This aproach to a post may be violating some sort of internet protocol, but I just read Forging the Sword by Myst Shadow and his author notes tend to sum up many of the issues that bug me about the series.
Some of this is an issue with the kind of hero Hary is supposed to be and type of heroism that the story is about, but on that subject from a later chapter:
No, I don't believe the world has gone mad. In order for it to go mad it would need to have been sane at some point.
Quote:"When Voldemort was 16 he was becoming immortal, when his [Harry's] dad was 15 he could already do silent spells, when Snivellus was 16 he was inventing spells and creating new ways of making potions, when Draco bloody Malfoy is 16, not only can he do occulemency, but he made up a plan that lead to the death of one of the most powerful wizards in the world. Heck, even Peter was an animagus when he was what, 15, 16. What the hell is Harry doing?
That's the crux of the matter, isn't it? All this time Harry hasn't tried to better himself, yet he has all these examples of wizards beginning to show greatness at the same age as he. Dumbledore can be added to the list above, remember the O.W.L. examiner said that she saw Dumbledore do things with a wand in his exam that she had never seen before? Harry seems unmotivated and unwilling to work, or even to try to gain anything - power, greatness, or just vengeance on his parent's murderer."
Some of this is an issue with the kind of hero Hary is supposed to be and type of heroism that the story is about, but on that subject from a later chapter:
Quote:It really doesn't seem like there are a lot of canon ways to use magic to improve yourself, does there? We have all sorts of fanon ideas about occlumency and animagi - and there's brief mention of a 'wit-sharpening potion' in GoF and a 'memory' potion in SS, but JK Rowling seems to have oriented her series less around improvement of self, and more about victory through luck and self-sacrifice.----------
Not that there's anything wrong with luck and self-sacrifice. But being in a situation where you don't have to rely on them would seem to be the preferable choice.
No, I don't believe the world has gone mad. In order for it to go mad it would need to have been sane at some point.