Gay Harry? (was:Re: Slughorn makes me uneasy)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 138573

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>  
> > However, I don't see it being a problem *because* Harry is       
> > sixteen years old.  He's quite close to sexual maturity now and 
> > people around him are responding to it.  Romilda Vane, Ginny and 
> > yes, Slughorn.

> >>a_svirn:
> I don't see it as a "problem" exactly. However, one of the things 
> that struck me after first "gulp" of HBP was the not-quite-faint 
> suggestion of the "wrong" kind of sexual tension.
> <snip>
> Now, this would be OK with me, I am quite prepared to believe that 
> JKR knows best (because she does when all's said and done), but I 
> am curious as to why she for instance describes Harry's other and 
> by definition less caring and less intimate relationships in      
> language that strongly suggest sexual rapport?

Betsy Hp:
I think a big part of it is that this is the "Slytherin book."  
We're finally getting a glimpse into the house, its members, and 
Harry's own Slytherin side.  From our first look Slytherin is 
described in a more sensual manner, IMO.  

You get the beautiful (and don't he know it!) Blasie Zabini who may 
well have learned the art of seduction at his mother's knee.  The 
folks in the Slytherin compartment are all over each other. Blasie 
falls over Crabbe and Goyle.  Draco is draped over Pansy while she 
strokes his hair. They casually discuss another student's dating 
potential.  Nothing like this occurs in the Gryffindor compartment.  
(I'm betting their house parties are quite different affairs from 
the Gryffindors, too.  Less people turning into canaries, more 
fifteen minutes in the closet. <eg>)

> >>a_svirn:
> OK for Slughorn, at least it is he who is clearly attracted (why  
> though it is so important for JKR?)

Betsy Hp:
I think the importance of Slughorn's attraction to Harry is Harry's 
realization of that attraction.  It's part of growing up, and might 
possibly serve Harry well on his upcoming scavenger hunt.

> >>a_svirn:
> But these "false leads", so to speak, are not by any means 
> limited to Slughorn. Take for example Harry's "obsession" with 
> Draco. I am fairly certain and willing even to bet that JKR does  
> not envision Harry as a latent gay, and still less does she intend 
> to pair him off with Draco. Yet, for some reason she describes    
> Harry's attitude towards his old rival in a language fraught with 
> sexual innuendos.

Betsy Hp:
I agree that I'll be quite surprised if the books end with Harry and 
Draco flying off into the sunset.  But I do think there is something 
important about Draco's relationship with Harry. They parallel or 
shadow each other throughout most of the books. 

With OotP it looked like the parallel had stopped.  Harry grew 
faster than Draco and it almost looked like Draco's character was 
dropping out of the story.  With HBP Draco catches up to Harry and 
there's a bit of a reversal.  For the first time it's Draco ignoring 
Harry and Harry obsessed with Draco.

I think the combination of the importance of their relationship, the 
overall sensuality of HBP, and the role-reversal is what gets the 
innuendo flying. 

> >>a_svirn:
> We are *told* that Harry sometimes dreams of Ginny, but 
> we never actually *see* him doing that. Yet we see him spending 
> night after night thinking of Draco. We never saw him admiring 
> Ginny's appearance or worrying because of some changes in it. (And 
> he certainly never bothered to notice how pale or otherwise 
> distraught Cho had been, even though it would have been a good    
> move for an aspiring lover). Yet he takes in every change in      
> Draco's appearance and positively monitoring him for signs of     
> illness and decline. Draco gives up Quidditch and Harry looses any 
> interest in it. His obsession makes even his best friends uneasy. 
> And, really, all these "was it his imagination or did Draco really 
> look thinner (or paler, or sicker)" sound almost like paperback   
> romance cliché. I am fairly certain that it is not accidental. Yet 
> I am damned if I know what she means by it.

Betsy Hp:
But Harry doesn't need to *work* on his relationship with Ginny.  
Once they get together it goes swimmingly.  (Probably the reason we 
see little of it. It's like a pleasant picnic: fun for the 
picnicers, boring for the observers.)

His "relationship" with Draco is a huge problem though.  Draco has 
stepped out of his usual role.  Draco's supposed to be the one 
obsessed with Harry, and suddenly that's changed.  Since Draco had 
never had any real sort of relationship with any of Harry's friends 
(he was only interested in them as they related to Harry) they don't 
notice when things change.  

I read an essay (long, long ago, so I can't source it) that talked 
about how the descriptors JKR used for Draco were often feminine in 
nature. (He blushes pink, for example.)  If JKR *did* choose to 
write Draco in this way it's not surprising that when Harry turns 
his attention toward Draco some "false leads" (to borrow your 
phrase) spring up.

Betsy Hp, who's slightly afraid that she really didn't answer the 
question at all