Is (was) Harry a squib? (or born a not-so-great wizard?)

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 108250

Snow wrote:
>> This idea that Voldemort had given any and all of Harry's magical
capabilities to him has been and still is controversial. I see too
much referencing to Harry's magical capabilities belonging to or
inherited by James for this to be true. Sirius saying, you fly as
well as your father and you truly are your father's son. Harry is the
youngest quiddich player in a century. <<

HunterGreen:
That could just an *ability* rather than a specific magical ability. 
It most likely requires magical blood to be able to fly a broom, but 
being able to be a great seeker requires good reflexes, good 
instincts, good aiming ability and good vision (not as in eyesight, 
but as in an aptitude for focusing your eyes on something small and 
far away -- concentration, I suppose). Those aren't *specific* to 
being magical. Squib!Harry could have inhereted all of these traits 
from James, and then the ability to fly a broom came from Voldemort. 

>> Harry can produce a patronus, not just any patronus, but one that 
looks like his father's animagus figure. <<

But Harry can produce a patronus at age *thirteen* which is rather 
strong magic for someone so young. Having strong enough magic to 
produce one with only a few months (weeks?) of training, could have 
come from Voldemort, but the actual patronus would still come from 
Harry, and would still take on a form determined by Harry (I'm not 
sure how the patronus form is decided, but it is a reflection of the 
wizard that casts it and the Stag is a reflection of Harry through 
his father, whether or not the *magic* behind it came from James or 
not).

>> Harry is very adept at Defense against the Dark Arts even to
the point of teaching it, which appears to be one of James fortes,
defense against it. Harry's "magical" abilities appear to be based
with his parents not Voldemort. <<

I don't know about that. Leadership qualities came from both James 
and Lily, but that's not 'magical'. And we don't know how good James 
was in specifically DADA...it could easily be that transfiguration 
was his best subject (based on that being what his wand was the best 
for, and that he became an animagus when he was fifteen). James and 
Lily were involved in the fight against Voldemort, but that doesn't 
mean they had a specific aptitude for DADA, it reflects their 
personality more than their magic abilities. 

>> the most we can conclude so far as to what Voldemort's 
contributions are would be parceltongue [snip] So what magical 
ability does Harry have that can be directly related to Voldemort? I 
don't see any that would assure me that it came directly from 
Voldemort. <<

I would say that Harry is stronger than other wizards his age. As in, 
when it comes to something like learning the patronus charm, or 
throwing off the imperious curse he learns it rather fast. Even with 
occulmency, he made *some* progress when he was actually trying to 
learn it (both with the stinging hex and the rebounding charm he did 
that let him see Snape's memories). Enough that *Snape* of all people 
actually gave him a compliment ['Well, for a first attempt that was 
not as poor as it might have been...' pg 535, US ed.]. 
Of course both of his parents were, by all accounts, powerful and 
clever wizards, so Harry doesn't necessarily *have* to have outside 
influence to explain his magical apititude. 

I like the theory of Harry being a squib except for the Voldemort alf 
of him, because that would mean he'd have to sacrifice his own powers 
to destroy Voldemort. (then again, I like bittersweet endings) But 
seeing how rare squibs are supposed to be, I don't know how likely it 
is.