Christopher's family is a mess.
His father was the "black sheep" in an otherwise respectable family who cares that Christopher is alive - but doesn't really have any time for his son.
His mother is a "detestable social climber" whose only care for Christopher is that he should be well positioned in Society.
Being cared for by a parade of Nurses and then Governesses, how could he know that his powers were far from usual?
And the one person who really cares about Christopher in his present state is his uncle Ralph (pronounced 'Rafe'). He's no sweetie-pie either.
Christopher goes through boarding school, several gruesome deaths, a magical cat, a castle-load of government employees - and still manages to risk his continued existence for a multi-universal criminal.