Harry's arrogance (was Evil Snape)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 154380

Marion wrote:
> My point exactly!
> I just read a mail from somebody, claiming that in book 6 "Harry was
wiser than anybody, including Dumbledore". Harry is not wise. Harry is
not even intelligent, or clever. He's frighteningly slow in the
uptake. And he is tenacious to the extreme in his prejudices against
people. He takes people he doesn't like (Snape and Draco) and projects
unto them his own fears.

Carol responds:
I agree that Harry isn't wise (he's still a hero in training, so to
speak and has a lot of lessons to learn) and that he's tenacious in
his prejudices against Draco and Snape, but to be fair, they do
nothing to make him feel more friendly toward them. (Harry is blinded
to Snape's persistent efforts to help him by Snape's attitude. He sees
the style rather than the substance; the sneers rather than the advice
and protection. I'm a DDM!Snaper and I think that Snape has his
reasons for maintaining this attitude, but I don't think we can fairly
expect Harry to see them.) And, yes, as I posted elsewhere in this
thread, he obstinately clings to his own opinions and either angrily
or silently rejects views that differ from his own, but that doesn't
make him unintelligent--only young. Hermione, who can't be called
unintelligent, is equally certain that she's right on a number of
issues, most notably house-elf liberation. (Good thing she's not
advocating equal rights for giants!) 

We see that Harry *is* intelligent (or Slythernishly clever and
devious) when he figures out how to get the memory from Slughorn (I
doubt that Felix Felicis would have enabled him to do that if he
didn't have the potential to do so on his own). He arrives at at least
some of the right conclusions after the excursions into the Pensieve
in HBP. And he's a lot quicker in remembering bezoars (thank goodness
for Snape!) than Slughorn is when Ron is dying from the poisoned mead.
(I'm sure that others can come up with additional examples of Harry's
intelligence or resourcefulness. He does have an extraordinary amount
of luck and at least one clever friend, not to mention being
powerfully magical when it comes to Patronuses and other DADA spells,
but IMO he wouldn't have survived this long if he didn't also have
above-average intelligence. (I'm not claiming that he's a genius like
the teenage Severus, by any means, but I certainly wouldn't call him
unintelligent.) 
> 
>Marion:
> <snip> I've heard fans call Draco a 'bully' (because he walks around
with two thugs: that's classic bully alright), but we've never heard
of Crabbe or Goyle really beating up people. <snip>

Carol responds:
As I recall, Neville fights with Crabbe and Goyle twice, once in SS/PS
during a Quidditch match (I can't remember who attacked whom) and once
when Neville attacks Draco for his snide remarks about people being
confined to St. Mungo's for permanent mental injuries. Their purpose
seems to be to protect Draco. Apparently they don't act on their own.
(It's interesting that Crabbe briefly stands up to Draco in HBP. Is he
less stupid than we think?)

Marion wrote: 
> I don't like Harry *or* Draco. But of the two, I find Harry the most
dangerous. Not because of what he does but the way he *thinks*.
> He is the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived and the Boy Who Is Destined
To Kill Voldemort. 
> People who refer to themselves in Capitals are bloody dangerous...

Carol responds:
When does Harry refer to himself in capital letters? It's the Daily
Prophet that calls him the Boy Who Lived and the Chosen One and
whatever else. (I have yet to hear anyone call him the Boy Who Is
Destined To Kill Voldemort--though Dumbledore has convinced Harry that
doing so is his destiny. And there's the wording of the Prophecy, "the
one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches," but Harry
doesn't use that phrase, nor is it capitalized.)

As for "people who refer to themselves in Capitals" being "bloody
dangerous," does that include the Half-Blood Prince? I thought you
were a Snape fan. 

Liking or disliking a character is, of course, a matter of personal
preference, but let's be fair and accurate in our assessments to the
extent that canon allows.

Carol, who does not think that being a DDM!Snaper necessitates
underestimating Harry