Harry Potter And The Muggle Struggle Part Four: Humble Little Harry

Well, back by popular demand (technically only one person asked about when I'd get around to completing this little project, but one person can be popular, no? Wouldn't that make her demand a popular demand? You do the math.), is another edition of that old essay of mine. Good luck trying to remember everything that came before. Heh heh...suckers...
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This goodness doesn't come from a lack of temptation to turn bad, though. Harry is a very powerful wizard with great abilities. Most of his peers are incapable of the level of magic he can do. In fact, Harry often out-performs many of his superiors. He is able to perform a defensive spell, called the Patronus Charm, after his professor warns "that the charm might be too advanced for [Harry]. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it" (Rowling, Prisoner 237). It is the cause of much doubt and confusion for the young wizard, especially when his powers closely parallel those of his enemy Voldemort. He learns that his ability to speak with snakes is very rare and usually only possessed by dark wizards like Voldemort (Rowling, Chamber 196). Harry has often pondered his resemblance to Voldemort and has feared that he was headed down the same path. That is one of the great lessons of the series. As headmaster Dumbledore teaches Harry, "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" (Rowling, Chamber 333). Edmund M. Kern mentions how Harry "...meets circumstances beyond his control with resolve and accepts that he must maintain his inner goodness and direct it outward in order to act on behalf of others" (15). Harry is constantly placed in situations where he must choose between right or wrong, good or bad, to save himself or to save others. Sometimes he is aware that he is facing a decision between good and evil; other times he's not. Yet, consistently he chooses the side of good.
That is where the morality of Harry's character comes most heavily into play. Here is a boy with tremendous potential, and a great deal of power. He is extremely talented at quidditch, a game that resembles soccer and is played on broomsticks, and is the youngest seeker in over 100 years (Rowling, Sorcerer's 152). He is undoubtedly the most powerful wizard in his school, he's very intelligent (even if his grades don't always reflect it; it's tough to get straight A's when you're saving the world), extremely famous, very wealthy, and to top it all off: he's a good-looking kid. Under those circumstances, it is quite normal for a teenager to get a big head and start to feel pretty superior to the "little people" who adore you. Yet, Harry hates the limelight. He avoids it at all costs. He doesn't like being put up on a pedestal or having fans. He's just as scared of girls and love as anyone else. He could use his powers for personal gain, and to mock those less fortunate than himself, but instead he is always sticking up for the little guy and helping those less fortunate than himself. If that's not a good role-model, than I don't know what is.

Previous: Part Three
Next: Part Five