Hello!! So, I saw an argument about Harry's uhm looks? I guess. A lot of people basically headcanon him as someone buff. I digress, I'm part of the uhm more realistic? group. Harry's been starved and abused his entire life. I doubt he'll gain the weight and the height everyone else wants him to have. Years later. maybe. But in 6th year? While on the run? 3 years after the war? Doubt. do you think he would be able to get super tall and buff? Also, do you think its possible he used the same methods the dursleys used to punish himself?
I mean, anyone can headcanon whatever they want, but, I'll try to explain via quotes, what Harry's height and muscle situation is likely to be. I believe the reasons some headcanon him as buff and tall are:
Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand.
He lifts Mundungus by his throat with one hand easily, and he practices Quidditch like 3 times a week at least. This implies that Harry has some muscle on him.
And he's mentioned to be James' height when he's 17:
James was exactly the same height as Harry.
Which was supposedly tall, according to both, Harry:
tall and untidy-haired like Harry, the smoky, shadowy form of James Potter
the tall black-haired man in his glasses
Now, let's put Harry's height in the context of other character heights. Particularly of interest are characters taller than him, to get an image of how tall is "tall." And some shorter characters to help figure out his exact height.
Sirius, Ron, Voldemort, and Dumbledore are all taller than Harry and exceptionally tall in general. They are each likely to be over 6 feet tall, making Harry likely less than 6' (183 cm). Supporting this is this quote:
Once the painful transformation was complete he was more than six feet tall, and from what he could tell from his well-muscled arms, powerfully built.
This means Harry is less than 6' and isn't super buff. But, I want to get to his specific height, because I have a lot to say about character heights.
Like, Dumbledore is probably the tallest character who isn't a half-giant because he's towering over everyone except Hagrid and Maxime. In book 6, he's literally taller than all the inferi in the cave:
Dumbledore was on his feet again, pale as any of the surrounding Inferi, but taller than any too,
And Abeforth (who's as tall as Dumbledore) is taller than Ron, who's one of the other tallest characters in the books:
Ron looked slightly sick. Aberforth stood up, tall as Albus, and suddenly terrible in his anger and the intensity of his pain.
Making the Dumbledores really tall. My estimate is around a whooping 6'5 (195 cm).
Sirius is mentioned to be taller than Snape, and the tallest Marauder:
said Sirius, standing up. He was rather taller than Snape
To Sirius’s right stood Pettigrew, more than a head shorter
A head, in height, should be around one foot (30.48 cm). As the average height of a man in England in 1998 was around 5'8 (174.4 cm), this would make Sirius around 6'2 (188 cm), therefore taller than average, and Pettigrew around 5'2 (157 cm), shorter than the average, but still both at a reasonable height.
Ron is almost as tall as the twins at 11:
“Shut up,” said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.
And, just, really tall in general:
He stepped forward. Not as tall as Ron, he had to crane his neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball.
So I estimate Ron at around 6'3 (190 cm).
Voldemort who grew up on war rations is still described very consistently as tall, regardless of childhood malnourishment:
He was his handsome father in miniature, tall for eleven years old, dark-haired, and pale
tall, pale, dark-haired, and handsome — the teenage Voldemort.
Taller than Bellatrix (who's taller than Harry). Voldemort is also considerably taller than Pettigrew, as he has to bend to reach Pettigrew's arm when both are standing:
Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail’s left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail’s robes up past his elbow
I usually place Voldemort at around the same height as Ron, so 6'3 (190 cm).
Fred and George, though, are mentioned to be shorter and stockier, more similar to Molly's build:
Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were both long and lanky.
but are mentioned to shrink to become Harry in book 7:
Hermione and Mundungus were shooting upward; Ron, Fred, and George were shrinking
I actually place the twins around 6' (183 cm) so they could be taller than Harry, but shorter than Ron. The twins are likely taller than Charlie.
Bellatrix, as a woman, should also be shorter on average, but considering how tall Sirius is mentioned to be, it appears the Blacks are just considerably taller than the average, even the women:
a tall dark woman with heavy-lidded eyes, who had stood at her trial and proclaimed her continuing allegiance to Lord Voldemort
She was taller than he was, her long black hair rippling down her back, her heavily lidded eyes disdainful as they rested upon him;
So I place her at around 6' (183 cm) as well, as an exceptionally tall lady.
So where does this place Harry?
During the first 4 books, Harry is short and small for his age. When he's 13, he and Hermione are bit shorter than Pettigrew:
He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry and Hermione.
(Ron, noticeably, is taller than Pettigrew at 13)
So, so Harry at 13 was around 5'1 (155 cm). And so was Hermione.
Then in between books 4 and 5 puberty kicks in and probably causes a slight growth spurt that makes him more attractive to girls around him:
Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, the last two of whom gave Harry airy, overly friendly greetings that made him quite sure they had stopped talking about him a split second before. He had more important things to worry about, however:
And then he has another, larger growth spurt between books 5 and 6:
“You’re like Ron,” she [Molly] sighed, looking him up and down. “Both of you look as though you’ve had Stretching Jinxes put on you. I swear Ron’s grown four inches since I last bought him school robes.
“And it doesn’t hurt that you’ve grown about a foot over the summer either,” Hermione finished, ignoring Ron.
“I’m tall,” said Ron inconsequentially. [Ron is objectively correct]
Post book 6 growth spurt, we know Harry is below 6' (183 cm) but close enough to 6' to be above the average of 5'8 (174.4 cm) and be considered "tall", and grow "about a foot" after said growth spurt.
I personally place his height at 5'11 (180 cm), to make all of the above make sense.
And while he is physically fit, he is likely very thin from years of malnourishment. So, he likely has some muscle on him, but he's very lean with little to no fat during his Hogwarts years (he'd likely gain more weight as an adult living peacefully with regular meals). So, Harry in the books isn't what I'd call buff, but he has some muscle and can definitely through a punch. As he grows older post-canon, I think he could get buff if he set his mind to it.
(I actually have notes about the height of a bunch of other characters. Hermione is shorter than Harry and Ron, but noticeably taller than Ginny (5'2 or 157 cm) and probably around 5'4 (162 cm) by book 7. Draco is said to be slightly taller than Harry "Harry did not dare look directly at Draco, but saw him obliquely; a figure slightly taller than he was" - DH, placing Draco at around 6' (183 cm))
For your other question, no, I don't think Harry self-harms, definitely not in any way related to the Dursleys, but that's a different post because I went off about heights.
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