Harry's innate abilities

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 45051

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., GulPlum <hpfgu at p...> wrote:
I said:
> >In fact, Harry represents the sort of hero that many of us would, at 
> >one point or another, want to be (at least I, being quite 
> >Hermione-like, would like to be): the sort of hero that doesn't *
> >have* to work hard to get his powers. <snip>

To which GulPlum (aka Richard) answered:
> I disagree most fundamentally with that assessment. On all levels. 
> Harry has to work *very* hard to perfect his powers. I also think 
> that the moral of the tale is that all of us could be the kind of 
> hero Harry is, if only we applied ourselves and had sufficient belief 
> that we can be a force for good.

I thought very carefully about whether or not to include that 
particular thought you've quoted in my post, and the part that you've 
snipped is, in fact, a tempering of it (saying, basically, that not 
always he gets his powers for free). But I still feel that he gets a 
lot with little effort, and I'm going to put forward a few examples of 
it.

Let's start with Quidditch. Harry knows how to fly -perfectly, it 
seems- from the very first moment he grabs a broom. McGonagal even 
mentions that "not even Charlie Weasley" could have catched the 
rememberall "without a scratch". Harry, obviously, does not work (much 
less hard) for that capability. I myself would love to be a "natural" 
at my favourite sports. But I'm not, and not even thorugh practice I've 
been able to improve all that much - which was what I was refering to 
in that quote above.

In the same line, I have to mention that so far, I have seen several 
mentions of his capabilities as a quidditch player having been 
inherited from his father. Leaving aside for a moment that I don't 
think that that sort of ability is actually genetic, I have to point 
out that the skills required for a chaser and a seeker are so different 
that you cannot really compare them.

A chaser combines (as Harry mentions) basketball abilities with some 
minor dodge flying abilities, but normally it's pretty straightforward. 
>From the descriptions of the game, and what we see in the CTTMNBN, a 
chaser mostly has to be capable of passing and receiving the ball and 
shooting to score while flying. While certain amount of dodging would 
be welcomed (especially when playing against Slytherin), it's not 
altoghether necessary (and of course, the Beaters are there to protect 
you from the bludgers).

On the other hand, a seeker requires an amazing concentration in the 
middle of the chaos of the game, to seek out a very small and very fast 
ball. It requires, above all, flying capabilities to turn at high 
speeds, and extremelly fine control of the broom's direction at such 
speed... or a sharp turn of the snitch would put you out of the chase. 
You don't have to know how to fly with a quaffle, or how to pass it or 
receive it: you only have to be capable of finding, following and 
catching the snitch. And of course, you've better be nimble of body and 
mind.

In conclusion, I don't think that Harry's flying abilities are 
inherited from his father. As I said earlier, I don't think you can 
actually inherit that sort of abilities (any more than you inherit any 
other sport ability), but even if you can, the sort of knack Harry has 
to catch small, fast moving things isn't all that close to his father's 
knack to put a red floating ball through a 15 meter high hoop.

Back to the original point of this post (yes, I know I've gone *way* 
out of topic, but combining posts is approved of, so I don't feel *too* 
bad about it), Harry has other innate abilities. Parselmouth, for 
example. He can use that one without even *knowing* about it. The only 
times he actually has problems to use it (before the tap in mirtle's 
bathroom and before the CoS door) he is capable of reproducing the 
effect in a matter of a couple of minutes. That doesn't sound like work 
to me.

Then we have the matter of Harry's own powers at magic. While it is 
true that most of the time Harry looks quite incompetent at *learning* 
the spells (although, once he's learned them, he shows amazing 
abilities), I have to point out that he learns to cast a Patronus in 
very few sessions. In fact, once he realises that he is, in fact, 
capable of doing it (aka gains self-confidence), he proyects enough 
power inside his patronus to scare *100 dementors*. This is also proof 
of his raw power (as I mentioned in my last post), but in this case I 
want to point out that he doesn't get more than a handful of private 
lessons from Lupin before he's capable of launching such an amazing 
spell.

And finally, there is the matter of his resistance to Imperius. 
Powerfull, extremelly proficient wizards take months to liberate 
themselves from the Imperius curse, and Harry manages to (almost) 
liberate himself from the Imperius on his first chance. And he manages 
totally within the first few minutes of imprisionment. He doesn't 
really work all that hard at it - even though he feels it's one of the 
hardest things he's ever done, the fact that he manages so soon is 
another proof of his innate, unworked-for abilities.

Of course any innate ability will improve if you work on it (and Harry 
certainly does), but my point was (and still is) that Harry, even 
though he has worked hard to improve his abilities, has started with 
quite a big head start over most of his peers. To put it simply: I feel 
that Hermione would have to practice for weeks before she could accio a 
broom from the castle while facing a dragon in the outermost part of 
Hogwarts. Harry manages within a day... and demonstrates that he has, 
once channelled, an amazing reserve of raw power.

> GulPlum, AKA Richard, borrowing Grey Wolf's sig: "that's my story, 
> and I'm sticking to it". :-)

I have to point out that "that's my story, and I'm sticking to it" is 
bboy_mn's handle, not mine. I always have lingering doubts about what 
I've written, and I'm prepared to change ideas if mine has too many 
holes in it (although I admire anyone who'll go down with the ship). I 
am best known for the "hope that helps", which means that I hope that 
whatever I've written helps other people to come up with their own 
ideas (even if they're totally oposed to mine). I know from my own 
experience that the best ideas come to me when reading other people's, 
and I hope that happens to other listees as well. If one of my ideas, 
even if it itself is wrong, helps someone else to formulate a correct 
theory, I'll be as proud of it as if my idea had been correct to begin 
with. So,

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf