[HPforGrownups] Re: Harry's Good Will?

[Evil Homer]

No: HPFGUIDX 43361

--- Sirius Kase <siriuskase at earthlink.net> wrote:

> My post wasn't about my opinion.  As bboy_mn
> clarifies, I'm describing a
> different point of view and that would be the
> opinion of a wizard who
> doesn't know Harry personally but forms an opinion
> based on history, the
> media and the grapevine.  Everyone *knows* that
> Harry is a powerful wizard
> who did something good when young.   Everyone knows
> he's a Quidditch hero.
> But they also know that he gets into weird
> situations with rather incredible
> explanations.  Because of his history with
> Voldemort, he begins life in the
> Wizard World with a huge supply of good will.  The
> typical wizard on the
> street wants to believe him when they hear about his
> continuing struggle
> with the Dark Side.  Especially since his continuing
> story is told by the
> respected headmaster Dumbledore, hero of the 40's
> War.  Besides, he's to
> young to be evil.

I think that Sirius Kase and bboy_mn have struck the
nail on the head, and this distrust of Harry is going
to continue to grow through out the next 3 books. Look
at CoS - this theme was touched upon when Harry was
suspected as Slytherin's heir. I think this, plus the
discovery that Harry is a Parselmouth truly planted
the seeds of doubt in many people's minds who do not
know Harry as intimitely as we or his friends do. 

Even Fudge at the end of GoF confronts Dumbledore
about "hiding" the fact that Harry is a Parselmouth.
And though he apologizes later for it, think about
what Ernie Macmillan has to say when Harry overhears
him in the library: That no one knows why Voldemort
wanted to kill Harry - that it's probably because he
knew Harry was a powerful Dark Wizard and didn't want
another Dark Lord taking his(Voldemort's) place. I
think this theory - or theories similar to it - may
begin to spread throughout the Wizarding Community.

> But, there is no hard evidence that Harry is telling
> the truth.  So it
> shouldn't be surprising that not all wizards think
> well of Harry.  Power
> corrupts, ya know.  My contention is the group of
> wizards who have
> reservations about his character may be growing. 
> Some will believe him and
> Dumbledore, some will think badly of him, and a
> large group will just not
> know whom to trust.  It doesn't help that
> Dumbledore's heroic reputation was
> earned  over fifty years ago, and that he has a
> weird sense of humor and
> comes across as "barking mad" (i.e. crazy)

I also wonder if Harry's presence at the time of
Cedric's death and the fact that there is only his
account of the events that took place will further
cast a shadow on his character. Will people suspect
him of having a part in Cedric's death? I feel this
would be an interesting turn for the
stories to take - to give our hero this growing
connection to the Dark Side, however imagined this
connection may be - makes for a fascinating story.
 
> Harry's enemies are doing a great job of getting out
> the unfavorable
> interpretation of the observable evidence. 
> Remember, Rita and the Malfoys
> have not been publicly discredited. *We* know that
> they are baddies, but
> they are influential. 

> Harry doesn't toot his own 
> horn. He lets his friends
> do the talking. But, his friends respect Harry's 
> privacy and don't say much
> to help his public image. They mean well, but by 
> not talking, they aren't
> giving Harry a positive character reference to 
> counter the negative. 

In addition to all this, for the Wizarding community
to begin to turn against Harry and doubt him is a far
more believable turn, rather than have them continue
to practically worship Harry as they have for 13
years. Think about the media in our Muggle World -
people get bored when a person is always admired -
eventually we see them on the front of the tabliods.
And look at Rita Skeeter - she couldn't keep writing
about what a "tragic little hero" Harry was - she
needed a new angle. 

I agree with Sirius Kase when he states how your
average wizard may feel about Harry at this point in
time - his views are very realilistic. 

-EH








=====
"I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you" 

"Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face..."  

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show us what we really are, far more than our abilities." 

"He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter- the boy who lived!"

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