Wizard Chess WAS (McG / DD / Re: Why should Harry .....)

[Matt]

No: HPFGUIDX 123125



Patrick Jarrett wrote:

> Sometimes I think the fact that Harry's still a kid gets lost. 

> (SNIP)
 
> And suddenly when he comes home for a summer, he writes to his 
> friends and gets no response or a bare minimum of a response. He's 
> ostracized and alone now, he doesn't know why, he's not only 
> facing the evil being who could be his end and wants to be his end 
> but he's dealing with a confusing life where suddenly he feels as 
> if he's alone again.
> 
> I just felt it needed to be said. Yes, he did cross into what we
> perceive as bratty behavior, but if I were in his position I doubt 
> I'd listen to people who 'cared about me' as they did over that 
> summer.

> SNIP the rest of this great post!



Matt now:

Thanks very much for this Patrick!  It seems that in a couple of 
recent threads, a lot of people seem to really be criticizing Harry, 
and pointing out the very many mistakes he made and how he was 
stupid, etc. etc.  However, I agree that people are overlooking the 
fact that Harry Potter is still a 15-year old teenage wizard.  It is 
easy to look back at Harry's actions and look at all 
these "mistakes" he made, however I think that Harry made the 
decisions he did under conditions of extreme pressure and anger.

And who wouldn't have been angry at what was happening around him in 
OotP?  Given the intense pressures he was under, such as the torture 
suffered by Umbridge, the feelings of anger he had at being left in 
the dark by his friends, the avoidance of DD, etc., I am not 
surprised he was angry and acting on this emotion.  After keeping 
him at arms length for so long and keeping him totally out of the 
information loop, it would be hard for Harry to simply go along with 
everything that DD and others were telling him to do (example: the 
occlumency lessons that made him feel weak and were taught by Snape 
who always gives Harry the impression that he hates him).

Although Harry might have made some mistakes (although not as many 
IMO as others seem to believe), given all the pressures on him in 
this year, along with the regular teenager issues, I think Harry did 
better than most teenagers would have under those circumstances.  
>From Harry's perspective, given that there was a war going on and 
the leader of the evil side wanted to see you dead, while at the 
same time you were asked to do something painful (occlumency) 
without adequate explanations or additional information, I am not 
surprised it added to some pretty angry feelings!

Matt
MSW