Harry's special power, which leads to Dumbledore as the Half Blood Prince

[Hans Andréa]

No: HPFGUIDX 104207

Jen Reese <stevejjen at earthlink.net> wrote: 

>>One of the crucial parts of the series to me is how Harry came to be 
the 'One with the Power to Vanquish the Dark Lord'...

>>In spite of this, I tend toward the first explanation, that Harry was
indeed born with an innate power to vanquish the Dark Lord, whether he
chooses to manifest it or not... 

>>And here is where Harry starts to show an uncanny ability to call to
himself the people, creatures and objects that he needs in his fight 
against Voldemort...<<<

Every now and then I come across a wonderful post which moves me so 
much smoke gets in my eyes.

Jen's was one of them. What she has said about Harry here is so to the
point! She really has summed it all up for me! Harry does have a 
special power and it's not the power which he accidentally received from 
Voldemort. I just can't understand how people can think that if Voldemort
had chosen Neville instead of Harry, the series would be called "Neville 
L...and...". In none of the great liberating things Harry has done has he
made use of magic powers derived from Voldemort! 

He didn't use magic to get the Stone out of the mirror; it was his
unselfishness that did that. 

He didn't use magic to defeat the basilisk; it was his care for Ginny, 
his loyalty to dumbledore and his true Gryffindor courage. 

He didn't use magic to liberate Dobby; it was his compassion, his
forgiveness of all the pain Dobby had caused him, his outrage at the
injustice being done to Dobby and his intelligence and resourcefulness. 
If I had been in Harry's position I wouldn't have thought of that in a 
thousand years. 

Yes the Patronus in book 3 was magic, but it wasn't due to anything he
inherited from Voldemort. With her truly inspiring writing JK Rowling
describes how Harry learns to conjure up the Patronus with grit and
indefatigable endurance. 

It wasn't magic that drove Voldemort's power back into his wand; it was
sheer willpower (which Harry had practised during DADA lessons) and the
determination not to let Voldemort win on any account. 

It was not magic that drove Voldemort out of Harry's mind; it was the 
love for his Godfather. And all of this depends on Harry's choices, or, as 
you so rightly put it, "part of Harry's ability to defeat Voldemort is that
he *chooses* to do so". Hear hear!

Another point Jen makes is very powerful and few people seem to notice 
this: "And here is where Harry starts to show an uncanny ability to call to
himself the people, creatures and objects that he needs in his fight 
against Voldemort. Harry calls this luck, but it seems more like a special 
power he possesses. An ability to call forth what is needed, when he needs
it." Absolutely! Thanks for pointing that out.

And what I love about Harry is his (true) modesty. In my mind true 
modesty is not knowing, or not acknowledging, that you've done anything 
special. I'm not talking about modesty where you know what you've done is
great, but you don't rub it in everyone's face. Modesty in my mind is not
worrying about whether you're doing great things. You just do what your
heart tells you - as Harry does.


"And that's another aspect of Harry's power - he is surrounded by 
people who are loyal to him because they love him." Exactly! And why do
people love him? Because he truly cares about the people around him. The
brilliance of JK Rowling's writing is that it's all so matter-of fact. You
have to read between the lines; you have to cogitate to perceive the full
import of her message. It doesn't specifically say that Harry cares about
people; you have to work that out for yourself. But remember when Harry
first met Ron in the train, and how good Harry felt at being able to share
something for the first time in his life. Or remember the part where Harry
and Ron hear about Ginny being in the Chamber of Secrets, or when Harry
first heard screams in his mind in the presence of dementors. He wanted to
help the woman, even though at that stage he didn't realise it was his
mother. 

Another quality that Harry hasn't got from Voldemort is his perceptiveness.
If you read the books carefully you will see thousands of instances where
Harry notices things that are very subtle. Most of the time other people
don't notice these things. Why is Harry so perceptive? Because he cares
about others. That's not in the books; that's my opinion, my own life
experience. People who are selfish only notice things that will benefit 
them in some way. Harry notices things like people's feelings, their 
motives, their needs and anxieties. Quoting canon would lead to extremely
long lists. If you'll read the books with these things in mind you'll see
what I mean.

I do take issue with one point Jen makes: >>Many times in interviews, 
JKR or others talk about how Harry is every-boy, and that is why he's so 
appealing. He's smart but not brilliant, makes many mistakes, and seems
special only in his ability to fly and aptitude for DADA. ***In spite of
this,*** I tend toward the first explanation, that Harry was indeed born
with an innate power to vanquish the Dark Lord, whether he chooses to
manifest it or not.<<

"IN SPITE OF THIS"? But Jen, the whole point of the books is that 
everyone, yes EVERYONE has the "innate power to vanquish the dark lord".
Harry is our example, our inspiration, the one we need to follow. All of us
have Voldemort within us. And all of us have the power to vanquish him. This
is one of the great things that many people are saying about the books.
People find Harry so inspiring! There was a story on one of the HP sites
recently saying that a well-known educator and author burst into tears when
seeing PoA because it was the FIRST time in her life that she had seen a
film (for teenagers as she thought) that taught that ALL our weaknesses, and
all our powers to vanquish them are WITHIN ourselves! If that were to be the
only things the books achieved it would already make them worthwhile.

Finally, I don't know who the Half Blood Prince will be. As I said in 
my last post, the trio itself (HRH) seems to be the Prince, but that's
impossible, so I give up. Harry's my Prince and I'm sure about that!

Thanks again, Jen for you wonderful post.

Hans in Holland




	
	
		
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