TBAY: Harry's Failures (WAS Harry as Alexander the Great)

[Cindy C.]

No: HPFGUIDX 53679

"Oh, *cool!*  A sleepover!"  Beaming with excitement, Cindy snapped 
on the lights in Melody's cozy bedroom in the Safe House.  "I 
absolutely *adore* sleepovers!"  

"Oh, no.  Not -- Cindy!" Melody cried, squinting against the harsh 
ceiling light and clutching her blankets around her.  "What are 
*you* doing here?"

Cindy grabbed the bottom of the blankets and snatched them from 
Melody's grip.  "You're not a blanket hog, are you?  I *cannot* 
sleep in the same bed with a blanket hog.  Let's get that straight 
right now."

"S-same bed?" Melody echoed blankly.

"Exactly.  I heard talk about Banging and failure and death.  Sounds 
like my kind of party."  Cindy flipped the covers back and launched 
herself into Melody's bed, ignoring the ping of popping coils.

"OK, what do we have so far, Mel?" Cindy asked brightly.  "And budge 
up –- I need way more room than that.  I'm *squished* over here."

"Well -–" Melody swallowed hard, inching toward the farthest edge of 
the bed.  "I was thinking about how the next books will require that 
Harry fail.  I mean, so far the only times Harry admits feelings of 
failure is over Quidditch and death.  Two central parts of his life 
actually, and two times he really did not cause the failure. Or let 
me rephrase that. He *alone* did not fail. Circumstances beyond his 
control and all."

"Yes, Harry has had it easy so far," Cindy agreed.  "No doubt about 
it.  Whenever he gets into trouble or needs something, someone comes 
up with the answer.  Someone gave him a Nimbus, and Sirius supplied 
a Firebolt.  Dead people saved his bacon in the graveyard.  
Dumbledore saved him from Moody.  On and on it goes.

"But there are two times we do see Harry fail," Cindy went 
on.  "First, Harry never did master that Shield Charm, did he?  I'm 
pretty sure that will come back to haunt him.  And second, Harry 
failed to stop Pettigrew's escape.  After all, Harry was the last 
person with the opportunity to catch Pettigrew as he scampered away, 
and Harry didn't succeed.  A simple 'Wingardium Leviosa' charm would 
have done the trick, after all.  Instead, we get Harry running 
forward and shouting 'Stay where you are!'"  Cindy rolled her eyes 
derisively.  "That's failure in my book."

"Oh, come *on!*" Melody said.  "You're calling *that* failure?  
Those things don't even Bang -– not one little bit.  So Harry can't 
work out the Shield Charm.  He never even needs it.  And how Bangy 
would it be for PoA to end with Harry levitating a rat?" Melody 
scowled.

"Fair enough, fair enough," Cindy admitted.  "Harry is going to have 
to fail in the next three books, and it's going to have to be 
*huge.*  As we all know, failure builds character and makes you 
Tough.  Melting a cauldron isn't good enough to instill that kind of 
character.  Forgetting to feed Hedwig?  Not even close.  You know 
what this means, don't you Melody? You said it yourself -– 'Harry 
admits feelings of failure over Quidditch and death.'"

Melody sat up suddenly, her eyes wide.  "Death?  But whose death 
would constitute the single biggest failure for Harry?  The death 
that would make Harry Tough?"  She clapped her hands to her cheeks 
in horror.  "Is it Hagrid?  We all know Hagrid is going to die.  Is 
it going to be Harry's failure that leads to Hagrid's death?  Tell 
me it's not going to be Hagrid," she implored.

"Nah.  Hagrid is an adult who ought to be able to take care of 
himself."

"Dumbledore?"

"Talk about being able to take care of yourself," Cindy 
snorted.  "No, it needs to be someone who Harry feels a need to 
protect.  Someone who can't take of himself or herself."

"Herself?" Melody repeated.  "Not –-"

"Exactly!" Cindy cried.  "Harry is going to fail at protecting 
*Hermione,* and she's going to pay for his mistake with her life!"

"OK, now that's just *sick!* Melody sniffed, her arms folded 
defiantly.  "And you don't have canon anyway."

"Don't I?" Cindy said quietly.  "Well, I already made the case for 
Hermione's demise in Message 46166.  The only thing missing is some 
canon for the idea that Harry feels protective of Hermione."

"Hmmm," Melody considered.  "Harry doesn't let Hermione come with 
him to retrieve the Stone in PS/SS."

"No, he doesn't, does he?"  Cindy nodded vigorously.  "And he 
prevents Krum from biting Hermione's head off in the Second Task in 
GoF.  He also tells her to hold onto him when they ride Buckbeak in 
PoA.

"But that's not Harry's only problem.  We know that Hermione seems 
to do rather poorly in DADA.  She couldn't ward off the boggart.  
She doesn't know how to conjure a Patronus.  She couldn't throw off 
the Imperius Curse.  Hermione is vulnerable, and Harry knows it.  If 
he fails to protect her . . . "  Cindy looked up, her face 
flushed.  "Then Harry will have suffered the most gut-wrenching 
failure of his life -– a failure that leads to the death of one of 
his two best friends.  If anything will give Harry the desire to 
defeat Voldemort once and for all, that will."

There was a long, tense moment in which light breathing could be 
heard from across the room.

"Hey, Mel, who's the hunk over there on the cot?" Cindy asked, 
straining for a better look.

"Oh, that's just my brother."

"Heavy sleeper, he is," Cindy replied, pulling the covers over her 
head.

***************

Cindy