Wands and Magical Ability, Part Two

[fourfuries at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24205

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., linman6868 at a... wrote:
>
> STUFF FROM CANON: WAND IDIOSYNCRASY AND POWER
> 
> The best place to get information on wands, of course, is from Mr. 
> Ollivander, the premier British wandmaker...
  
> He doesn't tell Harry what his wand is best for…but he does tell 
him that it shares its magical substance with Lord Voldemort's...
 
> We also find out that whether he knows it or not, Harry is a 
talented wizard... 
 
> So is Harry Super?... 
> 
> 
>
There are two parts of the human personality that determine whether 
one is "super".  One is talent, the other character.  Talent is what 
you start out having, what you have to work with: speed, or strength, 
your native skill or intelligence, a knack for music or drawing or 
stringing together words.  Character, on the other hand, determined 
by what you do with your talent.  It is within your control, and is 
therefore the most difficult part of the human equation.
 
Mr. Ollivander tells Harry "I think we must expect great things from 
you", based on several facts of which only he, Dumbledore, and now 
Hagrid and Harry are aware. (1) Harry's wand and Voldemort's shared 
the same core (a feather from Fawkes' tail); (2) Voldemort had been a 
great wizard, giving evidence to the effect that his wand must have 
been great; (3) The second wand (brother to the first)was presumably 
also a great wand; (4)that wand had chosen Harry.

As Dumbledore later explains, he and Ollivander had both been waiting 
to see what new wizard would be chosen by the second wand made from 
Fawkes' tail feather, the implication being that whoever it was would 
also be a powerful tlaent.  Ollivander was delighted to answer the 
riddle (no pun intended), and more delighted that the wizard should 
be none other than the famous Harry Potter.

Further, great wizarding talent, like other human talents, does seem 
to run in families.  James and Lily were both powerful wizards: Head 
Boy and Head Girl in their 7th years at Hogwarts(as the brilliant Tom 
Riddle was and the brilliant Hermione is likely to be); James manages 
to become an Animagus in his 5th year, a difficult feat for even full 
grown wizards (a good wand for transfiguration, indeed); Lily works a 
charm that presumably defeats Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse.  
Point, Harry gets it honestly.

Now comes the hard part.  What good is talent if you do not develop 
it?  Would Tiger Woods still be a great golfer if he never 
practiced?  How about if he had not started playing at such a young 
age?  What if his father had steered him into baseball instead?  How 
about Michael Jordan?  They say he practiced harder than anyone else 
in the NBA his entire career, and that is why he was so much better, 
so much more than just a talent.

How many school dances, or neighborhood baseball games did these guys 
miss growing up, in order to perfect their talents?  What kind of 
discipline did it take, where did they get the will power, who helped 
them stay focused enough to achieve so much more than any others in 
their fields before?

The purpose of a school like Hogwarts (or any good school, for that 
matter) is to harness talent, direct it, train it and build the 
character of the person using it.  Tom Riddle's character was already 
scarred before he came to Hogwarts.  He knew of his father's 
abandonment of his mother, and of her tragic death.  Harry, on the 
other hand, was rather innocent, having only the cupboard under the 
stair as a frame of reference.  He had been given a life (thanks to 
Dumbledore)and a story about the passing of his parents thanks to the 
Dursleys) that left no room for guilt or recrimination.  He came to 
Hogwarts without the baggage of hatred, envy, anger, etc.

There he discovers his potential.  He gets repeated affirmation 
that "he could be great".  Powerful, admirable people care about 
him.  He discovers his flying talent, makes his first friends, and 
then has to defend them and himself from an unspeakably evil menace.  
How's that for character building conditions.  Lose everything, gain 
everything, risk losing everything again.

Harry is not super, except to the extend that all our heroes are 
super.  They have the super ability to command themselves to push on, 
when others might quit, to try when others fear failing, to commit 
themselves, when others can not decide.  Harry seeks the truth about 
himself, defends the good he sees in others, and hopes eternally.  
THese are in his character.  The magic talent is gravy.  4FR

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