by Athena Appleton » Wednesday 11 February 2004 1:30:57am
"Playing the hero" and "being a hero" are two different things. I think when he went to the Ministry of Magic, he was being pretty foolish and was "playing the hero." Instead of believing that more informed wizards than himself had things under control, he assumed that they didn't and that he, the one person who "knew" the whole story, had to take control. I think it's very typical teenage thinking. Phinneas (sp?) is an unlikeable character, and therefore we don't want to listen to anything he has to say, but he makes a good point, that Dumbledore probably knows things he chooses not to share with Harry. I loved it when, I think it was Hermione said "but harry, you haven't been here" when he was talking like he'd actually been to the MoM. When he's taking Occlumency lessons, he knew Dumbledore felt like it was the most important thing he could be doing, but he "knew" otherwise. Foolish thinking. "Playing the hero." He learned that, even though it will be up to him to destroy Voldemort, if he doesn't make his decisions based on facts, if he doesn't accept counsel from people who know more than he does, or from people he doesn't like, he could be putting other people in danger.