Harry Potter and Ender's Game

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 128093


Betsy:
A breakdown of the characters in the Harry Potter books and their 
equivilent from the book "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.  A task 
inspired by some not-quite-recent comments by Phoenixgod (yup, this 
is all his fault <g>) and some enforced time away from the 
computer.  (Sadly, this is what happens when I'm left to my own 
devices.)

[As a public service note there will be some spoilers for Ender's 
Game.  Not so much for Ender's Shadow and the books of that 
particular story line -- but I've read them so my understanding of 
the Ender's Game characters have been duly colored.]

Harry Potter = Ender Wiggin
No brainer this one.  Both boys are the sole hope of their kind, 
have good (in Ender's case, beyond excellent) leadership skills, and 
both have been likened to Christ by various readers.  All Harry 
lacks is Ender's ruthless need to thoroughly dominate every conflict 
he finds himself in, and of course intense military training. 

Hermione Granger = Peter Wiggin
A bit more controversial.  Hermione *does* have a tendency to fall 
to pieces while in the midst of a crises (the Devil's Snare in PS/SS 
and the Centaurs in OotP), but she's got decent skills at figuring 
out how to sway public opinion and undermine tyrannical powerheads 
(OotP).  Peter and Hermione also share the same weakness in 
garnering the personal loyalty of the people around them, something 
that comes naturally to both Harry and Ender.  Hermione does a tiny 
bit better than Peter but neither character would win a popularity 
contest.

Ron Weasley = Mr. and Mrs. Wiggin and/or the people of Earth
Okay, Ron was hard to figure out (partially because I suspect his 
story will have some cool twists in the upcoming books) but at this 
moment he's more of a symbol of what's good in the WW.  He and his 
family are living proof that the fight against Voldemort is worth 
waging.

[Actually, in many ways, Ron is the "girl" of the story (something 
Ender's Game notably lacks - Valentine notwithstanding).  He's there 
to get totally freaked out and thereby show how brave the hero is 
(the spiders in the Forbidden Forest), provide sideline cheering for 
the hero (every book except part of GoF) and get rescued by the hero 
(GoF and I'd also argue CoS. Harry was rescuing Ron's sister.  He 
didn't have any other kind of relationship with Ginny at the time.).

In fact, since Draco provided a similar role in PS/SS with the 
freaky sucking of dead unicorn blood scene (again in the Forbidden 
Forest) one could quite possibly argue that if Harry is Archie (of 
Archie Comicbooks fame), then Ron is Betty and Draco is Veronica.  
What?  Too far, you say?  Not far enough, I cry! <g> Okay, I kid and 
also, I stop.]

Dumbledore = Colonel Graff
Both men recognize that their respective boy is the only hope to 
defeating a seemingly undefeatable enemy.  Both dislike placing such 
a large burden on such young shoulders, and both have a father-like 
love for their young protege.  However, Graff is quite willing to 
put his sentiment aside and push Ender into becoming the deadliest 
weapon he can form, even if he risks Ender's life to do so.  
Dumbledore, as shown in OotP, is not quite as ruthless, to Harry's 
detriment it could be argued.

Professor Snape = Mazer Rackham 
Alright, I know the Snape haters (or should I say, dislikers?) are 
groaning aloud, but hear me out.  The first thing Mazer does as 
Ender's teacher is beat the crap out of him and verbally abuse him.  
Of course there was no personal animosity in either action, so Ender 
quickly got over his anger and soaked up all he could from Mazer, 
something I think everyone agrees would be a good thing for Harry to 
do with Snape (the disagreements seem to arise over the reason for 
the animosity between Snape and Harry).  Mazer also has personal, 
inside information about the enemy (as much as could be had, anyway) 
just as Snape has.  Mazer has also given up his personal life for 
the cause, as has Snape (if you believe that most of his friends 
were Death Eaters).  And both Mazer and Snape are strong allies of 
Graff and Dumbledore.

Neville Longbottom = Bean
So Bean is a character we learn tons more about in Ender's Shadow, 
but even just sticking to what we see in Ender's Game, there are 
similarities.  Both Bean and Neville are fairly self-contained.  
They don't accumulate tons of supporters or friends, but then 
neither seem to require it.  Both boys are seen as runners up to the 
chosen ones; both seem to be missing an essential *something* to 
becoming the One.  And yet, both provide the chosen one with much 
needed support.  (We see this with Neville at the end of OotP, and 
I'll admit to projecting that Neville will be of some importance in 
the final two books.) 

Draco Malfoy = Bonzo or Dink or Petra
Depends on which way young Malfoy goes.  If he continues down the 
road of future Death Eater, then he's like Bonzo, a potentially 
deadly enemy who'll turn out to be little match for Harry.  If he 
turns away from the dark side (fingers crossed) then I imagine he'll 
be like Dink, a good but somewhat reluctant leader, more comfortable 
snarkily critiquing the powers that be than jumping whole heartedly 
on board.  

I could also see Draco as Petra, again heavy with the snark, but she 
showed Ender the ropes when he first joined battle school (and he 
was reluctant to be her friend - for different reasons than why 
Harry turned down Draco, yes, but still a slight parallel).  Draco, 
even while Harry's enemy, has been a constant source of needed 
information for Harry.  

The Dursleys (mostly Vernon and Dudley) = Stilson
Petty bullies who make the early part of Harry's and Ender's life a 
not very pleasant experience.  Both seek out the heroes to bully 
because they're "different" from the accepted norm.  Both are, in 
actuality, no match for the heroes.  Something Stilson learned 
faster and with more finality than either Dudley or Vernon.  I doubt 
Harry will go as far as Ender felt he had to go.  But I also think 
Vernon and Dudley have about as much presence in Harry's life now, 
as Stilson did for Ender after he took off to battle school.

So that's it.  By no means extensive (I heard that sigh of relief!) 
and kinda apropos of nothing, but *I* had fun anyway.  Make of it 
what you will.

Betsy, who strongly suspects this is the first not-in-response-to-
another-posting she's posted to this list