Snape, Harry, Dumbledore, and flaws in the books

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 106181

tina:
>>  When re-reading the book, I have the urge to skip straight  
ahead from once the group is caught in Umbridge's office to 'The 
 Lost Prophecy' chapter.  It is too painful and too ironic.  Harry 
 was disillusioned and it is so frustrating to read because this 
seems out of character.  Of course, I can't wait to see what 
happens  to Kreacher for his role in this most unfortunate plot.

 I can only hope that he will have learned to listen to the voice of 
 reason (specifically that of Hermione).<<

Pippin:
It's a painful chapter to read for me, too, but not because Harry 
seems out of character. In fact he acts very much in character for 
a fifteen year old boy. I can remember doing things when I was 
fifteen that would have had my eleven-year-old self gaping in 
horror (and rightly so.)  

Part of becoming a teen is discovering that you are capable of a 
greater range of emotion than you were as a child--the mental 
practices that made younger Harry such a stoic don't work any 
more. But because Harry's  never been in a blind panic before, 
he doesn't realize it, and doesn't realize he's lost control of 
himself.  Plus his scar is prickling --Voldemort is still messing 
with his mind.

Harry actually wasn't without means of communicating with the 
Order--if he'd only thought of it he could have sent Ginny and 
Luna back to Hogwarts to find Snape and tell him what was 
happening. And if Hermione hadn't been in a panic  about the 
state that Harry was in, she'd have thought of that too. The whole 
tragedy might have been averted. 

But it really isn't out of character for teenagers to panic and act 
foolishly--that's why they're considered too young for the Order in 
the first place. Harry acted exactly the way Fred and George did 
when Arthur was injured. I admit it's not in character for a 
superhero. But then, you see, I've never thought that Harry was 
supposed to be a superhero at all. 

Pippin