BookwormByNight - Ao3

Im new to the fandom, Harry is my BABYGIRL, and I am having a shocking amount of troubling just finding fanart that attempted to make him look attractive... which is baffling to me, because Harry literally has two separate books in the series where major subplots of said books involve hoards of girls accosting him bc they wanna fuck!!! On top of his parents, both Lily AND James, being explicitly mentioned in the narrative as total smoke shows?? There's no way that boy was even average looking, no matter what his self esteem tells (or doesn't tell) the readers 😭

Anyway rant aside, needed to let you know that you are a shining star in my sky and you are doing the good work <3

Tysm! And yeah, it baffles me too. I know that my Harry is far from canon...but it's glaringly obvious when an artist likes the other character in the ship far more than him and Harry's design is an afterthought. Sometimes he's just a white guy with a bowl cut and it makes me want to shake the artist and tell them Byler is the other direction, bc he should be hot! Carelessly messy hair! Striking, intimidating eyes! Cute nose!! Athletic! Even in canon TOM ARISTOCRATICALLY HANDSOME RIDDLE says "we look something alike". You think his ego would let him say that to an uggo? I don't think sooo

We know Harry was abused as a kid—it glaringly obvious in the books—, but my question is what exactly did this abuse do to him in the long run?

I think for Harry it wasn’t as obvious as it could have been, but to me he seems like a wonderful example of an abuse victim in a way. When he gets angry it’s usually cold and calculated, Harry usually not being too loud as not to draw attention but to let his anger be known. He doesn’t like attention, usually avoiding it if he can and getting uncomfortable from it, I think it could be traced back to attention usually having negative consequences.

While he may go to an adult first when a problem arises (McGonagall and the Philosophers Stone) if the adult proves incompetent he will take matters into his own hands and not bother getting their help again. He also doesn’t respect them like he could and treats those who treat him badly the same, Snape a wonderful example of this. To him he is on the same level as them and thinks lowly of them at the same time.

When Ron and Hermione are bickering it annoys him and often causes him to blow if it goes on too long or he’s pulled into it. I think raised voices or arguing are a type of trigger, not one that’s very strong but can makes him feel more on edge and slightly more antsy. I also think him being treated as “less than”—or like a child—is also a slight trigger because that’s how the Dursleys would treat him.

He also usually is very unaware of the people around him that don’t make a difference in his life, failing to know the names of kids he’s gone to school with for years. To me it seems like someone that’s always only relied on themselves is too busy caring for themselves that they don’t have time to care about people that don’t matter. These people also fade to the back because they don’t pose a risk in any way nor do they bring him any joy. At the Dursleys he wouldn’t have had time to care about kids at school because he’s too busy thinking about how to escape Dudley and his gang and not get on his aunt and uncles bad side.

The sorting hat also mentioned how Harry had a thirst to prove himself, something that’s common among abused kids because they want to be treated better. His risk taking behavior could have been mixed with this because a subconscious part of his mind thought it the only way to be liked due to him being a celebrity.

I also noticed how he doesn’t really branch out when it comes to meeting people, simply going with the flow. It could be because as a kid if he went up to Petunia, Vernon or Dudley for attention it never ended well and the kids at his primary school probably shied away because he was a target for bullying. The logical decision is to let people come to him and prove they want to be around, so he let Ron and Hermione come around without really reaching out.

Emotions also make him uncomfortable, seen with Cho crying around him. He doesn’t understand them likely because he was forced to push his away because he wasn’t allowed to ever be upset or too happy. Something that’s common in emotionally neglected children, it also points to his lack of empathy. While Harry may seem to care he does not come across as very empathetic for the average person unless it’s people he’s close with.

Although we have many canonical moments that prove that he is sneaky and observant, I guess it's a reflex he had built up slowly.

He walked around his primary school sneakily, trying to avoid Dursley and his gang.

for example, with rita skeeter he's very cold (yeah you can have a word: GOODBYE) because he controls the moment. with draco malfoy he's full of snappy comebacks and sarcastic observations because he's, again, able to handle the situation.

but... when he's not in control? when he's being mocked by everyone and can't change their perception of him? ("YEAH THATS RIGHT!! IVE JUST BEEN CRYING MY EYES OUT OVER MY DEAD MUM AND IM JUST OFF TO DO A BIT MORE." "no - it was just - you dropped your quill" "oh.") or when he's left out of the loop by dumbledore and the order? (CAPS LOCK HARRY FTW)