Snape and Harry again.

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 113570

I (Carol) wrote:
> > It's not through any skill or talent of his own that he's the Boy
 Who Lived. And Snape wants not only Harry but everyone in the class
to know that. He doesn't want an insufferably arrogant Harry (a second
James) who thinks he's better than everyone else. 
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
> I know this is off the main topic of what you, Alla, Potioncat & 
> others are discussing, but when I see this comment, I just have to 
> say "STOP!"  I would argue, Carol, that we do NOT know this!  Yes, 
> Lily's sacrifice protected him--I do believe that was essential--but 
> how do we know that there wasn't *also* Something About Harry in 
> addition to that charm?  
> 
> Perhaps Lily's protective charm is what prevented Harry from dying 
> but it was the Something About Harry that caused the actual rebound 
> that vaporized Voldy?  This is ancient magic, we've been told, but do 
> we know of any other witch or wizard who survived an AK before, 
> ever?  It seems not.  So I would argue that it's reasonable to 
> consider that it might have required the combination of Lily's 
> ancient magic sacrifice-charm AND the Something About Harry to have 
> accomplished it.
> 
> Until told directly otherwise by JKR, I don't think I will ever give 
> up the idea that there WAS something special about Harry from the get-
> go.
> 
> Siriusly Snapey Susan

Carol responds:
Let me rephrase it, then. Harry, age fifteen months, did nothing
*deliberate* and remembered nothing of what happened (till the
Dementors brought a few more details to his mind) except a bright
green flash and a high, cold laugh. We have his own word for that. He
didn't even know he was a wizard until he was eleven and certainly
didn't know any spells that would counter an AK when he was an infant.
Crouch!Moody says there's no countercurse for AK, but he also says
that the spell Harry survived was an AK, so something must have
protected Harry from it. I hold with my theory that it was Lily's
"ancient magic" that protected Harry, not some gift or power that he
was born with. There is at least canon to support my view, which I've
repeated on numerous occasions. If you know of any canon that suggests
that he was *born with* the power to survive an AK, please cite it. I
 suppose the Prophecy can be interpreted to mean that he was born with
the power to destroy Voldemort, but if that were true, surely he would
have (inadvertently) done so as an infant and there would be no HP series.

When I posted, though, I was thinking of Snape, who clearly holds the
view that Harry is not special (except as Voldemort's chosen nemesis,
though I don't think Snape would admit that to Harry) and is not yet
ready to confront Voldemort even at fifteen, a point he makes clear in
OoP.

Carol, who didn't mean to imply that her interpretation was fact and
apologizes for creating that impression