for whom are the books named?

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 134213

Sherry Gomes wrote:
"So, this brings me back to the point.  Whose story is this?  It is
Harry's story.  If we are going to believe that Dumbledore was
absolutely right to trust Snape, then that seems to take some of the
hero mantle away from Harry."

Del replies:
OK, this is something I *really* don't understand. It's not the first
time something along that line is expressed, and I still don't get it.
Basically, it's something like "nobody else can do anything better
than Harry because it would take away from Harry". Huh?? It's
definitely not in *my* definition of a hero that he must be better
than everyone else. In fact, I personally find those heroes whose
instincts are always so much better than anyone else's mightily *boring*.

In my idea, the hero is simply the one who has the desire, the ability
and the opportunity to accomplish the Task, and who goes and does it.
The desire often comes from his having a pure heart and/or from having
suffered more than most other people at the hands of Evil. The
abilities are usually a combination of inborn talents and developed
skills. And the opportunity is usually a mix of sheer luck, useful
people/artifacts, and just plain "being in the right place at the
right time". But the greatest heroes, for me, are those who are always
very human, who make mistakes, who fail sometimes, but who always try
again. That's why I like Harry as a hero. But the idea of some
super-human Harry, who would instinctively know better than anyone
else, irritates and bores me.

Yes the stories are about Harry, but that does not in any way mean
that he must be the only one being right now, or that he can't be way
wrong sometimes still. JKR made him be very wrong in the past, and I
really don't see why she should suddenly make him be always right.

Especially considering the *reasons* Harry always mistrusted Snape:
1. Harry's scar hurt the first time he looked at Snape (but it wasn't
Snape's fault)
2. Snape is nasty to Harry.

I mean, it's not like Snape is that fluffy bunny that everyone loves
but Harry can't help mistrusting. Hating Snape, mistrusting Snape,
that's the *easy* way! And we've been told a few times that in the
Potterverse, one should be wary of the easy way...

Sherry Gomes wrote:
"i think it will be a far better twist, to have Harry proved right in
the end."

Del replies:
It would be awfully boring, in my opinion...

Let's see.
Harry in PS/SS: Snape is a bad guy!
Harry in CoS: Snape is a bad guy! 
Harry in PoA: Snape is a bad guy!
Harry in GoF: Snape is a bad guy!
Harry in OoP: Snape is a bad guy!
Harry in HBP: Snape is a bad guy!
And, oh, it turns out Harry was right. Boooo-ring!

Not to mention that if Harry is completely right and Snape is simply
completely evil, then the "twist" did not come "in the end", but at
the beginning of the 6th book. Very lame, IMO.

Sherry Gomes wrote:
"The more I think about it all, the more and more deeply I am
convinced that Harry will turn out to be right about Snape in the end,
and Dumbledore sadly wrong.  Harry is the hero; it is his story.  It
has to be that way, I think."

Del replies:
But DD is the wise mentor of the hero, and usually the mentor is
right, *especially* when everything seems to point to the fact that he
is wrong. That's one of the major points of the mentor: to teach the
hero to look beyond appearances. And Harry so far has almost NEVER
looked beyond the appearance of Snape. In OoP, he was shocked to
discover that Snape was sometimes bullied 2-on-1 by his father and
godfather. In HBP, Harry discovers that Young Snape, even though
involuntarily, can be very useful to him (Harry). Harry is barely
beginning to understand that Snape is much more complex than just
Bad-Mean-Professor-Snape, and I think and hope this will continue in
Book 7.

Just my opinion, obviously.

Del