I disagree. Harry could Apparate at an early age, and whether you deem the fact that he did it intentional or not, he obviously wanted to get away from Dudley and his magic reacted. Taking into account the passage just posted, Lily did not realize that what she was doing was magic, just that she could do something others couldn't do -- very similar to what Tom Riddle went through.

The difference is that Harry and Tom were both raised by people that would have disapproved of him using magic, to the extent that they bullied him and told him that it was unnatural, and something to be frowned upon. Petunia does the same, but it obviously doesn't effect Lily, who sees the beauty of magic -- with the flower, for example -- and couple that with Snape explaining what magic is, she would have no reason not to experiment regularly.

I don't discount Harry's 'magical power' in the slightest, but his experience levels were not on par with James, Dumbledore or even Lily, who had an opportunity to learn in an environment that encouraged growth. Lily would have been more stunted than James, as she was Muggleborn, but Dumbledore would have beaten them all by having to fend mostly for himself at a young age, and also take care of his sister (and brother, to some extent) using magic. I very much doubt that Dumbledore didn't use magic to do just about everything at that age -- though I don't think there is a canon basis for that, you could imagine it.

Draco Malfoy, by comparison, would have had the opportunity to become a great wizard, but would be stunted by the fact he already assumed he was great before he had the chance to prove it -- the opposite of Harry's character, who was assumed great by the people, but thought himself lowly, and had the courage to prove himself great.

It is an interesting dynamic in the series. Hermione would have had a ton of book sense, but would have thrown herself into magic because she knew nothing and was afraid of not being as smart as some others. Harry had no opportunity to read his books and study before he reached Hogwarts, and Ron would have known far more than them beforehand, without the drive to learn as much later on. Neville thought he was a squib until a certain age, so he would have lacked the courage to back up his talent, and coupled with his father's wand, he wouldn't have been able to compare to his dad's talent until Rowling provided him the proper wand in 6th year.

 

Aside from the specter of war beginning to loom, later in their Hogwarts careers, Lily and James both benefited from having relatively loving, nurturing, situations at home, where no one treated them like filth that was only suited for manual labor. They had decent teachers, no professors singling them out because of grudges, and no one trying to kill them.

They also didn't have everyone from friends' parents to their headmaster/political powerhouse/beneficent overlord forcing them to live a half-assed, piss-poor, version of a 'normal' life, for their own benefit.

In short, they were given space to be (genuinely) normal, form a healthy self image and attitude, and blossom in whichever fashion suited them.

Harry... was another story. Given a normal upbringing, raised by parents who were both clearly smart overachievers, he probably would have been one himself.

If raised by the Dursleys, but with tolerance and a sufficient, if not generous, helping of nurturing (or at least not telling him that his parents were drugged up losers who died in a crash and he's probably what slid off the coat hanger), he could have gone either way: A somewhat lazy, average, student, with neither the willingness to fail nor the drive to excel... or a bright overachiever, untroubled by a childhood of being convinced he was worthless and incapable, with a school career of dodging malefactors.

Ninja Edit:

Oh Shiiii-
Cue the obligatory incoming argument about whether that was apparition or just magically-aided jumping.

 

Nope. There's no argument because only retards think it was jumping .

 

Uh oh...

​

 

I understand and accept this, but it nevertheless remains disappointing that Harry never excelled at magic the way his parents did. It would have believable without making him too much the next Dumbledore or what have you.


. . . and I always interpreted it as accidental Apparation.

 

Until I read it in this forum I never considered the possibility it wasn't Apparition.

 

Here's a potentially disturbing question.

We know that Harry was a Parselmouth thanks to Voldemort's Horcrux in his scar. We also know that once said Horcrux was destroyed, Harry lost this ability. Now, let's say for a moment that due to some events, the Horcrux was not destroyed and Harry had it at least until after the time he fathered at least one child.

Here's the question: Would this child also be a Parselmouth?

 

Horcruxes are IMHO not inheritable - so my guess is no.

 

If someone stuck a leech on your head while you were shagging, would you pass any of the leech's traits off to your children?

Harry could only use Parseltongue because he would draw the knowledge from the Horcrux. He didn't have any ability himself.

 

Why do Ginny, Hermione and Molly dislike Fleur in HBP? And why does Harry not stand up for her?

 

They were jealous. Women hate more beautiful and confident women because they're a threat to their reproductive opportunities.

 

Gee, can you be any drier?

"reproductive opportunities" indeed.



:awesome

 

Why would he? He has no obligation to do so.

 

Ginny and Molly hate her because she's stealing their Bill!

Sure, he might have worked for the goblins, and might have owned his own house. But his mum and sister would have been the two most important women in his life, or have felt they were, and might have felt replaced.

Hermione still just wants to fit in. A Weasley makes up one-half of her regular friendship group for ten months of the year, and she doesn't want to alienate that family.

Harry doesn't stand up for her because why would he? He competed against her, a girl three years older than him, and he beat her every time. That isn't likely to exactly inspire respect for her. But apart from that, they didn't really hang out much.

 

Because they both know Harry/Fleur is the OTP and that its ruined when she hooks up with Bill in 99 percent of fics where she makes an appearance.

 

I don't understand the appeal of Harry/Fleur to be honest.

 

Readers identify with the protagonist or at least want good things to happen to him. Fleur is attractive.

 

Fleur is the one closest to his age that isn't a know it all or slut. /straightface

 

But she's barely a side character.

I suppose most readers do. Besides that, if beauty is the only thing she has to offer, then she's a pretty flat character.

 

We are told that she is objectively the most attractive of all potential love interests. She was chosen to be her school's champion. Because we know so little about her, an author can credibly make her a useful partner and a wonderful person. It is in fact easier to make Fleur into the best possible partner for Harry than to do the same with Hermione or Ginny or Cho, or any of the DA girls.