Harry Potter and the Privileges of Birth (LONG)

[Jenny from Ravenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 29059

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Cindy C." <cynthiaanncoe at h...> wrote:

 >I'm not the biggest Harry fan out there>

I am!  Thank you, Cindy, for defending my dear Harry.  I do hate 
criticism of him. 

Cindy: 
> I think there are plenty of examples either of Harry receiving 
> unfavorable treatment or of other students receiving more favorable 
> treatment.>

Absolutely.  One thing we tend to overlook is how much Harry dislikes 
his fame.  He is acutely uncomfortable when he knows people are 
staring at him and he wishes more than once that his name never came 
out of the goblet.  Everyone seems to always know his business, and 
I'd say that if Harry had a choice, he'd be extremely private.  If you 
notice, Harry does not have a large group of friends around him all 
the time (like Cho).  He chooses to mostly stick by Hermione and Ron. 

Cindy again: 
> On the subject of gifts, Harry does receive the Nimbus and Firebolt.  
> But Malfoy and the entire Slytherin team received Nimbus 2001s, and 
> until Harry received the Firebolt in PoA, the Slytherins had the 
> better brooms.  Hermione, not Harry, receives the Time Turner.  Fred 
> and George have had the Marauder's Map for years, so Harry is 
> certainly not unique in having had access to it.  I'm not sure the 
> Invisibility Cloak is a compelling example of special treatment from 
> adults benefactors.  After all, the cloak came from Harry's deceased 
> parents, so it was arguably his anyway on the day they died.>

Yes, and Harry also received next to nothing from anyone until he 
arrived at Hogwarts.  The Durlseys send him things like toothpicks and 
tissues for Christmas.  Not receiving any presents for most of your 
childhood must be pretty painful and lonely.  No one deserves that.

(snip Cindy's good comments on advanced extra instruction)
Harry also needs an extra push at times because, unlike the other 
students, someone is always after him.  From now on, Voldemort will go 
after Harry full force.  I think Harry deserves all the help he can 
get.   

All in all, I don't see Harry as the happiest of kids.  I think JKR 
makes it clear that he longs for a normal life with parents, friends, 
school, girls and so on.  I also think that the consequences of 
Harry's actions aren't necessarily shown to us in punishment.  His 
fame leads his name to be added to the goblet, thus resulting in Harry 
witnessing the cold-blooded murder of a classmate, as well as the fact 
that his other classmates are very quick to turn on him (in SS, CoS 
and GoF) because he is "famous Harry Potter".  His social skills need 
refining (he isn't so nice to his date at the Yule Ball and he chooses 
pride foolishly when he and Ron aren't speaking).  Both Snape and 
Trelawney make Harry's classes with them unpleasant, to say the least.  
And, no matter what, he has no family support - no parents to give him 
love and no safe home to go to during holidays.  

As much as I adore Harry, I sure wouldn't want to be him.

--jenny from ravenclaw, who'd date Harry if she was 14, but wouldn't 
change places with him ::shiver:: 
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