A Very Magical Birthday.

I’ve mentioned before that I have been a Harry Potter fan for many years. Part of being a childhood book fan is the inevitable, themed party. Mine was when I was 8 years old. It was right in the midst of my Pottermania. I had finished the fifth book (the latest one out) six months earlier, and I was in love. So, when it came time to pick the theme for my latest party, Harry Potter was the obvious choice.

I was insistent that everything be perfect. Everything had to be Harry Potter, right down to my outfit. My grandma sews for fun, and she had made me a Harry Potter short and polo combination, that I decided was perfect for the occasion.

To this day I still don’t know how my mom came up with the ideas for the activities, but she pulled off the real magic of that day. My friends and I participated in every thing from Potions (root beer floats with pop rocks) to Quidditch. My cake even had a Hermione Granger topper. In fact, I even received Harry Potter lego sets.

Even years later, my 8th birthday party stands out in my mind as some of the most fun I’ve ever had. Just more proof of the dramatic impact Harry Potter has had on my life.

Chapter 2- Th Vanishing Glass

Warning: Here there be spoilers

Finally, we have reached the moment we’ve all been waiting for, a description of the Dursley’s living room. Actually, rather the opening paragraph. It reveals just as much about the Dursleys as the firat chapter did. Now, in addition to knowing that the Dursleys spoil their son and hate anything that isn’t “normal,” we know that they flat out coddle Dudley, that they hate change, and that they let their hatred of the abnormal affect their treatment of their nephew.

Speaking of their treatment of Harry, I’m surprised that Child Services haven’t taken Harry out of the house yet. It’s fairly obvious that he’s been neglected, at the very least, and once we see how the Dursleys actually treat him, it’s also clear that they verbally abuse him. I would think that at least one teacher would see that Harry’s been malnourished, and would have heard mention of the cupboard. Now, I don’t know much about child abuse laws in England, but in America, if a teacher even has a suspicion that a child is being abused, they have to report it immediately. Now, I know that even here in America kids slip through the cracks, but I find it very unlikely that nobosy got suspicious.

My favorite part of the chapter by far is the snake incident. Not only does Dudly get his comeuppence, but J.K. Rowling beautifully sets up a major plot point of the second book, parseltongue, without makingit obvious, or even letting on that Harry has an unusual talent. I haven’t seen many authors pull that off, so I applaud Ms. Rowling.

The Boy Who Lived

I am taking part in a rereading of the Harry Potter series where I will be posting my thoughts on each chapter and I will also be writing essays on various topics from the books. This is yhe forst installment

Rereading this chapter, I remember why I fell in love with the Harry Potter series. I love how tongue-in-cheek the narrator is, even without appearing overtly so. The opening words are especially magical to be, because in two sentences, J.K. Rowling manages to tell you everything you need to know about Vernon and Petunia Dursley, without even revealing any personal details except for their names. I also love how Vernon’s confusion is presented and how he tries to jusitfy everything, despite his justifications becoming weaker and weaker. It shows just how out of his league he really is.

The narrative seemlessly transitions from focusing on Vernon to focusing on Dumbledore on page 8. Even when I was 7 I could tell that the Dursleys would not be a good place for Harry, and now that I’m older, I doubly believe so. I understand that Dumbledore wanted the blood wards to protect Harry, but I don’t think that that protection was worth the emotional and mental damage that was done to Harry there. Even though it isn’t explicity stated, Harry was clearly abused with the Dursleys, and as an educator and the one responsible for Harry’s well-being, Dumbledore should have intervened and taken Harry out of that environment. But, that would have just destroyed his big plan, so of course he couldn’t do that.

In conclusion, this is still the story I remember reading as a young kid. Too often I’ll go back to rewatch or reread something I loved as a kid, and I’ll find that I can’t stand it any more. That is not the case with Harry Potter. Even after all these years I can still see exactly why I fell in love with it, and why I still reread it and watch the movies to this day.

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How I Got Into Harry Potter

I first read the Harry Potter books when I was seven years old. I had already seen the first two movies and loved them. I liked to read, but I didn’t do it very much because all of the books I got in school and the like were way too easy for me. Well, one day I was in my parent’s room and I found a copy of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” on my dad’s dresser. I decided to pick it up and start reading it, and from that moment on, I was hooked. Over the course of the next six months I proceeded to read the first five books of the series, and I haven’t stopped reading since.

One of the things that struck me the most when I started reading the Harry Potter books was the characters, specifically Hermione Granger. From the very beginning I identified with Hermione in a way that I never had before. She was everything I was: smart, driven, an avid reader. But, all those things that made her, and I, different from others were her greatest strengths. She saved Harry and Ron’s butts at least once a book, which made me confidant that some day I would find my niche. She was, and still is, my role model.

In Defense of Slytherin

Harry Potter has always been one of my favorite book series, and so I am going to dedicate my first post to discussing the House that is looked down upon the most: Slytherin. Yes, I know all the arguments: Slytherin is full of Death Eaters, Slytherin is full of cowards. But, I truly believe at Slytherin House is full of good wizards

The most common against Slytherin is that it is full of Dark Wizards. Yes, we all know the “fact” that all Dark Wizards were Slytherins. This, however, is untrue. Both Professor Quirrell and Peter Pettigrew were Dark, however, Professor Quirrell was a Ravenclaw, and Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor. Also, not every member of Slytherin is shown to be Dark. Professor Slughorn, Andromeda Tonks, Professor Snape, and Regulus Black were all members of Slytherin, yet every one of them fought against Lord Voldemort. And Harry himself was almost sorted into Slytherin and displays several traits associated with Sytherin throughout the books.

Another argument is that Slytherin is full of cowards. While I can understand how characters like Professor Slughorn and Lucius Malfoy can lead to that conclusion, there are several pieces of information that contradict this. We see Slytherins fighting against Voldemort in several capacities. Regulus Black and Severus Snape both went behind Voldemort’s back in order to help bring him down. To me that takes more courage than facing him head on. In fact, Narcissa Malfoy lied directly to Voldemort in order to save her son. Now that is bravery. And at the final battle, while many members of Slytherin do leave, many of then come back to fight later on.

While Slytherins primary traits of ambition and cunning make members of the House seem self-centered, those traits on their own are not negative. The actions of a few vocal members/alumnus of the House should not affect the view of the House as a whole.