In the Harry Potter series, it’s Hermione who is seen as the most intelligent of the group. While Hermione is extremely smart and a talented witch, she’s not the only talented magic in her year.
Harry definitely isn’t as smart as Hermione in many ways, but he’s an advanced wizard at times in his own right. But, on the other hand, there are many ways where he’s actually behind his peers when it comes to magic and the wizarding world.
Advanced: His Skills In Dueling Were Advanced
It’s clear from quite early on that Harry is really quick on the draw. Magic is an interesting area of expertise because it combines both book knowledge and practical knowledge, so the best wizards and witches know both theory and how to apply it. But, on top of that, it also requires using your body in most cases, so having an awareness of how to channel the magic is important. Harry has always been rather in tune with that, which is likely why he’s so good in dueling situations.
Behind: When He Couldn't Figure Out The Egg Clue For The Second Task
While Harry might be quick and think fast on his feet, he’s not good at planning ahead at all. He can be rather lazy and put things off when he shouldn’t. So, when he received the egg as a clue for the second task in the Triwizard Tournament, he didn’t even try to solve it. Then, once he was tipped off by Cedric about the clue, he couldn’t even come up with anything to help him breathe underwater and needed a ton of help to survive this task.
Advanced: He Was Great At Putting Clues Together Using His Intuition
While Hermione is the most book smart of the trio and is also good at logic, Harry’s intellect and skill with magic come largely from his intuition. He’s good at thinking fast and following what he feels is right.
While this doesn’t always turn out for him, it often does. He can usually sense when something is wrong, such as with Malfoy in his sixth year, and this leads him to put a lot of clues together. Although, sometimes his intuition leads him astray and gets him into trouble.
Behind: He Was Often Just As Behind On Many Charms And Spells As Ron
While it might seem like Harry is a way better wizard than Ron, this isn’t always the case. In high-pressure situations, Harry is more skilled, and he is really good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, in many other courses such as Charms or Transfiguration, he really isn’t any better than his peers. He would often do poorly in lessons, and he and Ron had many times when they had to work hard to make up for their own laziness.
Advanced: Being Able To Produce A Fully-Formed Patronus
While there are some branches of magic where Harry wasn’t more advanced, there were other areas where he was. The fact that he was able to produce a corporeal Patronus in his third year impressed many people in this series. Harry does have the strength of will and determination, and he’s rather in tune with his intuition and emotions. These strengths allowed him to access the fortuitous needed to produce a Patronus.
Behind: He Knew Very Little About The Wizarding World And Didn’t Study It
When Harry enters Hogwarts, he doesn't know much about magic or the wizarding world at all. This doesn’t make him an outlier as there are many Muggle-born students in the same situation, but it’s weird that Harry doesn’t seem to have any curiosity about it at all. While Hermione studied a lot and learned what she could about magic and the world beforehand, Harry did none of that. So, he’s really not that up on a lot of things about magic.
Advanced: When He Was At The Top Of His Class In Defense Against the Dark Arts
Harry is clearly a stand out when it comes to Defense Against the Dark Arts. While Hermione might be better than him at nearly every other class, this is the one area where Harry is better than her and practically everyone else. He picks up these spells quite easily and is also good at putting them into practice. He does well in all his Defense Against the Dark Arts exams, especially when they have a practical element to them.
Behind: The Fact That He Failed Many Potion Assignments
While Harry might be great at defensive magic, he’s not so great at potions. However, to be fair, part of this is likely because Snape was always breathing down his neck and had it out for him.
He likely would have just been decent at potions if it weren’t for this. But, even still, he’s not someone who has great attention to detail or who really likes to take the time to follow rules and instructions to the letter, which is something that you need to be able to do when following a potion recipe.
Advanced: When He Taught Dumbledore's Army
One area where Harry actually really shined was as a teacher. He really was good at teaching his fellow students how to do spells when he was in charge of Dumbledore's Army. He knew these spells really well, but he also had the skills to teach them, which is a completely different thing. While many of the other students were good at magic, Harry was more advanced because he knew how to teach them how to perform the spells.
Behind: When He Failed Two Of His O.W.L.s
While Harry did a respectable job by getting seven O.W.L.s, one of these was only an acceptable rating. His other six put him in the above-average range, so he definitely wasn't behind his peers per se. But, he did get a poor in Divination and a dreadful in History of Magic. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances that prevented him from doing well here, as he collapsed halfway through. He should have gotten a redo, but he didn't seem to care enough to do so.
