Harry's "friend," the HBP (Was: Freud and JKR / Id vs. Superego )

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165235

Betsy Hp:
> <snip> 
> The Prince, IMO, is all about animal need (or the id) at the point
he invented that spell.  This is a boy on his way to becoming a Death
Eater, after all.  And it's not that I think Harry is in any danger of
joining Voldemort (I can't think of any way he'd do such a thing), 
but I *do* think Harry is in danger of allowing his anger and pain to
control his decision making.  And, unfortunately, the Prince sometimes
backed up or encouraged Harry's animal (or id) side.

Carol responds:
>From my point ov view, Sectumsempra is about a boy on his way to
becoming a Death Eater. "For Enemies" more than suggests that he has
revenge on his mind. But Muffliato is just a charm to allow a kid to
talk with his friends without being overheard. The toenail hex and
Langlock are no worse than any of the other hexes that the kids throw
at each other, and Levicorpus (which I think is a charm rather than a
hex, if it matters) was so popular, according to Lupin, that
practically everyone, including future Order member/hero James Potter
was using it. Levicorpus even comes with its own <nvbl> countercurse.
What's Dark or future Death Eaterish about any of that?

And the Potions hints aren't Dark, either. The Bezoar crack is snarky,
but it saves Ron's life. And what is Dark about adding a peppermint
leaf to avoid a side effect or using the back of a silver knife to
crush a sopophorous bean or stirring clockwise after every six
clockwise strokes? Can you find one Potions hint that's even slightly
indicative of a desire for revenge? I can't think of any. They
indicate the same brilliance as a Potions maker that the adult Snape
first shows in creating curtains of black and purple fire, each with
its separate antidote.

Teen!Snape sounds like he's on his way to becoming a Healer or
researcher to me. Too bad Lucius Malfoy or the Slytherin gang or
whoever recruited him took advantage of the anger provoked by
Severus's Hogwarts enemies in his "worst memory" and the so-called
Prank, and of Severus's hunger for recognition (still evident as an
adult if the Order of Merlin is any indication) and directed him
toward Voldemort.

As for Harry, I agree that he's in danger of letting the desire for
revenge control him, especially with regard to Snape (ironic given
that Severus's desire for revenge was primarily with regard to Harry's
father). But that's not what Harry identifies with in the HBP's
Potions book as far as I can tell. He's interested in the Prince's
creativity and, sad to say, in getting credit for the Prince's work.
(He can tell that the Prince is a boy, probably because more boys than
girls are interested in hexes and because of the tone of the Bezoar
remark, but I'm not sure that the Prince provides any personal
information for Harry to identify with except on this general level.
Harry can't even tell that the Prince is a Slytherin.)

Carol, who wonders if the HBP's teachers realized what a genius he was
and guesses that Slughorn did but McGonagall didn't