I don't like him much

[demetra1225]

No: HPFGUIDX 120016


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Barry Arrowsmith 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
> There's recently been a clutch of threads expressing concern over 
Harry, worrying about his emotions both past and future and about the 
failings of the adults in the books for daring to be out of step with 
the disobedient, lying little scrote. [snip]


Demetra:
I actually generally like Harry as a character, but he often grated 
on my nerves in OotP.   Yes, I agree with everyone who has argued 
that Harry was simply acting like a typical teenage boy.  I simply 
had *my* typical response to teenage boys – I wanted to smack him 
upside the head.  

What I don't understand about the `adults failed Harry because they 
didn't give him enough information' argument is this – If Harry is a 
typical teenaged boy, why would anyone think that giving him 
information would help?  My experience with teenagers is that facts 
are conveniently ignored when said facts come in direct conflict with 
the teenager's desires.  If teenaged boys actually paid any heed to 
the information they are given they wouldn't drink and drive.  They 
wouldn't have sex without using a condom.  They wouldn't experiment 
with drugs, they would "just say no".  

Yep, Harry behaved like a typical teenager.  IMHO, additional 
information wouldn't have made a hill of beans of difference.  Harry 
made a conscious decision to ignore Hermione, Dumbledore, Sirius and 
Lupin who all told him that it was important to work hard on 
Occlumency.  He made a choice, and he chose poorly.


Kneasy again:
What DD feared is coming to pass - Harry is starting to believe his 
own publicity. Being Harry Potter is sufficient justification in his 
eyes for doing, thinking, almost anything. If things turn out well, 
the plaudits rain down, when it's "50 points to Gryffindor!" (even 
though what happened was usually a combination of luck and outside 
influences) his self-regard inflates another notch.

Despite DD's fears and his attempts to prevent them coming to 
fruition, young Potter is regarded as something special in the WW - 
and he knows it.  [snip]


Now Demetra:
I agree that to some extent Harry seemed to be starting to believe 
his own publicity, at least at the beginning of OotP.

But what did DD actually do to prevent those fears from coming into 
fruition, besides placing Harry with the Dursleys?  Harry is 
frequently caught out of bounds, yet the only time I can recall him 
being punished for it is when McGonnagall did in PS/SS.  He clearly 
has impulsive tendencies, but DD has never cautioned him that one of 
these times his luck may run out.  It seems to me that this is DD's 
big error – the tacit approval of Harry's recklessness.  Yes the 
outcomes have been in Harry's favor, at least until OotP, but if 
Harry had ever been reprimanded in the past, would he have been as 
likely to rush off to the MoM?  

Demetra  (who thinks that the person who wrote "The Little Drummer 
Boy" could teach Snape and Vernon Dursley a thing or two about 
sadistic behavior)