I first read the Harry Potter series in 2000. I think the 4th book had recently come out. I re-read the series around 2005 for the 6th book coming out, then again when the 7th book came out, and again earlier this year just for fun. It only takes a couple of weeks to read the entire series.

One thing that always bothered me is that Harry does not seem to evince the primary trait held up as belonging to great wizards - brilliant, innovative magic.

We have the example of possibly the greatest wizard to ever live in Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. His brilliance is cited most often as why he is so great. He did things with a wand while still at Hogwarts never seen before. He discovered the 12 uses of dragon's blood. He defeated Gregorivich, who had the Elder Wand, it what is considered the greatest duel of all time.

We have Severus Snape, who was a potions prodigy and, according to Sirius, knew more hexes as a first year than most 7th years. He invented a number of new hexes while still at Hogwarts, including one that causes you to be hung upside down as though someone is holding your ankle. He even improved upon the textbook as a student.

Of course, Voldemort is the greatest dark wizard of all time thanks to his brilliance. He did advanced magic as a 5th year that probably only Dumbledore was capable of doing in the entire series when he turned a diary into a Horcrux that would interact with the writer and ultimately subsume the writer.

Hermione is called the greatest witch of her age because she has a wonderful mind. She does every spell correctly the first time (except for Patronus). She does advanced potions flawlessly.

Harry's own parents were both Head Boy and Head Girl. James didn't even need to study and aced everything. They are direct descendants of the great Peverell brothers - the best of the 3 brothers actually. James and Sirius even figure out how to be animagi on their own as students and create an incredibly advanced map that not even Snape can crack. Hell, even the Weasley twins, who are clearly brilliant, invent new magic for their joke shop that is used by the Order of the Phoenix to fight Death Eaters, such as Peruvian instant dark powder and the extendable ears. A portion of that swamp they created in the Great Hall when they split Hogwarts was left by Flitwick because he thought it was great magic and should be remembered.

But Harry is no where near the level as those above. He never invents new magic. Always struggles with learning new spells the first time (even requiring private tutoring from Hermione for the accio spell). He only received 8 O.W.L.'s. I was so pissed when I read that in the 6th book. So Harry would seem like an average to slightly above average wizard at best.

So why is he the hero of our story? I would much rather read about a brilliant mind like Dumbledore's who outsmarts Voldemort with some brilliant new magic.

But as I read the books this last time, I realized why Harry is the appropriate hero of the story and why he is a great wizard in his own right. He becomes head auror by age 27, the youngest ever, for a reason.

Harry's skill comes from his own personal conviction, exceptional intuition, very quick reflexes, mastery of basic to advanced spells, and pretty good potion work when Snape isn't creating a hostile work environment. There are many different types of wizards. Some are the great scholars, and that is really what we see held up in Dumbledore, Snape, and Voldemort. But there are other important areas. Harry is a great Wizard Knight.

Conviction - this matters a lot in this world. Longbottom only becomes a good wizard when he starts believing in himself. Personal conviction is required to get the magic right. It is most important to produce a corporeal patronus, which Harry does at the ripe old age of 13 when even most adults cannot. It was said only a great wizard could do that. Further, he is the only student that could throw off the Imperius Curse. That requires a ridiculous amount of conviction. He even threw off Voldemort's Imperius Curse - that is probably the most badass thing that occurred in the entire series.

Intuition - He is able to pull together theories based on very little, and he is nearly always right. Remus even told him as much in the Deathly Hallows - telling him his instincts are nearly always right. For a dark wizard hunter, that is one of the most important skills you need. He is often a few steps ahead of even Hermione on figuring out what's truly going on. The wand lore he figures out well ahead of anyone else is the best example.

Quick reflexes - he is the first 1st year student to be the seeker at Hogwarts in 100 years. He never once failed to get the Snitch before his opponent. In dueling, his reflexes allow him to escape and/or defeat his enemy time after time. His reflexes saved him from Voldemort in the graveyard and from numerous Death Eaters in the department of mysteries. He was the only student to escape unscathed from that battle due to his reflexes. Once you have a basic mastery of spells, there is no more important skill in dueling than reflexes.

Mastery of basic to advanced spells - It may take him longer than Hermione to get a new spell right, but once he has it, he performs it flawlessly. His spells are also particularly powerful, such as his shield charm even knocking people back. We don't ever see a spell Harry cannot perform once he is taught it. He learns so many spells to fight the dark arts from Remus and from the book Sirius gave him that, as a 5th year, he teaches even 7th years a bunch of new spells. He even gets Snape's dark spell right perfectly just from reading it in a book.

Good at potions - Harry might not be the prodigy Snape is, but when shown a set of good directions, he can create perfect spells. His creation of the liquid luck potion amazed Slughorn. He also understood and recalled that a Bezoar can offset poison, something Slughorn even forgot while Ron was dying in his office.

Do I wish Harry invented new spells and displayed some brilliance? Yes. I mean, he had to be smart if both of his parents were Valedictorian. But his skills are in being a great Knight in the wizarding world. I expect he would eventually make Mad-Eye Moody look like an amateur. Knowing wizards live to be over 100 easily, Harry probably was in charge of the Auror's department for 100 years or so. I would love to read a book on a 75 year to 100 year old Harry defeating the next great dark wizard.

So am I crazy or is Harry a great wizard despite not showing the brilliance of Dumbledore and others?