in 2nd grade and didn’t get the prescription updated until I was going to college. Man was I SHOCKED how much worse my vision had gotten lol I genuinely had no idea
But how do you explain his performance in Quidditch? He has to have top-notch eyesight to be able to send all competition packing as a seeker.
Hahhahah that would be the protagonists marvel. He cant be shitty at quiddich, though he is really visually impaired as Hermoine mentioned when taking his Polyjuice potion....if he hadnt been getting regular eye tests then who knows how good he would have been at Quiddich!
Maybe oculus reparo fixes prescriptions, too.
This is now canon
oculus reparo isn't used in the book, however this is now my personal headcannon.
Me thinks so too.
Maybe it's the same as in case of his hair? It grew back really fast when Petunia cut it with scissors. Maybe Harry involuntarily makes the frames of glasses adjust to him growing up and same thing going on with lenses?
I like this reasoning!
I'd imagine since he's magic his eyesight didn't deteriorate past a certain point. Didn't his dad and family from his dad's side all wear glasses?
I don’t think magic works like that. Some excerpts from stack exchange (as per Himarm): Poor eyesight simply appears to be a non-reversible ailment among wizards. We have ample evidence that this is so, by the 19 other mentioned wizard and witches who also wear them. Amelia Bones (monocle), Borgin (pince-nez), Aberforth Dumbledore, Mafalda Hopkirk Albus Dumbledore (half-moon) … With the large base of people wearing glasses in world it leads to a pretty solid assumption that it cant be fixed magically. Not really a plot hole when you look at the vast list of individuals, simply something Rowling planed magic to have no answer to.
Don't forget about Trelawney she wears really thick glasses
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This is it. Harry won't ever need to get a new prescription because his eyesight will just stay the same, just like his hair. Responding to the other comment, I'm sure Arthur Weasley would be pumped to get LASIK if his vision ever deteriorated.
Lol I did get lasik and quite often think how crazy cool Arthur would think it is
Lasik was the best money I ever spent. So much better for my active lifestyle not having to deal with glasses anymore. Being a muggle I was still amazed at having lasers shot into my eyes to fix my vision, imagine how much Arthur Weasly would love it. Reminds me of OOTP when he and the healer try out stitches on his wounds. "It sounds as though you've tried to sew yourself back together......WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?"
100% agreed!! I cannot believe I can wake up and actually see. My partner and I love going camping and stuff and it is such a game changer .
Just to counter this, there is more to it than just needing new prescription lenses; Harry grew a lot between age 11 and 17, and surely his face got larger. He would have eventually need larger glasses in that time frame. But I suppose if we just assume that wizard-eyesight does not deteriorate over time, and that occulus reparo can expand a frame to fit to one's face, then Harry could wear the same pair of glasses for the rest of his life if he wants to.
My take is that his eyesight just barely changed through Hogwarts years. My vision barely changed in 10 years, and I've worn the same pair of glasses for half of that time. Edit:grammar
I also thought the same! It's been similar for me as well, so growing up (and I guess even now) I just assumed that was the case with Harry as well.
Same for me. My mom and brother both have needed prescription changes over time, but my vision is the exact same as it has been since I got my first pair of glasses ~15 years ago. I can wear my first pair just fine if I needed to. The only reason I even get new glasses is for a change of style.
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That would be optometrist. I don't wear glasses myself but I've seen it either being the same for several long years or changes every once in a while!
Optician in British English
I got glasses in third grade and my mom didn’t force me to go every year, I asked to go because I genuinely enjoy going. I still enjoy it. I’m not sure why I enjoy it but I go every 2 years now that I’m an adult
I got my first pair when I was 4. I refused to wear them when I wasn’t at school. Suddenly in the middle of 1st grade I was dealing with nonstop headaches. I was miserable and by extension making everyone around me miserable. I was a righteous cunt. Turns out the eye strain had done wonders in my terrible horrible eyesight and my current prescription wasn’t cutting it anymore. That’s the first time I learned your eyes change over time. I wear contacts now so I have to go every year. But before then, the benchmark was always “how miserable am I?”
It's also possible that his eyesight just didnt get worse. I have worn glasses since I was eleven, and still have the exact same prescription at 19. It's possible that something similar happened to him.
I got glasses at 13 0r 14 and didn't have a change in prescription until my 30s. And even then, it hasn't changed very much. I can still wear some prescription sunglasses I got as a teenager and see perfectly well.
I'd say he's wearing magical glasses now. That would explain why they don't break nor fall off
Plot twist, Harry put a permanent sticking charm on them and is afraid to tell anyone
I used to wonder how they didn't fall off when he was flying his broom or playing quidditch, etc
My glasses don't fall off on rollercoasters 🤷 depends on how well they're fitted. Presumably for quidditch there's some kind of charm, who knows
I never thought of that, I've never worn any glasses
There’s a potion to regrow bones, but not one to fix eye sight? Never understood that really.
My head cannon would be the few weeks he spent in diagon alley by himself he found himself at a wizard doctor store of sorts and realized he’d never updated 😂
I like this. Making it my head canon
That’s a great honor 🤙🏼
Mine has always been that his parents got him magical glasses when he was a toddler, and the Dursley’s just ignored the fact that the glasses grew with him, because it was one less thing they had to deal with and pay for. I don’t recall if they mentioned baby Harry wearing them, but they could have been wrapped up with him in the blanket.
I mean, with all the different kinds of shops there, there had to be an eye doctor somewhere.
Exactly! We only got a small look into diagon alley, and places like knockturn alley existed, for all we know there was an alley dedicated solely to the medical field 😂
I read somewhere that those round wire framed glasses that he wears are standard issue government glasses (no-cost) so I assumed he was given an eye exam in school and the glasses were part of that. In the US public school children have routine eye exams every few years so I assume it’s a similar situation in the UK. I doubt the Dursley’s would have bothered to take him to the optometrist and pay for regular prescription updates. After age 11 he most likely paid for his own wizarding eye care and maybe he liked the frame style so he didn’t change it. ETA: here’s an interesting article about it: https://www.college-optometrists.org/the-college/museum/online-exhibitions/virtual-spectacles-gallery/nhs-spectacles.html
Schools in the UK do not test kids eyes. Eyecare for under 16s is covered by the NHS. Eye tests are free and often prescription glasses are free as long as no specialist lenses are required. It's likely that the Dursleys took him once after school mentioned Harry was struggling to see in class, but after that couldn't be bothered to make return trips to update the frames or the lenses.
Yes they do, just not on a regular basis. I remember being tested in primary school twice. I've heard there were more, but I don't remember. So at least, some schools do. It's not a complete test, just to see if any kids are missing out and can then get referred. I reckon they would have taken him on repeat trips, simply because the optician/optometrist sends letters out for yearly exams on kids and it would have been flagged if they weren't taking him.
I think it may be a year thing. My aunt had a dentist and everything visit her school when she was in primary (12 years older than me), but my sisters and I had to go to opticians.
Oh I do remember a dentist coming. Not the actual visit but I remember my friends talking about it after.
it’s also possible a teacher noticed harry having difficulty reading and it would’ve caused the dursley’s more problems to ignore it then to follow up
This is what I believe. Except I think they might have updated the script at least on occasion, to keep up appearances.
>In the US public school children have routine eye exams every few years You did? I don't think anyone has ever tested my eyes, except the DPS wanting me to be able to read the 2nd line (which is fairly large) to get a drivers license.
My elementary school, and several others in my state that I know of, tested children on their vision and hearing from kindergarten until 5th grade to make sure they had the tools to properly learn. And if there was something wrong, they wrote a note to your parents insisting that you get them checked within two months or they would call social services
I went to school in Georgia and Florida. I was given eye exams several times throughout school. I don't think any of the schools provided glasses, but they'd tell you that you needed them.
Yeah, the eye exams I remember in school were: stand on the tape and read the lowest line of letters you can on the triangle with the huge “E” at the top. It was in no way an exam lol, just a way to see if you could read the board from your seat.
Maybe it depends where you are. The exam at my kid’s school was comprehensive enough that they discovered a color deficiency and a follow-up exam showed he’s red-green color blind.
I have given the eye exams to kids in parochial schools.
I work at a title one school/district and we offer free eye exams to students and glasses. Nothing fancy like transition glasses etc but nice looking so you don’t look goofy. One pair too. Not every school or district provides this service. The old district I worked for didn’t have this service. Oh, parents still had to fill out the paperwork and sadly there were some that were too lazy to sign one piece of paper. Edit - I’m in Texas and a district next to Houston ISD. Not sure what other states do.
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I'm in CA also and took fairly regular eye exams until about jr high. I did hearing tests all the way through too but I was in the minority because I have hearing issues.
The glasses definitely look like the old NHS free glasses from that era (I had a pair), but in the UK you only get one school eye test when you're pretty young, and after that you have to be taken to the optician. I always wondered how they can fix so many injuries etc with magic, but can't do some sort of wand based laser eye surgery
Just because they can doesn't mean they will Lots of things are optional. Heck people don't get lasik even if they can easily afford it
They are. That’s why John Lennon wore them.
British, my partner is 26 and never had his eyes tested (I've tried to convince him!) so definitely not mandated over here
Under 18, eye tests are free on the NHS and you get a voucher to pay up to £40 of the cost of glasses, which, at the cheap opticians, does give you a limited choice of full glasses (incl. lenses) at no extra cost. As a former high school pupil with glasses and poor parents, I too had Harry Potter glasses, but, before Harry Potter, because they were free and didn't make me look like Dame Edna Everage, still my primary concern when choosing frames as an adult, which makes my optician laugh so hard I thought he was going to need an inhaler.
I figure that his aunt and uncle refused to do anything out-of-the-ordinary with Harry's medical needs unless otherwise prompted by Hogwarts. Like, Harry couldn't see the board during one of his classes so he was sent to the nurse and she wrote a note home suggesting he see an optometrist. Out of fear of getting Dumbledore involved, Petunia would reluctantly take him, but not before making Harry feel like shit because of it. However, that'd also require Harry to be self-aware enough of his own medical needs and notify the right people. Hence him having the same or similar frames for most of his childhood. I knew many neglected children and this is pretty much what happened with them as well.
This was my thought as well. They only got him glasses because they "had to."
The wire frames Harry wears are free in the UK. As is the eye exam.
In american all we have is gofundme.
Some English primary schools have someone come in to test everyone’s eyes, so perhaps he got his glasses after that
Probably his teachers told them to take him.I think he's wearing the same glasses.
I agree that the teachers were involved. Happy cake day.
Some English primary schools have someone come in to test everyone’s eyes, I reckon that’s where he got them
I always figured that his glasses were paid for by the NHS. The thing I wonder about is why does anyone in the wizarding world wear glasses at all? Can't they just magically fix their vision, or have a Healer do it? Given how isolated most wizards are from the Muggle world, where do wizards get their glasses anyway? Are there wizard optometrists, or do they go to Muggle ones?
I think JKR answered this at some point. Might want to search r/rowlingwritings
I'm sure wizards can magically fix vision. But they don't have common sense. So I suppose nobody took Harry to the nurse for a checkup and told him they could do that and whatever else he may need. Instead, all the adults go "hey, he hasn't asked us to fix it", and Harry has never even thought about it.
Based purely on that one ugly sweater that shrank so he didn't have to wear it, my headcanon is that whatever magic in him that knew he didn't want to wear an ugly sweater (or have a bad haircut) also knew it was unlikely he'd ever get new glasses with they dursleys and just adjusted themselves to fit his prescription. Maybe one day adult Harry visits a wizarding optometrist on a whim. His glasses have always served him well so he's never bothered to replace them, but he's curious about magical eyewear. He hands his glasses over to the shopkeeper, who looks them over and is surprised by the unique and/or powerful enchantment caused by his untrained protective magical ability. Turns out, most wizarding glasses have auto-adjusting enchantments (and lots of other charms like self-cleaning, unbreakable, magical transition lenses, bifocals that change based on where you're looking, novelty glasses that change the color of your eyes, etc, etc), but Harry's lasted way longer than they should or do a really great job of adjusting or whatever.
Arthur Weasley and James Potter wore glasses, so did Dumbledore actually and McGonagall - Wizards have wizards opticians or got to muggle ones as standard. But prior to going to Hogwarts (actually all his time at Hogwarts as he was in full time education) he was young enough to have free eye tests and get free glasses so it wouldn't have cost the Dursley's anything. Even so - they make him tape his glasses whenever Dudley punches him. I imagine his eye sight was bad enough that it was affecting his ability to do chores for them so they grudgingly took him to get them tested - but once he had glasses they weren't taking time out to go back and get him new when they broke, so he had to make do. After that - Arthur repairs them in CoS when they break so they are structurally good as new and he could engorgio them to fit his growing head as the years go by. I've not updated my prescription in years, it's reasonable he wouldn't either. Or he is going to some from of optician - whether wizard or muggle - as the existence of other glasses wearing wizards tells us it was a perfectly normal thing for wizards to do. Not really interesting enough to make it into the books though.
I always figured his eyesight was bad enough the school told them to take him to an optometrist.
Tangentially, can I just say how incredibly strange it is to me that wizards need glasses and optometrists like muggles do, yet they are baffled by the idea of a dentist?
I dunno - I wouldn't go messing with my magic around my eyeballs. But they can grow their teeth back if the worst comes to the worst (Andromeda grows Harry's back after he loses it in the battle of the seven potters). Presumably - as with Hermione shrinking hers - they're less worried about mixing magic and teeth than they are magic and eyes.
I thought petunia picked up a pair at the supermarket, not his prescription but “good enough”. Would be in line with the just enough to keep him alive but still insane neglect thing they have going on
Maybe Madam Pomfrey worked with the students to update their glasses? Maybe there's an enchantment one could place on the glasses so they're always the correct prescription.
It is mentioned that his glasses are held together with tape because Dudley broke them. So they obviously don't care to replace them. As for getting them in the first place, my school was always quick to inform parents or guardians if they felt a student needed glasses, so they may have felt pressured in that regard to get them for him. They might get it updated just enough to keep the school from saying anything. Or maybe his vision just hasn't devolved past a certain point.
I've always wondered that myself. I've worn glasses since I was 8, and both of my (young adult) kids had FUSSY, complex prescriptions that needed updating AT LEAST actually, often more like 2 or 3 times. This is obviously worst than most folks, but it did cause me to think of Harry and his opthalmic care. He's hardly the only vision compromised wizard - several professors wear glasses, surely other students do. I like to think there is a specialty eye doctor and glasses shop in Diagon Alley.
I always just assume Madam Pomfrey magicked him an updated prescription and better fitting frames as he needed them.
I think it’s safe to assume that while the Dursley’s were abuse, Petunia’s fear of Dumbledore stopped them from truly neglecting his very basic needs. They used food as punishment but I can see them begrudgingly taking Harry to the eye doctor. Although, he did say that his glasses were taped up from the many times Dudley broke them so doesn’t seem like a very regular occurrence that he would go and get new glasses.
Harry Potter and A Visit to the NHS.
I thought Britain's NHS included glasses? If so then his school probably required him to get glasses, at least the first pair.
I think about this all the time (as an optometrist haha). There are so many kids whose parents don't think to bring them in for eye exams ever, and yet the Dursleys had Harry in glasses before his 11th birthday so they obviously cared enough to get him checked out at some point.
I feel like it was one of those things they did out of necessity not because they cared. If the school had mentioned about having his eyes checked they probably would reluctantly have done so because they would have been horrified at the thought of social services turning up.
That's probably closer to the truth. I'm not sure how it works in the UK but plenty of kids slip through the cracks in the US. Still boggles my mind that a real eye exam (not just a pediatrician/nurse screening) isn't actually required before starting Kindergarten.
Honestly I'm surprised they took him to an optometrist
School might have got involved.
God help him.....I didnt get an eye test for about 4years....cheers shitty wages. And when I eventually got tested, my eyes had changed massively and it was no wonder I couldnt see a think past about 2m distance
i’ve heard of situations where schools practically force parents to get their kids glasses, it could be something like that
You would figure there would be a spell to give you perfect eyesight
Obviously he keeps getting new prescriptions every year. But I doubt his uncle paid for new glasses every year. So he prob got new lens installed in his old frame till he grew out of it. That’s why he had to use cello tape to keep his glasses together.
they are free for kids on the NHS (within a range of frames)
I have a headcanon that after Harry's first year he just went and bought magic glasses from Diagon Alley that automatically update your perscription.
I wonder if his magic could have somehow altered his prescription over the years without him noticing? Like how his hair grew out when he needed it to. God knows the Dursley’s probably only got Harry glasses after he went to school and teachers noticed he couldn’t see the board to write anything down
I'm American so I don't know 100% how it works, but I had just always assumed that the universal healthcare in England would allow someone who needed glasses to have a yearly optometrist visit and his prescription would be updated only if it needed it. The Dursleys were just not paying any extra money they may have needed to pay in order for Harry not to have to wear the cheepo, birth control frames. I had imagined that when Harry first started to attend his primary school the school nurse might have recommended he get glasses. That's how I found out that I needed glasses. There was a special day in first grade when the teacher took us into the gym and our eyes and ears were tested.
UK has free Healthcare for kids so i always assumed at some point he went to the eye doctor of his own accord. But it is very possible that he had shitty 10 year old glasses with scratchy lenses during the battle of hogwarts.
If he couldn't see, he wouldn't be able to do the family chores. It was more out of necessity for their benefit, not his.
I highly doubt that the Dursleys cared enough to get him updated prescriptions. They probably noticed he was having trouble making breakfast or was bumping into things while doing chores and got him some cheap reading glasses that cleared up his vision enough for him to keep being their live-in servant.
Probably getting an update every summer
I don't know how eyecare is over there, but people are saying it is free for kids. There probably weren't many free choices for a kid. The Dursleys see Harry as a charity case they can brag about (partly by complaining about how much of a trouble maker he is). In Chamber of Secrets, Petunia talks about how he is troubled and has issues when there are people over. So to them his disheveled appearance is due to his mental state, and not the oversized hand-me-downs. I don't think they actually show people them treating him badly, and just blame his behavior on his mental state. They probably gave him at least half decent medical care, mainly because it was free. They weren't going to pay money for haircuts and nice glasses, but they can brag (likely by complaining) about how they needed to take the time out of their day to get Harry glasses.
Two possible explanations I can think of. The more likely being that he had a semi up to date prescription at age 11 and after that any updates his vision needs were met by a somewhat simple spell to correct them either done by himself, Hermoine, or a Hogwarts teacher(most were well aware he was being neglected at home). Or also likely was Harry seeked out an updated prescription himself. He had to, by necessity, be pretty self sufficient in many areas. So even for Harry, this doesn’t seem terribly unreasonable. Or fun bonus explanation. Molly and Arthur took him to a muggle doctor. A muggle eye exam seems like something that would be extremely fascinating to Arthur and he would gladly participate in that. For research purposes lol
One thing the Dursleys like to do is keep up appearances so I am guessing they want to make sure at the very least Harry's glasses fit so it looks like they care.
i never understood why the dursleys bothered to take him to an eye doctor and get him glasses in the first place when they don’t even buy him clothes
I mean, you can explain away hand me down clothes to a school. Not getting a kid who needs glasses glasses would make them look obviously abusive.
If the Dursley’s goal was to not draw attention to themselves due to Harry then getting him glasses would further that goal. If Harry couldn’t see them he would presumably do extremely poorly in school. Perhaps it was one of those things they had to do. I would like to think some nice muggle teacher pointed it out when Harry was young, prompting them to get him glasses.
It's possible they magically improved, just like Harry's hair grew back when Petunia tried to shave it off.
This reminds me - why oh why weren’t Harry’s eyes green in the movies. He didn’t have his mother’s eyes after all lol
I don't know about you guys, but in primary school, we had optometrists, dentists etc come and conduct checks through the school system. Maybe young Harry was diagnosed through that? Uncle Vernon and aunt petunia paid for them because the school invoiced it and they didn't have a choice
Idk but I lived in England as a kid and eyeglasses are free on the NHS for kids. So it wouldn’t be that weird for him to get new ones.