Best and worst of Harry (was: Re: The worst of times... the ball)

[grrlscout678]

No: HPFGUIDX 32757

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Elizabeth Dalton <Elizabeth.Dalton at E...> 
wrote:
> >What's the worst thing *Harry's* ever done?
> 
> Well, there are a number of candidates that are probably better for 
*worst*, but
> this has been bugging me, so here goes: his treatment of Parvati at 
the Ball.
> Gets her to go, even gets her to throw her sister at Ron, and then 
utterly
> ignores her.
> 
> Trivial, yes, but really unkind and unfair.

I'm with you -- that was quite inconsiderate of him. At least he did 
dance with her once, though, which is more than can be said for Ron's 
treatment of Padma...


> 
> Here's how I *wish* he could have invited her:
> 
> "Hi, Parvati, got a minute? Look, I have to take a dance partner to 
the ball,
> and I can't dance." <Manfully ignores Parvati's giggle.> "But I bet 
you can.
> Would you help out a housemate and be my dance partner? Just for 
the first
> dance. I'll try not to embarrass you too much, and I'm sure you'll 
get loads of
> offers right after that, from guys who can appreciate a good 
dancer, and I'll
> stay out of your way. Please?"

lol! That would have been very mature. Hence, it'll probably be a few 
years before Harry can muster up a speech like that. After all it 
took every ounce of nerve he had to spit out like 10 words when he 
was asking Cho, and he actually *wanted* to go with her.

As for Harry's best and worst moments... well there are of course a 
lot of candidates for his best and a few for his worst. But I'd give 
him a three-way tie for best moment: 

1. Offering to share the Triwizard Cup with Cedric (unfortunately 
this had not-so-great consequences, but the gesture was very 
nice/selfless)
2. Giving the twins his tournament winnings, with the great 
line, "Buy Ron some new dress robes and say they're from you" 
(paraphrased, sorry)
3. Not letting Lupin/Sirius kill Pettigrew.

For Harry's worst moment, one thing somewhat excusable but still 
irksome is his treatment of Hermione during her fight with Ron in 
PoA. Ron is furious with Hermione for Crookshanks' alleged assault on 
Scabbers, so he's ignoring her, and then when she causes McGonagall 
to confiscate Harry's Firebolt, Ron again starts acting hateful to 
her. Harry, however, doesn't seem particularly angry at Hermione for 
either, and doesn't openly take sides -- yet he spends all his time 
with Ron anyway, leaving Hermione stressed-out and friendless. In 
direct contrast, when Ron and Harry have their fight in GoF, Hermione 
spends all her time with Harry, and so neither he nor Ron (who seems 
to hang out with Dean, Seamus and his brothers during this period) 
have to be alone.

I know, I know, he's thirteen and hasn't learned that much about 
friendship yet, but still he should have made some effort to reach 
out to Hermione in PoA.

Scout <scuttling back to lurker status>