Mud wrestling! :awesome

 

Come again? When was it decided that Harry's capacity to love was because of the prophecy?

And besides, if there'd been no prophecy Harry's parents probably wouldn't have died and he wouldn't have gone to Dursleys anyway.

EDIT: Where is Big D these days? WWSHD needs some updating

 

Big D went and jumped in a pool. There's his Dresden fic that needs updating as well.

 

It's basically there in the background, much like how his dreams (the metaphorical ones, not the visions via the scar) foreshadow certain critical events.

According to Dumbledore, Harry's 'the Power he Knows Not' is love - his mother's sacrifice being based on it, Voldemort not knowing it, his capability to love despite that if anyone else had been treated like shit for the last 10 years like he was at the Dursleys/having a large heart, they'd be far from forgiving/relatively stable like how he is, being proficient at spells that rely on 'good'/'caring' emotions such as the Patronus, etc.

It could also be just (a minor) one of the many backing factors as to why he's naturally talented at DADA, as well.

If anything, Harry seems to be a bit average aside from DADA - not 'super powerful' or 'Merlin reincarnate' like how most fic's have him.

 

Call Nuhuh, this needs to be written.

 

I don't think it was because of the prophecy that Harry had a 'big heart'. More like his 'big heart' allowed the prophecy to unfold. A prophecy doesn't influence you directly, it only becomes of value when people decide to act on it.

 

Effect without cause? I know that if I'd of spent my childhood living in a cupboard and treated like crap, I wouldn't of been relatively stable like how Harry was.

 

The cause is not necessarily the prophecy but more likely authoritarial fiat. Chances are when she was writing the first book the prophecy hadn't even come to her, and she wasn't going to write about an unstable child.

 

Neither would I, but that's because Harry's special, y'know? Only that I'm disagreeing that he can love because of some prophecy that said that he had to be able to love, but that it's because he's Harry. It's who he is.

 

Harry was just lazy / lacked motivation to try his hardest as he preffered quiditch, etc.

Forging the Sword is a good story for a motivated Harry, although it only has about ten chapters at the moment.

There has been loads of talk on here about the prophecy, some think the power is the Hallows, some think its love, but by that meaning bringing all his friends near him, etc, etc...

 

I hate to beat a dead horse on something everyone has moved from, but perhaps Harry's thirst to prove himself was a thirst to prove that he was... normal.

I mean you don't come out of being called a freak, boy and what not without thinking that something was off about the situation. He had to have gone to some variant of public school; surely he must have realized that he was not treated normally.

On new topic:
That would ultimately suck if love was based on prophecy; strikes too close to soul bonds for me. If, in the small chance she knew where she was heading at the time, Rowling may not have added why he came out as a semi-stable person because it was never extremely important to pushing the plot forward. If she did it may have been edited out because really, who cares? The wizard and magic parts are much more entertaining to the masses rather than Harry going to counseling as a during his first years.
Plus, everyone loves an underdog story, am I right? All you have to do is look at the number of horse/sport movies made. They rarely deviate from that pattern.

Anyway, I'm sure there is a small fanon niche out there where someone puts him through counseling at an extremely early age. Probably has him crying every chapter as well.

Unstable Potter FTW.

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that you're wrong. Harry's thirst to prove himself was to prove that he wasn't worthless. That he was, in fact, worthy of more than his life at the Dursley's.

 

To be something greater than the 'freak' or the 'waste' that they berrated into him?

 

Harry was the way he was because JKR watched the Disney version of Cinderella and decided that, 'Hey, if you can be treated like that for all your life and still turn out so good, then I might as well stick him in a cupboard, too.'

Neither Disney nor JKR are authorities on psychological development, last I checked. Just throwing it out there.

 

Meh. Normalcy is a step above worthlessness after all. He wanted to fit in, find friends, etc. And he did; when he went to Hogwarts. Being in Slytherin could have caused him raise his ambitions rather than settling for what came to him.

Look where he landed; three kids and married to Ginny. Could have done better.

Oh sure, wanting to be normal was really only mentioned later in the books, but he seems to be in the outgroup from the very beginning. So I'm sure there were a few seeds sowed somewhere in his psyche.

outgroup= freak= alone -to him at least

If he had really wanted power he would have gone to Slytherin, regardless of the ginger he made friends with a couple of hours before on the train. He could have dealt with the Draco annoyance as well, but it wasn't his ambition to be that type of person. And really, if he only said 'not Slytherin', because of the whole evil spiel everyone crammed down his throat, he would have tried to better himself on the side if he really was ambitious. Granted, he did get with the game in fifth year, but come on. After first few life threatening situations you'd think he want to prepare himself a bit more at the least.

Edit: True. Analyzing characters is all perspective when the author doesn't provide enough information. Good thing there's fanfiction around to go down some of these paths. And entertainment/rage as well when it is horribly done.

 

Had a bit of a plot bunny after reading On the Way to Greatness. Was thinking of an AU fic starting in OoTP. I would be keeping the DA small and a real secret organisation. Was thinking that Harry could take over the school and murder Umbridge after Dumbledore disappearing. Don't know if it's reconcilable with his age tho.

 

No. Just no.

 

In the hands of an amazing writer, this could be a decent fic I suppose. But it's implausible and would require a complete reworking of Harry's character and possibly a redo of all the years to justify it.

Also, it's "though", not "tho".

 

In any case, it's obvious that Harry could have done all right in Slytherin. If anyone is still saying that he couldn't have, I have a two word retort:

Crabbe. Goyle.

If they can manage, Harry can manage. Period.

But if you're wondering how much he would have liked it in Slytherin, and what sort of "status" he would have ended up with there, who knows? I think he would have done all right, because although Harry fucks up frequently, he's not the type to surrender to his adversaries. In the long run, Harry would have landed on his feet.

And if Ron really did "hold Harry back" or whatever, it's just as possible that Slytherin!Harry's inevitable dislike of Malfoy and extra contact with him would have prompted Harry to be even more competitive against him (in Quidditch, schoolwork, and maybe even Slytherin social relationships).

 

I would argue the point of Crabbe and Goyle 'doing alright' in Slytherin. I think they were put there because the Hat couldn't put them anywhere else.

Anywho- Crazy crack plot idea: When Harry survived the Killing Curse, it didn't leave him untouched. From an early age, his accidental magic was out of control, and since he grew up around the video games like Zelda and Super Mario Bros., he subconsciously tried to turn the world around him into a strange amalgam of real life and console games. This, in turn, allows for the most awesome cross-over of all time- a Harry Potter/ Scott Pilgrim fusion. The primary plot could be set in the Goblet of Fire, and while he competes for the Triwizard Cup, he's also trying to date Fleur Delacour and defeat her seven evil exes.