Unread postby thrawnca » November 8th, 2017, 8:38 pm
On a related note, Harry has noticed that he has shifted toward identifying more with his young self, and treating his 30-year-old self as just a useful resource, "him". I think that this is both to be expected, and probably to be desired.
First, it's to be expected: he has spent several years pretending to be young, in a young body, around people who treat him as young, and he has no expectation or desire to ever return to his old world and old body. There is nothing to stop him from permanently becoming his mask. Even those who have discovered his future past are still content to largely treat him as being a teenager; the Weasleys didn't freak out at the revelation that an adult was sharing a dormitory with their son, for example. His only contacts with the old world are his own memories and nightmares. It's to be expected that he will eventually see his current life as "me, with extra background knowledge".
Secondly, it's to be desired: I think it's much healthier for him to identify with his second life than his first. In his first timeline, he reached a point where he knew he was going to commit suicide, and the best he could do was channel that into a productive, time-altering suicide. It wouldn't do to continually dwell on that and treat his second chance as an illusion. Nor does he really need to keep them in balance, either, because there was nothing left for him there. He didn't leave behind anyone or anything that should occupy his thoughts and affections.
His whole journey has been a forceful rejection of the old timeline, "It won't happen that way this time!" It's only natural that his mind has embraced his new reality.