Satisfaction of the story to date (was: I Hate Horcruxes Society)

[Annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 163364

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mcrudele78 at ...> wrote:
 
> Mike:
 
> And where was the advancement of Harry's magical skills [in HBP]? 
He learns a 
> few of the "Princes" spells, but what about a full years worth of 
> DADA under the best DADA professor Harry has ever had? Did he learn 
> *Nothing* from Snape's class during the entire year? <snip>
> 
> Yes, I realize the storyline of the influence of the teenage Snape 
> juxtiposed with the lack of influence of the adult Snape. Does that 
> mean he can't learn anything? After Hermione reminds Harry how much 
> Snape sounded like him from the previous year, I expected that 
Harry 
> would at least listen in Snape's classes, maybe actually 
participate 
> in the in-class exercises.
<snip>


Annemehr:
Mike, I agree with these points of yours regarding Harry's failure to 
learn from Professor Snape, and a seeming failure to apply himself to 
his studies altogether.

I really felt that Harry showed a similar lack of growth, and even 
regression, in other ways in HBP.  Your post reminded me of some 
things I wrote to a friend last spring, some of which I'll reproduce 
here:

*********************************************************************
"My" Harry (the one through GoF) seems to be permanently gone
[...]. 

Defining what "my Harry" once was, is the difficult part -- I was 
never quite able to put it into words.  It was something about his 
goodness (yes, and with flaws to be sure, but still) stubbornly 
refusing to collapse in the face of this generalised evil (very 
generalised, since we were given no details, but very palpable in its 
effects on Harry's life).
[...]
 
OoP worked well for me, because I thought it was going to be the 
catalyst for a large and necessarily abrupt increase in maturity.
 
HBP was a disappointment then, because as far as I can see, the only 
thing Harry "learned" was not to shout at Dumbledore.  And that 
resolve he told DD about, how Sirius would want him to go on and not 
crack up, well fine, but that's how he always was anyway.
********************************************************************

To elaborate, let's start with this snippet from the 2004 World Book 
Day chat ( http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm ):

--Field: Regarding Harrys subconscious feelings, how has it changed 
from book 1 to book 5?
--JK Rowling replies -> Well he's obviously been through a lot since 
book one and book five was the book when he cracked up a little. In 
book six, the wizarding world is really at war again and he has to 
master his own feelings to make himself useful.
--

Again, almost the only time I see even trying to master his feelings 
in HBP is when he concsiously refrains from shouting at Dumbledore 
(for example, in ch. 25, in DD's office just after hearing that Snape 
had been the eavesdropper to the first prophecy -- and with mixed 
success, at that).

The only other time I can recall is when Harry, in the Weasleys' 
broom shed, tells DD, about the loss of Sirius, "I realized I can't 
shut myself away or -- or crack up, Sirius wouldn't have wanted that, 
would he?" [ch. 4, p.77US]  And as I said in my email above, Harry 
was always like that anyway -- because this passage reminded me of 
the times in PoA, when Harry was trying to learn the Patronus charm.  
Then, Harry realized he half wanted to keep hearing his parents' 
voices, but:

"They're dead," he told himself sternly.  "They're dead and listening 
to echoes of them won't bring them back.  You'd better get a grip on 
yourself if you want that Quidditch Cup." [PoA, ch. 12, p. 243US]

Harry might think he needs to squelch his feelings to reach his 
goals, but I'm not sure that's the same thing as "mastering" them in 
a constructive way.

Other things I noticed, while rereading the series, is that there 
really seemed to be many more examples of Harry feeling empathy for 
people through GoF, which (though maybe understandably more rare in 
OoP) I felt a real lack of in HBP.  On the other hand, his same old 
flaws and foibles continue unabated.

Harry really doesn't seem ready to be the hero, yet, does he?  A 
final piece of that old email of mine:

***************************************************************** 
I fear that in bk7, Harry will either remain as he is and accomplish 
whatever-it-is through mere good luck or by being managed, or else he 
will be forced to face certain facts by finally being unable to deny 
them - an epiphany by force.  I was hoping he'd grow from within 
himself -- a more organic, and deeper, maturity.  At least, I wished 
for a mixture.
*****************************************************************

I used to find Harry's character endearing and even inspiring, and I 
miss that in book 6.  This is not to say that I *expect* to be 
disappointed in DH (no matter that I grumble a lot in this 
post...heh).

I actually believe we *don't* know what JKR will be up to in the 
final book.  I'm hoping some of what I wished to see in HBP, JKR is 
withholding for DH -- and that she *will* make it work.  After all, 
she has toiled through seven volumes toward the denoument of a work 
she said she believed in from the beginning.

So, yeah.  I'm all ears...er, eyes...Jo -- bring it on!

Annemehr
who most likely will be skulking into the local supermarket or 
Walmart in the wee hours of Release Day, trying to avoid spoilers