Harry the Loner

I was reading this essay on Mugglenet and it got me thinking about how alone Harry really is. Yes, we know he was orphaned at a young age, and that he grew up without any friends (because Dudley made sure no one was nice to him). Additionally we see that his mentor, whom he relies on greatly, is now dead. Harry is left, once again, alone.

But wait I hear you say, what about Ron and Hermione? They always go into these situations with him! However, if you examine it closely at the climax in each book, Harry is essentially alone.

In book one, Ron and Hermione accompany Harry as far as they can (Ron to the chess board, Hermione to the potions) but Harry is left alone when he confronts Voldemort.

Book two: Ron accompanies Harry down to the Chamber of Secrets but is unable to go all the way with his friend because of the cave in of the rocks. Once again, Harry is left alone at the most dangerous point in the narrative.

In Prisoner of Azkaban in the climax in the Shrieking Shack Ron has a broken leg and, though he talks big at that point ("If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!") he can't do much. Hermione, though at one point she does kick Sirius, doesn't really take much action in that scene, she screams, she gasps and scampers out of Harry's way and picks up the wands, she sobs in reaction to Crookshanks' loyalties, screams for help, and cowers near the door. All in all she isn't much help, and Harry is essentially mano e mano with Sirius with no credible backup.

In the second climax of book 3 (the time turner) though Hermione is with him in the planing stages of what they are going to do and explains the rules of the time turner, at the crucial moment of execution (saving everyone with the patronus) Hermione can't help him because she doesn't know how to preform the Patronus Charm.

In book four Harry is alone in the climax in the graveyard--none of his friends and supporters are there to help him in any way. Harry is alone.

Order of the Phoenix has a promising climax of Harry and his entire entourage of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville and the Order, all in pitched battle. However, his comrades seem to be dropping like flies. Hermione gets hurt by some purple flame curse in the chest. Ron has...something wrong with his mind and then is attacked by brains. Ginny has a broken ankle. Luna is hit by something and ends up sprawled on the floor. Neville is with Harry until Sirius' death where Harry then runs off. Alone. In the confrontation with Bellatrix Harry is alone. The fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort then ensues, but the climax for Harry is when Voldemort invades his mind. This battle, waged in Harry's body, is just between Harry and the Dark Lord; Dumbledore even in the same room is utterly powerless to help Harry. Once again Harry is in battle alone.

In book six in the first climax (the cave) Harry has to shoulder the burden that Dumbledore put on him, and force Dumbledore to drink the potion. Here Harry is once again forced to make decisions and take action without the aid of someone else (once Dumbledore starts drinking the potion his ability to aid Harry in any way is greatly impaired. The second climax on the tower has Harry literally powerless (immobilized by Dumbledore's spell) to take action while someone else is acting (Dumbledore and Snape). However when Dumbledore is killed Harry bursts into action. The rest of the school is fighting their battle but Harry is alone going after Snape and Malfoy.

In almost all instances where it really matters, Harry is left to act alone. How does this bode for the future then? We know from HBP that in the Horcrux hunt Ron and Hermione are going to go with Harry. They make that clear. But from the pattern already set it seems inevitable that while Ron and Hermione will play crucial roles in the early stages (indeed most likely he would be unable to get very far without them if earlier books serve as an example) in the end Harry will battle alone--whether against Snape or Voldemort--when it matters most, Harry will be alone.