[HPforGrownups] Harry and names (was:Re: Seeing the thestrals - third student)

[Wendy St John]

No: HPFGUIDX 73224

I wrote: 
"And, while we hear "him" getting sorted in the first book, he
doesn't seem to have made any impression on Harry, so it's not 
unreasonable that Harry doesn't think of him by name. Well, except 
for the fact that he's had Potions with the Slytherins for five 
years, and CoMC for three, and so might be expected to know all his 
fellow students in those classes by name, at least. Apparently not, 
though. I guess our boy Harry isn't the most perceptive person 
around. Too bad he didn't ask Hermione - I'm sure she knows the 
kid's name."

To which bibphile replied:

"Why would Harry remember Blaise?  I know he has had classes with 
him.  However, we saw at the beginning of OotP that Harry doesn't 
know (or at least isn't sure of) the names of several Hufflepuffs in 
his herbology class.  If Harry doesn't particulally care about 
someone or specifically get introduced to them, he doesn't seem 
bother learning their name."

Now me (Wendy) again,

Well, my reponse to this is "Why *wouldn't* he remember? There don't appear
to be *all* that many students in his year (I know this is a source of
constant debate around here), but I sure don't think Harry takes potions
with 100 other students, in which case remembering their names would be
more of a challenge. Really, there's no particular reason that Harry should
or shouldn't know his name, but I do think the fact that he doesn't know a
classmate's name points out a bit of something about Harry's personality.
You're right - he doesn't seem to bother learning people's names unless he
has a reason to. 

Just what does this say about Harry? I haven't really decided what I think
it means - perhaps he's just not curious about the people around him, or
he's too arrogant to notice or remember people he doesn't think have any
connection with him, or he just has a bad memory for that sort of thing.
Or, as I said originally, he's just not particularly perceptive in that
area. A bit thick, perhaps? <eg> I know that when I was his age, I knew
every person with whom I had a class by their first and last name. (That
would be approximately 28 students, six class periods per day, with
considerable overlap of course). I could probably still remember most of
their names, 20 years later. There were a few kids in my year that I didn't
know by name, but they were all people with whom I'd never had a class.
Obviously Harry is different. I tend to think that Hermione probably *has*
paid attention to the names of all the students she shares class time with,
that seems to be the sort of thing she notices. I don't think it's a bad
trait of Harry's, necessarily, but frankly I do find it a bit strange.
Especially since the boy is a Slytherin. Know thine enemy, and all that. If
anything, this might be used as canon for "thestral boy" being the "good
Slytherin" - if he'd ever done or said anything rude to Harry, or supported
Draco in his pathetic efforts, then Harry would have probably known his
name.

So, I'm now prepared to say that Blaise Zabini is not only "Thestral Boy,"
but also that elusive creature known as the "Good Slytherin." 

GO BLAISE! 

:-)
Wendy