Something about Harry (was: Snape and Harry again)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 114358

Siriusly Snapey Susan wrote: 
> > To me this indicates there is, indeed, Something About Harry.  
> > Training is helping, too, but DD is seeing things in Harry he's 
> > never seen in others.  And all while "struggling under more 
> > burdens than any student who has ever passed through this 
> > school" [839].  Nope, I still interpret this as DD's believing 
> > Harry is truly different from other wizards, truly gifted in 
> > some extraordinary way.
 
Carol again:
> I don't disagree with you. I just say that there's no definitive
> evidence that Harry was *born with* those special powers (other 
> than his skill at Quidditch/flying, which I do think he inherited 
> from James). They could be the result of the encounter with 
> Voldemort, which "marked" him as Voldemort's (future) equal. And 
> regardless of whether they're inherited or acquired or both, they 
> have to be developed through training and practice, a point you've 
> already conceded. 
> 
> Here's the point I haven't made yet, the reason this is so 
> important to me. I don't want the future of the WW to be already 
> mapped out, with Harry and Voldemort and the rest as puppets 
> playing preassigned roles. I like JKR's emphasis on choice, which 
> means that Harry's decisions, even at Hogwarts, matter--and so do 
> his mistakes. 


SSSusan:
I'm going to snip almost all of this, because I think you & I are 
now at the point where there is only subtle disagreement between 
us.  Because neither of us can prove our point fully w/ the evidence 
at hand, we just have different preferences for what we'd like to 
see.

The one thing I'd like to point out, though, is that even though I 
*do* think Harry was born with a special something(s)--power, 
talent, skill--and that it was in large part still in 
its "potential" stage, i.e., it needs to be "trained up a bit," I 
DON'T think this means everything was pre-destined.  I definitely 
think Harry still has choice.  That is, he still needs to *decide* 
whether to take that "training up" seriously and to work his ass off 
at it; he still needs to *decide* whether he's going to face up to 
his burden and go willingly to fight Voldy, or whether he's going to 
run away and hide.  

The issue of things looking preordained seems, to me, to come up 
more with the *prophecy* than with whether there's something special 
about Harry from birth.  It's the *prophecy* which some could argue 
takes away more of the choice--it surely brings into more clear 
focus that specialness of his, anyway, and makes it clearer what his 
choice is about.  Before he knew the prophecy, Harry chose more 
freely--unknowingly, if you will--to do "good things" like going 
after the stone, rescuing Ginny, etc.  Now that he knows about the 
prophecy and his ultimate Big Choice, it almost feels that his 
choices, though still present, are more limited.

Sheesh, I don't think I've explained that well at all.

Siriusly Snapey Susan