Symbolism In The Half Blood Prince

When, in The Half-Blood Prince, Harry views Dumbledore’s memory of his first meeting with Tom Riddle, Harry observes how the orphans “Were all wearing the same kind of grayish tunic. They looked reasonably well-cared for, but there was no denying that this was a grim place in which to grow up.” When Dumbledore tells him he is a wizard, Riddle admits, “I knew I was different.” Meaning, both Harry and Riddle were friendless and acutely different from those they lived with due to their magical abilities. Yet, the distinction, which concerns Dumbledore, is Riddle’s “Obvious instincts for cruelty, secrecy, and domination,” (6:13, 275) due to his deeds towards the other orphans. Wolosky asserts that, “In the book’s vision, the test for morality is choosing,” (149) where she refers to Harry’s worry that the Sorting Hat was wrong in not placing him in Slythering. However, it appears here that free choice is not the only determining factor, but nature as well.
Julia Pond asserts that “Rowling champions choice, but with examination, one sees that Harry 's world remains unexpectedly at fate 's mercy (198).” Conversely, Chantel Lavoie, relying on Harry’s avoidance of using the killing curse, in favor of the disarming spell in the final battle, maintains, “It is

Dumbledore’s overt reasoning for keeping Harry unaware and far from the magical world is the ramification of the fact that, “every child in our world will know his name” (1:1, 15), as Prof. McGonagall declares when she finds out where Harry will reside, aware of how miserable a life he will lead there. Dumbledore contends that, “it would be enough to turn any boy’s head. Famous before he can walk and talk” (1:1, 16). Despite the validity of this assertion, Dumbledore’s guiding hand conditions Harry for his role of vanquisher of Voldemort, by obscuring the truth from