CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Prisoner of Azkaban Chapter 10: The Marauder's Map

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 189723



> Annemehr:
> > 
> <snip>
> > He [Harry] may have also seen withstanding dementors as a task, like stopping Voldemort from getting the Stone, or rescuing Ginny from the Chamber, that he *had* to try to accomplish.  In PS and CoS, he also sought help from adults before going off on his own.  In this case, his request for help was granted.


> Carol responds:
> Considering that his whole motivation was winning the Quidditch match against Slytherin, I would disagree. And Harry was not the actual target of the Dementors: Sirius Black was. Lupin could hardly have anticipated the events of the evening of Buckbeak's intended execution.
> 
> Carol, thinking that Lupin might have been less reluctant to help Harry learn the Patronus Charm if Harry had needed it for his own protection as opposed to winning a mere game
>

Annemehr:

Mere Quidditch may not be enough motivation for you (or me either), but it apparently is to Harry.  He is willing to hear his parents' deaths repeatedly in order to practice the Patronus spell so he can win the match against Slytherin.

I recall there was some discussion of his priorities in this group in the past, but there you have it.

And I think Quidditch is really only his *immediate* concern.  Harry does not like being so vulnerable to dementors, period.  In his conversation with Lupin in the chapter under discussion, the question 'burst from him before he could stop himself: "*Why?*  Why do they affect me like that?  Am I just --?"'

It may not be quite up to the level of immediate need as saving the Stone or rescuing Ginny, but I still think getting a handle on his problem with dementors is a "must do" in Harry's mind.

Annemehr