Snape thoughts of Harry

[Katie]

No: HPFGUIDX 177182

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jbmwfb69" <jbmwfb65 at ...> 
wrote:
>
> Severus Snape always said Harry was an arrogant
> mediocre wizard. Does Harry have mediocre or great
> powers?
> 
> jbmwfb69

***Katie:

I think Harry is very good at certain things and very average at 
other things. Harry is obviously superior at DADA, even beating 
Hermione in the subject on their OWLs, and leading and teaching the 
DA...and then there was the whole defeating Voldemort 
thing...LOL. : )

He's obviously pretty good at potions, even before the Prince, given 
his OWLs. In fact, if you take a look at his OWL scores, he's got 
very solid grades. 

I think a lot of Harry's powers are intangibles - things that cannot 
be measured by things like OWLs. As Hermione said in PS/SS, 
FRIENDSHIP, LOYALTY, COURAGE...(paraphrasing here), these are some 
of Harry's strengths as a wizard and as a person. I would say in 
these areas, he is absolutely great and powerful. 

He himself admits to certain magical weaknesses, such as his 
inability to perform healing charms, and his lack of ability in 
astrology and astronomy. Hermione is obviously in more advanced 
classes than Ron and Harry...but that doesn't necessarily mean she 
is a better witch than they are wizards. And as I stated earlier, 
Harry's obviously the most talented wizard in the books at fighting 
the Dark Arts.

You must remember that Snape was often remembering James when 
talking about Harry, and his view was really colored by his love for 
Lily and his hatred of James. Snape is certainly NOT the most 
objective person when it comes to Harry's character and talent. In 
fact, few people in the books are. I wouldn't take Ron or Hermione 
or Dumbledore's word for it, either. That's why you have to look at 
what Harry was able to accomplish to see how talented he was, and in 
my view, he was pretty obviously brilliant in some areas (like 
DADA), and weak in others. Katie