Will Harry muse or be too busy fighting? (was: When Harry met Sally)

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 107543

> SSSusan wrote:
> > >Personally--and most here know that I just adore Harry, so I'm 
not
> > >saying this to be cruel or mean--I hope we do get to see some of 
> > >this internal wrestling over what he "has" to do. It wouldn't 
seem
> > >realistic to me if he didn't at least seriously, seriously
> > >question "his" burden and wonder about opting out. 
> 
> I wonder, though, about the attacks flying thick & fast.  I would 
> love to hear others' opinions about whether we will, indeed, 
> *finally* see some battle action or whether that will be held off 
yet 
> again, 'til Book 7.  It seems time for it, but I thought it was 
time 
> for it after the graveyard scene/Harry & DD's announcement of 
Voldy's 
> return at the end of 4th year.  Yet we were strung along for nearly 
> the whole of Book 5, with Voldy still lying low, and all that talk 
> about a weapon, until we finally saw one battle and one death in 
the 
> MoM.
> 
> Not that I'm necessarily anxious for carnage, you understand, but 
it 
> surprised me that there was so little in OoP.  
> 
> Anyone else care to offer an opinion of whether Harry will spend 
much 
> time wrestling with "his" burden & his choice to accept it, or 
> whether there'll be little time for such musings because of all the 
> Voldy-DE attacks we're sure to see in HBP?
> 

Marianne replies:

I think what we may see could follow two different tracks, sort of an 
internal and external assessment.  Harry has to come to terms within 
himself about the Prophecy while dealing with his grief for Sirius.  
At some point he is also going to have to fully admit to himself the 
part that he himself played, however unintentionally, in Sirius' 
death.  He can't lean on his anger at Dumbledor or his blaming of 
Snape forever. While I thought those emotions were understandable at 
the time, right after Sirius' death, Harry is going to have to 
recognize how complex things get when a lot of people are involved in 
potentially dangerous doings.  

I think Book 6 Harry may be somewhat withdrawn at first, as part of 
this internal struggle because he knows now how fully his existence 
is tied to Voldemort and that Voldie and his DEs will not hesitate to 
kill or torture to get what they want.  Yes, Harry experienced this 
at the end of GoF.  But, this time it's struck deep within his own 
defenses because he lost someone he cared about deeply.  He would 
quite naturally worry about safety of the others around him, like 
Hermione and the Weasleys.  

And perhaps having that bunch of DEs now residing in Azkaban gives 
JKR some plot time for Harry to deal with his internal struggle 
without having to worry about DEs running around murdering and 
pillaging.  At least, not right away.

But, I think Harry will also increasing see the upcoming action (and 
carnage) externally.  What I mean is that, regardless of his own 
experiences, he'll witness attacks on people who have no connection 
to him at all.  But, because of what he's experienced, he'll have a 
more finely-honed empathy with the survivors of those attacks.  At 
the same time, if the adults behave as adults and the government gets 
its collective head out of its own arse, Harry might be able to 
recognize that there are other good people fighting this fight with 
hm.  This might help him accept what he has to do, not necessarily as 
part of his "saving people thing" but as one part of the overall 
struggle to rid the world of Voldemort once and for all.

And carnage?  Oh, yeah. More people will die, and I'm betting they 
won't all be bit players that we've seen for only a page or two.  
Harry's going to lose other people he cares about.  And, some that we 
care about, too.

Marianne