PoU Harry and the spotlight

[bbennett at joymail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 11949

Lori wrote:

> The comments regarding PoU Harry enjoying the spotlight made me 
>think, and I always love comments that make me do that.

Your response made me think as well, so I went back and looked at PoU 
again to see what specifically what I had in mind when I responded to 
Kathy. I wanted to include all of your response, though, so please 
scroll down and I'll continue my post there.

> It made me think about whether he does or not.  So I'm considering 
>evidence about Harry vis a vis international attention in PoU...and 
>forgive me if I miss some points you're thinking of, even though I 
>wrote the damned thing it's easy for me to forget details.
 
> 1.  Harry works as an undercover agent and doesn't tell anyone what 
>he does.
> 2.  Harry and Hermione go out and attract attention while swing
> dancing...but that's just among Muggles.
> 3.  Harry is asked to speak at the Friends and Former Pupils Gala by
> Sirius...however it's seen that his public speaking skills are 
>rusty and so implies he doesn't do it a lot.
> 4.  Harry and Hermione reluctantly grant an interview to the Daily 
>Prophet about their relationship.  >This would have been news no 
>matter what he did.

> I'm not sure I've portrayed Harry as enjoying the spotlight, but 
>neither have I described him actively >avoiding it.  Honestly, I 
>haven't given it much thought in the course of the stories.
> 
> They way I *think* of it (which may or may not be the way it comes 
>across on the page) is that Harry isn't as shy as he was at 14, 
>after all he's more mature and has had plenty of time to get used to 
>his fame.  I don't see him as a glory hound but I don't see him 
>being reclusive.  I think he would accept his role in the wizarding 
>world and the little foibles that go with it.
> 
> Comments?
> Lori

OK. 

I had to take one of those Myers Briggs Type Indicator tests the 
other day for work, and as I was listening to the results and what 
they mean, my mind started to drift and I began thinking of Harry and 
friends (stop laughing, people, I know I'm not the only one who does 
this). I see canon Harry as inherently introverted. It seems it's in 
his nature to direct things inward. Compare this to Ron, who is vocal 
on just about anything (the instructor said "If you don't know what's 
on an extrovert's mind, you aren't listening, and if you don't know 
what's on an introvert's mind, you haven't asked").  

To me, your Harry reads as introverted (this doesn't necessarily 
suggests a reclusive nature, although recluses are almost always 
typed as introverts -  I like your idea that as Harry ages, he 
becomes less shy and more able to handle himself in the wizarding 
world. I think this comes across in your story). Harry conceals his 
profession (it doesn't seem as if hiding this is a difficult task for 
him, it's in his nature to keep things private); he and Hermione 
become good at swing dancing (a characterization twist that I loved, 
by the way – I'd was in the midst of lessons when I started reading 
your story), but the purpose seemed to be for enjoyment rather than 
showing off); he seems taken aback at being asked to speak at the 
Friends and Former Pupils Gala; and the interview he granted was 
indeed reluctantly, and out of necessity. 

All of these characterization traits fit in with how I see Harry, and 
reading back over your story, I realized that my response to Kathy 
(Harry seemed to enjoy the spotlight; seeming to have characteristics 
in common with Ron) came from a small section in the last chapter. 
It's when Harry announces that he and Hermione are going to get 
married. Here, I found that part and snipped it out – I think I got 
everything relevant:


*****
She met Harry's eyes and made a small motion with her hands, sliding 
her thumb over her left ring finger...he realized that she had put 
the ring back in its proper place. No one appeared to have noticed 
except him. Harry's brow crinkled, the question in his eyes. Are you 
sure? She nodded. Harry smiled and cleared his throat. "Now," he went 
on. "Most of you know that for some time now I have been happily 
filling the role of Hermione's boyfriend, but I think you should all 
be aware that that's no longer the case." A shocked hush fell over 
the audience. People looked around uncertainly. Hermione bit her lip 
to hold back the chuckles. "I do believe that I must relinquish that 
title now that she's agreed to marry me." 

The uproar that went up at this statement made Hermione's eardrums 
hurt. She just stood there grinning out at them and might have done 
so for some time but for Harry, who upon dropping his bombshell had 
hopped down off the stage and strode through the tables to her side, 
whereupon he seized her about the waist, dipped her backwards in a 
dramatic lunge and kissed her like Rudolph Valentino. Hermione was 
struck by the absurdity of kissing Harry in the middle of the Great 
Hall at Hogwarts in front of hundreds of their friends and 
schoolmates, all of them whooping and cheering, but she didn't care. 
She kissed him back, and if anyone had dared mention that she was 
making a spectacle of herself she'd have told them to sod off. 

****

Harry's actions announcing their engagement and in kissing her so 
spectacularly read to me as being the actions of an extrovert, of 
someone who enjoys and seeks the limelight. Of course, both 
introverts and extroverts can have characteristics of the 
opposite "type", but his actions seem to be quite extroverted.  I 
remember thinking as I read this that it didn't seem in character 
with *your* Harry. It hit me funny. I don't mean to suggest that 
Harry wouldn't take the gathering as an opportunity to announce the 
engagement, but I imagined he would have been more discrete – telling 
a few friends, letting it circulate around the room on it's own. I 
think this is where I saw Ron in your Harry – I can imagine him doing 
this before I can see Harry doing it. 

I found this to be a momentary disappointment - after it happened, 
the characterization continued as I had perceived it in the rest of 
the story. I write with a R/H slant and tend to prefer R/H-slanted 
stories, but very much enjoyed Paradigm of Uncertainty, and I've 
recommended your story many times. Actually, I enjoyed it so much 
that I think that's why this struck me – it was the only moment where 
I thought your Harry jumped out of characterization on himself. 

There – I think that's it. If you have any comments back, I'd love to 
hear them. 

Best Regards,
B.