Chapter 18: The leader of my Harry Potter book club pointed out that Hermione sounds a lot like Mrs. Weasley in this chapter, chastising Sirius for taking unnecessary risks. Oedipus much, Ron??
Chapter 19: It’s interesting that teaching is the first thing that Harry has been really good at since flying. Now that I think about it, it’s a little disappointing that everything at which Harry is really good – flying, Defense Against the Dark Arts, teaching – seems to be innate instead of developed. He was born (and/or made via the rebounded curse) exceptional rather than working hard to achieve something exceptional.
We cheer for him anyway because he is our protagonist and we don’t view him as a spoiled prima donna because he was so mistreated as a child and – despite that upbringing – he remains kind and level headed. Still, it’s a missed opportunity to show him earn something. I guess that’s coherent, though, with a world in which you’re either born a wizard or not. Fortunately some of our other characters like Neville have positive development arcs through hard work.