FicWad

Ouch! Exit Vernon Dursley; stage down! Petunia has fifteen years (and a hefty fine) staring her in the face. Not to mention that both the Ministry and DumbAsADoor get seriously hammered. As to why Harry is not more of a thinker; remember, he had been having it beat into him don't be successful or a standout, especially when compared to Dudley (who is Crabbe-class as a thinker at best). However, consider Harry's marks in Defense (even more so, in Charms and Transfiguration) in canon; he is, quite literally, the only wizard (or witch, for that matter) that comes even close to challenging the grades of Hermione Granger, and as powerful as Harry is magically, power will only take you so far (especially in non-Defense-related magical subjects such as Charms and Transfiguration). Even the brainiest Ravenclaws (Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, and Kevin Entwhistle) seem dim compared the the brain of Hermione Granger; however, Hermione is a Gryffindor (hence braver than she is smart, which is quite scary, considering that brain), and even Harry can compete on a brain level with most Ravenclaws when given the chance to (as his canon marks in Charms and Transfiguration prove). Part of the problem with looking at Harry brainwise is that Hermione Granger tends to throw comparisons askew; his very anti-standout upbringing by the Dursleys certainly didn't help any. So compare Harry to the Ravenclaws, leaving aside the dual aberrations of Hermione Granger and Harry's own Defense marks.