Developmental Profile-- Written December 2016

Developmental Profile-- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

“Yer a wizard, Harry.”

At the first truly positive words Harry Potter has ever recalled hearing in his short lifetime, J.K. Rowling describes feelings of both shock and excitement settling in the young boy’s thoughts. At the opening of the story, Harry is eleven years old and living with his unkind aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, and their equally unpleasant son, Dudley. The accident that had taken Harry’s parents from him at the age of one was reported to have been a car crash; however, he was soon to learn otherwise.

Harry’s green eyes and messy, dark hair are stark reminders of his parents to all who knew them. This engenders a number of different reactions, all of which have their effect on Harry. In the following discussion, we will address a number of different aspects of these and other events that affect Harry’s development.

We meet Harry in a concluding period of Late Childhood, on his way into Adolescence. Harry possesses a number of characteristics that support this conclusion, beginning with his physical appearance: he is described as small, skinny, thin-faced and knobbly kneed (Rowling, 20), suggesting he is not yet fully grown. Additionally, the excerpt I began with is taken from a scene on his eleventh birthday-- an age of transition-- and also the day he learned that the things he’d believed about himself his entire life were, in fact, falsehoods.

His reaction to this news shows evidence of his developmental stage, as well as indicating a number of different theorists’ stages of development. Following the initial shock, his transition is fairly seamless, suggesting he had not yet begun to solidify in his identity, which, according to Erik Erikson, places Harry in or just prior to the Identity vs. Confusion stage of development. The Identity vs. Confusion stage occurs in the beginning of adolescence (Santrock, 18), around age eleven, which, as is previously mentioned, is Harry’s age. Harry does not seem to possess a great many characteristics of Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage; yet he displays great propensity for logical reasoning and classification of physical evidence, further supporting the claim that he is in the final throes of childhood.

Freud would place Harry in the Latency Stage (Santrock, 17), due to his disinterest in females his age despite his acute attention to people surrounding him. For example, on page 92 of her first volume, Rowling describes a young redheaded girl who later catches Harry’s interest; however, at the time of their initial encounter, he fails to notice anything further than the actions she takes which directly affect him. It is not until much later in the series that Harry’s sexual interest begins to awaken (Rowling).     

Describing Harry’s position within any further theoretical definitions would use more time than we have, as the other theories discussed in this setting are not stage theories and thus are more complex. However, further discussion may be implemented concerning the effects of Harry’s surroundings on his development.

Throughout the book, we learn that Harry’s childhood years were less than ideal. Not only did he lose his parents at a very young age, he was sent to his aunt and uncle for care-- an aunt and uncle who seem continuously disgusted and disgruntled by his mere presence. Harry is given too little to eat, insufficient living space and very little affection. In fact, it is stated early on in the story that Harry has even experienced abuse at the hand of his elder cousin, Dudley (Rowling, 20).

Much of Harry’s childhood could easily be considered traumatic and therefore damaging; yet Harry does not seem to be too greatly stained. Though sorrowful at his lack of decent family, as evidenced by his numerous visits to the mirror of Erised, (an enchanted mirror which displays the viewer’s deepest wishes,) Harry learns to utilize his pain and loss to strengthen his ability to show compassion (Rowling).

It is also interesting to consider, though they have grown up in the same household, the vast difference between Harry and his cousinly counterpart. This can be attributed, in large part, to the difference in treatment from Harry to his cousin; however, as Harry chose to use his adverse situation to strengthen his character, Dudley allowed himself to be carried by the current of his surroundings and defined by outer pressures. It is possible that the strength of character Harry possesses in choosing to utilize his hardships for good is due to his time with his parents; yet, one may also argue that this short span of time was too insignificant in the full extent of Harry’s life to make a substantial difference.

As foundational as it is, childhood is only a fraction of the subject matter available to address. The majority of the book concerns Harry’s time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-- a smorgasbord of experiences, all of which have profound influence in shaping Harry’s character. He is exposed to a great many types of people, places and things; such as friends, teachers, and subject matter that is new to him. His peers prove to be the greatest influence on his development: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, two students in the same schooling year as Harry, become his closest friends, and the three share in many adventures together. The influence of Ron and Hermione is significant, as Harry gains a good many traits and talents from his association with them, as well as gleaning some love and acceptance from Ron’s family. This family bond, in combination with the support of his two close friends, enables Harry to overcome a great deal of his emotional difficulty and provides a stable foundation on which to begin building his identity (Rowling, Santrock).

Also significant to Harry’s development is his interaction with his teachers. There are two in particular whose influence is particularly emphasized, the names of whom are Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

Dumbledore is a particularly odd, yet conscientious character. He is the headmaster of Hogwarts, and therefore possesses great potential for good in the lives of his students. Dumbledore takes particular interest in Harry and his well-being-- it is assumed this attention is due to Harry’s famed, tragic loss and miraculous survival, though by his kindness one might guess otherwise. The attention given to Harry by Dumbledore proves to be monumental in the shaping of his sense of self: it is Dumbledore who watches over Harry and instructs him, when the time is right, not to go looking for the aforementioned mirror of Erised and to instead learn to heal from his loss. As Harry begins to build his identity, Dumbledore’s calm presence helps to ground him and prevent unnecessary confusion for the boy.

Severus Snape is an altogether different case, however. An old schoolyard rival of Harry’s father’s, Snape treats Harry with particular contempt. His disdain carries somewhat of a weight when it comes to Harry’s development, as it not only affects Harry’s emotions towards Potions, which Snape teaches, but also challenges Harry’s knowledge of his father. This is a fundamental foundation in Harry’s life; thus, its being challenged is a considerable roadblock when it comes to emotional healing (Rowling).

 Despite adverse circumstances, Harry seems to be, overall, a happily rounded individual, just beginning the Adolescent stages of development. Erikson’s, Piaget’s and Freud’s theories place him in the Identity vs. Confusion, Formal Operational, and Latency stages, respectively. Though he collects some decisively negative experiences in his personal history at an early age, he copes well and uses them, rather than as an excuse for mediocrity, as a sounding board for greater strength of character. Also strengthening to Harry are the influences of peers and teachers, who serve to elevate him further in his development and choice of character. He is a very versatile and stalwart character, and I am interested to further study his development in further volumes of his story.

Works Cited

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 2nd ed., Scholastic Corporation, 1998. 

Santrock, John W. Essentials of Life-Span Development. 4th ed., New York City, NY, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.