Harry Potter

This is the last post because it was, by far, the most difficult to write. Harry Potter represented someone all of us could aspire to become. Harry was far from perfect, but he was what the story needed. Most Potterheads would agree that, although there were details we may have wanted to change about him in the end, Harry's story was finished. And finished well. Bringing him back was a risk. Telling an eighth story was a perilous challenge. The potential... There was SO much potential.

The overture of the seven books was wonderful. The curtain was rising again, and the finale of the eighth could have been spectacular.

It wasn't.

8th Story

I've said this before.

It bears repeating.

JKR and Co. made Harry Potter a minor character in his own damn finale. You can't be a minor character when your damn name is in the damn title. Off the bat, you lost me.

Harry's Skills

Giving him a wand doesn't make him a wizard. This play offered up a cheap imitation of Harry. He was a joke during the fight against Draco, and then a pathetic doormat when he had to face Delphi.

He moves to attack her again. But she is far stronger. HARRY's wand ascends upwards towards her. He is disarmed. He is helpless.

DELPHI: You think you're stronger than me?

HARRY: No. I'm not.

This is Harry we're talking about. Able to master the Patronus Charm at 14, leader of Dumbledore's Army, youngest winner of the Triwizard Tournament, vanquisher of the Basilisk, destroyer of Lord Voldemort on multiple occasions, Auror and Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. But, nah...he's weaker than that one girl who never went to magic school. Because reasons.

Screw. You.

Emasculation and Reduction

He's gonna bring up the blanket, isn't he?

Yep.

The baby blanket is tangible proof that JKR phoned a bunch of this in. The fact that Harry used to hug the baby blanket anytime he was worried and needed good luck...? What? First of all, that never happened all the times he was worried during seven long novels and eight movies. Second, Harry is an adult man...hugging his baby blanket? COME ON! You just made Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the one who took down numerous enemies, stared down Aunt Marge and Dolores Umbridge... You just retconned him to be a freaking weakling most of his life, weeping into a baby blanket!!

Forget about that vault of gold coins, no all Harry wanted from Mom and Dad was his bwankie.

It never mattered. The blanket NEVER MATTERED. Aunt Petunia would've tossed it in the trash at her earliest opportunity. It's mentioned in the 2nd chapter of book 1. Then, it's never mentioned again. Ever! I could see... maybe... an eleven-year-old still caring about his baby blanket and holding it on Halloween for comfort. Maybe. But not an adult! What is your damage, Thorne? Like, Harry didn't give it to his firstborn when James was younger. Which means what? Was it too hawd for Hairwee to give up Bwankie?

I understand wanting to put your hero through challenges they've never experienced, even to drastically alter established characteristics for the sake of developing them further, but why in the name of all that is Weasley would a writer choose to emasculate their hero? So...are we to assume that Harry rushed up to the dormitories to suck his thumb and cuddle with Bwankie after he took down Voldemort? Hahaha

And don't tell me it didn't mean anything to him, because Harry gave it to Albus as an equivalent to the Invisibility Cloak that was gifted to James. But it was all so pointless. Just admit it! You invented the baby blanket garbage simply to allow characters to communicate with the future. Which means you were willing to humiliate and demasculinize the hero of your seven-book series to fill a plot hole in a stoopid play!

Nice work...

Really, top-notch writing...

Harry, As A Husband

Harry was always a fighter first, not a lover. But he did know love. He found love during the fight, which made it more meaningful because his need to set love aside spoke of sacrifice and yearning. It gave a different purpose to the fight. Gave promise to the "ever after".

Once the Battle of Hogwarts was through, Harry would've had time to understand what Ginny meant to him. Across many years, and throughout his growth into adulthood, Harry would have developed his heart. He would've had an opportunity to understand that side of himself apart from the fighting. Apart from the power of the accidental Horcrux that was tied to his soul. And that was something we all imagined and were excited to see! But it's almost as if their relationship hadn't evolved at all in this car wreck of a play. Other than Ginny becoming a bland mayonnaise sandwich on enriched white bread.

Oh, but it HAS developed, Mike. Harry orders her around... and... and Ginny belittles him for not doing a good job as a dad. See?! Comp-lexities.

*breaks 4th wall to stare unblinkingly at the camera*

*long blink*

*rolls lips*

Sure.

Harry, As A Family Man

All Harry ever wanted was a family. This play seems to work overtime in an effort to show that this no longer mattered to him. Is that a bad thing? Mmm...not necessarily. This happens in life. But the writers did it so wrong. They made it as if he didn't learn anything. He didn't revert to a parenting style that unfortunately reflected the worst influences on him. No, he just didn't care.

Harry had gotten horrible gifts from the Dursleys. And then Albus gets that awful baby blanket. He was alienated as a child. And now he alienates one of his sons. Why? Did something happen that caused a real rift between them?

Nope.

No one really understands why they don't get along. Even Albus is confused when they still have issues after he was never Sorted into Slytherin in Alt-Universe 1. That's because it didn't make sense.

Go on! Show it to us! Like, you're J.K. Freaking Rowling!! We'll trust you enough to try and understand why Harry might not be a good father or husband. Benefit of the doubt, and all. But you can't just make him that way for no reason.

DOUBT. SO MUCH DOUBT. ALL THE DOUBT.

So, this is who Harry has become, eh? What do they blame it on? Oh... oh, this part pisses me off like nothing else...

Harry, As A Son

HARRY: I know. But the thing that scares me most, Albus Severus Potter, is being a dad to you. Because I'm operating without wires here. Most people at least have a dad to base themselves on - and either try to be or try not to be. I've got nothing - or very little. So I'm learning, okay? And I'm going to try with everything I've got - to be a good dad for you.

Or very little? VERY LITTLE?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE???!!!

Harry didn't have any father figures in his life? WHAT??!! This isn't a misinterpretation, by the way. The Cursed Trio SINCERELY believes this, to this day. In the most recent interview with JKR, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, they confirm that Harry has to learn how to be a father because he never had one!!

So... none of these guys were father figures:

- Remus Lupin

- Albus Dumbledore

- Rubeus Hagrid - who carried him to the Dursleys and ushered him into the wizarding world.

- Sirius Black - his GODFATHER.

- ARTHUR WEASLEY - who LITERALLY becomes his father through marriage!!!

Even Vernon Dursley can be seen as a father figure, in the sense that bad fathers can teach you what not to do. As a teenager, sure, you are unaware of the parental influences on you. But as a father, you draw on those positive influences to define who you are as a parent while learning from their mistakes. It literally doesn't even make sense in the context of their own play, where Dumble-portrait shares an awkward and unnecessary heart-to-heart with Harry.

If you want Harry to make mistakes as a father, you don't have to manufacture some erroneous history that allows this to be okay. It can be okay. Fathers mess up. It's really easy, actually. But don't you dare pretend that those men didn't have a substantial impact on who Harry would be as a father - ESPECIALLY ARTHUR!

In the immortal words of Hermione Granger: "Honestly, am I the only person who's ever bothered to read (the Harry Potter books)?"

Harry, As A Father

The Epilogue of Deathly Hallows proved through subtle humor that the trio had forgiven Draco after all those years. Y'know, past is the past...let bygones be bygones. But they did a 180 in this play because Harry loses his damn mind because one of his sons is friends with a Malfoy. Harry then goes off the rails and does everything he can to separate them. He even starts believing the gossip that Scorpius is the heir of Voldemort, which is obnoxious in its stupidity.

Harry understood better than anyone the need to see his friends from school, even having to escape out of a window with bars just to do so. He was alone for most of his young life. He would never try to ruin the only friendship in his son's life. It just wouldn't happen. This is NOT Harry. "Dark cloud" be damned, he wouldn't go threatening and bullying McGonagall, forcing the Marauders Map on her so she'll spy on them and keep the boys apart. It's utter lunacy.

HARRY: With the greatest respect, Minerva - you don't have children -

GINNY: Harry!

HARRY: - you don't understand.

PROFESSOR McGONAGALL (deeply hurt): I'd hope that a lifetime spent in the teaching profession would mean...

HARRY: This map will reveal to you where my son is at all times - I expect you to use it. And if I hear you don't - then I will come down on this school as hard as I can - using the full force of the Ministry - is that understood?

PROFESSOR McGONAGALL (bewildered by this vitriol): Perfectly.

GINNY looks at HARRY, unsure of what he's become. He doesn't look back.

No effing duh! We're ALL bewildered and unsure. Because THIS ISN'T HARRY!

That One Line

You know which line I'm talking about. Jo calls this book canon, and yet there is absolutely no way that this is the Harry we came to know and love. No. I refuse to accept it! We're supposed to believe that the compassionate, good-hearted Harry Potter who yearned for a family of his own for decades would so easily tell his son...

You know what? Fine, here it is again:

HARRY: You wish me dead?

ALBUS: No! I just wish you weren't my dad.

HARRY (seeing red): Well, there are times I wish you weren't my son.

TALK

ABOUT

SEEING

RED!!!

.

Not

..

MY

...

CANON!

....

.

.

.

If you are seeking to search this play for signs that it was never canon and should never be seen as canon for the rest of time, look no further than that passage. Because Harry would NEVER say this line.

Never. Not ever.

And if you happen to disagree with me on this point.... nothin' but luv, but you wrong. Dead wrong. I don't care what reasoning they gave him or the immediate regret he felt. You don't say that sort of thing in anger if you didn't consider it in the back of your mind. And no matter how angry or frustrated Harry's son could have made him, Harry never would have wished Albus out of their family, even for the smallest fraction of a second.

This is emotional abuse.

DID YOU READ THE BOOKS? Harry would NEVER abuse his own child in such a flippant manner. As I've stated already, break with character. That's fine. GO NUTS! In fact, I encourage it because all of us have our moments of weakness, our moments when we look in the mirror and see someone unfamiliar. The hero can fall. That's okay. BUT IT HAS TO MAKE SENSE. Don't just make Harry NOT HARRY because you're too vain and confident not to pay enough attention. Seriously, you could have Harry do something that puts his family and homelife at risk, that's a wonderful place to start a story. But this??? THIS??!! No. I don't accept this, and never will.

Jo, you were wrong. You shouldn't have made Harry go there. You should not have allowed us to see him that way. And if it was Thorne's fault, you should have stepped in to course correct for the sake of your character and your fans.

Harry deserved that. We deserved that.

You were wrong.

Who was the person of Harry James Potter?

Harry was a reluctant, but epic hero. Although his fame and reputation made him a hero in the eyes of many, his moral integrity and desire to help others at his own peril made him that hero. He had a very big and pure heart. Voldemort saw this and exploited it, leading to the death of Sirius Black. But that tragedy never changed Harry. It could have. It likely would've changed many of us.

Not Harry. He was bigger than that. He had to be.

Harry wanted nothing more than to have a family and to know his parents, which left him open to loving others who were not family. He was defiant when it mattered, suspicious at the right time, and chose to pursue justice and truth, despite how inconvenient that could be. He was strong-willed and inclined toward breaking the rules, but only for the greater good.

Like any true hero, Harry had his faults. He doubted himself and had a particular inability to keep his emotions in check. This trait made him impulsive, which got him into compromising situations. He was angry, but always righteous. He kept a clear head and never jeopardized who he was outside of those hardships.

Who was Harry? He was tough. Resilient. Harry was uncompromising. He was kind and brave. Self-reliant and perceptive. He was stubborn because he could see the whole picture before anyone else, which made him bluntly honest and, at times, unlikable. Harry was a good friend, willing to protect them to his death. He saw the value and goodness in others when no one else would. He had superb instincts, was a natural talent on a broomstick, and even more so with a wand. Harry Potter was determined and vigilant, always ready to do the honorable thing. Whatever it took to achieve better ends. Harry accepted that his mission in life was to "get to that Snitch...or die trying," however that might look.

I can accept and understand what the writers were trying to achieve when it came to Harry. I can. They wanted to break with character. It makes sense that Harry might go back on some of his core characteristics when facing a challenge as an adult. Okay. But they explored this in all the wrong ways. And, honestly, they didn't commit. They were that weak boyfriend or girlfriend who was too afraid to give you a kiss, ruining the moment. And the kiss. If you're going to disrupt our image of Harry for the sake of telling a good story, DO IT. Grab the back of our neck and pull us in! We're here, waiting. Take freaking charge! But they didn't go far enough, which means it meant nothing and left us disappointed.

Why am I so bothered? Because the ones with the power to finish Harry's story unintentionally destroyed the legacy of a great hero. They could've recreated magic, but they didn't take the time to do it right. His future was so unimportant that it came across as neglect. They unknowingly neglected his memory through indifference. This was advice from Dumbledore that I had hoped J.K. Rowling would never have forgotten:

"Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike."

I never wanted to make this a book about how upset I am with JKR. I respect her SO MUCH! But this had to be said. All of this. And, as Dumbledore said on a different page, "it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

.

It's done. The play isn't going to change. If anything, it's spreading. So we have to live with it. We have to accept it, no matter how much injury in inflicts. But maybe we don't have to accept it. I mean, what is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but words. What is my MODification going to be, but words.

But maybe...

Maybe it'll be enough...

"Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both influencing injury, and remedying it."

THAT'S A WRAP - - - We have reached the end of the analysis!

Up next: Defining the MOD

Commence screaming!

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