Special treatment of Harry or not WAS:Re: Lessons in the book

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 146042

Shaun:
<SNIP>
Harry would *love* to be an everyday ordinary wizard. And every 
piece 
> of special treatment he received at school would make him less 
> ordinary. People should only be treating Harry differently from 
any 
> other schoolboy at Hogwarts in cases where it is absolutely 
> unavoidable.
> 
> Now the fact is, I don't think Harry really does get special 
> treatment - not often, anyway. I think Hogwarts does, for the most 
> part, treat Harry as if he was just another student. And I think 
that 
> is good. I'm just pointing out though that special treatment 
because 
> of what Harry is, what he has to do... to me that would be an 
awful 
> thing to do to him.
> 
> The boy deserves as much chance to be normal as anyone else. And 
for 
> the most part, I think he gets that.


Alla:

I sort of agree with you, but not quite. I cannot speak for Sherry, 
but I think what she meant was that Harry gets special treatment 
because he needs it to survive - not because of who he is, although 
partially I guess it is so very connected together - Harry is the 
Boy who lived and he needs help to survive death, IMO.

Don't you think that the need to stay alive IS on the list of the 
cases where special treatment is unavoidable?

Like for example Irene brought up earlier Dumbledore's special 
lessons in HBP as an 
example of special treatment. To me it is just SUCH a clear cut of 
fight for survival- to get to know Voldemort's strengths and 
weaknesses because Harry needs it for the final battle and for 
Horcruxes hunt, but I agree with you in a sense that the examples 
of "special treatment" NOT connected to the need of stay alive 
really do not look as special treatment to me in a sense that 
Hogwarts would not have done it to any other student.

In the beginning of this discussion I thought that the only example 
of special treatment that is not connected to his fight against 
Voldemort was giving Harry a broomstick and letting him to be on the 
team in his first year.

I still think this way, except that Geoff pointed out that it is not 
even clear that first years are not allowed on the team, only that 
Harry is the first one who was selected for many years, so maybe the 
special treatment was only allowing Harry to have a broomstick. IMO 
does not look lie a long list of special treatment at ALL, if one 
does not consider the help - direct or circumstantial Harry gets in 
order to survive the final battle. 

JMO,

Alla