harry cheating? a different view

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 165409

Betsy:
Though, to be honest, Harry knows what he's doing is a form of cheating and
lying.  It's why he doesn't verbally share the Prince's notes with Ron (to
avoid Slughorn's catching on), and it's why he doesn't relish the "potion's
genius" title.  It's all of his listie parents who keep twisting things into
a "not *my* son" direction. <beg>

Magpie:
Shares the <veg>. That's the Harry I see as well.



Sherry now:

When I read HBP and all the potions lessons with the prince's book, I wasn't
thinking about cheating, lying or anything like that.  I was thinking about
what a bad effect the book had on him, seeming to change his character.  I'm
not really interested in the morality part of whether he was cheating and
lying or not.  It seemed to me--and long before I knew who was the half
blood prince--that the book was very dangerous and seemed to enchant Harry
in a way, causing him to think and act in ways we'd never seen from him
before.  Learning the identity of the Prince didn't change my mind.  In
fact, that book, and its effect on Harry and the knowledge of the person who
created those spells and potions was more evidence for me that Snape was not
a good guy.  So, I never thought about the so-called ethics of Harry using
the prince's book in terms of academics.  I only thought that he was
behaving strangely and I wished the book would disappear.  If Harry was
cheating by using it to do his potions work, for me, that's another piece of
evidence that the book was a very bad influence in his life and not the
friend Harry thought it to be.  

This is not about defending Harry and saying he can do no wrong, this is
about my first instinctive reaction to the book and all that Harry did in
relation to it.  Much as I disliked Snape, before knowing he was the HBP, I
was upset Harry didn't give him the book after the bathroom scene.  Not
because I cared that he lied to Snape--teenagers lie to teachers--but
because I wanted someone in authority to take the book away and break its
hold on Harry.

Sherry