Coming of Age in the Potterverse was Re: Dumbledore as shameless

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 189012

> Zara:
> Is this the quote you mean?
> 
> > 2007 Bloomsbury chat:
> > Barbara: I was very disappointed to see harry use crucio and seem to enjoy it his failure to perform that kind of curse in the past has been a credit to his character why the change, and did harry later regret having enjoyed deliberately causing pain 
> > J.K. Rowling: Harry is not, and never has been, a saint. Like Snape, he is flawed and mortal.
> > J.K. Rowling: Harry's faults are primarily anger and occasional arrogance.
> > J.K. Rowling: On this occasion, he is very angry and acts accordingly. He is also in an extreme situation, and attempting to defend somebody very good against a violent and murderous opponent.
> 
> Zara:
> If we are attempting to discern her intention on the basis of what she has said in interviews, I would have to agree Pippin's view is what Rowling intended, that this was a bad action on Harry's part. In particular, I'd say her choice of Severus Snape, of all characters, to compare Harry to in this quote weighs heavily against your supposition that this sort of thing is not supposed to be concerning in her world. Severus is a good guy, but certainly not someone whose instincts always kept him out of trouble and on the straight and narrow path...!
> 
> That she is not, actually, concerned about Harry's specific action in this specific case is in my opinion because she knows his entire life story, and it is in that context that she is explaining the incident to the fan who raised this question. If Harry had continued to indulge in this sort of thing, this would be bad. However, in what she has actually written, following this scene, Harry willingly tries to sacrifice his life for others, and follows this up with showing Voldemort mercy in their final confrontation, and giving up the temptations the Elder Wand would present him with. He then goes on (in her imagination as expressed in other interviews) to be a credit to the Auror Department and loving husband and father (as we also see in the Epilogue). Thus, Rowling is explaining why Harry did this not to dismiss that it is (as the fan points out) disappointing, but to explain why a generally good character might act in a disappointing way.
>
Carol responds:
Notice, though, that JKR didn't actually answer the fan's question about whether Harry later regretted his action. It seems to me that here, as all too often, JKR's instinct is defensiveness, as if either she as writer or Harry as character needed to be defended.

I agree that her choice of Severus Snape is interesting--both of them are flawed human beings--but she nevertheless seems to think that not just Harry's anger (which I agree is understandable and natural) but his use of torture to express that anger is justified on that occasion. She doesn't seem to notice her own inconsistency (she had Bellatrix say in OoP that righteous anger couldn't sustain a Cruciatus Curse, but here Harry is "meaning it" and *enjoying* it as the questioner points out, yet JKR still seems to think that it's a perfectly reasonable way of dealing with the situation.

She can't take criticism--that's her problem. And she can't seem to see anyone else's point of view. She intended it to be justifiable, therefore it *is* justifiable (in her view).

Interestingly, we see Severus Snape become very angry on several occasions, yet not once does he use a Crucio. And Harry has already condemned Crabbe and Goyle for using that curse (and enjoying it) before he happily uses it himself.

Sorry, JKR, but you're a flawed human being, too, and I don't think your assessment of the situation is objective or accurate.

Carol, who is also, of course a flawed human being but has yet to torture anyone or to condone torture