Harry, Hermione, Sirius, and the Dream (was : What should Harry REALLY feel

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 116944


Steve/bboymn wrote :
" Yes, I get it. You've done this before. Your point is not about the
author or character's intent, but about your reaction /in the moment/
as you read that part."

Del replies :
I don't understand what you mean.

My point was about how, as I was discovering the dream along with
Harry, it was obvious to me that it was a fake.

This might not have been the author's intent, but in that case go
complain to her, not me ! She had me eating in her palm all throughout
the other books, I swallowed everything she sent my way. If I didn't
swallow Harry's dream, it wasn't my fault.

It might not have been the character's intent, but then I dont think
we're here only to discuss characters' intents. There are people who
say that whatever his intentions, Snape's actions are still
reprehensible (and I tend to agree with those posters). Similarly, I
feel free to say that no matter what Harry's intent was, I always felt
it was a mistake for him not to reason more about that dream.

As for my reactions in the moment, I feel they are of much more
importance for the discussion we had been having than any later
reactions. It's easy to determine, after reflection, that Harry was
wrong, such an argument would have no value. But if I say that I
*immediately* saw that he was wrong, then I feel it is important to
the discussion, because IMO it means that the truth could have been
seen *even by Harry*.

Steve wrote :
"As a reader, I'm somewhat tracking Harry's emotions. JKR as an author
has, or has attempted, to set the clues to make us feel as Harry feels."

Del replies :
I'm usually like that too. OoP was harder for me on that matter,
because I couldn't follow Harry in his bouts of shouting and
irrational anger, since they are so much against my own habits. But I
still managed to follow him quite well. And when he was so tired and
sleepy in his OWL exam, I was right there with him. I was right on his
heels as he was rushing through the DoM corridors in his dream, I
wanted to know what was there just as much as he did. But when I
discovered LV torturing Sirius, my mind started screaming "This is SO
wrong !". It was impossible, and the more I read, the less possible
and realistic it seemed to me.

Steve wrote :
"Harry's 'I've got to do something', is my, as a reader, equal need
and determination for 'What happens next! What happens next!'. That
immediate desire for /action/ prevents me, personally, from pausing to
wonder. Harry's need for /action/, some action - any action, is what
prevents him from pausing for logical analysis. "

Del replies :
I'm all for action ! But when I see Harry rushing into something that
has "bad idea" written all over, I can't help but want him to stop and
think just for 2 minutes.

Del