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

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 108265

Snow wrote:
>>> 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 previously:
>>> 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. <<<

Snow replied:
>> James was not a seeker he was a chaser (per a JKR interview). 
Sirius actually says you "fly" as well as your father to Harry. 
Furthermore we have never heard of Voldemort having a significant 
flying ability. <<

HunterGreen:
I know James was a chaser, but Harry's skill lie in *seeking*, so 
that's why I focused on that. Harry flies as well as his father, but 
that's still a *skill* (something that relies on reflexes and 
balence), as opposed to something that's completely magical. I don't 
know if Voldemort had any special flying ability, and I can't imagine 
that he did (doesn't really fit with him somehow), but he could have 
just passed to Harry the *ability* to fly, while the *skill* of 
flying *well* could have come from James.

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

HunterGreen previously:
>>>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 <<<

Snow replied:
>>Yes, it is rather young to produce a patronus but his father 
becoming an animagus at the age of fifteen, which is also extremely 
young if not an impossible feat for a youngster, would be very 
accomplished as well. Also the fact that he had the ability to teach 
his friends one of whom was not of the highest standard of learning.<<

HunterGreen:
Yes, you're right, James is a powerful and clever guy, he could have 
easily passed on that bit of himself to his son. But that doesn't 
mean it *had* to come from him. The question at hand is could Harry 
have been a squib before the attack, right? So this is something that 
could have come from James, but also could have come from Voldemort, 
in the case of squib!Harry.

Snow wrote:
>>> 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. <<<

HunterGreen previously:
>>> 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.<<<

Snow:
>> James and Lily would have to have had been extremely talented at
defense against the dark arts to have defied Voldemort three times
and still, at that point, been alive to tell the story (we haven't
heard).<<

HunterGreen:
Most likely, yes. But that still doesn't mean that Harry couldn't 
have got that trait from Voldemort. *Defense* against the dark arts 
entails knowing something about the Dark Arts (ex. Snape's ferver at 
teaching the subject, and his looong answers to his OWL questions in 
the flashback, although he was a DE for a time). If Harry was born a 
squib and therefore didn't inherit those traits from his parents, he 
could have got them from Voldemort. 

I'm not saying that certain traits Harry has (just as learning things 
fast and being rather powerful), *couldn't* have come from James and 
Lily, just that squib!Harry is possible. And in that case, Harry 
would have got those traits from Voldemort. 


Sherry wrote:
>>I think that JKR tells us very early in the saga, that Harry had 
magical powers before the attack of Voldemort. Hagrid says, in the 
hut on the rock, that Harry's name was written down from the time he 
was born, for Hogwarts attendance. I take this to mean, that there is 
some way of detecting magical abilities, and that whatever magic 
chooses students for Hogwarts knew Harry would have the magical 
ability and his name was written down. It does not say that his name 
was written down after the attack, when he was about 15 months old. <<

But this is Hagrid talking here...has he personally seen the list 
(and I think what he's referring to is the magical quill that writes 
down the name of each magical child when they are born...JKR referred 
to it in one of her interviews), or is he just assuming? The list 
goes by year, because its used each year to send out letters to those 
that are turning ll, so if Harry was born a squib, then later 
*became* a magical child, then the magical quill could have added his 
name later (but placed it with other children his own age, because it 
goes by year, and thus no one ever noticed).
Hagrid knows that Harry's parents are magical, and he knows Harry 
*must* be magical since he's assigned the duty of helping Harry get 
his school things, and if he knew about the list, he could just 
assume that Harry's name was there since he was born.