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Gavin comments on Why are people "put off by rationality"? - Less Wrong Discussion
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I suppose if you really can't stand the main character, there's not much point in reading the thing.
I was somewhat aggravated by the first few chapters, in particular the conversation between Harry and McGonagall about the medical kit. Was that one where you had your aggravated reaction?
I found myself sympathizing with both sides, and wishing Harry would just shut up--and then catching myself and thinking "but he's completely right. And how can he back down on this when lives are potentially at stake, just to make her feel better?"
Yes, I did find that section grating. I'm describing my emotions post-hoc here (which is not generally reliable), but what I found irritating about the first few chapters was the fact that Harry acts in an extremely arrogant way, nearly to the point of coercing the adult characters, and the story-universe appears to back him up at every turn. This is the "Atlas Shrugged" effect described downthread by CellBioGuy. Harry is probably right in most of those arguments, but he is only so effortlessly correct and competent because the story-universe is designed so that he can teach these rationality lessons to other characters. It feels like the world is unfair, and unfair in the favor of an unlikeable and arrogant character. There is a real-world corollary of this, of course--very arrogant people who always get what they want--and I suspect my emotional reactions to these real and fictional situations are very similar.
(I have since caught up with the rest of the fic, and enjoyed most of it.)