What has Harry learned? (Re: Hans)

[cat_kind]

No: HPFGUIDX 127416


> Hans: 
> This is why I predicted in April 2003 what was coming in future
> books, and I was very happy to see many of my predictions verified
> even as early as book 5.
> 
> catkind: Message number? 
> 
> Hans: 55793 of 21-04-03. In my post 67775 of 06-07-03 I explained
how my predictions came out.

Hans in Post #55793: 
>In the first book Harry can gain access to the Stone only if he
doesn't want to use it. He does not want earthly wealth and longevity.
He has been liberated from the desire to live on the physical plane.<

>In the second book Harry liberates an elf. Elves, goblins, gnomes,
fire-salamanders etc. are etheric creatures. Harry achieves liberation
on the etheric plane (the plane of life force).<

>In the third book Harry learns to conquer fear. This is liberation on
the astral(emotional) plane.<

>In the fourth book Harry develops his will to such an extent that he
can actually drive back the curse coming out of Lucifer's (Voldemort)
wand by pitting his will-power against Lucifer's. The eternal soul has
achieved liberation on the mental plane.<

> 1. the liberation of the mental-I: Harry's ability to throw Voldemort's
> possession off by his love of Sirius.


> Book 6 will deal with the liberation of the emotional-I in the heart. 

> Book 7 will deal with the liberation of the consciousness-I in the
head. I feel that the Gate of Saturn or archway in the Department of
Mysteries will come into this, as passing through this gate means
overcoming death.

catkind:  Hans' posts equate Harry's progress through the books with
steps in a process of religious "liberation". In this post I'm just
considering the version with seven steps associated to liberation from
seven planes: physical, etheric/life, astral/emotional, mental, mental
ego, emotional ego, consciousness ego.  

That got me thinking about what Harry has learned and how he has
developed as a person over the series.  I don't entirely agree with
Hans' take on some of the books, I'd love to know what other people
think.  Hope this hasn't already been flogged out, but if so I'd be
grateful for a post number!
PS:  Starting at the beginning, Hans says that Harry has learned in PS
not to want wealth and earthly longevity.  I'm already unhappy with
this statement.  It seems to me that Harry was not particularly
interested in these things in the first place.  Moreover, he has
discovered in PS that he already has a large fortune, and as a wizard
can expect an extremely long life-span.  I'd be more inclined to say
he was freed from the "physical plane" if he'd thrown away one or
other of these, or if he had shown himself particularly afraid of
mortality or poverty. 

As it is, already having wealth and long life, he does not need the
Stone, so it is no surprise that he doesn't want it.  

If I was to try to sum up what Harry learns in PS I'd say it was
something to do with friendship.  At the start of the book, he has
never had any friends.  At the end, Hermione compliments him
specifically on "friendship and bravery". 

I'm still not entirely satisfied with this, as friendship too seems to
come naturally to Harry. He's already got the hang of it pretty well
on the Hogwarts Express ("I think I can tell the right sort for
myself, thanks"), and when he stands up for Neville over the
Remembrall.   CoS: Hans' point here uses a different side of his
symbolisms, so I'll leave it out.  

Again I'm kind of stuck when it comes to what Harry has learnt.  The
theme seems to be discrimination, but again, this is something Harry
already knows far too much about, having been thoroughly discriminated
against by the Dursleys for his magical nature.  

PoA: Agreed, it's all about learning to combat fear, what with
Boggarts and Dementors and Death Omens all over the shop.  

GoF: This is more on the virtues demonstrated side than the virtues
learned side, but Harry shows a strong sense of fair play here.
Otherwise I'm again at a loss.
   
True, Harry has to fight off Imperius, a mind-control spell. He also
has to survive Cruciatus, which seems more physical, and dodge Avada
Kedavra - which I might assign to the consciousness ego or the
etheric/life plane if I have to assign it to one of Hans' planes, on
the grounds that death is the end of your conscious ego and the end of
your life.

OotP: Here Hans has another mental liberation.  I'd see at least as
good a fit to one of the emotional planes (so the third, or the sixth
in Hans' system).  This book is all about Harry's CAPSLOCK emotions
and trying to control his emotions.  There's also his feelings for
Cho, which he does eventually get "liberated" from. 

(Snape quotes from the Lexicon: 
"I told you to empty yourself of emotion!", 
"Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot
control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow
themselves to be provoked this easily -- weak people, in other words
-- they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your
mind with absurd ease, Potter!")

Even that doesn't fit very well, as although his failure to control
his emotions takes Harry to the ministry, it turns out that it is
having his emotions (particularly love) uncontrolled that expels
Voldemort.  

There's also the question of Harry's possible leadership skills.  Do
people think Harry is a great leader?  I've seen more sign of him
being a good /teacher/, though he hasn't had much competition on the
DADA front.  Hermione is still doing a lot of the leading in my opinion.  

HBP/Book 7:  Voldemort is pretty much guaranteed to die in Book 7, and
Harry almost always nearly-dies, so Hans should have no problem with
consciousness ego in Book 7.  I think there might be a problem with
emotional ego for Book 6.  

Although every year has had something to do with emotions and love, I
strongly suspect the Room of Love showdown, if any, will be Book 7. 
This is based on the fact that themes like this tend to jump a book;
I'd be surprised if we're back in the DoM already in July. Also, love
is showing signs of being the big theme.  If Lily's love banished LV
the first time, a lot of people are theorising that this will also be
the key for Book 7.  

What might Harry learn in HBP, then? I'm hoping, especially in light
of the covers we've seen, that he'll learn to work with adults like
Dumbledore and maybe even Snape. Or maybe it's more a question of the
adults learning to work with Harry.
Anyway, here's hoping someone has more coherent thoughts than me on
the subject.

catkind