Harry's importance and threats of expulsion

[Dicentra spectabilis]

No: HPFGUIDX 57145

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Dan Delaney <Dionysos at D...> wrote:
> 
> Sooner or later Harry will figure that out and stop being so afraid of 
> being expelled just for the little rule breaking he does. (Okay, so 
> maybe some of it was not so little. But the fact that he hasn't gotten 
> expelled for some of the big things should be his first clue!)
> 
This is an interesting point.  I've also noticed that Harry isn't a
little scofflaw, and yet Dumbledore says in CoS that one of the
qualities that Harry possesses that Salazar Slytherin would have
valued is "a certain disregard for rules."

What does he mean by this?  Harry keeps his nose clean throughout most
of the school year.  He *does* sweat the rules, and most of the time 
breaks them only when he believes it's absolutely necessary.  A
notable exception is sneaking into Hogsmeade, but most of the time he
isn't breaking the rules just because he can, despite Snape's
accusations.  

I think one of the reasons Dumbledore keeps the threat of expulsion
over his head is that it won't do for Harry to think he has carte
blanche at Hogwarts.  That wouldn't do much for his character
development.  (The other reason is that it adds dramatic tension when
Harry et al. go out of bounds.)

Yeah, you would think that Harry would catch on: Ron certainly has. 
When Harry wonders why Fudge let him off for floating Aunt Marge, Ron
says, in essence, "Duh! You're Famous Harry Potter."  But Harry
doesn't identify with the Famous part.  Being extremely important to
the wizarding world doesn't seem to be on his radar either, despite
the fact that he knows that Voldemort keeps zeroing in on him.

Harry is just clueless, I guess.  

--Dicentra, who figures it's that Stoned!Harry thing that messes with
his head :D