Harry's Characterization (was: Satisfaction of the story to date )

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 163445

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mcrudele78 at ...> wrote:

> 
> It matters not how young Harry is, once he reaches his 17th birthday, 
> the "IT" will become fully fledged. Harry *will* be able to challenge 
> Voldemort toe-to-toe because of his inate abilities. In fact, he 
> already did it in GoF, in the graveyard. Harry was able by force of 
> will to overpower Voldemort during the "Priori Incantatum" wand 
> connection. So we know Harry is more powerfully magical than 
> Voldemort. (Side question: I wonder if he would have been more 
> powerful than a *whole* Tom Riddle?) 
> 

Yes, I agree that Harry is powerfully magical in this sense and
exactly because of the example you give I agree that he is more
powerful than Voldemort presently is (I too wonder what a Tom Riddle
with a whole soul would be like) in this respect. That scene is a
bullet hits a bullet scene, it happens in real life and I won't
criticize Rowling for using it but if she does it again, that would be
contrived. The power that Harry displays in this scene is not
sufficient to save him although it certainly was necessary. He had to
break the connection at some point and at that point that balance of
power shifted back to Voldemort with his superior skill and his band
of Death Eaters to support him. Harry would have been toast except for
the support he got from the "echoes" that emerged from Voldemort's
wand, the power of love in action.

I think we have two different kinds of power at work here then, an
innate talent that Harry excels at and the deep skill that comes with
study and practice that Voldemort excels at. All trained wizards and
witches in the Potterverse have both to some degree of course.
Voldemort is probably unusually strong in both senses. And I think it
was wrong of me to say that Harry will *never* be the equal of
Voldemort or Snape, skillwise. What I really meant is that Harry does
not have the time or discipline right now to achieve that level of
skill before the final confrontation is likely to occur. I agree that
he certainly would be wise to work on that in the time that he does
have. I don't know if 17 year old Harry Potter has the perspective to
see that. He strikes me as very much like the similarly aged Luke
Skywalker who just wants to rush into a confrontation with Darth
Vader. The difference is that Luke did not know how much he did not
know about Darth Vader whereas Harry has seen plenty of evidence of
Voldemort's skill.

> 
> Dumbledore saw it, probably very early on. He tells him, "I never 
> dreamed that I would have such a person on my hands." (OotP p. 839, 
> US) In this passage Dumbledore isn't talking about Harry's *ability 
> to love* yet. He's seen Harry perform in other ways, magical ways, 
> that defy his stage in life. Dumbledore knew Harry was **powerfully 
> magical**, and suspected that Harry will become more powerfully 
> magical than any living wizard. In typical Dumbledore understatement, 
> he tells Harry as much in the cave: "You are very kind, Harry... But 
> your blood is worth more than mine." (HBP p. 560, US)
> 

I agree. We readers "know" that Harry will triumph because that is how
"this kind of story" is expected to end. If we were actually living in
the Potterverse through this time I think we could trust Dumbledore on
this one. Harry doesn't seem to, he has the deep self doubts that
plague even the most powerful among real people.

> 
> What did he do in HBP? Well ... he apparated back to Hogsmeade. Wow, 
> what a show of magical ability. He couldn't even handle an 
> untransformed Greyback without help, much less land a single spell on 
> Snape. 

The last point, not being able to even scratch Snape, struck me like a
ton of bricks too when I read that scene. It just made Harry seem
hopelessly inadequate for the task that faces him. I don't think there
is any believable way for Harry to close that skill gap in the time he
has. So it has to be Dumbledore's power of love and the innate magical
gift that you both see in Harry. Which is not to say that he shouldn't
work on his skills too, skill is never bad to have. There is great
disagreement over who hexed Greyback and I side with those who read it
as Harry. We'll just have to disagree on that one!

I also disagree about the apparation. It has been hammered home to us
that although this is a common skill it is *not* an easy one and some
are never able to master it. Harry had studied it but had not mastered
it. I'm not sure if he had even managed to apparate a few feet on his
own at that point but that may be just another example of the text
omitting details, or my bad memory. So I would argue that this is
another example of Harry being able to call upon his innate power to
do something at need that he had not been able to do otherwise. He
certainly had never acted as the "master" in a sidealong apparation.
That really was quite a feat.

Thanks to all for the kind words but I think my reviewers are being
too kind. It wasn't that great an essay but perhaps it did strike a
chord that resonates with the hopes that many of us have for Harry and
 company. When *will* that woman finish writing anyway??

Ken