[HPforGrownups] Re: What would a successful AK mean?

[Kathryn Jones]

No: HPFGUIDX 142888


> Sherry:
  I believe that Dumbledore made one of his huge mistakes
> by trusting Snape, and that Harry, whose judgment we have been set up to
> doubt will be right in the end.  He *is* the hero after all.

KJ writes:

    Now this interests me. In the first book, Harry, bumbling along, 
with the help of his friends, is the clear *hero*.
    In the second book, Harry is also the clear *hero*, but with 
Fawkes's help. Without Fawkes Harry would have been killed. End of series.
    In the third book, Harry would not have carried the day without 
Hermione. Harry did not have the time turner, or the maturity to 
restrain himself from changing the past, or the patience to think 
through what had to be done. He was also not sufficiently aware of what 
went on around him to be able to determine the exact point of time he 
was in, and what would be happening next, in order to insert himself 
into the correct point in time to affect a change. All he really did was 
cast a Patronus, which allowed Hermione to pull it off. He was much less 
of a *hero* and very nearly an impediment.
    In the fourth book, Harry is completely a pawn,pushed and pulled in 
all directions, getting through the tasks with the help of at least four 
characters. He survived Voldemort through sheer luck and one of the few 
things he allowed himself to learn from Snape. The only "heroic" thing 
he did was to keep his promise to Cedric and return his body to his 
parents. In this book, his decision freed Peter Petigrew, to restore 
Voldemort. Way to go Harry!
    In the fifth book, Harry is a complete mess, and his lack of 
self-restraint, refusal to learn anything from Snape, resentment of DD, 
and general angst resulted in the death of his godfather. There was no 
Harry *the hero* in OotP. Hermione started the DADA, charmed the coins, 
got rid of Umbridge, and was remembered by Grawp. Luna came up with the 
thestrals. The best Harry could pull off in this book was to provide the 
information that saved the life of Arthur Weasly at what he felt was 
risk to his own credibility.
    In the HBP Harry managed to zero in on the Draco problem fairly 
early in the game, but without the committed help from his friends who 
had romance on the mind, he was helpless. In this book, his major 
contribution to events was to pour poison down DD's gullet at his 
command. He really could have asked DD a number of questions about what 
the result might be before doing so. If DD had been killed on the spot, 
Harry would not have made it passed the inferi to get out. The point of 
this book seems to be to emphasize the fact of Harry's complete 
helplessness in the face of the events unfolding around him, which I 
suppose is necessary to increase the drama of the last book. Harry does 
not even see the heroism of the people around him. Lupin is risking life 
and limb to try to improve the werewolf situation, the Weasleys continue 
to make targets of themselves to support Dumbledore, Tonks and 
Shacklebolt risk their jobs and probably Azkaban to support the Order, 
and then there is Snape (but let's not go there)and Dumbledore gave up 
his health and life to fight Voldemort.
    The point to all this is that, in my opinion, while the books are 
from Harry's point of view, which make him the key character, they do 
not necessarily make him the *hero*.
KJ