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.