Harry Potter Part II

The relationship between parents and the children in the books. In case you have not read the books, short description of my current topic should be in order. Harry and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger all go to the boarding school of Hogswarts, where the students start at the age of 11 and which consists of seven year-classes.
Trough the books the children and parents both show very little parental interest in their kids - and the kids, in turn, don't seem to need any.

If I understood correctly, the summer vacation from Hogswarts is six weeks, and the winter vacation is about two weeks, I suppose. Outside these vacations, the parents don't see their children. Also, it is possible to spend the Christmas vacation at school.

While Harry is an orphan and his adoptive parents are horrible, Hermione and Ron both come from loving families. Hermione is the only child of muggle-couple (eg. they cant do magic) and Ron is one of the six children of old wizard-family. In all the six books, Hermione's parents dont speak even once. As far as I remember, they were spotted once, from afar, but they never talked. From Hermione's dialogue, however, it can be seen that she dosen't resent her parents, and probaply loves them. Ron's parents are shown in much more detail. Harry and Hermione both spend days if not weeks at Ron's parents at a time. The mother is shown to be perfectly lovable house-wife, who washes the dishes, clothes and even knits by hand sweaters to all members of the family (and Harry and Hermione).

In the end of the first book and the beginning of the second book, it is told that Ron's younger sister Ginny would be starting at Hogswarts. She has - so we are told - expected it for years. The mother is sending her to the school happily, and both she and Ginny see this as the way things should be. She does not cry, nor is she missing her mother. Indeed, during winter vacations both Ginny, Ron and Hermione decide to stay at school to keep Harry company. Year after year.

The parents see their children up to six weeks a year. Less, some years, as Hermione stays with Ron's, to be with her best friends.

And parents think this ok. Not once during all the six books, do the children imply that they miss their parents, or parents miss their children.

The only expection is Harry himself, who is an orphan. His feelings toward his real parents are expressed several times during the books. He misses them. And in the later books, he wants to be like his dad. He is very angry of the way how his parents died when he was only a year old, and seeks openly revange against their killer (Lord Voldemort). It is very suprising, that all the rest children in the books don't have any feelings towards their parents. The only one who is expressing love is Ron's Mother, who in the fifth book is weeping for her loved ones, of whose life she is scared for. However, after a while, she recovers and sends her children once again to Hogswarts.

While I was wondering this, I tried to look up info about boarding schools. What sort of parent - in real life - sends hir child, who isin't yet even on hir teens, to place that means you will ever be able to see him/her few weeks every year? Isin't that cruel? And what does all that do to the psychological development of the child?
I tried to google some studies, but it didn't give me any results, only pages that wanted me to send my child to a boarding school.