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This hero was proposed but rejected by the community for not being admirable enough or lacks what is necessary to be a purely good hero. Therefore, this hero shall be added to our "Never Again List", where proposed heroes rejected by the community shall be placed to prevent future proposals of the same do-gooder. They can be proposed again (with the permission of an administrator) if new elements appear in their series that can change their status as non-PG heroes. Any act of adding this hero to the Pure Good category without a proposal or creating a proposal for this hero without the permission of an administrator will result in a ban. |
“ | You're a wizard, Harry. | „ |
~ Hagrid to Harry. |
“ | Facing this stuff in real life... is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow, but out there... when you're a second away from being murdered, or watching a friend die right before your eyes... you don't know what that's like. | „ |
~ Harry Potter to the DA in Hog's Head. |
“ | Come on, Tom, let's finish this the way we started it... TOGETHER! | „ |
~ Harry to Voldemort, and his most famous quote. |
Harry James Potter (born July 31, 1980) is the titular main protagonist of the series of books and films of the same name.
He is a wizard who survived an attempted murder by an evil dark wizard named Lord Voldemort as an infant, leaving him with a distinctive lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Harry's survival, coupled with the prophecy that surrounded him and Voldemort as revealed by Sybill Trelawney, led him revered as one of the legendary figures by many in the Wizarding World (the other being Dumbledore and Voldemort himself) where in his case, as the Chosen One who is prophesied to defeat the Dark Lord. He is the son and only child of James Potter I and Lily Evans, the godson of Sirius Black, the best friend and brother-in-law of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, the husband of Ginny Weasley, and the father of James Sirius II, Albus Severus and Lily Luna Potter.
He is portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe in all eight films, who also portrayed Ignatius "Ig" Perrish in Horns, Miles Harris in Guns Akimbo, Arthur Kipps in The Woman in Black, and "Weird Al" Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. In the Japanese dub, he was voiced by Kensho Ono, who voiced Giorno Giovanna in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Vaan in Final Fantasy XII, Shikadai Nara in Boruto, and Tetsuya Kuroko in Kuroko's Basketball.
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Personality and Traits
“ | I see Harry as someone who is struggling to do the right thing, who is not without faults, who acts impetuously as you would expect someone of his age to act, but who is ultimately a very loyal person, and a very very courageous person. So, in as much as he has qualities that I admire most I would say he is a good role model. That doesn't mean that he is saintly, but then frankly, who is? But I think you do see enough of Harry’s inner life, the workings of his mind in the books to know that he is ultimately human, struggling to do the right thing, which I think is admirable. | „ |
~ J.K. Rowling on the titular character. |
True to J.K. Rowling's description of him, Harry is a loyal and brave person who, while by no means a saint nor flawless thus a human as much as everyone else, proved himself to be a good role model worth to look up to as much as a legendary hero he eventually become. A selfless individual, he would take great risks in order to help others and put his friends' needs and best interests first. Despite the fact that he was forced to spend his early life as a Muggle under the abuse of the Dursleys who refused to treat him as one of their own, his ability to love so unequivocally (which became apparent upon bonding with Hagrid and friends he made at Hogwarts in his true home community Wizarding World including his future wife Ginny Weasley) is unmistakable. While this personality quirk made him behave violently if his loved ones are harmed, it proved to be his greatest advantage over Voldemort as not only love being the aspect the Dark Lord incapable of comprehend, but also something which kept Harry from being tempted into the Dark Arts as much as his nemesis did. Moreover, his unfailingly kind and compassionate nature which saw him freeing Dobby from the Malfoys and standing up for the Muggle-borns, half-breeds, and half-bloods further attributed to the desire of sparing them from emotional pain from being discriminated not unlike his own from the Dursleys throughout his traumatic childhood.
Harry possessed an instinctual, intuitive intelligence that allowed him to make intellectual leaps, as opposed to the logical intelligence of Hermione as shown when he immediately accepted the legend of the Deathly Hallows. While clever and generally did his best for his Ordinary Wizarding Levels (OWLs), his youth with the Dursleys negatively affected his confidence somewhat to the extent his intelligence curiosity and efforts to devote time to studying left much to be desired. He once relied too much on the notes of the Half-Blood Prince to get ahead of his sixth year Potions class without considering to try to devote his time for the subject without it.
During his youth, Harry initially tended to see things through a rather stark, absolute manner, which hindered his capacity to judge others' character at its fullest until he learned to see things through grey perspective, especially when it comes about their Hogwarts House. He used to think of Slytherins as bad guys (which didn't help by majorities of his enemies and other Dark Wizards came from the House in question) and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff being allies, at least until he understood the fact that the serpent-themed Hogwarts House did harbor good people such as Slughorn and to his surprise, Severus Snape, just as other houses being unfortunate to produce some of his worst contenders (Peter Pettigrew aka. Wormtail from Gryffindor, and Quirinus Quirrell from Ravenclaw). This also helped by the fact that he came to terms over the fact his role models never flawless as much as him (Harry was understandably shocked to learn that his father, James Potter, used to be a bully prior to his change of heart into a good man, Lily and his son knew and discovering Dumbledore's drive to do the right thing despite not above taking morally questionable choices for that being motivated by his past tragedies). As an adult, he took a more moderate view on the Houses, reassuring his younger son Albus Potter that it mattered little if he ended up in either Slytherin or Gryffindor. Additionally, he named the same son after Severus Snape ever since he learned the latter's true allegiance and subsequently saw him in better light, recounting him as "the bravest man [he] ever knew."
In addition of aforementioned stark, absolute perception he eventually grew out of and temperamental, impulsive, and intimidating side, Harry's other flaws were possessing a vindictive streak that made him vengeful at best and spiteful at worse towards those who did him wrong, a streak of pride and independence that both nearly costed him during the Second Task of Triwizard Tournament, wanting to tackle challenges and obstacles on his own without the aid or interference of others which prompted his friends to remind that he doesn't have to carry his burdens alone, and obsessive side that alarmingly as bad as Voldemort's own that led him too focused on finding out Draco's schemes during his sixth year and distracted by the prospect of gathering all Deathly Hallows and become a Master of Death when he supposedly setting out for Horcrux hunt before getting over it after many weeks (though he did acquire the Hallows albeit in separate occasions as opposed of all at once nonetheless).
As the Chosen One, he is the only one who can defeat Lord Voldemort as prophesied by Sybill Trelawney, Harry had to walk the very bitter path true legendary heroes who fight to aid their people in times of crisis follow, a path that demanded him to be willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of doing the right thing, including his own happiness and life. This became apparent after Voldemort's return to power near the end of his fourth year at Hogwarts and worse, unexpectedly making enemies out of the least expected party in the next, the Ministry of Magic itself, who turned against both him and Dumbledore in response of their warnings. That didn't help by the fact that before then, the Ministry had long marred by corruption and progressively aligned to Pure-blood supremacy Death Eaters fiercely believed in so much that, despite being forced to pardon the Boy Who Lived when its officials finally saw the revived Dark Lord, made errors after errors throughout the Second Wizarding War leading to its eventual takeover by Voldemort's forces thus necessitating it to be reformed from scratch by the Order of the Phoenix. As with many of aforementioned heroes, the burden from Harry's destiny took his toll on him, resulting him prone to moodiness and unkind remarks towards his peers as well as displaying many signs of clinical depression throughout his mid-to-late teens. While Harry already noted to be hot-tempered, impulsive, and very intimidating towards even his own friends at times, these took the worst turn during his said fifth year during which his recklessness saw him unwittingly contributed to his godfather Sirius' death during the Battle of the Department of Ministries. When in a bad mood and argumentative, Harry's close friends usually replying to his angry tone in a calm and appeasing voice.
Excluding his teachers and other authority figures in his life as well as his enemies who are either petty and unpleasant at best (Draco Malfoy and the Dursleys) or downright, insane and monstrous at worst (Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Dolores Umbridge), the only person who did not appear to be afraid of him when he was angry was Ginny Weasley. Dumbledore was a special case however, as he acted fatherly towards Harry and had managed to successfully calm him down whenever he got angry with him. Moreover, like many veteran warriors, Harry struggled to carry on despite all the horrors he faced throughout both Wizarding Wars.
Despite everything, Harry's good nature remains prevail over his inner demons thanks to his friends and allies' heartfelt support and unmistakable ability to love that kept him forward. The latter even kept him from fully giving in to the Dark Arts despite gaining insights of Voldemort's mind for being his unintentional seventh Horcrux. Even in the face of hardships and temptations to go to the very dark path many Dark Wizards step into, the Boy Who Lived remained pure in heart. He even attempted to persuade his nemesis to reflect on his errors to no avail during their would-be last duel. Unlike the power-hungry Voldemort, Harry was more content with a normal life and never sought power, but nonetheless willing to step up to lead his allies and even very good at it, with Dumbledore remarking the Boy Who Lived as the better leader than he'd ever been. Overall, he is a legendary hero whose upbringing made his personality complicated.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
“ | The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies... | „ |
~ Sybill Trelawney's prophecy about Harry's would-be destiny and status as the Chosen One, foreshadowing his unmistakable potential as the only one among his people that could destroy Voldemort. |
“ | You are protected, in short, by your ability to love! The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort's! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into a mirror that reflected your heart's desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord Voldemort, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have known then what he was dealing with, but he did not! But he knows it now. You have flitted into Lord Voldemort's mind without damage to yourself, but he cannot possess you without enduring mortal agony, as he discovered in the Ministry. I do not think he understands why, Harry, but then, he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole. | „ |
~ Albus Dumbledore confirming Harry's greatest ability as well as advantage over Voldemort, a power the Dark Lord incapable to comprehend as mentioned in Sybill Trelawney's prophecy which entwined their fates. |
Legendary Wizard/Half-Blood Wizardkind Physiology: In stark contrast to the Dursleys, his muggle relatives, Harry is a wizardkind (a sub-species of human race distinguished by their ability to use magic and greater lifespan) of half-blood lineage born through a loving union between the pure-blood father James Potter and the muggle-born mother Lily Evans. In addition of being the youngest Seeker of Quidditch in a century, what set him apart from his brethren is his fame as the Boy Who Lived through miraculous survival during Voldemort's attempt to kill him when he was a baby and importantly, the Chosen One, a legendary figure that possessed the power to challenge and ultimately destroy Voldemort as prophesied by Sybill Trelawney herself, one which Dumbledore confirmed to be his ability to feel and be empowered by love — an aspect the Dark Lord incapable to grasp. His trademark wand is made of hawthorn, which one should only ever consider placing in the hands of a witch or wizard of natural talent.
- Magic: After discovering his magical gifts and honing them during his time in Hogwarts, Harry became one of the most accomplished wizards who is capable of using magic even non-verbally or without a wand, a feat that only a selected few of his kin can perform. Harry mastered his magic powers in the following fields:
- Defense Against the Dark Arts: Harry is extremely adept at Defense Against the Dark Arts, having mastered all kinds of spells related to the subject, including the Stunning Spell, the Disarming Charm, the Impediment Jinx, the Full Body-Bind Curse, and the Reductor Curse. He is also skilled at defending himself against Dark creatures such as Grindylows, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Boggarts, Erklings, and Dementors. In his fifth year, Professor McGonagall stated that Professor Lupin said he showed a "pronounced aptitude" for the subject and that he had "achieved high marks on all his Defense Against the Dark Arts tests", having beaten Hermione in two of the three Defense Against the Dark Arts exams they had taken together. The only exam she beat him in was their first-year exam and Hermione later reflected that it did not count, as Quirrell "wasn't a particularly good teacher". Because of his skills in this field, when the Ministry of Magic attempted to suspend the subject at Hogwarts during his fifth year as part of Fudge's smear campaign against him and Dumbledore to no avail, Harry was able to teach his peers Defense Against the Dark Arts himself instead.
- Dark Arts: Being one of non-Dark Wizards who is highly proficient in the Dark Arts at all levels, Harry mastered simple dark charms like the Leg-Locker Curse, the Full Body-Bind Curse, the Reductor Curse, the Pimple Jinx, the Knockback Jinx, the Revulsion Jinx, and the Melofors Jinx as well as more powerful dark spells such as the Blasting Curse. He was also shown to flawlessly performed jinxes, hexes and curses written in the Severus Snape aka. Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion-Making, such as the Toenail-growing hex and the extremely dangerous curse Sectumsempra, which he cast at Draco Malfoy in 1997, severely slashing and wounding him. However, while he proved to have sufficient ability to use even the Unforgivable Curses, his good heart prevents him from making full advantage of it; it's debatable whether he capable enough to cast the Killing Curse, but his morality effectively ensured he would never cast it. He could use the Cruciatus Curse, but at first it was only able to cause temporary shock and pain to Bellatrix, who lectured him for not being sufficiently dark enough to want to hurt her in revenge, although he later learned from this and used it against Amycus Carrows effectively, knocking her out and making her scream in pain, suggesting he used a variant that could cause enough pain to knock out, but not overtorture her. However, he had little trouble using the Imperius Curse effectively on Borgod.
- Broomstick Flight: Harry inherited his father's proficiency with broomstick. This is shown during his very first flying lesson, as he is shown easily commanding a broomstick both at land and air in his first attempt, which made him a naturally good Seeker as well as the youngest one in the century. As a Seeker, Harry was capable of surpassing even far more experienced Seekers, almost always winning the Quidditch matches for Gryffindor, and was considered to be even better than Charlie Weasley, with the only time he ever lost to Cedric Diggory being due to the presence of Dementors. Sirius Black also mentions that Harry's Quidditch skills are equal to the skills of his father James. His extraordinary flying skills also aided him when pursuing the Winged Keys enchanted by Professor Flitwick in the Philosopher's Stone Chambers, with him being the primary leader while the trio chased for the Keys, and the one who noticed and captured the right Key needed to unlock the door. His skills also helped him in the Triwizard Tournament, when he had to steal a golden egg from a Hungarian Horntail and he managed to successfully irritate the dragon into chasing him by dodging all of her flame attacks and then outraced her to grab the egg, a display that highly impressed all of the witnesses and earned him the first place during the First Task. During the Battle of Hogwarts, he also managed to escape a Fiendfyre inferno in the Room of Requirement, via broomstick.
- Potion Brewing: Harry Potter revealed to have inherited his mother's Potion Brewing talent despite his strong dislike toward Snape made the subject he least to look forward to. Snape himself begrudgingly acknowledged his skill on it through not pestering him about his brewing a reasonably adequate Strengthening Solution and Harry even concocted an Invigoration Draught good enough that he would have earned an Exceeds Expectations had Hermione not vanished it. His ability to effectively use potion and understand their effects to overcome situations that demand it further highlighted in the games. Indeed, he achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam — proof of his proficiency in the subject and was one of only twelve students able to reach the required level to take the N.E.W.T. potions, although he wouldn't have if Snape had kept teaching Potions. He managed to briefly improve his skill in it with aid of the copy of the Advanced Potion-Making which belonged to the Half-Blood Prince (Severus Snape) as it contained revised instructions and notes from Snape to the point of surpassing Hermione before eventually stopped relying on the book due to the accident with Malfoy and Sectumsempra spell, but nevertheless maintain his competence so as not to raise Slughorn's suspicions. He later improved this skill during his Auror career, at least becoming proficient enough in Poisons and Antidotes as required.
- Transfiguration: Harry achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam, showing proficiency in the subject and advanced to N.E.W.T.-level. He was able to perform Conjuration, an advanced type of Transfiguration. Harry demonstrated this at various points by conjuring ropes, water, and fire. He can also vanish objects, which is one of the most complicated spells taught at Ordinary Wizarding Level. In 1996, Harry vanished the whole of an iguana and in 1991 he possibly used it to vanish the glass of a snake tank at the Zoo. He is also skilled in Transforming Spells such as Avifors Spell. Harry is also skilled enough to perform Human Transfiguration, which is noted to be "immensely difficult". He accomplished this during a 1996 Transfiguration lesson, when he succeeded in turning his eyebrow bright yellow. Minerva McGonagall herself complimented him on his talents in transfiguration.
- Charms: Harry achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam and advanced to N.E.W.T.-level in terms of Charms usage, able to master the Summoning Charm in only one day and often used it successfully, occasionally casted the protective enchantments that Hermione used during the Horcrux hunt, performing the Confundus Charm at its fullest, using the Shield Charm with mastery beyond majorities of Ministry employees to the point of able to deflect some of Voldemort's curses, levitating a side-car with himself in it for a long stretch of time during the Battle of the Seven Potters, and remarkable prowess in simpler charms such as the Wand-Lighting Charm, the Levitation Charm, the Color Change Charm, the Banishing Charm, the Refilling Charm, the Freezing Spell, and various others. Under the teaching of Remus Lupin, Harry was able to conjure an extremely powerful corporeal stag Patronus in his third year, a remarkable feat and yet another proof of his talent, given that many adult witches and wizards are often unable to cast this extremely difficult charm successfully. As an Auror, Harry displayed the ability to use Charms in combat, especially incapacitating ones, using Obscuro and Brachiabindo when dueling Draco.
- Healing magic: Harry was able to effectively cast healing spells. He could perform the Reparifors spell in his third year. After he saw Nymphadora Tonks perform Episkey on his own broken nose, he fixed Demelza Robins' broken lips in 1996 with the same spell, which is used to treat mild to moderate injuries. He could also perform a healing spell for clearing up dried blood from a bleeding wound.
- Apparition: Harry had not earned a license to apparate, but he used the ability frequently during 1997 and 1998 to great success, even when forced to apparate with only a few seconds' notice or while guiding others. He also used apparition in his sixth year to a very impressive degree, to get himself and a weakened Albus Dumbledore over an incredibly vast distance even though he was inexperienced.
- Light Smoke Apparition: In the film adaptations, Harry displayed a variant of apparition which, instead of teleporting from one place to another, transmogrify himself into a jet of smoke of light as opposed to Voldemort and his Death Eaters' jet smoke of darkness.
- Master of Death: Harry mastered all three Deathly Hallows and accepted his own "death". First, he inherited the Cloak of Invisibility from his father, James. Then, he inherited the Resurrection Stone from Dumbledore, which was inside a snitch. Finally, he won the Elder Wand from Draco Malfoy during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor. All three were directly or indirectly employed by Harry in the Forbidden Forest: he was wearing the Cloak, using the Stone, and was preparing to be "killed" by the Wand, which he had already won. The only Hallow he choose to keep was the cloak as it was a priceless family heirloom; the stone was lost in the forest and the wand was returned to Dumbledore's tomb.
- Horcrux Abilities (formerly): As the result of Voldemort's ill-attempt to kill him when he was a baby thanks to Lily's heroic sacrifice, Harry accidentally became the Dark Lord's seventh Horcrux. Up until he disposed Voldemort's soul fragment within his scar through sacrificing himself to protect his friends and allies during the Battle at Hogwarts and later revival, he was granted following abilities:
- Parseltongue: Harry gains Voldemort's ability to speak with snakes and other serpentine creatures as he discovered during his second year at Hogwarts, much to his peers' horror that they mistook him as the Heir of Salazar Slytherin until he discovered the title belonged to the Dark Lord all along. Though it appears he lost this ability after the aforementioned sacrifice, Harry later managed to perform it once again during the events of The Cursed Child, as it was merely repressed by the destruction of its source, Voldemort's soul fragment.
- Insight into Voldemort's Mind: Harry was able to look into Voldemort's mind and see through his senses from time to time thanks to the same soul fragment, sometimes using it to monitor what the Dark Lord was doing. This proved to be a dangerous double-edged asset for him, however; Voldemort once used it, along with Legilimency, to plant a false vision in Harry's mind of Sirius Black being tortured, which he used to lure Harry to the Department of Mysteries. Additionally, because of their connection, Harry felt a burning pain in his scar whenever he and Voldemort were in close proximity or the latter experiencing strong negative emotions. Harry lost this ability as well when the soul fragment within him was destroyed. Harry also possessed a non-magical insight into Voldemort's mind from the information Dumbledore shared with him during their lessons, allowing him to figure out that a Horcrux was stored at Gringotts Wizarding Bank after which Ron and Hermione noted Harry's understanding of Voldemort causing Harry to admit that he did understand parts of Voldemort. This ability serves as the greater plot point in the films, as He, Ron, and Hermione relied on it more to track down Horcruxes with minimal clues at hand.
- Longevity: As wizardkinds have longer lifespans than muggles, the same goes to Harry himself provided that he's not to die a violent death.
- Love Empowerment: Out of assets, Voldemort unknowingly provided to the Boy Who Lived through his ill-attempt to kill him when he was a baby, the greatest one was his ability to feel strong love, something that empowered Harry's magic as much as his nemesis defiantly refused to comprehend. By indirectly ensured him to be raised by obnoxious relatives who treated him with anything but affection through the aforementioned murder attempt, Harry learned to appreciate bonds he made with the others starting from the day he began his enrollment at Hogwarts, which only more and more apparent through experiencing the loss of some of his loved one who fought to protect him. For the same reason, Harry felt compassion and pity for his enemies as shown through his attempt to reason with Voldemort to no avail. When he sacrificed himself to Voldemort for the sake of his allies during the Battle of Hogwarts in addition of to destroy the fragment of the Dark Lord's soul within him, the protection he placed on them allows the resistance to quickly shrug off spells Voldemort threw at them. Other testaments of how love empowered him were conjuring a corporeal Patronus strong enough to repel even hundreds of Dementors away, exorcizing Voldemort who possessed him out of his body and shutting down his connection with his nemesis.
- Indomitable Willpower: Harry appeared to possess an unbreakable spirit, never truly gave up on any mission even while depressed. He had been shown to rise from defeat and loss, such as the deaths of many of his loved ones, even stronger than before. Harry's indomitable will was exemplified by his ability to resist the Imperius Curse and possibly, on the other hand, by his ability to cast a powerful Patronus. It was also exemplified by the fact that he had never begged for mercy (even in life-and-death situations), he would fight back in defiance of himself, as well as perform non-verbal spells flawlessly. His aforementioned willpower also strong enough to compensate his inability to perform Occulumency due to inability to keep his emotions under control.
Abilities
- Auror Skills: Harry was extremely young for an Auror, which spoke highly of his magical abilities. He became Head of the Auror Office at the age of 26, presumably the youngest Head appointed. During his time in the department, he gained skills in various areas of magic such as: Concealment and Disguise, Stealth and Tracking, and poisons and antidotes. Being a fully qualified Auror meant three additional years of study, all of these areas of magic were essential. He also had high skills in Transfiguration, as Aurors had to frequently transfigure and un-transfigure things in their line of work. Harry also possessed a great instinct for the right thing to do, especially when faced with stressful and difficult situations. This instinct contributed to him becoming a fantastic Auror. Harry has also been stated as being a consummate expert in his line of work.
- Dueling Skills: Harry is an accomplished duelist at the young age whose signature spell was the Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus), enabling him to defeat his enemies, even Voldemort from time to time culminating to him was defeated, despite the Dark Lord being armed with the Elder Wand, he was unable to use the legendary wand at its fullest since Dumbledore and Snape arranged it so it sided with the Boy Who Lived. He has defeated many powerful Death Eaters and had even been able to hold his own against some of the most powerful like Antonin Dolohov, Fenrir Greyback, and Bellatrix Lestrange. He was known to be very quick off the draw and had an aggressive dueling style, even incorporating Unforgivable Curses despite lacking necessary malice and power to use them as much as Dark Wizards do. His combat tactics also include taunting and talking to his opponent to mentally throw them off-balance so as to buy himself time to strategize or to lull them into lowering their guard.
- Care of Magical Creatures: Harry achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam and has shown on more than one occasion to have a good skill in handling numerous sorts of magical creatures. For example, he was the first one in his class to tame a hippogriff, which he did very excellently. He befriended the hippogriff, to such an extent that Buckbeak defended him when he was in danger. Harry has also shown on three occasions that he is quite competent at dealing with dragons. This is shown when he was able to help Hagrid take care of baby Norbert the dragon, outsmart the Hungarian Horntail in the Triwizard Tournament, and tame a half-blind dragon into helping the trio escape Gringotts by flying out on its back. He was also one of very few in his class who was able to see Thestrals, and had no trouble mounting his in June 1996. Harry was also good with House-elves, befriending the house-elf Dobby and eventually freeing him. This act of kindness made the little elf so loyal to him that he gave his life to save him. He also earned the respect and loyalty of Kreacher, a very difficult task.
- Herbology: Harry attended N.E.W.T. Herbology classes. He achieved an 'Exceeds Expectations' on his O.W.L. exam, showing aptitude in the subject. In 1998, Harry was able to recognize a Snargaluff plant at the Lovegood House and knew to give it a wide berth of space. He also had knowledge of plants such as: Devil's Snare, Gillyweed, Venomous Tentacula, and Fanged Geranium from hands on experience. He could cast plant-related spells such as the Fire-Making Spell, the Severing Charm and the Herbivicus Charm.
- Astronomy: Though not excellent at Astronomy, Harry was able to pass his O.W.L. exam with an 'Acceptable'. Although it was stated that he didn't finish his exam. This was due to the fact that he was distracted by Dolores Umbridge's attempt to arrest Hagrid, during the time the exam was being taken. It is not known if he was able to advance to the N.E.W.T class or not, seeing as he did not apply for advancement.
- Wand versatility: Harry was able to use Hermione's wand after his was broken during the Attack at Godric's Hollow in 1997. He was able to use spells such as: the Wand-Lighting Charm, the Shield Charm, and the Severing Charm at full strength, despite not having won the wand's allegiance. He also gained the allegiance of Draco Malfoy's wand, the Elder Wand, and quite possibly Voldemort's wand by defeating the previous masters.
- Gifted intellect: Harry was reasonably intelligent, although nowhere near to the level of Hermione Granger.
- Detective skills: Harry was a formidably talented investigator. While in school, he and his friends had a knack for solving difficult mysteries and discovering the truth despite all attempts by others to conceal it. Hermione generally finding the background information, while Harry put the pieces together to make a coherent picture. In his first year, Harry uncovered the truth about the Philosopher's Stone and saved it from Voldemort. Over the next six years, he would solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and understand how the Basilisk's victims were attacked and why they did not die, but more importantly, he located the entrance of the Chamber and rightly supposed that the victim of the first opening of the Chamber was Moaning Myrtle; understand, with almost no clues, what Dumbledore wanted he and Hermione to do after spinning the Time Turner; find the truth about the prophecy; hunt down and destroy all of Voldemort's Horcruxes using his amazing deductive skills. During his sixth year, he also observed Dumbledore's memories about Voldemort and noticed things which would help him later. Harry's deductive skills also allowed him to uncover the mystery of the Deathly Hallows. He discovered that he mastered all three of them, when even Ron and Hermione were initially skeptical of their existence. Harry also had a knack for spotting things that others did not, and had a sharp eye for details. He was able to tell that Luna Lovegood had not been home in weeks by the state of her room, and he became suspicious when Dobby revealed that he had known that Harry was not getting any letters in 1992. His intelligence also allowed him to intuitively know that Draco Malfoy had been branded with the Dark Mark despite no solid proof, that Malfoy was using the Room of Requirement as a work shop, and that he was having Crabbe and Goyle use Polyjuice Potion in order to disguise themselves as girls while keeping watch outside the room. He also had an eye for details and a very good memory: for instance, even in a highly stressful situation, such as the Battle of Hogwarts, he was able to remember objects he saw over a year before in the Room of Hidden Things.
- Resourcefulness: Harry showed resourcefulness in many different situations. In his first year, he impersonated the Bloody Baron. Harry did this in order to warn Peeves to stay away from the third floor that night so he wouldn't inconvenience the trio on their quest to save the Philosopher's Stone. In his second year, when encountering Professor McGonagall after hours, He lied and said that He and Ron were on their way to see Hermione in the hospital wing. Also, in his second year, he used a basilisk fang to destroy Riddle's Diary. In his fourth year, he managed to escape from Voldemort and his Death Eaters, taking Cedric Diggory's dead body with him. In his fifth year, while under interrogation from Umbridge, he relayed a coded message to Snape. He did this in an attempt to warn Snape and by extension the Order, that Voldemort had Sirius. In the same year, while surrounded by Death Eaters, Harry came up with the plan to smash the shelves in the Hall of Prophecy. This was a distraction so that He and the D.A. could try and escape. During the hunt for Horcruxes, he used the Godric Gryffindor's Sword as a way of retrieving Helga Hufflepuff's cup from the mounds of burning treasure and used a half-blind dragon as a means to escape from Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Harry was also cunning enough that the Sorting Hat heavily considered Sorting him into Slytherin house.
- Leadership skills: While Harry never deliberately set out to be a leader to others, he had often taken charge when the situation required it. This began with his impulsive decision to find and warn Hermione about the presence of a troll in the school during the 1991 Halloween feast. It progressed to the point where over thirty students, some of them in their sixth and seventh years, respect him as a teacher in Dumbledore's Army, despite him being younger than they were. Dumbledore later noted that Harry was a superior leader to him. Dumbledore had deliberately sought power in his youth, and subsequently avoided anything more demanding than his role as Hogwarts headmaster, while Harry had leadership thrust upon. Harry accepted the burden of command, acknowledging his responsibilities towards those who "followed" him. He did this regardless of how uncomfortable he might feel about the prospect and coordinating his efforts against his enemies well, when left with no other option but to take control. Harry's natural talents later served the rest of the wizarding community of Great Britain. In 2007, he was promoted to the Head of the Auror Office at age 26 and was later made the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. His promotion to these positions of power at relatively young ages demonstrated Harry's natural talent as a commander.
- Teaching skills: Harry demonstrated tremendous skill in teaching others. Having mastered many spells at a young age, Harry successfully taught them to others even when he was still a student himself. He would give proper instructions and corrections on how to perform many fields of magic, ranging from the relatively simplistic Disarming Charm to the highly advanced Patronus Charm. Harry's effectiveness as a teacher led many, some even older than him, to choose him over the Ministry-installed (but highly incompetent) teacher Dolores Umbridge. He even returned to Hogwarts to give occasional Defense Against the Dark Arts lectures as an adult and professional Auror. He kept his teaching aptitude in his later years and successfully instructed the members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force in the use of several formidable spells.
Weaknesses
“ | And yet you put more stock in a boy whose magic is mediocre, who is incapable of Occlumency, and has a direct insight into the Dark Lord's mind! | „ |
~ Severus Snape regarding Harry Potter. |
Despite being an extremely powerful wizard in his own right, Harry has a couple of weaknesses, some of which resulted from being forced to live alongside Dursleys;
- Amateur Occlumens: Harry is known to "wear his heart on his sleeve", as Severus Snape cited. On many occasions he is unable to hide or control his emotions, especially anger and rage. Among other factors, this makes it difficult for him to master Occlumency. Harry failed in his Occlumency lessons with Snape and says outright during his months hiding in 12 Grimmauld Place that he "never got the hang of it". It must be stressed however, that Harry would've fare slightly better had he tutored by someone else who more considerate owing to Snape inability to move on from both his feelings toward Lily and grudge against James — which he projected through his constant mistreatment on Harry everytime they interact with one another — effectively put his ability to do such job into question.
“ | What? We can't do that! We've got to plan, we've got to figure it out! | „ |
~ Hermione Granger. |
- Indecisiveness: Harry was often indecisive and, as Snape indeed pointed out, only escaped a number of sticky situations due to sheer dumb luck. Hence, he only defeated the mountain troll when Ron levitated its own weapon above its head and accidentally dropped it, escaped numerous obstacles in the Underground Chambers due to Ron and Hermione doing most of the work (apart from Quirrell taking out the troll guard before their arrival and flying keys obstacle), defeated Quirinus Quirrell due to his mother's hitherto unknown magic borne of sacrificial protection, defeated the Basilisk due to Fawkes' untimely invention and destroyed Tom Riddle's diary due to a conveniently placed fang, defeated the Hungarian Horntail due to receiving a state-of-the-art broom the previous year, and escaped from Little Hangleton due to the intervention of specters borne of the Reverse Spell. Going into the Second Wizarding War, Harry avoided harm that Lucius Malfoy would have inflicted on him had Severus Snape not called the Order of the Phoenix to arms, missed a Killing Curse by an inch when Albus Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere, escaped from Inferi because of a second intervention from Dumbledore (forgetting that Inferi hate light), prevented Draco Malfoy from besting him in direct combat by using a powerful and virtually unknown spell against him, survived two more Killing Curses first because of Hedwig's sacrifice and again because of a hitherto unheard of magical phenomenon, escaped the wrath of Corban Yaxley due to Hermione Granger blasting him away, escaped from Malfoy Manor thanks to Dobby's intervention, escaped from Gringotts due to the convenient presence of a Ukranian Ironbelly that Hermione decided to free, and escaped a band of Dementors after Aberforth Dumbledore outwitted several Death Eaters, and would have doubtlessly been overpowered by Lord Voldemort had it not been for a purely coincidental series of events that brought the Elder Wand into his possession, which Voldemort just happened to be wielding. In The Cursed Child, he needed to make his fight with Delphini unfair by pitting six against one in order to avoid being razed by her Dark magic.
“ | I mean, there – there must be some mistake. I mean....I can't be...a wizard. I'm Harry! Just Harry! | „ |
~ Harry's initially blatant lack of self-confidence and eloquence. |
- Amateur Social Intuition: Growing up alone and friendless, Harry Potter never developed on a social level since he was a toddler, so going into his first year at Hogwarts, he had very weak social confidence and was often unsure of how to interact with people outside of his comfort zone, often struggling to get his point across or conceal his current emotional state. His social skills were further compounded by his issues with trusting others, and he only ever confided in his two best friends, very rarely spending time with any other Hogwarts student without Ron and Hermione in the very least nearby. His lack of social confidence was the most extreme in his first year, where he awkwardly expressed his disbelief that he could possibly be special and also had an awkward first meeting with Ron and Hermione, coupled with the fact that until Halloween he never befriended anyone besides Ron, who was also insecure and socially awkward. He was often on the receiving end of arguments with other students, including Draco Malfoy, Ernie Macmillian, Zacharias Smith, and on a few occasions even Hermione Granger, though he was more eloquent when arguing with Dudley Dursley just prior to his fifth year. However, he did gain more social confidence later in life thanks to heartfelt support from Hagrid and others he bonded with in his one true home community Wizarding World; his high rank in the Ministry was indication of this.
- Impulsiveness and Predictability: Harry had a tendency to tackle most situations and problems alone, rushing in headlong without considering his options. His designation as "The Chosen One" makes him feel pressured and unable to live up to the expectations of the Wizarding World. As the Sorting Hat mentioned, Harry's desire to prove himself may have helped create a need to be the hero. This trait has caused him to behave somewhat foolishly, as he did in the Triwizard Tournament's second task when he "rescued" Gabrielle Delacour when she had never been in any real danger. His impulsive thirst to prove himself took a more dangerous turn when Lord Voldemort exploited Harry's predictable nature to lure him into an ambush, resulting in Sirius Black's death. His impulsiveness also got him in huge trouble when he used a mysterious spell on Draco Malfoy, which not only got him numerous detentions, but also nearly claimed Malfoy's life had it not been for the timely intervention of Severus Snape.
- Amateur Scholar: Though an intelligent and powerful wizard-in-training, Harry lacked academic curiosity, often relying on Hermione Granger, though fortunately never as much as Ron Weasley. This weakness was ultimately a minor one, however, as he usually received decent marks in his classes and received good results on his OWLs, and presumably got a GED following the Battle of Hogwarts.
- Guilt Complex: Much like some war veterans, Harry frequently blamed himself for things out of his control. For instance, he blamed himself for the deaths of both Sirius Black and Cedric Diggory.
Appearances
Harry Potter was featured in the following main seven books:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Additionally, Harry was featured in following media:
- Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (mentioned)
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
- Pottermore (Online website)
Other Portrayals
Films
- In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the Saunders triplets played an infant Harry.
- In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Josh Herdman played the character disguised as Gregory Goyle.
- In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, David O'Hara played the character disguised as Albert Runcorn.
- In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Toby Papworth played the character as an infant.
Plays
- In Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, he was portrayed by Jaime Parker in the original West end production.
Video Games
- In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, he was voiced by Joe Sowerbutts.
- In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, he was voiced by Tom Attenborough.
- In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he was voiced by Tom Attenborough and Harry Robinson.
- In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he was voiced by Daniel Larner.
- In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he was voiced by Daniel Larner and Adam Sopp.
- In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II & II, he was voiced by Adam Sopp.
- In Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, he was voiced by Kyle McCarley, who also voiced Iruka Umino in Naruto, Shigeo Kageyama in Psycho Mob 100, Kusuo Saiki in the Netflix English dub of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, Narancia Ghirga in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and 9S in NieR: Automata.
Quotes
“ | He's back! He's back! Voldemort's back! Cedric... He asked me to bring his body back...! I couldn't leave him...! Not there...! | „ |
~ Harry's emotional breakdown over Cedric's death in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. |
Trivia
- Harry is similar to Tom Clarke as both are wizards and both lost one or both of their parents at a young age on Halloween day (Harry was one year old when his parents James and Lily were killed by Lord Voldemort on Halloween 1981, whilst Tom was at the age of ten when his mother Helen was killed by a Nekross probe on Halloween 2006). There are two differences between the two: first, Harry has unlimited magic, whilst Tom can only cast three spells a day. The second difference between them is Harry attends Hogwarts to learn magic whilst Tom attends a normal school and is taught magic by his grandmother Ursula and possibly Helen before her death.
- Though capable of using 2 of 3 Unforgivable Curses (namely Cruciatus and Imperius), Harry lacks necessary malice and strength to inflict damage as worse as the Dark Wizards are able to, due to his purer heart, let alone performing the third;
- When he casted the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix, all he could do was simply knocking her to her knees as it was fueled with righteous fury, much to her amusement. With Amycus Carrow, on the other hand, though he had enough fury to cast the curse on him for spitting at McGonagall, the pain he inflicted was only enough to knock him unconscious instead.
- When Harry uses the Imperius Curse on the Gringgots staff while he, Hermione, and Ron searched for the Hufflepuff's cup, his influence over them proved to be subpar in comparison of Voldemort's Death Eaters' at best, which is further attributed to his little experience in performing it.
- In Deathly Hallows: Part 1, however, Harry managed to cast Killing Curse to Salazar's Locket in his attempt to destroy it along with a fragment of Voldemort's soul within but to stay true in the book, all he could do with the Curse is harmlessly knocking the locket around since he lacked Voldemort's murderous intentions.
- Harry is similar to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Both have special talents (Rudolph has a red nose that can glow and Harry is a wizard that can perform magic, which has greater strength than even his nemesis Voldemort thanks to his ability to understand love). Both are cousins of an antagonist (Dudley Dursley and Arrow). Both were disliked by these antagonists (Dudley disliked Harry, seeing him as a nuisance in the family and became scared of him after knowing that he is a wizard, while Arrow disliked Rudolph because he has red nose). But, in both cases, they later end in good terms with them.
- After the Harry Potter film series, Daniel Radcliffe went to play the villainous Walter Tressler Mabry appearing in the magic heist film, Now You See Me 2 from 2016, starring the American actor Jesse Eisenberg.
- In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry and Voldemort are similar as much as they are opposites to each other:
- Harry and Voldemort have blood relations with Salazar Slytherin, but...
- Harry is very distantly related to Salazar Slytherin, but is not a descendant of him since he is related more to the third Peverell brother.
- Voldemort is directly descended from Salazar Slytherin through the second Peverell brother.
- Both are orphaned half-blood wizards whose one of their parents happened to be a pure-blood member of the wizardkind, but...
- Harry's mother and father, the pure-blood James and muggle-born Lily, were a genuinely loving couple and parents for baby Harry, in addition of being willing to give their lives to protect their only child.
- Voldemort's parents, the snobbish noble muggle Tom Riddle and pure-blood Merope Gaunt, were united by a coerced love and marriage that led to catastrophic consequences to the wizarding world; whereas Tom eventually left his wife as soon as the bewitchment placed on him (an Imperious Curse as theorized by Harry or a Love Potion by Dumbledore) lifted off and was later butchered (alongside the rest of his family) by Voldemort himself, Merope lived a miserable life and died in depression after giving birth to their baby son, unable to provide love to Voldemort and thus leading to his future rise as both an abomination and Dark Lord.
- Both have developed their magic in the equal age, but...
- Harry was skeptical about being a wizard even after unknowingly using his magic before eventually able to master it through his study at Hogwarts.
- Voldemort has fully mastered his magic before receiving his proper education in the same school and even used it to harm others.
- Both are known for making a significant number of friends, but...
- Harry deeply trusts his allies and friends as the bonds he made with them filled the void the Dursleys refused to fill following the death of his parents (although Harry later reconciles with Dudley and in a lesser extent, with Petunia) .
- Voldemort feels no affection towards his allies and friends and only sees them as expendable pawns at best.
- Both are one of the notable students of Hogwarts, but...
- Harry is already famous through his status as the Chosen One and is a kind individual despite having records in breaking rules, sometimes to stop Voldemort.
- Voldemort was a model student who exploits his reputation as a mask to hide his malicious nature.
- Harry and Voldemort have blood relations with Salazar Slytherin, but...
- Following the shocking introduction of Obscurial (a wizardkind who consciously repressed his/her powers through enduring abuse to the point of warped into a destructive, out-of-control force) in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, many fans became curious and wonder how Harry didn't became one due to Dursleys' mistreatments on him. Thus, J.K. Rowling assured them by explained: "An Obscurus is developed under very specific conditions: trauma associated with the use of magic, internalized hatred of one’s own magic and a conscious attempt to suppress it. The Dursleys were too frightened of magic ever to acknowledge its existence to Harry. While Vernon and Petunia had a confused hope that if they were nasty enough to Harry his strange abilities might somehow evaporate, they never taught him to be ashamed or afraid of magic. Even when he was scolded for ‘making things happen’, he didn’t make any attempt to suppress his true nature, nor did he ever imagine that he had the power to do so." As such, Dursleys were EXTREMELY lucky not to create one out of the Boy Who Lived, more so since Harry's very ability to feel and be empowered by love practically made his overall magic grew close to match Voldemort and Dumbledore's own.
- Before Daniel Radcliffe was given the role, American actor Liam Aiken was chosen but lost the part.
- Aiken would go on to portray Klaus Baudelaire in A Series of Unfortunate Events, another book adaptation.
- Harry's favorite food appears to be treacle tart, since it's the main dessert he eats at Hogwarts' 1991 feast, and he even smells it when in the presence of Amortentia, which smells like whatever most attracts someone.
External Links
- Harry Potter on the Wikipedia
- Harry Potter on the Harry Potter Wiki
- Harry Potter on the Near Pure Good Wiki
- Harry Potter on the Love Exalted Wiki