J.K. does such a wonderful job at the start of the first book in depicting Harry's excitement at finding out he's a wizard and his fear that he won't fit into his new world.
The scene between Harry and the yet-unnamed blond-haired boy (Draco Malfoy) in the robe shop is especially effective in conveying a number of layers of Harry's personality. He's excited to have escaped the Dursleys and to be a part of a magical world, he's in a state of shock to find himself with a pocketful of gold, and he's fearful that this exciting new world might reject him.
Even so, he very quickly recognises that Draco is not the kind of person he wants as a friend and, even though Draco makes him feel quite ill-informed about the magical world, Harry is quite willing to stand up to him and challenge the nasty comments Draco makes about Hagrid.
This is really the first scene where we start to recognise Harry's courage and moral core. He proves himself a true Gryffindor even before we know what a Gryffindor is!
No comments:
Post a Comment