[HPforGrownups] Another Dementor question

[Kelly Grosskreutz]

No: HPFGUIDX 59123

Susan wrote:

> Did anyone else get the impression that the dementors were somehow
> targeting Harry?  The first one he sees, on the train, tries to enter
> the compartment that Harry is in.  Then on the quidditch field they
> are all standing in the middle of the field looking up at Harry.  Why
> would they not be roaming around among the screaming, excited fans,
> soaking up all that emotion?  And then finally, at the lake, Harry,
> Hermione, and Sirius are all there and incapacitated, but Harry is
> the one the dementor reaches for and almost kisses.  Am I reading too
> much into this?

I don't think you are at all.  This is my take on it as well.  Remember, DD
says the dementors will quickly rejoin Voldemort at the end of GoF.  IIRC,
they were said to be working with Voldemort during the last war as well.  If
this is the case, they may know of Harry, either from Voldemort or from the
DE's in Azkaban.  On the train, they did go and check through every
compartment, but when they came to Harry's, they somehow recognized him and
went for him.  Ever since that moment in the train, they keep finding
opportunities to target Harry.  The explanation for the dementors showing up
at the Quidditch game that you give above and was given in the book may have
been given so Harry wouldn't be scared that the dementors are targeting him
specifically.  I don't have access to PoA, so someone please correct me if
I'm wrong, but wasn't it Hagrid that came up with that explanation?  Perhaps
Hagrid didn't know that the dementors were targeting Harry, so came up with
that explanation based on what he knew of them.  Or maybe he did know
(perhaps from his time in Azkaban?) and was protecting him from this
knowledge.

Kelly Grosskreutz
http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova