JKR Chat "The Crucial and Central Question"

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 92186

"nkafkafi" <nkafkafi at y...> wrote:
>> I don't wholly agree with you there. Harry's decision in SS/PS to 
> > go and find the stone before LV does was a very conscious 
> > decision. He could have just ignored it as Ron and Hermione were 
> > inclined to. And in CoS he actively goes with Ron to the quest of 
> > saving Ginny's life, when he already knows about the basilisk 
> > part, at least.

Kneasy replied:
> You yourself point out  that he tried to get to the Stone *before* 
> Voldy's agent (who he presumed to be Snape). When they found that 
> someone had already got past Fluffy did they  stop to consider just 
> what they might be getting into? No. Not a thought of who or what 
> might be waiting for them down there. So Harry ends up in a 
> situation that he hadn't planned for and only his in-
> built 'protection' (which he didn't know existed) saved his skin. 

> Similarly with the Chamber. Does  Harry consider before-hand how
> he will deal with the Basilisk if he meets it? No. In fact he seems 
> to dismiss that possibility entirely from his mind. Without Fawkes
> he would have been toast. A deus ex machina saves him again.

> Oh, Harry means well. A damning phrase. Often his actions are
> determined by his own set of personal loyalties, to  his friends, to
> his parents - all very laudable, understandable and to be applauded
> but this is not the same as a crusade against evil in general. He 
> has a tendency to rush off in a fit of adolescent enthusiasm, 
> knowing only half the story and without considering what he might 
> be getting into. <snip> 
> He hasn't chosen his side, it has been chosen for him. 

Susan now:
I do NOT agree with you here, Kneasy.  I agree that he rushed into 
things w/o fully thinking through the potential consequences and 
without a well-thought-out plan of action.  But he WAS choosing!  
Even if DD set up the scenario(s) [and I think he may well have, 
particularly w/ SS/PS], Harry still was choosing whether to act or 
not.  He could have sat on his ass & said, "Well, *I'M* not gonna be 
the one who goes after the Stone!  I'm just a kid!"  Just because it 
was done with adolescent enthusiasm and without much thought as to 
how he would handle what he might encounter, he was still CHOOSING 
**and** choosing because he wanted to STOP THE EVIL GUY.  How is that 
not choosing his side?

Siriusly Snapey Susan