Harry's Lying (was Re: ...Lynn's random thoughts)

[Ersatz Harry]

No: HPFGUIDX 57157

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Melanie L Ellis <emeleel at j...>
wrote:
> > 9.  Why didn't Harry just tell Quirrell what he
> > had previously seen in the Mirror of Erised, his
> > parents, instead of making something else up?
> 
> I think telling this, even just to say he saw his parents, would 
> have been telling too much of something that was private and 
> painful to him. When he first sees the mirror, he's very excited, 
> dragging Ron to see it, but after DD explains to him that the 
> mirror reflects one's deepest desire, it would be something very 
> personal to him. After 10 years of living with the Dursley's, I'm 
> sure he's very vulnerable and keeps things to himself.

I view this mostly the same way, and I have to note that Harry's
default in a lot of tense situations is to lie.  I don't have a list
of all the instances handy, but my recollection is that they are
numerous, and they are not limited to cases where he is dealing with,
say, Snape or Malfoy.  For example, he lies to several people (at
least to Bagman, Hermione, and Hagrid) about his progress in figuring
out the mystery of the egg in GoF, and really for no good reason other
 than his own pride.  Turning himself into Crabbe or Goyle (I can't
remember which) in CoS is certainly a form of lying.  It's not among
his most admirable qualities, and I fully expect a lecture from
Dumbledore about this sometime.

One quick note on candidates for crushes:  how could we forget about
the flighty Bertha Jorkins?  She'd probably be open to, um, persuasion.

Ersatz Harry, who's wondering how long he will keep away from the
group in late June unless he reads really really quickly...