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Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.In today’s video, we’re going to
be discussing a character that you MAY have heard of. I am of course talking about the
primary protagonist for the Harry Potter story- Harry Potter himself.
Now, ever since the last book came out, Harry has been on the receiving end of a considerable
amount of scrutiny- at least, from some of the internet. And I say after the last book
came out, because at that stage we had a better picture of the whole Harry Potter story, and
everything that Harry had endured.
Before we dive in further let me say this: Harry is a talented young wizard- HOWEVER,
what many have criticized the series for doing is essentially giving Harry ‘plot armour’.
For those unaware, ‘plot armour’ otherwise known as ‘script immunity’ or a ‘character
shield’ is essentially a term used to describe a main characters inability to die. The idea
behind it is this: the main character is too important to the story to be removed, therefore
his/her health/life are safeguarded by plot conveniences.
To this I would say: sure, I get it- sometimes the plot seems to really go out of its way
to ensure that Harry stays safe, but we do have to remember that Harry is the main character,
and it’s hardly unreasonable for Rowling to keep the character around that drives the
story forward. Furthermore, while his life/health are always preserved- his preservation is
also quite well thought out- for the most part it’s not just haphazardly jotted into
the story out of convenience. Traditionally, books are scrutinized for giving protagonists
plot armour when they are safeguarded by unlikely or irregular means- things that aren’t properly
thought out, but I think that JK Rowling did think things out quite well. One argument
for why Harry’s plot armour is just so thick, however, is that time and time again he seems
to be able to go toe-to-toe with powerful dark wizards that far exceed his level of
power. After all, Harry didn’t even know about the wizarding world until it was time
for him to attend Hogwarts. If we look at things reasonably, how on earth could he have
accomplished some of the things that he did WITHOUT plot armour?
In today’s video, I want to discuss Harry’s level of power and the alleged ‘plot armour’
at play- examining a bunch of situations in which- out of what some may construe as plot
convenience- Harry is bailed out. From there, you can make your own decision as to whether
or not you feel that it’s plot armour or just reasonable plot development. Was Harry
a supremely powerful wizard? An untalented and extremely LUCKY wizard, or an above average
wizard with a considerable amount of luck on his side?
First- let’s jump all the way back to Harry’s first encounter with adversity- his showdown
with Voldemort on that one fateful day in Godric’s Hollow.
October 31 1981 wasn’t only the day that beloved couple Lily and James Potter died,
it was also the day that marked the defeat of the Dark Lord (for the first time) and
the astonishing survival of Harry. When Harry finally came of age to attend Hogwarts- his
reputation, having survived an attack by the dark lord himself, preceded him, and this
meant that he entered a world where he already had fame.
He didn’t know the world of magic at all, but here he was strolling down Diagon Alley,
with everyone thinking that he had somehow single-handedly stopped the dark lord. So,
now you might be asking: how did Harry survive? Well- it was actually his mothers doing, Harry
did nothing.
Without drilling down in to it too much, baby Harry was protected from Voldemort because
of Lily’s loving sacrifice- her sacrificial protection. In Harry Potter- it’s commonly
expressed that love trumps all other manners of powerful magic- and in this instance that
power was truly showcased in its totality- stopping the dark lord in his tracks.
So, Harry was saved by his mother- and this may seem AWFULLY convenient given that he
was a BABY and quite literally UNABLE to defend himself against a housecat- let alone one
of the most powerful dark wizards of all time. However, where some may say ‘plot armour’
I simply say ‘plot’- if Harry died right then and there, I’m not sure there would
have been much of a story to tell. It’s established RIGHT from the beginning that
the power of love simply trumps all, and this is the first example of the power of love
in action.
The next example of Harry achieving the unthinkable comes in the form of Harry stopping the basilisk
in the Chamber of Secrets. The Basilisk is an ancient, gigantic, behemoth of a creature
that is about as deadly as they come. However- Harry, in typical Harry fashion, of course
bests this creature at the tender age of 12 with virtually no advanced magical capability.
Was Harry’s defeat over this beast plot armour? In my opinion, not really. And I say
not really because everything that contributes to him defeating the basilisk seems well thought
out. He doesn’t outright defeat the basilisk with his pure raw magical power- he gets help,
as any protagonist does. Hermione helps him with his research, and Fawkes shows up to
help Harry (which makes perfect sense given that Dumbledore is practically omniscient).
Fawkes shows up and claws the Basilisks eyes out, and next the sorting hat provides harry
with the sword of gryffindor- a sword presented to only a ‘true, worthy gryffindor’ that
allows him to defeat the basilisk. The sword thing is a little convenient, but everything
else about this situation seems reasonable.
Harry’s next grand victories came at the triwizard tournament in the Goblet of Fire-
where he passed all of the tournaments tests with flying colours. Harry didn’t face much
trouble in the tournament, and that’s largely because he always had a winner’s advantage-
being given help by Barty Crouch Jr throughout. However, while his assistance from Crouch
jr served him in the tournament- allowing him to effectively pass the challenges, it
didn’t come without repercussions. It was always the intention of Crouch Jr to ALLOW
Harry to win, so that he would eventually claim the triwizard cup, a secret portkey,
and be transported to the Little Hangleton graveyard. Harry passed all of the tests and
overcame any sort of adversity that he faced- but his assistance wasn’t haphazardly introduced
to ‘continue’ the plot, it was an integral PART of the plot.
The next significant example of Harry’s potential plot armour was when he faced Voldemort
in the graveyard. Harry grabs the portkey in the triwizard maze and is transported to
Little Hangleton, where he is faced with Voldemort and Wormtail. After taunting Harry a bit and
basically explaining that his original defeat was a fluke, Voldemort and Harry enter in
to a duel.
The beams of light lock in midair and the two wizards are entered in to a power struggle-
and somehow Harry is able to, once again, fend off one of the most powerful wizards
ever. However, it wasn’t that Harry was more powerful than Voldemort, not even close-
the two entered a stalemate for a number of reasons. First of all, Lily’s loving sacrifice
was still at play, second of all Voldemort had regenerated his body using Harry’s blood,
and third of all the two wizards were using ‘brother’ wands.
The final example of Harry’s plot ‘armour’ in play is when he duels Voldemort at the
end of the Battle of Hogwarts. At this stage, Harry and Voldemort once again enter in to
a magical power struggle- however, what’s unique about this duel in particular is that
Harry is no longer a horcrux for Voldemort, and Voldemort is using a wand to which he
is not the rightful owner. The rules surrounding the ownership of the elder wand meant that
Harry was the REAL owner of the wand, which meant that Voldemort was not able to kill
Harry with it. When Voldemort fires his final avada kedavra at Harry- it bounces right back
at him, just as it did so many years prior, putting an end to the dark lord forever.
“Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the
white hands empty, the snake-like face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed
by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at
his enemy’s shell.”
One of the most glaringly obvious issues with Harry as a protagonist is that, yes- Voldemort
wasn’t able to kill him, but that shouldn’t mean that NOONE can kill him. However, for
some reason Harry is this ‘untouchable’ important figure than the Death Eaters must
leave alone- being saved and groomed for Voldemort to eventually kill himself.
So- did Harry have plot convenience? Well, kind of, yeah, but I don’t think that his
plot armour is quite as bad as some make it out to be.
What do you guys think?
Let me know in the comment section below
Until next time
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live