deathtocapslock | Deathly Hallows, Chapter 35: King's Cross, Part 1 B (Reply)

So how does our hero Harry react when confronted by the suffering of another apparent innocent? Take a look.

CHAPTER 35

Page Number of Description Harry's Dumbledore's

number times of baby reaction reaction

mentioned to baby to baby

706 2 1) flapped, 1) feels he is none, enters

flailed, eavesdropping chapter on

struggled, on something next page

pitiful, furtive and

indecent shameful;

2) small, wishes he were

naked child, clothed

curled on 2) he recoils

the ground,

its skin raw and

rough, flayed-

looking, lay

shuddering

under a seat

707 2 1) where it had 1) afraid; does 1) “You cannot

been left, not want to help.”

unwanted, approach it; 2) none

stuffed out draws slowly mentioned

of sight, nearer, ready

struggling to jump back;

for breath; cannot bring

small, fragile, himself to touch

and wounded it; feels like a

2) the flayed coward; feels

child lay he ought to

whimpering comfort it, but

it repulses him

2) walks away with DD

708 1 small, maimed glances at it “Something

creature and asks, that is beyond

trembled under “What is that, either of

the chair Professor?” our help.”

709 2 1) the stunted 1) none 1) none

creature under mentioned mentioned

the chair 2) distracted, 2) “There is

2) the glances back no help

whimpering at it, asks, possible.”

and thumping “Are you sure

of the we can’t do

agonized anything?”

creature

behind them

710 1 creature sits in silence, sits in silence,

continued to with back with back

whimper and turned to child turned to child

tremble

714 1 “The creature but Harry no none

behind them longer looked mentioned

whimpered, around.”

719 1 “...the barely none

whimperings of disturbed Harry mentioned

the creature any more.”

behind them

sits in silence sits in silence

for a long time for a long time

721 1 “The creature and Harry and for the longest

behind them Dumbledore time yet.”

jerked and sat without

moaned, talking

722 1 “the raw- 1) Harry 1) none

looking thing glances mentioned

that trembled again at it. 2) He distracts

and choked 2) Harry leaves Harry by telling

in the shadow without looking him not to pity

beneath the at the child the dead, but

distant chair” again. the loveless

living.

If we look at this table, we can see that Harry’s initial reaction is perfectly normal: He realizes the creature is suffering and wants to help it. However, it is so grotesque-looking he is also repulsed by it. He is torn between his unselfish and selfish feelings. I think many people not trained in trauma medicine would react this way upon seeing a maimed and suffering creature. (706)

As Harry stands there, trying to nerve himself up to help the baby, Scummywhore appears and quashes Harry’s compassionate impulse by saying, “You cannot help.” Scummy knows perfectly well that poor, gullible Harry worships him and will mindlessly believe anything he says. He also knows Harry has a short attention span and is easily distracted by shiny objects, so he slobbers compliments on the boy and walks “some distance away,” figuring correctly that Harry will follow. (707)

Harry’s decency is not completely crushed, however; He still has enough mental independence to look at the creature and ask what it is. Scummywhore takes his usual evasive action and refuses a direct answer, instead reaffirming that they can’t help it. His words are of a piece with his efforts in HBP to prevent Harry from feeling any empathy or compassion towards the young Tom Riddle. (708 Although we didn’t know when DH came out that the baby was Tom’s soul, we do now. More important, Rowling always knew, so Scummy’s actions here can be seen as a continuation of his actions in HBP.)

Next we see that Scummy’s callous indifference to the suffering of others has begun to rub off on Harry. Harry ignores the baby at first, but its pathetic noises finally get to him, and he again asks for reassurance that nothing can be done, which he receives. (709)

After this, Harry has been thoroughly corrupted: He hears the creature suffering behind him, but he imitates his idol by sitting quietly and not looking at it, hardly bothered by its distress, even when they are not talking, so its whimpering and moaning are the only sounds in the room. He gives it one more glance at the end of the chapter, makes a final obeisance to Dumbledore, then leaves. (710, 714, 719, 721,722)

Harry’s behavior stands in stark contrast to Draco’s, and not in a good way. There are five mentions of the inert body in chapter 1 before it comes to life and assumes an individual, suffering identity. At no time is Draco indifferent to the victim. Whether he is compulsively staring at it or compulsively looking away, his attention is fixated on it. So even though there really is nothing he can do to help, he never loses his compassion, and possibly empathy, for the victim.

Contrast that with Harry’s reaction to the skinned child. He shows some compassion for it for seven mentions, but once his idol assures him he can’t help, he ignores it, and by the ninth mention he has almost forgotten about it. This is despite the fact the baby is in overt, vocal agony the entire time. In other words, Harry shows far less compassion for a conscious, overtly suffering child than Draco does for an unconscious, apparently non-suffering adult.

Rowling apologists need to keep in mind Harry’s callous indifference to an agonized baby right under his nose when they criticize Snape for apparently not caring about baby Harry getting killed. Harry’s intended fate was a quick, painless death. Voldemort had no intention of skinning him alive, then sitting around bragging about his own wonderfulness (though pretending to be humble) while baby Harry thrashed and screamed in agony.

Speaking of whom, let’s compare the behavior of Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort in these two chapters. In chapter 1, Voldemort keeps his victim apparently unconscious until right before he kills her. This is no doubt for selfish reasons, so he’s not bothered by her annoying crying and pleas for mercy. The fact remains that keeping someone you intend to kill unconscious is far more merciful than allowing them to be awake and anticipating their imminent death. Burbage is woken by Voldemort only a short time before he kills her with a quick, painless AK, so her suffering is brief.

Contrast that with how Albus “Epitome of Goodness” Dumbledore treats the skinned baby. True, he is not responsible (as far as we know) for either its being there or its condition. That does not absolve him of responsibility for doing what he can to alleviate its suffering. Has he completely lost his magic? Can’t he cast wandless spells to heal it, or at least relieve its pain? Can’t he emulate Voldemort and make it lose consciousness so it won’t overtly be suffering any more?

But he does none of those things. Not only does he do nothing to help it, but when Harry tries to help, he discourages that, too. This is the same man who laid a guilt trip on Severus Snape for not wanting to save the life of James Potter, who had terrorized and humiliated Snape relentlessly, mercilessly, and completely without provocation for seven endless years. What was it Scummy said about that to Snape? Oh, yes: “You disgust me. You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?”

You disgust me, Asshole Scummywhore. You goddamn, evil, lying, motherfucking total hypocrite! You don’t care about the eternal agony of anyone, as long as you get what you want!

We can now see the truth, and it’s as ugly as the most passionate Rowling-hater could want: Lord Voldemort is more merciful than Albus Dumbledore! Draco Malfoy is more compassionate and empathetic, and far less brainwashed, than Harry Potter!

I spend so much time examining this subject in detail in part because it makes an important point that to my knowledge has been overlooked in HP commentary: The corruption of Harry’s morals and compassion in chapter 35 parallels the corruption of his morals and compassion in the entire series. That is, Harry starts out as a fairly normal kid. True, he doesn’t care that an old lady he doesn’t like has broken her leg; he just cares that her injury allows him to have an outing that provides some pleasure in his bleak, joyless existence. I think a lot of deprived, neglected kids would have the same reaction. It’s not compassionate, but it’s hard to feel compassion for others when one receives none oneself. Harry’s compassion and empathy tank was on Empty because neither the Dursleys nor anyone else ever filled it, so it’s not surprising he doesn’t care about a near-stranger’s suffering. We also don’t see any evidence to indicate the Dursleys had any empathy for Arabella Figg, or regarded her as anything other than a convenient person to dump Harry with when they wanted to be rid of him. Children learn what they live, and when they see the significant adults in their lives treating others as need-gratifying objects, that’s how they learn to treat those people as well. Again, Harry’s failings are the result of his being failed by the adults in his life, in both their treatment of him and the examples they set.

If Harry had gone to a school run by someone as virtuous as Albus Dumbledore was supposed to be, he would have become a better person than he was with the Dursleys. As empathy and compassion were shown to him by friends and teachers, he would have learned to feel and show those emotions as well. Discipline and fairness would have taught him self-control and justice. Associating with people of different abilities and from diverse backgrounds would have taught him tolerance for the shortcomings of others as well as himself. Being “just another kid” would have taught him that he is as good as everyone else, but no better. If Dumbledore had truly been the “epitome of goodness” Rowling insists he is, he would have taught Harry that we are all interconnected, so the suffering of one means the suffering of others.

But instead of going to a real school, he went to Hogwarts. There he was fawned over as “the Boy-Who-Lived,” lauded for a bizarre accomplishment that, by his own admission, he didn’t remember achieving, and loaded up with corrupting privileges in honor of it. (E.g., invisibility cloak, first year team sports, getting away with showing disrespect to teachers and other students) So instead of being a bad freak, as he was with the Dursleys, he was a good freak. But he was still a freak!

As the series goes on, the callous indifference and rank bigotry of Hogwarts, which are the outward expression of Dumbledore’s loathsome character, begin to corrupt Harry beyond the damage the Dursleys have inflicted. Instead of encouraging him to feel a connection to more people, Hogwarts narrows his focus even further, teaching him to care only about the suffering of “approved” individuals: Gryffindors and their friends, allies, and approved relatives (as opposed to unapproved relatives such as Percy and the Weasleys’ squib cousin). Everybody else--Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, animals, foreigners, non-magical people--is like the skinned baby: Their suffering can be ignored because it’s just a part of life; no one can do anything about it, so it’s best to just go about one’s business and pretend it’s not happening. (Slytherins and their ilk are worse than the baby because they deserve to suffer.)

This is the same situation Harry was in with the Dursleys, only in that case, he was the skinned baby, futilely thrashing and whimpering and being ignored. According to the Dursleys, Harry’s “freakishness” made him hideous and repulsive, unworthy of love or even of decent care. So they distanced themselves from him and ignored him, convincing themselves there was nothing they could do to help him (i.e., make him normal and non-magical), so there was no point in even acknowledging his pain, let alone attempting to alleviate it.

Jim Morrison was right. You cannot petition the Lord with prayer.