Untarnished soul: WAS Re: 'Clue to his vulnerability' (Coming to a conclusion )

[Jen Reese]

Pip!Squeak, raising her head from out of the teacup...
> Power is the one thing Harry *doesn't* seek. In the face of 
> constant temptation, he never even seems to see the 
> possibilities... The most famous boy in the Wizarding World and he
> finds it irritating. The best Seeker for generations and it never
> occurs to him to encourage a (very useful) fan club. In OOP he
> creates his own small army, darn it, mostly very loyal to him -
> and what happens in HBP? It isn't needed any more, so he drops it.
> Nor is he attracted to those with power; he rejects Draco, he 
> rejects Voldy. Slughorn has power to mention his name to 
> the 'right people' - but Harry really doesn't seem to understand 
> that bit. He doesn't suck up, Slughorn's parties are more
> irritating than anything. Scrimgeour offers him a role as poster
> boy for the Ministry - another route to power. Harry rejects it.

Jen: HBP surprised me in the sense that Harry is very much 
encouraged by Dumbledore to use the power he holds, which is certain 
cases is mighty Slytherin-like. Like using "considerable ingenuity 
and depths of cunning" (chap. 20) to retrieve the memory from 
Slughorn. Then there's the power Harry alone possesses to defeat 
Voldemort, which he has yet to come to terms with or accept as being 
good enough for the job.

Harry doesn't seek *fame* and is embarassed by it very much. He 
doesn't capitalize on political power or power that serves his own 
needs. He's not lured by power for power's sake, as you said. But he 
does attach himself and openly state his loyalty to the most 
powerful wizard in his world, and he does feel a flame inside at the 
thought of being the one to defeat Voldemort. 

Harry has always rejected Draco, yet in this book he obsessively 
follows him around. I do think most of this was truly believing 
Draco was up to no good. There was another part, though. Draco was 
no longer engaging in his boyhood pursuits--harassing Harry, playing 
Quidditch, being Snape's favorite boy. Harry sensed the shift, and 
in a way that's what worried him the most, I believe. Suddenly Draco 
was no longer just a bully, he was a real threat. Harry had yet to 
leave his 'childish things' behind in HBP, and was still ensconsed 
in Dumbledore's protection, squabbles with friends, etc. Draco, 
whatever you think of his actions, had moved on to the real world, 
where stakes are high and your choices & loyalty, no matter how 
uncertain, stand between you and death. Harry got there too, by the 
end of HBP, when he realized the 'last of his great protectors was 
gone' and his future path was now up to him to decide (with help 
from his friends of course, and perhaps a few secret allies <g>).

I'm still working some of this out in my own mind, but I think one 
theme in HBP was Harry's need to come to terms with his Slytherin 
tendencies, wherever they come from, and being the "One with the 
Power." He has always rejected power in the traditional sense, yet 
his future calls for him to be powerful in a way only he can be. 

Back to a point by Neri, which I think fits here:
> Neri:
> I think Dumbledore's words "a soul that is whole and untarnished"
> should be taken in the context in which they were said. The context
> was Voldy's ripped soul. By "whole and untarnished soul" Dumbledore
> simply means that Harry didn't commit murder, despite having some
> good personal reasons to do it.

Jen: I do think Snape had a point in chapter 2 when he mentioned 
wondering whether Harry would be the next Dark Lord. I doubt he was 
the only one wondering that. After watching Riddle evolve, I'd say 
Dumbledore was very keen to see who Harry had grown to be in the 
intervening years. Nowhere in the prophecy does it say the 'One with 
the Power' is Good. I think there was a very real possibility in 
Dumbledore's mind that Harry could be on-track to defeat the Dark 
Lord, but only for personal gain. So he *is* amazed by his soul and 
choices, and by the end of COS, he's certain of Harry's loyalty and 
knows his desire to defeat Voldemort is not for selfish reasons.

Jen