Harry good looking? Re:School politics at Hogwarts (Re: How do the books affect

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 179677

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Lesley McKenna
<wrappedinharry at ...> wrote:
>
> Bruce:
> <SNIP>
> > Harry is described as scrawny and pale, with having hair that 
> > won't stay in place no matter how much he combs and brushes 
> > it, with clothing that doesn't quite fit, and a scar; he's 
> > physically awkward (except on a broomstick).
> <SNIP>
> 
> Magpie:
> <SNIP>I think that canonically Harry's a cute boy. He's not 
> Sirius or Tom or Cedric who are supposed to be pretty boys, 
> but yes, I think he's conventionally attractive.
> <SNIP>
> 
> wrappedinharry:
> I think Harry must grow up to at least be a reasonably attractive 
> young man as Hermione says that he is quite fanciable in HBP after 
> he has grown about 5 inches over the summer. Also, I do not think 
> girls like Romilda Vane would be quite so interested in him if he 
> at least did not have something going for him in the looks department. 
> 
> As far as messy hair goes, what's the big deal. Kids deliberately 
> make their hair messy these days, and as far as being scrawny goes, 
> how many young boys in particular look gangly and skinny and then 
> grow into their arms and legs? And where in canon does it imply 
> that Harry is quite awkward?
>
Carol responds:

Viktor Krum is canonically skinny, hook-nosed, and duck-footed, but
the girls follow him around just as they do Cedric. It has nothing to
do with looks; it's only celebrity status. The same is true, IMO, for
Harry, who is still skinny and small for his age even at fourteen,
when he's pursued *as a prestigious date for the Yule Ball.* The
pursuit ceases, IIRC, as soon as the ball is over and doesn't resume
until HBP, when he becomes briefly "fanciable" again as a prospective
date for Slughorn's Christmas party. Only one girl is interested in
Harry, before she ever meets him, again because of his celebrity
status, and that's Ginny, for whom constant exposure to Harry as Ron's
best friend apparently persuades her that he's "fanciable" as a
boyfriend as well (though, on Hermione's advice, she pretends not to
be interested and plays the field). Another girl, Cho, a fellow
Seeker, apparently finds him attractive, but since she's pretty,
popular, and a year older than Harry, I imagine that it's primarily
his athletic ability combined with a famous scar that makes her
interested in him (rather oddly since she's also attracted to, and
dating, Harry's handsome, popular, and personable fellow TWT champion,
Cedric, also a Seeker and Quidditch champion). And neither Ginny nor
Harry ever says that Harry is physically attractive.

I'd say that he's not ugly like Viktor Krum, despite still being
skinny, wearing glasses, and having perennially messy hair, not to
mention a scar that, while being a perpetual reminder of his "victory"
over Voldemort, cannot in itself improve his looks. OTOH, he doesn't
have bad teeth like so many other characters, or a bad complexion (is
Eloise Midgen the only teenage witch/wizard who suffers from
non-Hermione-imposed acne?), or a large nose like teen Severus or
Viktor. So he's just ordinary in the looks department, and rather
small for his age throughout most of the series, perhaps a late
bloomer in terms of adolescence and growth spurts. (Fleur calls him a
"leetle boy" in GoF, and he doesn't seem to need a shave until he's
seventeen.) His only really attractive feature seems to be his eyes,
and even they are referred to as "Lily's eyes" rather than "beautiful
eyes." (Maybe their effect is somewhat diminished by his presumably
state-issued glasses, probably not exactly stylish or flattering.)

Not once does any character refer to him as handsome, in contrast to
Cedric. Granted, he's never referred to as ugly, either (nless we
count Polyjuiced Fleur's "I'm 'ideous"). I think that, like Ron, he's
rather ordinary in the looks department, "a midget in glasses," as Ron
teasingly calls him when Trelawney refers to his "mean stature").
True, he doesn't have red hair and freckles and isn't tall and gangly
(no doubt it's an advantage to have pajamas and robes that actually
fit you--I can identify with Ron here), and perhaps he's outgrown his
"knobbly knees," which are mentioned only in SS/PS, but even in DH,
he's still a "specky, scrawny git," as Fred teasingly calls him (DH
Am. ed. 49) and still shorter than the Twins (51), who are shorter
(and stockier) than Ron.

IMO, Harry's glasses, skinny body, "mean stature," and essential
ordinariness (with the exception of the scar and the green eyes) in
the looks department are intended to help young readers identify with
him. On the one hand, he's "just like me"; on the other, he's a
hero--or, at least, he's involved in a lot of scrapes and predicaments
which he survives with a lot of luck and the help of more talented
friends (and the ability to cast an exceptional Patronus, thanks to a
Dementor Boggart and special help from Lupin, not to mention being
exceptionally good on a broom. I'm not sure that he really qualifies
as a hero, despite courage and the perils he survives, until DH, when
he finally destroys Lord Voldemort, but that's neither here nor there
in a thread about Harry's looks.)

Harry is famous, a celebrity whose popularity waxes and wanes
according to events he's involved in and/or the publicity he receives.
No one seeks him out for his good looks. Only a few actually make
overtures of friendship, and those who do so are not hoping for his
friendship because of his looks. (Harry himself never seeks out a
friend, IIRC. He just falls in with certain people and maintains the
friendship if he likes them.)

Carol, noting that Harry's own assessment of himself is GoF is surely
accurate--no one would be seeking him out as a date for the Yule Ball
if he weren't a TWT champion--and a similar rationale applies in HBP
for Slughorn's party