Harry and the Decision

[bbkkyy55]

No: HPFGUIDX 127614


I wrote in message #127587:
 
> I don't think however that he is ready for the Heros "Hall of 
> Fame" quite yet. He hasn't saved the world. He still needs to
> make the big decision #1 and to commit to it #4. 

Geoff replies:
>Interesting, your comparisons with Frodo. If you have been on the 
>group any length of time, you'll know that I've been a fan of LOTR 
>for almost 50 years (ouch!).
>
>I think in terms of your #1, the decision isn't altogether his; I 
>suspect the agenda will be forced by Voldemort. In fact, Harry has 
>realised that the decision has already been forced ....

"Perhaps the reason he wanted to be alone was because he had felt 
isolated from everybody since his talk with Dumbledore. An invisible 
barrier separated him from the rest of the world. He was - he had 
always been - a marked man. It was just that he had never really 
understood what that meant... And yet sitting here on the edge of 
the lake, with the terrible weight of grief dragging at him, with 
the loss of Sirius so raw and fresh inside, he could not muster any 
great sense of fear. It was sunny and the grounds around him were 
full of laughing people and even though he felt as distant from 
them as though he belonged to a different race, it was still very 
hard to believe as he sat here that his life //must// include, or 
end in, murder"

>(// - my emphasis)
>(OOTP "The Second War Begins" p. 754 UK edition)
>
>So I feel I would feel that he has made the decision and is 
>committed to it.
 
 Bonnie again:

Oh, that scene by the lake just breaks my heart.  But I have to 
disagree slightly.  While I'm sure he will "step up to the plate" 
(baseball term for nonfans), he could still bail out.  Frodo could 
have thrown the Ring in the River and high tailed it for the Shire 
to live in fear the rest of his life.  Harry could possibly still 
do the same thing. He did run away from the Dursleys' in POA, 
without thinking the whole thing through.  I can sort of see Harry 
thinking:

//I don't want to do this and no one can make me.  I'm keeping my 
head down till I graduate, then I'm off to the Bahamas.  No one will 
find me.//

Like I say, He won't do this (I hope), but it is still possible.  At 
least it's possible for him to try.  

Besides, being forced into it is one thing.  Facing the decision 
mentally on your own is quite another thing.  At some point Harry 
has to mentally make the decision on his own.  Remember at the end 
of GOF the graveyard scene,  Harry "decided" to go down fighting 
rather than just let LV kill him.  I just believe at some point 
Harry will have to "decide" to take up the challenge.  The decision 
may be a long process, or it my be a spur of the moment decision.  
But, at some point Harry will have to "Decide".

Bonnie