Truth vs. what meets Harry's eye (Was: Is Harry an idiot because he thinks

[spotsgal]

No: HPFGUIDX 140568

Christina:

First of all, AWESOME post, Carol.  I'm snipping most of it because I
agree.

Carol:
>Let's look at what meets the eye of other characters besides Harry
>and how their perceptions compare with the facts.

Christina:

*rubs hands together* I love this game.  A lot of people have said
that HBP was something of a turning point for Harry, where he starts
to actually be right in his hunches.  Now, I haven't thoroughly
re-read HBP cover-to-cover yet, but just flipping through it (for
about the thousandth time), I came across my favorite Harry
misperception:

(HBP, Am. Ed., page 340)
"But Tonks has her own family to go to, hasn't she?"

"Hmmm," said Mrs. Weasley.  "Maybe.  I got the impression she was
planning to spend Christmas alone, actually."

She gave Lupin an annoyed look, as though it was all his fault she was
getting Fleur for a daughter-in-law instead of Tonks, but Harry,
glancing across at Fleur, who was now feeding Bill bits of turkey off
her own fork, thought that Mrs. Weasley was fighting a long-lost
battle.
(end quote)

Harry then starts to ask Lupin about Tonks's patronus changing, still
believing that it was because of Sirius.

There are several instances in HBP where Harry witnesses situations
and incorrectly interprets them.  He believes that Slughorn is
teaching DADA.  When Ginny and Hermione start talking trash about
Fleur, Harry starts off by thinking that they are speaking of Mrs.
Weasley (a misperception corrected very quickly, but still).  He
thinks Tonks had the hots for Sirius (honestly, Harry- they're
cousins!), based on things that he witnessed.


Alla:
>In fact, I would find it incredibly wierd if the first thing after
>seeing Snape killing Dumbledore Harry would start wondering whether
>Snape is innocent.
>
>Now, it may happen that some additional circumstances could be
>brought to Harry's attention LATER ON and then he would start
>wandering what happened

Christina:

Oh, I'll be *shocked* if Harry ever wonders about Snape's possible
innocence on his own.  Once Harry has a perception of a person or
situation in his head, he sticks to it.  He never questions what he
"knows" on his own- that just isn't Harry's style.  No, like many
others here, I firmly believe that it will be somebody else that
questions Harry's report of the events surrounding Dumbledore's death
(whether they turn out to be correct or not).  I've always thought
that Dumbledore, Hermione, and Lupin formed our team of analytical,
cautious, and "objective" characters (in Lupin's case, it's a
practically laughable objectivity..."I neither like nor dislike
Severus Snape"?  Please).  Since Dumbledore is now dead, I'd bet that
it'll be Lupin or Hermione that will prod more deeply into the
situation.  Hermione, most likely, considering the fact that
Dumbledore instructed Harry to share everything with Hermione and Ron.
 Also, Lupin seemed pretty closed to new ideas about Snape at the end
of HBP.  Even after all that had transpired, Hermione *still* points
out, " 'Evil' is a strong word."


>Alla:
>I think that Harry is actually been right too through book 6, so
>even if he is not infallible guide to truth, I am going to hope
>that he is right this time. :)

Christina:

As I said before, there are many times in HBP where Harry misjudges
situations and people.  I think it's especially important to note that
the things Harry *is* right (or appears to be right) about in this
book concern opinions he's had all along- Snape is dangerous, Malfoy
is dangerous.  This is half the reason he's not taken seriously.  Ron
and Hermione don't understand Harry's obsession with Malfoy because
Harry is the Boy Who Cried Wolf.  Lupin and Hermione (I excuse
Dumbledore here because I think he *did* have an iron-clad reason for
trusting Snape, whether Snape ends up as DDMan! or ESE!) repeat their
standard lines about Snape when Harry expresses concern because he's
been expressing concern for years.  Harry didn't wisen up or become
more perceptive in HBP- this just happened to be the year where Snape
and Malfoy finally *emerged* as dangerous.  If you think Harry was
right to mistrust Snape, then he has been in tune with Snape's
potential for evil from the start (and has been right in this
particular area all along).  If you think Harry was wrong, well
then...this is just another example of Harry being incorrect.  Either
way, I can't see any evidence that Harry was more right in HBP than
he's ever been before.  It is *still* Hermione that makes the
interesting leaps.  She is freakishly accurate in her Eileen Prince
guess.


Christina