(was: The Sorting Hat)

[yolandacarroll]

No: HPFGUIDX 87362

Kathryn Cawte" wrote:
> K
> 
> He's not 'perfectly conscious of the danger he ahs to face'. As 
far as he
> and the other two are concerned if he fails, he'll get expelled. 
That's it.
> *none* of them seem to think that going after the Stone could get 
them
> killed, the only mention of danger to life is when Harry's talking 
about
> what'll happen if Voldemort actually gets the stone. Harry has no 
idea at
> all what he's doing and he drags his friends with him (yes I know 
they chose
> to go, but he knows that they won't let him go alone). He's acting 
exactly
> as you'd expect an eleven year old Gryffindor to act. Stupidly, 
rashly and
> with no grasp of the consequences of his actions.

No, Harry didn't know what he was doing, then again 
neither did Ron or Hermione.  For that matter, how 
many of us adults reading PS/SS figured out that 
Voldemort was under Quirrel's turban.  The trio 
thought they knew what they were doing and to be 
fair, how could they have known the truth. Also, 
they tried to tell the adults around them that the 
stone was in danger, but didn't have much success 
with that.

About Harry "dragging" his friends with him, Harry 
didn't know what he was doing, but he thought he did.  
So, I'm not holding that against him.  Also, since he 
didn't know how serious the consequences were, he 
can't be held responsible for dragging his friends 
into life threatening danger.  

Yes, Harry knew his friends wouldn't go without him, 
but does that mean that he shouldn't go?  Some people 
would say "Yes", but I'm not one of them.  His friends 
knew as much as he did, if they decided to come with 
him, then that is their choice.

You say they wouldn't let Harry go by himself, but 
in POA, Hermione goes against Harry and Ron concerning 
the Firebolt.  I belive that they made their choice 
based on more than "we have to follow Harry".  They 
decided for themselves to go with Harry after the 
stone.  Both of them, especially Hermione is perfectly 
capable of making a decision that goes counter to what 
Harry's doing.

Yolanda