[HPforGrownups] Re: Harry's sacrifice

[Kelly Grosskreutz]

No: HPFGUIDX 58604

Darrin wrote:

> In GoF, Harry is willing, when Krum and even dear, sainted Cedric
> were not, to sacrifice his standing in the tournament to make sure
> everyone is saved. It turns out he didn't have to. In fact, he was a
> bit of a git for thinking he had.
>
> But he was willing to put their safety above his glory.
>
> Ditto for the whole Quest for the Stone in PS/SS. Harry was a pariah
> at school, thanks to helping lose so many points for Gryffindor. He
> could have played it safe, kept his head down, etc...
>
> He was willing to put his social standing andthe glory of Gryffindor -
> - you could make a case that wasn't his to give up, though -- to try
> and get the Stone.

I actually think Harry was willing to sacrifice his life here.  I am
thinking of the speech he gave to Ron and Hermione in the Gryffindor common
room before going after Voldemort.  I can't get at my books right now, but
the gist of it was that house points and all the other little stuff they had
been worried about meant nothing in the face of Voldemort getting that
stone, that if Voldemort got the stone, they were as good as dead because
Voldemort would come back.  Harry believes at this point that he will die.
If he goes after Voldemort and tries to prevent him getting the stone, he
believes he will die because Voldemort (or Snape, as he thought Snape was
involved, too) will kill him.  Harry does not believe himself capable of
surviving a duel with a full-fledged wizard, but he believes that someone
needs to try to stop this or else Voldemort * will* come back and then even
more people will die.  On the other hand, if he does not go after the stone,
he will not die right away, but later when he's at the Dursleys.  Granted,
this isn't quite the same situation as Ron was in, where one choice would
give him life and one would give him what he thought was death, but my point
is that Harry did not go down there thinking he was going to sacrifice only
points and social standing, but his life.  In short, he considered it
forfeit at this point, and if he was going to go out, he was going to choose
the manner of his death.  He chose to fight against Voldemort and his allies
instead of cowering in fear waiting for Voldemort to get around to seeking
him out and killing him in his hidey-hole.

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