Harry: Not Quite So Admirable.

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 158163

---  "eggplant107" <eggplant107 at ...> wrote:
>
>  "Argus Pyrites" <o_secca@> wrote:
> 
> > if Voldemort had retired to Dover, somehow obviously
> > done with trying to take over the world, yet back in 
> > a body and alive... would Harry track him down and 
> > try to kill him? I think not.

>  Eggplant:
> 
> I think so, at least I hope Harry is smarter than that.
> If somebody discovered a old and placed Nazi war 
> criminal who 60 years ago had joyfully butchered 
> thousands of innocent human beings in a particularly 
> horrible way, and if that person decided to just let 
> the monster go free, well ; I think I'd conclude that 
> the person who did  that was a idiot.  
> 
>  Eggplant
>

bboyminn:

Let me ask, somewhat sarcastically, how many Nazi war 
criminals have you personally tracked down? Really...
that many. 

My point is, as I've already said, that if Voldemort 
were not trying to kill Harry, even more so if Voldemort
got his body back and retired to a quiet life in 
Cornwall. There would be no need for Harry to track him
down. 

That doesn't mean the Wizard World lets Voldie off scot
free. He still needs to pay for his previous crimes,
but it wouldn't be up to Harry to do the job. The Wizard
World does have something approximating Law Enforcement,
and it would be their job to do /their job/. 

Harry is involved because Voldemort has made him an active
priority traget, and as long as that is true, Harry and 
those around him are at risk. It is himself and his 
friends that Harry is defending. 

I also think your view of the context of Love in the 
conversation with Dumbledore is warped. Harry has on a 
couple occassions used dark spells, although we can't 
say for certain that the Unforgivables are Dark Magic, 
only that they are dark magic. That is, they are dark as
in 'not nice', but we don't specifically know that they 
are classified as truly Dark Magic. It is true regardless
of their 'dark' classification, that they are absolutely
classified as Unforgivable. I'll grant you that.

But when Dumbledore says that Harry has never been tempted
by the Dark Arts, he means that Harry has never been 
tempted by the /dark side/. He has never been tempted to 
become the next Dark Lord. Why? Because Harry understands
that their is a power greater than /darkness/ and that 
power is Love; the love of his parents, the love of his
friends, the love of his country, and the love of himself.
Voldemort doesn't understand /love/ in this way. He 
doesn't love anything but his pathetic life. His /friends/
are merely instruments to be played to his own ends. He
killed his only family for some self-preceived afront.
What family he didn't kill, he framed for the killing he
did commit and had them sent to prision where they quickly
died. 

It is Harry's selfless love, his willingness to sacriifce
for others, that protects him, and it is Voldemorts selfish
self-centered love that makes him vulnerable. 

Yes, there is an aspect of revenge to Harry actions, but it
is in the context of self-defense and defense of his friends,
and the Wizard World. Harry is not actively seeking Voldemort
out to avenge himself. In fact, he would gladly leave Voldie
alone if Voldie would leave him and his friends alone. He
would be content to leave it up to the authorities, just as
every other kid in the wizard world is content to do.

It is because Voldemort makes it personal that Harry had no
choice but to take it personal. Yet, if you really look at 
the conversation between Dumbledore and Harry, you will see
that they are talking about two separate things, two 
separate things that when taken in context are not self-
contradictory.

Just one man's opinion.

Steve/bboyminn