What will it take to give Harry a breakdown, to have him say, or think, “this is too much”?
At the start of this story he’s human, vulnerable to stress; merely facing up to Minerva McGonagall is enough to make him have to excuse himself and go retch. When I consider everything that’s happened to that boy since then, it’s a wonder he’s not in need of therapy. But now his strength and sanity seem inhumanly unerodable; even Hermione’s death immediately leads to an “unyielding resolution” that he’s going to get her back.
merely facing up to Minerva McGonagall is enough to make him have to excuse himself and go retch
This line has actually been changed to:
he grabbed the magical self-cleaning towel and, with shaky hands, wiped moisture off his forehead. Harry’s entire body was sheathed in sweat which had soaked clear through his Muggle clothing, though at least it didn’t show through the robes.
(at the end of ch6)
It doesn’t take away from your point, just remarking that there are some details in the early chapters that have been changed.
Harry is one of those people you see rarely in reality and often in fiction: the kind that “break stronger.”
That is to say, when faced with a crisis they cannot handle, they become more dedicated, more single-minded, to the point of obsession.
It makes them very very dangerous people, up until the moment their goals are either achieved or made impossible, at which point they (lacking anything else to base their lives around) crumble into so much dust.
What will it take to give Harry a breakdown, to have him say, or think, “this is too much”?
At the start of this story he’s human, vulnerable to stress; merely facing up to Minerva McGonagall is enough to make him have to excuse himself and go retch. When I consider everything that’s happened to that boy since then, it’s a wonder he’s not in need of therapy. But now his strength and sanity seem inhumanly unerodable; even Hermione’s death immediately leads to an “unyielding resolution” that he’s going to get her back.
This line has actually been changed to:
(at the end of ch6)
It doesn’t take away from your point, just remarking that there are some details in the early chapters that have been changed.
Harry is one of those people you see rarely in reality and often in fiction: the kind that “break stronger.”
That is to say, when faced with a crisis they cannot handle, they become more dedicated, more single-minded, to the point of obsession.
It makes them very very dangerous people, up until the moment their goals are either achieved or made impossible, at which point they (lacking anything else to base their lives around) crumble into so much dust.