Secrets of Harry's past WASRe: On the Issue of "Boys will be Boys" Chapt 14 Disc

[willsonteam]

No: HPFGUIDX 190086

 >
> Alla:
> 
> I mean the answer to it always had been rather obvious to me, Harry was indeed being denied by Lupin, Dumbledore and pretty much everything else around him the sense of who he is, but to me it was simply being done for surprise value. That readers were supposed to uncover secrets of Harry's past as the series were coming along.

Potioncat:
Well, first from inside the story.

 I'm not sure what DD understood about Harry's need. Harry was—at first—just another boy. I men, DD knew Harry was the chosen one, but he was no more attached to him than to any other student. I don't think he really knew how isolated Harry had been from his family history. 

Hagrid told Harry about his parents early on, and arranged to get photos for Harry from friends of James and Lily. (Please tell me this isn't movie contamination).  Given all the time Harry would spend with Hagrid, he could have asked for more information.  Of course, given Harry's background, questions about family do not come easily.
Lupin is something of a puzzle—he keeps very close and when asked, was very vague about even knowing Black. I think he had his own agenda for staying quiet.

So-throughout the series- who did talk about James and Lily; who gave Harry information about his family?  Working from memory I come up with Snape, Black, (Black&Lupin, but I don't remember if Lupin ever did on his own), Moody, Hagrid, DD, Petunia. Can anyone remember any one else? I'll add Hermione via her own research (again, this could be from TMTMNBN). Of these few, who gave Harry the most information? Who gave him the most accurate information? <eg>

Alla:
 Now do I agree with it? Oh my goodness of course I don't. I think it was cruel and horrible and most importantly unnecessary if you are looking at the story from within. I mean, I do not want to get into  whether Dumbledore was right or wrong to tell Harry about explosive stuff, prophecy and all, we are just talking here about who his parents were. I mean, not to tell him all of what you listed makes no sense to me except the author waved her hand and wanted readers to learn it later.

Potioncat:
And now, from outside, as a reader.
Well, yes, JKR did want Harry and the reader to learn things slowly, but it didn't strike me as odd as I was reading the books. Even now I'm trying to think how such a conversation would fit into the story. Because, let's face it, in a novel everything has to move the plot along or has to develop the characters.  The times there is conversation about James or Lily, the conversation fits the plot.  Can you tell me how such a scene may have played out? The most I can imagine is if Hagrid's photo album had included letters from friends-of-the-Potters that Harry read without actually telling the reader what was in the letter.

Thanks for bringing this up—something new to discuss as we re-review the books.