[HPforGrownups] Harry Potter Character Sketch - Part 3 of 3

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 17259

Still catchin' up, sorry.

joym999 at aol.com wrote:

> 4.  Why the hell did the Dursleys take Harry in, anyway?

It was Socially Expected. If it were Found Out that they had not
fulfilled an obligation properly, they would not be able to believe
themselves Superior To Others. The Dursleys believe appearance is
everything.

>  Did they feel obligated to beat the magic out of him?

Obligated, in the sense of necessity, to keep magic from occurring in
their house or being associated with them at all. Obligated in the sense
of they MUST protect their lifestyle and respectability. So they
probably would think yes, it was a duty.

>  Was Petunia even upset when she heard that her sister died?

I'd say relieved, although she'd never admit it (it's Not Done), and
probably did any public displays of mourning necessary for Proper
Display of Grief After Relative Dies.

>  Were they threatened (or charmed) by Dumbledore?

Probably not threatened, at least not intentionally, but probably they
feel terribly threatened just knowing that Harry has a wizard looking
out for his interests anywhere in the world. And I doubt even Dumbledore
could charm the Dursleys.

> 6.  What does the fact that Harry has chosen the fun-loving Ron and
> the bookish Hermione as his two best friends say about Harry's
> personality?

Boring answer. Plot reasons come into play. I think Harry needed both a
wizard friend and a muggle friend. The wizarding friend is the source of
information for the readers on the whole wizarding world and way of
life. The muggle friend is a contrasting character to Harry, a
complement to the wizard friend, someone of similar background to Harry,
confronting things for the first time, but providing a different
viewpoint. Is the technical term a "foil"? I don't recall, sorry.

I think that Ron's and Hermione's characters evolved firstly as this,
plot necessities, and then took on characteristics and personalities of
their own as they developed in the writing process.

I *said* it was a boring answer.

> 7.  Why is Harry such a good Quidditch player?

It makes better reading than having him good at Herbology?  <g>

>  How come he knows how to fly a broomstick without even being taught?
> Does it have something to do with his past?

I thought he probably took after his father. It was in book 1 that
McGonagall tells Harry that his father was an excellent Quidditch
player, and JKR said he was a Chaser, which calls for dexterity. So I
thought this was an inherited ability, like I can spell real well like
my mom could.

>  Isn't it a bit much that Harry is not only the only one to have ever
> defeated Voldemort AND a natural-born Quidditch superstar?

Point: He didn't "defeat" Voldemort. He hasn't yet. He survived an
attack, and something caused the spell to rebound. We don't know if he
caused the rebound. I still find it noteworthy that it *did* rebound,
instead of swooshing on harmlessly past--why did it turn back onto
Voldemort? But anyway, we can't give Harry the credit, at least not yet.

He didn't defeat Voldemort with Quirrell. He survived. He did defeat Tom
Riddle, but I'm not sure that counts in the way you're meaning it. He
didn't defeat the reanimated Voldemort--he got the upper hand in the
Priori Incantatem, which gave him a tiny edge of time to evade and
escape him.

And I think he *could* be a Quidditch superstar, but right now he's a
14-year-old very good student player. So no, I don't think it's too
much.

--Amanda


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