JKR Chat "The Crucial and Central Question"

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 92189

Kneasy wrote:
> Well, it depends  on how you look at it.
> 
> 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. And if  it had been Snape, how would
> Harry have fared then? His Voldy-proofing would have been of no
> use at all.
> 
> 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. 
> Consequently, what he  gets into is trouble that needs the 
intervention
> of a force or device that somehow saves him from the consequences 
> of his own actions. 
> 
> Of course, this is what gives the stories flavour, but it is only 
now, at
> the end of the 5th book, that he is able to put his past exploits 
into
> some sort of perspective. He hasn't chosen his side, it has been
> chosen for him. Now he has to decide what to do about it. He's not
> exactly enthusiastic about the idea. He may yet rebel.
> 
> Kneasy

Neri:
In this sense you are certainly right. JKR herself said in the last 
Times interview that Harry operates "on a need-to-know basis". I was 
exasperated with this many times when I was reading the books. I very 
much identify with Hermione when she says on the train on SS/PS 
(paraphrasing from memory): "What, don't you know? I would have found 
out everything I could if I were you".

Neri