The first time I read this statement through... funnily it wasn't James that I thought about... instead it's a cross between Sirius and Lupin. With Sirius being the godfather and Lupin a better father-figure to Harry... I mean, do we have to stick to the theory that it has to be Harry's father... exactly? And biologically? Can't it be like someone Harry thinks as a father, instead? Cause James was gone when he was very little, he don't remember anything about him (although, it's very interesting that his Patronus is a stag.... like it's running in his blood, you know...)

And this one makes me think of Umbridge's detention. How he wouldn't yield to her, how he refuse to tell his two best friends about it, how he keeps trying to express the danger with Voldemort's back to live. And it also remind me of this part...

It's like seeing a new Harry, someone who wouldn't take on insult or taunting as easily as before... Harry who had travelled past ignorance and fear... hmmm... I don't think it's only the hormones doing... I think it's more than that...

Hmm... this is a heavy one. I've been thinking about it still after I read it from the book... I haven't found an explanation that satisfies me enough yet... let's hear it from guys first...

I think Sirius' death have a lot to do with this one. Harry would be terribly enraged with himself... because whatever other people might be telling him, he still sees himself the reason why Sirius is dead. He'd be in a war with himself. He'd have to conquer his own inner self, to seek his own strength, his own identity, self-possession, a master of his own self...

Well, living at the Dursleys prevent him from living fully... although I don't think that is all there is in that statement...ooh, ooh!! What about he had finally able to master Occlumency and thus allows him to live fully... no more Voldemort trying to sneak into his head. And he can also talk to Dumbledore freely without any hatred feeling from Voldemort...

Hmm...well, that's the best I can come up with...

What do you guys reckon?

Mmm....no, I don't think so, mate. Sorry! But it has to be James really...it's always been his ultimate quest, hasn't it? Although Sirius has undoutedly been very important in Harry's life, he was still a father substitute - essentially, it's James Harry really wanted. And, if Sirius was honest with himself, it's what he really wanted too.

As for Harry moving past ignorance and fear - I don't think he's really done that yet. He still has things to learn, particularly in the next book where he's going to be faced with some of the most difficult times he's faced so far. I think it's something a bit deeper than fortitude in Umbridge's detentions....it's a more profound, more spiritual kind of journey, you know what I mean? Fear of death, for example...fear of failure, fear of losing his friends, that kind of thing.

Yes, it is a pretty heavy one....I mean, at this point, it would be easy to say that Harry's ultimate goal is to defeat Voldemort, but maybe it's more than that. Maybe Harry has to come to terms with himself and his past first...to deal with the powers he has or the abilities he's received from Voldemort...or maybe even to come to terms with the truth about what he is, if he is actually related to Salazar Slytherin or Voldemort himself.

Strictly speaking, this doesn't have to be the hero's father. However, in this particular case, I think Harry's desire to have a family and to kow his father (and mother), coupled with the increasing amount of information we have been getting in the last couple of books (some of it not particularly nice, as far as James is concerned...) pretty much guarantee that we will see Harry somehow "connect" with his dad.

In the other thread, which Dana mentioned, I was talking about 3 remaining "milestones" which the hero (Harry) needs to reach: The Path of Atonement, Heart of Darkness, and (of course) Final Victory.

Harry has never known his father. Indeed, he knows precious little baout him or his mother, other than what people who knoew them tell him. For the most part, they remember James and Lilly as good, honest and kind people. We have seen, however, that James was not always exactly a model of kindness in his merciless tormenting of the young Severus Snape. This is further eveidenced by the information we get from Harry detention with Snape, copying those old school records. In this last book, we get hints that, perhaps, Lilly also had another side to her.

The path of atonement implies an understanding, on the part of the hero, of his father's (or in this case parents') motivations/place in the story. This may not necessarily be a "good" or "happy" thing, nor does it have to see things resolved at that particular point in the story. I think we have already entered this point by now, albeit slowly, with the information we were given.

In my opinion, I think this discovery will be what throws Harry into the depths of despair, bringing us to the Heart of Darkness. This is where Harry will no doubt question everything he knows, rage against the (perceived) "lies" he was told throughout his quest up to this point. We may be presented with some very shocking information about Harry's parents, or about Harry himself. The struggle Harry will go through will be a very, very difficult one for him and those around him. Somehow, with the help of his hero partners (Ron and Hermione, et al.), he will come back to his quest with renewed fervour and strength.

Which will bring us to the Final Victory...

How that will end, I do not know...

Some other interesting tidbits about the Campbell template:

Set up & inital development: Double-murder at Godric's Hollow, Harry's life on Privet Drive.

Destiny's Herald and the Call to Adventure: Hagrid is definitely the Herald, and he brings Harry his call to adventure. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia opposition to Harry attending Hogwarts paint them as "Threshold Guardians". The Threshold is the train station, where Harry meets up with his first hero partner, Ron. Once on the way to Hogwarts aboard the Express, he is past the Point of No Return and must see the adventure through to the end. He meets his other Hero Partner, Hermione, at this point.

Harry has "Guides" in Dumbledore (who presents Harry with an invisibility cloak once owned by his father), Lupin, Sirius, Mr. Weasley, etc...

Most interestingly, there are "Shapeshifters", or characters who go from helping to (apparently) hindering the hero, or from being "good" to being "bad" (sound like anyone you know?). I would definitely place Snape here, along with Quirrell and Wormtail. I am increasingly tempted to place Draco Malfoy here. Call me the eternal optimist, but I think he'll come out as a good guy...

I love this stuff! I think I might even be inclined to change my views on Snape after re-reading a bunch of Campbell's books...

Let's see what we make of this little post...

Cheers!

I see, you wrote this before the HBP came out, anyway:

Harry already experienced fear of his own death - it's the whole PoA book. And he came over it. He already faced death at least three times since, and felt no fear:

In the graveyard (GoF):

Harry crouched behind the headstone, and knew the end had come. There was no hope... no help to be had. And as he heard Voldemort draw nearer still, he knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear and reason - he was not going to die crouching like a child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemort's feet... he was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defence was possible...

In the MoM (OoTP):

'If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy...'
Let the pain stop, thought Harry... let him kill us... end it, Dumbledore... death is nothing compared to this...
And I'll see Sirius again...

In the grounds (HBP):

'Kill me, then,' panted Harry, who felt no fear at all, but only rage and contempt.

Harry also felt fear of failure, fear of losing his friends:

HBP, the Lightning-Struck Tower:

Had Ron, Hermione and Ginny's luck run out by now? Was it one of them who had caused the Mark to be set over the school, or was it Neville, or Luna, or some other member of the DA? And if it was... he was the one who had told them to patrol the corridors, he had asked them to leave the safety of their beds... would he be responsible, again, for a death of a friend?

He already lost Sirius because of his own mistake, and he is fully aware of his responsibility, no matter what DD told him, no mater how DD claims almost the whole responsibility for that failure. But I agree, he will have much more of that during the last book, I'm afraid.

I'm glad that wizards come of age with 17, because I found Harry very mature in this book, more than most of the University-students I know. I couldn't stand him being patronised by the adults any more.