Harry Potter is a complicated character that many people have strong feelings about. There are millions of Harry Potter fans across the world, and all of them have their opinions on the different characters from the series. Harry is a character that some people really love and admire while others find him overdramatic and a bit annoying at times. While it’s true he has his flaws, just like any well-written character does, he also has a lot of strengths. While he does get credit for some things - like his Quidditch skills - there are other less talked about things that he doesn’t get near enough love for.
Here are ten underrated times Harry deserved more credit than he got.
WITHSTANDING THE DURSLEYS ABUSE AND STILL HAVING A MORAL COMPASS
Harry’s life got off to an extremely rough start. As an orphan before he was even a toddler, he was left with Vernon and Petunia who had nothing but hatred and disgust for him. While they might have fed him and given him a bed, that is really about it. They neglected and verbally abused him in many ways. Despite their cruel treatment, he was still a person who was good overall. He withstood a lot of things at such a young age.
HIS ABILITY TO BE A GREAT TEACHER
While Harry might have become an Auror in adulthood, many fans have pointed out that he could have done well in other career paths, too. He was extremely talented at Quidditch, a career that likely would have given him a lot more joy.
But where he really could have excelled as a teacher. He was extremely good at this in his role in Dumbledore’s Army. Seeing him as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would have been really rewarding.
PUTTING UP WITH THE WAY HE WAS TREATED BY SNAPE AND OTHERS
It wasn’t just the Dursleys who treated Harry poorly. There were other adults in the series who had it out for him, too. Snape, who had hated James, took his anger out on
Harry. This caused him to be cruel and at times borderline abusive to him during Harry’s time at school. While Harry might have pushed back against Snape sometimes, the fact he was able to endure this and not lash out very often is quite impressive.
ALWAYS BEING WILLING TO SAVE OTHERS, EVEN THOSE HE DIDN’T KNOW WELL
One of Harry’s defining characteristics is his bravery and selflessness. While he could be lacking in common sense sometimes when it came to saving people, his heart was in the right place. He was always willing to drop everything and put his life at risk to save people he cared about such as Sirius. But, he was also willing to put his life on the line to save people like Fleur’s sister during the Triwizard Tournament. Even if sometimes he could be a bit ridiculous about this stuff, he definitely had a good heart.
BEFRIENDING PEOPLE MANY IN THE WIZARDING WORLD CONSIDERED LESS THAN
Because Harry grew up outside of the wizarding community, and because of his inherent goodness, he often wasn’t judgemental of many people that others were wary of. Some of the closest people in his life were those who wizarding society basically outcast such as Remus Lupin and Rubeus Hagrid. He also never judged the Weasleys for their lack of money and also befriended people considered weird, such as Luna Lovegood.
HIS TREATMENT OF DOBBY
Another example of Harry looking out for the little guy is his treatment of Dobby. While Dobby might have started out trying to keep Harry from Hogwarts, they grew to have a friendship.
Harry was often giving Dobby gifts of socks and cared about him. When Dobby died in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Was quite devastated and insisted on hand digging Dobby’s grave himself.
DEALING WITH THE DEATH OF SIRIUS BLACK WITHOUT ANY REAL ADULT GUIDANCE
The amount of trauma Harry dealt with in his life is quite large. He dealt with various deaths throughout his time at Hogwarts. First, he witnessed the death of Cedric Diggory by Voldemort’s hand. Next, he saw Sirius die and then blamed himself for it. It’s quite impressive that he was able to handle any of this. And, even more so, because in many ways he didn’t have a family there to support him.
PERFORMING THE TASKS IN THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
Unfortunately for Harry, he never really seemed to catch a break during his time at Hogwarts. This is especially true during his fourth year when Barty Crouch Jr. submits his name into the Goblet of Fire.
Although he doesn’t choose it for himself, Harry has to compete in the tournament. He definitely holds his own and does just as well, and in some cases better, than the other champions. This proves that he is quite capable of magic in many ways.
BEING WILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TOOK TO DESTROY VOLDEMORT
This one might be a bit unfair to put on this list because he definitely does get credit, both by fans and by other characters in the book, for this. However, it’s such a big deal it had to be included. The fact that Harry basically accepted the fact he had to spend his life finding the Horcruxes and doing whatever it took to destroy Voldemort is quite noble
OVERALL BEING A GOOD, CARING PERSON DESPITE GOING THROUGH COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF TRAUMA BEFORE ADULTHOOD
Harry Potter has to live through more thing in 17 years than most people do in their entire lifetimes. Magic and dark wizards aside, losing loved ones, dealing with abuse, and having the responsibility to help save the world is a lot for anyone to handle. Despite all of this, he still manages to be a good person overall and always tries to do the right thing.
