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

[colebiancardi]

No: HPFGUIDX 165301

 Vexingconfection at ... wrote:

> 
> Who thinks Harry is going to be evil as  well? Almost everything
that happens 
> to him is because of his own  disobedience. SS-he broke rules and
went to a 
> duel. CoS- he  kidnapped a teacher and forced him into the chamber.
 PoA- he  
> attacked another teacher and his aunt. Let's the man who murdered
his parents  
> go. GoF-cheated. OoP-He became the serpent, wanted to kill,
disregarded orders 
>  from Dumbledore, gets Sirius Black killed, etc. HBP-he knowingly
cheats,  
> deceives-whatever-forces Dumbledore to drink the water, etc. Through
all of 
> this  he threatens the Dursleys, sets a snake on his cousin, speaks
parcel  
> tongue.  What if the next book-Harry becomes another Dark Lord? Also
 interesting 
> is the fact that in the GOF-every prediction Harry makes comes 
true-Harry has 
> always been afraid he would fit in better at Slytherin.  Dumbledore
tells him 
> the only difference between he and Tom Riddle are the  choices they
made. 
> Harry's choices don't always seem to be the  best.
> Again-living proof opinion does not equal  intelligence- please
enlighten me.

colebiancardi:

yes, Harry does break a lot of rules, although he gets DD's approval
in the end for breaking of said rules.  I suppose if things didn't
work out (mostly) in the favor of DD's Point of View, then I doubt he
would have gotten that approval.  Who knows?  However, you do bring up
the good point of the difference between him & Riddle - the choices. 
Whereas I believe Harry's choices, rule-breaking and all, were done
not for himself, but to "save" others from harm.  I also believe there
is more than just the choices that DD mentioned.  There are a lot of
differences between Harry & Riddle from a young age in their
personalities even though they had a horrible homelife at that time. 
And they didn't have the choice of who was raising them -
Harry/Dursleys, Riddle/Orphanage(although Mrs Cole seemed like a very
person, she was probably too busy to give Riddle the attention a child
needs).

Give me a minute and wait for it :) I need to bring up another thread.
  I think the reason why the cheating thread is still going strong is
that we (the readers) want Harry to acknowledge his flaws and to grow
and learn from it in a positive way.  The slippery slope between good
& evil is a fine one.  A person may have noble intentions, but those
intentions can led to becoming a dictator or in this case, a New Dark
Lord.  How does that saying go - the path to hell is paved with good
intentions?

One of Harry's saving graces is his own conscience - he does feel that
using the HBP's book in Potions is not all in the up-and-up.  He makes
excuses to his friends, defending his position, but we do get the
insight into his own personal thoughts on this matter - the guilt and
the hiding of the book when Snape demands it.  He knows, deep down
inside, that it isn't "all right".  He is embarrassed at Slughorn's
praise at the Christmas party about his natural talent.  He knows he
isn't the genius that Slughorn makes him out to be.

Harry's conscience will save him.  His strong sense of right & wrong,
and I do believe he has that sense, will prevent him from being the
New Dark Lord.  His concern for his friends and even those he is not
close to - his empathy - will save him.  Heck, he even felt empathy,
short-lived as it was, for Snape in OotP.  He feels empathy for Draco
at the end of HBP.  So, I believe he can overcome the darker side and
not succumb to the temptations of being the One That Rules All.

Riddle never, according to DD's insight, felt empathy for others. 
IMHO, Riddle reminds me of the thief that was only sorry that he got
caught stealing, not that he stole.  Harry doesn't strike me as that
type of person, regardless of his apparent lack of concern for rules :)  

colebiancardi
(hope this made sense)