Book 7 predictions

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 98222

A small attempt to assuage some of Del's angst, in lieu of chicken
soup which would probably have been a better remedy:


> Vmonte wrote :
> > His flying skills, and his patronus stag, seem more like they are 
> > inherited from his father.
> 
> Del replies :
<snip>
> But the worst part is the whole stag business. Unless Harry saw his 
> father transform into a stag as a baby, there's no way he could have 
> known, even unconsciouly, how important the stag symbol was for him. 
> Are we then supposed to believe in some mystical link between father 
> and son ?
<snip>

Annemehr:
Well, I went to look up the symbolism linked to stags, to see how a
stag might naturally have been both James' avatar and the symbol of
Harry's protection, and I found this:

---------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.gryphonsmoon.com/Reference/BeastSymbol/BeastSymbol.htm

Stag- Stags never become feverish, and eating a Stag's marrow will
cure a fever. Some say that eating venison will ensure immortality.
When a Stag become ill, he kills a serpent and eats it, because the
poison is healing to them. Burning a stag's horn will keep snakes away.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Just taking this symbolism and running with it for a moment:
If Harry were to be a stag animagus, it would look like either Harry
or Voldemort could find what they wanted by eating (or just
defeating?) the other: immortality for Voldemort, and healing for
Harry.  Not to mention, you could relate "eating a stag's marrow" with
taking Harry's blood for a reembodiment potion if you liked.  But JKR
says Harry will not have time to become an animagus, and LV's murder
of James doesn't seem to have done him any good (unles he would have
had to literally eat James, or unless the murder was part of what
helped him survive the AK rebound).

Could this symbolism indeed refer to Harry, and we're just supposed to
relate the stag to him via his Patronus?

Doesn't really answer your question, though, sorry.

Still, Harry never knew what his patronus would be until he saw it. 
Could you believe that it was never any knowledge of Harry's, but the
mere *fact* that James was Harry's protector, that magically formed
the Patronus?  Dumbledore said Harry found James within him.  Even
though Harry didn't know James' animagus form, that form was
nonetheless the symbol of the man who gave Harry many of his own
traits and fathered him for 15 months.

> vmonte wrote : 
> > I do, however, believe that Harry's greatest gift is his ability 
> > to love and his compassion for others.  This gift is probably 
> > inherited from his mother, and although it has nothing to do with 
> > magic, it is more powerful than any magic.  
> 
> Del replies :
> Even after all that time, even after reading so many posts about it, 
> I still don't see it, I still don't see that Harry has any more love 
> or compassion than any average kid. Harry has a lot of qualities, 
> courage and perseverance for example, but he doesn't strike me as 
> either particularly loving or exceptionnally compassionate. Can 
> someone explain that to me yet again :-) ?

Annemehr:
I'll give it a shot, though I might veer off into a different direction...

There is something to say for him in how *unhesitatingly* he runs off
to "save people."  In the day-to-day little things, you don't see
anything special from him, but when he knows someone, or everyone, is
in great danger, he wants to help with very little thought for his own
safety.  I also have in mind that he has some growing to do.  As he
increases in his general understanding of people, more of his natural
compassion may show through.

For the purpose of the story, though, he doesn't actually need to be
the most loving person in the world to defeat Voldemort, because there
are other things unrelated to his own virtue that single him out and
make him special.

Assuming that love is going to be part of what defeats Voldemort, here
is what I consider to be at least a partial list of what makes Harry
the "one."
1)His own love, heart, and courage -- if not exceptional, then
abundant enough.
2)Opportunity: LV is after him; the two are going to face each other
no matter what Harry, or Dumbledore, do.
3)The scar connection: though we don't completely understand it, we
can tell it's a conduit for power between them, and that each can make
use of it, and that it puts them in a unique relationship.

Harry is my personal favorite character, so maybe I see him in a
better light than you do.  Still, because of 2) and 3) above, I don't
see the need for him to be more loving than anyone else for the story
to work.  Because of his actions when the chips are down, I see enough
love in him to justify readers' and Dumbledore's assessments of him. 
It doesn't bother me at all that many people may also show the level
of loving that we've seen from Harry so far.

Not sure how well I did here... 
I hope you feel better soon!

Annemehr
who thinks neither dying nor living in misery are the worst outcome --
that distinction is reserved for turning evil