Explaining the danger to Harry (LONG)

[juli17ptf]

No: HPFGUIDX 130116

Alla wrote:
> 
> Oh, and perhaps you will be surprised but I am not even arguing 
that 
> Harry was entirely right. :-)
> 
> He sure made some mistakes and I am sure will recognise them, BUT 
> when I start COMPARING his mistakes and Dumbledore and Snape, then 
> Harry's mistakes pale to me.
> 
> Then I cannot assign more than tiny percentage of blame to Harry, 
> because I find what Dumbledore and Snape did so eggregious.
> 

I'm not surprised, Alla ;-) I think just about everyone is assigning 
some blame to each of the three parties above (and even to Sirius, 
because he took Bellatrix far too lightly). But you've probably hit 
on the crux of the matter, which is how much blame we assign to each 
person.

Again, I think it is not only incorrect but it would be damaging to 
assign Harry only a *tiny* percentage of the blame. If he doesn't 
accept that his own actions (or inactions) can have consequences down 
the road, i.e, take responsibility for his own mistakes, then how can 
he grow and mature as a person?

And I'm not saying he deserves a lion's-share of the blame. In fact, 
I don't think it's even about percentages. It's just about the 
actions. Dumbledore takes the most blame, and probably justly so as 
his actions had the most consequences. He didn't give Harry enough 
information, falsely believing he was somehow protecting Harry. Then 
he assigned a teacher who had a terrible relationship with Harry to 
teach him a skill that requires complete trust between the parties 
(who are, after all, potentially privy to each other's darkest 
secrets). 

Snape, who actually acted slightly better toward Harry during 
Occlumency than he normally does in Potions (he actually gave Harry 
grudging praise at one point during Occlumency, perhaps the first he 
has ever delivered to Harry), still only manages to improve his 
behavior *slightly.* And that wasn't enough, not when so much was at 
stake. Snape didn't suck it up for the cause like he should have, and 
put all his personal feelings aside, which was his mistake.

As for Harry, his mistake wasn't doubting whether the Occlumency was 
working, or doubting whether it was really that dangerous to have 
such contact with LV (it helped him save Arthur Weasley after all). 
He had reason for doubting both (though he can't come back later and 
claim he wasn't TOLD how important Occlumency was, because he was 
told). He just wasn't shown in any meaningful way what the 
consequences were (back to Dumbledore not sharing enough 
information). 

Harry's biggest mistake--besides believing himself invincible in that 
teenager sense that is impossible to eradicate until maturity kicks 
in--was the same as Dumbledore's. He didn't share information. Even 
though he was told how important the lessons were, he didn't tell 
Snape or Dumbledore that it didn't seem to be working, or that his 
visions were getting stronger, or that he had an increasingly 
uncontrollable urge to see what was behind that door. 

Now, granted, Harry said some things to Ron and Hermoine, and granted 
Snape and Dumbledore weren't exactly approachable for different 
reasons, but Harry knew he was wrong to keep pursuing the visions. He 
THOUGHT so to himself. But he also kept it to himself. And he even 
resorted to lying to everyone about whether he was practicing 
Occlumency to stay a course he knew was wrong. 

But this is all about Harry maturing and reaching his potential. If 
he is to do that, then he must look back at where *he* went wrong and 
accept his mistakes (as Dumbledore accepts his own mistakes), and 
even assign himself more blame than is perhaps necessary (as 
Dumbledore did himself). That's part of maturing. (Oh, and whether 
Snape does the same--doubtful--is beside the point, because this is 
about Harry growing up and fulfilling his potential as a person, not 
Snape--who likely never will.)

So I for one hope in HBP to see Harry accept some blame for the 
Occlumency debacle, and not just a tiny percentage of it (i.e, 
saying "Well, I made mistakes, but the ones DD and Snape made were so 
much worse that mine hardly count.") In the end it is about accepting 
responsibility for your own actions, and leaving others to accept or 
not accept their own culpability. That is what will prove Harry's 
character, to himself and to us. 

Julie