Was Harry Ordinary? (WAS: What's your favorite *now*?)

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 183105

> > Magpie wrote:
> > <snip>
> > Within this universe Harry is one of these most special people 
> > ever, hands down. He's never just been ordinary. <snip> 
>
> > That these things sometimes lead to bad things for Harry 
> > is not the same as them making Harry ordinary. 
>
> 
> Carol responds:
> Harry's *fate* and *destiny* are not ordinary, nor are the unique
> events that led to his becoming the Chosen One. But none of that
> has to do with Harry himself; it's more what happened to him. 

> Thanks to a series of events--<snip>--Harry is suddenly famous,
> having done nothing except survive through no effort of his own.
> 
> -<snip>-
>
> Fame for something you didn't even do, something that *happened*
> to you, is not the same thing as being extraordinary.

Mike:
I'm inclined more towards Magpie's viewpoint, both for the discussed 
scene and in general about Harry. 

I remember pausing in my reading of the second chapter of PS/SS and 
wondering how dreadful of an existence Harry must have lead those 10 
years at the Dursleys. To be treated as a mere servant, cook, 
cleaning boy, in short, as a Cinderfella, sounded so disheartening. 
To be living amongst modest wealth and to see your like-aged cousin 
treated like a spoiled prince, getting fat on all kinds of overly 
sumptuous foods while being fed only the bare minimum for survival,  
clothed in hand-me-downs and housed in a cupboard under the stairs, 
must have been almost harder than living in a family of poverty. 

And yet Harry remained a reasonably happy boy, albeit wishing against 
hope for a long lost relative to come and rescue him from his lot in 
life. That told me straight off that Harry was special, beyond 
knowing that he was a wizard. It showed a certain fortitude of 
character that informed on his humanity, apart from his as yet 
unknown wizardly prowesses.

But Harry proved it wasn't just what *happened* to him that made him 
extraordinary, he was himself a special wizard. It was his mother's 
love that saved him in the battle for the Philosopher's Stone, but as 
Dumbledore explained it was his own gift that allowed him to get the 
stone in the first place. Just because DD didn't explain this to us 
until HBP doesn't make Harry's actions in PS/SS any less 
extraordinary.

We can go on down the line through the books. Harry may have had help 
and luck in many of the things he faced, but in the end, it was he 
that did them and it took his fortitude of character where many if 
not most or all others would have failed. Hermione and Ron had to 
laugh at Harry trying to pass off his accomplishments as mere luck or 
help arriving in time. The other students in the Hogs Head were 
sufficiently awed (well, maybe not Zach) at Harry's accomplishments 
as well they should be. 

Killing a Basilisk is no small thing, even if Fawkes had already 
blinded it and brought Harry the weapon. And Harry was only 12. 
Producing a corporeal Patronus strong enough to drive away a hundred 
Dementors seems not an easy thing for many wizards. And Harry was 
only 13. Standing up to Voldemort at any age can't be considered 
trivial. Harry not only stood up to him, but his force of will was 
the greater and he actually defeated Voldemort in this test, allowing 
himself to escape. And he was only 14. Many factors played into 
Harry's victories, but it was ultimately the extaordinary kid with 
the unruly black hair that provided the final and deciding 
ingredient, something that I contest most would not find within 
themselves.

Dumbledore was effusive in his praise for Harry in HBP, but he was 
girding him for the inevitable fight against Voldemort. His 
overexuberance might be excused then. It was his long, drawn out 
explanation in OotP that was a more fair assessment. Wherein DD 
says; "I never dreamed that I would have such a person on my hands." 
and "Young you might be, but you had provewd that you were 
exceptional." <OotP p.839, US> Dumbledore was not talking about 
things that Harry gained from Voldemort, he was talking about Harry's 
inate abilities quite apart from what anyone or anything had added to 
him.

Harry's own sense of humility wouldn't allow him to take credit for 
his own accomplishments. But Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Madam Bones, 
and a host of others knew that Harry was special long before they 
knew he was *the Chosen One*. (OK, DD knew, but you get my meaning.)

Mike