JKR Chat "The Crucial and Central Question"

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 92209

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" <susiequsie23 at s...> 
wrote:

> 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?
> 

Maybe it's my jaundiced attitude and love of indulging in a bun-fight on
site that  makes me stick to my guns, but let's see what I can do.
Oh, and fair warning, I see possible problems with semantics and the
definitions of words when employed in differing usages looming. Just the
sort of nick-picking analysis to relish.

Let's clear one thing out of the way first; if he did make a speech about
only being a kid and so not about to go after the Stone, would that put
him on the side of evil? No, as I'm sure you'd agree. As a corollary just
because he does go after the Stone it does not guarantee that it is an 
expression of a commitment to a conscious decision to fight evil in
the same way as, say, DD has made an assumed commitment to fight
against it.

But he's only a kid, you might reply. Exactly. He's only a kid and he doesn't
understand what he's getting into. Neither does Hermione. Neither have
been raised in the WW where tales of Voldy and the DEs are the stuff of
nightmares. Ron might, but he's not renowned for his forward planning
either. He's heard the tales but does he *really* believe that things can
be as bad as they say? Besides, Harry is the WW hero, what can go wrong?

Harry acts as if the whole escapade were on a par with sneaking out for
the night-time confrontation that got them into detention with Draco.
His attitude is one of "I know better than McGonagall. She wouldn't
listen, so I'll show 'em!" What sort of a decision is that? Mostly one made
in response to frustration with grown-ups I expect.

If as you suggest, it was all set up by DD (and I don't necessarily disagree
with you - there's a few aspects to the whole episode that make my mind 
itch) it adds weight to my contention that his side was chosen for him.
DD sets the scene, winds up Harry like a clockwork  mouse, and off he
goes, doing what DD wants him to do. Same in CoS. When Malfoy presents 
the School Governors demand that he step down, what does he do? He 
speaks to the invisible Harry ".. help is always given at Hogwarts to those 
who ask for it." Talk about a nod being as good as a wink to a blind horse!
He might as well have said "I expect you to sort it out, Harry!" 

He also obviously knows the score in PoA. Not only are there (IMO) well
founded suspicions about the presence of Lupin and the unlikelihood of
DD not knowing Scabbers secret, there he is again suggesting the use of
the Time-turner. Not, you will note, "That is a very dangerous situation,
Harry, I'll have to do something about it." It's "Here you go - this'll help
you to  get back to the Dementors." To a thirteen year old boy.

Nor do I believe that he couldn't find out who spelled the Goblet of Fire.
I'm damn certain he knew. Just as he knew that Crouch!Moody was a fake.
Note that DD expresses no concern whatsoever that Harry's name emerged.
Why not? No surprise, no concern, no investigation. How plausible is that
from someone supposedly with Harry's best interests as his main concern?
You really think he didn't know what was going on? Of course he did.
Crouch could use Polyjuice to  imitate Moody's body, but not his mind
and memory. DD and Moody were old friends, for heavens sake! In an
entire school year DD  had no suspicions? Rubbish.

To a fully paid-up member of The League of Conspiracy Theorists, there
is no doubt. DD shuffles things around until Harry's options are reduced
to a minimum. Harry is on rails and running on DD's timetable. His choices
are more-or-less non-existent and DD sits back and monitors his 
progress. I've often posted about DD as Puppetmaster, the cold, calculating
mind that is planning Voldy's downfall. Harry is an important part of that
plan and the one thing he cannot be allowed is a genuine choice or all could
be lost. 

Harry didn't know it, but he was being trained, both in his magical ability
and his reaction to situations. But now, at the end of OoP, he learns of
the Prophecy and begins to realise that his independence has been a
fiction. He has been assigned as Voldy's enemy from day one. His
parents were not just unfortunate casualties in a war, it was a targeted
action and he was the target. Worse, he is set up as the saviour of the WW. 

Tell me, just what real decisions will he be allowed to make?
We know he doesn't want the role or the responsibility, but can you see
DD allowing Harry to say "No" and letting him slip through his fingers?

Kneasy