The Tales of Beedle the Bard Blog

The Tales of Beedle the Bard was a new experience for someone who spent so much time in the Wizarding world. Well, I spent a lot of time there in my mind. The stories add another layer to the already flavorful universe. For me, the stories represented something most of us can relate to. It parallels the stories that we went to bed with as children, and I wouldn’t change that warm feeling for anything.

            Rowling starts us off in a father / son relationship that literally takes on a mind of its own. The pot that the father leaves his son reflects the people who come in contact with him. The best part of the story for me wasn’t the actual story, but the commentary from Dumbledore. He uses his wide wisdom to explain in detail that children will be children. It’s common Dumbledore, but it is the heartwarming way he describes it that makes me miss the man even more. Skipping through we find the story of “Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump”.  Babbity is a complex character that we see in many stories from our childhood. Dumbledore puts it best when he says it is the most “real” of all the tales. We learn of Lisette de Lapin from this, and again we are immersed in fiction inside of fiction. It is extremely complex for Rowling to be able to keep these stories concurrent with the actual books. That is what brings me to my favorite of the stories, and one we have seen before in the main series. “The Tale of the Three Brothers” was one of my favorite tales without it being in this book. When I first read it in Deathly Hallows, I was amazed at how well it was tied to the plot of Harry Potter. What struck me about the story after I had read it a couple time was the complexity with which death presents itself to us. Even in the Wizarding world, we see death adapting to its prey. The sheer chill from knowing that the only way to keep from death pervading into your life is to hide, leaves an ominous feeling in the readers mind. I can only see this being a children’s story in the Wizarding world, though. I can’t see this going over very well in the muggle world.

            The stories that Rowling created in The Tales of Beedle the Bard leave readers with more Harry Potter and more complex layering of the Wizarding world plot. I always look forward to extensions of the series, and to reading Harry Potter to my children as their bedtime stories.

EC James Potter Character Development

One of the characters we quite literally see constructed during the final three books is Harry’s father, James.  I think the way that he is portrayed in the books is marvelous. I’m not saying that just to agree with Rowling’s interpretation of who James should be in Harry’s life, but because it balances. He is what Harry despises, and creates an uncomfortable feeling that I love as a reader.

In the Order of the Phoenix, we see a side of James that we didn’t quite expect. We knew that he was mischievous, but we had no idea the extent that it went to with Snape. Everyone had always told Harry how good his dad was, and how much he was like him. When we see that James would attack Snape for no reason, Harry becomes conflicted, but it makes the reader conflicted as well. I knew that Snape had hated Harry because he hated his father, but I hated James too when I read that. James was Draco Malfoy to me in that instance. He was a person that Harry had tried not to be for his first five years. But clearly James had changed his ways, as Lupin said, when he got older. For that reason, I believe it is important that Harry knows his father is not everything he expected. These are, however, just the way Severus remembers it.

We later find out that James had saved Severus’ life, and for that, Severus was in debt to the Potters. This I didn’t like as much. It was something I would expect to happen, and therefore, I thought it was almost insignificant. I think the fact that Snape loved Lily would have been reason enough for Snape to keep a watch over Harry.

While I want to like James, I believe that he was more worried about his pride than actually stopping dark magic with the Order. I think the scene she painted with Snape being bullied was absolutely essential to Harry’s development, and the fact that James saved Snape was passable. I think the development of a character that is not alive during the entire series is just another detail that makes her books so full of life in our minds.

Blog #3

            It was hard to swallow at first, but Dumbledore is not at wonderful as we all expected. The last book in the series validated my suspicion that Dumbledore had used Harry as a pawn in the game against Voldemort. Well, more of a Knight because Harry could move diagon-ally (a little Potter humor, no matter how terrible, never hurt). Dumbledore’s actions were unveiled when we learned the deceitful comments that he made to Snape that Harry saw in the Pensieve. Not to say that Dumbledore didn’t have the best intentions for those who supported his cause. He did, but he made some interesting decisions along the way that could lead one to believe he was covering for his own past. Dumbledore was covering a mistake he had made long ago; letting Tom Riddle study at Hogwarts.

            Dumbledore did lots of suspicious things that led to my conclusion. In the Chamber of Secrets he tells Harry that he believes a part of Voldemort had latched itself onto Harry, but does not disclose the full meaning of what we would learn to be Harry as a Horcrux. He knew that if he let a little information go, it would look a lot better for him in the end. But what about what he did to Sirius is The Order of the Phoenix? Dumbledore made him stay in a house that had tormented him since he was a child. It was something that stuck with me beyond just Sirius’ safety. I think he really knew that Sirius would do anything to save Harry, and he would gladly leave hiding in that “hell hole” to do so. I think he knew it would be the end of Sirius. For as long as Sirius was around, it would only complicate the situation between Voldemort and Harry. The most important point I want to make is how hypocritical Dumbledore’s statements were to Snape in the last book. He criticizes Snape for not being concerned if James and Harry die. In Dumbledore’s defense he most likely didn’t know Harry would be made into a Horcrux, but it is interesting that he would be mocking Snape, when in a few years he would steer Harry towards his own death.

            While I see that Dumbledore is working for the better of the Magical World, Snape seems to feel the same way about how he has dealt with Harry up to the last book. He led him to his own “slaughter”. I think it is an interesting perspective into who Dumbledore really is, and whom he is really trying to protect.

Extra Credit Character post.

One character that I think underwent major character development throughout the series was Neville Longottom. Throughout the books, we the readers, and even the characters question why Neville was placed in Gryffindor.  In the first few books, he seems to play the role of the punching-bag-character. In the first book Malfoy and his cronies as well as Snape and other professors constantly pick him on. It falls on Harry, Ron, and Hermione to be the ones to boost Neville’s self-esteem. Neville shows some glimpse of bravery throughout the Sorcerer’s Stone, like when he fought Crabbe and Goyle singlehandedly at the Quidditch match. However his biggest stint of bravery came at the end of the book when he stood up to his friends who were leaving to do a bout of rule-breaking. He even gets rewarded 10 points at the end-of-the-year ceremony for doing so. At the time, we think it’s no big deal, Neville got awarded points to put Gryffindor in the lead so they could win the House Cup. But at the end of the series we find out why it was so significant that Albus Dumbledore awarded points to Neville for having courage to stand up to his friends. In the seventh book, we learn about Dumbledore’s past and how he had an extremely firm friendship with the wizard Grindelwald. When Grindelwald became obsessed with finding the Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore did not have the courage to stand up to him. So, at the end of the Sorcerer’s Stone, Dumbledore is rewarding Neville for having courage that he never had.

Neville’s character doesn’t start undergoing development until really the fifth book. Perhaps motivated by the prison break that included the culprits who tortured his parents into insanity, he works harder than anyone to get a grasp on Defense Against the Dark Arts. He even joins Harry in the rescue Mission at the Ministry where he fought bravely against Death Eaters. He even resorted to tackling one when he was rendered useless with a wand.

The defining act of Neville’s character comes about in the final book, much as these things tend to do. Once Harry is seemingly dead during the battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort offers Neville specifically a chance to join the ranks of him. Neville is a pureblood afterall. However, Neville, giving possibly the cheesiest dialogue in the series, (“I’ll join you when Hell freezes over!”) defies Voldemort. He stays loyal Dumbledore and to Harry and he remains brave in the face of terror and evil. He becomes the paradigm of Gryffindor House.

Extra Credit #2

In the final book a lot is revealed about all of the characters in the book and we really see a different side in all of them. One character who stood out to me in this final book of the series was Dumbeldore. Even though he is dead and not technically here for this book, I feel like this is when we learn the most about him. A lot of this comes from Rita Skeeter. I really do not like her and I think that it was extremely rude to write a book bashing someone when they have just died, but it really does give us another look at Dumbeldore. Rita does have a lot of the facts messed up and likes to turn simple things into major points of juicy gossip, but she does make us see that there is more to Dumbeldore than we would have ever originally thought. I think that I made the mistake, like Harry does at some points throughout the books, to see Dumbeldore as this source of perfection who can never do any wrong. We see how clever and cunning he is, and how he is literally able to plan out huge scenarios in his head and almost always plan them out correctly. We see him when he is an old man with lots of experience under his belt and we have seen all the good that he is done so it is really easy to forget that he was once a child and a young man and made plenty of mistakes. I think that this shows that he is human. At first I had lost a bit of respect for him when I read about his mother and his sister and the strained relationship he had with his brother, but then I thought about it and realized that stuff really didn't matter that much. If I were only to be judged upon what I had done when I was young, or even right now, then I would probably not be in the best place in peoples hearts and I think that this would apply to most people. What really matters was how Dumbeldore changed and grew throughout his life. He was always a good man but through his experiences and through growing up he turned out to be  great man. Dynamic characters are important parts of all books and I truly believe that Dumbeldore is one of the most dynamic characters ever created.

Extra Credit #1

The elder wand plays an extremely significant role in the last book of the series because it comes out to be the thing that ultimately destroys Voldemort. The elder wand as we find out is known as the unbeatable wand that comes from a legend in a wizard child's fairy tale book. We learn about this story from sly ole Dumbeldore who leaves it to Hermonie in his will. The stories of The Tales of Beedle and the Bard turn out to really help the gang because in this story book lies the legend of the Three Brothers. In this story three brothers meet death but are able to defeat him so death offers them each a gift, one of those being the elder wand. This wand is completely unbeatable against anyone when used in battle. Later in the Harry Potter book we find out that Dumbeldore is actually the keeper of this wand because he won it in a battle against one of the Peverell brother who was the original owner. This wand is so important because Voldemort eventually finds out of its existence and is out on a search to find it in order to use it against Harry and kill him. Voldemort will literally go to any lengths and kill anyone in order to be in true possession of this wand. One tricky thing about this wand though, is that it is only unbeatable if the person using it is the true owner of it. The way to become the true owner of the wand is to beat them in a battle and take it from them. Voldemort knows this so he kills Snape in order to get the wand and be the owner. Voldemort believes that this will allow him to be the owner because Snape killed Dumbeldore. This is untrue because it was actually Draco's mission to kill Dumbeldore and Snape and Dumbeldore had it planned all along that he would die, so Snape did not overpower Dumbeldore making the true owner of the wand Draco. That was until Harry stole a wand from Draco meaning that Harry had technically overpowered Draco making the wand Harry's. It was all pretty confusing but basically, even though Voldemort killed Snape he does not possess ownership of the wand. He did not know of the plans because Dunbeldore and Snape so there was a definite flaw in the plan. This then allowed Harry to defeat Voldemort with a disarming spell because he was the rightful owner.
This wand is so powerful and leads people to do atrious things in order to conquer it so Harry decides that he needs to get rid of it at the end of the book, but instead of breaking it or throwing it away he decides to give it back to Dumbeldore's tomb. This is an extremely brave thing to do because someone could figure out what he did and take the wand and kill him, but if he dies a natural death the wand wont have that power anymore. This is another example of how smart and brave Harry Potter truly is .

Blog 3

This was my very first time reading any of the Harry Potter novels and I had never seen any of the movies so, needless to say, I was pretty excited when I got to the 7th book. I could not wait to find out what happened and refused to let anyone spoil it for me.
I must say that the book did not come out exactly the way I thought it would. There were so many twists and turns that I never would have expected to happen. It was amazing how J.K. Rowling was able to really tie up any loose ends and answer any questions that we had, and she did it by tying in parts from all 6 books beforehand. I do not know how her mind was able to connect all those strands together to make such a beautiful conclusive ending, but she did it very well I must say.
The battle of Hogwarts at the very end of the book I would say is one of the most interesting and suspenseful parts of the whole series. Here we really see how extreme Voldemort and the death eaters are and how they will go to any lengths to make sure that Voldemort is happy and has conquered Harry Potter once and for all. This battle kills many innocent wizards and ruins a lot of families. When Tonks and Remus died all I could do was think about how sad it was for their poor little baby to be all alone now. But it also showed the willpower and bravery of all the wizards at Hogwarts, they were fighting and risking their lives in order to stop Voldemort. This unselfish bravery is something that is so inspiring to me.
One thing that I wish would be a little different was how Harry killed Voldemort at the end. I thought that it was going to be more of a battle between the two instead of Harry just killing him in one try. I get that it was because of the elder wand, but I still think it would have been more suspenseful if they had truly been engaged in a battle and Harry won. To me that would have showed more of Harry's dominance over Voldemort and his power instead of him being lucky once again and having the unbeatable wand do it for him. But I am still very glad that Voldemort is dead and that Harry remained supreme.
The epilogue was my favorite part by far. It was so touching to see that even after all they had been through and faced that they were still about to go and build happy lives. They of course will always remember what they had been through, but they look at it for what it is and that is a growing experience. Everything that they faced in the 7 books turned them into the people and parents they are in the epilogue, they are strong enough to be able to go on and just live life. I think that is also very inspirational. It teaches that even when you think your world has fallen apart you are able to put back those pieces and really move on from it. I also just really enjoy happy endings so seeing that they were all in love and had gotten married made me so happy!
I am so glad that I joined this class and was able to experience the wonderful world of Harry Potter!

Blog 2

Harry Potter is a real coming of age story because we see each of the characters grow from the age 11 on. We see how they handle friendships, relationships, school work, parents, and even disasters. Any book where we see all the characters physically grow up and mature is to be considered a coming of age story, I believe, but what makes the Harry Potter series a particularly good coming of age story is the mental and figurative growth each character grows through. One student who I believe had the most dramatic change would be Neville Longbottom. When he first comes into the series we don't know too much about him except that he is a little goofy, and he forgets a lot. This makes him a very easy target to get picked on, especially by those who think that they rule the school such as Draco Malfoy. In the beginning of the series Neville just takes this abuse and deals with it. We know that he is used to it because of how his grandmother treats him so he really doesn't try and do anything about it. But as we see him make friends with Harry and the gang he starts to come into his own. He goes from thinking that he may be a squib to being one of the best in his herbology class. I think that the herbology class is what really got him to understand that he is important and that he can do something with his life. He found one class that really gave him a meaning and a purpose and let him feel like he truly belonged at Hogwarts with all the other amazing wizards. This reminds me of myself and when I found dance. It happened in high school because we were able to take a dance class as a PE credit. I wanted to try it out just because it sounded fun and I ended up actually loving it. That class was the one thing I looked forward to everyday and I grew into a great dancer. It helped me make friends and gave me a place were I felt like I belonged. Just like Neville when you feel like you fit in somewhere and you are comfortable with yourself, you are finally giving yourself that opportunity to grow into special. Once Neville found herbology he grew into a wizard who believed in himself which made drastic changes in his life.

Make-Up Assignment- The Elder Wand

While Voldemort believes because he stole the Elder Wand from Dumbldore's grave, he is not the true master because he didn't win the wand's allegiance. He kills Snape because once he realizes that the wand won't work for him, but he was not at the Astronomy Tower the night Dumbledore died, and he did not know that it was really Draco Malfoy who won the Elder Wand from Dumbledore. When Harry grabbed Malfoy's wands at the Malfoy Manor, even though neither of them physically had the Elder Wand in their possession, the wand changed its allegiance to Harry. This enabled Harry to beat Voldemort at the end with a disarming spell. Harry decides that the Elder Wand is too powerful for any witch or wizard to have, so he decides to place it back in Dumbledore's tomb without telling anyone else of its existence. He knows as long as he dies a natural death, the power of the Elder Wand will die with him. 

Extra Credit Blog Post: Developed Character, Neville Longbottom

Neville Longbottom has come a long way throughout the Harry Potter Book Series. Neville has “blossomed” in a sense from a character that seemed he was going to stay in the background the entire series, considering he was very socially awkward, and seemed so untalented, to a character that can definitely hold his own in almost any situation. Let’s take the last book for example. Since Harry, Ron, and Hermione were not attending Hogwarts for their last year, and they were entirely devoted to finding and destroying Voldemort, who was going to be at Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so serve and protect the students? None other than Neville Longbottom himself. Neville was in charge of Dumbledore’s Army, the DA as some like to call it. Neville and the others were prepared to go into battle when the time called. Neville was showing a role that exemplified much courage and leadership. If you were to think six years back, in the book sense, Neville would have never been caught dead organizing a group of this immense scale, and of this much importance. Heck, he couldn’t even keep track of Trevor, his pet toad!!!  Also, nearing the end of the book, Neville is the one that ends of cutting off Nagini’s head, which is Voldemort’s snake that is a horcrux. Killing Nagini was imperative, and in the end it was Neville’s honor to cut off his end and doing this, destroying one of the horcrux items. Even though Neville doesn’t have that big of an appearance in the last book, his underlying role is one that is very important. Neville goes to show that even though he might not be the “chosen one” as he might have very well been considering what the prophecy had in store for Neville and Harry, but he had developed himself into a very strong and courageous wizard. Neville’s family, and above all, his Gran would be proud.

Alexandra Stevenson  

Make up Order of the Phoenix Quiz: The Women of Harry Potter

I chose to focus on the scene in Order of the Phoenix in the Department of Mysteries. I explored the interactions of the female characters and how they contributed to Harry eventually facing off with Voldemort.  In my opinion, without Ginny, Hermione, and Luna, Harry would not have had a chance to pull off this mission. It's apparent in this scene that Ginny is very talented when it comes to combative spells. She uses the bat bogey hex to protect her friends from the Death Eaters. Her hex was so strong that it ended up shaking the entire department of mysteries which gave Harry a diversion in the chaos. Hermione has repeatedly up to this point displayed her ability to think on her feet and always puts Harry and Ron above herself, which is indicative of her selflessness. Luna too provides balance to the group, bringing an extra female presence since there are three guys (Harry, Ron, and Neville).

I also appreciated the strength of these female characters and others such as Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, as they combine intelligence with resourcefulness, a certain fierceness of character, and courage. Mrs. Weasley is sort of like the "Den Mother" of the Order. She becomes a mother figure to Harry Potter and will protect him just as much as she will her own children. Tonks, as the only adult female auror, is another dominant figure in the Order who will relentlessly fight for the Good.

Umbridge, while she she is utterly evil, is a powerful fixture within the Ministry of Magic. When she takes over Hogwarts, she implements various rules and regulations that end up permeating the once harmonious school environment. the students are intimidated by her despite her frilly pink exterior. She proves to be a force to be reckoned with.

Bellatrix Lestrange is also formally introduced in this novel. She, like Umbridge, is pure evil. She stops at nothing to carry out Voldemort's bidding. She viciously attacks all those who would challenge the Dark Lord, killing Sirius (a rather formidable opponent) at the battle at the Department of Mysteries.

Obviously, Rowling does not follow typical feminine conventions in the Harry Potter series. With each book, she continues to introduce female characters that work on all spectrum of womanhood, defining what it means to be a woman through all channels.

Extra Credit - Character Development of Severus Snape

Throughout the first five Harry Potter novels, Severus Snape is depicted as a cold, distant, and solitary man, who primarily just leaves the dungeons for meals and berating non-Slytherins. His only friend is Dumbledore, and neither one of them is ever shown being particularly warm or friendly with each other.

Snape is shown to be particularly hostile towards Harry and his friends, but it is revealed later that Snape and Harry's father, James, were mortal enemies while they were students at Hogwarts, and Harry's strong resemblance to his father could, presumably, be a reason for Snape's animosity towards him. Even though he is repulsed by Harry, however, Snape actually saves Harry's life several times throughout the series; from the bewitched broomstick in Sorcerer's Stone, from Lupin (in werewolf form) in Prisoner of Azkaban, and by watching over Harry throughout Goblet of Fire (at Dumbledore's orders).

After Snape's seemingly-villainous act of killing Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince was shown to be a planned (with Dumbledore) act of mercy, and the fact that, by killing Dumbledore himself rather than letting Draco do it, as Voldemort had instructed, he was also saving Draco's soul, Severus Snape is revealed to be one of the more heroic characters in the series, rather than one of the most villainous. Further evidence of his heroism is his use of his Patronus to guide Harry and Hermione to the Sword of Gryffindor, which was a critical instrument in the defeat of Lord Voldemort.

Snape is eventually murdered by Voldemort and with his dying breath he surrenders his memories of Lily, Harry's mother, to Harry. Upon placing the memories in Dumbledore's pensieve, Harry comes to realize that the reason Snape had protected him for all of those years was because of his deep love for Lily and his devastation upon her death at the hands of Voldemort.

Severus Snape is one of the most complex, multifaceted characters in literary history, and it is exceedingly difficult not to fall completely in love with him by the end of the series.

And now, because they are awesome and I have no reason not to post them, I present some of my favorite Snape memes & gifs:

Musical Snape:






Artistic Snape:


When I was in the movie theater trying to watch Order of the Phoenix and the girls behind me would.not.stop.talking.


On my way to buy Deathly Hallows the night it was released:


Eating popcorn at the theater during Deathly Hallows part 2:

... and subsequently sneezing and having chunks of popcorn stuck in my nose:

When hipsters say they don't like Alan Rickman's portrayal of Snape:






When my mother said that Twilight is better than Harry Potter:

Extra Credit: Character Development- Draco Malfoy

One character with one of the greatest character developments is Draco Malfoy. While he is not a hero by any means, he does make up for some of the abuse he is inflicted on Harry, Ron and Hermione. Much like Sirius' brother, Regulus, Malfoy is brought up in a world where Purebloods are believed to be the most elite and worthy. He was taught from a young age that Voldemort's regime would eradicate those unworthy of practicing magic (Muggle-borns) and in turn reward those with the most ancient links to magic. This belief is incredibly faulty, but it is what caused Draco to grow into such a horrible young adolescent.

It is not until Malfoy joins the Death Eaters that he realizes how terrifying it actually is to have to act according to his beliefs. At first he is excited as this is what he has been waiting his whole life for, but quickly he realizes that his induction into the Death Eaters is merely a punishment for his father's failure to retrieve the Prophecy. His tasks to kill Dumbledore and also to find a way to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts are wearing on him. We see this as he is overheard crying to Moaning Myrtle in the boy's bathroom. While his subsequent attack on Harry is much like the old Draco, we have reached a pivotal moment in his character development. We know the weight of working for Voldemort is crushing him, but he has no escape.

We see the most change in Malfoy at the top of the Atronomy Tower before Dumbledore's death. Draco grows increasingly angry at Dumbledore for suggesting that he is not a killer, yet Malfoy will not kill the weakend, old man. We finally see that Draco is only siding with Voldemort for his mother's and his own safety.

When Dumbledore offers Malfoy and his mother protection, he lowers his wand. After this, even Harry cannot feel hatred towards Draco, only pity. He understands the power Voldemort holds over eveyone's lives and over their loved ones. While we shouldn't admire Draco, as he is not truly a hero, we can feel some form of sympathy towards him. While Draco is primarily interested in self-preservation and can be two-faced, we see this during the final battle of Hogwarts when he's pleading with a Death Eater, he is also interested in protecting his family, something that can be admired about him. He grew from a small boy who could talk a big game to a young man who is slowly realizing his foolishness and what his arrogance could do to his loved ones.

Draco slightly redeems himself at Malfoy Manor when he pretends he can't tell who Harry, Ron, and Hermione are after they are captured by the Snatchers. But even Draco's actions in the Room of Requirements during the final battle of Hogwarts (trying to find the diadem before Harry) can show him reverting back to his original character, we don't see any true malice from him, just from Crabbe. 

So while Draco Malfoy does not make himself a hero of the Harry Potter series, we begin to see his true nature and a broader  scope of who he really is.

Katie Barrier 

Make-up Assignment: The Elder Wand

At the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry discovers that he is the master of the Elder Wand, although the wand is technically in the possession of Lord Voldemort. When the two duel, Voldemort’s Killing Curse backfires and kills him, as the Elder Wand will not kill its true master. After Voldemort’s demise, Harry decides to use the power of the Elder Wand to repair his old holly wand with the phoenix feather core, and place the Elder Wand back into Dumbledore’s grave. Harry feels as though enough people have died because of the Elder Wand and surmises that if he, the Wand’s master, dies a natural death, the Wand’s extraordinary powers will be nullified.