[HPforGrownups] Harry's Choices

[Alexander]

No: HPFGUIDX 33912

  Greetings!

> Susanna/pigwidgeon wrote to us:

p> Alexander (who seems to become kind of a sparring partner
p> for me) wrote:

  Ah, always at your service! :)

  "- Comittee of Humanity Control!
   - Always with you, Major Janeth Ruelo!"
       (Sergey Lukyanenko, "Genome").

p> Ok, lets have a closer look at what you called Harrys
p> choices, for I think that right here were in a bit of
p> confusion: When it comes to explaining how exactly Harry
p> has grown to be a fairly normal boy and not an antisocial
p> brat, I must admit that Im a bit at a loss. The only
p> guess I can hazard is that it has to do with the special
p> protection Dumbledore provided him with and with Lilys
p> sacrifice.

   I disagree on protections. I don't think that Dumbledore
provided any protection against psychological discomfort -
only from an attack by an occasional Death Eater.
  IMHO it would hurt boy's upbringing much more if he was
magically protected from any kind of abuse - the sense that
he is "invulnerable" can really corrupt the child.

p> Psychologists on this list please correct me if Im
p> wrong, but AFAIK, if a child is mistreated and abused
p> during the earliest years of childhood ( 0-4 years) and
p> does NOT become disturbed, we can hardly claim that this
p> is due to this childs conscious choices. OTOH, the most
p> profound damage IS done during those years, so, given
p> that Harry is as he is, I take the liberty of disagreeing
p> on 1).

  Indeed not due to conscious choices. Conscious choices
come later, and we see none even when Harry is 10 years old.
A very strong character is most likely to grow in a very
harsh environment.
  (My friend, who IS a psychologist, has told me once that
the most psychologically "protected" child he has ever seen
was raised in a family of religious sectants and narcomans).

p> Next: The meeting at Mme. Malkins. As I said before,
p> Dracos arrogant behaviour most certainly WAS one of the
p> main reasons for Harry to decide against Slytherin. But I
p> would refrain from taking this as a point in case for
p> Harry CONSCIOUSLY choosing any house but Slytherin.

  I didn't mean the choice of the House here - only his
instinctive rejection of prejudice and minority harassment.
And THAT is a conscious choice, and not a bad one (I'm not
saying that it's a good one... it still wasn't proved by
anybody... does anybody want to flame me?) 8-P

p> I suppose that, had he met Colin Creevey instead of
p> Malfoy, he would have been a little reluctant about
p> Gryffindor.

  That is arguable and depends a lot on meeting
circumstances. Colin was not so fond of Gryffindor as he was
fond of magic in general. And though he is of course an
annoying lot, Harry hasn't demonstrated any disagreements in
views with Colin so far...

p> Anyway, we can give him the benefit of doubt, for he
p> might have thought along the line Maybe all Slytherins
p> are like this Malfoy, so it better be not Slytherin.
p> Hardly a choice, but at least what Id call consistent
p> logic in an 11 YO.

  I doubt he remembered about that scene when he was sitting
with the Sorting Hat on his head - rather he remembered the
words about most evil guys coming from Slytherin.

p> Last: The greatness issue. Ill certainly re-read the
p> Sorting Ceremony in PS/SS, anyway Im sure I never
p> interpreted it as Harry seeing his ambition and wish for
p> greatness as a potential danger for himself. If anybody,
p> its the hat to see it.

  I didn't say he sees his ambition as danger. Harry
definitely HAS ambition, he was proposed with an opportunity
to receive a good deal of help on his ambitions, and still
he refused the chance.

p> Susanna/pigwidgeon37

Sincerely yours,
Alexander Lomski,
(Gryffindor/Slytherin crossbreed),
who sincerely hopes Kevin Kimball will reply some day,
especially as a letter has been sent to Kevin inviting him
to do the job.