Fudge and Harry as Gryffindor's heir

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 108068

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Amey Chinchorkar" <sherlockholme_ac at r...> 
wrote:
> 
said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. You happen to 
have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked 
students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue -resourcefulness 
- determination -- a certain disregard for rules," he added, his 
mustache quivering again. (CoS).
 
So, does this mean that the powers Voldemort transferred to 
Harry overshadowed the traits he inherited from Gryffindor? Must
be pretty thin blood connection then. 
 
 Also,
 'I thought,' said Phineas Nigellus, stroking his pointed beard, 
'that to belong in Gryffindor house you were supposed to be brave!
It looks to me as though you would have been better off in my own
house. We Slytherins are brave, yes, but not stupid. For instance, 
given the choice, we will always choose to save our own necks.' 
(OOtP)
 
 What I feel from these two is, Harry might be a true Gryffindor, 
portraying the characteristics Gryffindor valued, bravery and all. But 
to make him the actual descendent (or ancestor, as JKR might say) of
Gryffindor would take out the whole point of the story. The story is 
about powers you have and how you use them, not the powers you 
inherit and so you have to use them that way. 
snip.
>

That's a point worth making.
There's been a lot of discussion re Gryffs, Huffs and Slyths and their
supposed House characteristics, most of which have ignored fact that
the supposed traits mean nothing taken in isolation.

What's the point of being brave if you don't also exercise judgement?
Bravery *of itself* is not a virtue; it needs to be expressed at the right
time, in the right place for the right reasons. 
Otherwise it's indistinguishable from rash stupidity. (Sirius, anyone?
Or Harry's 'rescue mission' to the Ministry?)

The way DD describes Slytherins in the quote above makes them sound
like a pretty cool bunch - and it's also an accurate precis of Harry and
(apart from perhaps the Parseltongue) even DD.

There's nothing particularly reprehensible about being ambitious or 
cunning; it all depends on how you use those attributes and what your 
aims are.  Being born a pure-blood is not exactly a matter of choice, 
neither is being Muggle-born; how one reacts to that circumstance is.

The Sorting Hat was meant to be the replacement for the Four; a device
to determine where each student would be best placed. It originally
belonged to  G.G. but all of them contributed to its critical faculties:
"The founders put some brains in me" (GoF)
Presumably it balances traits and potential and arrives at a conclusion,
though I have theorised previously that it may have been fixed on a
couple of occasions (Harry, Hermione, Neville - Ron is the true and
typical Gryffindor, and before that with Sirius, Lupin and Peter - James
being the 'real' Gryffindor.)

Neville is really a Huff. Not really good at anything. Just because he's 
better at Herbology than his other subjects doesn't mean much. He's 
barely C+ overall and Herbology isn't a subject that requires much
magical skill anyway. "Ah!" posters say, "that's because he used his 
fathers wand." Tripe, says I. It's because he has so little magical 
content that he  was thought by his family to be "all Muggle." 
If he were an animagus he'd be a hamster.
And the Hat took a hell of a time to sort him - but we don't know
what it said.

Hermione is a natural Ravenclaw, even she says the Hat seriously
considered placing her there. And so far I don't see the level of
'bravery' in her that being in Gryffindor implies. Certainly there's 
no more evident in her than in say, Luna. 

Harry, now. We may never know what Harry truly is. "What?" you cry
"how can this be?" Easy. Harry is not solely Harry. There's somebody
else in there with him - Voldy!Tom. That scar - it's not just a transfer
of powers, personality was transferred as well. Much has been made 
of Harry 'recognising' Tom - all sorts of theories from presentiment
right down into the murky depths of time travel. Much less has been
made of the fact that Tom recognises Harry.
"So. Your mother  died to  save you. That's a powerful counter-charm.
I can see now - there is nothing special about you after all. I wondered
you  see. Because there are strange likenesses between us....Probably
the only two  Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great
Slytherin himself. We even look something alike..." (CoS)
What Tom sees is part of himself, transferred along with the powers.
And Voldy!Tom is probably pure Slytherin fodder, even without the 
possibility that there's some of the original Salazar in Voldy too.

"Nothing special about you..." Oh dear. Would-be Ruler of the Universe
cocks it up again. How wrong can you be? Is that Tom pulling the
wool over his own eyes or JKR trying to pull it over ours? Harry is more
than just Harry. Bloody obvious.
Given a free choice where else but Slytherin would the Hat have placed
Harry given that there are bits in there that have already achieved their
potential for being differently moralled and boundlessly ambitious?

Heir of this, that or the other is going to be largely irrelevant IMO; such
labels won't be the determining factor that tells us what a character
will do, but will be applied retrospectively to identify what they actually
did. It'll all depend on those choices. 

Kneasy