Harry has never been very academic, and although that makes things harder for himself, its something I've always been able to relate to. He has the ability, just not the drive for it. Proof of that is how well he does in his DADA class. Top of the year. Because its something that interests him, well, its more of a passion really I suppose.

He is lazy, but not ridiculously so. Just very realistically so for a teenager I think, and he has been from day one (at least thats how I always saw him) so its pretty true to character. Perhaps the only thing that bothers me, is that I keep expecting him to wakeup one day and realize he needs to learn a heck of a lot more to stay alive (not because he has to face Voldemort, but because he continually meets up with the Death Eaters too) But that never happens. I suppose I can understand it because he has had a lot going on every year he's been a school. He's had to deal with far more than the ordinary person. After things like the deaths etc, its a wonder he gets very good grades at all really!

In my opinion though, Harry's character definitely took a turn for the worse in HBP. Not that I didn't like him anymore, (far from it) I am still very fond of him, it's his attitude towards things. Its like all of a sudden the things that kept him humble in the previous books were all thrown out the window before we met up with him again after OOTP. Suddenly he's much more comfortable with his 'stardom' and starts to reflect that, for example, in his willingness to have a laugh at others expense just a bit too often in this book for my liking.

I liked humble Harry. Sure his confidence is going to grow as he grows, especially because people tend to regard him in such awe, but you dont discard so much of your earlier life experiences which taught you humility just because you are becoming popular over one summer. Well, maybe some people would, but I never pictured Harry doing that, not from the way Jk has written him previously.

Still this is all just an opinion, and my opinion is that Harry wasn't quite the same person he was right up until OOTP, which I did find disappointing because I loved Harry's character development right up until then. I still care about him, but not as deeply, and I'm really hoping that Jk can bring some of those things about Harry that I like so much back in book seven, and doesn't continue writing him the same way, (or worse) before its too late and I just dont really care all that much when he faces death again at the hand of Voldemort in the end.

I thought that he was a bit like Jekel and Hyde. At parts, he seemed like the normal Harry. And at others, when he went into Malfoy's compartment on the train, I thought that was even more rash than what I've been used to from Harry.

I voted for "I loved him.......", but he was starting to get a little to..stuck-up and vain by the end of the book. If he keeps this up in Book7, he wont get anywhere!! He needs the help of his friends and the Order to prevail..he just cant do it on his own!!

What do I think of the new HBP Harry? I LOVED HIM! I really liked the new Harry because since, like, the 2nd book his life has slowly been getting darker and dark er then lighter then more darkness.....I enjoyed the New HP 'cause he seemed happier, he was all sarcastic and stuff........He ROCKED!!!!
Peice-Out-Yo! (I spell peace Peace sometimes...it's like my word.....)

Why did Harry greave SOOOO much in OotP for Cedric, but hardly at all for Sirius???? Sirius was more important to Harry than Cedric, wasn't he????I mean, if I am not mistaken, Harry HATED Cedric for a while, didn't he????? Because he only knew Sirius for two years before he died, HE ONLY KNEW CEDRIC FOR, LIKE, SIX MONTHS!!!!!!!! Sirius was Harry's GODFATHER FOR GOD SAKE!!!!!! CEDRIC WAS PRATCIALLY NOTHING TO HARRY!!!!!!! OK I'm now done ranting so......whatever.............

I like Harry in Half-Blood Prince.
I don't get why people are saying he turned into a bullying, arrogant *mod edit* because I really don't think so... i mean he may be a little arrogant but that's part of his personality. Nobody is perfect. That's one of the things I like so much about this character, he has flaws like everyone else, even if he is so brave and noble etc.
Anyway, I think he has matured SO much from book 5 to the 6th it's amazing. I liked how at the end he was so determined to go on his "mission" and finally accept his destiny. He seemed very grown up, also by making the decision to leave Ginny, not because he wanted to, but because he had to for her safety.
And about him laughing along when someone's being made fun of, isn't that perfectly normal? I mean, everyone does that especially at his age, that's not being mean necesarily. Also I think he's more outgoing in this book he says some funny things but i don't remember right now....
Last thing I'm gonna say is that i LOVE Harry/Ginny and I really wish they would come back together in the future. They make a perfect couple.

MOD EDIT:Please refer to Hallias post below..swearing is not allowed on the forums in any form..that includes implied swearing as well I have edited your post

Hiya Lily_magic and welcome to VTM!

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Another thing is that I like how he got over Sirius really quickly - OOTP there was far too much "Woah is me, poor old Cedric, boo-hoo".

Very realistic reaction to such a trauma but not what I want to waste hours reading about to be honest. Think JK did well there not to repeat this mistake. (And to pre-empt the complaints that will inevitably come about the realism of this, it's set in a school for wizards for crying out load!)

Why did Harry greave SOOOO much in OotP for Cedric, but hardly at all for Sirius???? Sirius was more important to Harry than Cedric, wasn't he????I mean, if I am not mistaken, Harry HATED Cedric for a while, didn't he????? Because he only knew Sirius for two years before he died, HE ONLY KNEW CEDRIC FOR, LIKE, SIX MONTHS!!!!!!!! Sirius was Harry's GODFATHER FOR GOD SAKE!!!!!! CEDRIC WAS PRATCIALLY NOTHING TO HARRY!!!!!!!

Hey there ronxdraco,

I assume from your amusing post that you realized you'd double posted, so I won't chastise you for that. I've deleted it, by the way...

Also, posting in all caps is prohibited, as it's considered shouting in cyberspace, and we don't want to start a shouting match.

If you could have a read of the rules, so you can know all of them and not have me following you around, that'd be great.

and somethin' else..I like the relation between Harry and DD..they are much more than just professor and student..it's much deeper..DD is some kind of replacement for Harry's family,for Sirius..and there wasn't that kind of connextion among them in for example,book 3 or 4,it started in book 5,at the end..when DD explained everything to Harry..it seems like he was waiting for Harry to be more mature to become closer with him..anyway,I love them both..

It's not as though I haven't said it elsewhere... But yes - I didn't like the new Harry, or rather I didn't care about him which is even worse. I don't always have to 'like' Harry in order to be able to identify with him. But there has to be something about the characterisation that resonates.

I 'liked' him best in PoA, but while I didn't find him likeable in OotP ( which is irrelevant criteria given the circumstances), I did find him comprehensible, and realistic which is more than I can say for the paper-thin portrayal of him HBP. In OotP I didn't always 'like' him, but I more than understood his anger, his hostility and his various reactions.

Harry in HBP did not seem to be going through a stage of 'development'. The word development implies an on-going process. Harry in HBP starts off on a trajectory that seems completely unrelated to anything that we had previously read. Where was the continuity? (which is a fundamental factor in development.) His utter failure to show much in the way of emotion concerning Sirius for example, wasn't development, or even denial really - the whole thing was entirely swept under the carpet.

And no - while good fantasy writing is predicated on the suspension of reality, it like all fiction is bound to certain fundamental laws regarding characterisation. Yes, I am willing to suspend my belief regarding a magical castle, but no, I am not willing to 'swallow' the idea that a 16 year old boy who loses a father-figure and friend is simply going to be hey-okay with that and never express any real signs of grief or trauma, particularly if he feels as if he is in part responsible.

There is a difference between fantasy, and absurdity. HP is popular because it manages to balance fantasy and realism (hence the term "magic realism". Despite the fantastic magical setting, the characters are recognisably human and people can identify with the way that they act.) And no - I do not think that JKR or any writer would be required to write hundreds of angst-ridden pages on Harry's grief. But nevertheless, it needed to be an issue. It didn't have to dominate the entire text but good writing would have at least periodically surface in the text in order to make Harry and the situation believable and relatable. There has to be a balance, between making it all-consuming and insignifcant. HBP erred on the side of the latter.

I also felt that HBP did a stand up job of making Harry come across as dim-witted and as Snape charged, mediocre. If he hasn't learnt by now that when Hermione warns you about something then 'duh' - you *might* at least want to give the matter some serious consideration, then when (if ever) will he? Repeating the same mistakes over and not learning from them - wherein lies the 'maturity'? The Levicorpus and sectumsempra sections were beyond childish and stupid.

His failure to even master non-verbal spells - what was Harry doing all year? And how did this follow on from his determination to pass his OWLS well, and teach at the DA. Even though he's not the most brilliant scholar, he's not Crabbe or Goyle! And he is supposed to be good at DADA. All in all, we were shut out from any internal processes with Harry, which is why I felt as if I was reading about some not-particularly interesting stranger that I wasn't too keen to get acquainted with.

We didn't see him dealing with any of his real issues which are largely internal - his grief, his anger, his pain, his fear over the prophecy - i.e. all of the hard stuff that actually requires genuine bravery and strength. The book chose instead to deal with...well, yeah. Hence the alienation that Razz refers to.

The scenes that did attempt to portray him as "all-growed up" felt forced, cliched and hackneyed.

I love your post, Westerly. For me as well, one of the main reasons I like Harry is because I can relate to him. I loved the anger he showed towards Umbridge in OotP because I knew exactly how he felt like. Not to be believed when stating a serious matter. Being made fun of and everyone saying you're a joke when disaster's being formed.. That, I can relate to.

But, in HBP, he was soo dull! It seemed as though he had lost all of his emotions, and was forced to do what he did. I don't even think we heard a lot from him, or what he thought. Just that 'Harry went for a walk. He thought about the memories'..(not a real quote, just an example).. If it was a real quote though, we would want to know what he thought of the memories, not just he thought of them. And, that was basically Harry in HBP.

For Harry grieving over Sirius.. He seemed to miss more for someone he somewhat hated in OotP, then his own godfather. Sure, I remember him telling himself 'don't think about it', but that was basically it! It should be better to actually think about the person you're grieving than to push them away from your mind. For, that makes you a delusional ( *sigh*) and irritating person in depression..

Oh, and we didn't even see Harry doing anything for DADA. He definetly should have practiced, for he seemed like a second year dueler at the end of HBP. It was as though all the spells and information he knew about dueling leaked out of his brain over the summer.. He's 16 for goodness' sake! You think he ought to know that he should practice Occlumency to defeat Voldemort. Because, without knowing Occlumency, he's nowhere.

And what was it with him liking his popularity? I'm not saying that you should always be modest, but it seemed as though he went from that shy boy, to Gilderoy Lockhart! Well...maybe that's a bit harsh. But it looked to me as if the only thing that mattered to him was his popularity, and seemed to look down on those less fortunate than him..with the popularity statis.

Harry seems to lose his temper a lot more easily now and he seems to have lost control of his emotions (or does not amke a huge effort) ever since the fifth book.

He is understadibly aggressive towards Mundugus and Snape, but towards Dumbledore, Ron and Hermoine, that is understandible but harsh and destructive. Some other bits and pieces occured but these are the bigger ones.

Who wouldn't feel angry that they were left out?
I suppose it was better than attacking Dumbledore himself.

But they explained again and again-repeadetly, that they couldn't say-Dumbledore said so-he had a good reason too!

The things he smashed were probably valuable.
Dumbledore would never go around smashing Harry's things-including that precious firebolt-in his rage. Would you be able to repair it with a simple, `reparo'? I think not.

I think that Harry may need to control himself, or maybe i'm just exaagerating-am I?

No, not at all. Put it this way....

You personally saw your worst fear come to life and you are scared out of your mind, not to mention only a year later that you have to either become the murderer or the murdered. Most people would feel down all the time- sulking alone, doing excessive amounts of thinking, some just crying 24/7.

People express their emotions in different ways. Harry just does it with anger, which is no different to crying or isolating yourself.....it all depends on the person in question...

Hope that answers your query...

In addition he is a teenager. This generally entails being pulled in several different directions by your hormones. One of the main symptoms of this are mood swings (I remember mine took the form of derpression and, for a time, I was a borderline manic-depressive).

Talking about all this makes me realise what I've got to come in about 10 years when my children hit their teens

OoTP is Harry's 'Fifteen' year. Every teenager has raging hormones at fifteen. I personally like the way Harry overcomes these when we go into HBP.

He's learnt to control his anger and only blows off when he's really riled, like discovering Snape was the snitch. In five, he was close to boiling point 24/7. But he's matured now and can handle a lot more without going overboard. I take my hat of to him over his conversation with Scrimgeour. I'd have decked him one if he'd asked me to help the Ministry after humiliating me endlessly.

He has an anger streak, but it's just his way of coping with his unbelievably awful existance. I'd certainly be very surprised if he wasn't slightly p**sed off after what he's been through. All teens grow out of it, and I think Harry nearly has at the end of HBP.

Congrats to JKR for getting the sensitivity of youth perfect, because I can relate to Harry on almost all levels in OoTP, so I can certainly sympathise with him 100%.

I like Harry's new attittude. I think he will need it if and when he faces Lord Voldemort.Plus with all the things he has been through I'd be worried if he hadn't changed. Besides his anger isn't the only emotion to increase. His empathy towards others has grown. Like he actually felt sorry for Draco, and he asked Luna to a party.

Good points, DA Leader! In some ways, he's matured in a good way.

Another thing to consider is that Harry is an orphan. A lot of times, young people can take out fears or frustrations on their parents, because usually, parents are safe. You can be an absolute jerk to them and they'll still love you afterward. To Harry--Ron, Hermione, and Professor Dumbledore are the closest thing he has to family. He trusts them, so sometimes he takes his frustrations out on them, and he hopes he'll be forgiven afterward. I kind of gathered that from when JK writes that even while Harry is smashing things, he knows what's he's doing is wrong, but he can't stop himself.

He also expects certain things of them that go beyond what one should normally expect of a friend or a mentor, simply because, again, he has no parents or siblings, so has turned them into that for himself. So when he feels let down by them he is disproportionately angry.

Just my take on it.

I agree with a lot that has been said here...raging hormones...different expression of emotions. Couldn't have said it differently. I think that Harry had some actual frustration in him at that point. He had lost so much. Sirius was his last family member, even though he was only his godfather. And he also didn't understand why Dumbledore was being so weird. Harry was hoping to confide in Dumbledore, but DD wouldn't even look at him. I think Harry became very confused in this book, and he had some extreme emotional upsets. He had to let it all out somewhere, and in a way, I suppose it was better to do that, than to take it out on a person physically. But he does that verbally. So I guess people actually get it too.
But I do think that Harry just was going through an extremely tough time, what with Umbridge, Cho, Dumbledore, Voldemort, and eventually Sirius. I like this Harry. I think he needs to not keep it all cooped inside of him, but maybe not let it out all at once.

Harry's attitude really bugs me. I think he needs to GET OVER IT. Seriously. Or take some painkillers, that should make him happy.

Harry definitely developed a temper, but I find that it makes his character more interesting. Plus, I don’t blame him for it; it’s pretty much expected. Aside from all the horrible things that have happened to him since he’s started Hogwarts, he has also had a very emotionally deprived childhood, thanks to the Dursleys. Most children who are neglected or unloved during their first years of life develop problems with emotion regulation, and several of them develop antisocial personality disorder (aka become psychopaths).

Harry’s temper also demonstrates that he has been endowed with similar traits and circumstances as Voldemort. This is crucial because it reminds us that while a crummy childhood can truly affect your life and personality, it is ultimately a person’s choices which determine whether a person becomes good or evil.

Freedom of choice is a theme throughout all the books, but JK is being realistic in that Harry doesn’t have the freedom to choice his personality. He’s only free to choose his actions.

Peace,
McG

i think this topic is like rita's articles jejejejejeje
Mod Edit: Please review the rules as Krieltje says below.

Hiya Zell_dincht!

It's great to see you're enjoying your time at VTM, but I have to ask you if you could take a couple of minutes to re-read the forum Rules. One liners aren't permitted here on the forums because we like to encourage debates and discussions If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me, another prefect or Mod (that's what we're here for! )

Happy Posting!

i don't blame harry, you know...poor guy..always miserable. he only gets angry at times, becuase he doesn't have any parents. i'd feel the same way if my parents died (god forbid god forbid god forbid).

I must admit I like his new attitude. It just seems more natural (or should I rather say more human? ) to me, even if he sometimes exaggerates. Okay, in book five this behaviour became a bit annoying at the end, but it was nice to see how he developed from that 'typical' rebellious teenager to an almost grown-up and almost mature guy we saw in book 6. I also like his sense of humour... a bit sarcastic, sometimes even arrogant, but always funny

i agree that his attitude is much better in book 6 but u have to remember in book 5 that he was going through a lot for someone who is only 15...he has this murderous, raving lunatic after him that would stop at nothing to kill him...he was scared but he didn't want to admit it and you can't really blame him for flying off the handle every once in a while...as i was reading i did feel that he was being a bit of a drama queen (or king) but then we realized that he was having access to Voldemort's thoughts and feelings so that could be one reason he got mad all of a sudden (eg. when Hermione proposed the idea of the D.A. he got mad randomly)...i like how he has sort of become more mature in book 6!i think its great!

The interesting thing will be to see how far this is taken come book 7. We have seen Harry starting to control his temper to some degree. However, will he be able to harness his anger and agression and channel them for the final confrontation with Voldemort?

Imho, of course he will... he is not a pscychopath after all, just a not always well-behaved teenager, I guess we all have seen people behaving like him. As you've already stated, he changed a lot in book 6, I'm sure he is gonna keep on gaining more control over his emotions...
Just a proof: I was very surprised at the end of HBP, when Harry and Ginny technically split up, however, I think this was a good evidence of his emotional growing up.

Although I faintly see your point, I do have to disagree for the most part. I agree with Just the Droobles. I think readers have to understand that along with the emotional rollercoaster of being a teen, Harry has many more problems than the other students at Hogwarts. It's obvious he has anger with nowhere and no one on which to take it out, and when people make him angry he doesn't think about it much; he just lets it go. I also don't think Mundungus' age matters, it my opinion he's not much of a wizard. And in the case of what happened in Dumbledore's office, I think it's self explanatory when we know that he watched his own godfather die from a spell that hit him. I don't think e should make such rash judgments on the poor guy.

P.S. Just the Droobles- I love your Username. When I was watching Goblet of Fire, I suddenly started laughing because the memory of it came back and I finally understood it.

I liked aggressive Harry in HBP. He has always been aggressive just a little more so in HBP because of everything that has happened and all that he has lost. He doesn't care about what happens mostly because he knows now that regardless of what happens in the end he's gonna be the one that has to kill Voldemort. That and with Sirius gone he's naturally a bit depressed and sad. So that has an effect on how he's acting/feeling. I'm not even gonna mention what you said about Mundungas, since everyone who has commented on it as covered what he is.

dung is not an auror

I think that Harry was too whingy ootp,I can understand that he got fustrated on always being told what to do, but never having a proper explanation as to why.

In Hbp I think that he was concentrating too much on Draco Malfoy, instead of Sirius's death. After all he went through with Sirius, finding out that he had a sort of parent and then the hope that one day he could live with Sirius. Only for Sirius to be ripped out of his life like that, I would have thought that he'd be a lot more upset.

He's also thinking about what Draco's up to instead of Voldermort's past, which is cleary important to his future. He's got his priorities all mixed up![size=1]