Harry Has Lots Of Good Friends

[l3al3y_Doll_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 73760

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Buttercup <cathio2002 at y...> 
wrote:
> I've read a few comments about Harry not having many
> friends or less friends than Ron. I disagree. How does
> Ron have more friends? He has more siblings, yes, but
> they're family. I think Harry has more friends than
> his two buddies. He has Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Mad Eye,
> Fred, George, Ginny, Luna, Ron, Neville, Herimone,
> Dumbledore, Hagrid, Headless Nick, Dobby (my
> favorite), and Cho (maybe). And besides it's not the
> number but the quality of the relationships that
> count. I'd say that most of these people would be
> considered very good friends, indeed.
> 
> Buttercup
> 
> =====
> Buttercup


My question to you is- what do you consider a friend? Because it 
seems to me you are listing nearly everyone in Harry's life (those 
he has a good rapport with anyway) as friends of his. Harry has 
different kinds of relationships with all of these people, but not 
all are *friendships*. Some are acquaintances, good acquaintances, 
but acquaintances nonetheless. Which means, two people can be 
friendly with each other and still not be friends. 

Well, Ron, Hagrid and Hermione are obvious givens, so let's skip 
them.

Now, I do think of Ginny, Fred and George as friends of Harry's- but 
it really stems from the "he's-my-brother's-best-friend" connection.

I feel, not only Neville, but Seamus and Dean are all friends of 
Harry's AND Ron's, which is based mostly on a *roomate* bond.

I wouldn't consider Tonks and Mad Eye as friends of Harry's. He just 
met them, so they're more of acquaintances. Luna is also an 
acquaintance of Harry's, even at the end of the book. BUT after 
sharing the MoM experience, obviously she'll become a bigger part of 
his and the others' lives. I'd throw Nick into this loop also.

And this brings me to Cho. The first two years they had 
a "Hello/Goodbye" thing going on. When the romance did start to get 
going it wasn't between two friends, it was between two people who 
had just started to get to know each other. And in the beginning of 
it, all they really talked about was Cedric which always resulted in 
her either in tears or on the verge of tears. Even if in the future 
they let bygones be bygones (and yes the romance IS over- and I'll 
admit I'm a H/G shipper) it won't be a true friendship. They STILL 
don't really know each other, I mean REALLY.

Remus and Sirius on the other hand are friends, but more in the 
parent/guardian sense. 

I know you didn't say Dumbledore, but I'll comment on him anyway. I 
see Harry's relationship with Dumbledore as grandfather/grandson, 
WHEN they have their talks, seeing how they don't interact with each 
other any other time. Though they have a mutual respect for and care 
about one another, I don't think what they have could be categorized 
as the kind of friendship I think you have in mind.

At the end of the day, Harry has the same amount of friends as Ron- 
with the exceptiong of Ron's siblings. As far as Hermione is 
concerned, the only friends she seems to have other than Harry, Ron 
and Hagrid, are Ginny and Neville.

My two knuts.

-Maritza (who just realized how long this reply is and hopes no one 
falls asleep reading it :/)