Quote of the Week

"I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being — forgive me — rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."
- Dumbledore, to Harry [ch.10, HBP]

I love this quote because it shows the underlying character of Dumbledore that Harry fails to see. He thinks that Dumbledore is a genius, the best guy in the world, and that he is flawless. He is shrouded by his admiration to see Dumbledore's faults, and had to deal with them the hard way once he died. This quote shows that Dumbledore had flaws and admitted them, though maybe not to fully listening ears. Everyone thought that Dumbledore was a great man- which he completely was- but without his mistakes.
JKR shows us that even the greatest of people can make mistakes, and its hard to find a 'perfect person'.

Mischief Managed.

Paige Cyrus

Character Analysis of Ginny

Ginny is easily a common favorite character of fans from the books. She is a strong character, and has many qualities that make her likeable. She is a leader- she is an essential member of Dumbledore’s Army and never takes a backseat in decisions; especially when the decisions are made by her family or close friends. She is very protective of her family and friends, and is always willing to fight- as we see in Deathly Hallows during the Battle of Hogwarts. Ginny is also daring- she takes risks, whether it be fighting or writing to something, like the diary, that she can’t trust. She is the perfect example of a Gryffindor. She is brave, courageous, and daring.

Ginny is a very realistic character. At the end of Half Blood Prince, Harry tells her that their relationship can’t possibly go on because it would put her in danger. Instead of crying and making a scene, she agrees because she understands the true dangers. She doesn’t do it for her safety though; she does it because she understands that it is necessary for Harry to be able to complete his tasks. A huge factor that plays into these situations is that she is very emotionally stable. She is very stable, like Harry sas she is not one who cries a lot or lets her emotions override her mind. She is able to have very intense emotions, but stay in control. In a way Hermione is a foil to her emotionally. Both characters feel strong emotion, but Hermione allows herself to become absorbed in them and lose track of what is important. Ginny is able to coexist with her emotions better. When Harry decides to break up with her in the sixth book she understands that their separation is not due to themselves, but rather the greater importance of what Harry has to do. There are not many people who would be able to see this, it takes great strength to understand something like this and accept it. I believe she also allows their separation because she knows that it will make Harry feel better.

Ginny is a perfect match for Harry. They have similar personalities and sense of humor. Their interests are also very similar- they both love Quidditch and are very good at it, and they are both very good at spells and stuff that they do in Dumbledore’s Army. They are strong, likeable characters that are leaders and get along nicely. They both have a slight temper issue, but it’s not overdone. They have rare personalities that are able to simultaneously compliment and mirror each other.

Ginny is one of the characters that experiences the most development from book one to book seven. In Sorcerer’s Stone, she is very taken with Harry and is very shy. This carries on to Chamber of Secrets, when she first goes to Hogwarts. Each time we see her, she seems to be alone, and doesn’t associate herself with many people other than her brothers. By the end of the series, Ginny is a major character and leader. She goes through a few boyfriends, and it is apparent that she has overcome her shyness and is not obsessing over Harry.

She is no longer that shy eleven year old girl with a crush, but rather a girl who would risk h er life and die for her friends and family. Another interesting thing about the character of Ginny is that in the first few books, we barely get a mention of her; she is practically a static character. She starts to become a central character around Goblet of Fire. I believe that this is because we don’t start to notice her until Harry does. I also wonder if hidden in the Ginny we see in the first few books, is the Ginny we see in the end. Because she is always so shy around Harry are we only seeing the shy Ginny and not the strong Ginny. I believe that she was there all along and we only saw that rare shy side of her when she was around Harry. Very tricky, JKR. I think this was very intentional. JKR in a way led us to disregard Ginny and Harry as a only the dream of a young girl. She persuaded us into thinking that it wasn’t even a possibility. But then JKR did the thing that she does best, revealed something that was their all along, but hidden in plain sight.

One of my (Paige) favorite Ginny moments is when she calls Harry out for not being the only one to be possessed by Voldemort:

Harry: "I didn't want anyone to talk to me."
Ginny: "Well, that was a bit stupid of you, seeing as how you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels."
Harry: "I forgot."

Ginny: "Lucky you."

It is one of my favorite scenes because it draws another connection into their relationship and it is something that they share in common. It is one of the only things that Harry can’t really confide in Ron and Hermione with because he feels uncomfortable with. It also brings Harry back into the real world and stops his moping. Ginny is there for support and help. I love it.

One of my (Calie) favorite moments is when Ginny tells off Ron during a Quidditch practice:

"You prat Ron, look at the state of her!"
"Ginny, don't call Ron a prat,
you're not the captain of this team—"
"Well, you seemed too busy to call him
a prat and I thought someone should."
- Ginny Weasley and Harry [chp.14,
HBP]

This shows that very strong side of Ginny. She is willing to stand up to her brother and takes charge. But she is also able to easily fit into the mode of a leader; here she very obviously takes charge. She also has a really nice sense of humor, very natural, most likely derived from growing up with the twins for older brothers. For some reason this scene always stands out to me as a perfect Ginny scene.

Mischief Managed.

Paige Cyrus and Calie Holden

Charms vs. Transfiguration: A Gray Area

The difference between Charms and Transfiguration seems like it should be a no brainer, but I have found that when you start thinking about it, things seem more complicated than they appear. To start out, let's state a few simple definitions that I have gathered through my readings. Transfiguration is when you change the identity of the object, e.g. a turtle to a teapot. A Charm is when you are causing the object to do something but not change its identity. It also includes making things appear.

Well this seems simple at first, but it is actually pretty comlicated. McGonagall transfigures things to be alive, like the suits of armor in the seventh book and the chesspieces in the first book. At first this seems more like a charm, because they don't seem to actually change in identity; they are still just suits of armor and chesspieces. I can see this as transfiguration, because she is changing the objects to have life imbued in them instead of being inanimate objects. Their identity changes by them now being alive. They go from being nonliving to living.

Charms are more of just using magic to move things, rather than change them. This is just one example of how Transfiguration and Charms can sometimes be hard to distinguish.

I have no answer for this occasional riddle, but I have to say that it is one of the things that makes me simply in awe of the series when I think about it. JKR wrote some very complex books; so complex, that even simple deviations in subjects is difficult to understand. But here is my quick advice on the subject: Transfiguration changes the nature of the object itself, and Charms only causes the object to do things but never to change identity.

Mischief Managed.

Calie

Quote: Dumbledore Being Wise, He Does That

"Voldemort himself created his own worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress?" 

-Dumbledore (sixth book)

Dumbledore may be one of my favorite characters of all time. I know he is one of the wisest. He has an amazing ability to make incredibly complex things seem simple. The relationship between a tyrant and his subjects is very complicated, but Dumbledore has the power to tell us so much about it, in a way that is so easy to understand. I love this quote, it shows so much of Dumbledore's character and of the Harry Potter series. It shows Dumbledore's wisdom and amazing ability to teach tough lessons. But it also tells a lot about the books in general, in many ways it sums up the series as a whole. The overthrow of a tyrant, the oppression, and most importantly the sowing of a tyrants downfall in the place he leasts expects it, the people. For some reason this quote not only resonates with my in the real world, but also in the world of Harry Potter. Put simply Dumbledore is a wise, wise man.

CoS Read Through

ANALYSIS TIME! The read through is complete! Here are my thoughts and questions over Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

RACISM/PREJUDICE
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we see a major conflict arise that will continue throughout the series as a major theme: racism. We are given many examples throughout the entire book, starting at the beginning with Lucius Malfoy’s comment: “The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower.” The Malfoys, along with many other wizards including Death Eater members, believe that they are more superior to others because they are ‘pure-blood’. An introduction to the word ‘Mudblood’ establishes the racism in the magical world. It is a horrible word for wizards with ‘dirty’ blood, in other words, they have a Muggle as a parent. It becomes a reoccurring theme that is a major issue/topic that is an underlying theme throughout the series. We are also reintroduced to the ‘pureblood’ distinction again when Hagrid contrasts it to Muggle-borns: “There are some wizards-like Malfoy’s family- who think they’re better than everyone else because they’re what people call pure-blood.”He then comments that “[most] wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn’t married Muggles we’d’ve died out.” It creates equality among all of the wizards in the world, which the ‘pure-bloods’ want to ignore because they are “better than others”. It’s basically a social commentary on society. I love that in that scene they also establish and comment on the fact that Neville is pure-blood but he is slightly incompetent, but most importantly, the fact that this contradicts the theory that pure-bloods are better than everyone else, because then Neville would be a ‘better’ wizard.
CoS establishes and builds this theme that was a major drive for Voldemort and fueled his evil and hatred, but this will be covered in the analyses over later books, not here, sorry. I promise that it is more important in HBP.
CORRUPTION
Corruption is a major flaw of several characters in the books. Though we do not see it outright until later books, Cornelius Fudge is a major example of this, as are Percy, Scrimgeor, Umbridge, and even Dumbledore. Fudge proves that there is corruption in the wizarding government. He is not the only one making decisions; it is even possible that he is not fully in control anymore. An example of this is in chapter 14 in Hagrid’s hut when they are arresting him. Fudge says: “Things’ve gone far enough. Ministry’s got to act. Hagrid’s record’s against him. Ministry’s got to do something-the school governors have been in touch-… look at it from my point of view. I’m under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it wasn’t Hagrid, he’ll be back and no more said. But I’ve got to take him. Got to. Wouldn’t be doing my duty.” His sentences are very short and he seems to be having trouble saying this. I imagine him being ashamed. He says it himself that he has to be seen doing something about the situation and it appears that there is only one solution in mind: to get rid of Dumbledore and reblame Hagrid. It is obvious that he is/was pressured to be in this situation in the first place. You see how Malfoy acts when he gets there. He enters with “[already] here Fudge? Good, good.” It is apparent that he is in control, as he tells Dumbledore of his suspension, rather than Fudge.
DOBBY
Everyone loves Dobby. He’s a helpful little house-elf that one can easily sympathize with. I find it interesting that in the beginning of the book, Dobby has ideas of Harry being “brave, and humble” and having a defense of Dumbledore at the same time that he was a servant for the Malfoys, and shouldn’t be thinking like this, but the opposite. This shows Dobby’s independence (though with limitations- “can’t say!”) from the persuasion of others; like in OotP when wants to receive pay. Another thing I thought was something to be looked at was how Dobby was able to go to Privet Drive in the first place. There are rumors that it was a plot by Draco to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts, and even that the Malfoys sent Dobby to spy on him by intercepting his mail and watching him. In my opinion, I don’t think that Dobby would go there on his own, because there is probably nothing ever positive said about Harry. No matter how independent Dobby may come across by ‘defying’ his masters to “help” Harry and even if he doesn’t believe anything from the Malfoys. With that said, I disagree that he would truly feel those feelings towards Harry and Dumbledore until after he was freed, because that is obviously very explainable, but before-not so much.
LOCKHART
Oh, Lockhart. “Isn’t he the smarmiest bloke you’ve ever met?” I believe so. He is the perfect example of an appearance vs. reality character- Lockhart’s “flashing dazzlingly white teeth” charmed the crowd in the bookshop in the beginning of the book, but at the end, his true self comes out: “You’re the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher! You can’t go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!” Lockhart: “Well-I must say-when I took the job-nothing in the job description-didn’t expect…“ “You mean you’re running away? After all that stuff you did in your books?” “Books can be misleading.” “You wrote them!” “My dear boy. Do use your common sense. My books wouldn’t have sold half as well if people didn’t think I’d done those things.” This shows his image he puts on to contrast to how he really is. He’s really a dark, conniving character that is fake.
The first interaction of Lockhart at Hogwarts in the greenhouses is suiting and a great hint at what he will be like towards others, including professors. His talk of publicity is sickening, so is exploiting Harry all the time. We see how self-absorbed he is in their first DADA class. His first lesson includes a quiz over himself, and most of his classes after that were his reenactments of his ‘accomplishments’. He also offers signed copies of his books for the best poem.
I think that JKR uses him to mock people and show what happens to someone who becomes self-obsessed; they are more easily corrupted. “My ideal bday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples” says the beauty pageant contestant. Seriously; it’s pathetic. JKR uses his over-exaggeration to add humor- portraying pixies as “the foulest creatures known to mankind… I must ask you not to scream.” Who would be afraid of a pixie? What about the acromantulas!?
COLIN REPRESENTING OUTSIDE OPINION OF HARRY
Colin reminds me of Hermione a bit in the way that he knows all about Harry: “I’ve read all about you.” But Hermione is more subtle and not concerned with his fame at all like Colin is. She just reads everything, and happened to read about him. Colin is like that really annoying preschooler that we’ve all met that has a million and one questions. Back to back. And will not cease with the interrogations until you’ve answered them. All of them. Not that I’m drawing from experiences or anything.
I believe that Colin represents the outside opinion of Harry, possibly the media aspect, even; Colin appears to be obsessed with him. He follows him around everywhere, asking him questions, not to mention him having a camera permanently attached to his hand aimed at Harry. He wants to know more about his life. I think that he is the perfect example of paparazzi. He becomes petrified after attempting to bring Harry a treat while in the Hospital Wing, and I think that his becoming petrified depicts the school’s view on Harry turning negatively towards him being the cause of all of the terrible things happening. The opinion of Harry to the wizarding world began as a great hero who ‘conquered’ the Dark Lord and saved them all, but as Harry progresses in the series, the opinion turns more and more negative and criticizing. It is very much like the decline of a famous pop star. The petrified Colin depicts the lasting change.
EASY THINGS TO GLOSS OVER
The feelings that Harry has of being x-rayed or having his mind read by Dumbledore and Snape. The Vanishing Cabinet is broken by Peeves when Harry is in trouble for “befouling the castle”
The fact that Dumbledore always knows where Harry is
Harry’s draw to the diary and sense of familiarity with Tom Riddle
Objects shown in Borgin and Burkes that play a part later on
THINGS I LOVED
JKR’s extensive use of foreshadowing. Sneaky, sneaky.
Harry’s first experience at The Burrow.
The personification of the car
Lockhart’s ridiculousness
The Kwikspell course letter
During the potions incident, it’s ironic that Malfoy’s nose is what swells when the potion hits him; it represents his nosiness and prodding into other people’s business.
Dumbledore’s office
QUESTIONS I HAVE
Why does Dobby think so highly of Harry when he is a servant for the Malfoys?
How did everyone know that they had flown the car and crashed?
Why did the light shoot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand? I know that it’s broken, but you’d think that it wouldn’t even be an option for a spell to go through the back end in order to protect its master. Unless Ron was pulled it out backwards in a hurry to defend Hermione? But it does say “[a] jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron’s wand, hitting him in the stomach…”
How many times was Nick hit before he died?
Hermione is upset that she left her copy at home, why doesn’t she just send an owl?
How did they revive Nearly Headless Nick?

Mischief Managed.

Paige Cyrus