The Maddness of Harry James Potter

[brokenquill92]

Is Harry Potter mad or just recklessly determined to do what he believes is right

I am of the opinion he is bonkers but in a good way

[unbeastly]

I just think that his safety is at the very bottom of his list of what's important. He also has a strong sense of responsibility coupled with a pretty heavy 'guilt' complex (everything that goes wrong is his fault), add that to his practically obsessive curiosity and it's just a recipe for disaster. Or one Harry James Potter.

[Chameleon]

Yeah.I think that he puts his safety at the bottom of his list is one of the traits that makes me like him, kind off. If I had a friend or family that was that kind of way, I would probably not like it, but well, he's fictive.

I love his sense of justice and fairness, although I dislike his guilt-complex. It makes me want to shake him badly, when he thinks everything is his fault. Probably something that comes of living with the Dursley's in ten years.

He's pretty reckless. Makes it interesting to read, since it wouldn't be interesting just read how his tests go every year.

[jaffaninja]

I don't think he's usually mad, but at some points in the books he's pushed over the edge. He always comes back again, but for me it seems he sometimes goes a little mad. Like when Sirius dies, for example.

[Chameleon]

Oh yeah. He definitely got mad after Sirius died. A bit in the horcrux-hunt.

[Kitty279]

But can you blame him for it? What Dumbledore put him through was way more than any child his age should have to deal with. It's ironic that Molly insists on treating him like a baby and at the same time listened to Dumbledore who put him into most of these dangers in the first place, thinking the old goat can do no wrong ...

[jaffaninja]

Considering all Harry went through, I'm surprised he didn't go a bit mad before, actually. He was neglected and bullied all his life, then a giant came in, said 'You're a wizard!' and suddenly he was famous. Then he met his parent's murderer and was almost killed himself, and he was only eleven. And then there was second year, and third year... he was just a kid, and he went through more than most of the others had ever been through.

That is kind of ironic. But I don't think Molly knew Dumbledore was the one putting him in those situations - he probably wouldn't have mentioned that. By the time the second war rolled around, she was already cracking under stress anyway, so I doubt she had much time to think about why Harry kept getting into danger.

[Kitty279]

Yeah, Dumbledore can be glad that Harry turned out as he did; he could have easily made a second Tom Riddle with how he meddled in his life. I'm one of these who think Harry's temper in OotP was not so much caused by the connection with Voldemort, but a logical consequence of all the stress he was put through. What was the old goat thinking, locking him up at Privet Drive after the trauma of the Third Task? And then cutting him off from news and refusing to even look at him? And then they blame only Voldemort, never themselves.

Of course Molly didn't know who was behind (and Im not sure how many details she knew in the first place), but from the perspective of the reader, it's a bit ironic, IMO