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

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 146047

Alla:
*(snip)*
> 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.

Ceridwen:
My gripe is with the rule-breaking in ordinary incidents.  Such as 
talking in class, and wandering around after hours (with or without 
cloak), sneaking into Hogsmeade despite warnings for his life in PoA 
and suchlike.  While I do see the point of Saving The World, as in 
entering the seven challenges in SS/PS, or the Chamber in CoS, I 
don't think Harry should get a pass for ordinary infractions just 
because he's The Boy Who Lived.  That, and the various mysteries he 
solves in the books, doesn't mean he can carry on a conversation with 
Ron in class, for one instance.  His studies are important for him to 
progress to the point where he can defeat Voldemort.  And the 
sneaking into Hogsmeade was forbidden to him for the very point that 
his life was supposedly in danger.

My other gripe is the cavalier attitude toward detention.  Instead of 
being ashamed that they broke the rules (in an ordinary manner), 
they're offended that they are being disciplined.  The hero, his best 
friends, and the narration, all seem to say that detention is no big 
deal, it's quite all right to have it, it proves your goodness 
instead of proving that you were doing less than you could have done 
to make the most of school.

I do happen to think that the kids seem to consider themselves above 
the rules ordinary students have to follow, in these examples.  I can 
see where Harry might feel that way, after a lifetime of mistreatment 
by Dudley and his aunt and uncle.  Getting around unreasonable rules 
is how he has survived.  And, Ron, with the twins especially, but 
also the supposedly negative reaction against 'being like Percy', 
would definitely see it as a badge of honor.  But, it's no more than 
others get for their infractions on the same level.

Someone, was it Geoff? mentioned that this is a time-honored 
tradition in children's school fictions.  I know it is in children's 
TV shows.  In fact, that comment made me remember an old TV show I 
used to watch and love, McKeever and the Colonel, where a nice boy in 
a military boarding school makes plans, runs afoul of the rules, is 
constantly being followed around and threatened with expulsion by the 
mean sergeant, but since whatever he got up to ended up helping 
someone in the long run, the colonel who ran the academy gave him 
pass after pass along with kindly lectures about why what he did was 
wrong.  I'm sure (the character) McKeever grew up to become another 
Sgt Bilko.

Ceridwen.