'Clue to his vulnerability' / Harry's powers

[Judy]

I said:
> > I didn't take JKR's comment on Harry's glasses as meaning
> > that his eyes or glasses have some sort of magical vulnerability. 
> > I just thought she liked the glasses because they show he is 
> > ultimately a regular boy, not a superhero.

SSSusan replied:
> That phrase "clue to his vulnerability" feels to me more than
> just "he's a regular kid who has to wear specs," you know?  What
> it DOESN'T show clearly is whether she was referring to his eyes 
> or to his glasses, but it was a pretty strong statement, I think.  
> That, the uses of dragon's blood, DD's trust of
> Snape, and the missing 24 hours were what got me interested in
> DRIBBLE SHADOWS, so I'm banking on it being significant.

Well, it looks like a number of people agree here with your 
analysis, Susan. Still, I have trouble accepting it.  The 
main problem, as I see it, is that for Harry's eyes or glasses to be 
his one vulnerable spot, the rest of him would need to be 
INvulnerable.  And really, he isn't presented that way.   His only 
real invulnerability is while at the Dursleys'.  Even that will go 
away on his 17th birthday.

If I'm right and the glasses just show that Harry is Everyman, then 
this will illustrate another problem with JKR's many interviews -- 
she drops hints that seem to be point to some major plot development, 
but then sometimes don't pan out.

I've just said that I don't think JKR presents Harry as having 
amazing defensive powers.  As for whether he has amazing powers for 
going on the offense, Neri said:
> [Dumbledore] believes Harry already knows everything he'll
> need. Harry was marked by the Dark Lord as his *equal*, remember?
> Dumbledore thinks that Harry is a most dangerous wizard, that he
> possesses uniquely deadly weapons, that Voldemort himself handed him
> all the needed tools...

Dumbledore does spend a lot of time during this conversation saying 
that Harry is Voldemort's equal.  Still, it's not clear to me that 
Dumbledore is talking about magical powers.  Consider this exchange:

     "So, when the porphecy says that I'll have 'power the 
      Dark Lord know not', it just means --- love?" asked Harry, 
      feeling a little let down. 

      "Yes -- just love," said Dumbledore.

And later, as Neri quoted, Dumbledore says:
     "By attempting to kill you, Voldemort himself singled out 
      the remarkable person who sits here in front of me, and gave 
      him the tools for the job! It is Voldemort's fault 
      that you were able to see into his thoughts, his 
      ambitions, that you even understand the snakelike
      language in which he gives orders."

Dumbledore goes on to say that any Death Eater would kill to have 
Harry's privileged insight into Voldemort's world.

It seems to me that Dumbledore is saying Harry is uniquely equipped 
with the *psychological* tools -- not necessarily the magical tools --
to defeat Voldemort.  Few people understand Voldemort and Voldemort 
intensely uses this to his advantage; consider how he bamboozled 
Slughorn into giving the Horcrux information and how he got Hepzibah 
to show him her treasures -- without realizing he would kill her for 
them.  Harry understands Voldemort's personality, and yet (unlike, 
others who may have some understanding of Voldemort, such as Barty 
Crouch, Jr. and Bellatrix ) he has no attraction to the Dark Side.

Neri asked, about Harry's private lessons in Book 6,
> It's only the biography of Voldemort.
> Why doesn't Dumbledore ever teach Harry something *useful*?
> Obviously, because he believes Harry already knows 
> everything he'll need.

If Harry's real "ace in the hole" is his understanding of
Voldemort, though, then Voldemort's biography *would* be 
important.  

Neri said:
> Voldy's power can only be a "lure" if it's power that Harry
> already possesses, or will possess if he's ever 
> "seduced by the Dark Arts"

This doesn't necessarily mean Harry is as powerful as Voldemort. 
Dumbledore could be referring to the temptation to share in  
Voldemort's power. (After all, this seems to appeal to many of the 
Death Eaters.) Voldemort did, in fact, try to recruit Harry in Book 
1. But Harry wasn't interested, even if death seemed the only 
alternative. 

So far, we really haven't seen much evidence of Harry as 
uber-wizard.  He really didn't do well in the fight with Snape 
at the end of Book 6. Even before that, Snape described Harry (with 
some exaggeration, no doubt) as "mediocre to the last degree." "He 
had no extraordinary talent at all.  He has fought his way out of a 
number of tight corners by a simple combination of luck and more 
talented friends."

I fully expect that, in Book 7, Snape will prove to be one of 
those "talented friends" who help Harry out of tight corners.  I'm 
not sure if Harry will realize that at first, though.

-- Judy