[Cerek]

I DO plan to rent the movies (at least) and watch them sometime so I'll have a better knowledge of what is going on. I liked the Half-Blood Prince even though I knew practically nothing of the back story.

The movie I've seen most often was The Chamber of Secrets, because it happened to be on TV during my extended hospital stay in early 2008. It was also one of the movies I rented last year before going to see Half-Blood Prince.

I agree completely with your assessment of Harry seeming to be little more than an amateur wizard. That was understandable in the first couple of movies, but by now, he should be able to sling some serious spells and have a lot more confidence in his ability. Instead, Harry almost seems to view events from the reader or movie-goers perspective; he has very little confidence in his magical abilities (and it would seem rightly so), yet doesn't seem fazed by the prospect (or prophecy) that HE will have to be the one to face and defeat the greatest and most powerful evil wizard alive. When Dobbie is dying, he doesn't have a clue what to do, but apparently feels that lack of ability won't be a problem when he finally faces Voldemort because he knows he's going to win somehow.

I am just extremely disappointed (from a logical viewpoint) at his amazing LACK of ability, DESPITE his many years at Hogwarts now. Contrast that to the Last Airbender, for example.

Aing knows he is the Avatar and, despite his very young age, already has a strong mastery over Airbending. He struggles to learn Water-bending, which is only natural since he had not studied it at all before leaving, but at the end of the movie, he learns to just trust in his ability and is able to wield uber-power with control and confidence. Yeah, he learned Waterbending very quickly (relatively speaking), but he IS the prodigy born with the natural ability TO master all the elements - so again, it makes sense he would develop that mastery at a rapidly advanced pace.

Back to Harry: I know the arcane arts supposedly take years of study and practice to master, but Harry is supposed to be the prodigy with a natural ability far beyond that of his peers and even his teachers. After several years at Hogwarts, he should definitely be at least level 10-15 (in D&D terms), yet still looks like a 1st level wizard. The argument that even the prodigy still needs time to master the arts falls flat when a half-blood mage has become far more advanced in the same amount of time.

Like you said, if anyone shows actual signs of being the "Chosen One", it's Hermoine rather than Harry. Which brings me back to one of my original assessments...I can't help wondering if Rowling subconsciously wanted to make Hermoine the "Chosen One", but felt she had to follow the accepted tradition of given that label to a male figure. She has certainly made Hermoine more adept, skilled and confident than her two male counterparts combined, so it seems obvious she does want to "play up" the idea of women actually being more powerful than men.

All I know is that, unless Harry suddenly sheds his inherent bumbling attitude and whips out some world-stomping power in the final showdown with Voldemort, I'm gonna be left scratching my head thinking "Hermoine could have done that without breaking a sweat".