It’s definitely true that Harry would consider a lot of people his friends or at least say that he likes a fair bit of people, but it’s so interesting to me that Harry liking them isn’t enough for him to really be invested in them. He likes Dean and Seamus, likes Ernie, likes Luna, but he’s never made much of an effort to be involved with them and their lives, and this is true for his other peers too.
Outside of Quidditch I can’t think of many times Harry decided to spend time with someone when he’s not forced to, and especially when Ron & Hermione aren’t there
Meanwhile he’s so incredibly attached to Ron & Hermione. He’s worried they’ll abandon him, he feels a lot of pain at the thought that they might not like him, he pictures their reactions to things, he describes his conscience as sounding like them (mainly Hermione), on multiple occasions they are his happiest thought as he’s conjuring a patronus— not a memory of them but just the concept of them, the image of their faces in his head. He loves them so fucking much and when you consider his relationship with them vs the rest of his peers it really puts it into perspective.
Harry likes people but he’s never liked anyone as much as he likes Ron & Hermione
