POV in the HP books (Was: Which Series Has the Most Characters?)

[justcarol67]

> Neri originally mused:
> I can't think of any other literature work with so many characters
> that is described from the POV of a single character.
> 
> Neri later clarified:
> To clarify, what I asked is this:
> Out of all literature works that ARE written from the POV of a single
> character, is there one that has more characters than HP?
>
Carol <snipping the long list of responses that IMHO confuse the point
of the post>:
As I indicated on the main list, there's an important distinction
between a book with a first-person narrator (e.g. David Copperfield or
Jane Eyre) and a book (or series of books) with a third-person,
limited omnisicient narrator, like the HP books. JKR's limited
omniscient narrator can and does on occasion shift away from Harry's POV.

If anyone is interested in the distinction, which IMO is important,
see my rather detailed post on the main list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/106967

I realize that I'm not addressing the number of characters in HP here,
but I  think we should understand that the POV in the HP books is not
always Harry's--and that the narrator is more reliable on those rare
occasions when he or she steps outside Harry's perspective. (See the
Little Hangleton material in GoF chapter 1 as an example.)

Carol