How dim is Harry? - his official History

[Wanda Sherratt]

No: HPFGUIDX 98440

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Eustace_Scrubb" <dk59us at y...> 
wrote:
We also know that the Ministry is
> able to influence news coverage greatly, and the Godric's Hollow
> affair is nearly contemporary from a historical point of view, one 
of
> the hardest kinds of history to get right--there's no historical
> distance, everyone has too much emotional investment in the 
subject.
> 
> So while I would have expected Harry to at least sneak a look in 
the
> library, I am not optimistic that he would have gained any great
> insight into his own history from the official versions.

Hang on, though - what about other news sources?  Didn't Uncle 
Vernon know a Muggle's version of Sirius Black's exploits?  And at 
the beginning of OotP, Harry is eavesdropping on the TV news, hoping 
to hear anything about Voldemort.  Why wouldn't he have gone looking 
through back issues of the newspapers, to see how news of the WW had 
trickled down into the Muggle world?  I won't even mention "web 
search", because I don't think it's fair to expect JKR to keep her 
fictional world entirely up-to-date.  But Harry doesn't seem to have 
even the minimal curiosity of a kid who looks up his family name in 
out-of-town phonebooks, just to see if anyone who might be related 
is there.  I tend to agree with those who see it as a plot device, 
and maybe one that JKR couldn't foresee wouldn't wear all that well 
through to the end of her series.

Wanda