DD and Harry in Book VI, what you do and don't want to see

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 123531


SSSusan said:
I find it amusing that you use the very *loaded* words "silly"
and "insipid" and a clearly sarcastic tone with "suffering saint"
when you list the things you do not want to see. Why are they so
silly & insipid? What's so horrible about putting others before you
in desperate times? They may not be what you want to see, but
they're part of what JKR has given us so far, so I can't quite see
why you'd expect to see no more of them.
>
> I mean, if the "choosing what's right over what's easy" discussion
> is insipid, then I wonder if you'll really want to keep on reading
> ol' JKR's work?

Tonks here:

I think that ol' Lupinlore likes to stir things up. Get us all riled 
up so he can see what we all have to say when push comes to shove. 
It does help one to sort out what one really believes. So to me 
Lupinlore is the the Devil' advocate. Maybe not all the time, but 
often. I think that he likes to have fun with us. (Course he could 
be a recovering DE, that falls off the wagon now and then. ;-)

Alla said:
I DON'T find it realistic in the slightest (and yes, I know that
this is the book about magic, I am only speaking about Harry
emotional development) that after all that Harry had been through he
will be concerned about saving the world.

Tonks here:

1. It is not unusual for someone in a war to have one traumatic 
event after another with no time to recover, and still go on to be a 
hero and die a hero's death if necessary. 

2. In both war and peace, a person can suffer terrible tragic events 
and losses in their life and still have a loving heart that give to 
others. Look at some of the people in the death camps in WWII. Was 
it Bonhoffer? There were people there that lost their family and did 
not become bitter, did not give in to the impulse to become like the 
guards. And there were other that did become like the guards. 
(*Identification with the oppressor* is a natural defense 
mechanism.) But many had the deep inner strength to over come things 
far worst than what has happened to Harry and went on to do whatever 
they could for others. It is a part of the human spirit that I think 
that JKR wants to portray in these books. She shows us both the best 
and worst of the human personality. Then I think she will leave us 
with the choice as to which path we will each follow, Harrys or LVs.

Alla said:
I am thinking about  the "mastering his emotions in order to be 
useful". It makes me  scared.

Tonks here:
I know that normally we feel that people have to *work through their 
emotions* for good mental health, etc. And maybe that is what you 
are referring to here, since suppressing ones emotions is usually 
not a good thing and leads to all kinds of problems. But maybe JKR 
is talking about something else. Don't Wizards heal quicker than 
Muggles from physical injuries?  Maybe they can heal faster from 
emotional ones as well. So let's say that Harry can and does.  Then 
what Harry need to do is be able to control the emotions that he 
feels so as to control LV.  We have already seen that Snape put his 
own emotional garbage in the pensive so that it would not get in the 
way when teaching Harry Occulmency. If you are controlled totally by 
your emotions then LV can lead you wherever he wants to take you, as 
we have seen.  So I think that is what JKR is talking about when she 
says that he will have to master his emotions.

Tonks-op