Harry's Characterization

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 163492

---  "pippin_999" <foxmoth at ...> wrote:
> > 
> > bboyminn:
> > 
> > But from an internal perspective, we have a very 
> > different view. We must ask ourselves 'what should
> > Harry reasonably do under the circumstance', not 
> > how will the story resolve itself. From Harry's 
> > internal perspective, he is the hopeless underdog, 
> > and THAT is truly something he must do something 
> > about. From his perspective he needs to gain many
> > skills and do so very quickly. In my opinion, to do
> > otherwize is irrational.
> 
> Pippin:
> Do you remember Fake!Moody's advice in GoF? "Play to 
> your strengths?" Harry and Dumbeldore know that's what
> Harry has to do. Harry's strength is not as a duellist.
> ... As Snape demonstrated at the end of HBP, without 
> occlumency, one can only be a mediocre duellist.
> 
> So that's that, and Harry will have to seek to defend
> himself and defeat his opponents in other ways. What 
> Harry does have are his immense spiritual gifts and 
> his ingenuity. They will enable him to understand 
> Voldemort...That is what Dumbledore was trying to 
> show with his little history lessons, IMO.
> 
> Harry doesn't need to learn to 'kick ass' and he knows
> it, though he tends to forget in his rage at his 
> losses. The WW's graveyards are full of kickass wizards
> who owe their presence there to Voldemort. 
> 
> Pippin
>

bboyminn:

Again, I think you are mixing the internal and external
perspective, though less so as this conversation goes
on.

I have already acknowledged that it will not be Harry's
dueling skills that matter /in the end/, but we are not
/in the end/, we are, in a sense, at the beginning. 

Also, remember that Dueling is only one of the many 
magical skills that Harry needs to win the day. He also
needs to find, gather, and destroy the Horcruxes and 
he is thoroughly UNequiped to do so. He needs magical
detections skills, he needs curse breaking skills, and
it is going to take time to learn those. 

Keep in mind, that with Dumbledore gone, Harry's world
has gotten very serious, and I expect him to mature
immensely over the course of this next book, and I 
expect that /maturity/ to come on many fronts; magical,
emotional, intellectual, etc.... We can't take Harry
at the beginning of the book and transpost that 
person to the end of the book, nor can we take the Harry
we will find at the end and transport him back to the 
beginning; something has to happen in between. A
transition has to occur.

So, Harry will grow older and wiser as the book goes
on. He will gather new information and skills. With
that new information and those new skill, he will
evaluate the situation differently. Certainly, he must
start putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but
they are not going to fall in place until the very
end.

The real question is what should Harry be doing at the
START of the next book? What should his long term 
priorities be? He has skill that he absolutely must 
learn. He knows he is going to have to fight a battle
with Voldemort; it's unavoidable. Further he knows 
both intellectually and from experience that he is not
going to get the pick the battle himself. It will come
when Voldemort decides and no sooner or later.

Given that the final battle will certainly be thrust
upon Harry, he must be as ready for it as possible. In
the mean time, he must gather his skills and resources 
for the Horcrux hunt. That is a lot of skill across a
broad range of magic, and if Harry is not seeking out
those skills then, as I said, all plausability in the
storyline is lost. He has a great battle ahead, and he
has to be ready, or as ready as he can be for it when
it comes. 

Of course, he will never be ready enough. He can never
meet Voldemort at Voldemort's level, but he's Harry, and
he will do the best he can with what he has, but at the
same time, any rational person is going to make sure 
they have as much as they can when the time comes.

Ultimately, it will not be dueling skills that will
save Harry or defeat Voldemort, but Harry really doesn't
have any way of knowing that at this point in time. He
may come to realize it to some degree, but that comes
much later; very near the end.

Personally, I think the Horcruxes are the ultimate
McGuffin. They are simply the /thing/ Harry will focus
on and struggle with as he learns the things he really 
needs to know to defeat Voldemort. It is the process of
fighting smaller battles and struggling to overcome the
Horcruxes that are going to take Harry on his path to 
intellectual, emotional, and magical maturity.

In the end, that maturity combined with his other 
strengths and some new realization about Voldemort that
are going to be what save the day. But in the beginning,
he has magical trails and a great battle ahead of him. 
To not prepare long and hard for that is utterly insane. 

As I said, in the past, I can explain away Harry's
inaction. But those excuses aren't working any more. 
Now it all falls on Harry, and he has to perpare himself
to take on that burden. 

However, ultimately, in the end, it will not be the
preparation that saves him, but what he gains from the
/process/. What he gains from the growing maturity and
wisdom, and from the realizations that wisdom brings. 
Yet, I say once again, /in the beginning/, it is 
completely insane, irrational, and storyline unblievable
for Harry not to see the great need for his training, 
and take action based on that need.

Remember the next book will not be static. We will see
a great transition in Harry as it plays out; more than 
any other books. He will go from courageous but 
frightened little boy, to a fully grown, wise, and 
powerful wizard. 

Starting at the beginning of the next book as Harry
looks forward in time and plans, how can he not see that
he is greatly lacking in the necessary skills, and not
attempt to correct that short fall?

Now undoubtedly by the end of the book, it is going to
be a whole new ballgame, but we have to start at the 
beginning and move forward. 

I'm not disagreeing that magical skills are not the key.
I'm not disagreeing that, in some form, in the end, 
love will conquer all. What I am saying that the road
between now and then is a long and hard road, and I 
really don't think at the beginning of the next book
Harry is going to see any way, shape, or form in which
he can practically apply the force of 'love'. At that
point he will only be able to see and understand trained
magical power and skill.

Hey, I'm just saying....

Steve/bboyminn