26 July 2011

Harry Potter Needs Therapy

In honor of the end of the Harry Potter movies, I've decided to dedicate a post to the beloved Boy Wizard.

 I've always loved Harry Potter. Like, a lot. Enough to carve my own wand out of stick from my backyard.  (That story will come later, since it deserves a whole post to itself.) I've loved it enough to create pages and pages of fan art of my favorite parts of the book.  I even joined an online Hogwarts RPG. I picked a fake name, was sorted into Gryffindor (even though I wanted Ravenclaw) and took "classes." I used to be really embarassed of that time in my life. But since starting college, I've lost a lot of shame and self-respect, which is why I feel just fine telling you this now. Sometimes I go back to the site "just to see" and end up realizing that I am still in the top 20 for posts in the forum. 


After going to the midnight showing of the second part of the last movie, I realized something. Harry Potter really needs therapy. First of all, his parents were murdered. Orphaned, he grew up in an emotionally abusive household with people who made him live in a cupboard. He was bullied, ignored, lied to, and neglected in almost every way. Then a giant man came and took him away to a magical world.




In that magical world he's in the spotlight constantly, especially when he goes to the magical school. There, he befriends the awkward ginger and the know-it-all girl, going on dangerous adventures with them and repeatedly defeating the man who murdered his parents, while still managing to complete his schoolwork.  As he goes through puberty (with all the angst and awkward romances) he becomes close to people who fill the empty parental void, such as Dumbledore and Sirius Black....

...who are also murdered.

Everybody Harry loves has been murdered. Hedwig, Dobby, Lupin, the list goes on. Realistically, Harry Potter should have lost it a long time ago. He should have been a complete wreck, suffering from PTSD and self-medicating with potions he stole from Snape's office. Or maybe stabbing himself with a quill just to feel in control.



Here are my interpretations of what Harry would be like if he had lost his mind.


 Poor kid.



He carries the snitch around everywhere he goes, hiding it in his mouth sometimes.


I probably shouldn't laugh at this one.



Somehow he lost his arm. Then stuck his wand into the nub. 


Yikes.


We love you, Harry.