Hey guys, long time lurker and reader through a friend's account, but brand new poster.

Anyway, I was thinking of trying my hand at writing a Ravenclaw!Harry fic, when I realized that just writing a generic, studious Harry wasn't really writing Harry at all. Obviously a more academically inclined/talented/curious personality is a necessity, but I'd like for the character to still feel distinctly like canon Harry.

So, with that said, I was hoping that DLP could help me produce a masterlist of traits and personality quirks for canon Harry. Traits that make him... well, him. Any thoughts?

 

Okay, here goes:

Earnest - Harry Potter does not have a cynical bone in his body.

Practical - Harry is pretty smart, but he learns best by seeing, feeling and doing. The more opportunities he is given to immerse himself in "sink of swim" practical learning, the more he will learn.

Stubborn - when he sets his mind to something, he'll keep at it. He's not easily influenced by others.

Sarcastic - see his interactions with the Dursleys especially, but also some of his exchanges with Malfoy and Ron.

Morally certain - Harry always is completely sure of what is right, and does not doubt his intuition in these matters.

Brave - when Harry decides a course of action is correct, no amount of danger can prevent him from pursuing it.

Intuitive - Harry does not have an explicitly analytical mind, but he is great at seeing connections and sensing patterns.

Trusting and trustworthy - Harry values loyalty, and does not betray the confidences of others. Similarly, he expects the same of the people around him, and will normally give them the benefit of the doubt (the first time round).


With regards to Ravenclaw Harry, I think all you have to do is make Harry a little more eager to learn magic and you don't have to change his personality at all to get him to fit. He's an extremely curious person. Though in canon that was directed more towards mysteries than magic, it could easily be redirected that way.

And as stated above, he's plenty intelligent and talented. He just isn't great at making himself do book learning (though he is perfectly capable of book learning if he has the motivation to do it, it's not the study method he responds best to). Make Harry aware of this predisposition and you can find ways for him to put himself in a position where he can learn practically: he can join stuff like Charms Club, get jobs during the holidays (e.g. working at an apothecary would definitely help herbology/potions knowledge), ask older students to demonstrate magic for him, etc.

 

To be fair, in PS he did go to McGonagall first, and in OotP he tried to confirm Sirius' situation.

 

Those are brilliant guys, thank you!

To everybody else, I'd love to hear what you had to add as well, or even affirmation (in your opinion) of what has already been posted. Keep it coming!

 

I always thought, that Harry lacked the desire to make his parents proud, which would have been a great foundation to make him more studious. I guess after Hagrid told him what great and smart people his parents were, the Mirror subconsciously confirming it and having the chance to start in a new world anew, I expected him to stop wallowing in mediocrity.

Fact is, Harry is smart and with the right motivation he wouldn't stop lerning no matter how tedious it feels.

Edit: See Taure's post about the traits practical and stubborn.

 

Magical cores and magical suppression affecting his faculties.

 

I think the major pitfall you'll have in portraying a 'Ravenclaw' Harry is that normally Harry is very plain-spoken and direct. He doesn't use fancy words as that would have been ridiculed at the Dursleys, and he's no poet.

"Well, how was it?" [kissing Cho]

"Umm... wet."

 

I'm curious as to how far this would go for Ravenclaw Harry, how it would affect his skill level. Obviously he's never going to be Dumbledore/Voldemort/Grindelwald level, but does a Harry focused more on learning have the ability to match, say, Snape?

 

Give him a healthy dose of fascination with wand magic (Charms and Transfiguration, dark arts is out, because it's obviously so slytherin) and a fear for his life after his encounter with Quirrellmort and he could easily reach those lofty heights.

Imagine a Ravenclaw/Harry before the second task, experimenting with Human Self-Transfiguartion and wondering why a dolphin tailfin feels easier than a shark tailfin. Is it because a dolphin is a mammal like him or is it because he believes it should feel easier. But then why works the tail of a sea snake the best?

Or think about a mid-twenties Harry dueling with the tail of a snake instead of legs à la Orochimaru vs Kyuubi. There are dozens of ways to make him epic like Dumbledore.

 

"He doesn't use fancy words."

OP asked for defining traits for Harry being canon-esque, and the tendency when focusing on shifting him to a Ravenclaw Sorting would be to justify that his interest in the right answer is more important to him than the right action. A writer may be tempted to make him sound more Hermione-ish. Thus it becomes a pitfall- a trap one should avoid falling into.

 

Thanks guys, all of this was good stuff!

Another question, related to the same concept: is there any indication in canon as to whether Hagrid typically escorts muggleborns to Diagon Alley? It seems as though that wouldn't be a regular duty of the "Keeper of the Grounds", but I don't have my books with me, so I can't be certain.

 

IIRC, McGonagall is mentioned by Hermione as visiting to deliver her letter, and that's the last we hear about who meets muggleborns.

An argument could be made that the Deputy Headmaster/Headmistress visits muggleborns as part of their job description. Personal headcanon is that all the Heads of Houses do it to spread the workload.

Dumbledore sent Hagrid because 1) Harry isn't technically muggleborn and 2) Dumbledore's gotta Dumbledore.