No kidding...in fact. *digs out his copy of Half-Blood Prince* *turns to page 102*
Indeed. His two failing grades were, respectively, a subject that he wasn't adept at to begin with, and an examination that he passed out in while halfway through.
Meanwhile, his lowest passing grade was an Acceptable in Astronomy, which is already a tough subject AND said examination was interrupted by Hagrid kicking some Auror ass and McGonagall taking three curses to the chest, courtesy of Umbridge and her posse(it still astounds me that Umbridge got away with wanton assault, even after she was sacked and chased away by Peeves). It was explicitly stated that Harry was preoccupied with that the rest of the exam.
In all other subjects, where Harry had time and concentration on his side, he had no less than an E or above. Sure, it wasn't Hermione's level(and I quote: "Yep - ten 'Outstandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' at Defense Against the Dark Arts."), but Harry was easily a cut above the rest in his class.
I meant more his attitude to winning and losing than his actual performance, but yes, you've touched on fanon that bugs me. Harry got excellent exam results and went into one of the most highly qualified jobs in the wizarding world: he's not unacademic by any stretch of the imagination. He'd be in the top set if Hogwarts had them.
I blame the Snapewives for the common misconception that Harry's only slightly-less book dumb than Ron(who isn't book dumb at all, he's just not book smart, either. In other words, he's average in terms of intelligence). The fact that Snape has a significant fanbase devoted to him(despite the fact that he's a gorram sadist who sold James out to Voldemort) meant that a significant chunk of the HP fanbase believes Snape's words that Harry was simply lucky and rode the coattails of far more intelligent and powerful people.
This despite the fact that Deathly Hallows was basically J.K. Rowling showing those same people that yes, Harry Potter is quite intelligent and capable of accomplishing great things on his own, without the help of Dumbledore and others.
The fact that he rivaled Hermione in Charms and Transfiguration(E < O, sure, but that's nothing to laugh at) while EXCEEDING her in Defense Against the Dark Arts(which involves a lot more practical applications of magic than the other subjects, showing that Harry does have a considerable talent toward actually using his magic as opposed to just regurgitating it in a class) should show that he's skilled and capable. But no, the Snapewives lap up Snape's drivel against Harry like honey, despite the fact that he's INCREDIBLY biased.
That's one of many reasons I think Rowling put in the scene where Dumbledore calls Snape's bias out in DH: To basically flip a giant bird to the Snapewives and other anti-Harry fans out there.
The way I see it, when comparing Harry and Hermione, has always been that Hermione is definitely more book smart, but Harry's far and above more street smart, as illustrated in Order of the Phoenix:
"You don't know what it's like! You - neither of you, you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you're sure you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own - your own brain or guts or whatever - like you can think straight when you know you're about a second from being murder, or tortured, or watching your friends die - they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that..."
That was easily the defining moment of Harry's character, for me, and one of many reasons OotP was my favorite book before DH.
And one of MANY reasons I think OotP's movie was by far and large the worst of the entire series. IMO, that film was abysmal, and that's something considering that Prisoner of Azkaban was a butchered mess in terms of plot and characterization.
No kidding...in fact. *digs out his copy of Half-Blood Prince* *turns to page 102*
Indeed. His two failing grades were, respectively, a subject that he wasn't adept at to begin with, and an examination that he passed out in while halfway through.
Meanwhile, his lowest passing grade was an Acceptable in Astronomy, which is already a tough subject AND said examination was interrupted by Hagrid kicking some Auror ass and McGonagall taking three curses to the chest, courtesy of Umbridge and her posse(it still astounds me that Umbridge got away with wanton assault, even after she was sacked and chased away by Peeves). It was explicitly stated that Harry was preoccupied with that the rest of the exam.
In all other subjects, where Harry had time and concentration on his side, he had no less than an E or above. Sure, it wasn't Hermione's level(and I quote: "Yep - ten 'Outstandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' at Defense Against the Dark Arts."), but Harry was easily a cut above the rest in his class.
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This despite the fact that Deathly Hallows was basically J.K. Rowling showing those same people that yes, Harry Potter is quite intelligent and capable of accomplishing great things on his own, without the help of Dumbledore and others.
The fact that he rivaled Hermione in Charms and Transfiguration(E < O, sure, but that's nothing to laugh at) while EXCEEDING her in Defense Against the Dark Arts(which involves a lot more practical applications of magic than the other subjects, showing that Harry does have a considerable talent toward actually using his magic as opposed to just regurgitating it in a class) should show that he's skilled and capable. But no, the Snapewives lap up Snape's drivel against Harry like honey, despite the fact that he's INCREDIBLY biased.
That's one of many reasons I think Rowling put in the scene where Dumbledore calls Snape's bias out in DH: To basically flip a giant bird to the Snapewives and other anti-Harry fans out there.
The way I see it, when comparing Harry and Hermione, has always been that Hermione is definitely more book smart, but Harry's far and above more street smart, as illustrated in Order of the Phoenix:
"You don't know what it's like! You - neither of you, you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you're sure you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own - your own brain or guts or whatever - like you can think straight when you know you're about a second from being murder, or tortured, or watching your friends die - they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that..."
That was easily the defining moment of Harry's character, for me, and one of many reasons OotP was my favorite book before DH.
And one of MANY reasons I think OotP's movie was by far and large the worst of the entire series. IMO, that film was abysmal, and that's something considering that Prisoner of Azkaban was a butchered mess in terms of plot and characterization.
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