Quirrell dying (was Harry's far from ruthless )

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 89310

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:
 
> Naama:
> >> In short, Harry tends to dislike with very good reason. All 
> these 
>  people (other then Snape, maybe) do not *deserve* 
> compassion. And  when I say that they don't deserve 
> compassion, I mean that *JKR* doesn't see them as deserving 
> compassion. So, it's hardly fair to  blame Harry for this, is it?<<
> 
> Lupin and Sirius aren't setting a good example, are they? 

Err.. what do you mean? Where? In the Shrieking Shack?

<snip> 
> Harry at eleven doesn't have any sympathy to spare for Quirrell.

But then, neither do we. I mean, the story is told in such a way that 
the reader can't really sympathise with Quirrell. He is either a 
stuttering idiot, or a willing vehicle for Voldemort. How can we 
blame Harry for lack of sympathy, when it's the author who makes 
sympathy simply not an option? That's what I've been trying to say, 
that Harry appears (mostly, he is not a saint) quite as sympathetic 
and caring as the circumstances call for.
 
> He is barely able to comprehend that Snape, who hates him, 
> nonetheless cared enough about him to save his life. But on the 
> verge of sixteen he's  discovered that like it or not, he knows 
> exactly how Snape feels. 


That's more to do with having actually had access to Snape's 
memories, than to his age at the time. I think that Harry would have 
had the same reaction to what he saw in the Pensieve, whether he was 
11 or 16. In fact, the sight of his own father tormenting Snape like 
that would have been even harder for him to process at 11 that at 16. 

>He's also  discovered that he can feel 
> sorry for Luna even though she annoys him dreadfully, and that, 
> strangely enough, sympathy for her makes his own grief easier 
> to bear.
> 
Yes, I think this is a real sign of growth on Harry's part. Up till 
now, his care and kindness to others came from a kind nature, an 
instinctual sense of justice. With maturity, the perception of the 
autonomous reality of others grows. As a kind child, he would have 
treated Luna decently and protected her if necessary. As a grown up, 
he can *feel* for her. But I don't think it's fair to see the younger 
Harry as not compassionate - he was as compassionate as a child could 
be, I think. 


Naama