Harry looking in the Mirror after HBP

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 164237

> bboyminn:
> I see Draco as being very childish, independant of his
> apparent single-minded purpose. He strikes me as someone
> who thought he could /play/ at being a Death Eater. He
> strikes me as someone who thought he could ingratiate
> himself to Voldemort and his own Father, and just bask
> in the glow of that appreciation.
<snip>
> So, Draco is moving with single-minded purpose and he has
> set aside childish things, but not because he wants to. 
> He if forced to by circumstances that are tearing him up
> inside. He doesn't want to die, but failure means death. 
> He doesn't want to fail, but the task at hand appears to 
> be far beyond his abilities. I think Draco desperately
> longs for 'childish things'.

Jen:  Well yes, I agree with everything you've said, I just perceive 
these events to be exactly what happens when a person leaves behind 
the safety of one life to reach for another.  Don't most people trot 
off to their first job glowing with satisfaction and blissfully 
unaware of the complexities of the real world?  Draco doesn't 
understand he is getting in over his head and probably does long for 
the life he left behind and yet he can't go back--that's the life of 
an adult.  Substitute fear of failure, needing the money/benefits, 
etc. for a death threat and it's the same difference to me. 

bboyminn:
> Harry on the other hand, though reluctantly, accepts his
> fate. He is not torn the way Draco is. Certainly he wants
> things to be different, he wants to be normal, he wants to
> be free, but at the same time, he is not afraid to die 
> for others. He is not afraid to sacrifice himself for the
> greater good. Dumbledore told him he could walk away, but
> Harry would never do that. If anyone had told Draco he 
> could just quietly walk way, he would have been gone like
> a shot. 

Jen:  Technically Harry can't walk away either.  He has a death 
threat on his head just as surely as Draco since Voldemort is after 
him.  He does accept his fate though, doesn't fear dying for a 
greater good and is meant to be exceptional in that way--full of the 
power in the locked room.  That's not something he's *worked* for 
though, that's who he *is*.

As for Draco being gone like a shot, that wasn't apparent from my 
reading of him.  He refused help from Snape, from Narcissa, and 
accepted only what help from Bella he needed to do his job.  In the 
past he's run to Lucius to fix his problems and he wasn't doing that 
this time around even though Snape was offering to be a father 
substitute of sorts.  He was attempting to work out his own situation 
in his own way despite the fear of death hanging over him and his 
family.  And I'm not saying the task he was doing was noble or good, 
just talking specifically about how he approached the turn of events 
he didn't expect when threatening Borgin or bragging on the train.

Steve/bboy:
> Harry has many wants and desires, but no matter how strong
> they are, they are all tained by the presence of Voldemort.
> He can never carry out his love for Ginny as long as 
> Voldemort is around. He can never live a quiet normal life
> as long as Voldemort is around. Every where he goes, every
> thing he does is corrupted by the existance of Voldemort.
> So that regardless of his deepest conscious desire, his 
> much much much deeper subconscious desire is for Voldemort
> to be gone.

Jen:  Your perspective explains what JKR meant by Harry 
seeing 'Voldemort gone' in the Mirror after HBP & helps me understand 
her quote.  It's worth noting that having a life tainted by Voldemort 
is something Harry and Draco share now and perhaps that will be a 
point of connection for them in DH.  Draco willingly walked into his 
situation unlike Harry, who had it forced upon him by Voldemort's 
intepretation of the prophecy, but Harry has a protection that people 
like Draco, Snape and Slughorn don't have against the Dark Lord's 
power.

bboyminn: 
> Keep in mind that from the perspective of a reader, I 
> don't think Harry preparing himself will make that much
> difference. <snip> But when I put myself in Harry's head, I think
> it is irrational for him to do any less. He knows what he is
> facing, he knows the odds are overwhelmingly stacked 
> against him. He knows there is so much he must know but
> does not, that it seems completely irrational for him to
> do anything less than everything possible to make himself
> ready for the tasks ahead. 

Jen: Right, I got that part last time we went through the discusssion 
and understand exactly what you are saying about Harry's perspective 
vs. the reader's.  It's a good perspective to consider in most of the 
debates here since we're privy to information Harry doesn't have,  
like author interviews!  He doesn't know what JKR said he would see 
in the Mirror after HBP <g>.  

To tie this back to Draco, Harry coming up with his own plan for the 
horcrux search and taking his destiny in his own hands would be an 
example of what I meant as a more adult approach to things.  Given 
the fact his task is enormously large compared to what Draco was 
doing, Harry has had much help, protection and guidance along the way 
from various people.  Seeing him use Dumbledore's wisdom and that of 
the people he trusts (and maybe one he doesn't <g>), to chart his own 
course would be an interesting change of pace for the character.

Jen