The Courageous Harry Potter
By Tom Morris



“…Besides, the world isn’t split into good people and death eaters. We all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the power we chose to act on. That’s who we really are.” -Sirius Black

The Virtues at Hogwarts
-The school was founded by four famous wizards each with a unique quality
Gryffindor-founded for “the bravest”
Ravenclaw-founded for “the cleverest”
Hufflepuff-founded for “hard workers”
Slytherin-founded for those with “great ambition”
-It was important for the founders “to give each student a place for the development of whatever might be his or hers greatest strength or most distinctive quality.”
-Even though Harry is placed in Gryffindor, he seems to posses all four qualities of each house, and J.K. Rowling actually goes out of her way to “represent Harry’s instinctive experience of the negative emotions and sensations centering on fear.”

Feelings of Fear
-Rowling consistently seems to describe all the characters feelings or emotions from the outside whereas Harry’s are felt from the inside.
“Ron opened his mouth in horror” (CS, p. 331)
“Crabbe and Goyle were looking scared.” (PA, p. 280)

But when it comes to Harry…..
“Harry’s stomach turned over.” (PA, p. 281)
“Harry felt as though his insides had turned to ice.” (SS, p. 212)
“Harry’s whole body went numb.” (CS, p. 80)
“You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you.” (GF, p. 695)

Harry’s Recipe for Courage
-“Courage is doing what’s right, not what’s easy...”
-“What’s often hard us to grasp how courage is cultivated and attained in difficult situations-the situations in which it is precisely most needed.”
-Harry Potter can teach us much about courage because, when we look at his experiences when he’s courageous, we see several things that seem responsible for his actions.
-In fact, “We actually can find in Harry’s encounters with danger, five strategies for summoning the courage we need in difficult and even terribly frightening situations.”

Harry’s Five Steps for Facing Courage
1. Prepare for the challenge
2. Surround yourself with support
3. Engage in positive talk
4. Focus on what’s at stake
5. Take appropriate action

Prepare for the Challenge
-“Nothing builds confidence and supports courage for a difficult undertaking like preparation.”
-“Harry’s nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, he was confident that, this time, he had done everything in his power to prepare for the task.” (GF, p. 610)
-“Preparation can inspire confidence and support courageous action.”

Surround Yourself with Support
-“It’s always hard to do something alone, especially in circumstances of great uncertainty or threat….” That’s why Harry relies on his friends so much
-Harry would never have made it past his first 5 years without his friends….
-Hermione did his homework and Ron was his best mate…(etc)
-(Before his first Quidditch match, Harry had a bad case of nerves and as a result, when he saw “out of the corner of his eyes, the fluttering banner, high above, flashing Potter for President over the crowd, his heart skipped, he felt braver…” (SS, p. 185)
-“We often need something more. Just having other people helping out inspires more confidence and courage when we need it.”

Engage in Positive Self-Talk
-Harry constantly is praising himself with confidence and as a result, can take on fear happily; he preps himself and as a result calms his nerves and has a lighter mood
-“See you in a bit,” said Harry, trying to eject some confidence into his shaking voice.” (CS, p.304) Harry has a good mood and acts as if nothing is going to happen.
-“I’m not going to be murdered!” (PA, p. 68) Harry has that much need confidence.

Focus on what’s at Stake
-“The more important a situation is to us, the braver we tend to be in our response to danger.” Harry displays this all the time, especially when saving Ginny Weasley
-He has no hesitation when he says, “Im going down there…” (CS, p. 301)
-Harry just takes action and does what he thinks is right when he goes about saving both Ron and Fleur’s sister in the underwater challenge in the Triwizard Tournament.

Take Appropriate Action
-Harry is the best at thinking off the top of head in alarming situations
-When a snake appears out of nowhere, he “wasn’t sure what made him do it. He wasn’t even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he were on casters and that he had shouted unexpectedly, “Leave him alone!” And miraculously-inexplicably-the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick, black garden hose, its eyes now on Harry. Harry felt the fear drain out of him. (CS, p. 194)
-Harry calmed himself and knew what to do in a tight situation.

“Harry Potter shows how a young man vulnerable to all the fears any of us ever experience can overcome those emotions and nobly press on to do what needs to be done.”