CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 2: Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 189443



Potioncat:
> 
> I hate to say it, but Marge's overall theory may be correct (at least in this series of books.) Do we ever see any character who isn't a lot like his parents/family? The only ones I can think of who aren't alike are Lily and Petunia. 
> 

Pippin:
The question isn't whether people inherit personality traits or abilities, of course they do,   but whether those  qualities are determinative. After all, what does Harry really want to know  when he asks if he should have been put in Slytherin? He's asking whether he can grow up to be the sort of person he wants to be. It's not the past he's concerned about but the future. 

And Dumbledore replies with his famous remark about choices. But the series shows us that regarding choices as a better predictor than abilities is itself a choice, and not an easy or obvious one. It's Dumbledore's choice to let people's choices define how he sees them,  and Marge's choice to see heredity and appearance as more important.

Pippin

Pippin