Savior complex? / The Stone (was "Harry and Tom")

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 110874

:
> > Pippin wrote:
> > But, why, *why*, should Harry think that the Stone would be 
safer in his hands than it would be guarded by all the protections
Dumbledore has placed around it? And in fact, it's doubtful that
Quirrell could have extracted the Stone from the mirror before
Dumbledore arrived, if Harry hadn't done it for him.
> 
> > Josh wrote:
> > All Harry knew at the time was that no one would believe him 
about Snape, that Voldemort was involved, that how to pass the 
firstobstacle was known, and that a restored Voldemort would 
quite likely lead to his own death. He first sought out 
Dumbledore, and found him gone, and he was again not 
believed by the faculty. Harry had no idea that the mirror would 
prove such a good defense, and I agree with you there... in the 
end, Harry actually put the stone at more risk, as far as we can 
assume. Also, didn't Harry think Dumbledore was gone until the 
next day?<<

 So, Harry acted in his own defense after it being seemingly 
abandoned to him. His only other option was to go to sleep and 
pray that he wouldn't wake up to Voldemort's wand against his 
forehead.<<

Susana:

> I don't think Harry thought of all of that (not consciously at 
least).
> 
> Action people act on instinct: they don't stop to think *why* they 
have to do things; they just know they *have* to.
> 

That's just it. Harry's instincts tell him he has to charge into 
battle, when other people's instincts would probably tell them to 
run for it, or run for help. And just as other people might have to 
learn to hold back on their instincts and think whether they 
should fight rather than run, Harry is going to have to learn to 
hold back on his instincts and think whether charging in is the 
best solution.

Now, I want to make clear that I am not faulting almost-twelve 
Harry, but the  overlooked options that were driving Del to accuse 
JKR of sloppy writing when Harry rushed to save Sirius in OOP 
are the same kind of options  Harry overlooked in PS/SS. 

Harry could have asked Hagrid to tell Dumbledore or 
McGonagall about the stranger in the Hogs Head.

Harry could have sent an owl to Dumbledore immediately, 
instead of only thinking of it after he found out there was only 
enough potion for one person to get past the flames.

Harry could have raised the alarm and been believed as soon as 
he found the harp in the trap door room. 

BTW, I really don't think Harry could have flooed to Grimmauld 
Place. IIRC, we never see anyone use the GP fireplace for 
transport, only communication. Surely we'd have seen people 
flooing to and from the ministry and St. Mungo's if it were 
possible. Granted, JKR could have had somebody explain that, 
but too much explanation of that sort would sound like a poorly 
written Star Trek episode, where everybody is constantly 
explaining, for the benefit of the audience, things they should 
already know. 

Pippin