Friday, August 24, 2007

thoughts on harry p. 1-401

I certainly would not want to presume to have any anything original or enlightening to say about Harry Potter. I'm the one who has to keep asking my husband for clarification about events/names/spells in the past six books, since my memory for details has always been hazy. He fills me in, as does my 8-year-old son who just finished Order of the Phoenix , when I ask them if they remember what a Squib is, or just what, exactly, the Fidelius Charm does. Heck, I just now made the connection that Sirius Black's animagus form was a dog! I know, you're thinking, she really doesn't have any authority whatsoever to speak about the adventures of the Boy Who Lived. Undesirable Number One. But as I've been reading Deathly Hallows, and thinking about kids all over the world reading it, I have begun to feel a bit hopeful about the future. I know how influential a story can be when you're 12. The pre-pubescents and adolescents may not get it now, but the seeds are being planted somewhere deep inside of them, and will reveal themselves later on by the choices they make, the beliefs they hold, the values they cherish. These are the things I like to think they will remember:
1. Always take umbrage at the Umbridges of the world.
2. Never trust what the Prophets say.
3. Tattoo also means a constant drumming sound.
4. When evil finally takes over all our trusted institutions, you will be standing outside feeling very, very alone. This is normal.
5. Latin is a cool language.
6 People with Power lie.
7. There really is a place apart from the known world.

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