Producing a Patronus + reaction to a Dementor

[frost_indri]

No: HPFGUIDX 89258

Frost: 
  Everyone seems to think that Harry is either completely 
unremarkable or extremely remarkable.  Why does it have to be 
either?  He has some talents.  He is naturally good at flying. He 
has a knack for fighting the Dark Arts.  He does have some strong 
character points. He also has some weaknesses.  He has a hot temper, 
and an inability to trust people. (Ok Sehkmet &co. You guys 
convinced me.) He grew up abused and isolated, and (at least from 
the isolated side) I can say personally that screws with your 
ability to relate to other people. He's a teenager, and has all the 
angsty drawbacks and fun perks that come with being so.  

  In a word, he's human.  I like him. He's not perfect, but he's got 
his strengths.  He has the potential to be great, and not great 
because he's the perfect, oh so powerful Harry Potter, but because 
he struggled, and made the right choices, or at least the best ones 
he could. And because he failed, and had to struggle with that too. 
I think he's a great character.  I don't think he's the perfect 
person, but then, I wouldn't care about him so much if he were 
perfect. I mean, cummon`. If he were perfect we wouldn't be here 
arguing weather or not he was going to die. We'd know by now.

  Is he ego centrist? Yes.  He grew up where he HAD to look out for 
himself, and only himself.  'Cause of Dudley and the Dursleys he 
didn't ever really have a chance to care about anyone else.  But 
he's learning. He makes mistakes. How else do you learn?  He also 
does the right thing. He was sensitive enough to get Hermione a gift 
that she really wanted, that he probably just overheard her 
mentioning at some random point.  He's selfish enough to think that 
he's the only one who can figure out what is going on. He now has to 
deal with the backlash of the HUGE mistake that he made at the end 
of the year. (I think it'll be very interesting.)  

  I think he's extraordinary in *some* magical realms, like Flying, 
& DADA.  I think How he learned his Patronus Charm is different than 
everyone else, and I do think he picked it up in a more real way, 
and probably quicker than other people his age would have.  (The 
rest of them, a year older, have yet to try and face a Dementor) I 
do think that he has a larger "demon" to face in the dementor than 
most people (He fainted on the train, when most everyone else 
didn't. (If someone else did, we didn't hear about it.) But that 
he DID learn to fight them off shows strength of character.  

  He also shows no real knack for herbology, or care of Magical 
creatures, and none whatsoever in Divination (well, that one insight 
that Buckbeak was going to live, but we know that wasn't a real 
divination from his POV).  

  I like him, but not because he's a great perfect person.  I like 
him because his struggles remind me of my own, and that really lets 
me feel his humanity.

Frost