Parseltongue question

[Steve Vander Ark]

No: HPFGUIDX 6188


> Has anyone (but me) wondered why Harry didn't try to *talk* to the
> basilisk in the Chamber? 

Excellent observation. There are a couple of times in the books where 
Harry seems to ignore the obvious solution. Another great example is 
when he's stuck in the trick stair, under his invisibility cloak, 
when the egg is screeching and he drops the Marauder's Map. There is 
lays almost within his grasp, and he never thinks to use a Summoning 
Charm to retrieve it. 

I think it's the same thing: he's a kid, facing unimaginable danger 
or major stress, and he just doesn't think it all through. It would 
actually be LESS realistic if he always had the right spell on the 
tip of his tongue, sort of like the way James Bond always has the 
perfect gadget at the right moment. Harry isn't a superhero. He's a 
kid, who manages to survive and even win while making mistakes and 
floundering around, just like any kid (or grownup, for that matter). 

What sets Harry apart is his sense of purpose and mission in his 
life. He hasn't really come to terms with it yet, but it's clear that 
he subconciously sees himself as something Special. I don't mean that 
in a bad way at all. Harry senses that it's up to him, that he just 
doesn't have a choice but to place himself in the path of danger. 
It's his destiny, and he knows it intuitively. Everything DOES seem 
to happen to him. That's the way things are, and he knows it.

But he doens't have all the answers yet. He's still a kid, in 
training. A trained wizard is not just one who knows all the right 
spells, but one who remembers the right spell to use at the right 
time. In all his adventures, he's really been helped along to victory 
almost every time. He didn't think of the ways to defeat the dragon 
or swim the lake. He wouldn't have been able to defeat Voldemort in 
the duel except for the fact that his wand was a mate of Voldemort's. 
There is destiny there, true, so it's not just blind luck, but it 
certainly isn't anything Harry personally did or decided. 


Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon