One True Hero and Hero By Committee - LONG (Was: Re: WHo needs Harry?)

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 182347

> Catlady:
> On top of that, she gave herself the added problem of setting it up
> that the way Harry wins is by being killed. That usually requires 
some
> gimmick (such as being Jesus Christ), something more than just being
> the strongest and cleverest.
> 
> I suppose she tried to make up a plausible reason with the love-
death
> protection and the not-a-Horcrux and the Elder Wand's ownership and
> maybe all that Basilisk venom stuff that Carol is going on about. I
> think she failed because it is all too confusing. It must become
> clearly and blindingly obvious to readers why the hero was the ONLY
> ONE, otherwise the archetype gets broken.

zgirnius:
No, I think the love death wand venom Horcrux stuff, is not the main 
hero story. It is not things only Harry can do, it is the stuff of 
the plots of seven books of the series, in which Harry plays a part, 
through which he learns and grows, but in which others could have 
taken his place, under other circumstances, and actually do for some 
bits, as the book plays out.

Harry does not have to be the one to defeat Voldemort. The books are 
not written in such a way that Harry must be the one. 

X could find out about Horcruxes, find and destroy them all, and then 
say, "Hi, Harry, it's been nice knowing you" and kill him. And then 
take on Voldemort. It would require X to be a powerful, 
knowledgeable, and ruthless wizard, but X could do it, eventually, I 
suppose. I don't think I would much care for X, though he might be 
interesting to read and think about.

(Or a committee could, as others have suggested. I suppose they'd 
draw straws to decide who gets to kill Harry, once the Horcruxes were 
gone).

Harry has only one unique role in the book. X or a committee can do 
all of the above, but no one else, neither the amazing X, nor a run-
of-the-mill committee member, can die in Harry's place. 

Harry knows he is not essential for the defeat of Voldemort. He 
explicitly acknowledges this in the text. He's just the only one that 
*must* die for it to happen.

> DH, "The Forest Again":
> Now he saw that his life span had always been determined by how 
long it took to eliminate all the Horcruxes. Dumbledore had passed 
the job of destroying them to him


zgirnius:
But, as Harry's musings go on to note, Harry was not chosen to pass 
the Horcrux task to because only he could do it. Dumbledore passed 
the task to him for his own reasons – as X, he could have recruited a 
different successor (actually, successors, for Dumbledore approves 
including Hermione and Ron). 

Harry himself, recognizing the job remains unfinished, picks a new 
successor to replace himself.

> DH, "The Forest Again":
> This was crucial, he must be like Dumbledore, keep a cool head, 
make sure there were backups, others to carry on. 

And so Harry tells Neville that the snake must die, knowing quite 
well that this is a task Neville, or Ron, or Hermione are every bit 
as qualified for as he. (In fact, Neville kills the snake, as we 
know). And then he goes off to do the only thing no one else can do, 
yay Harry.

Actually, we more or less have a would-be X, in the form of Albus 
Dumbledore. He was on the job of defeating Voldemort even before he 
knew about the Horcruxes. He learned of a prophecy about a baby that 
would grow up with the power to defeat Voldemort, and took steps to 
keep that baby safe, without understanding the mechanism whereby the 
baby would eventually have this power. When the boy stumbled, all 
unknowing, across a Horcrux he was uniquely equipped to handle (the 
Parseltongue Voldemort gave him), Albus understood what was going on 
and embarked on his Horcrux quest, identifying three Horcruxes and 
their locations (aside from the unexpected involvement of one Regulus 
Black) , and a fourth, in a location unknown.

Meanwhile, Harry continued attending Hogwarts and having more 
adventures.

Then, Albus messed up, so badly it might have brought the situation 
back almost to square one, were it not for the assistance of one 
Severus Snape, who gave him the time he needed to pass his task on to 
his chosen successor before his now inevitable death. Albus picked 
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, (and later Snape, just for the one detail 
of letting Harry know the last little bit of the plan). 

The one difference between Albus and my X, was that not only did 
Albus goof, he also lacked in the ruthlessness department. He came to 
love Harry, so much so that he did not wish Harry to die. The 
Hallows, wand, etc. were not necessary to the defeat of Voldemort. As 
the story was written, Voldemort could have been killed by any 
sufficiently powerful and determined wizard, or a group, after 
Neville destroyed the final Horcrux. Albus threw them into the mix to 
achieve his own, private goal – to weight the scales in any way he 
could to bring about Harry's survival. 

The blood protection was a mistake of Voldemort's, the most important 
unambiguous role of which was simply to keep Harry alive as a baby, 
making Harry into the quasi-Horcrux that has to die, for Voldemort to 
be killable. Various curlicues added to it (the end of GoF and the 
consequent failure of Lucius's wand in the 7 Potters, possibly but 
not unambiguously, Harry's survival in The Forest Again) were not 
things that furthered Voldemort's defeat, but things that caused 
Harry's survival. It's a whole other strand in the books, about the 
power of Lily's sacrifice and the futility of trying to counter it 
mechanistically by Voldemort. Not everything is about defeating 
Voldemort – this is one of the many things that is not.

So, anyway, I think we have in the book both the realistic, any large 
enough, good enough, strong enough group being sufficient for 
completing a mission, and the archetypal situation of Harry being the 
Only One who can complete a mission.

The task accomplished by committee is  the task of defeating 
Voldemort, which involves finding and destroying six Horcruxes, and 
killing the man himself. Harry is a member of this committee, and a 
very notable one, but his involvement is not necessary. It does speed 
things up, and it is nice to see our main character do stuff, at 
least for me, but people who say anyone could have done it, are right 
in my view. To run through our committee and its accomplishments


The Diary – Harry is able to destroy it, but Lucius Malfoy and 
Hermione Granger make small contributions to this achievement (Albeit 
unintentionally, in Lucius's case).

The ring, identified, found and destroyed by Albus. 

The locket, the identification, location and destruction of which 
required the combined talents of Albus, Regulus, the Trio, Kreacher, 
Phineas Nigellus, and Snape. (Pardon me if I forgot someone).

We have the Cup, the identification, location, and destruction of 
which required the combined efforts of Albus, the Trio, Griphook, and 
an assist from Bellatrix.

The tiara, the identification, location, and destruction of which 
required the combined efforts of Albus, Harry, Helena Ravenclaw, 
Luna, and assists from Crabbe and Voldemort.

Nagini, the identification, location, and destruction of which 
required the combined efforts of Albus, Harry, and Neville.

Oh, and Sluggie chips in the magic number. <g>

Harry did defeat Voldemort, and he was able to do so, owing to 
fortuitous circumstances which resulted when Albus's carefully laid 
plan regarding the Elder Wand went astray. Because of these 
circumstances, it was much easier for Harry than anyone else to 
defeat Voldemort in the final battle, but someone else could have.

And then there is the other mission. To die, so that a piece of 
Voldemort's soul is destroyed. Only Harry can do this. He is placed 
in this position through circumstances I personally find crystal 
clear, and a thing of beauty. Snape reports prophecy, Voldemort 
chooses to act murderously on said prophecy, Snape begs for Lily's 
life, Voldemort asks Lily to step aside, Lily refuses, Voldemort zaps 
her, and Bingo! Horcrux!Harry is born.