Loony Luna

“The girl beside the window looked up.  She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blond hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look.  Harry knew at once why Neville had chosen to pass this compartment by.  The girl gave off an aura of distinct dottiness.  Perhaps it was the fact that she had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, or that she had chosen to wear a necklace of butterbeer caps, or that she was reading a magazine upside down.”
This is how we are first introduced to someone who would become a major player in the plot of the remainder of the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.  The fact that it took five books for us to meet such an amazing and entertaining character is one of the biggest flaws in the series, but is rectified by the page-turning demeanor of the aptly named “Loony Luna”.  Rowling introduces her to the reader as the personification of this nickname all of her quirks are in view from the start.  “She did not seem to blink as much as normal humans.  She stared and stared at Harry, who had taken the seat opposite her and now wished he had not,” she writes.  
All of these descriptions firmly implant the vision of a girl is not all-quite-there in the head, yet it does not take long before a curveball is thrown into her qualities; “Luna is in my year, but in Ravenclaw,” Ginny explained.  As all HP fans know at this point in the series, Ravenclaw House is reserved for only the most intelligent and wittiest of witches and wizards, and that someone as seemingly absent-minded as this Luna could belong to that house is a juxtaposition indeed.  
Order of the Phoenix is a turning point in the series, where the mood switches from the happier days of their youth into the transition of the final showdown.  Book 4 ended with a death, and the rise of Voldemort into his physical body; Harry is plagued by his dreams and the memories of his past and Rowling throws him an emotional bone in the form of Luna.  She takes a staple of the franchise that the readers are used to, the horseless carriages, to symbolize this change.  For the first time Harry sees that there is indeed a creature pulling the carriages, and as we come to find that is because he has witnessed death.  The newly-introduced Luna is there beside him though, “reassuring” him that he is “just as sane as (she is).”   What was once simply written off as another wonderful thing in this magical world, was in fact a hard and gruesome truth; a theme that would be repeated throughout the rest of Harry’s story.
Rowling manages to develop Luna into not only a light-hearted character that can diffuse situations with her aloof demeanor, but as someone with whom Harry can relate it to who has shared similar hardships.  She stands by Harry when others doubt him, and throughout the series never loses faith.  This odd girl was the perfect segue from the characters lighthearted approach to what laid before them during their earlier years at Hogwarts to the serious plot points that were about to ensue.

The Friends of Harry Potter

When I first began reading the Harry Potter series I was around the same age as Harry in the first book, although I admit I couldn’t get past chapter four (Hagrid scared the crap out of me).  Finally I revisited the series when I was a bit older and was able to read it with an overall satisfaction of the series.  It wasn’t until taking this course and re-reading the books that I actually understood Rowling’s themes and trying myself to relate to what Harry and his friends went through, though how can you really relate to an evil wizard wanting to kill you every chance he gets.  Focusing not on Harry, but Ron and Hermione, we can see how being friends with the famous Harry Potter has influenced their coming of age.

Rereading the series having completely gone through adolescence, I understand now some of the emotions that Ron and Hermione feel.  Like Ron for instance, always being the younger brother to already well accomplished siblings, has the feeling he needs to live up to their legacies and then becomes friends with Harry Potter.  At the beginning of the series we see Ron more or less just follow Harry into his battles with Voldemort not really breaking out and being his own person, which is an important part in coming of age, understanding who you are and what you stand for.  We really see the biggest leap in Ron’s coming of age in Order of the Phoenix.  He becomes a prefect, which for him is a way of defining himself apart from being Harry’s accomplice in his adventures.  Ron becomes Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch team which also helps set him apart from being only Harry’s friend.  Ron also does some of the actual fighting against Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries, which until now, we haven’t seen.  In the Half Blood Prince, Ron has a relationship with Lavender, which for him is a big deal, since he is the last of the trio to have one.  In the early books of the series, Ron struggles to be his own person separate from Harry Potter, but we do see this change in Order of the Phoenix which made me finally see Ron, as a separate, significant person from being just the friend of The Boy Who Lived.

Hermione on the other hand has always, in my eyes, known exactly who she is and is comfortable with that.  For her, coming of age isn’t trying to find herself, but to make mistakes and learn from them.  Hermione is always the brains behind Harry’s operations.  I think it would have taken Harry and Ron much longer to find out about the Sorcerer’s Stone and the Chamber of Secrets if it wasn’t for Hermione’s intelligence.  When we see Hermione take risks, we know that she is out of her comfort zone of her books and school work, and that is when we see her mature.  Hermione’s relationship with Krum in the Goblet of Fire is where we first see a real love interest take place between the trio.  Hermione forming SPEW was a way for her to express herself besides being the scholastic overachiever everyone knows her to be.   Seeing how Hermione and Ron define themselves apart from Harry and how they change throughout the series is essential, I think in understanding their roles in Harry’s life.  They are not just his friends that are overshadowed by his glory, but without them Harry wouldn’t be as far as he has come in his own coming of age and his fight with Voldemort.

Hermione and Ron - Harry's parents personified

I recently read something about how Harry's best friends, Ron and Hermione, were providing him the parents he never had. Traits such as Ron being the trouble maker along with Harry and Hermione being the level-headed voice of reason led people to begin to form ties to this behavior and the behavior exhibited my Harry's father and mother,  respectively. These traits began to solidify themselves over the course of tjhe series,  where Hermione began to adapt to Ron and Harry's trouble making endeavors, as well as Ron andHermione seemingly developing feelings for one another. As seen when Harry examined Snape's memories in the pensieve,  James was the trouble maker while Lily was the head of reason,  telling him to stop torturing Snape. While this combination of ego and kindness may not make sense to the reader,  somehow, they grow to fall in love with one another.

Now, during the fourth year,  Hermione begins to express her feelings for Ron, particularly during the period of the Yule Ball,  where Ron suddenly realizes that Hermione is, in fact, a girl. Hermione begrudgingly snaps back "well spotted" before telling Ron that she has already been asked to the ball. By the fourth year of school,  it can be assumed that the students are all approximately 15 years of age, which is around that awkward high school age where kids are trying to figure out the opposite sex. Rowling beautifully demonstrates this theme in the scene aforementioned.

Flash forward to the sixth book where Hermione begins her battle against Lavender Brown for the favor of Ron. Two years of maturation have passed, and Ron is now involved in a cyclone of relationship problems that stemmed from his coming of age as well as his recent jock status as new Gryffindor keeper. This is the point where I realized the connection between Harry's parents and his best friends and began to truly appreciate the scope of Rowling's books. The fact that Harry was given the parents he never had in the form of best friends is truly heartwarming.

Draco Malfoy's Upbringing

Beginning in the series we see young Draco Malfoy, a young scared boy whom thinks he is already coming of age, grow up throughout the year. He goes through different experiences and sees different examples in front of him, whom end up shaping him. One of the first encounters I remember is in Sorcerer’s Stone, where I saw proof that Draco really was a “fake”. Harry and Draco must go into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid for detention. The group of students who are in detention end up having to split up, and if they run into trouble they must shoot a signal. Draco and Harry are split up with Fang because Hagrid believes Harry can hold his own. Well there is a hooded figure and Draco ends up screaming, like a little girl, and ends up running away, like you’ll see him do in books to come at plenty of times. He talks a big game but when it comes time to use his so-called skills he runs.

Draco tells Harry in Sorcerer’s Stone to pick his friends wisely and to become friends with him. Well Harry sure follows the advice but picks different friends, Hermoine and Ron. Draco ends up expressing to Harry that he warned him to choose his friends wisely and that he is pretty much dumb for not choosing Draco as a friend, Harry does not seem worried one bit about this and I don’t blame him.

Another example I am thinking of, Draco attends Hogwarts, which Headmaster is Dumbledore. Draco’s parents are followers of the Dark Lord. When the Dark Lord has risen again in full form Draco’s father is there to fight along side him against the members of the Phoenix. Well we all know what happens and a few of the Death Eaters are sent to Azkaban, including Malfoy’s father. Following this event in, Half-blood Prince on the way to the train Harry sneaks into Slytherin’s area on the train to listen to what he suspects Malfoy is up to, he hears him talking about how he is expected of certain things. Also Harry over hears Snape talking to Malfoy in his office when he is found sneaking around after hours attempting to break into Slughorn’s party, which he was not invited to. Snap is telling him that he believes he is blocking thoughts from master and that he is silly to not tell Snape what his plan is because he is just a young boy and needs to help him, also due to the unbreakable vow he gave to his mother about watching over Draco. Malfoy does not end up telling him but continues to ignore his suggestions and says that he does not need any help and he has it under control that it is just taking longer than expected.

Well first he sees his father taken from him under the Dark Lords nose and put in Azkaban, due to Harry Potter, which we all know, is some he hates. Then, we see him sneaking around and attempting to clearly do something to Harry, which is what I believe because we haven’t reached that far in the book yet to find out what. But all these examples are influencing Draco to go down the wrong path. The first example would never make you believe that he is going to end up fighting along the Dark Lord’s side but as he progresses and sees his father, he follows his footsteps immediately following his sentencing into Azkaban. Which Draco most likely believed he needed to step up and take his father’s footsteps and show his loyalty to his family and to the Dark Lord. These sorts of influences happen all the time now a days in adolescents growing up. Parents are a tremendous amount of influence on a child’s upbringing.

Ron Weasley

Over the course of the series we see growth across every character. The series focuses on Harry Potter and his journey through the world of the story. His growth is the most obvious of the characters as well as the most predictable. No one would want to read the story if it's hero didn't have to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to beat the bad guy and save the world. Harry does all of these things in a very predictable pattern. Other characters take different routes in their development than expected at the outset of the series.  

Growing up is hard for everyone. Despite any additional hardships that might have occurred the sheer amount of change and development that happens while a person grows up is difficult enough. When considering the idea of growing up in the Harry Potter world and who would be the best to analyze on coming age in the time of Voldermort's return there are several obvious options to choose from. Hermione has some of the most interesting growth. Neville becomes a person completely different than the scared, forgetful boy of the first book especially with the added knowledge of his past traumatic events. I wanted to look at someone a little less obvious. 

I chose to analyze the growth of Ron Weasley. Ron had an inauspicious childhood. As inauspicious as a childhood with 6 siblings in a wizarding family can be. No traumatic events to make his childhood hard. He did grow up in the shadows of some pretty impressive siblings which colors the way he behaves. When they first get to school Ron is Harry's first friend. Harry is another smart successful, impressive person that leads to Ron feeling overshadowed. Ron is fiercely loyal. It is his strongest trait but he has a hard time seeing the good qualities in himself. He gets the three through the giant chess match in Book 1. He helps Harry get into the Chamber of Secrets in Book 2. In Book 3 he goes with Harry and Hermione to track down Peter Petigrew. In Book 4 we start to see the teen angst that strikes all of the young characters at different times. He doesn't talk to Harry for the first half of the school year because he thinks Harry is trying to make himself more famous and leaving Ron behind. In the next book we start to see more of Ron owning his skills and in own contributions to helping Harry get through to his own destiny. Ron's greatest growth is in overcoming his own belief in his inferiority and owning his skills. 

And for everyone's entertainment different growing up by the actors of the Harry Potter movies.

How Hermione Handles Adolescence

Growing up is not easy. It does not matter what social economic class or gender one is apart of or identifies with. Although the Harry Potter series is ultimately about what the character of Harry Potter experiences and overcomes, it is interesting how the people close him fair in growing up essentially in his shadow. Hermione Granger is extremely clever and intelligent but there is nothing easy about growing up with two boys as her closest friends. From the moment the reader meets Hermione, they know she is not like other girls and not in an annoying, “oh, I’m so different, weird, and quirky. I’m not like other girls. I’m a Zooey Deschanel,” way, but in a confident in her yearning for knowledge kind of way. The confidence that Hermione has in her knowledge is what makes her such a great strong female character. Hermione’s coming of age is my personal favorite in the entire series and it is not just because she is a girl, it is because she is a loyal and honest friend to both Harry and Ron.

J.K. Rowling may not fully address this in her series, but a girl going through puberty is weird. Hermione obviously cannot talk to Ron and Harry about her everyday girl struggles and not much is seen of interactions between the other girls in Gryffindor, except Ginny Weasley, and Hermione. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, she did not tell Harry or Ron about Viktor Krum pursuing her and asking her to the Yule Ball. The way the reader can imagine Hermione when she is coming into the Yule Ball to meet Krum is a clear indication that she is changing and in a different way than her closest friends.  J.K Rowling could have made Hermione into a full-on Lavender Brown, but that contrast between Lavender and Hermione in the sixth book, brings to life just how differently Hermione grew up from other girls around her. She cannot necessarily let her feelings for Ron out to Harry because of his friendship with Ron as well, even though Harry just knows. And obviously she is sixteen years old and she is not going to tell Ron. Hermione deals with these emotions and feelings, it seems almost by herself up until the point where Ginny Weasley starts hanging out with them more. Nothing is easy for a teenager, or anyone for that matter, having to go through that. It is inspiring but frustrating because the reader is left wanting Hermione to feel as though she can tell Ron and Harry everything, but she cannot.

Her “coming of age” turns into an independent, strong, very intelligent woman by the end of the series and I think J.K. Rowling knew that not making Hermione essentially “just one of the girls” set Hermione apart of everyone else. She could and can be considered a female heroine. At this point in the series, she is a sixteen year old girl and there is nothing easy about that, but she handles it all so well. And although, she may be living in Harry Potter's shadow right now, she knows how to set herself apart, she knows what her strengths are and she knew from the first time Harry Potter needed help saving the day that it would not be the last and she is going to have to do all of the research because Lord (not Voldemort) knows Harry is too impulsive and Ron is too lazy to do so on their own. And Hermione did start an activist group for house-elves and trapped Rita Skeeter in a jar. 

Bonds Among Characters

Harry’s traumatic experiences just keep piling up, and by the climax of The Order of The Phoneix, he’s got a whole boatload of issues he should be seeing the castle therapist about. After seeing Cedric carelessly murdered in front of him at the end of the Triwizard Tournament coupled with Voldemort’s return, one of Harry’s greatest fears is death, not necessarily his own even, but of those he cares about. And this deep-seeded fear of losing those he cares about (stemming from farther back than he can remember to his parents’ murders) comes to a head when he has the vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. Without hesitation he runs to the rescue, terrified of losing, what he deems, the strongest link between his parents in the past and the present.

In my personal opinion, Harry’s actions at the end of Phoenix are driven by his intense fear of abandonment. Of course there were other driving factors, but he acted as ferociously as he did because he couldn’t stand to the closest thing he’s ever felt as a parent.

I find it interesting though, that although Harry’s resemblance to his father, and from what we can gather, his personality so near his mother’s, when it comes to Harry’s parental figures, the one his home life most closely represents is Sirius’s. We see that Sirius hated the family he was stuck living with, much like Harry’s terrible relations, the Dursleys. We also see that Sirius was taken in by his best friend’s family and cared for as a part of the family. Harry is absolutely part of the Weasley clan, just like Sirius was part of James Potter’s family. Rowling doesn’t mirror her characters so that two match up perfectly, rather she pairs specific traits with specific couples, creating a web of emotional ties and relationships, kindred spirits in a few facets among the many varying characters.

She also shows a more vulnerable side of Snape in “Snape’s Worst Memory” which, again, Harry relates to on an emotional level. Luna sees the Thestrals, connecting her to Harry. Neville has also lost both his parents to Voldemort and his regime, an experience that only the two can share. Rowling uses these connections with minor characters to emphasize the importance of relationships, and bonds that are necessary among people. She brings the emotionality of even minor characters to the forefront, which helps to highlight our protagonist’s own issues, but also help to create bonds with others who are less involved throughout the series. 

Unity in Harry Potter

The subject of unity has been a major theme throughout the Harry Potter series. Unity—or the lack thereof—appears in many if not all of the major arenas of Harry’s world. At the Dursley’s house, Harry experiences the foul effects of a family united by their hatred of him. In the Ministry of Magic, readers see a united front against all rumors of Voldemort’s reappearance, even though multiple sources point towards his apparent return. Perhaps the best focal point for unity, however, can be found at Hogwarts, the school that Harry attends.

            In Hogwarts, a Sorting Hat sorts students into four possible Houses, with each house revering different qualities in its students. Each House has a distinct flavor and personality, which contributes to a slight partition between students of different Houses. While healthy competition can usually be considered a good thing, some of the Houses take their competitions too far, creating rifts in school unity. Voldemort seeks to exploit this rift between the students of Hogwarts in his pursuit of power in the magical world and beyond, and it is in this setting that Harry Potter does his part in bringing his fellow students together.

            Dissatisfied with the subpar instruction they’ve received in their Defense Against the Dark Arts courses, Harry and his friends secretly meet in Hogsmeade to discuss their options. Harry’s friend Hermoine comments that Harry’s previous exploits certainly qualify him to teach other students how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, and Harry reluctantly agrees to lead the group. They call themselves Dumbledore’s Army in an attempt to rally around the school’s headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Perhaps the most unifying aspect of this clandestine group, however, its that it is composed of students from all four Houses; students that are united under the banner of fighting evil. It is through leading this group that Harry starts to truly realize the importance of unity in the fight against Voldemort.

Blog Post 2 – A not so sneaky Severus

Memory can be both a blessing and a menace.  The ability to retain, recall and recognize past experiences is extremely powerful in the sense that it can define who we are and act as reason for our actions.  In the Harry Potter series, we see that memory is essential in not only just defining characters through personality, but understanding why they are who they are after learning their personal history.  Towards the end of Order of the Phoenix, we begin to see that there is more to Severus Snape than meets the eye.

The Potions teacher at Hogwarts is known by many of the students as cold, short, and bitter.  With the exception of the Slytherin students, for whom Snape is Head of House, we learn that Snape treats his students horribly, and this is particularly evident with Harry Potter himself.  Once introduced, the reader immediately identifies Snape as a major antagonist.  Between suspicions of theft and Harry’s attempted murder in Sorcerer’s Stone, his attempt to apprehend Sirius Black in Prisoner of Azkaban, the discovery of his Death Eater past in Goblet of Fire, and his constant loathing and mistreatment of Harry, it is easy to dislike a character portrayed as unpleasant as Snape.  Yet through all this bad, there are points where Snape appears good.

The first we see of Snape’s good side is at the end of Sorcerer’s Stone, when Quirell reveals to Harry that Snape was not trying to murder Harry during the quidditch match, but save him.  Confused, Harry does not understand why Snape, who loathed him, would want to save him.  Harry decides to dismiss this as he still believes Snape to be sneaky.  However, we do learn that Snape’s hatred towards Harry stems from his father, James.  This becomes the most apparent during Order of the Phoenix when Harry goes into Snape’s pensive to view his worst memory.  Here, we watch a scene unfold involving Lily, James, Sirius and Snape during their fifth year at Hogwarts.  We see Sirius and James hexing Snape for fun, causing him embarrassment and humiliation.  We see Lily attempt to stop James and Sirius, but Snape ends up calling Lily an offensive name in the process.

Through this new development, we begin to see Snape as a real person and question his true allegiance.  As does Harry, we (almost regretfully) begin to feel empathy towards Snape, a person who has been loathed up until this point.  Characters that are like Snape are hard to love.  However, there is a sort of ambiguity where you can’t quite decide if there is good in a character that seems so horrible.  There is something sad about him – his loneliness, his coming from a poor, unhappy home and his constant humiliation and embarrassment from bullying, primarily from Harry’s father, during his years at Hogwarts.  While it is not right, it is understood that Snape is taking his revenge of James out on his son, Harry.  Snape appears to be a product of his environment.  We begin to hope that there is goodness in Snape, that we can trust him as Dumbledore does.  After all, if Dumbledore believes that Snape is beyond his old ways as a Death Eater, there must be hope that Snape cannot be only bad.

Post 2: Hairy Situations, Developing Harry as a Character

One of the most amazing aspects to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is that she is able to accurately, and realistically, capture the physical and emotional development of the characters that she has created. These novels are particularly close to my heart because of the fact that I am able to say not only did I grow up reading Harry Potter, I grew up with him.

In Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, we as an audience are introduced to an abused child with no knowledge or understanding of the epic journey his life would become. As Harry is thrown into the wizarding world, he meets new friends, enemies and dangers, and is remarkably able to handle them in stride. As Harry earns the truth of his parent’s death, and becomes aware of their murderer’s resurgence, we know that his already difficult life is going to become that much harder in the upcoming years.

The following year, in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, Harry is faced with defeating the Heir of Slytherin. Little does he know that this person is in fact Voldemort. Once again Harry champions over evil, but not without placing himself and his friend in grave danger.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban demonstrates how quickly Harry has had to grow up over the last few years of his life. The greatest evidence of this is his decision to spare Peter Pettigrew’s life. By allowing the person who caused Voldemort to find his parents to live shows that Harry understands that killing him would not bring his parents back, and would only cause Sirius and Lupin to live with the murder of Peter. This novel also shows Harry having to deal with devastating disappointment.  One minute he thinks that his life outside of Hogwarts would be Dursley free, and the next his godfather has to escape to go into hiding, and with him his chances of escaping the torment he suffers of the summers.

In the fourth installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry must compete against older more experienced students in the tri-wizard tournament. Instead of being able to celebrate the victory over these individuals he is faced with the witnessing the death of a fellow competitor and school-mate, Cedric Diggory. Not to mention that he sees for himself the “rebirth” or Lord Voldemort.

In Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, Harry is forced to live his life on the run from Voldemort and even has to see his godfather, one of the only remaining ties that Harry has to his parents, be murdered right before his eyes.  In this book he also has to deal with both verbal and physical harassment from the Ministry of Magic.

Trauma and Death are large themes in the Harry Potter series. As more and more people around Harry are lost to the evils in the wizarding world he is left to, somehow, pick up the pieces. The readers of Harry Potter see how Harry must quickly adapt to the dangers and horrors that are presented to him. We are also able to see the how these events transform Harry from boy to man in the span of just a few short years. 

The Youngest, and Only Girl, of the Weasleys

A shy, timid girl, as far as the audience knows, that has a crush on Harry, which everyone knows: Ginny Weasley.  Ginny faces one of the biggest changes in the entire Harry Potter series, outside of the trio, of course.  We know she exists from the time Harry befriends the Weasleys, but that is about all we know until around books four and five. 

She slowly begins to make a character of herself in Chamber of Secrets but we can hardly begin to judge her because she is mostly being possessed by Lord Voldemort, and has a huge crush on Harry.  However, when Harry escapes from the Dursley’s and stays at the Burrow, Ron finds her shy behavior odd, saying, “‘You don’t know how weird it is for her to be this shy.  She never shuts up normally-’” (40).  Even here, when Harry is staying in the same house with this girl, Harry nor the audience finds anything out about her true personality; she is simply Ron’s little sister. 

In Prisoner of Azkaban, Rowling introduces Ginny’s relationship to her siblings a little bit more.  When the Weasleys and Harry are staying at The Leaky Cauldron, Ginny laughs at one of George’s jokes, showing that she is more of a Fred and George type than a Percy type, meaning she has a sense of humor.  Being the only girl, Ginny kind of has to adopt the senses of humor and toughness that come with brothers, especially being the younger sister of six brothers.  Catching her bearings after her first year at Hogwarts, in which she was possessed by Lord Voldemort, must have really helped her to become more comfortable in a family setting with Harry there too.

Order of the Phoenix really is where Ginny shows an outgoing personality.  In scenes with the Order, Ginny shows a genuine interest and comfort with all the members, and seems like more of a sister figure to both Hermione and Harry.  Hermione and Ginny begin to form a bond, being the only girls among boys.  Ginny is a very powerful witch, as was evident in the DA meetings.  The theme this all ties into begins in this book: powerful women.  Rowling, as a woman, seems to find it important for the women in this book, as non-title characters, need to be particularly skilled.  Tonks, Hermione, Bellatrix, and Ginny are all powerful women that seem to be particularly commanding and capable. 

Then in The Half Blood Prince, Ginny shows another side of empowered women: men.  Ginny seems to be quite fond of having boyfriends, which she has now had two, up to this point.  Ginny Weasley just plays a generally good role model: skilled, intelligent, and fun.  Since the first book, in which she was probably mentioned in only one line, to the sixth book, in which she plays a large role, Ginny has changed SO much.  She is a great feminine role model.

Snivellus

A character that has brought about the most surprising character developments throughout the series (so far) has been Professor Snape. Looking back to the first book, I realized that I never expected the character to become as complicated or involved with the overarching plot as Snape is.

Professor Snape, in the first book, seems to be a likely choice for the “bad guy” in the series. We, as readers, have no reason to doubt Harry’s judge of character thus far, so when Snape bullies Harry in Potions class it’s easy to conclude that Snape is simply evil.  At the end of Sorcerer’s Stone, it’s revealed that the charms Snape was preforming at the quidditch game were intended to save Harry from Quirrell’s, and Snape’s character becomes more ambiguous. After Sorcerer’s Stone, however, Snape does not become simply “good” either. He doesn’t ease up on Harry, and maintains a bully-like teaching method with students outside of his house. Though there are many examples of Snape’s bullying throughout the series, some of the most perplexing involve Hermione. In Sorcerer’s Stone, Snape calls Hermione an “insufferable know-it-all” in front of the other students in the class. In Goblet of Fire, Hermione’s teeth are growing quickly due to an ill-shot curse. When she goes to show Snape, he comments that he doesn’t see any difference. By Goblet of Fire, his bullying is no surprise, but has almost become particularly petty and pathetic.

It isn’t until Order of the Phoenix that we really get to see inside Snape’s head. When we experience Snape’s memory of being bullied by James and Sirius, it not only leads us to questions our judgment of Snape, but that of James too. It also brings up the question of empathy, and which characters are deserving of it. Like Harry, I never expected to feel sorry for Snape, but after learning about some of his past experiences (especially the snippet of a memory in which Snape is wearing ill-fitted clothes being bullied by his father, similar to Harry’s childhood with the Dursleys) how can readers empathize with Harry and not Snape?