[HPforGrownups] Re: JKR's dealing with emotions - Talking about Death

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 147521

On 2 Feb 2006 at 21:38, Kemper wrote:

> Dumbledore: Yes – just love.
> 
> Dumbledore seems to believe Harry's love is uncommon, in a great and
> remarkable way.  Much more so than all others.  So if we are to see Harry as
> Dumbledore sees him then it would seem that Harry is 'somehow unusually
> capable of love.'

Shaun: 

Well, from my reading of that passage. Dumbledore is not saying 
that Harry's amount of love is unusal or the degree of love that 
Harry is capable of is at all unusual. What he is saying is that 
given Harry's experiences it is surprising he still has this the 
normal love that other people have. And while that's a good 
point, it seems to me that for Harry's reaction to Sirius' death 
to be unusual given his experiences, based on his love, then the 
amount of love, or its form would have to be unusual - not just 
the fact he has it.

Personally, I feel that Dumbledore overstates the case. Yes, 
Harry has had a hard life in many ways, but except for the 
magical aspect, it really isn't *that* unusual. Quite a lot of 
kids grow up in homes that lack love, with neglectful parents (or 
in Harry's case, his aunt and uncle in a parental role). Lots of 
kids lose their parents very young, and even losing them to 
violence isn't that uncommon. I would never claim Harry hasn't 
had a very hard time - but honestly, his experiences do not seem 
to me to have been so bad that Dumbledore should be surprised he 
can still love. At the same time, I also wouldn't be surprised if 
someone in Harry's position had become less capable of loving. I 
just don't see it as that rare that it hasn't happened.

My own childhood was pretty hellish at times. It really was. And 
some people have said over the years that they are surprised at 
how I got through that with certain characteristics - and maybe 
they are even right to be surprised, I don't know... but what 
Dumbledore seems to be suggesting isn't that Harry is just a 
little unusual, but that he's extremely unusual - and honestly, 
personally, I find that hard to see. *Unless* there's still 
something else Dumbledore isn't saying.

Even so, even if Dumbledore is right though, I still don't see 
any signs that Harry is any more loving than the next person in 
the novels. He seems to simply be a fairly normal boy capable of 
fairly normal love. That's just my opinion, but I really don't 
see Harry as different in that regard.

I think he has a heightened sense of justice, and perhaps in some 
ways a heightened sense of duty - this to me is his 'saving 
people thing' and that may have some link to a form of love.

But I don't see much reason to suppose that Harry loved Sirius 
anymore than any normal person would have loved a parent, or 
pseudo-parent figure.

Kemper:

> What do you mean when you say Harry was loved?  I'm assuming you are
> suggesting that his Love power comes from Lily's death, but I could be
> wrong.  However, if not
 Lily's love protection seemed to have lost a bit of
> its potency after the Dark Lord's resurrection.

Shaun:

That's more or less what I mean, yes. Harry *was* loved by his 
mother and that got into his skin.

And, yes, his protection from that does seem diminished, but that 
protection may well have been only part of what she gave him, and 
I think the text suggests that it is only part of it.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia