In many fanfics, Harry is very smart and powerful and Ron is the only thing holding him back. As soon as Harry gets rid of Ron's influence, he becomes studious and a powerhouse.

I used to think this was just some fanfic trope, but then I saw people who seriously agree with this interpretation and believe that Ron was a negative influence because he was a slacker and encouraged Harry to not study.

It is debatable whether Harry was a secret uber smart nerd and only Ron was holding him back. However, lets say it's true.

What if that was exactly what Harry needed? After all, Harry had a difficult childhood and little to no chances to play around with friends? What if he needed a warm family like the Weasleys? What if slacking off with friends was good for his psyche?

Would it really help canon Harry that much if he became studious and powerful? How? Remember that canon Harry was never meant to defeat Voldemort with his power and magical skills. He was meant to defeat Voldemort with the "power of love". Maybe focusing on friendship over studying helped him more than some think.

 

You're right. Another one of these threads is exactly what DLP needs.

 

God forbid a forum based on the discussion of Harry Potter hosts a thread discussing Harry Potter.

Yes we have had threads like this before but the forum is 13 years old now and OP is espousing a view that is commonly not the norm.

Why shouldn't we discuss?

Personally, I agree. Rowling was never about min/maxing Harry's stats and Ron gave Harry a normal friend he could chill with. In canon, Ron was exactly what he needed. In AU, however, Ron can go suck a dick while Harry starts to learn 1337 dark magic skills.

 

We do see a Harry without Ron, who studies all day in Goblet of Fire, and he felt absolutely miserable because of it.

 

The loss of his best friend and impending doom by dragonfire probably had a bit more to do with his funk than studying to be fair.

 

In his head he basically seems to miss Ron because now he has to spend a lot of time studying.

 

If that's what you're getting from reading that paragraph then, cool, you do you.

My take away from that is that a 14 year old lad is missing fun with his best friend. There's no outright dislike of studying there, it's just that Hermione's idea of a good time isn't as in tune with Harry's as Ron's is.

 

I think you two are ultimately getting at the same point. It's not that Harry hates studying, it's that he doesn't like it the way Hermoine does. Like any human being, Harry needs down time to refresh and recover. While reading and studying is one of Hermoine's ways to relax, it doesn't seem to refresh Harry in the same way. Especially in the quoted paragraph, where he feels like he's hitting a brick wall in his studies, which always makes it more stressful.

It's no surprise Harry is miserable if he's stressed out and not getting enough time to recharge. That's probably the biggest thing Ron brings to the friendship: just being fun for Harry to hang out with.

 

And I rather think that Hermione getting Harry to study during lunchtime wasn't to show him the wonders of recreational studying. It had more to do with, y'know, avoiding death by dragonfire.

 

Yeah, there's no denying the practical necessity of it. There are a lot of very good reasons that Harry needs to study, even outside of the situation in Goblet of Fire. I don't think Hermoine was trying to convert Harry over to the ways of studying for fun, she was just doing what she could to help him out when he really needed all the help he could get.

But then, Hermoine isn't the one the thread's about. The point of the thread (and the quote in question) is that Harry needs his downtime with Ron goofing off and having fun to be happy.

 

I agree that canon Harry definitely needed Ron, even though I don't like Ron. JKR wanted Harry to be an ordinary, relatable teenager with extraordinary bravery, and Ron makes a solid sidekick.

Someone refresh my memory of canon. What are the moments where Harry is motivated to learn something to fight Voldemort or protect someone? Only two examples leap to mind for me: the patronus charm in third year and the summoning charm in fourth year. Even the spells they learned in the DA seem to be ones they already know (except for the patronus charm).

Harry's general lack of motivation in saving his own ass should probably have made it clearer to us earlier that JKR intended him to be a sacrificial lamb. It's not a crime to want a normal life, but I think if you stuck any one of us in Harry's shoes, we'd think at least occasionally about how to learn the magic we needed to survive a war.

 

Two things on this...

1. It does seem that Harry started thinking about this in OOTP withDumbledore's army and such. However, we don't really see Harry himself learning much combat magic. We don't really see that until HBP with Snapes potion book...and then its treated as the "dark path."

2. We, on DLP, aren't really indicative of the larger population. We are an eclectic bunch. I think most people would react like Harry did. Few would go full "Rocky training montage mode."

 

It's probably also worth remembering that most DLP-ers are a lot older and more mature than Harry is. Harry's eleven years old at the start of the series, and concludes it all (sans epilogue) before his 18th birthday. At that age, it's no surprise he wants time to relax and have fun instead of putting his nose to the grindstone 24/7 and constantly stressing over Voldemort.

Not to mention that having a school/life balance was probably healthier for him, given that whenever we see him really drive himself in training it tends to come at the expense of personal happiness. Odds are his studying/training is more productive when he gets a reasonable amount of downtime, and Ron's good for that.

 

Based on fanfiction, the average person would start crying and cutting themselves, or they would spend all their time fucking Draco and/or Snape.

 

I still want to see a good Harry Potter DLP Quest one day...

 

Do it just for DLP?