Intention in Magic (was Re: Motivations for Joining DEs)

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 141219


Lupinlore:
> Is Harry in serious moral danger?  I don't  know.  If he were a
> Jedi, he would be.  But he's not a Jedi,  and this isn't long, long
> ago in a galaxy far, far away, and I'm not at  all sure that what
> we have seen in him and his attitudes/actions  constitutes being in
> mortal peril of Darkness in JKR's  world.

Jen: I don't get why temptation is only a Star Wars theme! We're  in 
agreement Harry is not the next Anakin, but that doesn't mean  
temptation won't be a theme in Book 7. So far Harry thinks pretty 
much  like you do, he saw what happened with the Sectumsempra when he 
used it on  Draco and felt remorse, but there he is, still trying to 
use it on Snape  plus a couple of Crucios. I don't think this 
qualifies as serious moral  danger yet, but I do think the more he 
gives in to hatred, the less that  power which saves him from 
Voldemort will be operational in protecting him. 
 
Julie:
 
I think Star Wars comparisons are a moot point anyway. George Lucas
"borrowed" his themes straight from classic literature (which he  freely
admitted). The hero tempted by evil but ultimately choosing good is 
a *human* theme that has been present probably since Neanderthals
could scratch out stick figure stories on cave walls. Certainly it's  been
a theme since the advent of written language. No hero I've ever heard
of achieved his/her status without facing adversity and without being 
tempted at least once to giving in to the easier path. 
 
(Though if Snape mutters "Harry, I am your father" in Book 7, then I 
might be persuaded to reconsider! ;-)

Lupinlore:
> Let us look  to the figure who, by common consensus, is viewed as
> the loadstone of  Light Magic in the Potterverse, Dumbledore.  DD
> shows no sign of  thinking that Harry is on the road to darkness.
> Far from it, he is  serenely confident that Harry is not in danger
> of such a fall.  We  don't know if he is aware of Harry's attempted
> crucio at the MoM. If he  is, however, he seems not to be at all
> troubled by it. Nor does he say  anything to Harry regarding the
> Sectumsempra episode. 

Jen: Funny  you should mention this, because *Snape* is the one most 
aware of Harry's  attempts at dark magic. Whether anyone knew about 
the incident in the MOM  with Bella is pretty tough to say. Harry, at 
least, never told anyone. The  Sectumsempra I feel certain Dumbledore 
didn't know about. Hermione, our  expositional mouthpiece, told Harry 
Snape wouldn't have wanted Dumbledore to  know about the potion book. 
And Dumbledore was gone for the chase across the  grounds, when Harry 
really started to get in the groove with his new, cool  spells! 

That Snape is being set up to address this issue, rather than  
Dumbledore, is a very good choice in my book. JKR has been working  
toward a parallel between Snape and Harry since the Pensieve 
incident in  OOTP, and she cemented their similarities by allowing 
Harry and Ron to  relate to the HBP as a young guy much like 
themselves. Dumbledore, too  'noble' to use any type of dark magic, 
is out of Harry's league on this one.  Much better to learn this from 
a person who allowed hatred, resentment and  the study of dark arts 
to ruin what may have been a promising life at one  time.


 
Julie:
I agree. At first I was a bit bothered by the fact that Dumbledore
never chided Harry for his more recent misdeeds, both snooping 
into Snape's memories in the Pensieve, and using Sectumsempra
curse on Draco. But this is standard Dumbledore. He doesn't 
need to chide or punish Harry--that's why he has Snape!  Snape--
and to a lesser extent, McGonagall--acts as the disciplinarian, and
Dumbledore leaves Snape to play that role since he has his own
critical part to play as Harry's mentor. And he let's Snape play it
the way Snape wants, because Snape not only delivers the actual
punishments--detentions, etc--but provides a perfect example of
how Harry could end up if he doesn't eventually take those lessons
to heart. 
 
I'm not convinced Dumbledore is in the dark about much that goes
on with Harry though. He may know about the Crucio curse, in which
case he would also know Harry couldn't do it. He did know about the
Sectumsempra, but Snape is already punishing Harry for that, so
why does Dumbledore need to say anything? And given the eventual
result of Harry not learning Occlumency--Sirius's death--Dumbledore
must figure Harry learned his lesson there. (Even if Harry is  blaming
Snape for that death, he knows he had a part in everything that led
up to that confrontation with Bella too. If he had taken Occlumency
seriously and not laid out the welcome mat for Voldemort, things 
might have been different.)
 
I'm pretty sure part of Dumbledore's "Severus, please.." included 
not only getting the DEs away and keeping Hogwarts students safe,
along with Draco and Harry (physically), but perhaps  also finishing  
the final part in training Harry, which may have included stopping  Harry
from doing any Unforgivables during those hyper-emotional  moments
after Dumbledore's death. 
 
Julie 
 


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