Nobody graduates from Hogwarts; they just leave

Have you ever noticed that there is almost no mention made of students actually graduating from Hogwarts in in any of the seven Harry Potter novels?

I mean, sure, some of the students we know (like Oliver Wood, Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater) clearly complete their studies and move on into the post-Hogwarts lives, and many adults in the books recall their days at Hogwarts fondly, but we never actually see, or even hear of, a graduation ceremony.

I went back and read the final sections of all seven books and, even at the "end-of-year" or "leaving" feast (the final celebration in the spring is called the former in the first three years and the latter after year four), there is absolutely no mention made of graduation, no congratulations offered to students who had completed their studies, no celebration of the class of students that is leaving Hogwarts to begin their careers.

In year one, Harry attends the end-of-year feast and Dumbledore's reported comments focus only on the House Cup and awarding additional points to Harry and crew.

In year two, Harry also attends and we only read about Hermione's return, Gryffindor winning the House Cup for a second year in a row, exams being cancelled and Gilderoy Lockhart not returning in the upcoming year.

The report on the end-of-year feast after year three is even shorter, with confirmation that Gryffindor won the House Cup yet again.

In year four, perhaps not surprisingly, the much longer scene focuses on the death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Lord Voldemort. No mention of the winner of the House Cup at all.

At the end of year five, we are not even sure if Harry made it to the feast since, devastated at having lost Sirius Black, Harry is first distracted by Nearly-Headless Nick and then by Luna on his way to the Great Hall.

There is apparently no final feast in year six since the focus is on the death of Dumbledore.

And, of course, there isn't even really a school year for Harry, Ron and Hermione in year seven since they are on the run for the entire book, returning only for the Battle of Hogwarts at the very end.

It's interesting that Rowling paid so little attention to the fact that seventh-year students were actually graduating from her beloved school.

And perhaps even more interesting that each of the last four books ends with a significant death: Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore and finally Voldemort.

I don't have any brilliant thoughts or insights into why this may be but I do find it interesting.

A worthy home for Harry Potter

Wand on top, movies, books, special books

If you are like me, your Harry Potter collection is getting a little bit out of hand. Even if you limit yourself to the original seven novels (and eight movies), even if you refuse to purchase each new edition of the books as they are released, your probably are starting to amass quite a pile of Harry Potter related stuff.

What do you do?

Naturally, you choose a book shelf some where in your house and put all of your HP books there. You might even put your DVDs or Blu Rays there. But it doesn't seem enough, does it?

Are you really showing your allegiance to Harry and the wondrous Rowling World by shelving her books beside your copies of The Hunger Games? No way.

Feeling that I was doing a disservice to my Harry Potter passion and realizing that I wasn't showing my collection to advantage, I decided to commission a carpenter friend Robb to build me a custom-made, carefully measured Harry Potter book shelf.

It's oak, stained dark to look like the wood from which the Nimbus 2000's handle is made, and it has beautifully carved accents: the glasses and lightning scar at the top, the HP on the sides and even the Nimbus 2000 logo hidden on the right of the bottom shelf.

I just got the final product yesterday and, as you can see by the photos, it is spectacular.

Note the HP carved on the sides

My official HP wand holds the place of honour, on the top shelf, just below the inscribed glasses and lightning scar. On the second shelf, you'll find the Blu Ray movies and all of the Jim Dale audio books on CD. Below that, the books themselves: seven novels in English (plus a second copy of The Deathly Hallows that I literally read to pieces), the seven novels in Menard's wonderful French translations, and finally the ancillary canonical books from Rowling herself, accompanied by a couple of other odd Potter-related works.

The bottom shelf is still a work in progress. On the left, a limited special edition hard cover copy of The Philosopher's Stone that I picked up at the Studio Tour in England. In the centre, the first of the illustrated versions of the Harry Potter novels (the shelf is scaled for this book -- I can only trust that the next six will be the same dimensions) and finally my studio tour guide book. I plan to add my hand-knit Gryffindor scarf (thanks Lynn) to the bottom shelf as well, at least until the other illustrated books join the collection.

I have to admit, I'm arguing with myself as to whether or not I should add my copy of The Cursed Child to the shelf. It was such an awful piece of work, it wasn't written by J.K. herself and I don't consider it canonical so I probably won't honour it by placing it here.

That leaves the question: do I add the script for Fantastic Beasts when it comes out? It was written by Rowling so it should probably be considered both canonical and worthy of inclusion on my shelf. But I'll have to think about that.

To be honest, I'm not even sure the film versions deserve to be there but many HP fans might consider their exclusion to be nothing short of heretical.

Keeping Harry safe from Sirius Black

Let's see now. You are aware that Sirius Black is bent on murdering Harry Potter. You know exactly where Harry Potter is every moment of every day. And you know, after several close calls, that Sirius Black has somehow found a way to get passed Hogwarts' increased security and into the Gryffindor Common Room.


If you are Albus Dumbledore, wouldn't you increase the level of security around Harry himself?


From what I can see in re-reading The Prisoner of Azkaban, there is at no time a focus by school officials on keeping Harry, personally, safe. Sure, they batten down the hatches at the school and bring in the Dementors but they never say to themselves: maybe Harry should be moved to a more secure location when he sleeps, say in Dumbledore's office or somewhere like that.


It's odd. I know, it certainly wouldn't help the suspense much if Harry were completely secure and out of danger. But it would make better sense.

Potter It Forward, if you can

I have been struggling for the past two weeks with the writing of my next post for this blog. Why? Because I have been caught up in this whole "Potter It Forward" movement and decided that my next entry should be that message I would write if I ever decided to Potter It Forward and slip a message to new Harry Potter readers into new copies of the HP books at my local bookstores.


The problem is: the majesty of the idea has got me a little bit paralyzed.


What exactly could I write to express just how much of an impact these books have had on my life, how important I feel they are both as models for how children's and young adult novels should be written and as wonderful, exciting, intriguing stories in themselves, how significant they have been in bringing the excitement of reading to a whole new generation? How do I say all that without writing a message that actually turns out to be longer than the Harry Potter novel into which I slip it?


I don't know where to begin. And I certainly wouldn't know where to end.


I think the whole "Potter It Forward" idea to be quite remarkable. I have had to stop myself from going to Chapters just to go through all their copies of the Harry Potter books to collect any PIF messages I may find. I hope to goodness someone will (if they haven't already) create a website where we can post our messages and read other people's messages at our leisure.


The Harry Potter books have literally changed our world. They have infiltrated every aspect of our lives and they have created a common language that so many of us can speak, no matter where we live. They are a point of connection that helps us bridge the gaps between us in terms of age, gender identity, race, religion, cultural background, economic status, and any other aspect of our identity that you can imagine. And that might normally keep us apart.


If I wear my Gryffindor scarf, people smile at me on the street. People nod and point and smile and laugh and, sometimes even, tell me that they were sorted into Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw or even Slytherin.


I have enjoyed Potter chats with strangers of many different races, of all ages, of every gender identity you can imagine. I'm an middle-aged white guy and yet I have been welcomed as a Harry Potter lover into so many situations by people from all kinds of backgrounds and identities.


How do you sum all that up in a single passage? And how do you deal with the fact that, even if you can sum all that up in a single passage, you've left out the quality of J.K.'s writing, the masterful way she constructs her stories, the living, breathing, incredible true characters she has created.


So, if you're wondering why I haven't posted in a while, that's why. Because there is simply too much to say.

Just what does "a few" mean?

A little thing. A little, tiny, nit-picky little question about a scene in The Goblet of Fire that turns on how we might interpret the word "few".

About three-quarters of the way through the book, in a chapter called "The Egg and the Eye", Harry attempts to return to the Gryffindor Common Room after a late-night visit to the Prefects' Bathroom when he becomes trapped on a staircase, his leg caught in the trick step that often catches Neville. He drops the slippery Tri-Wizard Egg, which promptly tumbles down the stairs and breaks open, its loud wail attracting the attention first of Filch, then of Snape and finally of Crouch/Moody.

Harry is hidden beneath his invisibility cloak but still is in real danger of being caught out of bed.

I've already written some time ago about Harry's surprising failure to use the summoning charm "Accio" to recover the egg as soon as he lost his hold on it. After all, he had so recently learned "Accio" and used it to such great effect in the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

That aside, there seems to be a little bit of a miscalculation of distances on the part of the author in this scene. A miscalculation the editors missed as well.

Remember the scene: Harry is half-way down the stair case, invisible but trapped. He has dropped the egg, which tumbled down to the corridor below and broken open. He has also dropped the Marauders' Map, still active, and it too has floated down the stairs.

1. Rowling tells us, in fact, that the Map "slid down six stairs" from where Harry stood, trapped.

2. When Filch arrives, he finds the egg and immediately starts to climb the stairs toward the invisible but trapped Harry. Rowling tells us that "Filch stopped a few steps below Harry" when Snape arrived.

3. Despite the fact that Filch is only "a few" steps away from Harry, he does not see the Map, which we know is six stairs below Harry. Apparently, for Rowling, "a few" is more than "six".

I'll stop right there for a second. I don't agree that "a few" means more than "six". When I read the phrase "a few", I think three to five. A few is more than "a couple" which is, by definition, two. But "a few" is also intended to suggest, in my opinion, "not many". You don't use "a few" when you mean "many". And more than six is "many".

4. Snape arrives and he too climbs the stairs, stopping beside Filch and, therefore, "a few" steps from Harry. He does not see the Map either. I think this is significant. Okay, it might be dark on the staircase so the Map could be only "a few" steps above Filch and Snape and they would not see it.

5. When Moody arrives, he remains at the foot of the stairs. Even from there, however, he is able to see the Map lying on the stair. He points it out to Snape and Filch. Snape and Filch turn and see it behind them. Snape has to reach out for it, leaving enough time for Moody to recognize Harry's warning and summon the Map to himself.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if the Map is six steps below Harry and neither Filch nor Snape see it before Moody arrives, then Filch and Snape must be at least seven and probably more like 10 to 15 steps away from Harry. That's not, in my opinion, just "a few" steps away.

Just after Moody points out the Map, Rowling writes, "Snape stretched out his hands like a blind man, and began to move up the stairs... Harry leant backwards, trying to avoid Snape's fingertips, but any moment now --"

By my calculations, for Snape to get close enough to Harry to force Harry to lean back to avoid Snape's fingertips, Snape must get to within say three steps of Harry. So he must climb at least four steps and probably between 10 and 12 steps to get within striking distance of the boy before Moody stops him.

I've gotten myself quite confused as I write this but my point is, I think the editors missed something when they reviewed this scene. The use of the term "a few" is misleading and confusing. Rowling uses it to increase tension -- the bad guys are very close to our hero -- but it creates problems for the rest of the scene.

And, yes, this entire entry is proof positive that I have read the Harry Potter books way too many times and have started to focus on details that are, truly, much too trivial to worry about.

A magical muggle moment

Another Harry Potter moment.

I'm sitting in the car with our golden doodle, waiting for my partner to emerge from the grocery store.

A young woman, perhaps 14 or 15 years old, tall and thin with that angularity of body that speaks of a recent growth spurt, walks past, supporting an elderly woman, apparently her grandmother.

She's wearing jeans and a mauve t-shirt that appears at first to be unremarkable.

Then, after helping her grandmother into the front seat, she turns and looks past me and my car toward the door to the store. For the first time, I catch a glimpse of the front of the shirt.

It says "Muggle" in a flowing script.

That's it. Just "Muggle".

Brilliant. I'm so used to seeing people (like me) wearing items that suggest they are members of the magical world of Harry Potter -- like my own Gryffindor scarf, for example -- and here is this young woman making no such claim.

She's one of the world's non-magical folk. And she's proud of the fact.

I wonder where she got the shirt.

A quick bit of Potter trivia

Here's a new little trivia question I picked up while reading The Goblet of Fire for the umpteenth time. See if you can answer this one without looking it up (online or in the book).

Who owned the Sorting Hat before it started sorting, when it was just a plain ol' hat?

The answer to the question is in the Sorting Hat's own beginning-of-term song in the fourth book. I'm amazed that I never really noticed this little bit of trivia before.

Did you get it? Do you know the answer? Do you remember?

Well, the answer is Godric Gryffindor. Yep, the Sorting Hat tells us Gryffindor took the hat off his own head and made it into the Sorting Hat.

So we've got his Sword and his Hat playing a significant role in the magical world. Neat.

My scarf and the Harry Potter generation

Gryffindor forever!

My Christmas reading has forced me to set aside Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the time being. Over the course of the holidays, I've been lucky enough to receive nine new books and, since it is my policy to read every book I get as a present, I've been quite busy reading lately.

That's not to say that Harry has been completely absent from my life, however. We've been experiencing some crazy cold, windy and snowy weather out here, perfect for me to show off my ultra-warm Gryffindor scarf.

My sister knit this scarf for me a couple of years ago, following a pattern that recreated the scarves from the first movie stitch for stitch. It's a spectacular garment and draws a lot of attention every time I wear it.

For example, the other day I was standing at a street corner, wearing my scarf and waiting for the light to change, when a woman approached and said, "Your inner geek is showing."

I laughed and said, "So is your inner geek, if you recognize this scarf and where it comes from!"

We had a chuckle together and then went our separate ways.

Later the same day, I had a man stop me in the lobby of my building. "That's Gryffindor, isn't it?" he said.

"Yep," I agreed.

He shook his head. "I'm Ravenclaw myself."

Even later the same day, I was coming down on the elevator and a woman asked if my scarf represented "Mount Allison University or you know," and she then whispered, "Hogwarts?"

"It's Gryffindor, all right," I told her, holding out the Gryffindor crest on the scarf.

Two other people in the elevator nodded. "I thought so," said one.

The woman, encouraged, then told me she has been online, looking up the Harry Potter theme park and really wants to go. "It looks fantastic," she whispered.

What do these encounters tell me? Well, first they tell me that, even though it's now been almost seven years since J.K. Rowling published The Deathly Hallows, the Harry Potter phenomenon is still going strong.

And second, that even though my nieces, nephews and young friends tell me that Harry Potter is no longer in fashion for young readers like themselves, there are still a lot of people of all ages who love Harry Potter anyway.

Think about it. The Philosopher's Stone was first published in 1997, now almost 17 years ago. A person who was ten years old when it first came out would be 26, going on 27 today. The Harry Potter generation are now young adults, probably with children of their own.

And those of us who were already grown up in 1997 but loved the books anyway. Well, we're heading into middle age and beyond!

Harry Potter lives. But it's not so much the kids who are keeping it alive.

My Gryffindor scarf is proof of that!

Enemies of Quidditch Beware...

Does it make you laugh too that, even as a crowd of Hogwarts teachers is gathered around a Petrified Mrs. Norris trying to figure out what happened to her in The Chamber of Secrets, Snape's first thought is how to use the situation to help Slytherin win at Quidditch?

I laugh out loud every time I read the scene.

Here they are, facing what is to that point one of the most significant, scariest threats ever to face Hogwarts and Professor Snape's only worry is how to gain an advantage for his Q-team. He suggests to Dumbledore, in his silkiest of voices, that Harry should be suspended from playing Quidditch until the mystery is resolved.

Love it.

Even better is the fact that Professor McGonagall, Deputy Head Mistress, immediately jumps to her team's defence.

Love it love it love it.

Further to the question, does it seem fair to you that 1) McGonagall was allowed to purchase the latest racing broom for her team's new Seeker in Book One, making it all but assured that Gryffindor's quidditch fortunes would improve significantly by giving its team a HUGE advantage over everyone else and 2) that Mr. Malfoy would be allowed to buy the entire Slytherin team even better brooms the following year?

I have to admit, I think it's kind of poetic justice that McGonagall's cheating is so effectively and overwhelming countered by the Malfoys in book two. If glorious, honourable Gryffindor can cheat, then certainly Slytherin can cheat too and do an even better job of it.

On fickle fondness, falling to pieces and Pottermore

I think, if you read this blog from start to finish, you would probably find that I have posted entries saying how much I love each one of the seven Harry Potter books in turn but, at some other date, have stated very strongly how much I hate every Harry Potter book in turn.

It's funny how much my opinion changes on some of these books each time I re-read them.

For example, I have just finished re-reading The Half-Blood Prince.  If memory serves, I have often said that this is one of my least-favourite of the seven. And yet, this time out, I really enjoyed it. It was a fun read and I found the trips into the various memories to learn about Voldemort's past very interesting this time around.

Strange. And now I'm on to The Deathly Hallows again. This, along with The Prisoner of Azkaban, has always been one of my favourites. I wonder if I'll like it as much upon this reading.

Another strange point: I find myself ridiculously proud of the fact that my copy of this long last novel, a hard cover copy no less, is starting to fall into pieces. I have actually read this book so many times that it's starting to fall apart. Wow. That's devotion.

And I've joined Pottermore finally. My Pottermore name is "Bloodquill 19500" so, if you enjoy reading this blog and are a member of J.K.'s site too, why not friend me? We can duel. I'm a terrible duellist so far so you'll earn your House many many points by taking me on.

Have I mentioned that I was sorted into Gryffindor on Pottermore? Have I said how proud that made me feel? Cool.

How a scarf managed to divide the world in two

I wore my Gryffindor scarf to work today, a shield against some bitterly cold weather. And, when I arrived, I displayed it carefully on the coat rack at the entrance to my "office" for all to see.

And, my goodness, hasn't it been garnering quite the reaction!

"Beautiful scarf," is a common refrain. "Wow, what a lovely scarf," said one person. Everyone who passes comments on it and most of them want to come in and touch it. They admire the craftspersonship, especially of the tassles, to be honest, and simply cannot believe that my sister knit it for me.

"She must be very talented," they say. So I show them her knitting blog and they realise just how amazingly talented she is.

What has surprised me, though, is how the scarf has served to divide the world into two groups: Harry Potter fans and "Others".

Everybody loves the scarf, no doubt. But some people don't recognise where it's from. One person asked if it was from Mount Allison University, which apparently has similar colours. Several people have simply asked: "Are these school colours?"

The "Others" admire the scarf as a work of art, a beautiful combination of expertise, craftspersonship, form and colour.

But I like the responses of Harry Potter fans better. Their eyes light up. They rush toward the scarf, fingers extended, reaching for the crests that adorn each end of the garment. "That's Gryffindor, isn't it?" they exclaim.

And when I confirm that it is, indeed, a Gryffindor scarf, made to the exact same specifications as the scarves worn in the films, they swoon. "Where did you get it?" "How much did it cost?" "Do they have scarves from the other Hogwarts Houses too?"

I don't think my sister is interested in knitting a whole pile of scarves in the different House colours but if she were... And if copyright issues weren't a potential problem...

A glorious Gryffindor surprise waiting under my tree

Christmas brought a Harry Potter surprise for me in the form of a fabulous Gryffindor scarf knitted by my sister. She tells me the pattern writers studied freeze-frame images from the movies in order to ensure that the knitted scarf would recreate, stitch by stitch, the scarves worn by our favourite characters. And she ordered the Gryffindor crest over the internet to add even more authenticity to the scarf. It's fantastic and warm and I love wearing it.

This photo was taken this afternoon as we began a walk through the woods with our dog. I guess, considering the popularity of the Harry Potter books and films, I shouldn't be surprised that the first person we encountered on our walk looked me up and down and said, "Gryffindor, huh? I consider myself more of a Ravenclaw".

A great response that made my day. The fact that I also found another Harry Potter surprise under the tree (the Blu Ray of The Deathly Hallows, Part 2) made this an even better day. I sat down this afternoon and evening with some friends who are visiting from out of town to watch both Part 1 and Part 2. They're huge Potter fans too so it was a pleasure to get the chance to watch the movies with them and then hear their thoughts on them as well.

I'm excited to get the chance to watch the special features on the discs too -- I watched part of the Daniel Radcliffe - J.K. Rowling conversation and was delighted with the quality of the discussion. I'm looking forward to watching that soon too. More on my recent conversations and the Blu Ray experience in upcoming posts.

Prefects and House Points

In The Chamber of Secrets, when Percy finds Ron, Harry and Hermione sneaking out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, he takes five points from Gryffindor for their inappropriate behaviour. Interesting: Prefects can deduct points in the House Cup competition.

This raises three questions for me:

1) can Prefects also award points for good behaviour?
2) can Prefects deduct or award points from students in other Houses? and
3) if the answer to questions one or two is "yes", what is to stop a Prefect from deducting (or awarding) points so as to change the result in the House Cup competition?

I don't recall another situation where we see a Prefect awarding or deducting points from other students. I certainly don't recall a situation where a Prefect deducts points from a student in another house. For example, when Percy comes across Draco Malfoy (with the Polyjuiced Harry and Ron) in the basement later in the second book, Percy does not deduct points from Draco as a result of Malfoy's insolence towards him.

The whole House Point system is a bit odd to me, to be honest. But more on that for another time.

Hogwarts House Points make me crazy

I have to admit: I've never liked the way points are awarded to (or deducted from) Houses at Hogwarts. It just seems so arbitrary, doesn't it? I mean, Snape favours his own House so he is constantly taking points from Gryffindors while McGonagall, who is more fair, refuses to favour the House she leads.

I've felt that the system for awarding points at Hogwarts is a problem ever since Dumbledore manipulated the points at the end of The Philosopher's Stone in order to take the House Cup from Slytherin and give it to Gryffindor. I don't argue with his decision to give Neville ten points for standing up to his friends but I think it's highly problematic that he happens to give the four first-year kids just enough for Gryffindor to overtake Slytherin.

Oh well. I guess you can't love everything about the Potter world, can you?

Sometimes you just have to complain a little

Okay, complaint time. I've just watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, again and, even though I like this movie a lot, there are some things that really bother me about it.

I've mentioned that ridiculous dance scene between Harry and Hermione before so I won't go into that debacle again.

Three things struck me this time, and the first two are related.

First, J.K. was very careful in the novel to explain how Snape finds out that Harry and Hermione are in the Forest of Dean in order to deliver the Sword of Gryffindor to them (remember, Hermione mentions the Forest while holding her bag open, thus allowing the portrait of Phineas Nigellus to hear her and report her whereabouts to Snape in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts?). I watched the movie carefully and Hermione is nowhere near her bag when she tells Harry where they are. So how, in the film, does Snape know where to find them?

Second, and on a related note, J.K. makes it clear that Ron, having abandoned his friends sometime earlier, begins to hear Hermione's voice through the Deluminator only after Hermione finally says Ron's name to Harry for the first time. In the movie, from what I could see, Hermione doesn't say Ron's name before he shows up. Yes, Ron says he heard her say his name but we never hear her.

So those two bug me.

An even bigger issue for me, however, is the fact that the screenwriter completely eliminates Harry's internal struggle to decide between pursuing Hallows or Horcruxes. The whole bit at Shell Cottage is intended to show that Harry is able to overcome his own needs and to focus on the needs of the magical world, thus allowing Voldemort to obtain the Elder Wand while he continues to hunt Horcruxes.

This is a huge issue and one that Dumbledore specifically mentions as a sign of Harry's worthiness when they meet in King's Cross Station near the end of the book.

Don't get me wrong. I understand why the movie makers chose to end the seventh film with Voldemort stealing the Elder Wand out of Dumbledore's grave (it's a very dramatic scene and sets the suspense nicely for the final movie).

But it just bothers me that, in order to give us that thrill, they have to sacrifice Harry's key psychological struggle, the pivotal moment where he proves himself worthy, to do so.

Harry shows his stripes

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!