Angry Harry in HBP?

[javalorum]

No: HPFGUIDX 119867


Alla <dumbledore11214 at y...> wrote:
> No, I don't want Harry to be "Hero Harry" all the time. I would 
> find it extremely dissapointing  and I am glad that JKR did not
> go that way.
> 
> I want to see more or less realistic emotions,while at the same 
> time see Harry overcoming the trials and tribulations of his life
> in heroic way.

Actually, I don't get that fascinated over "hero" books either. My 
favorite children's book is _Bill Bergeson, Master Detective_ by 
Astrid Lingrin from Sweden (this is very hard to find in North 
America, though), and the main character Bill is a good detective, 
but he's really just a normal, somewhat dreamy and imaginative kid 
who talks to himself a lot. 

I only made comparison with LOTR because I think HP is a "hero" book. 
At the end of each HP book, it is always Harry, and most of the time, 
only Harry, saves the day. The truth is I'd rather see all HP stories 
more like SS, where everybody learns and contributes, with Harry being 
the cental character. In ootp, the especially disappointing thing is 
that none of Harry's most trusted friends were unconscious before the 
real battle begins. I guess the story's setup required Harry to be the 
hero, whether he likes it or not, ever since "the boy who lived", 
because, he is special, he's different from everybody else. I don't 
know why he has to be the "lonely hero" but this is more of author's 
choice.

> Could you please clarify? Which reasons that got Harry upset did 
> you consider to be not logical or understandable? Because I found 
> all of them to be logical and understandable.


Oops, I knew I babbled too much without clarification again. :) I 
think the whole ootp story, ever since Chapter 1, is built based on 
Dumbledore's mistake, of not understanding teenagers and thinking he 
could just leave Harry out of the whole thing. I don't buy that. I 
think being an educator (and a pretty good one such as himself), 
missing that is very irresponsible, or downright insulting. It's kind 
of like not telling a 12-year-old that his cat had died, when the kid 
obviously had gone through enough, and mature enough to handle the 
truth. And that has not counted teenager's own brain, which is smart 
and curious enough to try to figure out things without being told. 
It's a life lesson should be learned, with parental guidance. Being 
an educator, how long does he think he can get away with not letting 
people grow up? He chose to not only leave himself out, but also make 
sure nobody stays close. 

And if you take notice, nobody in this book really was there for Harry. 
Even Sirius, I think in Chapter 22, after Harry had the very disturbing 
dream of biting Mr Weasley which turned out to be true, he told Sirius 
about it, and was obviously desperate. Yet all Sirius said was "you 
need sleep" and left the room. Even if Sirius was not allowed to say 
anything, shouldn't he at least stay with Harry a bit longer? He's the 
closest thing to a parent Harry had, yet he threw an answer like that 
and left the room. And look what happened after? Harry couldn't sleep 
for the whole night, and probably hated himself to death. You can 
argue that Sirius, being a bachelor himself, didn't know how to care 
for children, or was just angry for not able to do anything. But I 
would imagine this is basic human interaction. You shouldn't even treat 
your friends that way. 

The same goes for all other adults in that house. Yes, there's this 
order from Dumbledore, but they don't have to stay away, unless 
they're so immature they were afraid of him too (but the truth, as it 
turned out with Dumbledore's explanation, which they all should have 
known from the beginning, is that Harry's not harmful). They just 
seem to choose to be indifferent. I can't imagine a 15-year-old Harry 
can be that good an actor that no one even notices his stress and 
depression.

Unless, this is all a distorted view of Harry's. And this is how HE 
sees other people (they didn't really behave that way). That'll be 
interesting but I think a better explanation, as I mentioned before, 
is the author's choice of setting for this story. There has to be 
some sort of mystery throughout the story, and a big secret to be 
revealed at the end. And Harry better behaves like normal teenager, 
which is, hum, how about, angry? Aren't all teenagers supposed to be 
angry anyway? So, everything's ready except for a reason to have the 
big secret and being angry all the time. How about making Dumbledore 
not telling and keep Harry guessing the whole way through? That'll 
sure keep the readers on the edge of their seats, and provides a good 
reason for Harry's anger. 

Imagine if it was done the other way around, if Dumbledore came to 
his senses and thought of Harry as an independent, intelligent, mature 
boy just like any other 15-year-old, and shared with him some of the 
information, or partial insights into the big problem at hand. (At 
least say, "you know, your dreams might be sent from Voldemort, so 
go practise Occlumency to block them. They're NOT real." That could 
have been enough to avoid a lot of things.) The only storylines left 
would be Umbridge, Grawp and DA Study Group. Maybe that's just not 
enough in the author's eyes though.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. Thanks!

Java