Harry's study habits (Was Re: Harry's character development)

[hekatesheadband]

No: HPFGUIDX 139746

CathyD: <<Harry, I think he's a bit of an idot. He
> puts very little effort into his homework, pays little attention in
> class, accomplishes learning only at dire need (Patronus, throwing
> off the Imperius curse, or when cramming, with Hermione's notes, for
> exams), >>

I always hate to disagree with an extremely thorough analyst... then
again, there are so many on all sides of every issue that it's quite
inevitable. But I do feel compelled to note the text does support a
reading of Harry as fairly intelligent and reasonably diligent.

I don't have my books at hand, but several times in each book, Rowling
sets the stage with words to the effect of "Harry had been poring over
his Potions essay for an hour when..." or "Harry felt Crookshanks'
tail brush against his knee as he looked through his Transfiguration
notes" or "They found an empty classroom where they could practise
such-and-such a charm" or "Harry was satisfied that he had managed to
get three rolls of parchment for Binns' essay."

But we as readers tend to overlook this. Why? First, it's not that
interesting. Who wants to read or speculate about endless rounds of
trying to levitate desks? Few of us really care about the magical
influences of Saturn's moons or how a raven is compositionally similar
to a writing desk.

I suspect it's not that interesting to write about either - JKR is no
Tolkein to develop an entire sociology, cultural complex and military
tradition for English goblins and then give us 50 pages of highlights.
She wants us to know that Harry does study, does complete his
assignments and work on his spells, but she doesn't want to figure out
the theoretical physics of how brooms fly, and I can't blame her.

Is Harry as intelligent as Hermione? Academically, of course not; I
would even venture, overall, of course not. His intelligence and his
curiosity are of entirely different kinds - but they're certainly
there, just as Hermione generally tends to be less eager to explore
unfolding mysteries and is, with some exceptions, not a brilliant
strategist. Harry will accept Hermione's academic help when she offers
 it and ask for it if he really needs it, just as Hermione will assist
Harry when he needs help completing an important but dangerous task by
a design mainly his own.

I would also suggest that Harry is quite humble and modest, and isn't
likely to be elated for days if he's better than most at something.
Hermione has never been able to compete with him in terms of DADA and
magical defence, but Harry doesn't even realise that until book 5
(although most readers have). Beyond that, he's not always very
confident in himself - he can't escape the fact of his talent in
flying, but most people (Crouch-as-Moody, Hermione, Lupin et al) are
hard-pressed to convince him he's good at much else. I suspect that's
a mark he'll always bear from growing up with the Dursleys.

Enough rambling... Harry: Intelligence - less than Hermione's, but not
half-bad. Diligence: At least as much as can reasonably be expected
from a teenager - Hermiones of the world excepted, everyone does some
slacking at that age.

-hekatesheadband
Because the Sorting Hat is really Bono.