Harry and James - only skin deep (was:Bullying WAS: Re: Prodigal Sons)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 141239

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > Is Harry *really* so like his father?  I don't think so.
> > <snip> 

> >>Valky:
> I don't agree with that at all. There has got to be at least a    
> dozen passages in which someone who knew James well says to Harry 
> he speaks like James or thinks like James or does something James 
> would do (other than flying).

Betsy Hp:
Sirius and Snape both say Harry is like James, but they're both very 
wrong, IMO.  Because they base that likeness on Harry breaking a 
school rule or getting into trouble.  But while James broke the 
rules for the fun of it, Harry only breaks them when he feels he has 
to.  Actually, Harry is not a huge risk taker when he doesn't have 
to be, IMO.  He's just willing to take a risk if he thinks the risk 
is necessary.  James, on the other hand, would take the risk just 
because it's there.

> >>Valky: 
> One example I can think of is in HBP when Dumbledore tells Harry he
> has just 'Spoken like your mother and fathers son and Sirius true
> godson.'
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Well, yes, like James, Harry is choosing to risk himself to fight 
Voldemort.  But since Lily and James and Sirius are not exactly 
alike, I took it to mean more that Harry is quite noble and brave, 
like his father is noble and brave, but not exactly like his father 
in personality.  If that makes sense.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > James would annoy Harry by prattling on about how he was going  
> > to get his parents to buy him a broom and sneak it onto campus, 
> > school rules be damned. 

> Valky:
> Well yeah it's not beyond reason that James would want to sneak a
> broomstick into school, but there's no proof that James is spoiled 
> to the point where he'd be telling his parents what to do.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
James had an invisibility cloak while still a schoolboy.  That's 
pretty darn telling, IMO.  It doesn't mean that the Potters were bad 
parents.  I personally believe they were probably quite good.  But 
they did make sure their boy had the best so I think it's quite 
possible that James would excitedly suggest that he'd be able to get 
his folks to buy him a broom.  (And I'm sure that, like Draco, James 
would arrive for his first year sans broom.)

> >>Betsy Hp: 
> > And perhaps he share a funny story he'd heard about Hagrid when 
> > Hagrid came to fetch Harry. 
 
> >>Valky:
> Hmm that's all possible too, but what could James, who befriended
> Peter Pettigrew, really say that was so offensive about Hagrid, who
> also became one of his trusted friends.

Betsy Hp:
Maybe a funny little anecdote where Hagrid got drunk and nearly 
burned down his house trying to do magic?  Of course, I think Draco 
probably heard the story because his father was on the board of 
goveners, so who knows if James would hear a similar tale.  But if 
he did, I'd bet he'd eagerly share it.

Oh, and when does Hagrid become a trusted friend of James?  I was 
under the impression that they didn't interact much.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > And then he'd cap it all off by asking Harry what sort of 
> > magic his parents liked to practice (not wanting to associate    
> > with dirty Dark Magic users). <beg> 

> >>Valky:
> LOL, that is funny, but it's against canon, he can't very well have
> had those kind of prejudices against people and befriend Sirius.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
You're right, Valky, I was taking some poetic license there. <g>  
Honestly, James would have probably expressed an eagerness to meet 
some Muggleborn students, "I hear they communicate by something 
called a Phelly-tone!" and ended up totally charming Harry.  I do 
think the Malfoy politics "you are one of *us*, yes?" played a part 
in turning Harry off of Draco.  So I think the more inclusive Potter 
politics would have attracted Harry.

> >>Valky:
> <snip>
> I'll admit I can imagine James boasting a bit like Draco did in    
> Madam Malkins, but they most definitely would not have been the    
> same boy in different skin.

Betsy Hp:
Oh yes, I agree with that.  While there are many parallels in the 
Potterverse there are no perfect mirrors, IMO.  And while there are 
some similarities between Draco and James (both are outgoing 
performers, who love being the center of attention -- quite unlike 
Harry) there are some major differences, also.  For one, they come 
from quite opposite ends of the WW political scale.  For another, I 
think Draco is under more pressure to be something he is not.  I 
doubt Mr. Potter had quite the same fixed idea of how James needed 
to be as I suspect Lucius had (has?) for Draco.
  
> >>Betsy Hp, going for short

> >>Valky: 
> Good idea Betsy. That was so much less tiring.

Betsy Hp:
Heh.  Yeah, I kind of broke my brain on that Oklahoma sized post.  
But after writing the darn thing I wasn't going to *not* post it. 
<bg>

Betsy Hp