Choices

[Diana]

No: HPFGUIDX 86481

> The Temptation of course.
> The offer/realisation that power  can be his for the taking. All 
he has to do is resist the persistent  blandishments of those urging 
> peace, love and a macrobiotic diet and step to the other side.
> 
> All you need  is  a bit of  lateral thinking.
> That  prophecy. It  says that Harry (or so it is presumed) will be 
> Voldy's equal.  We have assumed  something slightly different;  
that  he will  be Voldy's equal *and opposite*.
> But it doesn't say that at all. Just that someone equal to the 
Dark Lord will come along and may defeat him. No mention of a 
saviour-like figure, no mention of a paragon of all that is good and 
virtuous, just the two of them fighting it out and there being no 
certainty as to who will win.  A power struggle  to determine who 
will be top  dog.
>> Now I can't see  JKR ending the series with Harry as the Evil 
Overlord of the WW (though it would be a refreshing change from the 
accepted convention that good always wins), but I can see Harry 
going through a crisis of conscience somewhere along the way.
> 
> Is  this  what that old duffer Dumbledore was on about when he 
burbled on about "choices defining us?"
> The Sorting Hat seemed to  think that Harry was prime Slytherin 
> material, that it would "help him to greatness." Harry rejected 
the offer, based on what? Innate goodness? No. An antipathy to *one* 
> individual he took a dislike to. Before he really knew what 
Slytherin (or Gryffindor) were all about. But that doesn't mean that 
the Slytherin-worthy potential has gone away; it's still there lying 
in wait, ready to surface if the opportunity arises. And I expect it 
to surface. (Has it started already with the casting of the Crucio! 
> curse?) Harry's behaviour in the last book is a case-book example 
of teenage rebellion and bloody-mindedness; why should it not  
continue, or indeed become more pronounced?
> There's been a stuttering on/off thread wondering who will be the 
next to betray the Order. This isn't the first time I've placed 
Harry at the top of the list of 'those most likely to' as a result 
of his anger, angst and resentment against those who seem to be 
manipulating him.  
> Eventual remorse and reconciliation with his finer instincts are 
pretty much a foregone conclusion, but while he's away he might do 
an awful lot of damage.
> The prime target will, of course, be Dumbledore.
> Well, you didn't expect him to survive, did  you?
> 
> Kneasy

Actually, Harry didn't reject the choice of being in Slytherin 
simply because he disliked Malfoy, who was just placed in Slytherin 
earlier that evening.  Harry rejected it because Hagrid had told him 
in SS/PS that "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who 
wasn't in Slytherin.  You-Know-Who was one."  We can accept this as 
an exaggeration on Hagrid's part, but his comment made a huge 
impression upon Harry.  Harry would definitely not want to be in the 
same house as the wizard who murdered his parents.  

Also, think about what the sorting hat said to Harry.  It actually 
said "..So where should I put you?" and Harry thought back "Not 
Slytherin, not Slytherin."   The very fact it asked Harry at all 
tells me that Harry's choice of any house BUT Slytherin was the 
hat's way of confirming that Harry truly belonged in Gryffindor.   

I agree with you that Harry will probably undergo some extreme 
rebellious behavior and mess up a few times, but I can't see him 
ever being truly tempted to join Voldemort's side.  If Harry does 
cause harm to the order, I would guess that it would be 
unintentional.  But, however unintentional, the damage could be 
severe.

And I'm undecided on if Dumbledore will survive.  Sometimes I think 
he will and sometimes I think he won't.  But that's a whole other 
topic.

Diana L.