I know everyone makes a fuss about how “emo” and temperamental Harry is in the fifth book, but to be honest, I don’t think he was very far out of line most of the time. Particularly, after the events at the end of the fourth book, Harry was just through a terrible trauma, and then dumped back into the lap of the Dursleys, and he had very little help from anyone. It’s no wonder he lost it with Ron and Hermione (who, as many people including isabel have pointed out, were the safest people for him to lash out at.) Dumbledore was avoiding him all year. He did have a bad moment when Ron made prefect, but he got over it pretty quickly, I think that was very human and I was actually pretty impressed by the conversation he had with himself over it. I also think Ron and Hermione were being rather infuriating when they tried to convince him to do the defense club and made fun of him for saying he didn’t feel qualified. Losing his temper with Umbridge might not be what a character like Snape would have done, but I don’t think it was wrong at all to say truths as important as “Cedric Diggory was murdered.” And of course I don’t see how anyone can hold his grief-stricken tantrum in Dumbledore’s office against him.
I did get a twinge of annoyance with Harry over Christmas, when he shut himself in his room after the snake nightmare. He was feeling awfully sorry for himself there, he might have thought to ask Ginny about it if he wasn’t so self-absorbed. A couple of times that he snapped at Ron and Hermione were unfair. And I wish he hadn’t been fooled by Voldemort’s vision…but he did listen to Hermione, didn’t he? He did agree to check.
Overall, during this reread I’ve been struck rather forcefully by just how much I’d like to have Harry in any given social situation. Well, maybe not a date. But he’s really unfailingly quite observant and polite (within reason). He knows when and how to keep secrets and he’s very capable of making an accurate observation about someone and keeping it to himself. He takes promises seriously and is extremely loyal. He’s also very willing to rescue people from bad social situations, and he admires people for being kind (Neville comes up a lot here as an object of kindness.) I’m somewhat bewildered how he turned out to be such a master of manners, actually, given he was raised by probably the rudest family in Britain. I suppose he’s a very British hero?
I’m now in the middle of the sixth book (ch. 15) and, well, nothing Harry does in the fifth book comes from the same place of viciousness or wanting to hurt that Hermione and Ron do to each other here, and of course I think they have much less excuse for acting out than Harry does. Well, but then they’re both teenagers, aren’t they? How frustrating. Only bit of Harry’s behavior inOrder of the Phoenixthat resembles this is when Harry chucked the Potter Stinks badge at Ron and hit him on the forehead, which is comparable to Hermione setting her birds on him. But on the page I’m at Ron is really pulling a stunt I’d expect from Malfoy (who’s more pathetic than I remembered, btw): “…a cruel but accurate impression of Hermione jumping up and down in her seat every time Professor McGonagall asked a question…” Hmph.
tl;dr: I’m more critical of Ron’s and Hermione’s behaviors in Half-Blood Prince than I am of Harry’s behavior in Order of the Phoenix.
LOVIN’ ALL THIS HARRY LOVE.
