OotP Chapter 32 - Out of the Fire

[quartertofive]

Harry rushes out of the exam to the infirmary, looking for professor McGonagall, but she's been trasferred to St. Mungos. The next step is to grab Ron and Hermione, inform them of Sirius alleged capture, override any attempts at rational thought or common sense on their parts, and start planning

Comments

[potter_phile]

The point isn't so much that Hermione is wrong about Harry's inclination toward feeling he needs to run to the rescue, it is that this is the worst conceivable moment to mention such a thing.

I would disagree. He's about to run off to do something foolish - again. It's the perfect time to mention that he tends to leap before he looks.

Almost none. He tried to get help in PS/SS, CoS, and here -- there was no help to be had.

You're correct in that there have been many times when the kids (esp. Harry) were meant to handle things on their own. But there were also many times when Harry could have confided in DD, Sirius, Hermione, etc. Harry's upbringing has led him to hold his feeling in, so he ends up torturing himself needlessly - for 5 books now. :)

A natural extension of that is the feeling that 'if he doesn't act, no one else will.' This is wrong and dangerous. It's no coincidence that Harry's 'saving people thing' got Sirius killed and his friends injured. While I try not to argue authorial intent, we've been told that Harry grows up a lot in HBP. Part of that would hopefully include thinking before he acts (that, and holding his temper - esp. around teachers).

Respectfully, I don't think you can argue that Hermione was wrong even though she turned out to be right. Granted, it may have been the last thing Harry wanted to hear, but I think it was what he needed to hear.

[cadesama]

I'm not saying that she shouldn't have said anything. But calling out your friend on his good deeds isn't going to get you anywhere. Which, hey, it didn't.

But there were also many times when Harry could have confided in DD, Sirius, Hermione, etc. Harry's upbringing has led him to hold his feeling in, so he ends up torturing himself needlessly - for 5 books now. :)

I disagree. Harry doesn't trust people, but they haven't proven themselves trustworthy, and there are very few instances where going to them would have produced results.

A natural extension of that is the feeling that 'if he doesn't act, no one else will.' This is wrong and dangerous.

Well, except that Harry has been proven correct 99% of the time. It's obviously dangerous. But, again, my point is that Hermione is approaching it from the wrong angle merely by calling it a "saving-people-thing", as a opposed to calling it a "paranoid-don't-trust-the-world-thing".

Respectfully, I don't think you can argue that Hermione was wrong even though she turned out to be right. Granted, it may have been the last thing Harry wanted to hear, but I think it was what he needed to hear.

And I don't think you can argue that she was right even though she was wrong. Someone who says we landed on the moon to harvest cheese is just as wrong as someone who says we didn't land on the moon at all. She had a good motive, but nearly every single thing she says to Harry to convince him is inaccurate. The fact that they shouldn't have gone doesn't make her reasons for not going any more valid. She said that Voldemort couldn't possibly get in -- he did. She said it didn't make sense -- they don't have enough information to judge that, nor do Voldemort's plans frequently even make sense. She said it could just be a dream -- it was definitely a vision. She manages to skirt any useful argument, only coming up to the edges before going off in the wrong direction.